5 ms·

3D on the GBA always seemed woefully unexplored. I mean this port of THPS2 was a launch title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b26QnlpaVaA https://www.youtube.

3D on the GBA always seemed woefully unexplored. I mean this port of THPS2 was a launch title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b26QnlpaVaA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b26QnlpaVaA

ArtWomb 4y ago
V-Rally 3 is prob my fave title. But you see pseudo 3D in many GBA classics: Iridium 2, Driv3r. Each a custom rendering method presumably ;)
- JohnBooty 4y ago
  Iridium is just insane visually, I love it. As far as I've ever been able to tell, there are no polygons. - Player and enemy ships + missiles etc are flat 2D scaled sprites - Some backgrounds are pure FMV (I think some warping is applied as the player ship moves, to give a more 3D feel) - Some backgrounds are "SNES Mode 7" style ceilings and floors Probably the definitive example of "faking 3D without using any polygons" IMO. Even more impressive than Sega's super-scaler games like Space Harrier, Galaxy Force, etc.
  - egypturnash 4y ago
    Iridion 2? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztBqI3UvIs0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztBqI3UvIs0 I'm seeing a pre-rendered background loop with a little skewing applied as the player moves from one side to the other, with a lot of scaled sprites on top of it. Nicely done. The big tell on the background loop for me is that the repeating background stuff never changes during a level.
    - JohnBooty 4y ago
      Right, Iridion, thanks. Not sure about Iridion 2 but some levels in Iridion 3D are not purely prerendered background loops - this level is a Mode7ish flat "floor" (the ocean) with a perspective-warping sky BG It's not super advanced technically, maybe, but it's very well done IMO
iforgotpassword 4y ago
But that's just a polygon model rendered on what looks like a few 2D layers in isometric view. Fully 3D environment is a whole different league. I remember doom for the GBA, which isn't even polygons but a very simple ray caster, and it ran notably slower.
kingcharles 4y ago
That's cool. It looks like they used the same idea for the engine as I coded for Abomination [1]: 2D isometric background with 3D characters. https://youtu.be/M58w8_fh2JQ?t=197 https://youtu.be/M58w8_fh2JQ?t=197
vanderZwan 4y ago
IIRC that game was also known for draining the battery faster because it used a lot more floating point calculations than most other games.
skibz 4y ago
This port of Tomb Raider also comes to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVSLcqGP7g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVSLcqGP7g
koofdoof 4y ago
For a good overview of the progress of 3d GBA graphics over the console's lifespan I'd reccomended this video history: https://youtu.be/79fgH08z6xs https://youtu.be/79fgH08z6xs

3D on the GBA always seemed woefully unexplored. I mean this port of THPS2 was a launch title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b26QnlpaVaA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b26QnlpaVaA

ArtWomb 4y ago

V-Rally 3 is prob my fave title. But you see pseudo 3D in many GBA classics: Iridium 2, Driv3r. Each a custom rendering method presumably ;)

JohnBooty 4y ago
Iridium is just insane visually, I love it. As far as I've ever been able to tell, there are no polygons. - Player and enemy ships + missiles etc are flat 2D scaled sprites - Some backgrounds are pure FMV (I think some warping is applied as the player ship moves, to give a more 3D feel) - Some backgrounds are "SNES Mode 7" style ceilings and floors Probably the definitive example of "faking 3D without using any polygons" IMO. Even more impressive than Sega's super-scaler games like Space Harrier, Galaxy Force, etc.
- egypturnash 4y ago
  Iridion 2? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztBqI3UvIs0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztBqI3UvIs0 I'm seeing a pre-rendered background loop with a little skewing applied as the player moves from one side to the other, with a lot of scaled sprites on top of it. Nicely done. The big tell on the background loop for me is that the repeating background stuff never changes during a level.
  - JohnBooty 4y ago
    Right, Iridion, thanks. Not sure about Iridion 2 but some levels in Iridion 3D are not purely prerendered background loops - this level is a Mode7ish flat "floor" (the ocean) with a perspective-warping sky BG It's not super advanced technically, maybe, but it's very well done IMO

iforgotpassword 4y ago

But that's just a polygon model rendered on what looks like a few 2D layers in isometric view. Fully 3D environment is a whole different league. I remember doom for the GBA, which isn't even polygons but a very simple ray caster, and it ran notably slower.

kingcharles 4y ago

That's cool. It looks like they used the same idea for the engine as I coded for Abomination [1]: 2D isometric background with 3D characters. https://youtu.be/M58w8_fh2JQ?t=197 https://youtu.be/M58w8_fh2JQ?t=197

vanderZwan 4y ago

IIRC that game was also known for draining the battery faster because it used a lot more floating point calculations than most other games.

skibz 4y ago

This port of Tomb Raider also comes to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVSLcqGP7g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVSLcqGP7g

koofdoof 4y ago

For a good overview of the progress of 3d GBA graphics over the console's lifespan I'd reccomended this video history: https://youtu.be/79fgH08z6xs https://youtu.be/79fgH08z6xs