September 8th, 2013, 10:18
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I don't think I'm convinced.
This is rather a matter of design than the technology.
September 18th, 2013, 02:21
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I agree. The representation is rarely an issue, especially in a turn-based environment.
September 18th, 2013, 10:17
(This post was last modified: September 18th, 2013, 14:33 by WhiteMage.)
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Graphics is one of the lowest priorities for a great turn based strategy game. Great is not the same as popular. It is closer to be “evergreen”.
1. It is good to have high quality graphics since many players demand it today and many players would turn away immediately if the graphics did not meet their expectations. Their expectations are dictated by their games they played in the past.
2. It is bad to have high quality graphics because it tends to turn the focus from content to appearance and spend funding on graphics, instead of more important components, such as rules, logic and AI.
3. It is bad since high quality graphics requires high quality (new and expensive) hardware that many people do not have, which results in choppy, slow performance for those who do not buy a new computer for a new game.
4. It is bad, since 3D graphics takes up too much viewing space, so the screen will display fewer identifiable objects than 2D would and makes it harder to notice hidden things. For competitive multiplayer this is bad. For single player, this is both good and bad.
5. Forcing player to rotate map and zoom in and out on a regular basis is a near disaster, directly resulting from 3D graphics (for example: XCom: Enemy Unknown - Elite Edition, King’s Bounty (2008+), Heroes of Might and Magic V).
Graphics, just like everything else should be modular and as independent from the rest of the code as possible. It is a near certainty that even today’s top notch graphics will be outdated in the future. For a great game, which has longer than the usual few years lifespan, it should be easy to replace it in the future.
Conclusion: it would be best if the game would allow both 2D and 3D.
September 18th, 2013, 13:14
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(September 18th, 2013, 10:17)WhiteMage Wrote: Conclusion: it would be best if the game would allow both 2D and 3D. 3d graphics with 2d gameplay serves only a cosmetic purpose, but a game with flying units may have 3d gameplay, and that's hard to handle in 2d.
September 18th, 2013, 14:48
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(September 18th, 2013, 13:14)Anthony Wrote: a game with flying units may have 3d gameplay, and that's hard to handle in 2d. Perhaps, if they truly have a 3D strategic/tactical gameplay over other units that do not. Fantasy General, Panzer General, Battle for Wesnoth, Warlords 2, C-Evo, Master of Magic, Master of Orion, Heroes of Might and Magic I-IV, etc. do just fine with flying units in 2D. I can’t remember any existing TBS game where 3D graphics brought something to the table, not just took away.
September 18th, 2013, 15:17
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(September 18th, 2013, 14:48)WhiteMage Wrote: Perhaps, if they truly have a 3D strategic/tactical gameplay over other units that do not. Even quasi-3d (flying objects are ground units with no collision, or flying objects are in a separate layer of a 2d map) it can be hard to tell what's going on without 3d.
September 22nd, 2013, 19:44
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(September 18th, 2013, 02:21)VM Wrote: I agree. The representation is rarely an issue, especially in a turn-based environment. ever played chess on a mobile phone? it's a turn based game, and i couldn't imagine playing a good game of chess with 3D models.
dance!
September 23rd, 2013, 07:02
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Real chess is in 3d... :P
September 24th, 2013, 17:55
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(September 23rd, 2013, 07:02)VM Wrote: Real chess is in 3d... :P yes but real chess is much larger - that's why i picked mobile phone as example. 3D needs more space to transfer the same information - or the other way round: can transfer less information using the same space.
dance!
September 24th, 2013, 18:01
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Oh please! If the 3D graphics are cool, that's good!
If the level of strategic ingenuity is also good, that is even better!
--I like ILSe
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