ID:913015
 
Keywords: none, sidemaps
Why aren't side map games being developed?

I remember seeing one over a year ago being made by Taitz but since then he's disappeared. It also appears his hub for the game has gone away too. Shame.


There's a few games being created in Isometric. Those seem to be rare, but Side Map games are all but non-existent. It seems games like Zen by YutPut would be better served in Side Map format or even Isometric.

Does anyone know of a Side Map game being made?

Is there any kind of framework out there or demos/libraries to assist in Side Map games?

Does anyone care?

What is a side map game exactly? Do you mean sidescrollers?
No, it's 3/4 perspective.
I am sure the lack of "side map" graphics floating around has something to do with it. Truthfully, top-down graphics are so much easier to create. You also do not have to deal with programming elevation and such.

Forum_account's pixel movement library actually provides a demonstration that makes use of the side_map feature.
OH, I see. It's a map_format setting. I completely forgot that was added.
In response to Calus CoRPS
Forum_account's Pixel Movement library has an optional 3D mode. It works in any map_format, but looks best in isometric and side-view.

They have a lot of layering issues with the side-view perspectives, though, that are apparently impossible to resolve.
I thought about making an action RPG that uses side map format since last year, but still haven't to this day. :P
In response to Yusuke13
HulioG's Bleach Online is 3/4ths. That's really the only game I can think of.
I've found both Isometric and side-map perspective to be buggy and in general, excessively difficult to work with.

I've been working on a total nightmare of a project over the last year on and off using the isometric features in BYOND. Time and time again, I've run into problem after problem with isometric layering. BYOND just doesn't handle it well enough for me to justify continuing work on an isometric project. In the end, it was easier for me to write a proper engine in Java to handle Isometry, than it was to work within BYOND's isometric implementation.

I've also been struggling to work with a side-view orientation project involving client.dir rotation to handle Pseudo 3-D heightmaps. The real struggle again, is how buggy side-view layering and pixel offsets are.
People always complain about the layering issues but they're not that bad. Between turfs and a single mob the layering is usually fine (you might have to modify pixel offsets to get things to look and layer right, but the issues are fixable). The only time I've seen problems is when you've got mobs standing on top of other mobs.

This uses side map and I never had much of a problem with layering (aside from BYOND's SIDE_MAP display being a bit slower than manually setting the layer var of each atom): http://www.byond.com/games/Forum_account/PixelMovementDemo
In response to Forum_account
I have trees (essentially thin pillars) that are spawned with step offsets. Pixel movers don't layer well with other pixel movers. Your demo works nice because you only have turfs that cover the whole tile, but when you get serious with pixel-based positions for everything, you start seeing issues. I have a pretty good layering engine for CazHaz, though. The only issue I'm having now is BYOND's opacity and dynamic lighting. I think the black stuff should "cover up" all things in it.
In response to Kaiochao
Kaiochao wrote:
I think the black stuff should "cover up" all things in it.

If you're referring to what I think you're referring to, have you tried adding SEE_PIXELS to mob.sight?
In response to DarkCampainger
That actually made it worse. I think there's a bug where objects on the edge of your screen are considered "on lit tiles".


Shouldn't there be shading on the walls and grass due to SEE_PIXELS? Should there be trees sticking out of the bottom of my screen as well?

Upon rethinking the issue, I figure that I have it wrong. The black stuff doesn't have to cover up everything, the lighting system probably just needs to somehow affect all pixels on the screen that aren't blackness. Tall buildings that appear over the black stuff are completely lit on top because the lighting system doesn't appear there. Trees offset by a tiny bit will have completely-lit leaves because they're outside of visible shadow's reach. Is it the lighting engine's fault, though, that its shades need pixel offsets to center its icon?