Path of Exile Camera Angle - Isometric or Top-down?

Hello, guys! Currently I'm studying the GDD (Game Design Document) at college and I'm in a serious doubt about POE's camera angle: is it isometric or top-down?
Cuz top-down games like A Link Between Worlds seems different from the view we see in POE, but at the same time the isometric view from Bastion seems different from POE's camera angle. Can someone help me with this?
Thanks in advance!

It's actually neither.

Isometric means same size. Since you can zoom in and out, and certain areas force a zoom out, it's not technically isometric. But the basics of the game are of that type. Isometric games are ones were you have basically a static view of your character.

It's not top down, since the camera angle isn't straight up, but it's basically top down in that you're not looking ahead of your character but all around it. Top down means you're not getting the view of what your character sees, but the view of the character's surroundings.

So in some ways it's both, and in some ways it's neither.

One thing you should learn about any science, especially computer science, is that words have technical meanings and you should know their definitions and how to apply them. Language is much more flexible than that, but the use of words in science is often not a matter of interpretation.

Isometric view doesnt have perspective. I think Diablo 2 had isometric view.

edit:
if i remember correctly Diablo 2 had an option to make isometric view look like perspective, but originally it didnt.

edit:
Probably you can call PoE a Top-down perspective

Toshi illustrates my point well. We're working with two different meanings for Isometric. You have to give us your definition if you want any meaningful feedback on this question.

"Isometric" or "perspective" doesnt define the possition of the camera. We can have camera on top of the object, side or front and they all can have isometric/perspective views.

edit:

Well, you can change camera position in PoE using the mouse wheel from close up 3rd person to top-down. Although top-down is intended view for gamplay. Also, in some situations camera rotates, so:

Dynamic top-down perspective maybe :)

As far as gaming is concerned PoE is usually considered Isometric. Top-down means vertical, looking essentially straight down on the world at a ~90 degree angle. Isometric (in gaming) means about a 30-45 degree angle.

If you look up lists of top isometric games you will usually see stuff like Path of Exile and Torchlight 2 listed.

In art isometric means something very different and is related to perspective (or lack there of), it's not something easily achievable in computer games, even in 2d ones.

"

Astasia wrote:

As far as gaming is concerned PoE is usually considered Isometric. Top-down means vertical, looking essentially straight down on the world at a ~90 degree angle. Isometric (in gaming) means about a 30-45 degree angle.

If you look up lists of top isometric games you will usually see stuff like Path of Exile and Torchlight 2 listed.

In art isometric means something very different and is related to perspective (or lack there of), it's not something easily achievable in computer games, even in 2d ones.

When it comes to showing 3D objects, isometric view is usually used in engineering, because it is not skewed by perspective. Plus orthographic view is also used in engineering.

Architecture usually uses perspective to show 3D objects.

I wonder how GGG considers their game to be. I think that calling PoE isometric isnt entirely correct. We dont see 3D object in PoE as isometric. In 3D modelling software you can switch isometric view on/off and clearly see how camera view changes.

edit:

Just checked in game, PoE doesnt even use the angles(if lines didnt converge), which 3D isometric projections usually use.

As a mathematician, I would use isometric to mean that it allows for isometries in space... rotations and translations primarily, but also reflections and glides when called for.

Zooming in and out would be considered dilitations (doesn't even make it through the spell check!).

"

Shagsbeard wrote:

As a mathematician, I would use isometric to mean that it allows for isometries in space... rotations and translations primarily, but also reflections and glides when called for.

Zooming in and out would be considered dilitations (doesn't even make it through the spell check!).

Oh, wow, some words are unfamiliar for me :D Have to check in dictionary, my native language isnt english.

It really isn't English by the time it gets to math. We just steal words that kind of work for us and rigorously define them.