Is the new campaign mode giving you a lot more work as an artist?There's definitely a lot more work involved, though a lot of our cut scenes are done by the cinematics team, using high-definition cinematics, we also work with a Real-Time team to work on those new elements in Story Mode. Those guys work from scratch but they're also working from stuff we've already created. There's a lot of communication there because we need to make sure that those tiny details are right. But really as long as the spirit is there and the concept remains intact that's all fine.
What are the biggest challenges in a project like this?There've been a few problems; for example we have two gas mines ingame- they would run out after a while and players would have to wait and wait until they powered back up. We tried to get those right for months and months but eventually they were taken out.
Also the Protoss are able to warp in from anywhere they have a pylon and that was really a summer-long process - it was a great idea, but we couldn't get it to work. We needed them to warp around somehow, it's a really cool general mechanic for them to have. There was a lot of trial and error we eventually got that one to work; but it's a great example of why Blizzard takes so long to do anything, but I think it really justifies itself in the end. To get something that really stands the test of time, say 10 years like StarCraft I you really have to iterate and you can't be afraid to fail and you have to experiment a lot.
That's one of the better things about working on a game like StarCraft, we don't have anyone saying 'Ship this immediately', it allows us to do a lot more fun stuff and experiment and try new things like Story Mode, try different units and powers. Again, you can't be afraid to fail otherwise you're limiting yourself right off the bat.
Where does the game inspiration come from?Everyone says this, but it comes from everywhere. Movies; Star Wars, Matrix, anime, comic books. And I think our generation, growing up with Transformers and GI Joe - not these weird movie versions, but the originals - growing up with that kind of stuff just gets you in the right mindset. I used to draw all the time, usually Transformers or GI Joe vehicles and I think that helps get the creative juices flowing. But we'll pull inspiration from anywhere - we've seen some great pictures of sea life and think 'That's got some cool lines for a Zerg on it'.
This is really just a big labour of love, we're really happy with it and we think you guys will really love it. We're really hard core and critical of ourselves internally, so if we start liking something we know that's a good sign. We can't wait to get it out there and have you guys play it.
The nitty-gritty - what platforms and software do you use?Oh, we work on PCs almost exclusively and with software it's mainly Photoshop and then 3D Studio Max. Those are the main two, we don't use Maya or anything like that for animation. We do use Mudbox for the highly detailed models for the portraits and maps.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012