Should SotA switch to an isometric view?

There is much talk about the graphics of SotA. They are in a pre-Alpha state and will surely get better over time but still many voice their concerns. Also we still have inconsistencies with the graphics in the game. One huge inconsistency is the change from a third person scene view to the overland map, which for many totally breaks immersion. Even with the old 3D overland view it was a bit of an immersion breaker albeit not as much due to the graphical style staying consistent.

Now imagine that SotA would use an isometric view instead of the third person view. This could solve a lot of problems.
1. An isometric view would be much more in the tradition of an Ultima game.
2. The graphics wouldn't need to be extremely detailed, especially for the character models and creatures.
3. The devs could concentrate on creating a consistent and special art style intead of creating extremly detailed models.
4. The break in immersion from changing from scene view to overland view would not be that big.
5. An isometric view gives a better overview of your surroundings.

Also, if they decide to bring back the old 3D overland view the graphics would stay even more consistent throughout the whole game if they use an isometric view. You would play in an isometric view and when you leave the scene you would in fact zoom out for real into the world view which would also be isometric and thus stay consistent. This would make the world feel much more like being one great world. The fact that it is broken up into some scenes and a world view would not be as apparent which would add to the immersion and the feeling of being in one large world.

Of course a third person view is a bit more realistic and you are closer to the events happening on screen. But I believe that the pros of an isometric view could make up for that.
I believe that a switch to an isometric view would also not be that complex, but of course I may be mistaken. What they would need would be a different camera, different control mechanics (click to move) and a method to make objects transparent that are between the camera and the player. Also the roofs of houses would need to be removed when you enter them - just like in old times...

Maybe an isometric view could be a big benefit for SotA.

 

I want to vote no, because I think an isometric view would make the game look dated, yet your only 'no' option includes the line, "they should concentrate on improving the graphics" which I don't agree with.

So, long story short, I can't vote at all. Why have you loaded up the only 'no' answer with an extra something that a 'no' voter might not necessarily agree with at all? Is it to stop people voting 'no'?

And as an aside, there's no way they'd throw out all their work, and the game engine, to change to isometric, anyway. So I trust people understand this is a very hypothetical question?

 

I like it as-is. In the livestream they talked about the possibility of adding 1st person, but I prefer the old school 3rd person of the old Ultimas, as they were 3rd person as
much as you could draw 3rd person in pixels back then. You can zoom back plenty good in this game which I prefer.

 

To recreate the feel of Ultima & UO an isometric view would be the way I would have preferred, we may then have got a full world to explore and the housing decoration side could have been on a par with UO, as it is the housing looks and feels like any other instance housing I have had with just the addition of more freedom to place items.

 

Lord_Darkmoon, I think it is amazing how you manage to keep finding new angles in order to express your unhappiness about the Overland map switch once more.

 

So you do not think that they should improve the graphics? I take it as a given that graphics will be improved during the course of game development especially as it is a pre alpha.
So you could interprete the no-answer as a simple "no, I am satisfied". They will improve the graphics nonetheless.

 

I don't think the graphics are the #1 issue that needs to be worked on at present. Yes, they are a bit 2009-ish, but good gameplay trumps graphics any day of the week so, no, I'm not overly bothered by them.

Also, as you say, the graphics might even improve of their own accord as the alpha goes along, so that makes me doubly less worried about the graphics. The most important thing right now is nailing the gameplay.

 

Actually the "idea" for isometric view came from playing the beta of Divinity Original Sin which just recreates the atmosphere of the old Ultimas really great and I thought how great it would be to have such a view in SotA, too.
But you are also right. I am unhappy about the new overland map for reasons stated elsewhere. And an isometric view together with a 3D overland map would simply be great due to the consistant style throughout the game, imo. So thinking about how great this could look and play, it makes me even more unhappy that we got the paper map...

 

Divinity Original Sin looks similar to Diablo 3, you can zoom back plenty in SOTA though, why would you prefer the fixed far away angle when you can have a non-fixed angle, I prefer the freeing non-fixed angle as it is personally. Perhaps they can add an ability to zoom out even a bit more I wouldn't be against that, and maybe they could even add a lock-camera option which I wouldn't be against, but I like it as it is and of course updated graphics, textures, smoothing rough edges is something that would make it look better, really hope they do update a few things here and there but it wouldn't be a deal breaker, deal breakers for one are not deal breakers for another, I prefer all containers being usable, openable, some seem to have never played a single player Ultima in their lives and are content smashing barrels like this were Donkey Kong Online, some prefer crazy cartoon Mickey Mouse towers, some look back on every single Ultima ever made and can't recall ever seeing a cartoon Mickey Mouse tower and think, hmm that's not very Ultima. So I see where you're coming from, but I don't think the angle makes it less of an Ultima.

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If I wanted to experience the old look I can just log onto my EA UO account and play on the Lake Austin shard.

I am ready for a new 3D "Ultima" the way it is with improved graphics.

 

No!

No vote, because no Option for:
First and third person view. Scroll in and out.

 

It would like an isometric view. At least as option. Shouldn't be too hard to implement, I guess.

 

You ask a question, and then give some strange opinion after the answer that is about another subject.

Yes, and then I have to say I liked the view of some past Ultimas?
No, and then I have to say they need to work more on the graphics?

Do you despise "Leading Surveys" ...? Yes <--- ............where's simple Yes/No ?
Do you despise "Guiding Surveys" ...? Yes <--- ............where's simple Yes/No?

Why the fluff in the survey?

Do you want to make out in the moonlight and buy the first person view some flowers and chocolates?
Do you want to treat this game like a piece of meat that owes you something demanding after you buy dinner?

Lord Darkmoon, You owe us a KISS with your surveys
"Keep It Specific and Simple" *smouch* K.I.S.S.

~Time Lord~

 

multi-asking in a questionnaire is a bit like politics in polling , they promise you one thing for your vote and you get an entire different thing in the end

 

I'd change the questions but unfortunately it's not possible, so you could ignore everything after Yes and No in the first two options

 

As Canterbury says this is hypothetical only, but just for giggles I voted Iso because that is what worked and gelled with me in U6/U7. I remember thinking U9s third person would bring Britannia even more alive....but it didnt....at all. Made it less so in fact.

Since we are on the COMPLETELY hypothetical, I wonder from a coding, artwork, and dev perspective if, with today's tools, a purely "2D-eqsue" top down akin to Ultiuma7 (with contemporary resolution and color depth of course) wouldn't be miles easier/cheaper/quicker....

 

One thing that shocked me when playing Ultima 9 was how small the world suddenly was. And I think that it was due to the third person perspective and due to the fact that you could look into the distance. Walking from Castle British to the dungeon Despise seemed like a long march in Ultima 7. But in Ultima 9 you could SEE the column next to Despise from LBs castle. This totally eradicated the feeling of living in a big world.

 

The problem in U9 was scale not 3D. You only have to look at modern MMOs to see how that has changed.

I personally do not like Isometric because it is far too restrictive.
I also don't agree with the switch from Overland map to Player view being distracting. If anything it feels reassuring that I don't have to trudge through the same 1000km of terrain just to get back to a village

 

But that's just one of many rifts: some (mainly those more closely aligned with the solo motif) WANT it to be a literal voyage, others (mainly those more closely aligned with the multiplayer motif) want to teleport anywhere at will. As we've already hashed out elsewhere, this is simply one of many disparaging constructs RG and Portalarium challenged themselves to somehow resolve.

But we are not only getting off of what was a dubious topic in the first place, but flogging a dead horse while we are at it.

For my part I came for "Ultima X". I'm not getting it and I've made peace with that. I know I'll enjoy SotA and am embracing this whole backer based dev process (which alone has been worth the price of admission) but here's hoping its hugely successful and RG will have so much dough he'll be inclined to do another project even closer to my heart.

 

Folk who want the solo-esque I-can-remember-every-metre-I've-walked vibe might be forgetting the massive difference between a singleplayer game that gets played for a month or two (or perhaps more if they're slow at finishing it), and a multiplayer game that might get played for the next five years. Had they been forced to play a previous singleplayer game non-stop for five years, they might feel differently today about the way they were able to travel in it!