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Isometric Projection in Game Development

pikuma.com

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Re: Isometric Projection in Game Development

#2

Post by qingcharles »

I developed the isometric engine for this[0] video game in the 90s. I remember trying to figure out the algorithm to determine where the cursor was (converting screen x/y to position on tile, taking into account height of tile stack and the fact the tiles could be transparent) was a monstrous headache for some reason.

The 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.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UOYps_3eM0

Re: Isometric Projection in Game Development

#3

Post by hiimshort »

Pikuma is excellent! I have enjoyed going through the videos on the YouTube channel to help understand some 3d graphics rendering techniques. Everything that I have seen has been as easy to digest as this post. Highly recommend checking out the rest of the catalogue if this kind of content is interesting to you.

Re: Isometric Projection in Game Development

#6

Post by jordwest »

graypegg wrote: post #5

The animation by Jordan West referenced near the end of the article is included in a really good video by him too! https://youtu.be/04oQ2jOUjkU It’s worth a watch! I personally prefer Jordan’s approach, which is more focused on the math than computation.

That’s me, thanks for the mention!

In hindsight actually I’d probably have put a little more of the computation side in the video. Based on comments I’ve received I think a good portion of the audience is just looking to get something working and doesn’t necessarily want to understand what a matrix is to get there. I think this article is a great resource for that.

Re: Isometric Projection in Game Development

#7

Post by adastra22 »

atan2 wrote: post #4

Gustavo is one of the best math and programming teachers out there imo. I am currently taking the Playstation course and it's so much fun.

My daughter (12) is interested in learning coding. I think making games might be a way to keep her interested. Do you think his courses would be too advanced for a teen?

Re: Isometric Projection in Game Development

#9

Post by codeflo »

qingcharles wrote: post #2

I developed the isometric engine for this[0] video game in the 90s. I remember trying to figure out the algorithm to determine where the cursor was (converting screen x/y to position on tile, taking into account height of tile stack and the fact the tiles could be transparent) was a monstrous headache for some reason. The sort of thing you'd solve in 30 seconds with Google in 2024. The 2D tiles were rendered out of 3…

That’s awesome.

> The sort of thing you'd solve in 30 seconds with Google in 2024.

This is unfortunately becoming increasingly untrue, as the forums where stuff like that was posted are rotting away, and Google’s advertisement optimized result ranking neglects the long tail.

And to the extent it is still true, it’s because pioneers like you figured it out and shared their results!

Re: Isometric Projection in Game Development

#10

Post by pjmlp »

adastra22 wrote: post #7
atan2 wrote: post #4

Gustavo is one of the best math and programming teachers out there imo. I am currently taking the Playstation course and it's so much fun.

My daughter (12) is interested in learning coding. I think making games might be a way to keep her interested. Do you think his courses would be too advanced for a teen?

Alternatively, get her an emulator of an old 8 or 16 bit system, I started coding at the age of 10 in these systems, with books that were oriented for kids.

https://www.atariarchives.org/

http://redparsley.blogspot.com/2016/08/input-magazine-retros...

https://archive.org/details/input-hi-01

Or if you prefer something more up to date,

https://arcade.makecode.com/

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