if asked why out of the five things to put on the new ideas thread why would this idea belong? what are the greatest strength in adding this idea? and what if any weaknesses or exploits does this idea have?

One advantage of hexes that I have noticed is that the AI can make better decisions due to the reduced number of locations a unit can move too.

Other benefits of hexes:

Borderlines will be smoother and more circular than with squares.

Rivers will be able to flow more naturally.

The map will look less clunky, with more natural looking coastlines.

A siege of a city will take fewer units to accomplish.

Plus others i'm sure.

quote: Originally posted by XZealot on 02-28-2000 11:14 AM I think a hex based map is a bad idea. 1) it reduces your movement options and makes combat less fluid( reducing options like hit and run by making the zones of control bigger

Actually Zones of control are smaller, making hit and run more viable.

quote: Originally posted by XZealot on 02-28-2000 11:14 AM 2) it is unintuitive by reducing the number of movement keys to six

Firstly because it is a fundamental change and has no shades of grey. For example an idea to do with units may be good but firaxis have a million and one choices about what to do with units. With map shapes however its a choice between squares or hexes (triangles are also possible but no-one in their right mind would.......).

Secondly its a change which will not affect gameplay to much. In a sequal its always good to make changes that dont affect gameplay, so that you get the feel of playing a new game but with the rather familiar play style of the origional. Civ to civ2 did a similar thing by changing the perspective, this would be a similar and significant advancement.

One of the criticism is that the squares are unrealistic when moving N-S-E-W, as oppose to the diagonal directions. Hexes would solve this problem in that it is the same distance in all directions from any one hex.

Secondly, the criticism the ZOC would get bigger or that units would get trapped more - just double the CivII movement points (ie, 1 square moves = 2 hex moves). Each hex would comprise of a smaller area than squares, therefore you would need to increase the number of movement points anyway.

Thirdly, I'm unclear as to why hexes limited the range of movements? You have the same 8 compass directions - only with hexes, the movements are all equal.

Actually with a hex you can only move North, South, North-West, North-East, South-East, and South-West. However, I presume you meant over the course of the movement, which will allow all 8 major compass directions.

I think that this list of ideas should contain the smaller ideas that are practible but unlikly to cause friction with the overall grand designs.

Hex Based Map

Current Problem:
The ability to move diagonally on a square based map results in uneven movement and sight.

Basic idea:
Replace the current square based map with a hexagon based map. This would mean that a unit could now move in 6 compass directions as oppose to 8 before.

Benefits:
More accurate modelling of movement and sight. More realistic portrayal of land layout.

Lie Number One:
Vote for me and all of your citizens will be happier.

Lie Number Two:
Having a hex based grid will allow you to increase science without having to increase taxes.

Lie Number Three:
Hexes will make your cities easier to defend and your opponents easier to attack.

Lie Number Four (for people who dislike micromanagement):
Hexes will reduce the level of micromanagement.

Lie Number Five (for people who like micromanagement):
Hexes will increase the detail of micromanagement.

Lie Number Six:
All the other ideas are spawned from satan himself and will lead to the destruction of civ for all time.

Lie Number Seven:
Detailed replays, simultanious turns, stacking, and domestic politics, will all increase the development time of civ3 by two years and lead to slow buggy performance.

A secondary reason is that for multiple hex/square cities with expanded radius (an idea from another thread) gamers would be tempted to make a "Diagonal super city" of squares as this would seem to bring in the most new squares of resources.

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For example, for a "Diagonal" 3 space city
the total number resource spaces available is as follows:-

Squares: 35

Hexes: 28

This diagonal effect just looks weird and unrealistic on a map IMHO, but with hexs the effect is gone and the cities look more natural.

Think of the Ruhr industrial area of Germany.

Ko