Really really want to make a grim fandango type game, need advice

luniac

Hi everyone, i've been doing research on how grim fandango was made, tech advancements since then, and general approaches to making these type of adventure games.

I'm conflicted as to how i should approach such a game.
I don't know if i should make it 2.5D or 3D. im leaning towards 3D.

At the time grim fandango was made hardware was too weak for real time render environments and this was a big reason why prerendered backgrounds were used.

For example in grim fandango, they used some kind of 3D software(no clue which one) to create a 3d scene, set a camera angle and rendered to an image which was used in game.
If they wanted to get a different angle of the scene all they had to do was rerender at a different camera angle to get a different image.
This approach saved a whole bunch of time because they only had to create a scene ONCE in their 3d software and didn't have to redraw a scene from every angle from scratch.

I believe that if grim fandango was made in 2016, it would have been made as a 3D game in the first place, instead of a 2.5D game.


It seems to me that creating the game 3D in the first place within unity would be a lot simpler.
I could create the 3D scene, set camera angles, and realtime render the game right within unity and basically get the same EXACT look and feel of grim fandango + all the benefits a realtime rendered game brings.

This approach seems especially pertinent to me because I have a lot of experience using Unity but I'm not an artist or 3D modeler.
With this approach i could outsource textures and models and put it together myself in unity.


So what do you guys think, am i missing something here or is my reasoning sound?

Why make 2.5D for the sake of 2.5D when I can create a virtually identical look and feel using 3D with a more convenient workflow, basically WYSIWYG since the 3D scene is ACTUAL 3D and not a background image.

thanks.

Alverik

Umm... whatever it's easier and works best for you will always be the best. Why make the game 2.5D if you think it'll be easier or better for you to do it in 3D? I don't know why you are worrying. Honestly, I'm in the same boat. Although I do love 2D art, I quickly scrapped the idea of doing 2D games because most of my art skills lie in 3D. Doing a 2D game would have been really hard, and would probably have ended up looking bad anyway... so do what you think it's best for you.

Snebjorn

luniac: I've come to very much the same conclusion as Alverik and yourself on this, for very much the same reasons - definitely go with 3D!

Also, for static environments, you can do a lot of nice stuff with baked lighting in Unity to get the best visuals without too much performance overhead - and you don't have to deal with the extra complexity and lack of flexibility during scene design of setting up 2.5D scenes in AC.

EDIT: Completely stating the obvious here, but I believe the reason Grim Fandango is so fondly remembered has everything to do with the writing and general atmosphere, which is unfortunately the really hard part of making a great game ...

EDIT2: Thinking more about it now, I don't think GF was perceived as a "2.5D" game when it came out - the way I remember it, we were just thrilled to have something that looked 3D with that visual quality at all.

luniac

thanks for chiming in guys, agreed.

ChrisIceBox

As a fan of GF back in the day as well, AC also has some more specific features tailored towards recreating that game's gameplay: chiefly direct-control movement, the ability to cycle through Hotspots available near the Player, Hotspot head-turning, and texture-based lipsyncing.

Look for these options in the Settings Manager:

Movement method -> Direct
Input method -> Keboard Or Controller
Hotspot detection method -> Player Vicinity
Hotspots in vicinity -> Cycle Multiple
Player turns head to active Hotspot -> On.

Snebjorn

To get the really authentic GF experience, don't forget this:

Direct movement type -> Tank Controls

luniac

Yea the fact that i don't have to code those features is why im gonna get this plugin!

Just have to write the game design document first
lots of late nights at starbucks brainstorming at hand!
gonna create me some dependency puzzle graphs and all that good stuff.

i bought grim fandango remastered for my younger friend and i just certain he'll be inspired to work with me after beating it lol