28th November 2004, 6:53 PM
"Actual" 3d is pretty much just 2D. Well, when you get down to it pretty much all graphics engines are 1D, and the extra stuff is just programming. The computer just sees it all as one big line, not a 2D grib as some books incorrectly protray it, or 3D space as one might think, just one long line of data. So, Doom's graphics engine is 3D, just not polygonal, it's all sprites. By this I mean that sure, all the depth is just a trick of data, but that's exactly what polygons and their depth are too.
2.5D, a sorta silly designation I suppose ABF... Since the gameplay is 2D when you get right down to it, only it sorta curves around hills here and there, I'd say it's pretty much accurate to say the game is a 2D game, but done with polygons. Heck, I've seen games with sprites that looked very 3 dimensional, but I would hardly call them 3D. Honestly the latest versions of directx don't even make any real distinction between 2D and 3D modes, it's all a blend.
2.5D, a sorta silly designation I suppose ABF... Since the gameplay is 2D when you get right down to it, only it sorta curves around hills here and there, I'd say it's pretty much accurate to say the game is a 2D game, but done with polygons. Heck, I've seen games with sprites that looked very 3 dimensional, but I would hardly call them 3D. Honestly the latest versions of directx don't even make any real distinction between 2D and 3D modes, it's all a blend.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)