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questions about engine

Started by TechnoHydra Oct 10, 2001 at 12:35 PM 6 replies 350+ views

Original Post

Oct 10, 2001 at 12:35 PM

Warning: I am the newbie of newbies. This sort of has to do with the topic of mixed engines(my questions anyways. I want to make a game with the look and feel of Diablo/Fallout series(yes we''ve all heard this before). I want to have either a rotatable camera or several different camera settings, so I figured that making objects/people/buildings 3D would facilitate that better then a 2D sprite engine(plus I find that 3D models are easier to make then sprites). However at the same time i would like to be able to make a tileable floor, since this would make movement calcs easier(I think). Am I right so far? Second, If I decided to, could I use a 2D engine for the floor layer and then a 3D engine for the next level(objects/buildings/etc)? Can I(should I) have 2 engines for the game''s visuals? Would this make sense, or would it even be practical? Should I instead be focusing just on a 3D engine? Hope you dont mind answering these questions(prolly for the umpteenth time).

Goober King

Oct 10, 2001 at 4:22 PM

There are a couple of articals on this site that talk about using
3D for tile based games just as you are refering to(I think). There
are several advantages in using textured triangles instead of standard
2d graphics. One is graphic cards are more geared towards 3d and can
be faster and offer more ablities. For example Direct Draw does not
suport alpha blending for blits but it does for 3d stuff. You can also set
the camera to whatever angle you want and even change angles. There is
also more chance to make crossplatform games if u use say OpenGL instead
of Direct Draw. Anyway check out the articals. They are quick but might
give you some ideas. If you have never seen it Interplay is relasing several
games in 2paks for 9.99. One pack has a game called Septerra Core that I think
does this. I is a great looking game if you''ve never seen it. It also seems to
use 3D for the partical effects.

JoeNo6

Oct 11, 2001 at 4:44 AM

Use 3D for everything. Just use flat squares for the ground tiles and use a texture on them that tesselates.

The tiling is to do with your map data structures and is not an inherently 2D/3D thing.

Goober King: What you are refering to is using 3D cards to produce 2D graphics which is something different to true 3D which the original poster I believe is talking about. If you''ve gone to the trouble of getting as far as setting up DX 3D (or OpenGL) to do the trick then you may as well go that extra little bit and go proper 3D.

Joe

TechnoHydra

Oct 13, 2001 at 12:35 AM

Thx for the responces. So what would be the best way to measure weapons range? This includes splash damage from explosions.

TANSTAAFL

Oct 13, 2001 at 12:33 PM

when using tiles, align all ranges into units of tiles. make each tile 1.0 in width and 1.0 in height. if you want to use other units, like meters or yards or whatever, pick an arbitrary number that converts from meters to tile spaces (5m or 5yd is a good number for tactical stuff)

TechnoHydra

Oct 13, 2001 at 7:19 PM

But would I still be using tiles in a 3D engine? Or would I measure range and movement in pixels?

TechnoHydra

Oct 14, 2001 at 10:01 AM

Thx Chris I think I get it now.

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