Warcraft III and me
Hi, my name is Jacob… and I selfishly believe there is noone in the world who loves Warcraft III more than I do. My father first brought the game to me 14 years ago, when I was just 6 years old. It was high fantasy, it was gloriously (I can’t stress this enough) dubbed in Czech - my native language… and it was everything I ever hoped for in a video game. Becouse of that connection, this will be my first feedback to a game developer ever, for if this isn’t the time to do it, then what is.
Warcraft III is not only nearly perfect game in itself, both the campaigns and the melee - with such a perfect engine for micromanagment, that you can throw five units in a dungeon, and call it an RPG… but it also features THE tool that makes it literally immortal and infinite, THE tool that spawned entire genres of gaming and most likely shaped the entire industry just by its own sheer power. The World Editor should play a big part of how You look at the game, and should be considered by anyone making a feedback of their own.
Without further ado, let’s summarize everything I think about this project, drawing from the Blizzcon Demo Grubby’s preview.
The Graphics and the World
The entire change of direction seems a bit too overwhelming. Original W3 is cartoony in all aspects, but also polished and pleasing to look at. It is perhaps the best aging game of all times - it doesn’t age at all, and I believe people would be perfectly content with just a minor update of models… and then simple support and balancing for all times to come. The content is already infinite, as The Hiveworkshop proves. There are many adjustments however, that will make Your current iteration much better then we saw in the demo.
The textures and models alike seem a bit off and all around the place. Faces try to be hyperrealistic (more on cinematics later), while buildings and doodads pose as cartoonish as they can, creating a strange kind of discord in the theme. I think both models and textures need to be adjusted slightly, to complement the units and enviroment around them… and the fact that we are observing the game from birds eye view (cinematics don’t justify the means).
Textures in General
Feel too crisp, too defined and too sharp to complement the birds eye of strategies. The entire aesthetic should be more laid back, relax the eyes just like original W3 does. There are several ways of doing this, some are absolutely needed as seen in the demo:
Units - need to be clearly visible, they need to stand out, both for aesthetic reasons and for actual gameplay comfort, as a player and a spectator alike.
Apply more team color!
This could also reduce the sharpness of everything. Footmen for instance, could use much more prominent tabard, encasing their entire figure (smooth cloth - not too “detailed”). Large areas of shield and shoulders metal (once again, smooth and easy to look at), should be team-color only aswell.
Abominatios as another example, are incredibly detailed, to the point it is uncomfortable for the eye to grasp their large model as one single cohesive unit, while severely lacking in quick to distinguish team color areas.
Buildings - are much better to look at than the units (mostly for they are stationary), but waging a war with the ground and doodads right now. They could use even more prominent base and most importantly the following environment changes.
Floor and Objects - are the most disruptive force of everything we saw in the demo. The ground is way too crisp and literally swallows the units and doesn’t let them stand out. It should be made smoother, just like objects and “neutral natural buildings” in the world.
Ground vs Doodads vs Units - is a battle that should not be happening. The environment needs to chill out, whereas the units need to be smoothened, but outlined and brought into the forefront. The eye should clearly percieve the screen as:
-GROUND-
-DOODAD-
—UNIT—
-DOODAD-
-GROUND-
The textures should be generaly much more simple - also playing into the fact that thousands of people around the world will wish to create their own models and textures for the holy grail - Editor.
The UI we wish to Adore
I simply hope it will not end up as simple and streamlined as it is now, even though Grubby’s interview suggested that is actually the way you wish to take it.
Warcraft is no MOBA (haha, even though…), and should be highly personalized for each race when playing the campaigns… and when not… heck, you could add an option for modders to craft their own UI, and have a neutral one of your own, for all the sweet non-race defined custom maps. I also think that the HP bar aesthetics are important… and you should certainly listen to the people and make sure the hits and damage truly feel Warcraft-like, along with the animations, sounds and everything else.
And now the Cinematics
This is the most subjective, but still clearly reasoned part of the feedback. I simply think they should be reverted to their original W3 state. The massively increased definition and potential for facial expressions do NOT complement the writing, voices… and all around “seriousness” of the story, nor the actual physical pacing of the cutscenes themselves.
Remakes of the original cutscenes, with all of their camera angles and timing, with only additional animations played by the character models from afar, would be much better option… no over the top facial cam… please.
What of the World Editor cutscene making? Such a thing would be clearly impossible or terribly hard to develop and allow in the state we saw in the demo.
This is my opinion on this highly subjective matter.
Actual Map Differences
Surprisingly, I don’t feel bad about this at all - as long as all campaign missions are remade this way, not just one or two! The various new “rare” mobs to find and secrets to uncover are a limitless field, BUT, include all old ones that we love and cherish… where is the Stratholme zoo with the evasive rat? It doesn’t bother anyone not to follow WoW completely, in fact, we should get a unique form of all maps, not WoW copied landscape - that often doesn’t complement birds eye non-rotating (mostly) camera at all. I would also prefer if You could stick to the original “directions” when it comes to in which corner of the map is what… and what general direction are we moving our units through the missions.
This would make the maps feel very familiar and close to our heart. Stratholme main entrance can still be featured as it is… why doesn’t Arthas simply approach from the “right” of the city. He was standing on a hill, overlooking the city in original W3 after all.
What I Learned on Forums
Fashion Statement - People have been discussing the differences in hero aesthetics, mainly when it comes to staying true to W3, or turning to WoW designs. I must indeed say, that simple HD renditions of the heroes we love and want to embody would be the best option.
Wouldn’t we all miss the staple features if they were changed?
The youthful student look of original Jaina’s outfit.
Grommash being slender with jaw covered in scrub and tattoo.
Maiev’s green lipstick in her original W3 helmet.
I remember all of these quite fondly… and would love to see them again.
Issues - Why do people bring all their confusions and angers regarding the modern internet issues everywhere? Warcraft is a high fantasy world and it is… news flash… very diverse, interesting and exotic from the get-go. Customizing which hero you use in your melee gameplay (Archmage x Jaina) will bring even more freedom for everyone. All the other suggestions I’ve seen on the Forums are just plain silly.
We are all humans.
Just smile.
Things I Love
Custom hero models for melee maps - as a way to personalize your gameplay - glorious. This has infinite potential, especially with an active modding community. You could even create a workshop to approve people’s creations into the actual game… and… monetize it… as You developers do. But remember to include awesome rewards for gameplay only! Perhaps unlocking hero models as you play through the campaigns. “Hey you’ve just finished The Scourge of Loarderon, here, have an Arthas model in your melee!”
New and greater maps - are once again all dependant on Your creativity. Just let me restress the fact that we want the old stuff AND THEN all the magic you can conjure up anew. I need my giant panda in the Barrow Deeps in the Night Elf campaign.
That you are actually doing this after all these years… yaaay!
End of Eternity
I would like to thank You all, developers and players alike, especially Grubby, becouse he is Grubby. Thanks for enjoying great games… I hope this feedback of mine is truthful and insightful… and will actually help to shape the game in the best directions.
See you all in Warcraft… and until then, love each other, and farewell.