The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Old, OLD Articles

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To 3D or not to 3D

An article by Gabez, posted on July 15. 2004.

3D IS THE NEW BLACK

We�ve heard it all before. 3D is the way forward, not 2D! Forget 2D! It�s ancient! It�s old news! Only baby-eating barbarians living in huts in 6th century AD England use 2D! That�s how old it is! In fact, to illustrate my point through the magic of the analogy, 2D is the man who unblocks all the waste from your toilet, and 3D is some hunky underwear model living in Madrid! Superfluous use of exclamation marks and long drawn-out analogies aside, the point is that 3D is undoubtedly the way to go.

Just look how far Half-life�s graphics have come on � why shouldn�t Monkey Island be the same?

FLATLAND

But before we begin on this tour de force of intellect that is this article, a brief lesson in the wonderful world of dimensions is necessary. First, what do we actually mean by three dimensions? Well � technically speaking, the computer 3D is actually 2D, as the images are presented to us on our flat screen showing only width and height, but that goes without saying really. Instead, when we say "3D" we mean that the computer visualises the object in the game as having width, height and length, which means that it can be told to, say, turn said object 90 degrees to the left, thus revealing more of the object.

�Phwoar, look at those legs� � a non-cut scene screenshot from Half-life 2 demonstrating how 3D can be pushed to the most amazing limits.

There also seems to be general confusion about the other dimensions out there: one rather enthusiastic forum poster called out to LucasArts to �KEEP IT 1D�. This is, of course, ridiculous, unless we want Guybrush to take the form of a line stretching out onto infinity for his next outing. Similarly, no dimensions must also be ruled out for Monkey Island 5�s graphics, as this dimension consists of but a single point in space. It would simply not suffice. The fourth dimension is time and space, which the third dimension needs in order to show change. The fifth dimension is right out.

IT'S A BIT OF FUN

Just from that very brief (and largely inaccurate, I�d wager) lesson on dimensions, we can already spot a problem for a 2D adventure game. Since the animator has to "fool" the player into thinking that the objects presented on the screen are 3D in the game world, it can seriously limit the amount of freedom the player can take in the game. The way Guybrush rotated in Escape from Monkey Island would, for example, have been very difficult to accomplish in a 2D engine. 3D can do more than rotate Guybrush, though � and it has to be said that EMI didn�t make full use of the possibilities that 3D can give.

What Monkey Island 5 could look like (screenshots from Farcry).

Imagine running through Blood Island in a 3D game engine. You can hear the screams of the sea-gulls through your left speaker and the howl of the wind in your right, thanks to the 3D sound. The camera smoothly follows you as you march from the beach to the graveyard, as opposed to the old map method of transportation. Sand is kicked up beneath your feat, leaving foot-prints and sending bits of rubble everywhere. The palm-leaves rustle realistically in the breeze. You move off the path and come across a monkey, which you can view from any angle imaginable. A vampire bat dramatically swoops down and grabs the monkey. You follow it to a cliff, where you accidentally stumble and fall into the ocean.

Exciting? You betcha. Unrealistic? Not at all. Just look at Far Cry or any other modern first person shooter, where the environment is enhanced no end by the 3D engine. What�s more is that those games have to include a massive game world, whilst a 3D Monkey Island game would only have to include a gaggle of relatively small islands, meaning that more time could be spent on making the locations come alive. I mean, when you played Curse of Monkey island, did you feel like you were actually there, or did it just feel like you were controlling a 2D character through a series of rather beautiful paintings? Granted, the sound and art helped make the whole experience more groin-grabbingly engrossing, but 3D can make it feel so real you�ll never want to leave.

A SET OF GUIDLINES

Myst 4 may look beautiful, but its lack of a proper 3D engine means that its beauty is still on skin-deep.

Another important point I need to make is this: there has never been a 3D Monkey Island game. Escape from Monkey Island was not 3D. It was 2D with bells on. Okay, okay, the characters may have been 3D, but nothing else was. The movies were originally 3D, but were then saved as 2D � this basically means that if I wanted to choose what I wanted to say during a cut-scene, I wouldn�t be able to. If the cut-scenes were done in 3D, this would be possible � and I know what you�re thinking � �but Gabez, then it wouldn�t have looked so good�. Wrong! 3D interactive cut-scenes can be done whilst at the same time looking fantastic. You�ll never get the cut-scene to look as good as it would were it done in the �3D then 2D� way, but it�s worth it, I reckon, to involve the player at every possible moment. That is, after all, what makes adventure games so good.

The backgrounds were also done in this way � made in 3D, then saved as 2D, or �pre-rendered� as it�s known as in jargon land. This not only looks shite, but it also severely limits the player, as the backgrounds are nothing but just that � backgrounds. It�s hard to make the palm-tree sway in the wind, or create a dent in the side of a building when you punch it, and it�s certainly impossible to have the camera follow the protagonist as they explore the world. In fact, it�s hardly a �world� with 2D backgrounds � it�s just a series of images joined together, and that�s exactly what it feels like when you play through it.

Imagine this for Monkey Island 5, only fully explorable and with everything moving. *Drools*.

3D backgrounds saved as 2D aren�t all that bad though. Escape from Monkey Island may have left a slightly bitter taste in most gamer�s mouths (although the SCUMM Bar looked nice enough inside), but that�s not to say that pre-rendered means shoddy quality. Our very own Goblin shows how 3D and 2D can merge and still look fantastic � just take a look at the art-work on his site to see what I mean. I for one won�t be complaining if Monkey Island 5 ends up looking like that.

THE HOUSE THAT TILLER BUILT

Then there�s the specifications battle. Do you really want to have to go out and buy a Pentium 7 with 3 million megabytes of RAM just to play Monkey Island 5? Or do you want to play a good looking � but 2D � version that can run on your 5 year old Pentium 2? The answer, for most of you, is going to be the latter � but in asking this question, I�m assuming that 3D means high specifications, and it doesn�t necessarily have to. Nobs can be twiddled to reduce the number of polygons, making the game look mediocre but still having the all-important 3D ingredient that makes the game more absorbing. Or, like Half-life 2, the game engine can be coded so that it doesn�t depend so much on the specifications.

Converting stuff like this to 3D wouldn�t be easy. It would be a shame if the CMI-esque style was dropped, but maybe the series needs to go more realistic graphic wise anyway.

And speaking of Half-life 2, have you seen those facial expressions!? I have, and when I first saw them in action I remember thinking �ooh, I wouldn�t mind seeing that for Monkey Island 5!�. This is just another benefit of 3D games � they have the power to give realism. Consideration would have to be taken to ensure that the all-important Monkey Island style was not sacrificed to make way for realism, but I believe this can be achieved with a little tender loving care.

So what does 3D mean for Monkey Island? I�ll tell you � it means freedom. It gives designers the ability to do so much more with the characters and the environment than 2D can offer. 2D adventure games won�t die out, though � they�ll live on, used by both the amateur and small developer to save money, but if the big adventure game names like Monkey Island want to keep on the cutting edge of gameplay, then they�ll need to be in real 3D. As simple as that.

Further reading: see what the Tiller man has to say about 3D in our interview with him. Also be sure to read Remzo�s article on the Cel Shading alternative.

As always, be sure to leave your opinion down below!

Next week: Gabez looks at what Sam & Max�s death really means for Monkey Island - has LucasArts killed the adventure game?

           

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