24th April 2005, 9:08 PM
Quote:creating controls,
Well yes, a third dimension makes this harder. Though GGA did have to have some full-3d controls as well -- for the towns, for instance, or for the enemies which go through the environment not just along the 2d path that you travel on. So it's not quite that simple.
Quote: a good camera system,
Both games obviously would have challenges with this, since the GGA one has to rotate around and all... again, you'd have a much stronger case against a straight 2d side-scroller, but this GGA's not that simple... but yes, it could feasibly be harder in MN64. Both would obviously have lots of camera issues to deal with, but in MN64 at least it's probably less likely that there'll be something between the camera and the action that you have to figure out some way to get around (like when in a 3d game the camera is behind a wall)...
Quote:level design,
I've discussed this. I'd say the level design complexity is very similar. Both require 3d level design tools, both have levels that are made in 3d, and at least some elements that use all three dimensions, even in GGA (like the stones that roll across the screen in the first level in GGA)... it might well be simpler to make a level in GGA because it's sidescrolling, but I'd say that they compensated by making the levels more complex, versus MN64's simpler ones... a big part of that, though, is certainly just because MN64 is first-generation and GGA isn't, so in the second game they had optimized the system more and had a better idea of what the N64 could do.
For instance... in MN64, most architecture is square -- square corners, square or rectangular rooms, etc... GGA doesn't have that problem. I guess the sidescrolling nature helps here, it keeps them from having to build the whole room, so it doesn't look as boxy... but just looking at the towns, they certainly look better in the second game, are more complex graphically, are easier to navigate, etc... but if you ignore the graphical elements, I'd say the towns are even -- in both towns work very similarly by most ways you'd compare them, after all. Are the MN64 ones harder to make? I don't think so... it doesn't seem like it's that much harder to do a series of boxy rooms (with doors and people and some stuff like plants or water or something, sure) than it would be to do a couple strip-town segments. :)
Quote: and overall polish is much harder to do with a fully 3D game.
Probably true, but as I've been saying, on the other hand, GGA is more polished (for instance, the noticably better english translation in GGA)... does that make up for it? I'm not sure. But it's there.
Quote:There's also AI, triggers, volumes, and balance, to name a few more things.
AI... it probably is easier in a 2d game. But remember, this is a 2d game with some enemies that move in full 3d (or have some moves which are full 3d), which complicates things... and neither game exactly has the most complex AI routines around. :) But it would be harder to say 'walk back forth in a straight line in this full-3d environment (and charge the player if you see them)' than' walk back and forth along the plane (and charge the player if you see them)'.
triggers, volumes, and balance, I'm not sure what you mean. By balance do you mean game balance? I guess that that'd be harder in a full 3d adventure-type game like MN64... would stuff like the healthbar (how in MN64 it steadily increases, versus GGA's static one), etc fall under that?