Should Civ use a Hexagonal grid?

[Grimus]

Should Civ use a Hexagonal (honeycomb) grid? Please vote and contribute your thoughts to this thread.

I would like it to... most strategy games use hex grids. It allows more natural movement as apposed to squares or diamonds where diagonal movement is unnaturally fast.

A negative point would be losing 2 workable tiles per city if keeping a workable tile radius of 2 around cities.

I think the honeycomb grid would "look" nicer while displayed... and shorelines or continents may seem less "boxy".

 

[caramac]

That's a good thought. You would have to think more stratigically, especially when it comes to war and when you're up against units with a movement of more than one. As for the city tiles I don't think it would make an awful big difference.

 

[King Flevance]

I agree with the positives and have wondered why civ hasn't adopted this since 3. As for the negatives, gameplay will adjust around it.

 

[Ben E Gas]

I voted no. I like it how it is. It might be ok another way, if they change it, I'll still play civ, but I like it as is.

 

[Raisin Bran]

I like the Idea. specially for the fighting strategy factor!

 

[playshogi]

I like it the way it is, but I'd like hexes better. One advantage is you can tile a true globe in hexes with, I think, 12 pentagons, which could be made impassable mountains.

 

[King Flevance]

I just realized too, I think you mean an octagon grid.

 

[Roland Johansen]

I like a hex grid also. The changes to the game wouldn't be very big either. The cities would use slighly less tiles if you limit them to radius 2 (which could also be changed), but that is not a huge difference. The strategic movement would be better, so I only see positives.

 

[cleverhandle]

I just realized too, I think you mean an octagon grid.

No, he means a hex grid - you can't make an isometric grid (=same distance in any direction) out of octagons. They don't "fit together" correctly.

I can see the advantages of hexes, but I don't see it happening. A rectangular grid is easier for most people to understand, and Civ tries to appeal to a wide audience. Hex grids are more for the serious wargamer crowd.

 

[Ray Patterson]

I would really prefer a hex grid... I feel so silly every time I explore diagonally just because it happens to be faster , and cities could have radius that feels much more natural than the 'fat cross'.

 

[Artosoft]

Hmmm, maybe in Civ5?

Regards,
Arto.

 

[LordKestrel]

No. I like that civ doesn't use the hex grid. If I wanted a hex grid, there are numerous other games I could play.

 

[Sohan]

A hexagonal grid would be a nice touch in Civ 5. There's nothing too bad about the square system, except fo the effect it has on diagonal movement. However, there's nothing truly bad about hexagons either. In fact, I like how easy it would be to make a real world with a hexagonal system as opposed to the current square system. And boxy shores are evil! So I vote yes for the hexagons.

 

[krasny]

most strategy games use hex grids.

maybe 20 years ago they did

hex movement for CIV is a really REALLY bad idea, if you want to shift from squares, maybe area movement would be a better idea

sometime prior to Civ4 i advocated area movement for navel units, as a means of making navel domination of sea areas feasible without spreading ones fleet over many squares

 

[Ray Patterson]

If I wanted a hex grid, there are numerous other games I could play.

such as?

(-10 characters)

 

[Pounder]

I like the Idea. specially for the fighting strategy factor!

There is more strategy playing squares than hex.

You can be attacked from 8 different directions with squares and only 6 different directions with hexs.

 

[Bongo-Bongo]

I voted no. Theres nothing wrong with hexes, but Civ works fine as it is, and why fix what isn't broken?

 

[Bushface]

Stay with squares. For those of us who use "dot" mapping, quadrille paper is readily available - but not hexagons. And squares are far more suitable for controlling movement from the num-pad keys.

 

[Quagga]

Stay with squares. For those of us who use "dot" mapping, quadrille paper is readily available - but not hexagons. And squares are far more suitable for controlling movement from the num-pad keys.

I agree with the paper observation. But the keypad works just fine: one just stops using two of the keys.

I think Civ has the square tiles working pretty well and that hexes wouldn't add anything. Coding is a bit trickier with hexes; it's easy to get off-by-one errors or illegal hex coordinates. Who needs increased chance for bugs?

Lastly, in my opinion, hexes are not intuitive for anyone other than honeybees. I've never been to a city arranged in hexes. (Washington DC comes closest with its intersections of NE-SW/NW-SE roads with the normal N-S/E-W roads. Oh, then add the Beltway. No wonder I always get lost there. )

 

[NKVD]

I voted no. Theres nothing wrong with hexes, but Civ works fine as it is, and why fix what isn't broken?

Civ 1 and 2 were working perfectly too....I still prefer civ 4. you still can improve something that isnt broken