Developer Blizzard Entertainment has taken to the official site to outline the process of creating a Mini for the upcoming mobile experience Warcraft Arclight Rumble. The game is a fast-paced mobile strategy set in the familiar universe and featuring characters originating from Azeroth.
On the screens of their phones, players will be able to see collectible Warcraft minis come to life to battle in frantic melee skirmishes. Play in multiple modes, including the single player campaign, going head-to-head in epic PvP battles, playing co-op, and more. It’s up to players to gather resources and deploy Minis strategically around the zone, capture objectives to control the map and dominate the battlefield, master the Minis’ abilities and synergize for the best result and, of course, conquer the are and defeat the enemy boss.
But before the Minis can be deployed, first they need to be created while preserving that blocky Warcraft artstyle which is a multi-stage process in and of itself. The article outlines how it goes using a Gargoyle as an example:
- During the Concept stage, the initial idea is rendered to provide inspiration and reference to the character artist who will be modeling this creature;
- When it comes to Blockout, the team lays down some of the bigger, blockier shapes to help to understand scale, material separations, and overall character proportions;
- The team then moves onto Sculpting in Zbrush, much like working with digital clay. Surface details like eyelids, musculature, and hair are added. Once the final sculpt is approved, the model moves onto the texturing process;
- The Final Textures (skin) are added to the Gargoyle by digitally painting on the surface of the 3D model. The character artist will use various texture maps to inform the surface qualities of the Mini’s materials, controlling properties like color, reflectivity, and transparency;
- Once a Mini has gone through its initial modeling stages and is ready, it is time to rig and animate the Mini for its debut in the game.
Follow the link above to learn more about the animating process and see the stages of creation back-to-back!
