Top-View 2D RPG tutorials?

[Avenger]

Hello again.From some tutorials pointed out to me from this site and from the book Developing Games in Java I understood the basic idea behind 2D platform games and made a very simple one.But trying to make another one now ...  a top-down view RPG .. something like Zelda , Pokemon e.t.c. I saw these refered to sometimes as Isometric even though I do not know why.

So basically anyone knows any good tutorials where I could start?

Thanks in advance 

[beowulf03809]

Isometric games refer to those that have closer to a  3/4 top-down view than a 100% top-down.  Think of Diablo, Command&Conquer, StarCraft, etc.  They have added complexity of isometric tiles vs. nice square tiles and also the fact that items closer to the player's view could obstruct items further away.  They have the added benefit of being more visually appealing and having a greater degree of variey ( you can get into 3d terrain, more realistic graphics and game play, etc ). 

If you have all the basics down for a top-down tile based game ( smooth movement and animation, collision detection, etc ) then you can use the search function on this forum to look for 'isometric" or you can hit Google ( +isometric +java +game  ). There was also a good book recommened on writting Iso games which you'll proably find using the forum search.  If you're that comfortable with Java that you don't need code-specific examples, then some of the examples there are some really good tutorials in Iso games presented in C++ elsewhere on the web should be fairly easy to interpret. 

Iso games are the direction I'm heading, but I'm not ready to take that step myself yet.  If you're ready to move on in that direction I will wish you the best of luck and hope you share your lessons-learned here!   

[Avenger]

Hmmm I am not sure I want it isometric.Or to be more honest ofc I do but If I can handle it.Simple 2D top view RPG would be best for starters I think.But I wondered ... the tile map .. and all those .. will be just like a platform game?Cause that is the only one I am familiar with :p
      If so then I can move on and do it.But I would appreciate some tutorials if they can be found ofcourse because looking at some code always get my spirits up ^_^

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[beowulf03809]

By "platform" I'm going to guess that tile-map style game is probably what you're referencing.  This would cover most "old school" style arcade games as well as ( basically ) most modern side-scrolling run-and-jumps ( Mario-type)  or vertically-scrolling shooters.  Again, the cokenadcode site is a great place to look for this as well. 

His Space Invaders tutorial is probably a good thing for you to run thru starting at the beginning and see what conceprts / capabilities you are already comfortable with.  It will also start introducing some of the more advanced options for getting your game onto the screen ( starting w/ 2D, going thru basics of 3D / OGL and some of the libraries out there ). 

[Avenger]

I have gone through it.And that is how I created my mario clone style of game.Whole topic was supposed to be due to wondering if I should use same tile tenchniques with the RPG as with the platform.

[woogley]

well, a *long* time ago I wrote a tilemap example for somebody who was wondering how to do it. this code is very old, I really need to update it to some useful tutorial.

anyway, have a look: http://woogley.net/misc/RisseN/

[beowulf03809]

If you're comfortable with the top-down tile map and visually it meets your goals then there is no reason NOT to use that for your game.  However, isometric style or first-person 3d appear to be the more common standards today. 

If this is just for hobby or to prototype an idea then you can probably stick with top-down.  Likewise, if your target audiance is for mini devices ( PDAs, cells ) or web applets you can probably keep w/ a top-down for even a "real" game as long as you implement well.  However, if you are trying to develop something that will be targeted for desktop play and expect to have sale value I would think the market is pretty much past top-down RPGs.

You may be able to seperate much of the game's logic from the graphical representation and migrate to an iso view later, for example.  Especially if you try to keep presentation seperate right from the beginning.  it would probably be easier to stick with iso view from the beginning if that's your target, but if you just want to get a working game to check out character interraction, world management, combat and quest systems, network issues, etc then it may be worth building top-down first if that's what you know now.

[Avenger]

Look .. I would really love to do it isometric.But is it within my capabilities?Ofcourse .. it could become ... if I studied a little ... a lot .. :p more .So .. let's say If I download a free 2d Isometric RPG engine and study it  and understand it would it be sufficent to maky my own?

Also thanks woogley for the info

EDIT: Well I think that an isometric game ... does not fit my project not to mention that having no idea about the whole isometric issue it would require a whole lot more studying.My current project with some friends is about a 2D RPG and platform mix.Really funny idea but isometric just does not fit.

So I am thinking for something like Final Fantasy RPG 2D style.Not something extremely complicated.I was just wondering how to have the whole map of the world saved.Because in a platform (Mario Land) 2D game style .. I saved it in maps in .txt  from which I read and translated each character into a tile.Should I make a HUGE map for the world?It does not sound practical.I think I will have to give it a thought.Or 2 .  Any ideas ?

[fletchergames]

I've looked up various isometric tutorials, and it doesn't look too hard.  I think I could convert the game I'm working on to be isometric in about a week if I weren't working 50 hours a week at my real job right now.  But I can't really draw isometric tiles, so what would be the point?

Even so, I plan to do an isometric game eventually.

I just bought a book about Isometric Game Programming on Amazon.com for $1.93.  It's for C++, not Java.  And I have no idea whether it's any good.  But it was $1.93.  It will probably be a month before I get around to reading it.

But it was $1.93, and I'm sure I'll get some benefit from it.

My advice to you is to go ahead and make your non-isometric game.  After doing that, you should be able to pick up isometric games relatively easily with books and/or tutorials.  The basic idea is pretty easy.

[Juriy]

Look .. I would really love to do it isometric.But is it within my capabilities?Ofcourse .. it could become ... if I studied a little ... a lot .. :p more .So .. let's say If I download a free 2d Isometric RPG engine and study it  and understand it would it be sufficent to maky my own?

You should just belive in yourself 

You can also search for some info here:

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=44

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[beowulf03809]

$1.93 !!!!   That's aweseome luck!  I think I know the book you're talking about and have eyed it at the local bookstores...for about $25.   

I understand that 50-hour-week "real work" limitation.  I think that's the biggest obsticle I face making progress.  Every time I am able to sit down for a few consistent evenings and crank out documentation, reference art, or work thru a few tutorials / example apps it seems to be followed by a few weeks of work overload where I loose almost all momentum.  Such is the life of the hopless indie.   

[bert]

It's not too hard... you can even do it yourself! All you need are a few classes...

Actor, to hold player information
Level, to hold information about the terrain
Barrier, which represents something the character cannot walk onto
Game, extends JApplet and contains the whole thing
Item, used for powerups
AIController, for attaching onto an Actor to create enemies

You can subclass any or all of these if you want to take it further. I made my first RPG in about a week for an English assignment. CAUTION: IT STINKS but that's only because I didn't take the time to polish it. You can find it on my website www.freewebs.com/kingdomofnerd If you go to the Downloads page, download Deathwatch.zip, and open it, you can see just the tip of the iceberg of what you can do.

Suggestions: You can create a cutscene class to represent character dialogue.
An interface defined to set and move locations of objects in your world might help too.

[bert]

Oops, forgot to mention... the Barrier class has collision-test functionality to check if the Actor is walking on top of it. Just thought it was worth mentioning...

[Avenger]

he he thanks , was away from a computer for 2 weeks , but thanks a lot for all the info people.