Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines

Out of curiosity why isn't hexagonal grid allowed?

A topic by Local Minimum created Mar 10, 2023 Views: 268 Replies: 4
Viewing posts 1 to 3

If I decide to join, I would probably still want to keep to the 90 degrees, but as someone who grew up with Eye of the Beholder 1-3, I feel like 60 degree turns on a hex-grid system ought to be an interesting variation while still being sufficiently true to the genre.

Host

It might be an interesting variation for some but I (and almost everyone in this community) identify a dungeon crawler as something that is played on a regular (2D) grid in first person. The line in the sand has been drawn there since that's what we grew up with and are used to. All other aspects are open for interpretation and innovation, but "first person", "grid based" and "90 degree turns" are not.

(1 edit)

Fair, ~I expect turning 90 degrees up and down, i.e. ultimately being able to treat all surfaces as floors~ (actually that seems to be allowed according to the rules) or flying up and down also is breaking out of the genre a bit too much.

Host (1 edit)

We've actually had a couple entries in previous jams that let you crawl up and down, even on walls. In fact last years winner (Labyrinth) is great example of that. As long as you still adhere to the grid it's allowed.

Way I'd see it, it 'might' be fudgeable at a push, under a big solid "maybe?" But a quick calculator mess made me think of how a "hex" Tile game would in fact, feature 60 degree turns, even if it allowed for a 180 degree 'back switch'.

The second thing to be mindful on, is even if you 'could' do it. Should you do it, is another matter. When one has to think of the KISS Principle when it comes to any game design. Especially towards Game Jams.

Still, if it's under a "first person, 2D" Perspective, it might lead to a unique visual take on being able to see in 'five' directions, up-to wise. But that's just a hazard guess, without doing a 'dummy' rig to see how walls would look like on a 2D Plane at a glance, if placed on a 'hexagonal' format, instead of the iconic square format which is part of this game jam, I'd presume.