To be honest, there's no consensus on how Orcs are portrayed across different settings.
In Warcraft and The Elder Scrolls, they're just typical green brutes.
In Warhammer, they look like the Orcs mentioned above, but they're actually fungi (!).
Tolkien's (i.e., the original) Orcs are creations of Melkor, corrupted elves twisted by dark magic, as Melkor himself couldn't create anything. They are also goblins. "They (were or are) short, broad, with flat noses, yellowish skin, wide mouths, and slanted eyes," meaning they're definitely not green.
In Might & Magic (before the Ubisoft games), they're half-human, half-boar, characterized by their pig-like snouts. This image was very popular with the Japanese, and I constantly see it in anime and manga now.
So, overall, they're depicted differently, and there's no reason to stick to the Warcraft image; it's not canon. In Ashan, as already mentioned, they're half-human, half-demon... In this regard, it makes sense to depict something transitional – and the red (celestial) upgrade in the original castle fits perfectly, something with spikes, clearly touched by chaos, but not as grotesque as Urgash's creatures. The other upgrades can also be explained, considering both the ongoing transformation and the original description of Orcs by Tolkien, which is surprisingly accurate.
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And why are the Warhammer Orcs fungi?
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I present to you my first texture mod.
Huge thanks to zahar0z for developing the file organization structure, to L'Garold for LAA, and to Griffin Eternal HD for his textures.
(In some cases, my knowledge of upscaling wasn't enough, and his work was used as a basis for future textures, in particular this one).
I also can't fail to mention black-hat and his mod for "uncanning" the Inquisitor from a tin can. In my opinion, the bald head looks better.
Special thanks to psatkha for the guide on creating icons.
What was done?
- Textures of all units in the game, as well as default heroes, were upscaled to 2048x2048.
- All textures were repainted manually.
- The faces of the units were honestly "stolen" from a well-known MMORPG based on another well-known series of strategy games.
- The camera angle was changed on the creature hiring screen for some units.
- The Orcs are now green; I don't know if others like it, but it's important to me.
- The hero's color scheme changes depending on the player's color; the changes affect not only the flag.
What is planned?
First of all, I plan to do similar manipulations with the campaign heroes. Then, I will move on to static objects and landscapes.
Screenshots