Dear all,

as the topic says, for a td style game which kind of graphics would you prefer, what would you do? Easiest to do for me would be plain 2d top down but isometric (2d) or real 3d (isometric) as well would be an option, too.

That might sound like a stupid question but I really scratch my head about that one. 2d has its benefits as well as 3d...

Oh well I might add, this is for mobile platforms!

is there any implications for the gameplay?
if both look the same, one is pre-rendered into 2d tiles, one is rendered realtime, I'd think the player mit really not even see a difference and even less care...unless it has implication for the gameplay.

Well it hasn't implications for the gameplay. But there is a difference in player experience looking at a top down or more an isometric view (either 2d or real 3d). So it might be some kind of what players would like more I guess...

Well it hasn't implications for the gameplay.

I would respectfully disagree with that: one of the reasons top-down is common in the genre is because it makes it very easy to see exactly where towers are placed and how they align with other towers, paths (if present) and creeps. With a top down view it is also impossible for a smaller item to be difficult to see behind a larger one.

Isometric (whether traditional 2d or real 3d) can potentially suffer from both of these problems -- when the screen is busy it can be harder to tell at a glance if one placement is nicely aligned with another object, and larger objects can potentially obscure the player's view of smaller ones. This can result in player mistakes that may cause them to think the game in unfair.

My personal preference would therefore be top-down, for clarity. :)

If you do choose an isometric view I would probably recommend 3d with a fixed viewing angle rather than traditional 2d isometric -- the 3d is simpler and nicely avoids some problems that would have to be worked around in 2d.

Hope that helps! :)

That helps indeed, thanks! I tend to agree that 3d might be a bit of overload especially with pretty small smartphone screens in mind...

I'm a big 2D fan, but from experience, simple 3D tends to end up with lower production costs if you intend to doing a lot of animations.

Perhaps that needs to be factored in. (if you intend to do the art yourself, change the word "production costs" with "time/effort").

Thanks as well! To go a bit more into detail it won't be a classic tower defense game but has td elements and will include multiplayer so people can play against other bases. ;) I think I will go the 2d route which I know better.