"Spaceship Deck Plans - Hexes or Squares?" Topic

I see these are produced in two variants now.

Most of the older ones seem to be of the squares variety, where the deck is outlined in horizontal and vertical lines, for measuring movement and range.

Later ones seem to offer them with a hexagonal pattern on the deck. These probably work better, where diagonal movement might occur.

The latest ones appear to be two-sided, with squares on one side for the deck plan, and hexes on the other.

Just curious to see which people prefer most, and why?

I imagine some rules may suggest using hexagonal movement, and figure facings for combat, etc.

Opinions?

Squares. Call it the "Traveller" influence.

Why squares? Because the One True SF game, Traveller in its true and correct incarnations, uses squares; anything else is heresy.

Although I could see doing a campaign in which the non-humans had all their corridors and walls at 30 and 60 degree angles, and only use hexes for their ships.

Probably make them 6-limbed and radially symmetric like Hivers. Hmmm…

I grew up on Squares for interiors, and Hexes for exteriors.

Squares make more sense in floor plans with right angle walls.

"Traveller in its true and correct incarnations, uses squares"

All of Traveller's incarnations, except the GURPS and Hero adaptions, use square grid.

I was biased against ship floor grids with hexes when Metagaming tried it for their brief SF adaption of the Fantasy Trip, and made the mistake (that Steve did not repeat in GURPS Traveller) of making the ships conform to the grid. Bleah.

The GURPS Traveller solution seems to work well. Draw to a square grid, or whatever the *ship* calls for (Aslan ships typically have *no* straight lines, for example), then lay the hex grid over the results. The hex grid is a combat artifice, after all.

Even Star Frontiers followed Traveller's example of squares for deck plans and interiors. Even with squares who says movement can't be diagonal? Just count it as a space and a half of movement. After all you can still shoot diagonal right.

Games that use hexes for floor plans (and there are a number of them that I can think of right off – not all necessarily sci fi, though) are rather awkward and have to include special rules to deal with the split hexes created by walls, etc. I prefer squares for that sort of thing as well.

The Traveller square one for me. Makes movement and ranges easy.

Perhaps staggered squares would be best?

I much prefer squares. It makes them more modular for me and looks more realistic to my mind, not that realistic isn't subjective in Sci-fi stuff.

Glenn; indeed, staggered squares are effectivwely the same as hexes – each square has 6 adjacent neighbours. Plus, you don't have problems with aligning the walls.

Does anyone make a clear overlay with a hex or square grid printed? Tah way, you could use deck plans without a grid printed on them at all.

It has to be squares, hexes are just…wrong. If it was good enough for D&D and Traveller, it is good enough for anything else.

Counting diagonals as 50% more for moving/range works fine, and gives you eight angles to work with rather than six.

Squares for me too – as said already, it's the Traveller influence. And Space Hulk in hexes?… nope, not to my personal taste…

Hexes give a better measure of space OVER LONG DISTANCES. But ship decks are small areas, and the innaccuracy of squares is not a problem. The right angles of structures are better represented by squares, and not overlapping or brickwork squares. Besides my Hirstarts molds produces squares and printed deckplans are easily converted if they are done in squares to match the cast floor squares.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I really appreciate it.