Introduction to Hexaria
What is Hexaria? Hexaria is a Card Game MMORPG created by [redacted], Ravenshield, and Crykee. In this game, players use cards in a 3D grid environment to battle with friends and defeat foes. The game has numerous maps, unique enemies, and card types.
You can check out Hexaria here.
You can download the map creation plugin here.
You can access an uncopylocked example map here.
The Simplicity of the Creation System
The development system of Hexaria’s terraform plugin is easy to grasp and fun to master. The tools provided by the system to create maps effortlessly and efficiently allow the player to have full reign to make fun maps that can be submitted to the game!
How The Plugin Works
Layers: This allows the user to separate the coloring of the build and also allows colors to not be affected by the tools of the plugin when disabled.
Example taken from Crykee’s speedbuild of the loading screen islands.
Undo and Redo: If you make an error or do not like an effect you have made, press Shift+Z to undo that action, and Shift+Y to redo any.
Select (1a): To select a space, simply click on the hexagon. If you want to select multiple hexagons, should shift and click again.
Selected hexagons persist through the other tools in the plugin, such as elevation and color. If you go to colour with selected hexagons, all the selected hexagons will change color at once. Hexagons selected with elevation will be affected by it too.
Color Flood Selecr (1b): To select all the hexagons of a single color, press C on your keyboard and then click on a hexagon of that color. By doing this, the plugin will select every hexagon with that color touching it.
Color Flood allows you to select a hexagon on your map, and it will select all hexgons next to it with the same colour. This process repeats until all hexons in that area with the same colour are selected.
Create (1c): To add new hexagons, press N. This mode allows you to put more hexagons in by placing them next to existing ones. Hover your mouse over the sides of a hexagon and you will notice a transparent hexagon appear. It will copy the same size and colour of the selected hexagon, and you click to place it there. To disable, press N again.
Delete (1d): To delete a hexagon, select the hexagon(s) you wish to delete and press backspace. This cannot be undone.
Elevation (2): The Hexaria terraform elevation system is based around Penner’s Equations. The radius is based off of stud size and, likewise, can be used in different ways.
Simply, these functions allow for a more rough or smooth feel for each of the options.
The “standard” classes (that provide predictable inertia), are Linear, Quad, Cubic, Quart, and Quint they are almost all identical. The only difference between them is the number of times the change is multiplied by itself. The five standard Classes use a power of 1 – 5.
- Linear = 1 (and any number to the power of 1 is itself, so at 10% of the way through the tween, the property will have added 10% of the total difference between start and end).
- Quad = 2
- Cubic = 3
- Quart = 4
- Quint = 5
Even simpler, this is how each of the options changes by group. Although it doesn’t “ease” (since we’re working with hexagons), it has the same effect and can be utilized in the same way.
The other options are basically self explanatory, such as the circular option.
Sources:
http://blog.moagrius.com/actionscript/jsas-understanding-easing/
https://easings.net/
Smooth (3): If you have an area of hexagons selected, pressing the smooth tool (3) will flatten them out to create an even surface for you. Handy if you intend to have buildings or specific fighting areas.
Color (4): When the coloring tool is active, you will notice a new selection on your workspace, as if a brick was selected. The color here determines what color any hexagons you click will change to. You can increase the size of how many are affected with [ and ]. This lets you cover more area if needed.
Simple Example of Coloring:
If you have selected hexagons prior, they will all change color at once.
The color can be changed by adjusting the color property of “Cell” located inside of
TerraformCorein theWorkspace.A popular technique for simple color changing for colorful maps is to store parts with the colors inside of
ServerStorage.
Objects (5): To place objects, press (5) on the keyboard. Upon doing this, a ui will open up in the bottom right hand corner, prompting the player to choose a category and place down a type of tree, flower, or rock of the players choosing. Automatically, the tool places the object at a random rotation. This can be disabled by clicking the button. Depending on their type and size, objects have varying states.
State (6): In Hexaria, there are 4 distinct types of spaces for combat scenarios.
Water - To denote that an environmental area is here. Will not be used in combat.
Inactive - Changes hexagons to red. Will not be used in combat.
Blocked - Will appear in combat, but the combatants cannot walk through it.
Active - Default. Used for combat.
Upon creation of a map, all features are set to “Active”. Other factors, such as objects, cause surrounding hexagons to change. It is important to make sure that the correct areas are adjusted so that the map can work properly if chosen to be put in-game.
Generate (7): Put bluntly, this is the first thing you do when you create your map. To begin the creation of a map, start off by pressing (7) on keyboard. Upon pressing this, a GUI will pop up asking you for the specifics.
Edge dictates the size of the map. You need to be careful here, don’t go crazy with the number or you will crash your device. Keep it to a responsible 50 - 100, depending on map size.
— In fact, the Community Manager of Hexaria, Ignys, is quoted on the subject saying:”Since we aim for mobile compatibility, maps should not be too big. Olbrek is a good example of a big map with Cambris is far too big.”Amplitude allows us to generate some small bumps in the terrain, to give it a more realistic ground-like feel. This is optional, and you can keep it at 0 if you wish. 10 is the more appropriate setting.
You will also be given the RGB to determine what the colour of the hexagons in the map will be. You can leave this alone for a grassy green colour, or edit them for the desired effect. You can recolour hexagons outside of map generation, too.
— This can always be changed at any time and in most cases is disregarded in replacement with other colors later on.
LuckyTux is not a developer for Hexaria and is rather just a passionate community member. If requested, the developers and community manager of Hexaria have every right to request a takedown of the information provided and a right to request changes or adjustments to the wordings of the post. Hexaria is a product created by Bitsquid Studios. All rights and properties goes towards their respected organization.
