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Isometric video game graphics are graphics employed in
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
and
pixel art
Pixel art () is a form of digital art drawn with graphics software, graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block. It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers a ...
that use a
parallel projection
In three-dimensional geometry, a parallel projection (or axonometric projection) is a projection of an object in three-dimensional space onto a fixed plane, known as the ''projection plane'' or '' image plane'', where the ''rays'', known as '' li ...
, but which angle the
viewpoint to reveal facets of the environment that would otherwise not be visible from a
top-down perspective
A variety of computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and restrictions ...
or
side view
Side or Sides may refer to:
Geometry
* Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape)
* Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape)
Places
* Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece
* Side (Caria), a town of ...
, thereby producing a
three-dimensional (3D) effect. Despite the name, isometric computer graphics are not necessarily truly
isometric—i.e., the , , and axes are not necessarily oriented 120° to each other. Instead, a variety of angles are used, with
dimetric projection
Axonometric projection is a type of orthographic projection used for creating a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated around one or more of its axes to reveal multiple sides.Gary R. Bertoline et al. (2002) ''Technical Graphi ...
and a 2:1 pixel ratio being the most common. The terms "3/4 perspective", "3/4 view", "
2.5D", and "pseudo 3D" are also sometimes used, although these terms can bear slightly different meanings in other contexts.
Once common, isometric projection became less so with the advent of more powerful
3D graphics
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the ...
systems, and as video games began to focus more on action and individual characters.
However, video games using isometric projection—especially
computer role-playing game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
s—have seen a resurgence in recent years within the
indie gaming
An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...
scene.
[
][
]
Overview
Advantages
In the fields of
computer and video games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
and
pixel art
Pixel art () is a form of digital art drawn with graphics software, graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block. It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers a ...
, the technique has become popular because of the ease with which
2D sprite- and
tile-based graphics can be made to represent
3D gaming environments. Because
parallelly projected objects do not change in size as they move about an area, there is no need for the computer to scale
sprites or do the complex calculations necessary to simulate
visual perspective
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
. This allowed
8-bit
In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...
and
16-bit
16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors.
A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...
game systems (and, more recently,
handheld
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
and
mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ( ...
systems) to portray large game areas quickly and easily. And, while the
depth confusion problems of parallel projection can sometimes be a problem, good game and level design can alleviate this.
Further, though not limited strictly to isometric video game graphics,
pre-rendered
Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typic ...
2D graphics can possess a higher fidelity and use more advanced graphical techniques than may be possible on commonly available computer hardware, even with
3D hardware acceleration.
Similarly to modern
CGI used in
motion picture
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
s, graphics can be rendered one time on a powerful
super computer or
render farm
A render farm is a high-performance computer system, e.g. a computer cluster, built to render computer-generated imagery (CGI), typically for film and television visual effects.
Origin of the term
The term ''render farm'' was born during the ...
, and then displayed many times on less powerful consumer hardware, such as on
television set
A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...
s,
tablet computers
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...
and
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s. This means that static pre-rendered isometric graphics often look better compared to their contemporary real-time-rendered counterparts, and may age better over time compared to their peers.
However, this advantage may be less pronounced today than it was in the past, as developments in graphical technology equalize or produce
diminishing returns
In economics, diminishing returns are the decrease in marginal (incremental) output of a production process as the amount of a single factor of production is incrementally increased, holding all other factors of production equal ( ceteris paribu ...
, and current levels of graphical fidelity become "good enough" for many people.
Lastly, there are also gameplay advantages to using an isometric or near-isometric perspective in video games. For instance, compared to a purely
top-down
Top-down may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* " Top Down", a 2007 song by Swizz Beatz
* "Top Down", a song by Lil Yachty from ''Lil Boat 3''
* "Top Down", a song by Fifth Harmony from ''Reflection'' Science
* Top-down reading, is a part of ...
game, they add a third dimension, opening up new avenues for aiming and
platforming.
Secondly, compared to a
first- or
third-person video game, they allow you to more easily field and control a large number of units, such as a full
party of characters in a
computer role-playing game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
, or an army of minions in a
real-time strategy game
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...
.
Further, they may alleviate situations where a player may become distracted from a game's core
mechanics
Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...
by having to constantly manage an unwieldy 3D camera.
I.e., the player can focus on playing the game itself, and not on manipulating the game's camera.
In the present day, rather than being purely a source of nostalgia, the revival of isometric projection is the result of real, tangible design benefits.
Disadvantages
Some disadvantages of pre-rendered isometric graphics are that, as
display resolution
The display resolution or display modes of a digital television, computer monitor or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is ...
s and
display aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a display device is the proportional relationship between the width and the height of the display. It is expressed as two numbers separated by a colon (''x'':''y''), where ''x'' corresponds to the width and ''y'' to the heigh ...
s continue to evolve, static 2D images need to be re-rendered each time in order to keep pace, or potentially suffer from the effects of
pixelation
In computer graphics, pixelation (or pixellation in British English) is caused by displaying a bitmap or a section of a bitmap at such a large size that individual pixels, small single-colored square display elements that comprise the bitmap, a ...
and require
anti-aliasing Anti-aliasing may refer to any of a number of techniques to combat the problems of aliasing in a sampled signal such as a digital image or digital audio recording.
Specific topics in anti-aliasing include:
* Anti-aliasing filter, a filter used be ...
. Re-rendering a game's graphics is not always possible, however; as was the case in 2012, when
Beamdog
IdeaSpark Labs Inc. (trade name: Beamdog) is a Canadian video game developer founded in 2009 by BioWare co-founder Trent Oster and former BioWare lead programmer Cameron Tofer. Beamdog's distribution service was launched in July 2010.
History
...
remade
Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is inf ...
BioWare's ''
Baldur's Gate
''Baldur's Gate'' is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting. The game has spawned two series, known as the ''Bhaalspawn Saga'' and the ''Dark Alliance'', both taking place mostly ...
'' (1998). Beamdog were lacking the original developers' creative art assets (the original data was lost in a flood
) and opted for simple
2D graphics scaling with "smoothing", without re-rendering the game's sprites. The results were a certain "fuzziness", or lack of "crispness", compared to the original game's graphics. This does not affect real-time rendered polygonal isometric video games, however, as changing their display resolutions or aspect ratios is trivial, in comparison.
Differences from "true" isometric projection
The projection commonly used in video games deviates slightly from "true" isometric due to the limitations of
raster graphics
upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...
. Lines in the and directions would not follow a neat pixel pattern if drawn in the required 30° to the horizontal. While modern computers can eliminate this problem using
anti-aliasing Anti-aliasing may refer to any of a number of techniques to combat the problems of aliasing in a sampled signal such as a digital image or digital audio recording.
Specific topics in anti-aliasing include:
* Anti-aliasing filter, a filter used be ...
, earlier computer graphics did not support enough colors or possess enough CPU power to accomplish this. Instead, a 2:1 pixel pattern ratio would be used to draw the and axis lines, resulting in these axes following a ≈26.565° () angle to the horizontal. (Game systems that do not use
square pixels could, however, yield different angles, including "true" isometric.) Therefore, this form of projection is more accurately described as a variation of
dimetric projection
Axonometric projection is a type of orthographic projection used for creating a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated around one or more of its axes to reveal multiple sides.Gary R. Bertoline et al. (2002) ''Technical Graphi ...
, since only two of the three angles between the axes are equal to each other, i.e., .
History of isometric video games
While the
history of video games
The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes. '' Spacewar!'' was developed by MIT student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first su ...
saw some
three-dimensional
Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...
games as early as the 1970s, the first video games to use the distinct visual style of isometric projection in the meaning described above were
arcade games
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
in the early 1980s.
1980s
The use of isometric graphics in video games began with the appearance of
Data East
, also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The Am ...
's
DECO Cassette System 240px, DECO Cassette System loading screen
The DECO Cassette System was introduced by Data East in October 1980. It was the first standardised arcade system that allowed arcade owners to change games. Developed in 1979, it was released in Japan in ...
arcade game ''
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
'', released in Japan in September 1981, but it was not released internationally until June 1982.
The first isometric game to be released internationally was
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
's ''
Zaxxon
is an isometric shooter arcade game, developed and released by Sega in 1982, in which the player pilots a ship through heavily defended space fortresses. Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki is also credited for having worked on the d ...
'', which was significantly more popular and influential;
it was released in Japan in December 1981
and internationally in April 1982.
''Zaxxon'' is an
isometric shooter where the player flies a space plane through
scrolling
In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...
levels. It is also one of the first video games to display shadows.
[
Another early isometric game is '']Q*bert
''Q*bert'' (also known as ''Qbert'') is an arcade video game developed and published for the North American market by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a 2D action game with puzzle elements that uses isometric graphics to create a pseudo-3D effect. The ...
''. Warren Davis and Jeff Lee began programming the concept around April 1982, with the game's production beginning in the Summer and then released in October or November 1982. ''Q*bert'' shows a static pyramid in an isometric perspective, with the player controlling a character which can jump around on the pyramid.[
The following year in February 1983,] the isometric platformer arcade game ''Congo Bongo
, also known as , is an isometric platform game released by Sega for arcade video game, arcades in 1983. The game includes a Read-only memory, ROM that contains a message indicating it was likely coded at least in part by the company Ikegami Tsus ...
'' was released, running on the same hardware as ''Zaxxon''. It allows the player character to move around in bigger isometric levels, including true three-dimensional climbing and falling. The same is possible in the arcade title ''Marble Madness
''Marble Madness'' is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide a marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limi ...
'', released in 1984.
In 1983, isometric games were no longer exclusive to the arcade market and also entered home computers, with the release of ''Blue Max
Blue Max is an informal name of ''Pour le Mérite'', a German military decoration from 1740 until the end of World War I.
Blue Max may also refer to:
* Blue Max (video game), ''Blue Max'' (video game) (1983) and its sequel ''Blue Max 2001''
* Blue ...
'' for the Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...
and ''Ant Attack
''Ant Attack'' is a ZX Spectrum computer game by Sandy White, published by Quicksilva in 1983. It was converted to the Commodore 64 in 1984.
While ''Zaxxon'' and ''Q*bert'' previously used isometric projection, ''Ant Attack'' added an extra degre ...
'' for the ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as t ...
. In ''Ant Attack'', the player could move forward in any direction of the scrolling game, offering complete free movement rather than fixed to one axis as with ''Zaxxon''. The views could also be changed around a 90 degrees axis. The ZX Spectrum magazine, ''Crash
Crash or CRASH may refer to:
Common meanings
* Collision, an impact between two or more objects
* Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond
* Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating
* Couch su ...
'', consequently awarded it 100% in the graphics category for this new technique, known as "Soft Solid 3-D".
A year later the ZX Spectrum saw the release of ''Knight Lore
''Knight Lore'' is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in vid ...
'', which is generally regarded as a revolutionary title that defined the subsequent genre of isometric adventure games. Following ''Knight Lore'', many isometric titles were seen on home computers – to an extent that it once was regarded as being the second most cloned piece of software after ''WordStar
WordStar is a word processor application for microcomputers. It was published by MicroPro International and originally written for the CP/M-80 operating system, and later written also for MS-DOS and other 16-bit PC OSes. Rob Barnaby was the sol ...
'', according to researcher Jan Krikke. Other examples out of those were ''Highway Encounter
''Highway Encounter'' is a video game published for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64, Sharp MZ, and Tatung Einstein by Vortex Software in 1985. It was written by Costa Panayi who also coded '' Android'', '' Android Two'', '' TLL' ...
'' (1985), ''Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
'' (1986), '' Head Over Heels'' (1987) and ''La Abadía del Crimen
''La abadía del crimen'' (''The Abbey of Crime'') is a video game written by Paco Menéndez with graphics made by Juan Delcán and published in 1987 by Opera Soft. It was conceived as a version of Umberto Eco's 1980 book ''The Name of the Rose ...
'' (1987). Isometric perspective was not limited to arcade/adventure games, though; for example, the 1989 strategy game '' Populous'' used isometric perspective.
1990s
Throughout the 1990s several successful games such as ''Syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...
'' (1993), ''SimCity 2000
''SimCity 2000'' is a City-building game, city-building Simulation game, simulation video game jointly developed by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright and Fred Haslam (game designer), Fred Haslam of Maxis. It is the successor to ''SimCity ( ...
'' (1994), '' Civilization II'' (1996), '' X-COM'' (1994), and '' Diablo'' (1996) used a fixed isometric perspective. But with the advent of 3D acceleration
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...
on personal computers and gaming consoles, games previously using a 2D perspective generally started switching to true 3D (and perspective projection
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
) instead. This can be seen in the successors to the above games: for instance ''SimCity
''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim' ...
'' (2013), ''Civilization VI
''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a turn-based strategy 4X video game developed by Firaxis Games, published by 2K Games, and distributed by Take-Two Interactive. The mobile port was published by Aspyr Media. The latest entry into the ''Civiliza ...
'' (2016), '' XCOM: Enemy Unknown'' (2012) and ''Diablo III
''Diablo III'' is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the Diablo (series), ''Diablo'' franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, Play ...
'' (2012) all use 3D polygonal graphics; and while ''Diablo II
''Diablo II'' is an Action role-playing game, action role-playing hack and slash, hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000 for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and macOS. The game, ...
'' (2000) used fixed-perspective 2D perspective like its predecessor, it optionally allowed for perspective scaling of the sprites in the distance to lend it a "pseudo-3D" appearance.
Also during the 1990s, isometric graphics began being used for Japanese role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
s (JRPGs) on console systems, particularly tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated TRPGs), also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as (both abbreviated SRPGs), are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical (turn-bas ...
s, many of which still use isometric graphics today. Examples include ''Front Mission
is a collection of video games and related media produced by Square (video game company), Square, now Square Enix. The series was created by Toshiro Tsuchida and developed by G-Craft, a studio that was later absorbed by Square and existed withi ...
'' (1995), ''Tactics Ogre
is a 1995 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Quest Corporation for the Super Famicom. It was later ported to the Sega Saturn (1996) and the PlayStation (1997), the latter released in North America in 1998 by Atlus USA. The ...
'' (1995) and ''Final Fantasy Tactics
is a 1997 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. Released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998 by Sony ...
'' (1997)—the latter of which used 3D graphics
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the ...
to create an environment where the player could freely rotate the camera. Other titles such as ''Vandal Hearts
Vandal Hearts, known in Japan as is a turn-based tactical role-playing video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo for the PlayStation and later ported to the Sega Saturn by Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya. The PlayStation ...
'' (1996) and ''Breath of Fire III
''Breath of Fire III'' is a role-playing video game developed and published by Capcom originally for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation console as part of the ''Breath of Fire'' series. Initially released in Japan on September 11, 1997, the g ...
'' (1997) carefully emulated an isometric or parallel view, but actually used perspective projection.
Infinity Engine
Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios is a division of the developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment that develops role-playing video games. It has published several games from other developers.
Black Isle is based in Irvine, California. The division was f ...
and BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
helped popularize the use of isometric projection in computer role-playing games in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These studios used the Infinity Engine
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zeschuk. Since 2007, t ...
game engine in several of their titles, developed by BioWare for ''Baldur's Gate'' (1998). This engine gained significant traction among players, and many developers since then have tried to emulate and improve upon it in various ways. The Infinity Engine itself was also revamped and modernized by Beamdog
IdeaSpark Labs Inc. (trade name: Beamdog) is a Canadian video game developer founded in 2009 by BioWare co-founder Trent Oster and former BioWare lead programmer Cameron Tofer. Beamdog's distribution service was launched in July 2010.
History
...
in preparation for '' Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition'' (2012)—as well as their remakes
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...
of several other classic Infinity Engine titles.
Two other titles by Black Isle Studios, ''Fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
'' (1997) and ''Fallout 2
''Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Productions. It is a sequel to ''Fallout (video game), Fallout'' (1997), featuring similar graphics and ...
'' (1998), used ''trimetric projection''.
Kickstarter
Isometric projection has seen continued relevance in the new millennium with the release of several newly-crowdfunded
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
role-playing games on Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
. These include the ''Shadowrun Returns
''Shadowrun Returns'' is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Harebrained Schemes. It takes place in the science fantasy setting of the ''Shadowrun'' tabletop role-playing game. The game was crowd funded through Kickstarter and ...
'' series (2013-2015) by Harebrained Schemes
Harebrained Schemes, LLC is an American video game developer based in Seattle, Washington. It was co-founded in 2011 by Jordan Weisman and Mitch Gitelman. Prior to founding Harebrained Schemes, Weisman and Gitelman worked together on the '' MechC ...
; the ''Pillars of Eternity
''Pillars of Eternity'' is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux on March 26, 2015. The game is a spiritual successor to the ' ...
'' series (2015-2018) and ''Tyranny
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...
'' (2016) by Obsidian Entertainment
Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Par ...
; and '' Torment: Tides of Numenera'' (2017) by inXile Entertainment
inXile Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Tustin, California. Specializing in role-playing video games, inXile was founded in 2002 by Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo. The studio ...
. Both Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment have employed, or were founded by, former members of Black Isle Studios and Interplay Entertainment. Obsidian Entertainment in particular wanted to "bring back the look and feel of the Infinity Engine games like ''Baldur's Gate'', ''Icewind Dale
''Icewind Dale'' is a role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and originally published by Interplay Entertainment for Windows in 2000 and by MacPlay for the Macintosh in 2002 (both the Classic Mac OS and OS X). The game takes pl ...
'', and '' Planescape: Torment''". Lastly, several pseudo-isometric 3D RPGs, such as '' Divinity: Original Sin'' (2014), ''Wasteland 2
''Wasteland 2'' is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game developed by inXile Entertainment and published by Deep Silver. It is the sequel to 1988's ''Wasteland'', and was successfully crowdfunded through Kickstarter. After the postponement o ...
'' (2014) and ''Dead State
''Dead State'' is a turn-based survival horror role-playing video game developed by DoubleBear Productions and Iron Tower Studio set in a zombie apocalypse scenario. Players are tasked with leading a group of survivors living in a shelter in the fi ...
'' (2014), have been crowdfunded using Kickstarter in recent years. These titles differ from the above games, however, in that they use ''perspective projection'' instead of ''parallel projection''.
Use of related projections and techniques
The term "isometric perspective" is frequently misapplied to any game with an—usually fixed—angled, overhead view that appears at first to be "isometric". These include the aforementioned dimetrically projected video games; games that use trimetric projection
Axonometric projection is a type of orthographic projection used for creating a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated around one or more of its axes to reveal multiple sides.Gary R. Bertoline et al. (2002) ''Technical Graphi ...
, such as ''Fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
'' (1997) and ''SimCity 4
''SimCity 4'' is a city-building game, city-building Construction and management simulation games, simulation Personal computer game, computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. It was released on January 14, 2003. It is t ...
'' (2003); games that use oblique projection
Oblique projection is a simple type of technical drawing of graphical projection used for producing two-dimensional (2D) images of three-dimensional (3D) objects.
The objects are not in perspective (graphical), perspective and so do not corre ...
, such as ''Ultima Online
''Ultima Online'' (''UO'') is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems.
Set in the '' Ultima'' universe, it is known for its extensive player versus player combat system. ...
'' (1997) and ''Divine Divinity
''Divine Divinity'' is an action role-playing game developed by Larian Studios and published by cdv Software Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, which was released in September 2002. It has three sequels, ''Beyond Divinity'', ''Divinity II'', a ...
'' (2002); and games that use a combination of perspective projection
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
and a bird's eye view
A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downwards. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a dr ...
, such as ''Silent Storm
''Silent Storm'' is a 2003 turn-based tactics video game developed by Nival Interactive and published by JoWood. The game is set in a fictionalized World War II Europe with science fiction elements.
An advanced game engine, the Silent Storm engi ...
'' (2003), ''Torchlight
''Torchlight'' is an action role-playing hack and slash dungeon crawler video game developed by Runic Games and published by Perfect World, released for Windows in October 2009. The fantasy-themed game is set in the fictional town of Torchlight ...
'' (2009) and '' Divinity: Original Sin'' (2014).
Also, not all "isometric" video games rely solely on pre-rendered 2D sprites. There are, for instance, titles which use polygonal 3D graphics completely, but render their graphics using parallel projection instead of perspective projection, such as ''Syndicate Wars
''Syndicate Wars'' is an isometric real-time tactical and strategic game, developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for DOS in 1996 and for the PlayStation in 1997. It is the second video game title in ...
'' (1996), ''Dungeon Keeper
''Dungeon Keeper'' is a strategy video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and released by Electronic Arts in June 1997 for MS-DOS and Windows 95. In ''Dungeon Keeper'', the player builds and manages a dungeon, protecting it from invading ' ...
'' (1997) and '' Depths of Peril'' (2007); games which use a combination of pre-rendered 2D backgrounds and real-time rendered 3D character models, such as ''The Temple of Elemental Evil
''The Temple of Elemental Evil'' is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', set in the game's ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985 for the first edition ' ...
'' (2003) and '' Torment: Tides of Numenera'' (2017); and games which combine real-time rendered 3D backgrounds with hand-drawn 2D character sprites, such as ''Final Fantasy Tactics
is a 1997 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. Released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998 by Sony ...
'' (1997) and '' Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'' (2003).
One advantage of top-down ''oblique projection'' over other near-isometric perspectives, is that objects fit more snugly within non-overlapping square graphical tiles, thereby potentially eliminating the need for an additional Z-order
Z-order is an ordering of overlapping two-dimensional objects, such as windows in a stacking window manager, shapes in a vector graphics editor, or objects in a 3D application.Foley, James, Andries van Dam, Steven Feiner, and John Hughes. "Comput ...
in calculations, and requiring fewer pixels.
Mapping screen to world coordinates
One of the most common problems with programming games that use isometric (or more likely dimetric) projections is the ability to map between events that happen on the 2d plane of the screen and the actual location in the isometric space, called world space. A common example is picking the tile that lies right under the cursor when a user clicks. One such method is using the same rotation matrices that originally produced the isometric view in reverse to turn a point in screen coordinates into a point that would lie on the game board surface before it was rotated. Then, the world x and y values can be calculated by dividing by the tile width and height.
Another way that is less computationally intensive and can have good results if the method is called on every frame, rests on the assumption that a square board was rotated by 45 degrees and then squashed to be half its original height. A virtual grid is overlaid on the projection as shown on the diagram, with axes virtual-x and virtual-y. Clicking any tile on the central axis of the board where (x, y) = (tileMapWidth / 2, y), will produce the same tile value for both world-x and world-y which in this example is 3 (0 indexed). Selecting the tile that lies one position on the right on the virtual grid, actually moves one tile less on the world-y and one tile more on the world-x. This is the formula that calculates world-x by taking the virtual-y and adding the virtual-x from the center of the board. Likewise world-y is calculated by taking virtual-y and subtracting virtual-x. These calculations measure from the central axis, as shown, so the results must be translated by half the board. For example, in the C programming language:
float virtualTileX = screenx / virtualTileWidth;
float virtualTileY = screeny / virtualTileHeight;
// some display systems have their origin at the bottom left while the tile map at the top left, so we need to reverse y
float inverseTileY = numberOfTilesInY - virtualTileY;
float isoTileX = inverseTileY + (virtualTileX - numberOfTilesInX / 2);
float isoTileY = inverseTileY - (virtualTileX - numberOfTilesInY / 2);
This method might seem counter intuitive at first since the coordinates of a virtual grid are taken, rather than the original isometric world, and there is no one-to-one correspondence between virtual tiles and isometric tiles. A tile on the grid will contain more than one isometric tile, and depending on where it is clicked it should map to different coordinates. The key in this method is that the virtual coordinates are floating point numbers rather than integers. A virtual-x and y value can be (3.5, 3.5) which means the center of the third tile. In the diagram on the left, this falls in the 3rd tile on the y in detail. When the virtual-x and y must add up to 4, the world x will also be 4.
Examples
Dimetric projection
File:Lincity-ng.png, '' LinCity-NG'' (2005), a tile-based city-building game
A city-building game, or town-building game, is a genre of simulation video game where players act as the overall planner and leader of a city or town, looking down on it from above, and being responsible for its growth and management strategy. ...
File:Freecol 095 05.jpg, ''FreeCol
''FreeCol'' is a 4X video game, a clone of ''Sid Meier's Colonization''. ''FreeCol'' is free and open source software released under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later.
''FreeCol'' is mostly programmed in Java and should thus be platform-independent. In ...
'' (2003) is a 4X strategy video game
Strategy is a major video game genre that emphasizes thinking and planning over direct instant action in order to achieve victory. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, as a genre, strategy games are most commonly defi ...
Oblique projection
File:Micropolis - big city.png, '' Micropolis'' (2008), a tile-based city-building game
A city-building game, or town-building game, is a genre of simulation video game where players act as the overall planner and leader of a city or town, looking down on it from above, and being responsible for its growth and management strategy. ...
Perspective projection
File:0 A.D. alpha 25 - playing as Spartans.jpg, '' 0 A.D.'' is a real-time strategy video game
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
File:Freeciv-webgl-3d-screenshot.jpg, ''Freeciv
''Freeciv'' is a single- and multiplayer turn-based strategy game for workstations and personal computers inspired by the proprietary ''Sid Meier's Civilization'' series. It is available for most desktop computer operating systems and available ...
-web'' running in the 3D WebGL
WebGL (Short for Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-ins. WebGL is fully integrated with other web standards, allowing GPU-accelerated ...
client
File:Ufo 2.4 Farm.png, '' UFO: Alien Invasion'' 2.4 tactical mode
See also
* Clipping
Clipping may refer to:
Words
* Clipping (morphology), the formation of a new word by shortening it, e.g. "ad" from "advertisement"
* Clipping (phonetics), shortening the articulation of a speech sound, usually a vowel
* Clipping (publications) ...
* Filmation engine
Filmation is the trademark name of the Isometric projection, isometric graphics engine employed in a series of games developed by Ultimate Play the Game during the 1980s#Video games, 1980s, primarily on the 8-bit ZX Spectrum platform, though ...
* :Video games with isometric graphics: listing of isometric video games
* :Video games with oblique graphics: listing of oblique video games
* :Commons:Isometric video game screenshots: gallery of isometric video game screenshots
References
External links
The classic 8-bit isometric games that tried to break the mould
at Eurogamer.com
The Best-Looking Isometric Games
at Kotaku.com
The Best Isometric Video Games
at Kotaku.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isometric Graphics In Video Games
*
Video game graphics
Articles with example C code