Rendering a 2.5D game

General Discussions
#1

Greetings all!

I have been developing a few simple 2D games in java and have now decided to start a new project. I’m aiming for a midway between 2D and 3D. By that i mean that the game world will technically be in 3 dimensions, though only containing flat sprites.
To explain what I’m trying to say, I have made a simple sketch:

(Sorry for my horrible graphical skills :wink: )
The gameworld will be seen from birds-eye view and the camera-angle will be fixed. The idea is that there are no models(only sprites), since they will be seen from one angle only. A game called “Don’t starve” contains a graphical idea somewhat similar.

I’m wondering how to achieve a such perspective and how the rendering would be done? Are there any libraries that would be well suited for such a game?
Any help regarding this matter will be greatly aprecieated. Thank you!

#2

The term you’re looking for is isometric and there are a few different ways to achieve the effect depending on the look you want to achieve. Try giving this thread a read over for some of the basics. This article also touches on a lot of the concepts and issues with isometric engines. A Google search for “2D isometric rendering” will bring up a nice selection of results to get you started as well. :slight_smile:

#3

Thank you sir!
I looked in to isometric rendering and found that it is not entirely what i’m looking for.
I’m trying to make it so that the items on the screen are scaled down based on the distance from the camera.
Kind of like i tried to show it in the image, where the top is less wide than the buttom. The goal is to project the image in such a way that it gives off the illusion that the parralel lines will meet.

#4

Ah, hadn’t caught that from your post. For standard perspective projections, you’re looking at using a “true” 3D calculations. Should still be doable with sprites as opposed to full models, but somebody more experienced with 3D will have to fill in the blanks. My knowledge in that area is quite limited. :persecutioncomplex:

#5

I think you are looking for something similar to the mode 7

#6

you could use a normal 3d world, but make the objects as flat polygons rather than fully solid models.

#7

Aww, I was getting all excited because I thought this was a thread talking about Pseudo-3D first-person renderers. I was going to type up a huge rant on why they are so fun to work on and everything. :frowning:

  • Jev
#8

technically its dimetric.

#9

You can do this in 2D, but it’s very tricky if you also want perspective. You have to calculate the corners of each tile in 3D space then distort the tile images to fit their polygons. I have done this, but it’s not at all easy! You’ll get artifacts and all sorts of problems with matching up tile edges.
Practically, it’s simpler to use a 3D engine with a fixed y-angle and render the characters as billboards than it is to try and emulate this in 2D.