Game Design (Split from Intro Thread)

[Einar Saukas]

Hi all:

My name is Sergio. I'm from Spain, and I had a 48K Sinclair ZX Spectrum when I was a child. I learned to code in assembly, but never did anything "real", until a month ago, that I decided to try to create a game. My intention is to do a graphical adventure that would work in a 48K model, and this is what I have done so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvqEp-XsD9I

This looks fantastic!

Did you consider using rectangular green floor tiles (either 32x16 or 64x32 pixels) instead of square (32x32 pixels)? I think it will help make it look more 3D.

[rastersoft]

This looks fantastic!

Did you consider using rectangular green floor tiles (either 32x16 or 64x32 pixels) instead of square (32x32 pixels)? I think it will help make it look more 3D.

Thanks.

It's an interesting idea... I'll do a test tonight.

[rastersoft]

Did you consider using rectangular green floor tiles (either 32x16 or 64x32 pixels) instead of square (32x32 pixels)? I think it will help make it look more 3D.

I tested it, but I didn't like the result. Also tried with 4x3 tiles and the result is also odd-looking.

[Einar Saukas]

Did you consider using rectangular green floor tiles (either 32x16 or 64x32 pixels) instead of square (32x32 pixels)? I think it will help make it look more 3D.

I tested it, but I didn't like the result. Also tried with 4x3 tiles and the result is also odd-looking.

OK, thanks for trying!

My point was that a square tile suggests you are looking at it from straight up. A rectangular tile would suggest you are seeing it in perspective.

What about 32x48 pixels? Either this:



or this:

[rastersoft]

What about 32x48 pixels? Either this:



or this:

I still see them more like rectangular tiles, not perspective ones. To be "perspective", they need to be trapezoidal

I also tried changing the circles by ovals, but the effect is still odd.

[Einar Saukas]

I still see them more like rectangular tiles, not perspective ones. To be "perspective", they need to be trapezoidal

Sorry, I meant perpendicular pseudo-3D like this or this.

I also tried changing the circles by ovals, but the effect is still odd.

Perhaps because the tile image itself doesn't look perpendicular pseudo-3D.

What about this:



or this:

[rastersoft]

Perhaps because the tile image itself doesn't look perpendicular pseudo-3D.

What about this:



or this:

Mmm... that looks better... but maybe adding also not-round circles for the screws...

BTW: a lot of those games use square tiles

[rastersoft]

Perhaps because the tile image itself doesn't look perpendicular pseudo-3D.

I tried with 4x3 and with elipsoids, but still not convinced. Check the map... The boxes look odd, and I don't get "more pseudo-3D effect".



Neither sure about this one...

[rastersoft]

What about this:



or this:

Ok, yes... when adding the character, it looks much better.

[Einar Saukas]

Ok, yes... when adding the character, it looks much better.

I really like this version!

[rastersoft]

Unfortunately, having different sizes forces to do a lot of changes in the code, and some are not trivial...

What do you think about doing something like this, to keep the tile square but still preserve the illusion of pseudo-3D? Any idea of how to make it better?

[AndyC]

Have you tried angling them slightly, might help to give the illusion of depth.

[Einar Saukas]

Unfortunately, having different sizes forces to do a lot of changes in the code, and some are not trivial...

What do you think about doing something like this, to keep the tile square but still preserve the illusion of pseudo-3D? Any idea of how to make it better?

It will look better if you put shadows only in the lower horizontal border, like this:



And it will look even better to have a wider border so the tile will look slightly rectangular, like this:

[rastersoft]

It will look better if you put shadows only in the lower horizontal border, like this:
And it will look even better to have a wider border so the tile will look slightly rectangular, like this:

Unfortunately, those shadows look too much like steps, so finally I decided to just create three different tiles to emulate 4x3 tiles in a 4x4 grid. This way I can have the best of both worlds.



Thanks anyway for your help!

[Einar Saukas]

OK, that's a clever solution. Good work!

[Sparky]

That seems great!

[presh]

Really love the look of this!