Well, the first thing that brings such suspicion is the pylon aura, but first I thought those were cells for warping as the Blizzard guy seemed to teleport the zealots right inside the hexes. Upon closer inspection, though, it seemed to me that he was just trying to click into the centers of those cells, but the zealots were teleporting right into the spot he pointed, not the hex he pointed at.

Then I've tried to examine that screenshot with Colossi destroying a terran minline - look how the minerals are placed - it's most likely that all building-type objects are tied to that hexagonal grid. I dunno, this seems so un...SC. We will have to completely rethink the principles of walling in and such, as a hexogonal grid theoretically allows more building dimensions than just right, left, top, bottom. The strange thing is that I might even like this new system.

d4d

Switzerland1066 Posts

May 22 2007 00:28 GMT

I believe the hexagonal thingy is just part of the protoss design. The terran buildings and base featured in the gameplay movie do not match your theory. they are placed on a squared grid.

Maybe it's just Protoss = hexagon, Terran = square and Zerg = anarchy...

But my guess is it's just graphical, pretty... as seen on samwise drawing here:

If it's a game design idea and it is an actual hexagonal grid, Yay, I am going to like that.

Errr okay here :

L!MP

Australia2067 Posts

May 22 2007 00:29 GMT

like 99% of new RTS games, u can probably build where ever the fuck you want and not be locked into a grid of any sort. i'd say that's probably how it will be, which is fine by me.

Zironic

Sweden341 Posts

May 22 2007 00:31 GMT

On May 22 2007 09:29 L!MP wrote:
like 99% of new RTS games, u can probably build where ever the fuck you want and not be locked into a grid of any sort. i'd say that's probably how it will be, which is fine by me.

Wouldn't that make it hard to build effective walls?

TheosEx

United States894 Posts

May 22 2007 00:36 GMT

I think it'll make it easier to make walls...

morfyy

Romania593 Posts

May 22 2007 00:47 GMT

Cool picture ^^ i love it

IntoTheWow

is awesome32274 Posts

May 22 2007 00:51 GMT

Can you build walls SC like in chokes in Warcraft3?

DrainX

Sweden3187 Posts

May 22 2007 01:13 GMT

I like grids

They generaly make the game more strategical by limiting the number of building/unit possitions. Like in Go what makes the game strategical is that its based on a grid so that different shapes of stones give different stratigic attributes. Ofc its not the same in an RTS but things like in wc2 where you can build a wall of farms with a gap of one and then put 3 grunts on your side of the gap forcing the opponent to enter with one unit at a time. In games like tibia that has a gridbased system you need to think a lot about what movements are possible in close quarters battles like if there is a tunnel that is one gridunit wide the only place two people can pass eachother is where the tunnel turns and you can jump diagonaly past ur opponent when he is standing in the corner, or block your opponents path by not walking near any turning points. Maybe those wernt verry good examples but its just my experience that grids offen unintentionally add strategic elements to the game.

jtan

Sweden5891 Posts

May 22 2007 01:22 GMT

If you can build anywhere, you would have a hell of a hard time placing your CC's as close to minerals as possible.

Grid works fine, it looks more structured for T and P buildings to be in straight rows. Building placement is an art!

Zerg is supposed to have buildings randomly scattered though.

GrandInquisitor

New York City13113 Posts

May 22 2007 01:24 GMT

#10

grids could make walling and effective building placement so much easier and simple. no more "ohmigod will this work i hope"

oneofthem

Cayman Islands24199 Posts

May 22 2007 01:27 GMT

#11

maybe it is an option you can enable or disable. no harm in including it i suppose. a hexagon grid is fine too, looks interesting. or maybe each race has its own grid. zerg can have circles or whatnot for all i care.

FatRine

406 Posts

May 22 2007 01:30 GMT

#12

i think it should be like in the original starcraft, mainly because it gives it a solid and clear look.

Whats the logic behind it anyway? so they can show off more than the face of the building (the side)?

BluzMan

Russian Federation4235 Posts

May 22 2007 01:30 GMT

#13

Theorem:

It's impossible to fully cover a flat surface with regular polygons (I don't know the word for this in english, but it means all their sides are of equal length) that don't have either 3,4 or 6 sides.

Circles are polygons with an infinite number of sides, they won't work.

While I think it's an utterly stupid discussion, still if terran has sqares(4), zerg is only left with triangles(3).

oneofthem

Cayman Islands24199 Posts

May 22 2007 01:37 GMT

#14

they can place circles inside rectangles and fill stuff with that.

BluzMan

Russian Federation4235 Posts

May 22 2007 01:40 GMT

#15

Wouldn't that be completely stupid?

EDIT: On a second thought, using David six-pointed stars as a grid would indeed be an unconventional move.

But enough of this, it was supposed to be a serious topic.