Being bored I decided to make my game isometric by applying a simple filter effect.
g.scale(1f, 0.5f);
g.rotate(400, c.getHeight() / 2, 45);
It works great, but now everything appears... flat.
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Sign up to join this communityBeing bored I decided to make my game isometric by applying a simple filter effect.
g.scale(1f, 0.5f);
g.rotate(400, c.getHeight() / 2, 45);
It works great, but now everything appears... flat.
Your technique could work, to some limited extent, but you don't want to apply the same transformations for the objects that are supposed to be standing. For these, make a simple "skew", as illustrated here:
The second rotation might not be the inverse of the first as it depends on the scale factor. The important thing is that the vertical lines are actually vertical, i.e, aligned with the y axis (look at the dashed lines). Also, you might want to scale back a little. This is more important for doors than characters.
But still, as the commenters said, if this project goes beyond boredom avoid this method and begin making isometric art with a regular grid :)
It looks fine. Since an isometric projection is essentially a rotation followed by an orthographic projection there should be no foreshortening - and hence a limited perception of depth etc.
So my take is, keep going.
and more "overhead view" like (ala starcraft)
The more you zoom out, the more the brain starts to expect perspective / the player thinks he's looking at a map
You need differences in shadow heights, to make the isometry more believable. Higher objects cast longer shadows. Try it, you'll see an improvement right away.
All your edges which face upwards have very little definition. In real life, we recognize edges on a glance by a change in contrast between one surface and another. Your contrast (change in tone) is very slight between your top grey and bottom grey. Add to that the very fine brick detail -- I would emphasise that a lot. Also not that gaps between bricks aren't just a dark shade, more often than not you'll see highlighted edges contrasted directly adjacent to deep shadow. You have zero highlights -- of course things will look flat. Check this out as an example:
(from here) And yes, I know it's perspectival and not orthogonal. The point is the lighting.
isometric art
for examples. \$\endgroup\$