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Hexagonal Grids (2013)

redblobgames.com

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Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#51

Post by simonh »

amitp wrote: post #38

A surprise to be on HN! Tech notes for the curious: I started the page in 2013 based on notes I had been collecting for ~20 years before that. I update this reference page as I come up with better visualizations and explanations. The last major update was in 2018 when I rewrote it from using d3.js to using vue.js. It greatly reduced the amount of code I was writing, and also let me make the page more interactive. I t…

I’ve returned to this page many times over the years. It was a great resource to start with, but I’ve always been impressed by the ongoing effort you’ve put in to make it even more useful. Many thanks.

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#52

Post by wumms »

yudlejoza wrote: post #16

For a semi-goofy take (CGPGrey) on hexagons: https://youtu.be/thOifuHs6eY

More hexagons in nature:

Image: "Hexagonal formations on the surface of the Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia, 3,656 meters above sea level) [0] as a result of salt crystallization from evaporating water": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni#/media/File:Sal...

"During the rainy season (December to March) the salt flat gets covered with a layer of water. As the water evaporates under largely still conditions, the salt forms hexagonal shapes (optimal for heat transfer) on its surface known as Bénard cells, an example of the Rayleigh–Bénard convection [1] phenomena." [2]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh%E2%80%93B%C3%A9nard_c...

[2] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20170809_Bolivia_158...

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#53

Post by rcarmo »

This is an awesome resource I keep going back to now and again for the sheer fun of it. Glad to see it on HN again (it’s well worth reposting occasionally for folk who haven’t seen it yet).

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#55

Post by invalidusernam3 »

amitp wrote: post #38

A surprise to be on HN! Tech notes for the curious: I started the page in 2013 based on notes I had been collecting for ~20 years before that. I update this reference page as I come up with better visualizations and explanations. The last major update was in 2018 when I rewrote it from using d3.js to using vue.js. It greatly reduced the amount of code I was writing, and also let me make the page more interactive. I t…

I've had this page added to my home screen on my phone for years, it's honestly one of the most amazing resources online. Even if you don't have an interest in the topic, it's still an amazing read. And if you're developing games using a hexagonal grid, it's priceless. Thank you for this

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#56

Post by rrobukef »

alisonkisk wrote: post #28
rrobukef wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, for movement along the 8 directions the distance is 41% short, for movement along the 4 main directions, the taxicab distance is 41% longer than the actual distance. For a hexagonal grid, the distance is approximated by counting the number of cells of the shortest path. This has <10% relative error (IIRC) from the actual distance.

If you take diagonals to be 1.5, then distances are The half-short-side heuristic (sqrt(aa + bb) ~= a + b/2) makes taxicab very close to correct for non-square distance as well.

But only if you move multiple cells in one turn. If movement is restricted to one cell each turn, your field distorts.

The same happens when you split your movements: For example: player A moves 6 each turn; player B moves 2 thrice in a turn. Conclusion: A outruns player B at speed (4,4)/turn vs (3,3)/turn. (For A d(4,4)=6; B has d(1,1)=1.5)

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#57

Post by Cthulhu_ »

amitp wrote: post #38

A surprise to be on HN! Tech notes for the curious: I started the page in 2013 based on notes I had been collecting for ~20 years before that. I update this reference page as I come up with better visualizations and explanations. The last major update was in 2018 when I rewrote it from using d3.js to using vue.js. It greatly reduced the amount of code I was writing, and also let me make the page more interactive. I t…

I was curious about the print view, but apparently my Chrome crashes while doing so; I presume it's sent a crash log back to Google, it's not a problem in your excellent webpage / resource (no web page should be able to crash a browser).

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#58

Post by arrow7000 »

rendall wrote: post #48
aidenn0 wrote: post #15

FWIW, I strongly prefer square grids for tabletop games. Hexagonal grids give you precise measurements in exactly 6 directions. If you approximate sqrt(2) as 1.5 then square grids give you pretty darn accurate measurements in 8 directions, including 2 pairs of directions that are orthogonal, which is good for rectangular features like buildings. Furthermore the distance between two points can be quickly calculated wi…

I prefer Penrose tiling for all tabletop games. Sure, the number of directions for each tile vary, but distances are incalculable

I like

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#59

Post by sandermvanvliet »

amitp wrote: post #38

A surprise to be on HN! Tech notes for the curious: I started the page in 2013 based on notes I had been collecting for ~20 years before that. I update this reference page as I come up with better visualizations and explanations. The last major update was in 2018 when I rewrote it from using d3.js to using vue.js. It greatly reduced the amount of code I was writing, and also let me make the page more interactive. I t…

Thanks for creating this! I’ve been using it for some (really amateur) game design and found it incredibly helpful.

Re: Hexagonal Grids (2013)

#60

Post by bawn92 »

amitp wrote: post #38

A surprise to be on HN! Tech notes for the curious: I started the page in 2013 based on notes I had been collecting for ~20 years before that. I update this reference page as I come up with better visualizations and explanations. The last major update was in 2018 when I rewrote it from using d3.js to using vue.js. It greatly reduced the amount of code I was writing, and also let me make the page more interactive. I t…

I found your blog a number of years and want to say a huge thanks for your amazing work. It is beautifully written and examples are extremely helpful. I used the hexagon layout to map sentiment in passages of text and blogged about it here:

https://www.gearoidoconnor.ie/blog/2017/02/22/Building-on-de...

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