I'm not sure if this has been brought up before in the community (I tried looking in this section of the forums with the search function and didn't turn up anything), but I think there may be some symbolism to the South Korean flag with a Void Seeker pic conceptualized by Samwise.
You'll find the black 'dash marks' of the flag near the 'front' of the 'green energy pool' of the image (where the two ends of the 'wings' meet to form the long, narrow gap at the front end of the ship).
It also turns out it's in the rendering of the in-game model, albeit from a different orientation, if I'm not mistaken.
For a quick comparison, here's the South Korean flag:
If this is old news, sorry that I'm so far behind on it. Still an interesting little tidbit of design.
On January 09 2012 09:45 spacebob42 wrote: That is really cool! It took me a while to see it, but once I did, I realized you're absolutely right!
How did you notice that?
I have it as a desktop wallpaper, and found myself blankly staring at it for a good long while, and it struck me like a thundering 'derp'. And yes, my mind was blown at that moment.
On January 09 2012 11:38 Dilheisha wrote: At first i was like ... what does he smokes.... then 2 or 3 min later... how the hell did he find that ... I'm blown away !
Yeah i actually had to wait a few hours and then come back to this thread lol.
I'm surprised the Koreans apparently never noticed this either (of course for most Westerners this is something they hardly could be expected to realize).
No way that that is coincedence since as just normal random marks, they're way too irregular. Also they're positioned perfectly, really nice. Only thing that's missing is the circle.
In an interview Blizzard did for the GSL about HotS, they showed this exact example when the Blizzard team said they went to Korea to get some inspiration for Wings of Liberty.
On January 09 2012 21:42 Nefariously wrote: In an interview Blizzard did for the GSL about HotS, they showed this exact example when the Blizzard team said they went to Korea to get some inspiration for Wings of Liberty.
You see? I knew it would have had to have been pointed out before at some point. I never did see the interview, however. Links please?
On January 10 2012 00:12 Brian333 wrote: Eh, I don't think it's as shallow as being an "homage" to South Korea... or at least I hope so. The markings actually originate from this:
Oh, there's no denying their actual origins, but the orientation of the markings on the drawing are exactly as the flag depicts, which can't be a coincidence.
hehe well i guess they wanted some mythical look on the void seeker, and decided for the old school water fire etc. And by doublechecking, they found it neat to use the same order as the korean flag. Always nice to find these lil easter eggs. Congrats on this one
Btw for those who don't know, those aren't just random symbols that are in SK's flag. They have mythology/fantasy whatever background to them. Each one symbolizes like a shield or protective barrier against 4 elements, with SK being in the middle of the 4 barriers.
they have several different meanings (a bit like a ying and yang made out of four pieces)...my friend a korean always gets them wrong...and his gf corrects that...one of the several meanings are sky moon earth sun, another one is nord east south west...
On January 09 2012 11:38 Dilheisha wrote: At first i was like ... what does he smokes.... then 2 or 3 min later... how the hell did he find that ... I'm blown away !
Yeah i actually had to wait a few hours and then come back to this thread lol.
Exact same with me haha. Wow, how did the OP notice this?
On January 10 2012 07:26 Yoshi Kirishima wrote: LOL very nice observation!
Btw for those who don't know, those aren't just random symbols that are in SK's flag. They have mythology/fantasy whatever background to them. Each one symbolizes like a shield or protective barrier against 4 elements, with SK being in the middle of the 4 barriers.
you can look up these symbols if you own a copy of the I-ching (an online copy is available Here)
On January 13 2012 02:19 TheToast wrote: Good catch.
Not the first inclusion of the Korean flag in a Blizz game, WC3 TFT had a map called "Korea" which was actually the South Korean flag.
Ah but such an obvious reference is meant to make the savvy loremaster complacent, for if you were to search VERY carefully, you'd find the faint sillhouette of the Void Seeker somewheres on the map, a subtle hint as to what was to come for SCII before it hit shelves!
....there's an Xzibit meme to be had here, I just know it.
On January 12 2012 19:16 Sakray wrote: I see absolutely nothing :/
See the markings in the middle of the ship in the first picture, the end of the two prongs at the front
Let me help you out, as well as anyone else who just can't see it:
I didn't see it at first then I looked at the flag, then looked back again, and also had a "well derp" moment. But yeah, the above picture helps as well.
The 'dash marks' on the South Korean flag - and the ship - are each three-line arrangements called trigrams.
The trigrams represent one of the oldest symbolic vocabularies in human history.
The three-line trigrams stack in different combinations into hexagrams, the full set of hexagrams forming the I-Ching, which is an ancient oracle still in use in the present day.
Didn't read the whole thread so can't say if this is already mentioned - and this subject gets deep so this is the barest outline of what the symbols are all about.
For awhile I thought you were talking about the obvious black hashes on the right side, like you were trying to say the ship itself was a flag, and I thought you were crazy. Then I finally looked at the other side and I saw it. You should specify left side so everyone knows what you mean.
On January 13 2012 21:44 Chaggi wrote: I looked at it, thought you were on drugs, looked at it again, thought I was on drugs since everyone said they saw it...
then I saw it
and it was good
I know how you feel. When I first saw this post with only a couple of replies I thought this guy was just fucking with us so I ignored it. I came back later and saw all the positive replies and was like huh?
Haha! So cool. At first I was like what the frick? Then I scrolled down to see if I was getting trolled and hadn't realised, wasn't so scrolled back up and saw it straight away .
You guys do know the symbols are representative of the elements and DOESN'T have to be an homage right? I do think its pretty cool to notice little details like that, but I don't think its a direct homage. More just sneaky symbolism
On January 09 2012 09:45 spacebob42 wrote: That is really cool! It took me a while to see it, but once I did, I realized you're absolutely right!
How did you notice that?
I have it as a desktop wallpaper, and found myself blankly staring at it for a good long while, and it struck me like a thundering 'derp'. And yes, my mind was blown at that moment.
Like a thundering derp. Greatest phrase ever.
I see the resemblance... but I'm tempted to say its coincidental. Blizzard doesn't make their homages that subtle I feel.
it is already confirmed that this was intentional. I knew about this for almost half a year now. This was mentioned in one of the earliest interviews regarding HOTS and balance issues in the games about how it was a tribute to Korea.
On February 06 2012 16:07 Crisco wrote: it is already confirmed that this was intentional. I knew about this for almost half a year now. This was mentioned in one of the earliest interviews regarding HOTS and balance issues in the games about how it was a tribute to Korea.
So I can conjecture two bits from this:
1. It was no coincidence.
2. Apparently the vast majority of folks, including myself, haven't the patience or insight to find this interview anywheres.
The best I did was type 'Void Seeker South Korea flag" into several search engines with no results, which is why I thought I came across something never pointed out.
I remember seeing this thread a while ago, and I couldn't see the black symbols for the life of me. Now I see them, and I think it's an obvious intention! Nice little Easter Egg there!
Hello guys I am a korean who was searching something fun for from google.
And I just made an account for this reply.
The first one I say is this easter egg is true.
The second one is that I am so surprised of that no one of united state guys didn't Know about this easter egg before this thread hahaha Most of korean sc2 users already know it..! Omg hahaha
On February 09 2012 19:04 Sinabro wrote: Hello guys I am a korean who was searching something fun for from google.
And I just made an account for this reply.
The first one I say is this easter egg is true.
The second one is that I am so surprised of that no one of united state guys didn't Know about this easter egg before this thread hahaha Most of korean sc2 users already know it..! Omg hahaha
Where the Korean flag is a fixture in your daily lives, I'd sure as hell hope that you've noticed this before a citizen of another nation.
On February 07 2012 11:49 Zandar wrote: The moment I saw that void seeker I thought that it was such an unoriginal design. It has the exact shape of a mass effect relay.
The fuck, how could I not see that? lol I feel so embarrased right now >.>
On January 10 2012 10:14 gentlemenshadow wrote: honestly, i would not be suprised if blizz did it as a joke, but it doesn't look anything like it
Look at the stripes toward the left of center on the void seeker. The four hash marks are exactly those found on the Korean flag, even in the same positions. It is definitely intentional, albeit subtle.
On February 10 2012 04:41 Sinabro wrote: I don't get it exactly what you are talkimg to me mr someone who made comment on me.. I am not good at english
I even don't know how to make comment on another one so I write here.
I mean i just surprised that you guys ever not noticed this before.. And.. Trolling? Does it mean teasing? I am not teasing you about it.
Anyway you can simply find this secret if you search with some keyword on korean web site.
On February 07 2012 11:49 Zandar wrote: The moment I saw that void seeker I thought that it was such an unoriginal design. It has the exact shape of a mass effect relay.
It's hard to say if it's Blizzard, BioWare or none of them being unoriginal since the Star Relic design has been around since at least mid 2007 which was before the release of Mass Effect...
On February 16 2012 16:39 Ganseng wrote: very nice find. now i know why protoss are so op seriously, look at void seeker's stats, it has like 1000 dps =)
hahaha good1. i think it's blizzard's way to pay tribute to the value of s.korea for the starcraft/warcraft franchise. or maybe the graphics guy who designed the modell did it by himself. i doubt that it is a coincidence though. either way funny easteregg. i'm always amazed on how much people focus on details
On February 16 2012 16:39 Ganseng wrote: very nice find. now i know why protoss are so op seriously, look at void seeker's stats, it has like 1000 dps =)
but only 400 HP, so mutalisks would still kill it
wat When's the void seeker ever done anything? Doesn't it just carry Zerathul around in the campaign?
On March 16 2012 15:55 Sufficiency wrote: This is way too far-fetched.
It's not, he is referring the the pattern of lines on the VS which is very similar (exactly the same) as the Korean flag. I wouldn't be so skeptical of Blizzard for implementing something like this, considering how successful they have been there.
On March 16 2012 15:55 Sufficiency wrote: This is way too far-fetched.
It's not, he is referring the the pattern of lines on the VS which is very similar (exactly the same) as the Korean flag. I wouldn't be so skeptical of Blizzard for implementing something like this, considering how successful they have been there.
I think calling it an homage is a bit far fetched considering those markings have actual real meanings.
South Korea was essencial for the huge sucess of Starcraft. Without it, Starcraft would be another great single player gaming experience from Blizzard. If we have Esports it's mainly because they transformed SC in a sport.
This is just a small detail that shows that Blizzard is aware of South Korea's role in their sucess in video gaming worldwide. Very cool.
For those of you who still do not see it, and as it took some time for me to see it myself, I circled the relevant markings in paint, as you will see, the pattern of the markings are identical and follow the same ordering as on the SK flag: