Create a 2.5D game like Wizardry/Bard's Tale

[Panther0214]

I noticed that most of the RPG/Dungeon Crawler games that are made using SFML are top-down and was wondering if something with the 2.5D perspective can be done with "out of the box" SFML (i.e. like screencap below)? I was going to try and mimic one of those old school type games just to play around on my own since I enjoyed playing them years ago and thought it would be fun to make my own.

I just want to be able to make the screens, display the map as I walk, display characters, etc and maybe eventually add other logic to play the game

I am not looking to get into the OpenGL complexity at this time and want to keep it simple

Just a question as to whether or not this is possible with SFML and if anyone knew of any examples that are out there? I did some searching, but did not find any other than top-down perspective.

Thanks,
Panther0214

[Hapax]

I think there is something for making 3D. I don't think it's still supported and I'm not sure where you can get it. IIRC, it was by binary1248.

Although not a full solution, some of the drawables in Selba Ward may help.
For example:
If you are willing to calculate the corners of the quads in 3D space yourself, Elastic Sprite is your best option (use perspective interpolation).
If you need a quad that you can rotate in full 3D space, Sprite 3D should be able to do the trick.

[Panther0214]

Thanks for the info. I will look into these a little more and see what they offer. i am not really looking into the 3D items at the moment, but may do so in the future.

This is really just for me to have some fun with and play around, but I didn't want to start this and not eventually be able to do what I was looking to do.

I appreciate the help.

Thanks,
Panther0214

[Nexus]

2.5D can refer to many graphical styles (isometric, emphasized use of parallax, 2D movement in 3D world, etc.), but most common to those is the emulation of 3D-looking graphics by 2D techniques only.

So, according to this definition: yes, it's possible to do 2.5D with SFML, as the latter provides the 2D tools you need. The more interesting question is, what kind of graphics style you're aiming for. Most probably you will need to invest some effort on top of SFML, as it comes with rather basic features. Most of this extra effort will be mathematics, to calculate angles and distances in your perspective of choice, and I think you will find a lot of it on the Internet.

[Panther0214]

At this point it is just for fun for me, so the graphics I will use will be old format...likely those ripped from the Bards Tale games from the 80's. I have no issue in doing the extra work since it will be needed.

I am really looking to do a pseudo-3D format since that is what I grew up on. I'm not looking for anything with up-to-date graphics because this is just for fun, but it does seem like a viable option to use SFML.

Thanks for the info.

Panther0214

[Hapax]

Always nice to see more faux 3D!

Maybe this post about a Wolf3D-style project might also be of some interest to you.

[Panther0214]

That is nice to see. At the moment, I would not be raycasting, but it is something that I would like to look at. I'm going to try and do it simply at first with 90 degree movement and then maybe get into some more sophisticated things.

I am still in the VERY early stages of figuring out how I want to do it and some trial/error coding. I am just learning SFML, but I am a programmer by day, so it should be something that can be set up relatively quick. I am going to start working on some screens and logic to show the map that I lay out, but that will take a little time since I do not get a lot of time to devote to it at the moment...lots of fundamental coding in my head right now. 

Thanks for the info,
Panther0214