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StarCraft II's Models: Then and Now

Hello and welcome to this special January edition of Kalos' Chronicles. This entry is written as apart of the StarCraft II Alpha series running on StarcraftWire. I've chosen to focus on which units Blizzard have made significant artwork improvements and changes to and how they appear ingame. This is very interesting as it shows how the game has improved and advanced since it was first unveiled back at WWI 2007 in Korea and how some of these upgrades have gone unnoticed. Hopefully you'll enjoy this quick whirlwind through the modelwork shots I was able to get hold of. I'll cover the best descriptive units with some detail, and leave the minor changes out of this article.


Side by side comparisons

The original models are shown to the left, and the newer ones to the right.


Viking

This was where I first noticed the changes that had been happening to entire unit models; the mech form of the Viking. Blizzard have obviously replaced this entire model with a higher resolution model, it is not simply sharper to the eye but things have changed that can be easily seen from close up, such as the increased detail around the arm mounted chain guns, notice that it now ends in proper individual barrels; and how the area around the shoulders have been redone with clearer and more shaped panelling (making realistic circles is always difficult on a low resolution 3D object), and curiously enough how the shoulder-based rocket launchers have dropped from having six to five individual launch tubes each. It is also clear that the illumination and lighting effects have been overhauled at some point, but it's probably part of the big "grit" update of the Terrans.

Here is an alternate image of the Viking evolution.



Stalker

The Stalker is actually an oddball change; The order above isn't mixed up. The left one is actually the older artwork. Many changes have decreased detail here. Those small glowing circles have been done away with; and large silver panels have been installed instead, a similar aesthetic effect to the new silvery trim added to the model for the Void Ray. I personally prefer the old spindly legs of the the unit with written runes on the "knees" which were quite intricate before the newer version. This change does confuse me, but I'm guessing the old one was seen as too detailed or something. I hope this unit's old model is hanging around, because I certainly prefer it.

You can still notice an increase of polygons, and a higher resolution unit. The "head" at the front of the unit is much more detailed, and lines are rounder and softer over all. It's an upgrade as well as a style change with less details.


Read about more comparisons of models on Page 2.

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