Haven't bothered to read most of this, however I don't think WME should ever go full realtime. The current optional, realtime 3D objects is enough given that is the direction the traditional adventure industry has been headed for a number of..............
Well first of all, I think you should have read most of this thread before answering, because now your reply seems like an autonome "I dont want 3D because I..." answer, and not an actual discussion or responds on what has been mentioned here.
I am surprised there are so little finished smaller WME games at the moment. We wanted to go commercial with Joe so that's a different thing, but I still don't understand why there are not more smaller fanbased WME games finished. I don't know if AGS is easier. I did found it hard to work with because it restricts way too much. In WME there is a complete template ready! Just fill in the blanks! AGS users will understand it perfectly after some research. We did a 2D/3D test some months ago, and got it up and running within 30 minutes.
I think, for WME, much can change with a different webdesign,
promotion, presentation of portfolio, etc.
Now back to the topic. I haven't read a single good argument why 3D should not be implemented, except personal opinions on how the engine should be. I've read:
- possibile instability
- hackish
- there-are-enough-3d-engines-so-use-these.
- and some others.
What a bunch of negativity
Now let's look at:
- development time (IMHO faster and cheaper)
- easier-to-find-team members
- exceptance of target audience
- getting adventures out of the niche market
- art direction and storytelling using cameras, shadows, etc.
With the right graphics designer you can create atmospheric 3D games which can co-exist with 2D games
perfectly.
So you're saying: if you want 3d, use a generic 3d engine? And this is not the case with 2.5D or 2D? Let's pretend WME didn't exist and I wanted to make a 2D engine. You'd say: "use BlitzBasic or DarkBasic or whatever. They have a good 2D sprite system"? Nope, you wouldn't.
The reason a full 3d engine is not the right choice IMHO is:
They are too generic and you have to make a dialogue system, 3d pathfinding, event based system,
adventure animation system etc. For action based games they are excellent.
We use
www.otee.dk (Unity) which is a great tool for those kind of games.
I think it's important to remember that WME is designed for a specific game genre,
and this provides the foundation for an adventure game.
This is why we want WME for our next game.
Wheter it's 2D, 2.5D or 3D is matter of technical implementation, in which only
Jan Nedoma knows if it's doable or not.
3d is needed for true profits. That's what publishers want, thats' what the gamers want.
Exactly. And that doesn't mean 2D should be thrown away (god no).
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