2D or 3D Maps ?
You can create both 2D and 3D games with Eldiron. The difference is mostly in how maps are built and rendered; character, item, and screen behavior stay the same, so you don’t need to relearn anything when switching.
2D Games
2D games use top-down tiles which are painted onto the map. This way you can create games similar to Ultima 4 and 5. Use this mode when you want to create tiles in a rectangular grid.
2D games support light sources and day / night time simulation and more.
The screenshot above shows the Hideout 2D example game created with Eldiron. You can play it online.
3D Games
Eldiron has inbuilt 3D editing to easily create geometry for dungeons, towns, houses and more. This geometry interacts with an integrated terrain system. Other 3D features include day / night time simulation (including the sun) and powerful 3D rendering.
Tiles in 3D support PBR materials and can be painted on 3D surfaces as well as on the terrain.
The camera you choose for your game defines the perspective, you can either use a configurable orthographic / isometric camera or a first person camera.
Eldiron always uses non-perspective tiles in 3D. Some engines support pre-rendered isometric tiles; Eldiron does not. Instead, you build the isometric look with geometry plus tiles, viewed through an isometric camera—far more flexible than stitching isometric tiles together.
In the following chapters we will discuss both 2D and 3D game map creation.