Why 2D Still Beats 3D
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The biggest problem for 3D graphics might be the camera. We certainly love Neverwinter Nights 2 plus its add-on Mask of the Betrayer. But even after several patches and consolidating four camera modes into two (the top-down and third person view), players need to constantly zoom, tilt or otherwise adjust the current camera angle, lest their characters get lost or miss an important item. Let's compare this to Baldur's Gate 2, which has only two dimensions, the x and y axis. Because of the drawn, fixed map, North is always (up) you can find your way through the wilderness and around big cities easily. Of course, designers can limit their 3D camera's angle in the same way, basically creating the look and feel of a 2D engine game but they rarely do so. Players like to have a close-up of their heroine's face (or chest?), so we have to be able to zoom and spin the camera. But if you compare the camera handling of The Sims (2D pixel engine) with its successor, you will probably find that The Sims 2 (3D engine) needs constant panning, zooming and spinning of the camera. That's not fun.
