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A game that uses a mixture of 2D & 3D techniques. Commonly used to describe the use of either 3D graphics restricted to a 2D perceptive, or 2D graphics used to fake the appearance of a 3D perceptive.
Games where the characters are 2D bitmap images (sprites), but the environment and scenarios are made in a 3-Dimensional space. This technique was commonly used on consoles like the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo DS. Many 90's First-Person Shooters also used this technique.
8-bit can be a reference to actual computing power, or it can be a retro look for videogames that want to recall a bygone era.
Articuno is a ice/flying-type legendary pokemon. Using its great wings, Articuno blasts powerful Arctic-cold air toward its opponents.
Belt scrolling is a 2D perspective, side-scrolling action with downward camera angle. The character is able to move not only sideways, but also vertically within a limited area, giving pseudo-3D depth. Mostly used by beat 'em up brawlers, this term is mainly used in Japan and comes from the conveyor belt like viewpoint.
Using a 2D sprite that always faces the camera within a polygonal 3D environment to fake a 3D effect.
In some situations, the default camera quickly switches to a different angle for a specific action. An example of this is when a first-person game shifts to third-person view for a rolling maneuver.
The CP System is a family of arcade system hardware manufactured by Capcom for their arcade games from 1988 to 1999, including the Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III games.
Sometimes designers add old-school things on purpose to enhance game design. These games tend to be heavily inspired by hardware limitations of older systems. NES, Atari 2600, and early computer platforms (DOS, Commodore 64, MSX, etc...) are common sources of inspiration.
Digitized sprites, popularized in the early 90s, were a form of graphics that used footage of real actors, Stop-motion frames of a figure/clay model or 3D renders of characters that were then made digital and put into the game.
In video games, dithering is a graphical technique using pixel patterns to simulate additional colors or transparency. While far more common on CRTs, many games still use the technique, especially games which use pixel art.
Flattening is taking something three dimensional, and somehow making it very thin almost two dimensional. It can be used for comedic effect or a character to use it to fight through tight spaces.
Flip screen (or flick-screen) describes a way of dividing the game world into fixed screens, displayed one at a time. It's commonly found in 2D platformers, especially prior to the 16-bit era.
An open-source, "drag and drop" game development tool for sprite-based 2D games. Projects can be exported in HTML5 form, or as Game Boy ROM files that are compatible with the original hardware as well as emulators.
Developed by BioWare for the first Baldur's Gate game, the Infinity Engine features an isometric perspective, pre-rendered 2D backgrounds and sprite-based characters.
A parallel projection technique used in 2D sprite-based games to fake the appearance of 3D depth.
The Namco Super Pac-Man is an 8-bit arcade system board that was initially used by Namco in 1982. It was the company's first board to use a Motorola M6809 processor (using two of them) instead of a Zilog Z80.
Released in 1988, the game's Namco System 21 "Polygonizer" arcade board was one of the first gaming systems dedicated to polygonal 3D graphics, and was the most powerful gaming hardware of the 1980's. Its 3D graphical capabilities would not be surpassed until the release of Sega's Model 1 arcade system in 1992.
The Namco System 22 is an arcade system board, the successor to the Namco System 21 arcade board. It debuted in 1992 with Sim Drive in Japan, followed by a worldwide debut in 1993 with Ridge Racer. It was first 3D gaming system to feature texture mapping and Gouraud shading.
A minimalist 8-bit "fantasy console" engine designed by Lexaloffle Games in 2015.
Pixel art refers to digital images composed of visible pixels, drawn with individual pixel-level intent and precision.
Who needs 2D when we've got 3D? 3D, or 3 dimensions, is what we're used to seeing in almost every game these days, letting us do all sorts of awesome stuff like run in circles!
Technique for detecting intersection of an object and a line in virtual space.
The Retro Engine is a multiplatform game engine developed by Australian programmer Christian Whitehead, best known for its use in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series.
The process of tracing over live-action motion video to create animation.
The proprietary game engine(s) used by the indie games designed using the RPG Maker series of game development software.
A term used to describe the flow of action in a typical action game, where the pace is pre-defined to feature fast action and require quick reflexes. As the name suggests, these are games where the player character can run and shoot at the same time.
A location where the player character is relatively assured to avoid patterns of incoming fire or enemy movement.
A style of action-adventure gameplay revolving around exploring a labyrinth with the necessity of locating new items and equipment to progress beyond otherwise impassable obstacles. The concept is named for its common usage in the Metroid and Castlevania franchises. While the term most commonly refers to 2D games, it can also refer to 3D games.
Sega Blockade was Sega's first unified arcade system board, released in 1976.
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