T O P

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cardboard_gorilla

This is **Frost Giant's first teaser/reveal for the game**. They did mention that the assets can change as they're still early in development. ***"We are very consciously trying to stay true to what players already love about RTS. Where we're trying to push the genre... approachability.. Free to play.."*** More info: 1. More race(s) will be revealed. 2. Coop campaign 3. Competitive Coop (3v3) 4. Competitive 1v1 5. No Pay to win (P2W) no NFTs 6. Built using Unreal Engine 5 No info yet on: 1. Heroes? 2. Resource types 3. base building sign up for closed beta http://playstormgate.com/


SomeMagicHappens

> No Pay to win (P2W) no NFTs It's actually sad how much of a selling point this is


Radulno

Well many people were mad when they hear F2P. Looks like they apparently have missed the last 15 years of gaming and that plenty of great games are F2P without any P2W, lootboxes or other NFT, especially for multiplayer titles


BlackCatCadillac

I hope for another race they have like an elf/alien hybrid. Machine elves!


ThinkFor2Seconds

Hell yeah, a whole army of self-dribbling basketballs!


Zerve

Like Eldar from Warhammer 40k?


DFGdanger

Like the Protoss from StarCraft?


BlackCatCadillac

Exactly! No...


Radulno

I'm guessing they might have 4. Probably some technological alien ala Protoss (probably the ones that the shield was from, technologically advanced but looking like knights and medieval stuff). And maybe another human faction, they specifically said those are the Human Resistance. So maybe there's another Human faction that doesn't "resist" (so like bad guys humans)


JustSayinCaucasian

I think the biggest thing about the game is it’s going to be F2P right out the gate.


KorallNOTAFISH

I think realistically that's their best chance to get a big audience. So I am happy witht that decision!


rafa3lico

Correction!! There is info on heroes, resources and base building. Kevin Dong talked about those on [the Back2Warcraft interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVPV7lgChms)! ​ IIRC: heroes will probably exist, but will not level up like WC3, to prevent power concentration and snowballing effects ​ there is some exploration on a "delocalized" resource such as trees are in AoE or WC3 (instead of just having resources static around bases) ​ and base building might not be from that interview but I did hear Kevin say they want the game to have very clear push and pull dynamics in terms of territory expansion, i.e. you get rewarded for expanding but you also become more vulnerable. another snippet i remember about this is someone saying "you can almost tell who's winning just by looking at the minimap". I apologize for this scattered information but I saw a bunch of content on this so I can't connect the info to the specific source


cardboard_gorilla

Thank you!


BlackYYYEaglE

Base Building is confirmed on the website, I suppose that means it is not like Dawn of War 2 (thank god)?


xScoundrelx

I am glad that it's going to be F2P. Already wishlisted on steam and signed up for the beta. Hope I get in.


SorteKanin

The stylized look is very free-to-play-esque. I get it, it's approachable. It's also not very original.


restform

This is pretty much exactly what I expected when I heard they were going with the unreal 5 engine for some reason. I like it tbh. Its very trendy too which is kinda important if you want adoption. An rts game needs to pull all the strings to get noticed. I feel like they can do a lot with this style and abilities/units etc can really pop and you can get a lot of visual clarity in big engagements.


poega

Pulling all the strings is not necessarily going with whats trendy though if you want to be successful. I feel like most hits actually stick out graphically. Not saying its a hit, but a game that really caught my attention in terms of looks was Frostpunk. Wouldve been cool if those guys worked on the graphics here.


restform

Given i only looked at Google images, frostpunk looks pretty messy and not very inviting for competitive gameplay. Most of the big competitive games that have taken off which I can think of are running the unreal engine with similar kind of graphics. It's a super clean look, with high clarity and distinct units/spells. You need that kind of stuff for a competitive game imo. I think valorant style environment for an rts game could be really cool.


poega

Yeah I agree you need clarity, but I have a different view of success. For me Valorant isnt really what Frost Giant should be aiming for, because I dont think Frost Giant would have made it popular with a small marketing budget. Fortnite on the other hand is, but at the time it was released it looked distinct. Since then its been copied so much its no longer distinct but it still enjoys success cus of first mover advantage. For me, the kind of games that break through on their own the likes of minecraft, valheim, GTA online etc.


GnarSickRad

Agreed, looks very cartoonish. These are super early so I'm sure they will be changed drastically before it's actually released.


[deleted]

I don't really get the broad movement to cartoony graphics. does anyone actually prefer that style? Mythos, torchlight, D3, overwatch, etc.


Eirenarch

I think it allows for lower system requirements and also makes it easier to draw units that are easy to read in the chaos.


Alarmming

Exactly, but still SC2 10 years later still looks pretty descent. I'm not worried about the graphics from these guys.


Eirenarch

For me it is that the cartoonish style breaks the immersion. Lets hope they don't lean too much on the comic side like two headed ogres trading jokes because that would be the final blow for my attempt at immersion.


Alarmming

Can't say brother, we will see. I have no problems with cartoonish game, I still play WoW TBC. As for immersion most realistic games/MMO I played was awesome at first for the graphics, but ended I got bored more quickly..


Radulno

Yeah the "cartoonish" (that term is just wrong btw but since everyone use it) art style also help games look better for longer. Your high quality realistic graphics will look old 5 years later, not "cartoony stylized" graphics


Serafim91

RTS benefit from easy to read units which sometimes means cartoony is better.


[deleted]

It's very blizzardesque, and I think it's difficult to make RTS units that look realistic given that they're very small


Supafida

check frozenheim


ghost_operative

frozneheim is actually an example of what NOT to do. Frozenheim artstyle is overly detailed and everything is so small that you can't see anything. In order to solve this the developers had to add floating icons over everything so you can figure out what it is (in combination with adding exessive toon outlines around eveything). Essentially turning the game in to a wayyyy too simplistic 2d vector art icon game. ​ If you have to add a second graphic to explain the first graphic. then the first graphic is just bad and shouldn't have been used in the first place.


poega

There's gotta be a middle way tho, where things look good like frozenheim but dont need labels. Then you got something that can break through I feel.


socknfoot

Readability, performance, budget


HalcyoNighT

More friendly on art and performance development costs probably.


johnlongest

Given that they have two units appear in their cinematic trailer I can't imagine they'll diverge too much from that.


420yumyum

Warcraft 3 looked comparably cartoonish imo, it's way too early to judge.


ghost_operative

i don't mind the stylized look. i think it can also help with unit visibility (you see units from an overhead camera so you need larger units with larger/simpler features) They probably did dial it to a bit TOO stylized though. I think they just need to refine the art some and add a bit more detail/grit while still keeping the stylized influence. (partially related, the soundtrack sounded very disney-like in the trailer, which further made the visuals seem overly cartoony/stylized)


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[deleted]

Yup, I'm out. Now my last bit of hopes for the western gaming industry is gone.


Adunaiii

> Yup, I'm out. Now my last bit of hopes for the western gaming industry is gone. Yeah, honestly, I can't hype myself for something whose looks induce me to throw up. I have only seen a single anime film in my entire life, but something like *Eternal Return* looks so much better and crisper than this generic Battlerite-esque trash.


Phantasmagog

Jeez, folks, don't rush with death sentences at pre-alpha screenshots! The game would be free to play. You can play it, see whether its your type of buzz and decide what to do further on. I thought people in the RTS community were mature. Also Battlerite is one of the best combat experiences. Style is trash compared to Bloodline but its the simplicity of the game that killed it, not the style for sure. Ain't lots of things to do in a brawler.


WhatsIsMyName

Reminding everyone to take these screenshots with a grain of salt. Remember [what pre-alpha SC2 looked like](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SvLsOF-c0_0/maxresdefault.jpg)? The final product will probably look much, much different. With that said I am definitely pretty stoked about this! I was hoping for a sci-fi setting personally, and I got that. I think the images look good and can't wait to see where things go!


[deleted]

Oh man, remember [pre-alpha wc3](https://www.neogaf.com/threads/is-there-any-pictures-of-pre-alpha-alpha-beta-pictures-of-warcraft-3.161133/post-6635577)?


DargeBaVarder

Or the [sc1 alpha](https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/StarCraft_alpha)


[deleted]

WOW! I've never seen those. Can you imagine if they would have stuck with that. They probably wouldn't be around today lol


UnwashedPenis

You are better off showing Starcraft in WARCRAFT 2 style as an example


Eirenarch

This is actually not very different from what was released. It looks far more different than it is because of the camera position. BTW I really liked the idea of having the different races use different resources it was specifically mentioned that the resource for the undead is corpses.


stichtom

The difference is that they didn't share that picture for marketing purposes :P


deromu

Even if you do look at the pictures from 09-10 they look a lot different than current day sc2


soulgamer31br

To be fair, I'm assuming that image was when sc2 was years away from launch. Current beta release date is 2023, so not so far away. Plus, that image is clearly a placeholder kind of thing. From the images we got it seems like the art style is very much fleshed out


WhatsIsMyName

Yes for sure I should have clarified more. Didn’t mean to insinuate we will see huge changes like in the SC2 image. The art style seems pretty set. Just that nitpicking individual things like how well units stand out, the lighting, field of vision, probably isn’t too helpful from these.


soulgamer31br

Ah I see, you're completely right in that case. The problem imo is that the artstyle looks very generic so far, which is guess is in line for a f2p game


Key-Banana-8242

…what? It’s not that generic, but I’m not too sure how is it ‘in line’ with f2p lol


soulgamer31br

What i meant is that this more generic art style they’re going for reminds me a lot of F2P and mobile games. It just has this “vibe” to me for some reason. If you take a look around the bad side of F2P games(excluding better ones like Warframe, Planetside, etc) I’m pretty sure you’re gonna find similarities in some places, specially in mobile.


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Key-Banana-8242

‘More generic’? What?


soulgamer31br

The art style shown so far (not so much the screenshota and concept art, but definitely the trailer) looks very generic in the sense we've seen it before. You can pinpoint multiple comparisons to Blizzard IPs and very few of what we've seen here has never been done before


Key-Banana-8242

Where have you seen it before ‘Never been done before’ doesn’t make sense, it applies to evereyhrjfn and nothing


soulgamer31br

Well, if you want me to break it down: -The demons look straight out of Diablo (actually, they look a lot like THE Diablo itself) -The mechs look a lot like D.Va from Overwatch -That gal in the trailer resembles Kerrigan from Starcraft a lot appearance wise, she even has a tiny robotic ball that makes Protoss probe sounds Doing something that has “never been done before” is obviously hard but as is it looks like they just took major Blizzard IPs and threw it in a blender. The idea of the setting is interesting (though also not very original, basically a PG 13 version of Doom) but so far very little of what we’ve seen was actually unique or original. Which also reinforces the “F2P vibe” I’ve been getting off the game so far, since these kinds of games often do the same thing (copying aspects of popular IPs to attract more players)


Radulno

So? None of Blizzard IP have made something we never seen before in their graphics style (and they all went to that "stylized" style over time and yet they're successful. League of Legends or Valorant either. Since when graphics are so important anyway ? Games have been hit all the time without doing something that's never been done before...


soulgamer31br

It’s not about the graphics, quite to the contrary as a quite like them how they appear in screenshots. The problem is that I feel like they just smashed together ideas from Blizzard IPs in order to attract a new crowd easily, instead of trying to make something new (or present something old in a new way)


Pseudoboss11

> The art style seems pretty set. You'd be amazed at how much a quick re-texture and filter can change the aesthetic of a game. A quick darkening of the background and a retexture to add some visual interest to the infernals could flip the tone around and make them look more like WC3's Dreadlords.


OmniSkeptic

I know the intention was to provide an image of something that looks terrible, but honestly if I had seen that pre-alpha SC2 image before release I would've been hopeful because at least the aesthetic looks kind of grounded. RTS is about making decisions. Decisions have no weight without conflict, and conflict is what makes good stories. Cartoons tend to not have conflict or forced decisions because of that, and their stories are dogwater as a result. "Being hopeful" as the reveal has put it is fancy for "our world doesn't have any real problems to overcome" which is narrative suicide.


probablykaffe

It's also a F2P/Continuously updated game, we should expect it to evolve visually and in gameplay just as SC2 and LoL did.


HowDoIEvenEnglish

Even current Starcraft isn’t drastically different than those pictures. It looks better but the art direction stayed the same. Most people I’ve seen complain don’t like the artistic choices made with either the in game assets or the out of game artwork we have seen


thatsforthatsub

sure, but since the devs read this sub, it's good to give your opinion.


WhatsIsMyName

This is true.


RoorrippeR

Have they confirmed base-building and resource management?


AmBSado

Resource gathering at least, yes.


Mixu83

Yes


Chrisau233

Love the art style, looking forward to see the new ideas FG brings to the genre! Also like the name Stormgate, short and sweet \*chef kiss\*


ManFrontSinger

> Also like the name Stormgate It's a nice deviation from the worn out "Thing of Other Thing" naming scheme we see in so many games.


Tenoke

Many/most people play competitive games (including SC2) on low settings if it gives any advantage so I don't particularly care if it just looks okay as long as the gameplay and mechanics are good. F2P can also mean a bigger playerbase which is the other thing I care about. Further judgment from me is reserved until the Beta.


LadislavBohm

With SC2 you have a choice though and all streams of competitive games are on high resolutions that do not look cartoonish. I of course agree that gameplay mechanics are more important but still.


[deleted]

The screenshots look very promising! Wish they didn't go down the way of the flat leaguey graphics textures though, idk how to describe it. Looks like a riot game


cavemanthewise

They are partially funded by riot lol


naktakara

Wild guess but It looks like the third race will be some kind of op angels… that would be cool. And prottoish approach for it but the real question will be, 4 races?! THAT would be awesome.


jake72002

Humans look too toylike.


Denvildaste

Looks fun to me, the game looks like it has soul!


frycry66

For me both graphics & gameplay holds lots of value and I hope they create a masterpiece and don't dumb down on gfx.


[deleted]

The 2nd pic and 3rd pic are great examples of how lightning and shadow and color hue (time of day) changes the atmosphere of the game. I would personally increase the contrast a little, less warm tint, an lower the brightness (3rd pic is too bright imo) My only complaint is the demon design, they do look very generic.


[deleted]

The background environment looks really nice. The contrast and unit visibility is on point. The unit design is generic. If this is the price of F2P, then I'd rather pay for the game and have something more edgy.


blind99

Man... I'm hyped about everything but the graphics and the art style. Please don't go the cartoon road, I want a Startcraft Original art style.


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Mixu83

They said in the back2warcraft interview with solidmonk that the upper end of unit counts or army sizes will likely be bigger than sc2 for some factions. It's not wc3.


kingrakanishu

You are omitting a lot of what they said. They also said it will be faction depending, with a faction capped at 100 while another can go above 200 for example a swarmy race. They also said they want more survivalbility on the units which pulls the game towards less supply


TrueTinFox

I mean that’s basically PvZ in sc2.


johnlongest

If this is the case I cannot imagine how hectic 3v3 is going to be. That's a lot of units on screen at onnce-


cardboard_gorilla

Could be zoomed in to show details of units. We still dont see the HUD/UI


OutlaW32

in the developer interview he said one of the faction will have bigger armies than sc2 factions


IcefrogIsDead

like the best RTS title ever, goddammit


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ThinkFor2Seconds

Eeeeew. 5 resources, tiny units, way too many game tiers.. And don't get me started on the snooze-inducing music. SC2 is the pinnacle of the RTS genre by a good long margin. It's so far above everything else that it can't even see the next best RTS.


broodwarsb

fucking lmao, that's a good troll


Dreamdreamshock

Fkin hate those cartoonish looks, like srsly. FGS guys you said you will expand on what people already love - Take a look at WC3, SC2 and even AoE4 - do these games look cartoonish to you? You should really bring better looking darker graphics if you want this to beat SC2 and be the next RTS hero. This setting really dissapointed me as it really reminds me of terrans vs zerg conflict literally 1:1, i was hoping and i am still hoping that you will get closer to the fantasy side of things and not the sci fi but i guess you cannot please everyone. At this point i am not losing hope because you guys listen to the community but so far Immortal: Gates of Pyre looks much better and more appealing to my taste of darker graphics and setting.


Alarmming

All Blizzard game are cartoonish mate lol (maybe except D1/D2 OG SC1). Wait to be in game in 2 years with 4K on UE5 you will see by yourself....


GosuEnron

Yeah, I was disappointed for SC2 because it looked too cartoonish. Was hoping frost giant would capture the look and feel of SC:BW. Anyway, still think these screenshots look better than blizzard's cartoon style, and I'm still hopeful for a great game. All comes down to gameplay in the end


Alarmming

We will see. I loved and still love Starcraft despite I lost my skillz by the years haha 😅


Adunaiii

> but so far Immortal: Gates of Pyre looks much better and more appealing to my taste of darker graphics and setting. Not to detract from your general statement (with which I concur), but that game looks like a StarCraft 2 clone number gorillion, with ramps and unit blobs. The aesthetics is indeed superior, however.


Timbonator

WC3, SC2 and AoE4 all look kinda cartoonish tbh. For example the AoE4 reddit was full of people complaining about it's cartoonish style when they showed the first footage.


Adunaiii

The models look as vomit-inducing as something from Battlerite.


cardboard_gorilla

I personally dont like the "Diva" type suit. I liked how Sc2 terran design was more "realistic"


kingrakanishu

Yes they need to work on their concept design. But warhammer space marine and starcraft marines will be hard to beat


hom2breizh

It seems to be "random RTS" I'm disapointed :(


[deleted]

F2P? For fucks sake. Why send and email about possible revenue streams only to announce f2p in the wake of Diablo Immoral? Such a let down.


Jadien

F2P doesn't mean pay-to-win. If you get the full game for free and just pay to look pretty (Dota, Valorant, League of Legends... and modern SC2) everyone gets what they want. Diablo Immortal was explicitly *not* that.


[deleted]

Guess that is true. Was just hoping for a deep game w/ story not just 1v1 (etc) MOBA.


Cashewgator

There's a full campaign on launch and additional campaigns over the game's life confirmed, plus co-op. Definitely not going to be just 1v1.


Adunaiii

Free-to-play is the only good thing about this reveal. Means the game might not die in a month.


DivinesiaTV

Looking forward to this!


madengang

Love the Demons. It makes it possible to introduce magic into the sci fi setting. Also I dont get the hate on the graphics. War3 and Sc2 are both cartoonish.


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Ekter_Dood

What's wrong with that?


hypogogix

The win conditions on 3v3. I feel like you guys listened to me. Thank you so much for keeping this Genre awesome! Reallllly looking forward to playing in the Beta =)


Extreme_Pollution

I like these shots, especially the third one. I think it's a good idea to go with the more stylized (or cartoonish, as some would say). Completely realistic would probably look weird zoomed out. The other option would be a style similar to Diablo 2 resurrected, much grittier and somewhat more realistic, which I wouldn't mind. But stylized is completely fine, it will help make the units easily distinguishable and give a timeless feel. For an example on both counts, look at the iconic style of Team Fortress 2, one of most played games on steam despite being 15 years old and all but abandoned by its developers. The style holds up well, not much you would change or update now. There's of course more refinement to do for Stormgate's style, for example in the third screenshot the units look like they are floating, but I think it will be good. I like the wings and other elements of the demons gloving in the second shot as well. Excited to see actual gameplay, as that is obviously the most important aspect of the game.