2d stands the test of time for anyone with a modicum of good taste, 3d on the other hand, depreciates very fast as it ages in terms of aesthetics.
There is just no context, 2d isometric rpgs will invariably look better as long as the quality of the art is good.
False, especially now.
Good graphics relies on using its assets well across the board instead of a bunch of cheap tricks, so it almost always ages gracefully, 2D or 3D.
Good graphics concentrates on what it shows, bad graphics concentrates on how it's done, hence bad graphics starts looking awful the moment the tricks it used go stale, good graphics remains impressive as long as the sights it tried to portray remain impressive - potentially forever.
Now, it's true that there was a long period when 2D graphics pretty much invariably implied much higher level of detail across the screen because 2D matured faster. OTOH 3D graphics has looked better in motion pretty much since its inception.
2D allows the artist control of every single pixel of every animation.
It also forces the artist to control every single pixel of animation.
Even if you "cheat" by using prerendered models and anims you still have narrow set of predefined frames, with no parametrization or ability to interpolate in a meaningful manner (at best you can blend them into each other but it's shit and it's oblivious to what the animation actually tries to portray).
These days, most of the visuals have lost all distinction. There are a set number of methods for doing smoke and fire effects, the ice spell has the transparency radius because alpha blending is a standard feature, everything just looks the same.
That's because artists are lazy and/or shit. See the original Witcher or Unreal for an example of 3D grafics with distinct style to it and its effects.
You don't settle for the next best thing, worry about overall polygon counts in the scene - no, you just draw.
Except you don't. The more you want to do with your scene the more distinct bitmaps you have to manipulate and blend.
It's always been about the tradeoff between prettiness and flexibility.
And what remains hilarious, is that with 2D games corpses were always cheap. Yet even in 2014, in 3D games corpses still aren't cheap, and it's still normal practice to make them disappear quickly.
Corpses are currently very expensive, because of stuff like physics.
OTOH in a 3D game you don't have to cope with neatly ordered corpses, each laying in exact same way regardless of the context.
You can even stand atop of actual pile of bodies with your massive 2h sword, looking manly.
You mean like interactive walls and ground?
Brick diplomacy increased.
Brick diplomacy is gud.
Never underestimate the power of a bunch of marksmen perched on top of brick wall like the one in that screenshot. Can you do that in PoE? No.
Throwing bricks can also be surprisingly effective, come to think of it. So can the age-old persuasion technique involving a brick in a sock.
2D is also more cost and time effective:
Hello. I remember reading, probably way back in 2012 (I can't find the source) that the technique that was used in PoE for the graphics (2d images) would allow for a higher volume of content to be developed more quickly. In practice was that really the case? Do you feel that this particular technique that you and your team chose to employ proved more effective than whatever you could otherwise do in 3d? Have you learned ways to further optimize the process? Forgive my lack of technical knowledge
Josh Sawyer: Very much so. For most of the project we’ve had 4 environment artists. There is no way we could have made a game of PoE’s size and detail in 3D from scratch with those resources in the same amount of time. Even so, we learned a lot over the course of development (about Maya and Mental Ray) and our environment building and render times are now much, much faster. When we are able to start working on the expansion, I think the artists are going to produce some really amazing environments.
End of rine.
Meanwhile at
:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Joel.../Skyrims_Modular_Approach_to_Level_Design.php
Pretty much the entirety of Skyrim was made by a team of 10 - including both asset artists and mappers/designers.
Bitch as much as you want about dungeons' linearity (which is a valid complaint, but not very relevant here) but they did a pretty good job making the areas distinct, recognizable and, yes, pretty.
Do note that we are speaking of areas themselves here, not mechanics or encounter variety.
Is PoE larger than 0.3-0.5 of Skyrim? Because if it isn't then no, it's not more effective.
