Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Discussing 3D graphics
An action game is not strictly necessary to utilize a 3D engine. There are a lot of won-
derful games based on 2D graphics or isometric perspective. Astronaut is Gone is
designed with flat graphics interpretation in mind as well. All elements such as the
Unit, enemies, rocks, and meteors can be based on sprites. The movement mechan-
ics in basic gaming modes do not contradict with that. The player does not need to
turn the virtual camera because the object may have only one side. More importantly,
the game world itself is not flat; each element features three coordinates. The game's
universe looks like a long corridor where different objects are suspended on invisible
strings. The corridor's walls, floor, and ceiling frame boundaries of the space that the
player may reach. If the player gets close to them, he gets an alert, You are leaving
the path , and the Unit stops. The protagonist can move in two planes: in the longit-
udinal one by traveling forward and backward and in the corridor's cross-section one
by maneuvering in any direction within its limits. When he reaches an object inside
the game world, he gets a chance to interact with it. The simple rules of the linear
perspective help to determine sizes and coordinates of elements depending on their
distance to the viewer. This lets him turn a 3D-described scenery into a natural flat
image. Such a concept is very close to classical one-screen arcades; the only excep-
tion is the format of levels that are three-dimensional. Nevertheless, the final image
that you would work with is flat. Therefore, it is not hard to actualize the idea in 2D
graphics, especially if your favorite SDK is not supported by 3D.
Schematic image of a level's corridor structures
However, an additional dimension may offer many new opportunities as creative as
the gameplay ones. First of all, the action genre is generally associated exactly with
3D graphics. This is like a technical vanguard that requires only advanced solutions
since 3D engine gives the game the correct touch needed. Then, it lets us organ-
ize more spectacular and natural scenes on the screen. The objects may rotate and
interact in an interesting manner, the virtual camera can be used for more dramatic
angles, and so on. Some moments can be simply impossible or very hard to recreate
via 2D graphics. There is a notable story about the animation studio Pixar, which tried
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