AuthorTopic: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?  (Read 15431 times)

Offline candiru

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Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

on: March 27, 2007, 03:42:39 pm
Hello, new member here. I'm interested in learning more about hexagonal tiles, will any of you kind people share youir knowledge with me or point me to a resource where these are discussed?

p.s. Any links to to good hex games screenshots would be helpful too.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2007, 03:53:05 pm by candiru »

Offline factorr

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #1 on: March 27, 2007, 09:12:56 pm
If you're actually interested in developing a game with hexagonal tiles http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1800.asp would probably be a good place to start. 

As far as actually drawing the tiles http://sc.tri-bit.com/Hex_Grids has the only good information I could find.

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #2 on: March 28, 2007, 12:20:06 pm
they are nto hard at all to draw, in fact far easier to eliminate the grid.  i <3 hex tiles and was thinking about a game based on them recently (actually 2, one an rpg/"pokemontype" game and the other an army strategy game)

just make sure that you get everything sorted out far in advance

also i would suggest using the "perfect" lines (1/2 slope), since an actual 30 degree angle will end up broken and ugly unless you work quite large
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Offline fil_razorback

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #3 on: March 28, 2007, 12:51:37 pm
This is more about coding thant designing the tiles but still :
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html#hex

Offline .TakaM

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #4 on: March 28, 2007, 12:55:26 pm
anyone know of a good example to show? all I can think of is 'qbert' I think...
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Offline Mr.Modem

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #5 on: March 28, 2007, 12:59:21 pm
Isn't Q*bert isometric? I think The Settlers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Settlers) is made up of hexagon tiles.
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Offline .TakaM

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #6 on: March 28, 2007, 01:00:52 pm
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Offline ptoing

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #7 on: March 28, 2007, 02:22:36 pm
Q*Bert IS isometric. Just going down a lot, so it's lots of isocubes and looks hexagonal.

And Settlers has strange shifted squares as tiles i think like this kinda   \    \

History Line has hextiles, as has Battle Isle.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/historyline-1914-1918/screenshots
« Last Edit: March 28, 2007, 02:28:24 pm by ptoing »
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Offline Stwelin

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #8 on: March 28, 2007, 07:58:21 pm
Look up the game Cyberstorm for the pc, old RTS classic from Sierra.

Offline robalan

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #9 on: March 29, 2007, 01:27:58 am
Battle for Wesnoth has hex tiles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_Wesnoth
Not sure most of the tiles are the best examples of pixel art, but it might give you some ideas.
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Offline Zolthorg

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #10 on: March 31, 2007, 01:01:06 am
This topic piqued me to remember the name of a fun game ip layed once.
nice site ptoing.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/snes/super-conflict/screenshots/gameShotId,107636/
i think i played super conflict 2, but this one i linked uses hex tiles.

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #11 on: April 01, 2007, 01:07:06 pm


thats a very simple very old project i did which tried to show the grid rather than hideit, but you are probably better off hiding it if you can.

bascially, all you need to do is name coords that work for hexes and then place the tile on those, giving priority to the ones on the lower part of the screen.
hexes will feel very natural in a large-scale game which is why i would recommend them, though you may find if you are doing a game on a personal level (rpg) that the shapes may become awkward (my thought there though being that you can always make a hexagonal grid into on that appears square by manipulating your tiles well)
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Offline candiru

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #12 on: April 01, 2007, 07:06:40 pm
Thanks a lot for the info, but I decided against hexes in my project since I'd have to change the pathfinding and field of view algorithms. Nice mockup there Adarias, reminds me of advance wars.

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #13 on: April 07, 2007, 01:55:11 am
Oh well.

If you or anyone else reading this thread decide to, i would strongly suggest using this shape:



or the one i previously mentioned because of the abundance of 'perfect' lines that will come in handy when making shapes to fit them nicely
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Offline Helm

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #14 on: April 07, 2007, 09:01:23 am
I present to you therefore, the ultimate tactical grid tile piece!

Offline Gil

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #15 on: April 07, 2007, 05:21:48 pm
What would be the smallest size you can get that one Adarias? And how well does it tile? I'm interested :)

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #16 on: April 07, 2007, 10:06:03 pm
I present to you therefore, the ultimate tactical grid tile piece!



if that came in F8A0B0 i would make love to it.  The only problem is that you have to check your philosophy meter against your armor integrity by rolling 3 D27 and one scatter die in order to move across it.

you did get though that the white shape was the tile, and the other lines just guides for things that might align themselves within it visually?


GIl, i wouldnt think of going any smaller than 24x12; since you wont even be able to see it after that.
It wroks well at that size or larger though

Im toying with the idea of making a turn-based strategy/citybuilder/god sim based on these shapes, becasue they fit so nice-nice.  Fil tho would kill me should i spend too much time away from partisan >.<
« Last Edit: April 07, 2007, 10:30:44 pm by Adarias »
A mistake is a mistake.
The same mistake twice is a bad habit.
The same mistake three or more times is a motif.

Offline Helm

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #17 on: April 08, 2007, 12:15:34 am
yeah, I understood the guide, just a little joke :)

Offline Stwelin

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #18 on: April 08, 2007, 06:55:09 pm
What would be the smallest size you can get that one Adarias? And how well does it tile? I'm interested :)

At a certain point it just starts looking like a circle (in perspective.)

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #19 on: April 09, 2007, 12:50:03 am
What would be the smallest size you can get that one Adarias? And how well does it tile? I'm interested :)

At a certain point it just starts looking like a circle (in perspective.)

that is the goal, mind, to create something seemingly round out of something with sides.  being indistinguishible though is not a good thing.
A mistake is a mistake.
The same mistake twice is a bad habit.
The same mistake three or more times is a motif.

Offline Dusty

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Re: Are hex tiles hard to draw? Any tutes?

Reply #20 on: April 09, 2007, 03:18:51 pm
Q*Bert IS isometric. Just going down a lot, so it's lots of isocubes and looks hexagonal.

And Settlers has strange shifted squares as tiles i think like this kinda   \    \

History Line has hextiles, as has Battle Isle.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/historyline-1914-1918/screenshots
I read somewhere's that even though it's made of isometric cubes, the game was coded with hexagonal tiles. I could be wrong though.