Isometric « Models « Flash Tutorials

This function calculates the relationship between two objects.

You could use something like hitTest here, but managing it through programming within our grid space is easier and yields better results which conform more to the "isometric way." Also, since this is a chest we're dealing with, we may want to open it. In that case, we would need to define where a character may need to be (what grid space) to open it and what action will occur in the event that they try. Will the chest open or will a message pop up informing that the chest is locked an unable to be opened? To handle these, you would need to define values that correspond to each position in the grid representing the state which exists there. So if that chest is on grid space (2,3), you'd need to set a value to that space which more or less says, "Player cant move here if he/she tries." How this is done is through using 2D arrays. Arrays are adequate because they can easily hold a a lot of information and are number based, just like a grid is. Using 2D arrays (arrays containing arrays) give us a way to contain information about the whole grid in one variable, being able to reference any value for each grid position with the coordinates of that position. This functions much in the same way the loops did earlier in making a grid, only this isn't generating a grid, but rather holding information about it. In fact, the loops will be what are used to extract this information.

Conversely, in a true perspective, objects reduce in size as they recede into the background.

The word "isometry" is a greek-derived word meaning "equal measure". But let's not focus on the origins of this word, instead let's find out what it is and what we need it for. Well, for the sake of briefness, isometry is a way of displaying three-dimentional objects in two dimentions. What does that mean to us? Basically, it means that we don't need to worry about perspective, or rather about what things would looks like in a true perspective. That's because an object in an isometric view is never distorted by either scaling it or shifting it, as it would normally be in a true perspective...