Isometric??

[John Yossarian]

But since "isometric" has a clear association to a specific gaming experience, isometric is the right term to use here.

It's the right term to use if you want people to understand what the view is, but it isn't the right one in the technical sense.
See when people who like games like AoD see isometric, they won't immeadiately think the game is awesome, but they'll remember other games that were called isometric (again, incorrectly) and associate some of their qualities to AoD. On the other hand, if they see the technical name of the view, or isometric-like, first thing in their mind will be Stewie saying "What the douche?", with subsequent thoughts ranging from "VD is a snob for thinking he's too good to call it isometric like everyone else", and a lost sale, to being intrigued and finding out more about views, but no change to sales (he's not gonna make other people buy it just 'cause VD called it correctly)
So IT is lying for marketing purposes, but there's pretty much nothing it can do since most people have the wrong idea of what isometric means.
About Bethesda, fuck them. They deserve all the criticism, even if it's a little hyporcritical to not hold everyone else to the same standards.

 

[Julio]

Ok.

Now what's an RPG?

 

[Hazelnut]

In before retardo.

 

[Mayday]

Ok.

Now what's an RPG?

You mean the locket rancher?

 

[Lumpy]

AoD isn't an RPG because you can't play a mage.

 

[denizsi]

A middle ground without compromise: just include an orthographic projection option in the game, like UFO:AI has. I don't know which version but I know at least one variation of Torque Engine has a built in function for orthographic projection. Even if the one you have doesn't have it, it should be fairly easy to implement it if you have complete access to source code. While it still won't be technically isometric, it will at least be orthographic and you could have the default projection angles to be set to those of isometric upon switching to orthographic. Additionally, dynamic orthographic projection looks so good (to me at least).

That said, if you (most posters here) so have to rely on this "gaming context" excuse to justify the misuse of terms, at least do it properly. Following your logic, if we are to bend over (and bend words, terms) just to adjust to the masses, then you should realize that most people associate isometric with 2D, just as they associate turn-based with "computers weren't fast enough!". Now it's clear that the intended audiance for this game is a better bunch, and I'd say that they are also a better bunch deserving to be given straight information instead of being babysitted and taken care of with relatively failsafe terms. Afterall, aren't there screenshots of the game right and left? So what if some people get confused reading something like "Isometric style 3D"? Hopefuly you realize that the only type of people who may play and like AOD are people capable of deducing that by themselves, right?

In the end, this whole debate is, in my opinion, about whether gamers, and especially the niche-gamers, want to be better people or not, from an education, an awareness standpoint. Some levels down from where you are, people call Oblivion a hardcore RPG; some more levels down and they call anything with a few stats an RPG, and immersive = first person + voice overs; some more levels below and turn-based is a deviation from the past when computers weren't fast enough for real-time and so on. On top of these, some levels up from where you are, there are people like galsiah.

 

[obediah]

VD is right of course.

I'm not even reading your stupid thread, because then I might learn VD is wrong. But VD is still right, so then my head start's hurting.

So yeah, VD is right.

 

[Severian Silk]

I second the suggestion to include an 'orthographic' option. Here's a short list of games that are 3D and orthographic:

The Sims
Prelude to Darkness
GearHead 2

 

[Vault Dweller]

Because everyone knows what orthographic is.

 

[denizsi]

Because everyone knows what orthographic is.

Are you really expecting the type of people on Oblivion-lovers' literacy (and perhaps intellectual) level to play and like AOD, because your politically correct conservative attitude is surely reminiscent of such a motive? Is it a big risk to take to include such an option and name it correctly? Eventually people will also learn something correctly in the process.

Here's a better offer: Make it orthographic by default, and include a "perspective" option in menu. Perspective: yes/no, on/off. That way, there will be no illiterates who'd get puzzled by the troubles of seeing bizarre words like "ortho-what-the-fackophic?", and surely even the illiterates will know what perspective is; at least they can figure it out by relating it to Diablo 2'. Risk-free.

 

[Roqua]

Are you saying VD is selling himself and his game short by not using terms only a hand full or retards give a shit about? I’ve, by myself, tried time and again to stop the devaluation of the term rpg. I have the most consistent, sensible, defendable, and correct definition. But that is a fight that matters. Your silly issue on the correct term of a perspective is retarded. You rbinging in and comparing this assaninity to an actual topic with merit and weight makes me want to urinate all over you. Start a poll asking how many people support getting overly technical about something so trivial and ridiculous and we’ll see how much traction this issue gets. I’ll eat my words if people agree with you, but I just can’t picture it.

I don’t want to have to search and read and remember useless bullshit on wikipedia to figure out what the fuck this means or that. It adds absolutely nothing to the game or the value of the game. The only thing that calling this game’s perspective anything other than isometric would do is nothing. No one gives a fuck. Its technical jargon that has no impact on anything. Should he use the most correct and confusing medical babble so the majority of people would have to do an internet search just to find out what the fuck the game is talking about?

His job is to communicate the idea effectively. Saying your character received a critical head injury is more effective, even if less correct, than saying “There was a severe contusion to the mata derma that caused anaphylactic shock and postural blockage, possibly resulting in your eminent expiration. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.” Only doctors give a fuck. And only people that actually need to know what orthographic, isometric, and funkadelic projection perspectives are exactly give a fuck about what they are exactly. And they, knowing about that stupid shit, can tell its not by looking at a readily available screen shot. For the rest of the normal, non-retarded world, AoD is isometric. Or isometric enough to be called isometric. Why? Because no one cares. No one cares. Let me repeat for the retarded:

No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares.
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No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares.

This is the most asinine and meaningless topic ever argued. I am stupider for having participated. I have learned nothing I’ve ever wanted to know and I am trying as hard as I can to forget what I have learned so my head has more room for more important knowledge, like how many pubic hairs I have, or that dirt is dirty. I cannot think of any knowledge, no matter how stupid and useless, that would be even more of a waste of time than learning more about why AoD isn’t technically isometric.

edit: I'm sorry, this was more hostile than I wanted. I love you (I still want to pee on you though).

 

[dagorkan]

Exactly. I could repeat roqua but I won't...

What a stupid thread

 

[denizsi]

Are you saying VD is selling himself and his game short by not using terms only a hand full or retards give a shit about?

No, I'm not.

I don’t want to have to search and read and remember useless bullshit on wikipedia to figure out what the fuck this means or that.

You don't, as I made an illiterate-proof suggestion in the last paragraph of my last post That said, between two perfectly safe choices (the default as VD would have it, or the orthographic as default with on/off option for "perspective"), where one is also technically correct -and he can still say isometric with that-, why pick the other one? On such a level where both are equal, neither adds or takes anything to or from the game.

The only thing that calling this game’s perspective anything other than isometric would do is nothing.

Sillyboy, you don't call perspective anything else including isometric. Do you call Japanese people caucasians or Afriancs just because both are humans?

For everything else you wrote: drop the fanboyist oversensitive-crybaby attitude.

edit: I'm sorry, this was more hostile than I wanted. I love you (I still want to pee on you though).

It's ok. Also I know that you want to pee on me or on us because of your love. While I'm into BDSM, I don't like urinating at all. I prefer bleeding at the most extreme.

edit: spelling

 

[Dhruin]

What Roqua said.

 

[Severian Silk]

Here are two screenshots of GearHead 2:




As you can see, the orthographic one looks much better.

 

[galsiah]

Hardly a fair comparison. The orthographic view looks better since the world is full of vertical lines - which don't get the jaggies with an orthographic projection. AoD isn't quite so full of perfectly vertical lines.

There may be relevant arguments to be made for an orthographic view, but that comparison doesn't emphasize them.

 

[dagorkan]

Which one is 'orthographic'? Because the first one looks better...

 

[Astromarine]

This thread is why you can't have nice things. It is a silly discussino that should die.

 

[Fez]

What Roqua and Astro said.

 

[Ivy Mike]

What Roqua, dagorkan, Dhruin, Astro and Fez said.

 

[denizsi]

Scroll down a little here for a more relevant comparison from game UFO:AI.

what he said what he said

Well, I made a win-win suggestion which has yet to be answered / discussed. Stop following each others' assholes for a minute.

 

[Claw]

I want the game to be isotonic. Pretty please?

 

[Fez]

I think it should be second person only. We need more second person view games.

 

[sqeecoo]

Or it could be a fourth person game! You could watch your character thorugh the eyes of a person looking at a person watching your character! This would make the assasionation attempts very challenging!

 

[Fez]

That's so crazy it might just work!