2D vs 3D

Hello all,

For those of you who build 2D and 3D games. How do you compare the 2?

In terms of development time? design efforts? results? popularity? roi?

And btw, do you think that 3D iso games like Pako chase simulator or Crossy road are made in 2D or in 3D?

Ouais

Hello,

3D used to be super-popular because of the wow-factor, but I think that's starting to wear somewhat thin. Diminishing returns on the tech-front, no longer novel the way it was in the ps1/ps2 era and so on. My impression is young people who didn't grow up in that time don't distinguish as much between 2D and 3D; the game's either fun or it aint I could be wrong about that of course.

Development-wise 3D is a lot more demanding. More technical and time-consuming in terms of both asset production and programming. For example, for 2D you draw an image, you plop it into the game and boom, there's your background done. For 3D you have to first sculpt it, then UV-map it, make textures for it, export to a proper format which your 3D program may or may not support, apply and tweak shaders, set up scene lights... it's a whole lot more involved.

Hello ErekT,

Thanks for your reply.

I agree with you, and from a user perspective, it's true that (depending on the type of game) a game looks more appealing when in 3D.

Imagine Clash of clans in 2D, it wouldn't be as popular as it is.

And btw, I assume that they built in 2D from 3D iso assets.

But for games like Pako chase (to take the same example as above), I believe that making it in 3D might be less time consuming than building it in 2D from 3D iso assets. But I'm not really sure as I have never been through this process.

And I am also wondering if in terms of costs, it's similar too.

Is a 3D artist asking more for 3D models than a 2D artist for 2D sprites?

Ouais

I believe 2d games have become more appealing, devs use more colorful sprites, and i believe easier to make. Thats my point of view. 3d dont catch much my attention on mobile devices

I'm a real hater of 3D games.

I think that 3D is nothing more than mess of triangls and blur. 2D gives you a crisp image without blur. Pixel art gives you a perfect resizeble image that looks the same in big screens and small screens. Also 3D means always a problems with camera and view.

But for games like Pako chase (to take the same example as above), I believe that making it in 3D might be less time consuming than building it in 2D from 3D iso assets. But I'm not really sure as I have never been through this process.

And I am also wondering if in terms of costs, it's similar too.

Is a 3D artist asking more for 3D models than a 2D artist for 2D sprites?

Yeah I looked at screenshots from that game and see what you're going for now. With that info in mind full 3D seems like the best choice, most def. It'll be easier to program too I think.

I don't know if 3D artists in general charge more by the hour than 2D artists. But I don't see why they would?

I'm a real hater of 3D games.

I think that 3D is nothing more than mess of triangls and blur. 2D gives you a crisp image without blur. Pixel art gives you a perfect resizeble image that looks the same in big screens and small screens. Also 3D means always a problems with camera and view.

Is there a game in particular you'd like to point?

Because I don't see which 3D game you are referring to.

As per the examples in my initial posts (Pako chase and Crossy road), they wouldn't look the same at all in 2D and they wouldn't be so popular, I'm pretty sure. And there's no issue with scaling and blurry images or whatever.

Ouais

We were talking about the way to compare 2d and 3d games. I'm a painter and the most important criteria for me is a good picture. I had never seen a good 3D picture even in AAA games - only mess of blur and triangles...

I don't care about popularity. Many really bad games are popular.

Also I know that a lot of mechanics can't be bringed to life with 2D. But I feel myself uncomfortable playing 3D games, evetything is so square and...lifeless, like the whole world was created from plastic.

We were talking about the way to compare 2d and 3d games. I'm a painter and the most important criteria for me is a good picture. I had never seen a good 3D picture even in AAA games - only mess of blur and triangles...

I don't care about popularity. Many really bad games are popular.

Also I know that a lot of mechanics can't be bringed to life with 2D. But I feel myself uncomfortable playing 3D games, evetything is so square and...lifeless, like the whole world was created from plastic.

Funny. That's the way I've always felt about 3D games to some extent. I feel that creatures and humans in particular have this plastic quality to them that even modern AAA games struggle to shake. In fact, a lot of the time bleeding-edge shaders only make them look like wax dolls done over with a coat of lubricant (eww).

I don't think it's surprising. Reality is hard to fake perfectly, and when you leave the entire rendering job down to a bunch of automated calculations, which is what realtime lights, ambient occlusion, stencil shadow whatever, shaders etc really are, it's no wonder things end up too perfect-looking and lifeless, despite the artists' best efforts to counteract it.

Imo the best way to utilize 3D is to try and embrace the 3D-ness of it, like the game Pako Chase that ouais25 mentioned. Flat shading, simple geometric shapes, stylized art design, instead of trying to disguise it all as real world stuff. That'll always ring false to me at least.

Just a little personal opinion-ramble. Take with a grain of salt

IMO, 3D games are better on PCs and consoles.

Let only 2D games for mobiles for more stabilization on most devices, my phone and BlueStacks can't even handle high-end 3D games.

I have a lumia icon, and handles any game i install with ease, 3ds run super smoothly, but the only 3d games i like are the halo series. Honestly most of the games i ppay and enjoy are 2ds, I agree with many here that 2ds feel moreively than 3d, at least on mobile devices, which is the area i wanna focus on to make my games and apps

I have several mobile devices (phones, tablets) and there is no (3D) game lagging on them.

Btw, check out the Lego games. Some of them are in 2D and some in 3D.

All with a very very good quality.

I also liked a lot Monument Valley (would be difficult to build in 2D I guess).

Personally, I love racing games with a perspective view like super Off-road or power-drive.

Those games were made in 2D and have this pixelArt charm, but I'm not sure that an editor would do such a game in 2D nowadays.

Also, to me, it looks like having a perspective view always gives a plus compared to flat graphics.

Ouais

RedBlackSpade

I paint (acrylics and oil) also do illustrations. And job wise I'm Lead Character Artist in a video game company in Montreal. I'm 38 so I've seen the development of video games.

And I love pixel art, hence why my current project is using this style. But I don't agree with you. A lot of 3D games are quite beautiful. A good exemple for mw is Bloodborne:

Not the most technically advanced game (they use a heavily modified version of Phyre engine which is Sony's proprietary engine), and Autodesk Beast light solution. So technically their specs are closer to any Unity's game and yet, it shines! ambiance wise, and overall mood is simply perfect.

It takes a lot to convey something like that.

I prefered the 2D Games. Never end the 2D adventure games' life

2d vs 3d is really a matter of what your project calls for, your vision for the concept. In some ways 2d can take less resources on the dev side. In 3d you need to take into account a lot of shader programming, bitmap lighting, etc. Some of those will come into big play in 2d projects just a different scale. Just a lot to consider on the resources side.