Isometric Tile-Based Pixel Game Code Structure [closed]

Question

I'm starting to hit some tricky bits in my Java project.

So far, I have drawn the following isometric tile:

And written some Java code to display it as a map:

I do this by looping over an array of tiles and drawing them on a JPanel. I have also implemented layers so that I can draw objects on top of the ground, etc. So far I have set up some basic classes such as Tile and Level but I'm starting to hit some real complexities.

My question is, with such a project, should I be drawing everything in a normal 2d perspective and rotating them? Or is drawing them isometrically and overlapping them the correct approach?

Is anyone aware of any resources that I can follow that take a similar approach to myself? I've had a Google but everyone seems to take a different approach.

Answer 1

2D It is normal for 2D games to have these drawn and ordered / overlapped by code (loop), using e.g. the painter's algorithm. However, there are special conditions for constructing complex isometric terrain in 2D and you should look around at other Q&A on this site by typing [isometric] (tag) into the search bar at top right of this page. You want to get this right from the start, or it can be a headache.

3D Full 3D not only enables an isometric perspective, but any other that you might like as well. Of course, full 3D is much more work, since (at least) you will then be building 3D models for everything.

Hybrid Between pure 2D and full 3D approaches, there are some midway solutions: You can for example go for 3D terrain with fixed camera declination, allowing you to rotate around the up axis, but have the characters and items on the ground be billboarded images that they look the same from any camera angle. This greatly reduces the amount of work you need to do.

P.S. We do not list resources here, but you are welcome to take this information and use it to research your problems further. Google is your eternal friend.