This is a proof of concept for a fast way to render an isometric a*b*a grid of tiles with no overdraw. I intend to add support for transparency, and block physics later. Further information can be found in the notes. Controls: Move ±x: D and A, or click and drag Move ±y: Up arrow and Down arrow, or click and drag Move ±z: W and S, or click and drag Inventory: E Select Hotbar: 0-9, click and drag, or scroll Place / Break Block: Space or click Export Level: C This is mostly mobile friendly, however I do not currently have a gesture implemented for opening the inventory, or exporting the level. I plan to add those in future updates.
Post your levels here: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/710005/ Title: https://www.textstudio.com/logo/minecraft-logo-generator-697 Subtitle: https://www.textstudio.com/logo/minecraft-3d-text-41 Tiles: https://admurin.itch.io/blocky-life Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9CiMO66xk Notes: I was inspired by a youtube video, linked above, where an isometric view was represented as a 2D grid of triangles, 6 for each block. Instead of recalculating the depth of every block when a block is removed, I've implemented a system that creates a diagonal raycast through the grid and selects the top block to draw. When a block is placed, a simple check can be done to compare the depth values of the current grid item, and the block placement. If the grid depth is greater, no update is required. The player's cursor undergoes similar logic, however it doesn't need to update the 2D or 3D grid. Because we can represent what is on screen as a 2D grid, implementing clipping on the edges is very inexpensive. Future plans: I plan to implement transparent blocks, however it would require me to create a separated transparency grid and refactor the place and remove block functions. I am also currently working on adding shadows, which uses the same system for block updates, but rotated 90 degrees. Those will likely come in future updates. I plan to be adding the entire minecraft infdev block palette, however it will take time. Each texture requires me to separate the triangles of each block out by hand, and until I figure out a way to automate that, it will remain slow and tedious. Leave a comment if you have any ideas on that. It is very unlikely that I will be adding entities, redstone, or infinite chunk loading to the game, however I still plan to experiment with finding an inexpensive perlin noise function for terrain generation.
