What is the benefit of hexes over squares?

[12agnar0k]

It all depends if you count 2 different moves moving you to te same hex 'Different'

Yes, because one of those choices might cross through a enemys zone of control ending the move, thus the other different move choice is indeed a unique choice, actually getting you to your destination.

 

[Ramesses]

Another obligatory Simpsons reference: Ahhh! Bees! Shoo, get off my sugar! OWWWW they're defending themselves somehow?

One more.

OH, NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES! AAAAAHHHHH! OH, THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EYES! AAAAHHHHH! AAAAAGGHHH!

Okay, so that was from the Wicker Man remake, but whatever.

 

[SeismoGraf]

Not to mention in civ 5, that because of ZoC and faster based movement, what should have been one move turns into 4, and you get shot a lot.

Ah, I didn't know Civ5 would implement zone of control. Reminds me of the old BattleIsle series. This mechanic will help in keeping a front line watertight, avoid getting flanked or a unit completely surrounded. Now with ZoC, a sinlge unit inside a fort can potentially slow an entire army trying to go past it. Looks very promising...

 

[12agnar0k]

Did battleisle have ZOC? I don't remember that, All I remember of battleisle was the cool animation movies when units attacked each other , though when I played it again, on a dos simulator or w.e, I decided the animation was no where near as good as I remembered it .

 

[Schuesseled]

Yes memory is a funny thing, i remember that gun train movie being particuarly epic and all HD like.

 

[Dale]

Nice to have you here on the forums Dale and by the way good joke.

Thanks, but I've been here all along. Just hasn't been much worthy of responding to that hadn't already been answered. But anyone who knows me knows I can't resist a Simpsons Quote-off.

 

[migkillertwo]

With hexes there are 6 movement choices.
With squares there are 8 because you can move off the corners.
So, aren't the hexes more limiting in movement choices, or am I missing something?

it makes movement much more intuitive, it gets rid of the various paradoxes (like being able to cover more distance in less time simply by zig-zagging through the map), and it allows players to actually build defensive lines that AI can't just slip through by moving between corners.

 

[SeismoGraf]

Did battleisle have ZOC? I don't remember that, All I remember of battleisle was the cool animation movies when units attacked each other , though when I played it again, on a dos simulator or w.e, I decided the animation was no where near as good as I remembered it .

Yes, BattleIsle from Bluebyte had ZoC. Did Panzer General have ZoC? I played BI1 on the Amiga in the 90s, it was my first strategy game and great fun. A few weeks ago I played BI3 out of nostalgia. I regret that they never continued the series, it had many fans - maybe because BI4, which was a 3D real-time game without hex tiles, wasn't a success and a radical departure from TBS.

I am confident that Civ will never become a real-time game and remains true to the TBS roots. Civ and a modernized BattleIsle3-like TBS could probably coexist on the market, because BI was a 100% war game. Well, with the powerful modding tools we have, something similar to BI will certainly be created.

 

[On3ManC1v]

Hexes allow for more tactical combat.

Imagine a situation where you had an archer and wanted to block an axeman. On a square grid, the axeman could simply go around. It wouldn't slow the axeman down at all.

But with a hex grid, it takes it an extra turn for the axeman to go around.

but it really should be vs

 

[Schuesseled]

Yes, BattleIsle from Bluebyte had ZoC. Did Panzer General have ZoC? I played BI1 on the Amiga in the 90s, it was my first strategy game and great fun. A few weeks ago I played BI3 out of nostalgia. I regret that they never continued the series, it had many fans - maybe because BI4, which was a 3D real-time game without hex tiles, wasn't a success and a radical departure from TBS.

I am confident that Civ will never become a real-time game and remains true to the TBS roots. Civ and a modernized BattleIsle3-like TBS could probably coexist on the market, because BI was a 100% war game. Well, with the powerful modding tools we have, something similar to BI will certainly be created.

If civ became a real-time game then you'd die of old age long before your civ developed iron working.

 

[Thyrwyn]

Jamuka's example illustrates another problem with squares. With squares, how the axeman is adjacent to the archer matters. With squares, if the axeman were diagonally adjacent it would take 3 moves to get around the archer, as opposed to only 2. With hexes, that problem does not exist.

 

[Auncien]

didn't you get the memo? BEES took over Firaxis.

I don't know why but I found this to be extremely funny and I laughed to myself alone in my living room.

 

[matt112986]

Jamuka's example illustrates another problem with squares. With squares, how the axeman is adjacent to the archer matters. With squares, if the axeman were diagonally adjacent it would take 3 moves to get around the archer, as opposed to only 2. With hexes, that problem does not exist.

The way I'm looking at it the axeman would only need 2 moves in every example given. The square grid shows that if an axeman was currently diagonal to the archer he would need to move right once then diagonally down and to the right. In the hex example the axeman could take the lower route and still use only two moves, not counting for zone of control which is a different mechanic that could be used on the square grid as well.

I think it comes down to uniform movement distance, equal line of sight gains for every direction, removal of confusing "can I go diagonally here?" situations, and the ability to make a more organic look.

 

[ShaqFu]

I think it comes down to uniform movement distance, equal line of sight gains for every direction, removal of confusing "can I go diagonally here?" situations, and the ability to make a more organic look.

That, and there are no more funky corners that's somehow both land and water.

 

[matt112986]

That, and there are no more funky corners that's somehow both land and water.

Yeah, that falls into my third point. Water land combos as well as some mountain combos created confusing paths.

 

[Makkah]

It's more organic.

I lol'd

 

[Gnollen]

ok so now someone with modding skills really needs to make a version that turns the civilizations into rival bee hives, and the capitals get turned into queen bees.

 

[alpaca]

So where's the honey? Or did you mistake bees for wasps?

The honey is in the hexes. Or honeycombs, as I call them. Confirmation in the attachment. Just remove whatever's on the crust and instead of lava you will find there is Honey Inside™


Honey Inside™, the Honey Inside logo and the honey inside the combs are property of Fearaxis® entertainment.

 

[Grunthex]

There's something wrong with that second diagram. Even with hexes, it should only take 2 moves to pass the archer.

Move 1: Hit archer in face with axe, take his hex.
Move 2: Keep on keepin' on.

 

[plasmacannon]

Will there be a global view with hexes?
I am thinking os a Soccer ball wher it has hexagons and pentagons to create a sphere.

Wouldn't all hexes mess up the Global view?
Or is it removed too?