Question about 3d in games

Is the 3d in games tailored for each specific game? To me the 3d seems like its as simple to implement as someone putting a filter over a video or their video cam. Are they able to program what the 3d looks like?

My logic is if they want better 3d in the game then they would have to warp what the 2d game looks like. To the point where it looks really bad in 2d. Might mean 3d only games is a possibility. Either the 2d or 3d has to warp shape in order for the 3d to happen. Why I hear of people saying its easier to play Super Mario 3d Land in 3d. Just my thoughts. 

The 3D is different in each game depending on how well they wanted to do it.  The best 3D I have seen is in Luigi's Mansion because the game is meant to be played in 3D where most other games just have it in layers but it looks flat.

Is the 3d in games tailored for each specific game? To me the 3d seems like its as simple to implement as someone putting a filter over a video or their video cam. Are they able to program what the 3d looks like?

My logic is if they want better 3d in the game then they would have to warp what the 2d game looks like. To the point where it looks really bad in 2d. Might mean 3d only games is a possibility. Either the 2d or 3d has to warp shape in order for the 3d to happen. Why I hear of people saying its easier to play Super Mario 3d Land in 3d. Just my thoughts. 

slipknot0129

It doesn't sound like you understand the process.

With a flat 2d game, with flat sprites and flat art, to render it in 3d, they put the art on different layers.  Depending on how far away the layer is supposed to be, they'll offset it to the right or left to produce different images for what each eye is supposed to see.  This isn't as simple as using a filter.  You have to seperate every visual element into layers and make decisions about what should go where and how deep you want it to be.

With 3d polygonal graphics, the virtual world is already modeled in 3d, so you just have to add a second camera into the scene.  There are 2 virtual cameras focused on the same scene, side by side, one rendering an image for the left eye, the other the right.  If you want the 3d to be more pronounced, you make the cameras further apart (relative to the scene).

In the real world, we can only perceive dimensionality with subjects directly in front of us.  You can't sense the volume of a mountain hundreds of miles away. This is because the distance from the left eye to the right becomes insignificant when viewing from so far away.  Each eye is seeing virtually the same view.   When things get closer, each eye sees more of one side than the other.