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the Dagon Knight4000 Posts
Edit: A lot of people seem to have taken this as a jab at BW's graphics, it was far more just that I loved the idea of reinterpreting other things in the same kind of low resolutions that BW was perfectly understandable in. Turns out most things are pretty much unintelligible.
My friend, Atom Cannister, often opens a chat window and starts a conversation about some old TV show or movie. He’ll ask me how I feel about a German buddy-cop series about a dog called Kommissar Rex, and I’ll say, “No, I’ve never seen it, I’ve been mostly watching Fawlty Towers.” He will eventually get around to saying something like, “I don’t suppose you happen to have that do you?” Often I'll say that I'm sorry, but the quality is dubious or that I’ve only got an iPod version.
Every single time, the response that I get is:
AtomCannister: It’s okay… I play Brood War.
When he first said it to me in person, he said it as though he were possessed of a special talent, a fireproof man running towards a burning building to save someone’s baby. Years of Brood War had inured him to dodgy resolutions, he is a titan in a country of poor bandwidth.
Brood War players, try to remember that other people don't see the world the way you do. You've been blessed with a second sight; you can love something for what it is on the inside, underneath all that tawdry harlotry of "beauty."
For those of you who’ve only ever played StarCraft II, I thought it would be worthwhile to put together a simulation of some things you might enjoy, shown through the eyes of a seasoned Brood War player.
This is my celebration of those hardened BW players out there
Playing StarCraft II:
Fig. 1: Holy shit, do you have any how hard it is to see a tech-switch like this? "He's building a... barra- factory! No wait, armoury?"
Watching A Game of Thrones:
Fig. 2: Sean Bean’s ability to portray emotions at low resolutions is one of the reasons he’s my favourite actor.
Watching the GSL:
Fig. 3: This picture has been divided in two, to highlight the difference between viewing as a BW veteran and viewing as a normal human.
Browsing TeamLiquid:
Fig. 4: There’s every chance here I’m actually viewing TramLiquid.net…
Playing Team Fortress 2:
Fig. 5: I’m about 30% sure I’m shooting a medic here… Not gonna lie, could be a barrel.
Appreciating Fine Art:
That thing where you Alt+Tab out of Brood War to change your music, and everything gets all messed up, but in SC2:
Fig. 7: Because, well, what is that thing?
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Except that BroodWar actually does look better than StarCraft II, the same way it looked better than WarCraft III. 3D models aren't everything yo.
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Hahaha, as a person who has played BW. I found this funny as well.. GREAT JOB lol!
5/5
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the Dagon Knight4000 Posts
I'm not sure if it I'd say that it looks better, but I'd definitely agree that the art direction felt a bit better. I'm not sure how much crossover there is in those two things.
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Did you actually consider the fact that Brood War players are just better people than those who haven't played Brood War? I mean better as in better in every aspect and facet of their life.
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good idea but from purely spectator's point of view, broodwar looks better (clearer, more colorful etc)
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10387 Posts
ironically, BW is much cleaner and clearer than SC2
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On May 10 2011 06:34 ArvickHero wrote: ironically, BW is much cleaner and clearer than SC2
This.
Though I like the colors reference.
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BW is much cleaner and clearer than SC2 indeed, and I can assure you it looks much more dark and mature too, unlike SC2 that the art seems to aim teens with Thors looking like megazords.
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How paradoxical, in BW everything looks clear and precise while in SC2 everything looks blurry. I think my problem when trying to watch sc2 is that the contrast in very poor in that game. Almost every unit of every race is dark blueish or grayish and that's the same for the background. In BW, everything is made easy to distinguish.
The funniest part is that I have an extremely good sight at close distance, I can only use hi res screens or I feel very uncomfortable, and need to disable that piece of shit of Microsoft ClearType on every computer I use, but I'm perfectly fine playing BW haha
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The colossus - a unit that somehow manages to beat the dreaded BW assimilator in a fierce battle for the title of ugliest pixels in Star Craft.
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Netherlands45349 Posts
On May 10 2011 06:34 ArvickHero wrote: ironically, BW is much cleaner and clearer than SC2
This^
There is only one thing that I find annoying, and that is(due to my own inability)
I CAN NOT READ IF THE UPGRADES SAY 3-0 OR 0-0(which is a huge difference).
Kommissar Rex,
Don't hate, this stuff was good when I was young :>.
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the Dagon Knight4000 Posts
On May 10 2011 06:40 endy wrote: How paradoxical, in BW everything looks clear and precise while in SC2 everything looks blurry. I think my problem when trying to watch sc2 is that the contrast in very poor in that game. Almost every unit of every race is dark blueish or grayish and that's the same for the background. In BW, everything is made easy to distinguish.
The funniest part is that I have an extremely good sight at close distance, I can only use hi res screens or I feel very uncomfortable, and need to disable that piece of shit of Microsoft ClearType on every computer I use, but I'm perfectly fine playing BW haha
This is one of the weird things about SC2; clearly there were people in it screaming to make sure that things like death animations were as obvious as possible, since when a marine dies to a baneling//roach you get that bright green, or a colossus that bright orange, but somehow it stands out a lot less than the big red splatter that BW had. Storms looked miles better too, but I guess that would have been awkward to render in 3D.
I sometimes wonder if part of what made BW so good was that the artwork left a little more room for interpretation.
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Well watching and playing SC2 is very different. Streams broadcast in medium/high/ultra settings while player's play in low. It's not unlike quake. Though BW still has better visual clarity.
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Haha this was really funny. Well written! But to some of us BW players, SC2 has the same effect you know?
Pretty much what every above has said: BW has clearer graphics.
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BW graphics may be dated, but they are clear, clean and work perfectly. A giant 200/200 TvP battle is clear as day instead of a clusterfuck of tiny units and glowing particle effects.
The alt+tab windows 7 issue is annoying sometimes though.
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On May 10 2011 06:34 ArvickHero wrote: ironically, BW is much cleaner and clearer than SC2 Haha. Yea, I remember when I first saw the graphics for SC2. I thought they were pretty crappy at the time. I guess I just wasn't use to the 3d stuff. I've gotten used to do it now.
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Uh oh Sir Jolt plays with photoshop again
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I was going to rate this 5/5, but because of my old BW tinted eyes I misclicked :-(
+ Show Spoiler +
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