Arcanum Sequel? And other newbie questions.

As soon as I submit my thesis (image compressor), a C game, and pass the final examination, I'll start working on a new engine. I have already thought some details about it:

- 3D based (unfortunately 3D has some disadvantages)
- fixed isometric view (perhaps with rotation), no perspective
- heightmap and terrain map based scenes
- full objects (e.g. full house instead of floor+walls+roof)
- Lua scripting
- SDL, OpenGL, stencil shadow volumes or something with soft shadows, bump mapping,
soft shadows, bump mapping, etc
- smooth 3D animation
- entirely open source (both code & content)

(Edit: I also thought about 2d isometric scenery and animated 3d models, but I don't think if I could do them right)

 

Someone else with the "3-D is Better" bug. For most of us, it's not unlike taking an old car and customizing it.

Just the same, Good luck to you, sir.