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Description
Starcraft 2: Zerg Greater Spire
Modeled by Phill Gonzales, final texture pass by Ted park!
Animated by Jay Hathaway

The Greater Spire went through several revisions during its trip through Starcraft 2 development hell. The initial designs were updates of the Starcraft 1 artwork which didn't seem to work. The shapes of the SC1 Greater Spire design didn't look good in 3d, it was too bulky and the numerous pieces were too busy. Conveying the hight we wanted was also a problem, since we have height limitations on tall buildings. When the development team started using Zbrush to create unit portraits some Zerg buildings were also redesinged to take advantage of the more organic sculpting process. The Infestor Pit, Roach Warren, and the Greater Spire were all done initially in Zbrush.

The revision of the Greater Spire made progress towards the final in-game design but the building still looked out of place compared to the rest of the Zerg structures. The final unification pass finally solved many of these problems. The lower portion of the Spire was reused and slightly modified with additinal armor. The top portion was replaced with the new Greater Spire design and retextured, finally completing the long process of updating the Starcraft 1 design.

© 2010 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

Description
Starcraft 2: Zerg Greater Spire
Modeled by Phill Gonzales, final texture pass by Ted park!
Animated by Jay Hathaway

The Greater Spire went through several revisions during its trip through Starcraft 2 development hell. The initial designs were updates of the Starcraft 1 artwork which didn't seem to work. The shapes of the SC1 Greater Spire design didn't look good in 3d, it was too bulky and the numerous pieces were too busy. Conveying the hight we wanted was also a problem, since we have height limitations on tall buildings. When the development team started using Zbrush to create unit portraits some Zerg buildings were also redesinged to take advantage of the more organic sculpting process. The Infestor Pit, Roach Warren, and the Greater Spire were all done initially in Zbrush.

The revision of the Greater Spire made progress towards the final in-game design but the building still looked out of place compared to the rest of the Zerg structures. The final unification pass finally solved many of these problems. The lower portion of the Spire was reused and slightly modified with additinal armor. The top portion was replaced with the new Greater Spire design and retextured, finally completing the long process of updating the Starcraft 1 design.

© 2010 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.