Isometric 2D Art Appreciation Thread

[Kem0sabe]

*Fixed the title as apparently this thread is no longer constrained by silly RPG die rolls.

I´m currently replaying The Temple of Elemental Evil, by Troika, with the Circle of 8 mod, and i´m awestruck by the amazing background art of the game world.

The little details and especially the design and crispness of the art is simply beyond anything i have experienced with traditionally more lauded games like those spawned off the infinity engine. Not only that but the 3d character models themselves, their animations, the cloaks, weapons, attacks and magic effects all look great and fit perfectly into the background art.

I hope recently announced isometric RPG "reimaginings" like project infinity eternity and Shadowrun are at least on par with this 2003 game in terms of art. Would be great.

What other hand drawn art has caught your imaginations?

 

[Larendav]

The isometric perspective really helps me appreciate the background details more. Those Wasteland 2 & Divinity: Original Sin screenshots look kick ass too. Oh, and by the way, its Project Eternity.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Oh, and by the way, its Project Eternity.

Thanks for spotting that

 

[laclongquan]

Somebody post a vision of grandeur that is Sigil here for eyes to see, eh!

 

[Kem0sabe]

Somebody post a vision of grandeur that is Sigil here for eyes to see, eh!

Here you go:

 

[Wizfall]

I don't understand why isometric game are almost not being made anymore.
The sales usually followed well when the game was good.

 

[Angthoron]

I don't understand why isometric game are almost not being made anymore.
The sales usually followed well when the game was good.

To ask the question like this is to answer it.

 

[Rivmusique]

I don't understand why isometric game are almost not being made anymore.
The sales usually followed well when the game was good.

To ask the question like this is to answer it.

 

[Angthoron]

I don't understand why isometric game are almost not being made anymore.
The sales usually followed well when the game was good.

To ask the question like this is to answer it.

Ah, but we should also consider that we could stress "sales", indicating that people would only buy it with a 75% discount...

 

[Kem0sabe]

And Project Eternity of course. It looks nice and the coloring is spot on, but something that for me makes or brakes the immersion of playing in these types of games are the subtle animations in the scenery, smoke from chimneys, the water flowing or the lights flickering.

It´s a pity they haven´t showed us anything in motion, but crossing my fingers that it will be awesome.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

IWD is the best looking game ever made.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

It would be one of the best if we only looked at the backgrounds, but its sprites are meh and menus pretty hideous which creates an unpleasant contrast.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Fuck static isometric backgrounds like those in the IE games, they may look great but they fuck with my world interactivity, an essential feature of the genre. A proper RPG should allow the player to walk over roofs, swim or destroy obstacles in a non-scripted way first, then be pretty. Fuck the Infinity Engine games btw, I killed the shopkeeper of Easthaven to take all his shit and I got nothing, fuck that shit.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Spoiler

Albion would be so much better if BB hadn't done first person sequences.

 

[Kem0sabe]

It would be one of the best if we only looked at the backgrounds, but its sprites are meh and menus pretty hideous which creates an unpleasant contrast.

Yeah, the shitty sprites have always annoyed me in IE games. Planescape did good tho, but it didn´t have armors showing so there's that.

 

[Surf Solar]

What was so bad about IWD's UI art? I loved it, especially in the first one

 

[Rahdulan]

Game quality discussion aside, Inquisitor looks alright.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

What was so bad about IWD's UI art? I loved it, especially in the first one

Probably the fact that it was just recycled and slightly rehashed stuff from BG (the only IE game which didn't look that good even upon release) which, especially in case of paperdolls and item icons, looked out of date and created the unpleasant contrast when confronted with the rest of the game and was also a testament of laziness.

 

[joeydohn]

Some giant Planescape:

 

[Surf Solar]

What kind of monitor do you have there? The sprites etc. would feel way too small for me, same as the UI

 

[A user named cat]

 

[joeydohn]

What kind of monitor do you have there? The sprites etc. would feel way too small for me, same as the UI

It's not mine so I'm not sure, but the screenshot is a little too big for 2560x1600 so it's probably been cropped. If the screen were around 30" I think the sprite's sizes would be fine, but using a monitor like that isn't.

It's possibly a CRT like the Sony FW900.

 

[AgentBJ09]

I don't understand why isometric game are almost not being made anymore.
The sales usually followed well when the game was good.

To ask the question like this is to answer it.

Ah, but we should also consider that we could stress "sales", indicating that people would only buy it with a 75% discount...

That makes me question why devs and publishers keep trying to move to digital if something like that is the case. Unless that is done to encourage folks to make purchases they don't need to make.

But anyway, of the isometric RPGs I've played, Divine Divinity and Inquisitor have some of the better art and depicted worlds I've seen.

 

[tuluse]

I don't understand why isometric game are almost not being made anymore.
The sales usually followed well when the game was good.

To ask the question like this is to answer it.

Ah, but we should also consider that we could stress "sales", indicating that people would only buy it with a 75% discount...

That makes me question why devs and publishers keep trying to move to digital if something like that is the case. Unless that is done to encourage folks to make purchases they don't need to make.

But anyway, of the isometric RPGs I've played, Divine Divinity and Inquisitor have some of the better art and depicted worlds I've seen.

Distribution was always one of the most expensive parts of selling a game. Publishers probably make about the same amount of money selling a game online directly for $15 as they did selling it at Gamestop for $50.

 

[Angthoron]

That makes me question why devs and publishers keep trying to move to digital if something like that is the case. Unless that is done to encourage folks to make purchases they don't need to make.

Why do you keep answering your own questions? WHY?!

Anyway, it's also done because there's less money spent on logistics and publishing aspect of the shebang, while they keep the prices at roughly the same level anyway = better overall earnings.

What would be more interesting is why they don't have lower entry-level prices to bump up the early sales. I guess the current model is profitable enough, but basically, lower starting price = lower "casual" piracy, and thus less of a need to spend on DRM measures and a better outlook and reputation, so wtf.

 

[AgentBJ09]

Distribution was always one of the most expensive parts of selling a game. Publishers probably make about the same amount of money selling a game online directly for $15 as they did selling it at Gamestop for $50.

I would believe that, if not for those same folks selling games like Hitman 5 at $50 on Steam and such with no retail disk available.

But anyway, in terms of art alone, isometric is a better way to go for games. It doesn't have as bad a pop-in problem as textures do on games like RAGE and such.