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Hi, I recently started a little project of mine. I wanted to make an isometric project, not sure where I'm specifically going, but we'll see, probably more to the Fallout style. Anyway, I also stumbled upon the post: Well, first of all. I've currently made so that I only have to take a single flat texture and it will automically shift the pixels to match an isometric wall's mask, so - less textures and less tinkering around them, yay... BUT it's in 2D right now, so nothing hardcore here... Now, the problem that I stumbled upon that I can't figure out is - How exactly PZ draws these 3d walls? Well, technically speaking, if I were to use 3D, but make the projection Orthographic, I'd get a topdown view, but that also would mean that I couldn't just use wall planes, because they would be invisible, meanwhile using floor planes would just draw a rectangle on a screen. Maybe I can actually make a transformed floor plane/vector (romb, paralelogram), assign a texture to it and set depth relative to "-y" coordinate? Basically, it would be identical to as just placing sprites on top of each other in a 2d view, but in this case, it would be done with actual 3d objects and 3d draw ordering (z-buffer), I guess... What are your thoughts, any ideas? What would be the best way to accomplish a 2d Isometric game, like PZ, Shadowrun Return, Fallout? Thanks regardless, E.P. Martin

As you slowly wake, your brain focuses enough to ask for a moment, 'where am I?' But, banishing the morning's first thought, the gentle swirling of the current outside and the comfortable pitch black remind you that you're safe in your cot. You fumble for a moment in the inky darkness before finding the breaker and flipping it. With a quiet 'whoosh,' water flows into the now-unlocked turbine outside and the globe on the ceiling slowly flickers into life, lighting your small room in its warm glow. Outside, nearby fish dart swiftly away from the sudden light (often spelling danger at this depth), but quickly grow accustomed and go back to their daily troubles. You watch them dart about for a moment, hoping your fuzzy mind will have a few more moments of respite before the troubles of the day come flooding in. It's to no avail, though, so you run your hands through your hair, grit your teeth, and stand up. For a moment you're very dizzy, and your head pounds as if you're hungover. But yesterday was just a normal day in the Bathydome, no reason for you to feel sick. You grab the mirror above your small dresser with both hands and stabilize yourself. Brushing your hair out of your face, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. 1) Looking into it, you see your face, the face of: A) Dane, the engineer. As an engineer in the Bathydome, you are responsible for the day-to-day running of the facility. You make sure the power stays on and people have oxygen. Every day is an emergency, but it's a challenging and exciting job, requiring both brains and occasionally brawn. You enjoy interesting work, have a wide variety of talents, and rarely complain. B) Shaila, the peacekeeper. As a member of the Bathydome's small police force, you are responsible for keeping the peace and protecting valuable assets. You rarely see any trouble, but you always stay ready for whatever is coming your way- it's your job, after all. You enjoy talking to people, are talented at physical activities, but aren't much good at puzzles. C) Tam, the biologist. As a Bathydome biologist, you are given tasks by your department head on a regular basis to work on and solve. You never know what the projects are for, but you enjoy the work and look forward to your next assignment. You enjoy tough challenges, are good with technology, but dislike manual labor. D) Nel, the janitor. In reality, you do many other jobs than cleaning- whatever needs doing, from wrenching down pipes, to serving food, to moving steel beams for construction. You don't really know how you fit in to Bathydome society, but you do your work steadfastly. Your job takes you all over the Bathydome, and as such your talents are diverse and you're very adaptable. You're shy and a bit of an outsider, and really wish you had a friend. E) Jaina, the Bathydrome Supervisor. As Bathydrome supervisor, you oversee all aspects of day-to-day life and are privy to almost everything that goes on. The entire Bathydrome project depends on you every day, and you won't forget it. F) No write-in votes, but if you'd really like to gender change one of the above that's fine (if you can get a majority vote for it). Your gender won't matter other than how some characters react to you. Your over-all abilities and proficiencies will be identical. As you pull on your clothes, your eye is pulled to the corner of the room where you store your hobby materials. 2) You see: A) A tiny hobby garden, with some precious soil and a few small plants. You've always had a bit of a green thumb and the garden really brightens up your room! B) An instrument (write in instrument of your choice). You have a natural talent for music, although you've not been brave enough to play for an audience yet. C) A small chemistry set. Even if it's not your job, you've always found chemistry fun. You don't make much practical, but you like messing around with neat reactions. D) A chessboard. You don't have a chess partner, but you're looking for one. You find chess a great way to keep your brain sharp. E) A pair of dumbbells. Every day after work you spend a little time lifting weights. It's always good to keep in shape! F) A sketchbook. You love drawing, and have a nice collection of pencils and pens to do it with. Your book is empty right now, but you'll fill it up soon! G) Write in a hobby! Be creative! It can be anything you want as long as it somewhat fits the setting. If you're unsure, ask first! Welcome to Depth, a forum-based choose your own adventure game. The basic format is easy. I will describe a specific scenario, and offer you some ways to resolve it (as per above). If you don't see something you like, you can also write-in your own option. The most popular option is chosen, and leads to the next scenario. You can join the game any time you want to, you don't have to have played from the beginning! You can type as much as you want, but when you're voting please bold your choices. This lets me quickly tally votes when I'm ready. For instance, an example vote for the first scenario would be: 1) D 2) F Depth is an open adventure, where you can do basically whatever you want whenever you want. There is an overarching plot, and it will both continue and have consequences even if you're not participating. You are, of course, limited somewhat by your environment and your skills. Feel free to ask questions about your surroundings at any time. I may or may not answer them. If you're posting a question you want answered, please put it in bold as well. Finally, your character can and will die if you make bad choices for him/her. If you're wondering if the game is based on Bioshock, the answer is- yes and no. I really love the setting of Bioshock, but I've actually never played the games myself. That being said, I have watched quite a bit of them, so you'll probably find little snippets of them here and there, aside from the setting which I've borrowed heavily from. Finally, a couple of tips if you're new to these kinds of games: