We have two interviews with Samwise Didier, Senior Art Director for StarCraft 2.
The first interview is from the Leipzig Games Convention, where GGL Wire caught Sam for a chat.



Here are the interview highlights:

• Each unit added to the game brings about a process of balance decisions, concerning the new unit, the old ones already present, and the interactions between them.
• The Protoss were the first race to be developed and exhibited because Blizzard wanted to show off their new engine using the shiny Protoss units and their particle effects.

• The Zerg are last to be developed because they’re the most “wacky” race which Blizzard wants to have the most time to work on.
• The Zerg race has been completed and demoed internally, but is now being remade. Blizzard won’t stop until it’s perfect!
• The single player game will feel a lot like an RPG (role playing game). The Protoss and Zerg campaigns will play similarly to the Terran campaign that Blizzard has already exhibited, but will be overall unique. Decisions made by the player will actually be important and change the course of the game, adding to the replayability factor.
• A beta is going to be released to perfect the balance.

The second interview, also from the Leipzig gaming convention, shows a more excited Sam, and is worth watching for his Orc impression alone. Brought to you by Gamona.
Click here to see the Video.

Highlights:

• Sam talks about the updates Blizzard has given to old, returning units and the process they go through when designing them.
• New StarCraft 2 units were inspired by books, comic books and movies. Blizzard takes inspiration from anywhere.
• Blizzard employees are all gamers!
• Sam’s favorite Street Fighter character is Blanka.
• The StarCraft 2 story takes place 4 years after the events of Brood War.

From the Starcraft 2 Blog.