I feel the top down does not do the game enough justice
it should be changed to 2d/3d iso-metric
and not sticking to an old style as it is lack luster i feel.
But the games mechanics are breathtaking!
I know what you mean. I'm a big fan of isometric, too.
However, I went with the pure 2D top-down perspective for a few reasons:
1 - Less artwork to make. Isometric means I have to draw not just the top, but at least two sides per object. And ideally, 4 sides so each is unique. Modders would have to do this, too.
2 - Isometric has to deal with occlusion issues (e.g. when a wall is blocking player's view of an object).
3 - Isometric has a bit more draw-order/rendering stuff to solve vs. top-down.
4 - The real-time lighting I'm using wouldn't work in isometric. I'd have to switch to 3D lighting, which means a completely different approach, and more costly, resulting in probably much fewer lights per scene.
It was a tough trade-off, but I ultimately went with this approach. I think with the right content and enough polish, it'll still look pretty good when done!
I know what you mean. I'm a big fan of isometric, too.
However, I went with the pure 2D top-down perspective for a few reasons:
1 - Less artwork to make. Isometric means I have to draw not just the top, but at least two sides per object. And ideally, 4 sides so each is unique. Modders would have to do this, too.
2 - Isometric has to deal with occlusion issues (e.g. when a wall is blocking player's view of an object).
3 - Isometric has a bit more draw-order/rendering stuff to solve vs. top-down.
4 - The real-time lighting I'm using wouldn't work in isometric. I'd have to switch to 3D lighting, which means a completely different approach, and more costly, resulting in probably much fewer lights per scene.
It was a tough trade-off, but I ultimately went with this approach. I think with the right content and enough polish, it'll still look pretty good when done!
Dan Fedor - Founder, Blue Bottle Games
I hope so too