2.5D?
Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/2.5D?
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| How does RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 make it look kind of 3D and kind 2D? It looks flat but the people look like they actually go up like in 3D. |
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| Technically speaking it is 3D because objects will have x,y,z cooridnates but it is not rendered like 3d games (ie. made up of triangles). I think it's called isometric. You just find the x and y coordinates on screen and then move it up based on the objects (sprites) height. |
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| Rollercoaster Tycoon is simply isometric. Search for "isometric" graphics on Google for examples. |
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| Is it any easier to use isometric than actually 3D people? |
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| I would say isometric is much harder than using straight 3D graphics. Things is, because the graphics are pre-rendered they can look much more detailed. |
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| I agree with jhocking. Getting isometric to *look* right, and developing a system to draw them in the right order can be a pain. I find 3D easier to deal with (mainly due to the ease of use of 3D in Blitz3D!). |
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| Drawing iso characters in the right order shouldn't be too hard. Just draw them in z-order i.e. draw objects furthest from the 'screen' first. |
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| Here's an interesting bit of info on the subject that I found... Two ways to play with this: 1) CameraZoom -- tinker with the settings and you'll get closer to what looks like an iso view while still retaining all b3d's 3d functionality. 2) CameraProjMode -- set it to 2 and you've got a proper iso perspective -- but you lose a bit of functionality. Blitz terrains, for one, become unusable. |
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| Drawing iso characters in the right order shouldn't be too hard. Just draw them in z-order i.e. draw objects furthest from the 'screen' first. I don't think displaying the isometric graphics is particularly hard. What's hard is creating the graphics in the first place. |
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| Agreed. Unless you're good at pixel art, creating characters plus animations in different directions is difficult. I use Poser to create 3D anims and then render in different directions. For background objects I have World Creator |
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| Drawing iso characters in the right order shouldn't be too hard. I don't think displaying the isometric graphics is particularly hard. Agreed, although it can be a pain if you've not tackled it before. Most people around here wouldn't have problems drawing objects in "Z order", but for a beginner this can be daunting. I assumed Adren Software were a beginner of sorts, because they didn't even know the term "isometric". This type of game has been around since at least "Ant Attack" on the Spectrum in 1983! |
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| OK I guess I won't do iso then because people have said it is harder than 3D. I though it would be easier because a lot of games start out with iso then go to 3D. |
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| Iso is easier on the computer, not on the developers. |
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| "OK I guess I won't do iso then because people have said it is harder than 3D. I though it would be easier because a lot of games start out with iso then go to 3D." Well, a lot of games started out as iso ismply because 3D wasn't really available :D To be honest, if you want to advance as a programmer then you should try iso. For the programmer, the main problem is the z-ordering. Sorting objects is a skill that ANY good programmer should be able to do and learning it will be incredibly beneficial to you. Of course if the graphics are going to be a problem then maybe you should steer away but you should never avoid something because it "looks too hard", the only time you should avoid something is if it is actually impossible, otherwise you're not really going to get any better at programming. If you do choose to use isometric and get stuck then people around here will gladly help, including myself, as long as you actually give it a go. I mean don't just ask someone to write an iso engine for you :p |
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| I so do not agree. Sure, he probably should try his hand at isometric rendering eventually. But for a beginner, you should start with something easy, and work your way up to harder projects. |
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