Ovaj Video zapis predstavlja intervju odradjen sa Lead Level Designer McCree, gde on oposuje posao koji je morao da uradi oko Goblin i Worgen startnih zona. Uz video zapis možete pročitati i sam transkript intervjua.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Hi there, I'm Rob Simpson from the Blizzard e-Sports Team and today joining me I have Jesse McCree, the lead level designer for World of Warcraft.
Rob Simpson: So I know that you did a lot of work on the goblin and worgen starting areas, so what were some of the challenges you faced in integrating the goblin and worgen starting areas in this already pre-existing world?
Jesse McCree: The goblin and worgen were both pre-existing races, but they had never had a full treatment done. There were goblin around the world and they had a different style of architecture. We wanted to make a new set of architecture that would make them stand out given their own personality, and the same for the worgen. We needed to build an entire culture to kind of base their starting areas around, and we wanted to integrate those two types into the old world wherever they set up a new town. You would be able to tell from a distance "this is the new worgen", and when you see the new goblin building, ou can identify what you're walking toward or what you're in when you're there.
Some other challenges were making those areas *fit* into the world -- previously Gilneas didn't actually exist, so we had to build that.
Rob Simpson: So in terms of having literal space, or feeling like it belongs there?
Jesse McCree: Both. We wanted to make sure that it kind of blended in. We built Gilneas in the physical space off the coast of Silverpine, and we integrated some of that new architecture that we built for them and some of the style into that zone so they transition nicely.
Rob Simpson: Right, so you kind of have that consistent feeling from going from Gilneas into Silverpine.
Jesse McCree: Right, and the same thing with Azshara. When the goblins get there, we wanted it to feel like this is now their land, they have a purpose there, and it's now identifiable as a goblin zone. We did a lot of changes to Azshara to make them fit.
Rob Simpson: How did you approach each race in each design phase? What were some of the things that might have stood out, or what were some of the details that might have been parallel or consistent with each other throughout these zones?
Jesse McCree: First we had to pick which races we wanted to do. We looked at a lot of options for what races we could do, and these two were very strong. They have a lot of character and personality, and we thought they would be really fun to play.
Rob Simpson: So what are some of the major differences that the goblin and worgen areas have that pre-existing areas may not have in the World of Warcraft original release?
Jesse McCree: Players who are playing those races are probably experience players, so we don't do as much hand-holding as we do in some of the early levels in some of the other races, so we're able to make some new and interesting quests.
Rob Simpson: And that also means that you can kind of do a little more advanced things?
Jesse McCree: Yeah, those areas are definitely a little more advanced than some of the early zones.
Some of the other things we're doing in the starting area for goblin and worgen is that we're using new technology for terrain phasing. It kind of started with the Death Knight area that we made for Wrath of the Lich King.
Rob Simpson: Which was glorious.
Jesse McCree: Right. We didn't have a real terrain phasing system, but now we can kind of take the terrain, reshape it, and kind of load it in when the player's not looking, and he'll see something totally different than what was there before. So now we're able to make a volcano erupt and show the effects of that, or we also do a part where there's an earthquake in the worgen starting area and several buildings and a big chunk of land fall into the ocean. We tie quests into that, so when those things have happened, you get something new and interesting to do.
Rob Simpson: So how were the stories of the goblin and worgen races integrated into the actual level design of their areas?
Jesse McCree: To integrate the goblin, we wanted to touch a lot on their personalities. They're reckless, they're dangerous, they'll build things with total disregard for the environment. They're primarily driven by their desire to just invent and destroy at any cost.
And the worgen, their personality is a lot different. We tried to pull in some of the druidic aspects. Because they're tied so heavily with the night elves, we wanted to show their effect in the terrain was more about that.
Rob Simpson: Alright, so Jesse McCree, thank you very much for joining us, and again, thank you to all of you at home for unlocking this very exclusive interview with the lead level designer for World of Warcraft. We'll see you in Cataclysm.
Rob Simpson: So I know that you did a lot of work on the goblin and worgen starting areas, so what were some of the challenges you faced in integrating the goblin and worgen starting areas in this already pre-existing world?
Jesse McCree: The goblin and worgen were both pre-existing races, but they had never had a full treatment done. There were goblin around the world and they had a different style of architecture. We wanted to make a new set of architecture that would make them stand out given their own personality, and the same for the worgen. We needed to build an entire culture to kind of base their starting areas around, and we wanted to integrate those two types into the old world wherever they set up a new town. You would be able to tell from a distance "this is the new worgen", and when you see the new goblin building, ou can identify what you're walking toward or what you're in when you're there.
Some other challenges were making those areas *fit* into the world -- previously Gilneas didn't actually exist, so we had to build that.
Rob Simpson: So in terms of having literal space, or feeling like it belongs there?
Jesse McCree: Both. We wanted to make sure that it kind of blended in. We built Gilneas in the physical space off the coast of Silverpine, and we integrated some of that new architecture that we built for them and some of the style into that zone so they transition nicely.
Rob Simpson: Right, so you kind of have that consistent feeling from going from Gilneas into Silverpine.
Jesse McCree: Right, and the same thing with Azshara. When the goblins get there, we wanted it to feel like this is now their land, they have a purpose there, and it's now identifiable as a goblin zone. We did a lot of changes to Azshara to make them fit.
Rob Simpson: How did you approach each race in each design phase? What were some of the things that might have stood out, or what were some of the details that might have been parallel or consistent with each other throughout these zones?
Jesse McCree: First we had to pick which races we wanted to do. We looked at a lot of options for what races we could do, and these two were very strong. They have a lot of character and personality, and we thought they would be really fun to play.
Rob Simpson: So what are some of the major differences that the goblin and worgen areas have that pre-existing areas may not have in the World of Warcraft original release?
Jesse McCree: Players who are playing those races are probably experience players, so we don't do as much hand-holding as we do in some of the early levels in some of the other races, so we're able to make some new and interesting quests.
Rob Simpson: And that also means that you can kind of do a little more advanced things?
Jesse McCree: Yeah, those areas are definitely a little more advanced than some of the early zones.
Some of the other things we're doing in the starting area for goblin and worgen is that we're using new technology for terrain phasing. It kind of started with the Death Knight area that we made for Wrath of the Lich King.
Rob Simpson: Which was glorious.
Jesse McCree: Right. We didn't have a real terrain phasing system, but now we can kind of take the terrain, reshape it, and kind of load it in when the player's not looking, and he'll see something totally different than what was there before. So now we're able to make a volcano erupt and show the effects of that, or we also do a part where there's an earthquake in the worgen starting area and several buildings and a big chunk of land fall into the ocean. We tie quests into that, so when those things have happened, you get something new and interesting to do.
Rob Simpson: So how were the stories of the goblin and worgen races integrated into the actual level design of their areas?
Jesse McCree: To integrate the goblin, we wanted to touch a lot on their personalities. They're reckless, they're dangerous, they'll build things with total disregard for the environment. They're primarily driven by their desire to just invent and destroy at any cost.
And the worgen, their personality is a lot different. We tried to pull in some of the druidic aspects. Because they're tied so heavily with the night elves, we wanted to show their effect in the terrain was more about that.
Rob Simpson: Alright, so Jesse McCree, thank you very much for joining us, and again, thank you to all of you at home for unlocking this very exclusive interview with the lead level designer for World of Warcraft. We'll see you in Cataclysm.
