10 ms·

What are some good examples of games without a 3d engine? Your comment makes me feel like I'd like to check them out.

greyskull 11y ago
Usually smaller scale indie games are the ones doing it, big shot studios feel the need to go ham on graphics. Here's a handful I managed to scrape together from memory and quick searches, but it's easy to find more. - Shovel Knight - Dust: An Elysian Tail - Hotline Miami - Don't Starve - Spelunky - Braid - Papers, Please - Sunless Sea There _has_ been quite a few retro-style, pixelated graphics style games to come out of that sector for one reason or another, but ignoring that, the games tend to have a more stylized feel to them. Limited fidelity means the games need to more creative, but I think that tends to just come with works of passion from smaller studios.
- DiabloD3 11y ago
  Let's throw in everything Way Forward is doing as well, such as the Shantae series of games. It's been awhile since I've played a sidescroller that warranted multiple playthroughs, but I picked up Shantae: Risky's Revenge up in one of the HumbleBundles, and I loved the hell out of it. One part Castlevania, one part Megaman, one part Metroid. It was so good I went out and bought an XBox One controller to play it further, even though I don't own an XBox One. Side note: apparently its the best PC gamepad you can find that has a good D-Pad; the D-Pad is probably the best one I've used since my childhood.
  - TJSomething 11y ago
    Oh wow. It's actually plus-shaped. I've been looking for a PC controller with a plus-shaped D-pad for a while. They've been rare for a few years, due to Nintendo's patent on plus-shaped D-pads, but that expired in 2005.
    - DiabloD3 11y ago
      Yup, and I actually had bought a XB360 gamepad... the D-Pad was mushy and horrid, returned it immediately for the XBOne one and it's a well built solid controller. Also, I don't need to put batteries in if I run it off wired USB, so theres also that.
- eru 11y ago
  Also, all kinds of strategy games. Eg Europa Universalis 4, any Civilization game (even though they may look 3d these days, it's not why you play them).
  - ekianjo 11y ago
    > any Civilization game Exactly, it's a good example of a game that uses 3D only for effect, without incorporating it at all in the gameplay.
  - Tomte 11y ago
    Re: EU IV, I'd really like to get into it, but the in-game tutorial is very, very bad. I've had several tries over the last year, but always gave up way to soon. Is there a practical intro somewhere? One that allows me to actually play a game, even losing it badly, but not encounter half a dozen "huh, I have no idea what that means and what I should do now" situations every turn.
    - bookwormAT 11y ago
      There is no actual tutorial, sorry. The best way to learn how to play EU is to watch a tutorial on youtube. It's worth it, though...
    - eru 11y ago
      You could try some videos as bookwormAT suggested, alternatively (or in parallel) you can just play as one of the easy nations (Ottomans, Spain, Portugal, France, etc) and blunder about. The Ottomans are nicknamed Easymans by the fans. That's how people learn Dwarfortress, which is even less penetrable. Remember, losing is fun.
      - Tomte 11y ago
        I have nothing against losing, but the UI has dozens, if not hundreds of buttons at any time, most very inconspicuous (oh, that's a button?!), and no way to guess what they are for. It's... frustrating.
- ekianjo 11y ago
  You forgot Limbo. Yeah, not pure 2D per se, but it's a clear 2D game at heart (just like Another World).
- balls187 11y ago
  Terraria. The new content update 1.3 is boss.
- juandopazo 11y ago
  Also, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. Not 100% 2D, but close in that spirit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9r6J0b-2BI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9r6J0b-2BI
- nightpool 11y ago
  Been enjoying the hell out of Nidhogg recently. Some other notable ones are Mark of the Ninja and Bastion (maybe? I don't know if you're counting 2.5d games. included it because its absolutely, stunningly, beautiful. seriously worth looking in to)
  - kriro 11y ago
    Nidhogg is amazing :) My goto answer for addicting 2d game is Binding of Isaac. I own a bunch of retro consoles and games, pretty much all by Nintendo and have always wondered if there's an interest in "let's play" of an original Legend of Zelda and so forth (I'd guess most are done via emulator but that just doesn't feel right to me :P). Would require buying a hardware capture device that's Linux compatible but those are 1in the 50-200 Euro range. I'm feeling like it would be something I'd have a blast with but not sure.
- eropple 11y ago
  I'm pretty sure every one of those games except Papers, Please and Hotline Miami, and maybe even those because I don't know much about HaXe or Game Maker, is made with a 3D engine (Unity, XNA/MonoGame, whatever). I mean, you namedrop Sunless Sea, but they do an absolute ton with 3D effects to create the desired look of the game.
  - mutagen 11y ago
    Yes, they're made with a 3D engine because the platforms and the widely available frameworks are all 3D. However, the games themselves, the gameplay, and the primary aesthetics of the games are not 3D and would be just as home in a 2D or 2.5D engine and hardware with at most minor changes to the visual look and feel of the game.
    - debaserab2 11y ago
      These games are fully 3d modeled and in no way a 2d game. Their gameplay may be portable to a 2d platform, but they are not 2d. The is a significant difference in terms of development.
      - drrotmos 11y ago
        When talking about controls though, how different it is to develop is not a factor. These games are controlled as 2d games.
      - cosarara97 11y ago
        3d modeled? Shovel Knight, Dust: An Elysian Tail and Braid all use 2d sprites, not models.
- gambiting 11y ago
  Literally every single game you named was made using a 3D engine. They just went for a 2D top-down view and pixelated graphics,but internally they are all rendered using OpenGL/DX and orthographic cameras.
  - toxicFork 11y ago
    OpenGL/DX are not engines, they are graphics APIs.
    - gambiting 11y ago
      Well of course, but like I said - the games are made using 3D engines,which use OpenGL/DX to render the scenes. The reason why I point it out is that in both of these APIs if you want to make a 2D game you still operate within 3D space - you just use orthographic cameras and have your Z coordinate set to 0.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
      - kgabis 11y ago
        It's irrelevant, some of those games were ported to other systems where they don't use OpenGL/DX. It's an implementation detail.
        gambiting 11y ago
        You seem to be very keen on holding to that OpenGL/DX reference, and I am not fully sure why, it's not relevant to the point I was making. Maybe I should have just said "these games are rendered in 3D space, using 3D engines, and APIs which are used for 3D work normally, so they are not 2D games in the same way SNES games were 2D". Would that be better?
        kgabis 11y ago
        Yes, we get it, but it's still wrong and irrelevant. Not all of those games use 3D engines (Shovel Knight?) and I'm pretty sure not all of them even use a 3D API. But even when they do, they're still 2D games with 2D based gameplay, 2D collision detection etc.
- Rooster61 11y ago
  You left out Axiom Verge. Fantastic game in my opinion with really nice looking environments, and all the more impressive considering one guy coded EVERYTHING in the game, including the graphics. The tileset is a pretty accurate tribute to Metroid/Super Metroid
squidbidness 11y ago
Yep, Indie games are a gold mine for great/unconventional art and design, as well as original gameplay mechanics. Some ones I've enjoyed: Limbo, Thomas Was Alone, Cave Story, Braid, FEZ.
csense 11y ago
- Factorio (a great game for the HN audience): http://www.factorio.com/ http://www.factorio.com/ - A Valley Without Wind (I like Valley 2): https://arcengames.com/a-valley-without-wind-1-2/ https://arcengames.com/a-valley-without-wind-1-2/ - Rimworld: http://rimworldgame.com/ http://rimworldgame.com/ - Starbound: http://playstarbound.com/ http://playstarbound.com/
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
icebraining 11y ago
Not exactly recent, but the 2D Oddworld games (Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus) were some of the best games I've played.
Bahamut 11y ago
One game that came out recently to a lot of acclaim is Ori and the Blind Forest. There are also games like Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac.

Usually smaller scale indie games are the ones doing it, big shot studios feel the need to go ham on graphics. Here's a handful I managed to scrape together from memory and quick searches, but it's easy to find more. - Shovel Knight - Dust: An Elysian Tail - Hotline Miami - Don't Starve - Spelunky - Braid - Papers, Please - Sunless Sea There _has_ been quite a few retro-style, pixelated graphics style games to come out of that sector for one reason or another, but ignoring that, the games tend to have a more stylized feel to them. Limited fidelity means the games need to more creative, but I think that tends to just come with works of passion from smaller studios.

DiabloD3 11y ago
Let's throw in everything Way Forward is doing as well, such as the Shantae series of games. It's been awhile since I've played a sidescroller that warranted multiple playthroughs, but I picked up Shantae: Risky's Revenge up in one of the HumbleBundles, and I loved the hell out of it. One part Castlevania, one part Megaman, one part Metroid. It was so good I went out and bought an XBox One controller to play it further, even though I don't own an XBox One. Side note: apparently its the best PC gamepad you can find that has a good D-Pad; the D-Pad is probably the best one I've used since my childhood.
- TJSomething 11y ago
  Oh wow. It's actually plus-shaped. I've been looking for a PC controller with a plus-shaped D-pad for a while. They've been rare for a few years, due to Nintendo's patent on plus-shaped D-pads, but that expired in 2005.
  - DiabloD3 11y ago
    Yup, and I actually had bought a XB360 gamepad... the D-Pad was mushy and horrid, returned it immediately for the XBOne one and it's a well built solid controller. Also, I don't need to put batteries in if I run it off wired USB, so theres also that.
eru 11y ago
Also, all kinds of strategy games. Eg Europa Universalis 4, any Civilization game (even though they may look 3d these days, it's not why you play them).
- ekianjo 11y ago
  > any Civilization game Exactly, it's a good example of a game that uses 3D only for effect, without incorporating it at all in the gameplay.
- Tomte 11y ago
  Re: EU IV, I'd really like to get into it, but the in-game tutorial is very, very bad. I've had several tries over the last year, but always gave up way to soon. Is there a practical intro somewhere? One that allows me to actually play a game, even losing it badly, but not encounter half a dozen "huh, I have no idea what that means and what I should do now" situations every turn.
  - bookwormAT 11y ago
    There is no actual tutorial, sorry. The best way to learn how to play EU is to watch a tutorial on youtube. It's worth it, though...
  - eru 11y ago
    You could try some videos as bookwormAT suggested, alternatively (or in parallel) you can just play as one of the easy nations (Ottomans, Spain, Portugal, France, etc) and blunder about. The Ottomans are nicknamed Easymans by the fans. That's how people learn Dwarfortress, which is even less penetrable. Remember, losing is fun.
    - Tomte 11y ago
      I have nothing against losing, but the UI has dozens, if not hundreds of buttons at any time, most very inconspicuous (oh, that's a button?!), and no way to guess what they are for. It's... frustrating.
ekianjo 11y ago
You forgot Limbo. Yeah, not pure 2D per se, but it's a clear 2D game at heart (just like Another World).
balls187 11y ago
Terraria. The new content update 1.3 is boss.
juandopazo 11y ago
Also, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. Not 100% 2D, but close in that spirit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9r6J0b-2BI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9r6J0b-2BI
nightpool 11y ago
Been enjoying the hell out of Nidhogg recently. Some other notable ones are Mark of the Ninja and Bastion (maybe? I don't know if you're counting 2.5d games. included it because its absolutely, stunningly, beautiful. seriously worth looking in to)
- kriro 11y ago
  Nidhogg is amazing :) My goto answer for addicting 2d game is Binding of Isaac. I own a bunch of retro consoles and games, pretty much all by Nintendo and have always wondered if there's an interest in "let's play" of an original Legend of Zelda and so forth (I'd guess most are done via emulator but that just doesn't feel right to me :P). Would require buying a hardware capture device that's Linux compatible but those are 1in the 50-200 Euro range. I'm feeling like it would be something I'd have a blast with but not sure.
eropple 11y ago
I'm pretty sure every one of those games except Papers, Please and Hotline Miami, and maybe even those because I don't know much about HaXe or Game Maker, is made with a 3D engine (Unity, XNA/MonoGame, whatever). I mean, you namedrop Sunless Sea, but they do an absolute ton with 3D effects to create the desired look of the game.
- mutagen 11y ago
  Yes, they're made with a 3D engine because the platforms and the widely available frameworks are all 3D. However, the games themselves, the gameplay, and the primary aesthetics of the games are not 3D and would be just as home in a 2D or 2.5D engine and hardware with at most minor changes to the visual look and feel of the game.
  - debaserab2 11y ago
    These games are fully 3d modeled and in no way a 2d game. Their gameplay may be portable to a 2d platform, but they are not 2d. The is a significant difference in terms of development.
    - drrotmos 11y ago
      When talking about controls though, how different it is to develop is not a factor. These games are controlled as 2d games.
    - cosarara97 11y ago
      3d modeled? Shovel Knight, Dust: An Elysian Tail and Braid all use 2d sprites, not models.
gambiting 11y ago
Literally every single game you named was made using a 3D engine. They just went for a 2D top-down view and pixelated graphics,but internally they are all rendered using OpenGL/DX and orthographic cameras.
- toxicFork 11y ago
  OpenGL/DX are not engines, they are graphics APIs.
  - gambiting 11y ago
    Well of course, but like I said - the games are made using 3D engines,which use OpenGL/DX to render the scenes. The reason why I point it out is that in both of these APIs if you want to make a 2D game you still operate within 3D space - you just use orthographic cameras and have your Z coordinate set to 0.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - kgabis 11y ago
      It's irrelevant, some of those games were ported to other systems where they don't use OpenGL/DX. It's an implementation detail.
      - gambiting 11y ago
        You seem to be very keen on holding to that OpenGL/DX reference, and I am not fully sure why, it's not relevant to the point I was making. Maybe I should have just said "these games are rendered in 3D space, using 3D engines, and APIs which are used for 3D work normally, so they are not 2D games in the same way SNES games were 2D". Would that be better?
        kgabis 11y ago
        Yes, we get it, but it's still wrong and irrelevant. Not all of those games use 3D engines (Shovel Knight?) and I'm pretty sure not all of them even use a 3D API. But even when they do, they're still 2D games with 2D based gameplay, 2D collision detection etc.
Rooster61 11y ago
You left out Axiom Verge. Fantastic game in my opinion with really nice looking environments, and all the more impressive considering one guy coded EVERYTHING in the game, including the graphics. The tileset is a pretty accurate tribute to Metroid/Super Metroid

squidbidness 11y ago

Yep, Indie games are a gold mine for great/unconventional art and design, as well as original gameplay mechanics. Some ones I've enjoyed: Limbo, Thomas Was Alone, Cave Story, Braid, FEZ.

csense 11y ago

- Factorio (a great game for the HN audience): http://www.factorio.com/ http://www.factorio.com/ - A Valley Without Wind (I like Valley 2): https://arcengames.com/a-valley-without-wind-1-2/ https://arcengames.com/a-valley-without-wind-1-2/ - Rimworld: http://rimworldgame.com/ http://rimworldgame.com/ - Starbound: http://playstarbound.com/ http://playstarbound.com/

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

icebraining 11y ago

Not exactly recent, but the 2D Oddworld games (Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus) were some of the best games I've played.

Bahamut 11y ago

One game that came out recently to a lot of acclaim is Ori and the Blind Forest. There are also games like Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac.