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Protoss Aesthetic Design Discussion - Page 3

Forum Index > Legacy of the Void
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Ryndika
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
1489 Posts
September 14 2015 15:05 GMT
#41
I love how it looks and feels. I still felt coolness of protoss looks after i took break from sc2 and now when it's LotV they'll probably do even more cool looks in campaign so I wouldn't worry at all from that standpoint.

In multiplayer it's so small it's more like positive minor issue that's funny if you don't liek it.
as useful as teasalt
eviltomahawk
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States11135 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-14 15:32:16
September 14 2015 15:31 GMT
#42
I like the Protoss aesthetic going into sc2. It has a more sleek design to it, but still distinctly alien. I like it better than what they've done with Terran and Zerg buildings.

Terran used to have this sharp metallic look that was slightly tarnished and rusted, but in sc2 the buildings look plastic with rounded edges, as though they're baby toy versions of their BW selves that you can stick in a newborn's mouth without choking it.

Zerg used to have this bloody, boney, fleshy look, but in sc2 they feel more rubbery and gooey. I'd probably puncture or cut myself if I tried to hug a BW building, but it feels as though the sc2 buildings could safely be a dog's chew toy.

These aren't deal breakers, but they're annoying. The art style in Blizzard games have felt homogenized over the past years, whereas earlier the universes were more distinctive in aesthetic.
ㅇㅅㅌㅅ
DinoMight
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
United States3725 Posts
September 14 2015 15:35 GMT
#43
Yeah I'd like Terran to look a little bit more metallic and rugged. I like Zerg design for the most part, but the Lurker is bad. The Brood War Lurker was so awesome. I'd like to see the LotV Lurker look a bit more Hydralisk-y rather than just a weird ball of spines.
"Wtf I come back and find myself in camp DinoMight all of a sudden, feels weird man." -Wombat_NI
DoubleReed
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States4130 Posts
September 14 2015 17:11 GMT
#44
Starcraft isn't Warhammer 40k. They're both inspired by the same sources. Protoss are based on "Grey Aliens" while Zerg is based on Swarm Hivemind Aliens. But the lore is all pretty damn unique and fun. It's not as if Warhammer 40k is totally original by any means, and it's not supposed to be.

Warcraft is obviously based on high fantasy like LOTR. But at the same time, it does do its own thing.
Garmer
Profile Joined October 2010
1286 Posts
September 14 2015 18:48 GMT
#45
the only thing that i really hate is archon with armor, it looks awful
BreakfastBurrito
Profile Joined November 2011
United States893 Posts
September 14 2015 21:31 GMT
#46
On September 15 2015 03:48 Garmer wrote:
the only thing that i really hate is archon with armor, it looks awful


Yea I always thought they were pure energy hence the 350 shields and 10 hp. Seems like they would be wearing a turtleneck or a scarf or something (jk) but the armor is strange. After all 2 templars merged together, i dont think "armor" in the conventional sense really fits with that
twitch.tv/jaytherey | Yapper891 if you are reading this, PM me. its Twisty.
RoomOfMush
Profile Joined March 2015
1296 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-14 22:45:09
September 14 2015 22:44 GMT
#47
Yeah, in BW they were just a shadow and a bunch of neon lights. Looked mysterious and awesome. You could feel their power just from the visuals, that was a unit you dont mess around with.
FeyFey
Profile Joined September 2010
Germany10114 Posts
September 14 2015 23:01 GMT
#48
they just wanna bring back the old bw feeling when your army was just blue and red balls in the end xD .
pure.Wasted
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada4701 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-15 00:23:16
September 15 2015 00:12 GMT
#49
This isn't a Protoss issue, this is a "units released after WOL" issue. And it's not just about appearance, it's about a general lack of personality.

Liberators, Swarm Hosts, and Vipers are the exceptions. Everything else, released and unreleased, looked and sounded pretty shit. WMs? Shredder mines? Warhounds? *shudder* Cyclones? And on the Protoss side we have MSC, Oracle, Replicator (remember this bad boy?) and Disruptor, which all look and sound basically like the exact same generic Protoss ball of ballness. Tempests get a big MEH from me, their unit design is all right, but their attack and voice acting are both supremely bland.

And then there's the Ravager, which I can only hope is a placeholder model...
INna Maru-da-FanTa, Bbaby, TY Dream that I'm Flashing you
[PkF] Wire
Profile Joined March 2013
France24209 Posts
September 15 2015 00:17 GMT
#50
On September 15 2015 09:12 pure.Wasted wrote:
This isn't a Protoss issue, this is a "units released after WOL" issue. And it's not just about appearance, it's about a general lack of personality.

Liberators, Swarm Hosts, and Vipers are the exceptions. Everything else, released and unreleased, looked and sounded pretty shit. WMs? Shredder mines? Warhounds? *shudder* Cyclones? And on the Protoss side we have MSC, Oracle, Replicator (remember this bad bo?) and Disruptor, which all look and sound basically like the exact same generic Protoss ball of ballness.

And then there's the Ravager, which I can only hope is a placeholder model...

yeah most of the units added after LotV felt pretty unneeded. I still think HotS was a step ahead from WoL, because broodlord infestor basically killed the last 6 months, but would I say HotS is an improvement over WoL with infestor nerfs + pheonix range ? Not sure.

LotV will be a radically different game so it's impossible to make any definitive statement. Many meh HotS units could become awesome in LotV context, that's impossible to know right now.
shin_toss
Profile Joined May 2010
Philippines2589 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-15 02:07:47
September 15 2015 01:52 GMT
#51
On September 14 2015 18:55 rockslave wrote:
I'm more annoyed by the fact that all Protoss units have knight-like armors and braided hair and speak like medieval monsters.

Oh, and zealots are ninjas. Give me back my zealots that look like the son of Baraka and Robocop!


their armors were basically the same as in SC1 lol,, just more detailed since graphics technology has evolved. Their hair was there too , you might have missed it. I only agree on the voice. Blizz should have sticked to the old deep protoss voice. The latest cinematic was like being narrated by Optimus Prime


Also wtf people are hating on infestor design? for me it is one of the coolest unit designs in Zerg. And obviously Overseer and Ravager would look like Overlord and Roach respectively because they morphed from them.. The only thing I dislike in Zerg is Ultralisk.. BW ultralisk looks more boney and scary.. SC2 ultras look like a pokemon.


And also +1 on the blue flame on damaged protoss buildings. or make it like electricty or something
AKMU / IU
eviltomahawk
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States11135 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-15 02:40:15
September 15 2015 02:31 GMT
#52
Oracles are basically a reskin of the Star Relic unit from the alpha which eventually got replaced by what would become the Sentry, so I can't fault them for reusing a much older design.

I do think they went overboard with reusing the Replicator aesthetic in both the MSC and Disruptor. One is OK, but not both.
ㅇㅅㅌㅅ
B-royal
Profile Joined May 2015
Belgium1330 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-15 13:27:44
September 15 2015 13:19 GMT
#53
Funny that you are complaining about protoss. I would say that protoss is the one that at least looks somewhat decent. Zerg's just become awful.

I couldn't find a picture comparing more relevant units (I'm also not going to make this post into an entire collage of pictures) but maybe you see the trend. Brood war's units look more visceral or savage. Starcraft II's are too "cute" and too polished.


[image loading]
new BW-player (~E rank fish) twitch.tv/crispydrone || What plays 500 games a season but can't get better? => http://imgur.com/a/pLzf9 <= ||
DinoMight
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
United States3725 Posts
September 15 2015 17:47 GMT
#54
I think the SC2 devourer looks kind of badass actually. It looks like something that morphs from a Muta more so than the original BW one.

The BW queen in SC2 is kind of lame, I'll give you that. But the guardian is fine IMO.

Also you're just familiar with the BW versions and have a bias towards them. If you saw the SC2 versions first you might not feel the same way.
"Wtf I come back and find myself in camp DinoMight all of a sudden, feels weird man." -Wombat_NI
flanksteak
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada246 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-15 18:37:05
September 15 2015 18:18 GMT
#55
I agree with the general sentiment, there are just too many orb/spherical looking units. I get wanting to ship new units with the expansions, but it feels like they ran out of ideas for design (MSC, oracle, disruptor, tempest). Makes me hope someone figures out a build with all of these units together, just for the novelty of an all orb protoss army lol.

I'd rather they just do away with some of these units and have some cooler older units absorb those functions. Like phoenixes are a quick/swoopy looking harass units with a cool ability(lift), doesn't this unit fit the design of an oracle? It looks way better and is more visually distinct than an oracle. Why the heck is a floating orb so goddamn fast, it doesn't even feel right. Give revelation to observers or something, with an upgrade maybe. It suits them much better. Just spitballing here.

Or with adepts, doesn't the psionic transfer ability fit dark templars better? They're already ninja like and invisible and they look fucking cool. Maybe for balance you just make them temporarily visible/vulnerable during the transfer part; introduces an element of risk, opponents can react and see where they're headed or possibly kill them. Now you can make choices between dark templars kiling stuff and then booking it out of there, or maybe you try to get into the base with it instead, doesn't that sound fun? You'd have to balance this obviously, maybe make it an upgrade, but if you could keep your DTs alive maybe you see more stable DT builds that aren't just cheese or desperation.

Anyway just wanted to rant a bit. I just feel like there's so much potential and they're squandering it by making so many niche units that look kind of samey.
sushiman
Profile Joined September 2003
Sweden2691 Posts
September 15 2015 19:20 GMT
#56
I agree on the orb issue, they even scrapped another one in HOTS, that replicator thing. I have no idea who's responsible for it, but they really need to widen their mind a bit.
However, I'm far more bothered by the design direction they've gone with in regards to armour. It's the same stupid shit as in WC and Diablo, for no reason at all.

I mean, what the hell is their fetish with pointy hats:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Compare that to how Artanis looked in BW:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


The whole Protoss race suddenly went full WH40K in ridiculous attire, and not in a good way.
1000 at least.
RoomOfMush
Profile Joined March 2015
1296 Posts
September 15 2015 20:45 GMT
#57
Well, artanis was kind of an exhibitionist compared to other protoss. You just picked the most naked guy they had in the entire game. But your point is still valid though.
DJZest
Profile Joined March 2015
Germany16 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-09-15 21:00:24
September 15 2015 20:58 GMT
#58
IMO every Protoss unit has a wonderful design, especially the units you mentioned, OP. Spheres? Fuck yeah, spheres!

Your thought process behind this thread, much less it's intended purpose are beyond me.
House. Music. #TeamFarina
Destructicon
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
4713 Posts
September 15 2015 21:03 GMT
#59
On September 14 2015 17:55 YyapSsap wrote:
Im not sure if I am in the minority or not.. but it has always bugged me that they've chosen to portray the elite alien race "protoss" with the american indian look to them e.g. the long braided hair for one. From the dark and shaded zeratul in SC1 turning into some tauren sounding prophet from warcraft to zealots with pointy chins and hair!?

Even the unit voices seem so weak compared to the mighty and savage feel of these highly advanced aliens in SC1.

vs

Or
vs






Gonna quote this because even though its not really relevant to this topic (talking about aesthetics here). I think its still a perfect example of the design U-turn the SC2 team made, and one that wasn't necessarily a good one. I for one would respect the protoss more if they sounded like bad-asses instead of crybaby blue space elves crying about the loss of their home world. In general the storytelling approach, the art, the atmosphere feel very, shallow and watered down compared to their predecesors (not only talking about SC btw, I mean all their franchises like WoW compared to WC3 and D3 compared to D1 and D2).
WriterNever give up, never surrender! https://www.youtube.com/user/DestructiconSC
DJZest
Profile Joined March 2015
Germany16 Posts
September 15 2015 21:05 GMT
#60
On September 14 2015 19:14 Phaenoman wrote:
There was nothing left to complain about, so we start to tackle the visual design? Lol.


Lol.
House. Music. #TeamFarina
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