Game developer’s guide to graphical projections (with video game examples), Part 1: Introduction

Retronator Do It Yourself

TL;DR: This article series explains one of the fundamentals of drawing: how to draw three-dimensional things correctly. It’s an essential skill for artists, but it’s also a great first topic for coders that want to get started with art. Even better, we’ll learn it all by simply looking at video games (scroll to ‘Types of graphical projections’ if you’re antsy).

Drawing correctly is not an art

Drawing is a much more technical skill than people give it credit. You don’t need to be ‘artistic’ or ‘creative’ or ‘gifted by gods with talent’ to do it. Sure, there are big creative parts to making artwork (what to draw, how a viewer should feel, how to stylize things—to name just a few), but drawing things is very learnable, mathematical even.

Going from your childhood drawings …

When in doubt, use lens flare.

… to things that look more correct …

Greetings from 2009, Matej ‘Retro’ Jan, 2008

… has a lot to do with geometry. Even if you’re not doing photorealistic drawings, following the mathematical rules of how we see our 3D world makes things much more believable, immersive.