Re: [Freeciv-Dev] Suggestion: FreeCiv on a Hex!

[Stephen Hodge <stephenh@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"Michael A. Rouse" wrote:
> Second, replace the square tiles and movement
> with hexagonal tiles and movement.
> 
> The second suggestion grows naturally out of the first. Each data point
> generated by the triangular fractal can be replaced by a hexagon (well,
> except for the twelve corners of the icosahedron, but there are ways around
> that). There are reasons that a lot of wargames are played on a hex,

The primary reason a wargames tried using hexagons is because it allows 6
directions of movement without any variation in the distance between two
cells (unlike squares were the diagonals are approx. 40% longer than the
sides). This is not a huge concern for FreeCiv since movement is not
intended to be that realistic or accurate anyway.

> and it
> certainly would be easier to figure out the radius of influence for each
> city as well as where the optimum places to put several cities together.

Yeah, it'll be pretty good for this. Plus the number of cells in the cities
radius wouldn't change much (21 for squares, 19 for hexagons) so it probably
wouldn't have an adverse affect on much else.

> Plus, you can add another tactical feature to battle -- if you attack head
> on, you attack at half strength, attacking from the front sides make your
> attack full strength, attacking from the rear sides add fifty percent to
> your attack, and attacking directly from the rear doubles your attack
> strength (or something similar).

You could do that with squares as well. The major tactical difference this
would cause is in the way the pinning rules can be used - since there's two
fewer directions a unit can move in I expect it would be easier to construct
defensive lines.

Regards,
Steve Hodge