In the mid-1990s, Blizzard Entertainment had a massive success with Warcraft II. Their next big game was Starcraft—a real-time strategy game set in the 25th century, which debuted in 1998. But the development of Starcraft was up against a major change in the video gaming industry: 3D graphics. Up until this point, Blizzard hand-drew their models, pixel by pixel. Early experiments in 3D, led by Blizzard Art Director Samwise Didier, had a clunky start. “I think it was the Goliath (a combat unit in Starcraft) that we first made, and it just looked kind of doink, from the game view,” says Didier. “It was muddy, and when you rendered it out, everything looked like it was one or two pixels thick.” So the art team leaned in, making the models wider and thicker, resulting in a now-distinctive over-the-top style. The style is now synonymous with Blizzard. “Everything on PC at that time was photorealistic, or trying to be, with realistic proportions. And we just said, It doesn’t look cool.” Instead, the team stopped trying to match reality and aimed for what looked right in the game. “In StarCraft, instead of having one gun, it was three guns, and they were all chunky,” says Didier. “The ‘Blizzard Style’ was inspired by a technical necessity—from trying to make things translate.” This wasn’t the only occasion when technical restrictions determined the artistic direction of the game. The Starcraft team could only use fifteen colors for each model. “You know when you go to a restaurant and they give you a piece of paper to draw on, and a box of busted crayons, and you’re kind of making do with what you’ve got? And you end up with cool stuff because you’re forced to use color combinations you’d never normally use?” Didier and the design team’s distinctive visual style—one that emerged from constraints—helped make Starcraft a fan favorite and set a visual style that remains in video games today. Starcraft: Remastered and Starcraft II are now available with Xbox GamePass.
"So the art team leaned in, making the models wider and thicker, resulting in a now-distinctive over-the-top style. The style is now synonymous with Blizzard." Sorry, but that over-the-top style is, and has always been synonymous with a certain miniature wargame that has clearly, well, inspired Starcraft.
Samwise's art holds a place in my heart, as Starcraft is one of my favourite games. I was searching his art at that period, with dial-up internet. So many cool drawings of his became my wallpaper during the years, especially the ones that depicted Zeratul.
In the old days, artbook was in every box with the game. Blizzard Entertainment your drawed models was epic! Starcraft and WarCraft era. Cheers!
Ozan Hünler
1w
Good old days! 🥹
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1wAvailable with Xbox Gamepass, but not on Xbox consoles, mind you, just in case it had to be said... I still hope for a new adaptation for controller and consoles, just as I hope that the announced Crash Team Racing has an adaptation for PC. Because the Xbox ecosystem should be something united and that does not leave anyone behind, at least, with such old games and that their access does not suppose an economic barrier. I would not have imagined what artistic style it was because of this, the truth is that already at that time I remembered the space marines of Warhammer 40k quite wide and with big weapons XD.