2D vs. 3D games…
I teach 3D graphics programming and I’ve noticed the transition from 2D to 3D is separated by a large chasm only one with the power of Neo from the Matrix could jump….
So what’s so hard about the 3D?
What you draw is not what you get
2D artists (I’ve worked with many of them in the animation business) think that you can just draw anything and make it look the way they “imagined it.” Well, there is the “Mickey Mouse ear problem” that demonstrates the fallacy of this idea. Mickey Mouse’s ear can NOT be modeled in the 3D as is because Mickey Mouse’s ears are ALWAYS circles facing the camera.
This is just the tip of the problems. Many concept drawings can not be modeled efficiently in 3D. The best 3D modelers I’ve known are sculptors who understand shape + form. Illustrators make for poor modelers.
The math is weird
From quaternions to 4×4 transformation matrices with roots in projective geometry… this is not stuff you use day to day. Most students have basic understanding of vector mathematics, but not enough deeper understanding of matrices + quaternions + the math underlying geometric representations.
The art is “hard”
After modeling is completed there is EVEN more work to do:
Rigging
Weighting
Shading/texturing
Animation
Exporting
Much of it is very technical in nature and I doubt it will change in the future. It will get simpler (shading/texturing + animation), but certain things will remain complicated like weighting. 3D is truly for craftspeople… artists will paint.. hacks will photograph (sorry, I had to take potshots at photographers).
But in the end, is 3D that much more complicated than watercolour or clay sculpting or mosaics? Not really because each of those sub-areas require their own special skills / techniques. The problem with 3D is that it is new and is not tactile – our interface is the keyboard and mouse.
3D game logic requires 10x the work than in 2D
2D drawing – easy
2D gameplay – easy, limited by imagination
2D collision – easy
2D physics – hard, but manageable.
3D art – hard
3D gameplay – hard
3D hard – really hard
3D physics – fuggaboutit
New 3D game developers don’t realize that creating 3D models and throwing them into an engine is only 20% of the work. You need to create collision meshes, pathfinding meshes, level of detail meshes, shadow geometry, visibility hulls, 3D cameras, 3D controls, particles, etc.
Add comment November 20th, 2007