Parallel Landscape

2D.2.5D.3D

Harvest Moon,  Country Story or in fact many other farming and even RPG games, make use of the Parallel Landscape to create the illusion of 3 dimensional floorplan. Parallel Landscape on the other hand, is not even close to 3D but a completely flat 2D tiles which do not even make use of shadow or size to emphasis the idea of space.

It is very interesting to see how the human eyes can be 'tricked' through the placement of objects in creating a spatial landscape. Comparing to Tetris, the concept of creating the floor plan is very much similar. Tiles after tiles are placed on top of each other in an orderly manner. The only different is, the type of tiles. For example, in Harvest Moon, the soil will be brown colour while the grass will be green. Other than this, the same application is used. So what makes Tetris 2D and Harvest Moon 3D, or 2.5D, or maybe 2D but looks 3D.

I personally find this form of landscape is extremely clever. It is almost minimalist and effortless to create but pleasurable to the eyes. I guess, one of the reason is the mixing of the 2D and 3D sprites involved on the landscape.

For example, in Harvest Moon, although the map are flat, the plants, trees, characters, animals are somewhat 3D. They only have 4 directional images ( up, down, right and left ) but there is good use of shadow and size to emphasize the spatial relationship. The character for example is not purely flat with one colour filling in a specific body parts, but the cap for example, ranges from dark blue to blue to light blue. Even with this minor details, the idea of space is achieved in the simplistic 2D flat background.

Creating such landscape is easier comparing to Isometric Landscape such as Restaurant City and Theme Hospital. However, similar effect can be achieved, in fact a slightly more interesting effect is resulted. Parallel Landscape is not boring but giving players another layer of creativity in exploring the game as a whole. While on the other hand, Isometric Landscape provides the space for exploration thus limiting the self-creation in gamer's mind.

Kelvin