An Isometric game engine

[DarkSign]

Not sure how many of you game makers have seen the Coldstone engine from Amrbrosia. I primarily bring it up simply because its geared to be isometric - the love of the Codex Hivemind tm.

Enjoy.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I saw that, but a) it has some serious bugs and b) it's for PowerPC Only. Otherwise, it looks lovely.

 

[EEVIAC]

I think 2D isometric is pretty much dead. 3D has gotten to the stage where it can look just as good as 2D and it's more versatile. That said, I've spent the last week playing GBA games like Metroid, Castlevania, Advance Wars and FFTA.

 

[obediah]

I think 2D isometric is pretty much dead. 3D has gotten to the stage where it can look just as good as 2D and it's more versatile. That said, I've spent the last week playing GBA games like Metroid, Castlevania, Advance Wars and FFTA.

I think you may be right - even this grumpy old curmudgeon has gotten used to being able to swing the camera around at will. I don't think anyone can fail to see the potential 3D brings with it, especially when used to innovate gameplay rather than drive marketing. Not that the push for 3D didn't do damage to the game industry, but I think that's pretty much history now. Hell, "Our new RPG must be 3D to secure funding" doesn't even cause a blip on my blood pressure anymore, especially compared to everything else that is wrong with the game industry today.

 

[Deacdo]

What bugged me about that is with 3D games that look uglier than 2D games and aren't any more functional. You get all the disadvantages of those and one neat package. Thank you NWN!

 

[Deacdo]

What bugged me about that is with 3D games that look uglier than 2D games and aren't any more functional. You get all the disadvantages of both in one neat package. Thank you NWN!

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

That said, I've spent the last week playing GBA games like Metroid, Castlevania, Advance Wars and FFTA.

As coincidence would have it, so have I. I've actually been playing almost all 2D Castlevania and Metroid titles because I find them very engaging. Their gameplay shines trough despite its use of 2D being considered outdated. But this, I think, tends to happen because 3D is for the most part fairly new: developers have the basic concept and haven't really went beyond it. On the other hand, I suspect something like Metroid's gameplay shines trough wheter in 2D and 3D (which is why, surprisingly I find myself considering buying a Gamecube just for the Metroid games alone; and maybe some others, but Metroid to start with).

 

[kingcomrade]

I'm telling you guys, platformers are the most fun games out there. Long live 2d! Hell, even 3d platformers are a lot more fun than most games out there.

 

[LlamaGod]

I like everything except first person and top-down.

 

[Section8]

Long live 2d! Hell, even 3d platformers are a lot more fun than most games out there.

Real men don't touch 3D platformers. 2D Platformers are one of the greatest forms of action game. If a player fails in a 2D platformer, it's because they fucked up. Pure and simple. In a 3D platformer, it's more likely that the camera has done something irritating, or the player has made a perfectly forgivable mistake of depth perception.

I still have my Amiga and SNES set up for the sole purpose of 2D platforming. I think the only 3D platformer I even half enjoyed was "Glover" and that was only because it was utterly random, and brought back memories of Marble Madness.