I've been working on the basis for a game recently, and got a few ideas from a game called Stronghold Crusader.
The first part I want to tackle is the terrain system, it looks like they use 2D (16x16 tiles, see image) but 3d would probably be faster for blitzmax (using minib3d).
image removed
IMO 2d always looked better then 3d in a strategy based game (think AOE, AOE2 etc), would you go 3d (if I do go 3d it would mean 3d only, mixing in 2d would cause issues - I think) or 2d (2d appeals more to me then 3d does)?
EDIT: I also do not know what to do in the case of cliffs/hills, in 3d hills would be simple, but I cannot get my head around how to smooth out 2d terrains with height differences.
EDIT: As for terrain saving/loading, I was thinking have the terrain always use a default set of ground tiles (like the image has dirt/sand) then the terrain file would just place or replace objects/tiles over the default ones, to reduce filesize. Which should equate to just numbers being saved for location and what to place.
EDIT: Another thing to note is that the game does not lag even a tad (on a last/current gen computer) with over 800 objects on screen (units, buildings, walls, towers, etc.)
EDIT: 2D downside: it would require drawing objects in z order, which would not need to be handled in 3d. Also I would have to knock up a custom audio playing system - for directional sound, in 3d that would not be an issue (klepto's module has minib3dsound right?)
The first part I want to tackle is the terrain system, it looks like they use 2D (16x16 tiles, see image) but 3d would probably be faster for blitzmax (using minib3d).
image removed
IMO 2d always looked better then 3d in a strategy based game (think AOE, AOE2 etc), would you go 3d (if I do go 3d it would mean 3d only, mixing in 2d would cause issues - I think) or 2d (2d appeals more to me then 3d does)?
EDIT: I also do not know what to do in the case of cliffs/hills, in 3d hills would be simple, but I cannot get my head around how to smooth out 2d terrains with height differences.
EDIT: As for terrain saving/loading, I was thinking have the terrain always use a default set of ground tiles (like the image has dirt/sand) then the terrain file would just place or replace objects/tiles over the default ones, to reduce filesize. Which should equate to just numbers being saved for location and what to place.
EDIT: Another thing to note is that the game does not lag even a tad (on a last/current gen computer) with over 800 objects on screen (units, buildings, walls, towers, etc.)
EDIT: 2D downside: it would require drawing objects in z order, which would not need to be handled in 3d. Also I would have to knock up a custom audio playing system - for directional sound, in 3d that would not be an issue (klepto's module has minib3dsound right?)