Art of World of Warcraft
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Art
  • New character models retain the iconic features, but refine them as necessary. The models also have a more consistent style.
  • Undead have bones sticking out, but they don't look great. The new version refined it. (They unveiled the progress on the Undead Male model)
  • The team looked at the existing model and decided what they wanted to maintain and what needed to be exaggerated.
  • They went 956 to 5,408 polygons on the Gnomes. 130 to 196 bones. Texture resolution was 2 to 5x higher depending on the area of the body.
  • The old Dwarf male has 1,160 polygons and was mirrored on both sides. The new model is 7,821 polygons and has higher texture resolutions. The face doesn't have to be symmetrical anymore.
  • Dwarf female is underway and has a basic model.
  • Tauren male is also underway and has a basic model done.
  • Facial hair is animated using bones.
  • Capes are now animated using bones to flow more naturally.
  • Gnome female pigtails are now animated.
  • Concept art helps to determine the feel of the zone, while Zone maps help to determine what is taking place in each part of the zone.
  • Vertex shading is used to make things look much nicer without having to create even more new textures.
  • Lighting is also a big part of adding atmosphere to zones.
  • The Iron Horde make several different tanks, but not a unique mailbox.
  • When it rains, the NPC working on trade skills will go inside and get out of the rain.
  • There are 572 candle models in game, with 42 belonging to the Kobolds.
  • Worgen and Goblin won't be getting new models right away. The team will take a look at those models after all of the other ones are done.
  • The female Troll model is in process right now.
  • The website will show off the new models and provide release date guidance as progress is made on the remaining ones.
  • Ear and hair clipping is a little bit better with the new models.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Art of World of Warcraft started by chaud View original post
Comments 140 Comments
  1. mmoc349c704549's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Raysz View Post
    Well, I would assume that what they've showed is just one of several options for faces. Although I agree that some of the old female gnome faces look great and the new model is a bit weird in comparison.
    Well I kind of hope that there will be a face that doesn't look that stupid or that it's just not done yet I love my little green eyed gnomes ... but right now they keep reminding me of

    .. even the orcs look smarter now.
  1. archonoid2's Avatar
    Undead they really done well omg
  1. mmoc1b96e712e5's Avatar
    Looks like more hallway dungeons where you walk through hallways to rooms and to other hallways. Where is terrain, obstacles, secret passages, etc in dungeons?
  1. mykro9's Avatar
    Am I the only one toggling between the before and after slides and going WTF have we been playing as all these years?

    Every new model makes the old ones look like NES compared to Xbox One, lol, they look amazing.

    I CANNOT wait for my orc female revamp, and even then, I may race change depending on the outcomes of other races.

    My only complaint is that some of the WoD trailer looks a little too, well, Disney. Even the revamps seem to look this way. There is a seen of an orc riding a wolf, and it looks a little too fluffy and friendly.
  1. mmoc3e5086b698's Avatar
    All the new models look awesome, really hyped for the new expansion, Blizzard wasn't joking when they described it as 'all the most bad ass characters in one room'.

    My ONLY criticism would be that the undead faces don't look mean enough. I could be completely jumping the gun as they only displayed a few examples, however with some of the current models you can select some pretty badass faces with evil eyes etc. Hope this is the case with the new ones!

    Great job though Blizzard, more than happy with not having a new class/ race to worry about since everything else looks awesome.
  1. xPheno's Avatar
    I'm so nervous. I play undead female and I reeeeeally hope they don't drastically change the way my characters look. I already love the way they look minus a few things like the paper thin and jagged skin covering the big lumpy cartoon bones. But the face, that's a deal-breaker for me. There's really only one nice looking, innocent, doll-like face they have that I love, and if they change it too much, I might lose interest in playing my character, because to me, on a game that emphasizes looks, if I don't think my character looks good I simply won't play it.

    I know it's kind of a silly thing to put so much focus on, especially when there are so many new things to be discussing, but it really makes me worry, and I hope they do a great job. The other models look good, and I know they said they weren't going to drastically change the way they look specifically for the reason I addressed above, but to me they look extremely different. They look better, but really different. That's what worries me the most.
  1. Mars_Trueskills's Avatar
    Omfg, undead male.. <33 <33 <33 back to horde I go!
  1. domperignome's Avatar
    New models look amazing. The expressions on female gnomes just blew my mind, not to mention that in my opinion they made one of the best female dwarf models ive seen so far. also first thing that came to my mind when i saw undead male
  1. Freia's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kadaashi View Post
    Why are there grilled hot dogs? Someone please tell me why there are grilled hot dogs I cannot stop thinking about the hot dogs.

    It was a joke. They brought up grills(as in grills on vehicles) and that came up. Notice they show artwork for the grills of the orc vehicles in the next frame?
  1. mmoc08a0fa0895's Avatar
    Maybe blizzard will be nice enough to smooth the transition with a free of charge, one time chance, to change appearance. We'll see
  1. wdmshmo's Avatar
    I hope those character models are a joke. Go big or go home, honestly it's 2013, nearing 2014. Pretty sure they could've done a hell of a lot better.
  1. mmoc3c02903358's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by wdmshmo View Post
    I hope those character models are a joke. Go big or go home, honestly it's 2013, nearing 2014. Pretty sure they could've done a hell of a lot better.
    Im amazed they're pulling off so great models... This engine is fucking NINE years old... If you had a blizzcon ticket you'd know these models almost broke the engine and they could get any more polygons.

    Other than that. I fucking wish i was horde again.. Orc and Undead models looks amazing
  1. Rosencrantz's Avatar
    Dwarf women need some bearded options. :x ...I can't be the only one who wants this. Haha. Not mandatory, just options!
  1. mmoc768010fc85's Avatar
    I think the gnomes faces look too serious maybe because of those heave eye brown ?
  1. Moacyrnlz's Avatar
    Female is too cool
  1. RG7620's Avatar
  1. ronaldmc's Avatar
    There's something weird about the Orc face that I can't really put my finger on. It looks a bit like an overgrown Goblin... Not sure if it is the pointy ear or maybe just the green color... Maybe I've always seem Orcs as strong and brute and the new faces make them look a bit silly and expressive (more goblinoids)...

    Besides that, I like the new models. And I'm glad to hear they are leaving goblin and worgen for last, because that means we'll have some BE and Draenei updates as well.
  1. mmoc4d63a7a19d's Avatar
    You know what really bothered me about this panel in hindsight? On the page where they show the map of draenor (the one with zangar sea on the southernmost part), the image moved/scrolled down fairly quickly to show the entire continent. Where it clearly (but briefly) shows auchindaun is connected by some sort of grey'ish highway to a hub called "Shattrath Raid". How did nobody ask about that on the panel OR the Q&A panel, it drove me nuts! Second raid anyone? :>
  1. zanmaru's Avatar
    Love the new character models, less thrilled about the "foam weapons" aesthetic the game continues to use since Cataclysm, but usually a few interesting designs manage to sneak it.
  1. bison91's Avatar
    the new models are awesome!!! aspecialy orcs undead and tauren...looking forward for it

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