Isometric Projection in Game Development
Isometric projection is vital in game development, offering a unique visual style with 120-degree angles. It contrasts with orthographic and perspective projections, enabling both retro and modern games to simulate 3D environments.
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Isometric projection is a crucial concept in game development, particularly for creating visually engaging 3D environments on 2D screens. This article discusses the fundamentals of isometric projection, contrasting it with orthographic and perspective projections. While orthographic projection ignores depth, perspective projection mimics human visual perception by scaling objects based on their distance. Isometric projection, however, maintains equal angles of 120 degrees between the x, y, and z axes, allowing for a unique visual style that has become popular in retro games like SimCity 2000 and modern titles like League of Legends. The article also highlights that many so-called isometric games do not strictly adhere to true isometric angles, often using a 2:1 pixel ratio for practical rendering benefits. This simplification was particularly advantageous for older hardware, enabling smoother graphics without complex calculations. The author emphasizes that while many classic isometric games utilized 2D tiles to create a 3D illusion, modern games can achieve true 3D isometric views through careful camera positioning. The article concludes with a brief coding example using JavaScript and the P5.js library to create a simple isometric tile map, illustrating the practical application of these concepts in game development.
- Isometric projection features equal angles of 120 degrees between axes, creating a distinct visual style.
- Many retro isometric games used 2D tiles to simulate 3D environments due to hardware limitations.
- Modern isometric games can utilize true 3D graphics while maintaining an isometric perspective.
- A 2:1 pixel ratio is often used in isometric games for easier rendering and calculations.
- The article includes a coding example for creating an isometric tile map using JavaScript and P5.js.
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17 commentsThe sort of thing you'd solve in 30 seconds with Google in 2024.
The 2D tiles were rendered out of 3D Studio Max, and the characters were meshes exported from Max.
I developed a large-scale, 2D isometric tactical strategy game called Cantata: https://store.steampowered.com/app/690370/Cantata/
It's sort of like a 4X version of a smaller tactics game like Advance Wars. Supply lines, region capture, unique units, etc.
It's isometric throughout, in part because I just love the aesthetics of pixel art isometric (having grown up on RTC, Age of Wonders, Simcity, Alpha Cen, Civ...).
This article was (and is) still the gold standard on describing isometric math: https://clintbellanger.net/articles/isometric_math/
We built a custom renderer for the game as well to support doing lots of crazy tile-layering steps that mix and match Z-depths based on various factors like specific units, terrain type, terrain decoration type, etc. Things like:
If a human soldier is on grass, the grass should be rendered on top of them, but if its a tank the grass "makes sense" to be under the tank, etc.
Art assets were based around 64x64 size tiles, and as someone else pointed out we were technically dimetric instead of isometric (as were most isometric games, dimetric feels too uniform).
It’s worth a watch! I personally prefer Jordan’s approach, which is more focused on the math than computation.
The iso engine worked at 60fps, in 1024x748, back in 1997. But it was pulled. It was the right tech, but for the wrong game. When released GPM3 became GP World, it reverted to the traditional spreadsheet views of GPM1 & 2. (At least it looks like they kept most of my "3D" race code intact.)
I was a huge fan of this game. When I was playing this game, I was always wondering how they were able to achieve such stunning 3D visuals where almost all of the other games in the SNES console couldn't. It turned out they are pre-rendered, as per the article.
Frankly, I'd expect more consistency from someone who invites his students to focus on the mathematical aspects, not only on the code.
I could look up the answer but I swear Bastion is entirely 2D. Though the characters might be 3D models constrained to certain angles.
https://terrycavanagh.itch.io/nayas-quest
" You can download the flash player projector here
https://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/debug_downloads.ht...
Then from within the player, File > Open this link
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