Video games with isometric graphics
Encyclopedia
In video games, "isometric" refers to some form of parallel projection
(commonly, the form of dimetric projection mistakenly referred to as "isometric"
) where the viewpoint is rotated slightly to reveal other facets of the game environment than are visible from a top-down perspective or side view, thereby producing a three-dimensional effect. The terms "3/4 perspective", "2.5D
" and "pseudo-3D" are also commonly used.
With the advent of more powerful graphics systems, "isometric" projection is becoming less common, instead being replaced by perspective projection.
, the technique has been popular because of the ease with which 2D
sprite- and tile-based
graphics can be made to represent a 3D
gaming environment. Because parallelly projected
objects do not change size as they move about the game field, there is no need for the computer to scale sprites
or do the complex calculations necessary to simulate visual perspective
. This allowed older 8-bit
and 16-bit
game systems (and, more recently, handheld
systems) to portray large 3D areas easily. And, while the depth confusion problems
of parallel projection can sometimes be a problem, good game design can alleviate this.
. Lines in the x and y 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
, earlier computer graphics did not support enough colors or possess enough CPU power to accomplish this. So instead, a 2:1 pixel pattern ratio would be used to draw the x and y axis lines, resulting in these axes following a 26.565° (arctan 0.5) 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, since only two of the three angles between the axes are equal (116.565°, 116.565°, 126.87°). Many in video game and pixel art communities, however, continue to colloquially refer to this projection as "isometric perspective".
, SimCity 4
); games that utilize oblique projection
(The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
, Ultima Online
); and games that utilize a combination of perspective projection and a bird's eye view
(Torchlight
, Silent Storm
). Other examples of games that utilize oblique projection
include the original SimCity
, EarthBound
and Paperboy
.
The use of isometric graphics in video games began with the appearance of Sega
's Zaxxon
, released in January 1982. It was an isometric shooter that employed scrolling
isometric levels where the player controlled a plane to fly through the levels. It was also one of the first video games to display shadows.
Another early isometric game was Q*bert, which Warren Davis
and Jeff Lee began programming in April 1982 and released in October/November 1982. Q*bert showed a static pyramid drawn in an isometric perspective, with the player controlling a person which could jump around on the pyramid.
The following year in 1983, the isometric platformer arcade game Congo Bongo
was released, running on the same hardware as Zaxxon. It allowed the player character to move around in bigger isometric levels, including true three-dimensional climbing and falling. The same was possible in the 1984 arcade title Marble Madness
.
At this time, isometric games were no longer exclusive to the arcade market and also entered home computers with the release of Ant Attack for the ZX Spectrum
in 1983. The player could now 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 Crash magazine 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
, 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
. Other big successes out of those were Batman
(1986) and Head Over Heels (1987). Isometric perspective was not limited to arcade/adventure games, though; for example, the 1989 strategy game Populous
used isometric perspective.
, Diablo
and Fallout used a fixed isometric perspective. But with the advent of 3D acceleration on personal computers and gaming consoles, games previously using a 2D perspective generally started turning to true 3D instead. This can be seen in the successors to the above games: For instance Civilization IV
and Diablo III
both use full 3D; and while Diablo II
used a fixed perspective like its predecessor, it optionally allowed for perspective scaling of the sprites in the distance to lend it a "pseudo-3D" appearance.
During the 1990s, isometric graphics began being used for role-playing video game
s on console systems
, particularly tactical role-playing game
s, many of which still use isometric graphics today. The use of isometric grids in RPGs began in the early 1990s, with tactical RPGs such as the Ogre
series. By the late 1990s, RPGs like Vandal Hearts
(1996), Final Fantasy Tactics
(1997) and Breath of Fire III
(1997) were using 3D graphics
to create rotatic isometric environments where the player could freely rotate the camera.
:Category:Video games with isometric graphics: listing of isometric video games.
:Category:Video games with oblique graphics: listing of oblique video games
Parallel projection
Parallel projections have lines of projection that are parallel both in reality and in the projection plane.Parallel projection corresponds to a perspective projection with an infinite focal length , or "zoom".Within parallel projection there is an ancillary category known as "pictorials"...
(commonly, the form of dimetric projection mistakenly referred to as "isometric"
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
) where the viewpoint is rotated slightly to reveal other facets of the game environment than are visible from a top-down perspective or side view, thereby producing a three-dimensional effect. The terms "3/4 perspective", "2.5D
2.5D
2.5D , 3/4 perspective and pseudo-3D are terms used to describe either:* 2D graphical projections and techniques which cause a series of images or scenes to fake or appear to be three-dimensional when in fact they are not, or* gameplay in an otherwise three-dimensional video game that is...
" and "pseudo-3D" are also commonly used.
With the advent of more powerful graphics systems, "isometric" projection is becoming less common, instead being replaced by perspective projection.
Overview
In the fields of computer and video games and pixel artPixel art
Pixel art is a form of digital art, created through the use of raster graphics software, where images are edited on the pixel level. Graphics in most old computer and video games, graphing calculator games, and many mobile phone games are mostly pixel art.- History :The term pixel art was first...
, the technique has been popular because of the ease with which 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
sprite- and tile-based
Tile-based game
A tile-based game is a game that uses tiles as one of the fundamental elements of play. Traditional tile-based games use small tiles as playing pieces for gambling or entertainment games...
graphics can be made to represent a 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
gaming environment. Because parallelly projected
Parallel projection
Parallel projections have lines of projection that are parallel both in reality and in the projection plane.Parallel projection corresponds to a perspective projection with an infinite focal length , or "zoom".Within parallel projection there is an ancillary category known as "pictorials"...
objects do not change size as they move about the game field, there is no need for the computer to scale sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
or do the complex calculations necessary to simulate visual perspective
Perspective (visual)
Perspective, in context of vision and visual perception, is the way in which objects appear to the eye based on their spatial attributes; or their dimensions and the position of the eye relative to the objects...
. This allowed older 8-bit
History of video game consoles (third generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the third generation began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of both the Nintendo Family Computer and Sega SG-1000...
and 16-bit
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
game systems (and, more recently, handheld
Handheld game console
A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
systems) to portray large 3D areas easily. And, while the depth confusion problems
Impossible object
An impossible object is a type of optical illusion consisting of a two-dimensional figure which is instantly and subconsciously interpreted by the visual system as representing a projection of a three-dimensional object although it is not actually possible for such an object to exist An impossible...
of parallel projection can sometimes be a problem, good game design can alleviate this.
Differences with "true" isometric projection
The projection commonly used in videogames deviates slightly from "true" isometric due to the limitations of raster graphicsRaster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
. Lines in the x and y 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
In digital signal processing, spatial anti-aliasing is the technique of minimizing the distortion artifacts known as aliasing when representing a high-resolution image at a lower resolution...
, earlier computer graphics did not support enough colors or possess enough CPU power to accomplish this. So instead, a 2:1 pixel pattern ratio would be used to draw the x and y axis lines, resulting in these axes following a 26.565° (arctan 0.5) angle to the horizontal. (Game systems that do not use square pixels
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
could, however, yield different angles, including true isometric.) Therefore, this form of projection is more accurately described as a variation of dimetric projection, since only two of the three angles between the axes are equal (116.565°, 116.565°, 126.87°). Many in video game and pixel art communities, however, continue to colloquially refer to this projection as "isometric perspective".
Similar projections
The term is often applied to any game with a fixed projection that appears at first to be axonometric or "isometric", including games that utilize trimetric projection (FalloutFallout (computer game)
Fallout is a computer role-playing game produced by Tim Cain, developed and published by Interplay in 1997. The game has a post-apocalyptic and retro-futuristic setting in the mid-22nd century, featuring an alternate history which deviates some time after World War II, where technology, politics...
, SimCity 4
SimCity 4
SimCity 4 is a city-building/urban planning simulation computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. It was released on January 14, 2003. It is the fourth installment in the SimCity series. SimCity 4 has a single expansion pack called Rush Hour which adds features to the game...
); games that utilize oblique projection
Oblique projection
Oblique projection is a simple type of graphical projection used for producing pictorial, two-dimensional images of three-dimensional objects.- Overview :Oblique projection is a type of parallel projection:...
(The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known as in Japan, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was...
, Ultima Online
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
); and games that utilize a combination of perspective projection and a bird's eye view
Bird's Eye View
"Bird's Eye View" is a single by Oakland Hip Hop group Zion I, released in 2005 on Live Up Records. The single was the first released from their third album True & Livin. The song, like Common's classic "I Used to Love H.E.R.", addresses the state of Hip Hop by comparing the culture to a woman. The...
(Torchlight
Torchlight
Torchlight is an action role-playing 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 and the expansive caverns and dungeons nearby, which adventurers explore to collect valuable...
, Silent Storm
Silent Storm
Silent Storm is a tactical role-playing game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Russian developer Nival Interactive and published by JoWood in 2003. The game is set in World War II Europe. The player commands a team of up to six elite soldiers on the Axis or Allied side, undertaking a variety of...
). Other examples of games that utilize oblique projection
Oblique projection
Oblique projection is a simple type of graphical projection used for producing pictorial, two-dimensional images of three-dimensional objects.- Overview :Oblique projection is a type of parallel projection:...
include the original SimCity
SimCity
SimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
, EarthBound
EarthBound
EarthBound, also known as EarthBound: The War Against Giygas! and released as in Japan, is a role-playing video game co-developed by Ape and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console...
and Paperboy
Paperboy (video game)
Paperboy is a 1984 arcade game by Atari Games. The players take the role of a paperboy who delivers newspapers along a suburban street on his bicycle. This game was innovative for its theme and novel controls.-Gameplay:...
.
History of isometric video games
While the history of computer games saw some true 3D games as soon as the early 1970s, the first video games to use the distinct visual style of isometric projection in the meaning described above were arcade games in the early 1980s.1980s
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's Zaxxon
Zaxxon
Zaxxon is a 1982 arcade game developed and released by Sega. Some sources claim that Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki also worked on the development of Zaxxon...
, released in January 1982. It was an isometric shooter that employed scrolling
Scrolling
In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
isometric levels where the player controlled a plane to fly through the levels. It was also one of the first video games to display shadows.
Another early isometric game was Q*bert, which Warren Davis
Warren Davis (actor)
Warren Davis is an American actor and video game programmer. He is best known for inventing the arcade classic Q*bert. His other video arcade credits include Joust 2, Lotto Fun, Exterminator, Terminator 2, and Revolution X, which featured Aerosmith; as well as Us. Vs...
and Jeff Lee began programming in April 1982 and released in October/November 1982. Q*bert showed a static pyramid drawn in an isometric perspective, with the player controlling a person which could jump around on the pyramid.
The following year in 1983, the isometric platformer arcade game Congo Bongo
Congo Bongo
Congo Bongo is an isometric platform arcade game released by Sega in 1983. Strong evidence from analysis of the game's ROM claim that Ikegami Tsushinki also did development work on Congo Bongo. The game has come to be seen as Sega's answer to the highly successful Donkey Kong game that was...
was released, running on the same hardware as Zaxxon. It allowed the player character to move around in bigger isometric levels, including true three-dimensional climbing and falling. The same was possible in the 1984 arcade title Marble Madness
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 an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a...
.
At this time, isometric games were no longer exclusive to the arcade market and also entered home computers with the release of Ant Attack for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
in 1983. The player could now 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
Cardinal direction
The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...
. The ZX Crash magazine 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
Knight Lore is a computer game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the third in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf and Underwurlde. Unlike the earlier games in the series it used Ultimate's filmation engine to achieve a 3D look...
, 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
WordStar is a word processor application, published by MicroPro International, originally written for the CP/M operating system but later ported to DOS, that enjoyed a dominant market share during the early to mid-1980s. Although Seymour I...
. Other big successes out of those were Batman
Batman (1986 video game)
Batman is a 3D isometric action-adventure game that was released in 1986 under the Batman licence by Ocean Software for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and MSX microcomputers.An Amstrad PCW version was also available.-Gameplay:...
(1986) and Head Over Heels (1987). Isometric perspective was not limited to arcade/adventure games, though; for example, the 1989 strategy game Populous
Populous
-External links:*...
used isometric perspective.
1990s and beyond
Throughout the 1990s some very successful games like Civilization IICivilization II
Sid Meier's Civilization II is a turn-based strategy computer game designed by Brian Reynolds, Douglas Caspian-Kaufman and Jeff Briggs. Although it is a sequel to Sid Meier's Civilization, neither Sid Meier nor Bruce Shelley was involved in its development.Civilization II was first released in...
, Diablo
Diablo (video game)
Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on December 31, 1996....
and Fallout used a fixed isometric perspective. But with the advent of 3D acceleration on personal computers and gaming consoles, games previously using a 2D perspective generally started turning to true 3D instead. This can be seen in the successors to the above games: For instance Civilization IV
Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a turn-based strategy, 4X computer game released in 2005 and developed by lead designer Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and Meier's studio Firaxis Games. It is the fourth installment of the Civilization series...
and Diablo III
Diablo III
Diablo III is an upcoming dark fantasy/horror-themed action role-playing game in development by Blizzard, making it the third installment in the Diablo franchise...
both use full 3D; and while Diablo II
Diablo II
Diablo II is a dark fantasy/horror-themed hack and slash, with elements of the role playing game and dungeon crawl genres. It was released for Windows and Mac OS in 2000 by Blizzard Entertainment, and was developed by Blizzard North. It is a direct sequel to the 1996 hit PC game, Diablo.Diablo II...
used a fixed perspective like its predecessor, it optionally allowed for perspective scaling of the sprites in the distance to lend it a "pseudo-3D" appearance.
During the 1990s, isometric graphics began being used for role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s on console systems
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
, particularly tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and strategy games. In Japan these games are known as , a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers...
s, many of which still use isometric graphics today. The use of isometric grids in RPGs began in the early 1990s, with tactical RPGs such as the Ogre
Ogre Battle
"Ogre Battle" may refer to:*Ogre Battle , a song by English rock band Queen from their album Queen II.* The Ogre Battle series of tactical role-playing games, which include:**Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen...
series. By the late 1990s, RPGs like Vandal Hearts
Vandal Hearts
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 version was distributed in Japan, North America, and Europe. The Saturn version was...
(1996), Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics
is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It is the first game of the Final Fantasy Tactics series and was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998...
(1997) 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 as part of the Breath of Fire series. Initially released in Japan on September 11, 1997, the game was later released in North America and Europe in 1998. It is the first game in the franchise to...
(1997) were using 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
to create rotatic isometric environments where the player could freely rotate the camera.
See also
- Filmation engineFilmation engineFilmation is the trademark name of the isometric graphics engine employed in a series of games developed by Ultimate Play The Game during the 1980s, primarily on the 8-bit ZX Spectrum platform, but various titles also appeared on the BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, MSX and Commodore 64 platforms.The...
:Category:Video games with isometric graphics: listing of isometric video games.
:Category:Video games with oblique graphics: listing of oblique video games