DESIGN DOCUMENTATION

The Map: Conceptual Overview

Square Or Hex?

The overall game map is tile-based and will most likely be square-tiled as opposed to hex. That is of course, unless we end up with a very adventurous group of code monkeys who are willing to take on a hex-based map in terms of generation, movement, and AI (probably the hardest part). So it could go either way. Seeing as how that's the case, here's a working list of tile pros and cons:

Square

• Easier to conceptualize
• Easier to code
• Facilitates straight lines for building or moving
• Easier to make graphics for (no overlap. images are square to begin with). Square images + square tiles = good.

• Adjascency (can you attack enemies through diagonals? can you move to diagonals?)
• Lack of strategic depth
• Just not as cool as hex.

Hex

• More involved strategy.
• All touching hexes are adjascent - no questions there
• Way more cool :-)

• Burdon to make graphics for.
• More complex in code.
• Might be a nightmare for the AI guys.

Map Entities

What actually goes on the map? The basic player unit is the pod. Most of the entities on the map are pods. Pods are what move around, do battle, and make the game what it is. Besides that, there are a variety of obstacles that can get in the way as well as specials that can be collected (or explode on you).

Obstacles

Each map tile has an associated obstacle type. Proposed types are: none (open land), barrier (impenetrable - standard map feature), pit, water, wall (player created), and possibly more, but likely less. It depends on the strategic significance of having several different types of obstacles. If it has no impact on gameplay, we may just go with open/closed for each map tile. If it is open, you can cross it, if it's closed, you can't :-) If we want to go with a variety of obstacles, there needs to be an ingame way of circumventing some of them.

Collectables (aka "Tabs")

Map Overview Mockup
Black = Obstacles White = Open Land Yellow = Energy Tabs / Wells Colors = Respective Axes' Home Bases / Pods

There are a variety of specials on the map that can be collected and some of which need to be collected in order to play a decent game. These can be collected simply by running over the tile they are on with a pod on the map.

The primary collectable is the energy tab [E]. Collecting energy off the map adds to your energy reserve from which you "purchase" new shapes to send out into the field. The more you can collect, the more energy you'll have to spend, the more shapes you can get, the larger the army you can move around.

Energy tabs come in three flavors: big, medium, and small, worth the respective amounts in energy. Obviously, the big ones are more valuable. E-tabs are scattered about the map randomly at the game's start. However, there are also energy wells [W] in random places on the map (but none located too close to any one axis' home base starting location). Wells continue to produce E-tabs around a certain randomly defined radius around the well. Tabs will just magically appear somewhere within the perimiter of the well's influence at a randomly generated rate. To recap: E-tabs come in big, medium, and small. Wells which produce E-tabs come in 9 different varieties revolving around two basic attributes: Radius (big, medium, small) and Rate (fast, medium, slow), both randomly generated when the well is placed upon map generation time.

Other collectable tabs [*] exist to power up a pod when collected. These may include a variety of combat and map enhancing features or a combonation of things. They may, for instance, increase attack stats in combat, increase scouting visibilty on the map, allow detecting of stealthed pods, etc. Once picked up, they remain in effect until the pod dies or they are dropped. Gameplay will dictate whether or not [*] tabs can be accumulated or if a pod can only have one at a time.

There might also be mystery tabs [?] scattered on the map. Mystery tabs can be beneficial (big increase in combat stats), or detrimental (blows up in your face, reduces energy in reserve, etc). The trade off for not knowing what is inside - good or bad - is that the good is really good but you have to decide if you want to take the risk.

Hidden tabs [H] may also exist. These are there for little tricks like laying timebombs, boobytraps, and the like to catch enemies unaware.

Teleporters [T] are under consideration. There are two teleportation systems we could use if we decide to use them at all:

1. Cross-Linked
   With the cross-link system, each teleporter is hard linked to another teleporter on the map. Going into A comes out B, and going into B comes out A.
2. Webbed
   In the webbed system, you start with an allotment of teleporter tabs and randomly set the LinksTo attribute of that teleporter to another teleporter tab. Each [T] has a link-to, but they do not necessarily link back to the same one that linked to it. So, going in A might come out B, but going back into B might come out C or D or E!

Teleporters create some problems with regards to path-finding algorithms. There are additional complications when you factor in exploration and AI. Should the player automatically know what [T] links to what other [T]? How should enemy AIs remember which goes to which and how to use them properly?

The final tab is the AXIS Flag [F]. Each axis in the game starts with its own axis flag in its own home base. These can be picked up and moved around on the map. The object is to grab the enemy flag and return it home to your own home base.

Tile Occupation

The question will eventually come up: can you have more than one thing on a tile at once? Can pods move through eachother to get to another tile? The answer is no. One pod per tile. One tab per tile. If there is a pod blocking your path to somewhere beyond, tell him to move his butt, because you are not going to go through him.

This might lead to conjestion, you could say. That is true. But stacking might lead to total confusion.