The Beauty of Isometric Video Games

Due to the limitations of home computers and game consoles, for years true 3d rendering was mostly out of reach for developers. However, by applying an isometric projection, a fake or pseudo 3D effect can provide a 3d like experience to the game. Isometric views in video games have existed around in video games since the early 80s. And during the late 90s, PC resolutions were large enough and CPUs were becoming powerful enough where developers could pre-render 3d models and combine them with an isometric view to produce beautifully realistic looking environments. In todays episode we deep dive into the world of Isometric graphics in video games.

Timestamps:

00:00 - 01:58 - Introduction to Isometric video games
01:59 - 03:56 - Sponsor
03:58 - 19:41 - Isometric video games over the years
19:41 - 20:01 - Outro

Social Media Links :

#Isometric #retrogaming

[matthewconte]

Lead programmer on THPS2 GBA here. Glad to see it in the mix! Fun fact, even though we rebuilt all the levels for the isometric projection, we ported most of the playstation code over to GBA, which is why it plays so much like the original title.

[ultimateman]

MVG you play a relatively unique role in the retro/game historian community as far as I can tell. I appreciate that you bring attention to genres and styles that others don't and you regularly seem to highlight interesting and worthy gaming achievements that had an impact on your gaming history. I watch a lot of retro gaming youtube and this is the first video I've personally seen highlighting the origins of the isometric art style and game design. Keep up the great work!

[TheHardStyleLife]

1: Age of Empires
2: The Sims
in the 90's as the youngest of 4 - These games were probably the most played on our Pentium 2 PC

[seabassapologist]

The Super Mario RPG remake is actually a great example of how fixed isometric perspectives still have a place in the world even with fully 3D assets. It’s one of the best looking games on the switch because the devs were able to really tune the textures and models to look just right from the fixed angles. Not unlike with 2D art

[felixklinge]

Finally someone acknowledges Nox. It's criminal how underrated that game is.

[timharris]

I still can't believe Chris Sawyer wrote nearly all of Rollercoaster Tycoon in assembly. You must either have to be mad, a genius, or both.

[orxgide]

Crusader series was actually really great as well. Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret. Amazing games.

[timmmurray]

Not to be left out: RTS games. Dune II was sorta isometric, but the first Warcraft and C&C games are what really pushed it. It's the standard look for the genre ever since.

[bburnham]

I worked as internal QA at Westwood Studios during the production of Nox. Really happy to see it mentioned in your video! I very much agree that it’s an overlooked classic. I had an incredible time testing all of the levels and game mechanics. Glad to know that I’m not the only one who enjoyed Nox!

[novhck]

I am currently developing a pixel art isometric game so this video definitely made me feel happy.

[tpmnrcks]

I miss westwood studios. they literally made my childhood so memorable.

[JohnSmith-xqpz]

Before the dark times, before the horse armour...

[gtf]

Isometric has always been my favourite viewpoint! Desert and Jungle Strike, SC2000, Crusader, No Regret and No Remorse, X-Com, CnC, Bedlam, all fantastic isometric little worlds I loved exploring and blowing up :)
Currently replaying Diablo 2 :)
Not even watched the vid yet but full power MVG ✌️

[SteveCirelli]

I remember being blown away when I saw what I think is Landstalker, on Sega Channel. I most of found it toward the end of its time on SC, because it disappeared a few days later. It was such a pretty game. The isomorphic view gave it a feeling of depth and mystery.

[StoneCresent]

Strictly speaking, an isometric perspective refers to a graphical projection where all axes of space are equally foreshortened with a common angle of 120° between them. However, not all video games labeled as having an isometric perspective actually use said perspective. Other parallel projections are also used with a dimetric perspective being the most common (much more so than true isometry) but other projections can be found occasionally as well. Thus, it would be more accurate to call these parallel projection games.

[seraphin]

When I think isometric, there are 3 games that comes to mind right away: desert/jungle strike on Genesis, I loved those games despite sucking at it and always running out of fuel as a kid..
And transport tycoon deluxe.. That game was/is awesome, I love everything about it.
Special mention to little big aventure.. I bought that game as a kid, and it was HARD as hell and very special for me.. I never finished it but I remember seeing the planet half burnt and all, it was a shocker for me back in the days.. Good memories!

[GarethFairclough]

Arcanum.
Hell of a game, basically Fallout 2 with a steampunk fantasy setting.
Who wouldn't want to have a fantasy RPG set in 1886 where you can machine gun dwarves en masse or break a train with your mere magical presence? Or perhaps convince the end boss to end himself for you?

Man, I loved that game and the setting. It's so ripe for a rebuild and bugfix.

[SolidIncMedia]

I'm a huge fan of Relentless: Twinsen's Adventures (known as Little Big Adventure in the rest of the world). Isometric view, proper 3D, and was a fun game to play. It's getting a remaster some time soon which should make it more enjoyable, as the controls were very clunky at times.

[dasnutnock]

Knight Lore blew my mind back in 84. Had its limitations and slowdown on busy screens could be a bit painful, but showed us what could be achieved with the Spectrum.

[DeathpunchTactics]

Me and my brothers LOVED Syndicate Wars and GTA1 ... What a timeline to be alive!