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When I first started reading the blogs and such for this project and came across the mention of hexes, I immediately assumed that this would be a sort of in-the-background management device used to handle and manage various aspects in the game from load times to kingdom control radii (or something). But part of that assumption was that these hexes would be largely invisible to the player (at least in the final product) and that in-game things would be glossed over with a more naturalized sheen.
Though I haven't yet finished catching up on the blog posts, it seems from inferring various posts in threads that at least some people have different expectations.
With the full understanding that we are still very early in the planning and development stages, I would like to ask for a bit of clarification on how the hexes will translate into the game itself, and in particular how "visible" will they be?
Goblin Squad Member
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We'll divide this area into 256 hexes—the fundamental territorial unit of Pathfinder Online. The game's underlying technical architecture will likely encapsulate each hex in its own process similar to the way EVE Online manages systems. (This is extremely preliminary thinking; our final choice of middleware may dictate a different underlying architecture, but the logical division of the territory into hexes from the player perspective is the intended design.) To the right is the map of the Crusader Road area with the hex grid overlaid. Hexes that will be primarily forest are green; river hexes are filled with blue.
Not sure if that paragraph helps? I'm not entirely sure myself. But it does seem logical that for a large world (Crusader World's 256 hexes < River Kingdoms < Inner Sea Region < Golarion that the Hex would be the basic map unit both for tech and for players.
For players, I'd imagine as you say, each Hex comes with a ton of it's own unique information and states eg limited settlement control spots and various resources and mob/dungeon spawn patterns given other factors. As you say how the game is managed.
How it will appear on entering and leaving, visually... not sure at all. But even if it's not seemless, as long as each Hex is "A WEALTH OF INFORMATION" I think that can be just as if not more immersive than visual seemless world even if seemless usually is v impressive? A map which shows:
1) Territory control
2) Located resources (via alerts from allied parties?)
3) routes for fast travel
... come to think about it, I wonder how interactive the map will be for PfO? Maybe like google maps with updates augmented on top?? :) /mini tangent
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Goblin Squad Member
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256 hexes—the fundamental territorial unit of Pathfinder Online.
the way I read this, it means that player nations control an integer number of hexes and each hex is either unclaimed or owned by a single nation. Logical extensions from this would be that each hex can have only one settlement. What happens if multiple groups try settling the same hex (or prevent ecah other from claiming it) is as far as I know unconfirmed.
In any map overlay showing boundaries/ownership, the hexes would be visible. As to whether boundaries between unclaimed hexes will be obvious when exploring/travelling, the blog entry ("logical division into hexes from the player perspective") could be interpreted as 'yes, thats the intention', but it is too early to say.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Yeah, it seems one settlement per hex, ie clearing other non-charter-affiliated buildings first before a settlement can be begun to be devised. Sounds like it will be like zones in certain respects:
The Physics of 4× Time
For game design purposes, we assume an average human can walk about 3 miles per hour. Hexes are about three quarters of a mile from edge to edge, so it takes about 15 minutes for a character to walk across a hex. At 4× time, crossing a hex on foot will take less than four minutes, assuming the character can walk in a straight line from edge to edge. This passes a basic sanity test when considering the travel times required to cross the zones in other MMOs.
The Crusader Road area is about 12 miles tall by 11 miles wide. It would require an hour of game time to walk a line from top to bottom—a few minutes less to go from side to side. There are 256 hexes in the area, so if you could walk straight across every hex, it would require about 16 hours of play time. This also passes a sanity test when compared to other virtual worlds. And as the area of the game expands with future development, the total time to traverse the area will grow as well.
I notice there's an intention for seasons (eventually). I wonder if actual seasonal climate and even weather will play a roll? For eg one of the inputs of a settlement is "Crops". So if there is some bad weather or just (ir)regular seasonal climate, then that might influence the crop yield?! [Also some sort of mob that is small but multiplies and eats crops maybe. This would all spin off into feeding a settlement and even profits/markets if there is an export of arable production?
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Goblin Squad Member
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If we have the ability to have a seamless world the hex boundaries will likely be invisible. If we have to do some kind of staged zone transfer, then you'll know where they are. There are game design and aesthetic benefits to both approaches and it remains to be seen where we'll eventually go.
Really hope you'll have the possibility to make a seamless world (aka WoW). I guess the only drawback is lag? Immersion and PvP maybe the two biggest benefits from a seamless world.
I wonder how open the hexes will be. I guess zoning would mean there would only be a few entrances/exits per hex, and a seamless world would let it be more open.
Maybe one zone could consist of several hexes, setting the stage for natural alliances or long and bloody feuds. Too many questions :p cant wait to see how it all turns out.
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If we have the ability to have a seamless world the hex boundaries will likely be invisible. If we have to do some kind of staged zone transfer, then you'll know where they are. There are game design and aesthetic benefits to both approaches and it remains to be seen where we'll eventually go.
I really hope that it works this way, and that is what I gathered from the post (since it referred to things like "underlying technical architecture"). Hexes and grids are great for tabletop games when everyone needs to know exactly where everything is. Video games, immersion is more important so the underlying code and architecture can handle all of the artificial stuff (i.e. hexes) without it noticeably getting in the way of player interaction.