Sneak peak of TLBAR

[Polaris]

Since you like memes SG, here's one for you all by me

[Hin]

Example of another game that went bad from 2d to 3d:
Rayman.
But they understood the problem and went back to 2d later on

[CS2x]

Originally Posted by Hin

Example of another game that went bad from 2d to 3d:
Rayman.
But they understood the problem and went back to 2d later on

Rayman! That was the exact example I was trying to remember. Thanks.

(But I'll also choose to trust el muerte when he says it's possible to get the best of both worlds now. I haven't really played games in years and my head was stuck back when the transition always looked worse.)

[Polaris]

I liked Rayman 2, and Rayman 3 as well, although there's no denying the shift in style between them. I think Rayman had more of a mascot role, rather than a coherent character, akin to Mario in its beginnings.
The problem with Rayman started with the rabbits though >

[elmuerte]

LBA was never 2D. Sure, they used 2D art for most of the world in LBA1 and LBA2 interiors. An isometric view is a 3D projection. Technically doing an isometric projection in true 3D, instead of using 2D art, requires more resources at runtime. But that is no longer a serious issue.
There are plenty isometric games which went from using 2D assets to be fully 3D rendered isometric view. As Brian Sullivan has show with his work on Age of Empires, to Age of Mythology, to Titan Quest. Or Desperados (although 2 wasn't a good game, it was not due to switching to 3D.)

[Quetch]

Talking about Rayman on the MBN forums made me remember a fun little fact, hence I created this ...

[Polaris]

Can't help but pronounce "TLBAR" "The L bar" in my head, every time I read it...

Egoraptor made a nice video about Zelda Ocarina of Time, and how the transition to 3D wasn't easy for isometric games either. Or at least, not as simple as we would think.

YouTube

(the video predates Breath of the Wild)

[CS2x]

Interesting video! Thanks for sharing, Polaris.

I fairly recently revisited LBA2, and surprisingly, didn't find it to be dated at all. This wasn't a blind love driven by nostalgia either, as I weirdly don't typically experience nostalgia (explaining why would be a lengthy and convoluted task for this discussion). Instead, playing it felt like a fresh experience since I had forgotten a lot about the game. Considering the current acceptance and popularity of nostalgic, old-school graphical styles in new indie games, along with other factors influencing the gaming landscape today, I came to realise that a brand new LBA3 game, comparable in size to LBA2's adventure, incorporating 2's controls, mechanics, and possibilities, would be more than satisfactory for me.

By "similar," I don't mean a literal replication of the same engine with absolutely no core changes. It would definitely benefit from a somewhat souped-up approach for the outdoor environments, accompanied by a deliberate subtle stylistic awareness to hint that we're playing a new game (via consistent graphical flourishes, a fresh UI etc.) - other thoughtful touches too, just as other indie games have done. However, as a whole, such a move would be ballsy and warmly welcomed. Contrary to some criticisms, the 3D outdoor portions of LBA2 are not as terribly dated as some have claimed imho, and the indoor isometric segments have aged very gracefully.

Imagining an entirely new story, assets, sound design, adventure and music, which is where the magic comes from anyway, utilising the mechanics of the old games— it would absolutely be enough...if it were framed in a smart enough way from the outset.

This is now the third idea I've shared for the series, all of them completely different lol.

[bloodhound]

Nice video indeed, though I find the talking style SOOO annoying I wonder if he was really that dissatisfied with one of the greatest games from that era. While 3D usually doesn't age so gracefully, 3D can also more cheaply (that is, in theory just by a computer) upgraded in various ways, for example with correct lighting, free-moving camera, adding support for metallic surfaces (for example for the Gazogem factory and Twinsen's car), getting rid of the distance fog, etc.
By switching to Unreal Engine, 2.21 has the big benefit that most of the game can be created by people without programming experience, including cutscenes and some logic like the alarm going off when Twinsen touches the floor during the museum heist.

[Polaris]

I've done some sound integration via the Unity engine in Uni, while no programming knowledge is required, there's still quite a learning curve !

About the video, I probably like it a lot partly because I agree with him. I played the 3DS re...master(?) of Ocarina of Time, and didn't like it as much, couldn't understand why everyone loved it that much on the internet... The dungeons were way too easy, and the combat was ruff.
He has done 3 other videos in this series though, I'd still recommend checking them out, videos with deeper gameplay analysis aren't that easy to come by.