Others [Dev Log] Today I discovered why most tactic games drop verticality

[caudatum]

I'm currently implementing pathfinding for my game and I went through a 5h long rabbit-hole about making verticality work. Spoiler: It sucks.

1. Implementing pathfinding via A* is fun when you have 2d. It's not so fun when you have 3d, but possible.
2. If you have height in your game and do not allow to rotate the camera, you create situations in which a ledge can barely be made out from the ground. Especially if it's a bit darker.
3. The computational complexity of it is not to underestimate. Suddenly you have to worry about how exactly your character is supposed so scale walls, jump height, and the size of your character when going under something.

By the end of this I felt like I was making minecraft, because my character box size was 2m and I was working with these 1m blocks.

After getting it 70% working, I took a look at xcom, wasteland 3 and gears tactics. Turns out, when in combat, these games don't even care about height most of the time. The map usually just has some cover.

Thinking back to playing xcom specifically, I can remember some maps incorporating height, but now that I think about it, it doesn't really add anything, does it?
I mean yes, you can take a position that is slightly higher up for more range and a bit of damage, but adding verticality to a game, just for that, seems a bit oof.

Personally, I think I will drop it. Especially for a h game, I don't see myself battling with verticality, the trade off is not worth it.

Do you guys also think that height is not that important or am I just coping?

 

[SpiteWorks - Cassian]

Looks very interesting!
personally, I think that readability should be king above all, which is why i don't think verticality/elevation don't have any place in an isometric perspective game.

 

[DuniX]

Disgaea had height, mostly for the enemies to fuck with you by sniping you.
What is fun about it was throwing and air juggling rather then the maps with the height terrain.
The problem of height was only a question of what they can walk/jump to and what they can throw at.

 

[kinrean]

I'm currently implementing pathfinding for my game and I went through a 5h long rabbit-hole about making verticality work. Spoiler: It sucks.

1. Implementing pathfinding via A* is fun when you have 2d. It's not so fun when you have 3d, but possible.
2. If you have height in your game and do not allow to rotate the camera, you create situations in which a ledge can barely be made out from the ground. Especially if it's a bit darker.
3. The computational complexity of it is not to underestimate. Suddenly you have to worry about how exactly your character is supposed so scale walls, jump height, and the size of your character when going under something.

By the end of this I felt like I was making minecraft, because my character box size was 2m and I was working with these 1m blocks.

After getting it 70% working, I took a look at xcom, wasteland 3 and gears tactics. Turns out, when in combat, these games don't even care about height most of the time. The map usually just has some cover.

Thinking back to playing xcom specifically, I can remember some maps incorporating height, but now that I think about it, it doesn't really add anything, does it?
I mean yes, you can take a position that is slightly higher up for more range and a bit of damage, but adding verticality to a game, just for that, seems a bit oof.

Personally, I think I will drop it. Especially for a h game, I don't see myself battling with verticality, the trade off is not worth it.

Do you guys also think that height is not that important or am I just coping?

i am also making a turn base game, but my turn base is not xcom or FFT type. but is in a box/grip type. not hentai.
for me right from the start i give up on verticality , reason is because most ai will be about close range and fast.
i care about how they move more then what height , like flying or hiding . that will make the ai more intresting and more strategy .

in the end all i can think how to use height is to for able to see far and hit harder/lesser . so i find a bit weak to add. you can add item to throw like Disgaea by my game don't really have item like that. so if your got item maybe it will be useful . but it will be alot of work on the ai to know where to throw .