Which to choose: 2D or 3D for a java game

Question

What should a small team choose for their first game, when they are low on time but have big ambitions? I'm an experienced programmer, but haven't done any game programming before this. My designer is very talented and artistic, he has worked with 3D about an year ago but hasn't done it since so it could take him some time to learn it again, and i'm not sure if he'll be able to do a good job at it even though his graphic design skills are terrific otherwise.

Our primary concern is to get the game finished as quickly as possible, and also to do it easily since this is my first game programming project. At the same time, we don't want to have any limitations that might hinder our progress later on, or otherwise make the game not fun in certain ways.

For example, i learnt that certain animations aren't possible in 2D such as rotation etc. I would like the ability to have the player's character be able to morph into animals and there must be the ability to shoot at the monsters, (like shooting an arrow and seeing it fly through and hit the other person). Are these things possible in 2D?

In the future, if we wanted to go from 3D to 2D, would it be possible without fully rewriting the game?

Answer 1

You don't have to use 3D to allow for a "3D look". Things like rotations, motions or transformations can be prerecorded or prerendered as animations or image sequences and seamlessly integrated into a 2D game. The only thing that is not possible in 2D is to navigate freely within your "game space" (like walking or flying freely, turning arbitrarily etc.)

The main concern, however, when deciding for 2D or 3D should be the gameplay. There are games that absolutely need 3D (shooters, simulations), while others do perfectly without (adventures, puzzles, ...). So you don't actually have to decide but to choose the better fit for your game idea.

Personally, I'd avoid using 3D in your first game attempt if possible to eliminate all the constraints and hassles that come with it.

When using 3D you typically have to decide for a 3D framework which will heavily influence your software design, game look and feel and overall performance. Java3D for example brings a complicated class structure that you have to adjust to. And a lot of effort goes into making that 3D stuff work at all. Simple things like rotating a square evolve into matrix operations incorporating quaternions. Every effect has to be done in the complex 3D world, and in such a way that its 2D projected look turns out the way you intended it. Not to mention that 3D applications often suffer a very stereotypical look that is very hard to overcome.

In 2D, you literally avoid one dimension of complexity. You do everything exactly the way it is supposed to look, you can use standard graphic applications and open file formats to simplify the workflow between the designer and the developer. And a lot of pseudo-3D effects like parallax motion, depth of field and prerendered artwork allow for astonishing looks in a 2D world.