Heroes of the Storm Art Heroes of the Storm Luke Mancini

AusGamers' Nathan "nachosjustice" Lawrence interviewed a agglomeration of Aussie devs recently nigh how they got into the industry, but stayed on the line with Blizzard's Luke Mancini a little longer to pick his brain about what it'southward like beingness an artist at the mammoth developer. Read on for what he had to say…

AusGamers: I'chiliad looking at what I promise is your LinkedIn page, and information technology's telling me that you lot've been at Blizzard Entertainment since October 2009, and so close to half dozen years; is that correct?

Luke Mancini: Yes, that'south correct.

AusGamers: What's happened in that time? I approximate it's a big question, but from the moment that you got the job and went at that place [to Blizzard] to where you lot're at at present, can you lot requite me a bit of an thought of your trajectory?

Luke Mancini: And so I started at Blizzard on the StarCraft team right before we shipped Wings of Liberty. Then, basically, even though I do mostly concept art and analogy, my title is simply creative person, basically. And then I do a bit of everything. When I started, we basically had… certainly with concept and even most of the final art was pretty much done for the game, considering we were pretty close to having it ship. So my first big project for StarCraft was actually doing all of the achievement icons for Liberty, so at that place was a couple of hundred accomplishment icons that I spent a couple of months on. Even that was a heap of fun. And I got a scrap of other stuff: a bit of 3D modelling, a bit of texture piece of work, fifty-fifty a little chip of illustration, as well, along the way.

From there, I definitely got involved in concept work for Heart of the Swarm, so at that place was a lot of that. I also helped out with some of that for the initial –well, we called it Blizzard DotA that nosotros announced the showtime time at BlizzCon, but what turned into Heroes of the Tempest – then I got to work on that right from the start. I had a lot of… a big office in designing the Zerg in Heart of the Swarm, and and then for that I got to become to Australia for our Centre of the Swarm launch that we held downwardly in that location, which was a lot of fun. So, after that launched, I've been focusing a little bit more than on Heroes, and then I yet do a little bit of supporting piece of work for Legacy of the Void, but it'due south by and large focusing on concept and illustrations for Heroes. I really did the big poster illustration that we announced with at BlizzCon when nosotros came out and said, 'This is going to be a big game.' And then that was my piece of work. So I've gotten to work with creative development a little bit, so illustrations similar that, and I've too been able to work with the Hearthstone squad a scrap for some of their illustrations. I'm really, really happy to be able to give them a mitt and work in a bit of a different fashion sometimes. And then now I'one thousand basically entirely focused on Heroes at the moment, so concept work and illustrations that I'm doing at the moment.

AusGamers: You lot mentioned the thought of style and take casually touched on the fact that you've moved between three games. Does your arroyo to what you practise have to change at all, given the titles that you're working on?

Luke Mancini: It definitely does, especially considering… it doesn't matter as much at the concept stage, I recollect, only because I am working quite a lot on fairly polished, finished illustrations, it's definitely something I have into business relationship. StarCraft has got a bit more of a realistic gritty infinite matter going on, and Hearthstone is definitely the other end of the spectrum, where it's lighter and more than cheerful, and even though there'southward the same Warcraft things going on, information technology's the epic Warcraft-ness. Working with Ben Thompson, the art director over at that place, everything is very slightly more curly and slightly more approachable. It'southward the epic-ness of Warcraft but ready within a tavern, basically, so it'due south a little bit funnier. I think Heroes is somewhere in between. We're not going for any sort of realistic wait; we're basically trying to distil Blizzard's manner downward to ane game, and that's been something that I've found probably the virtually rewarding. Working on Heroes has been finding a middle ground between the crazy stylisation of Warcraft and the sci-fi end of things from StarCraft, and the realistic-ness, as far as that goes, of Diablo, and trying to come up with a fashion that lets everything fit together and yet feels like Blizzard.

AusGamers: That one'south the most interesting to me, Heroes of the Tempest, because similar you've said, it's right smack bang in the middle, in terms of art. Are you working off a blueprint bible, or it is more you have some touchpoints and you try something, information technology doesn't piece of work, and and then yous refine it through the procedure of creating?

Luke Mancini: It'due south definitely a fiddling bit of that, but [Sam] Samwise [Didier] is still our art managing director, so having him still be the lead on it I recollect is hugely helpful. I mean, he'south been hither since forever… he's basically the heart of Blizzard' art manner, almost. Then having him directing it, I think, has made it really a lot simpler to hitting that marking every time. But at the same time, we're trying to bring… keep everything up to date and find a manner that suits all of our dissimilar IPs. I think there are certain characters who come up over in a more straightforward way. Some of the Warcraft characters are pretty straightforward. Information technology'due south like, alright, we've got a design here, that pretty much works in the game. And then some of the other characters – whether they be characters from Diablo, or even characters from all the games who need to be uprezzed a little bit more than, or demand to be reinterpreted a little chip more than – will get a different arroyo where nosotros need to sort of look at what made them iconic, and and then bring that upward to a level that fits in with the more contempo characters.

AusGamers: What'southward the almost challenging game, or perhaps characters or even race, to bring over to that Heroes of the Tempest style?

Luke Mancini: I think the virtually challenging matter is working on the Diablo stuff, in part because we are targeting a unlike rating that Diablo does. We're going for a teen rating [Grand rating in Commonwealth of australia] then all of the Diablo demons. We just release the Butcher, and it'due south like, right, we accept to make this. Not too much blood. Bones, we've gotta sort of steer clear of, and it's right, considering information technology'south this demon who's a butcher. He has skulls hanging off him. His easily are drenched in blood. He's got scars and all sorts of things. It'due south similar, 'Well, then we've got to have this and make it.' I think nosotros've done a pretty good chore so far of taking that and fitting information technology in with the style and not going too overboard with information technology merely, at the same time, keeping the heart of that character. That'southward been a lot of fun.

Bated from that, there are other characters who have been less well fleshed out in the by. We have a bit more freedom. There are characters similar the Siege Tank driver, like Sergeant Hammer, or someone like Brightwing, fifty-fifty, when we become to take something that isn't… I guess there'southward a lilliputian bit less on the art fashion wise, and more only a character-design thing. All the other characters, like, people have an thought of them in their head, they're like, 'Right, Arthas, this is exactly what he's going to look similar, and so we need to make Arthas be Arthas, but the Faerie Dragon, or this Siege Tank driver, and nosotros take a flake more than freedom to play around with that, because people don't have this thought fixed in their head. That'southward been a lot of fun, for sure.

AusGamers: Just going back to what you were talking about then, you lot mentioned something that sounded like the idea of a reimagining. When yous've got a Diablo character that you've got skulls hanging off him and blood dripping off him and a cleaver, and you're removing what I would consider to be an iconic representation of that character. How piece of cake is it to go, 'Well, we have to get rid of the things that brand him instantly recognisable but, at the same time, we've still got to make him recognisable at a glance in Heroes of the Storm'? Is that a lot of iteration and stripping back, but it's just sort of at that place are things we're not noticing perhaps as gamers that go into this design side?

Luke Mancini: I would take to say I think we've done a pretty good job. I don't think we've had to cut dorsum on anything. I think the Butcher we have in the game is pretty shut to the experience that yous get from the Butcher in Diablo, and it's been a lot of fun… mayhap his blood isn't quite as gory as it is in Diablo but, aside from that, I retrieve he's pretty scary. He withal has the skulls hanging off his belt. He still has the cleaver. He'southward still not a friendly guy. I don't call up we've had to pull back on anything too much. Certainly not annihilation that would make people look at him and go, man, he'southward really not the correct character. We are definitely very aware of what these characters hateful to people, and nosotros don't want to have anything out of that. Information technology'due south definitely something nosotros're thinking most all the time.

AusGamers: You also mentioned virtually having the opportunity to create something new. In my mind, that might even be a bit of a challenge in the sense that you're creating something new for Heroes of the Storm but, at the same time, it's being created in a dissever universe and beingness injected into Heroes of the Storm. Does that nowadays any particular challenges?

Luke Mancini: It definitely does. I call back we have to make someone who is exciting and engaging and a grapheme that feels fun for people. With a lot of other characters, we've got this rich backstory and this connexion that the players already accept to these people. Then it'south actually almost easier to be, 'Hey, hither's Illidan over again. You lot know Illidan? He's really cool.' And people go, 'Yes, that'southward crawly.' Whereas, you're like, 'Faerie Dragons!' And everyone looks at you, 'Hmm. Yes.' There's a challenge there in making these characters, and function of this definitely comes from the gameplay side. I call up our designer'due south done an astonishing job of making someone similar Brightwing super fun to play. And equally soon as you get that, like, she's fun to play, she'southward hilarious. Her dialogue is amazing. She'due south super cute, as well. I call back there'south that mix of affair that you have to hit to bring a new character into the environment.

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Source: https://www.ausgamers.com/features/read/3533225

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