A real time lighting technique for procedurally generated 2d isometric game terrains

TL;DR

This paper introduces a real-time lighting technique for procedurally generated 2D isometric terrains that estimates 3D shapes for enhanced visual effects, balancing visual quality and performance.

Contribution

It presents a novel coupled CPU-GPU approach for real-time lighting that estimates 3D geometry from 2D maps to produce a 2.5D lighting effect.

Findings

Visuals and gameplay were positively evaluated by users.

Performance was satisfactory across different hardware configurations.

The technique effectively enhances visual realism in 2D isometric maps.

Abstract

This work proposes an automatic real time lighting technique for procedurally generated isometric maps. The scenario is generated from a string seed and the proposed lighting system estimates the geometrical shape of the 2D objects as if they were 3D for further light interaction, therefore producing a 2.5D effect. We employ opacity maps to overcome an issue generated by the geometrical shape estimation. The solution is a coupled approach between the CPU and GPU. The produced visuals, gameplay and performance were evaluated by gamers, programmers and designers. Furthermore, the performance, in terms of frames per second, was evaluated over distinct graphics cards and processors and was satisfactory.