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The 5 player situation in hex based game - alternatives?

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Sat, 05/09/2009 - 04:19
Willi B
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So I now have a few games that are fine and dandy for 2,3,4, or 6 on a hexmap of 37, 61, 101, etc. hexes (that is, a map that has a hexagonal shape with equal numbers of hexes to each of six sides).

Does anyone have any solution for ANY SHAPE that can accommodate 5 players with equal player distance? If you were making a game for specifically 5 players and allowing for 1 - 4 polygons as a starting spot on that board, how would you pull it off?

Suggestions welcome.

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Sat, 05/09/2009 - 06:29
#1
bluesea
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Look at the instructions for

Look at the rules for Viktory II. I believe that there is a set up for 2-6 players on the hex map. If anything, at least it's a start at a solution.
EDIT: I've attached an image of a Hex Board with 11 hexes each side. This gives 60 hex around the perimeter. Lowest common Multiple of {2, 3, 4, 5, 6} is 60. Therefore it is s matter of spacing the pieces around the board at equal distances along the perimeter.
The image only shows SUGGESTED starting points for 4 and 5 players. The cases for 3 and 6 players are obvious.
Image: http://www.bgdf.com/node/1480
 

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Sat, 05/09/2009 - 12:02
#2
Willi B
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Thanks John!

I just have to redesign other elements to fit the spacing. Still looking for other solutions... one of the games couldn't work with this as hex size + marketability would prevent the use of this example.

Any others?

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Sat, 05/09/2009 - 15:44
#3
apeloverage
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have players bid

for the advantage/disadvantage of having no one opposite them. Whoever gets the position can have extra moves/miss turns.

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Sat, 05/09/2009 - 18:10
#4
Willi B
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Good idea!

It just won't work for what I am doing.

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Sat, 05/09/2009 - 22:00
#5
apeloverage
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another suggestion:

see the image I uploaded at http://www.bgdf.com/node/1482

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Sun, 05/10/2009 - 01:41
#6
Willi B
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Don't know if that would work for me...

Looking at a standard lite-area control game with clear movement potential, I don't know if it would work. I'm not using facing as of right now, but if I do get into it the 5 sides might bog down.

I came up with a 30 hex (around the edge) board that isn't horrible, but you still don't have equal distance with other players... the 2 and the 3 groupings will be a bit different. If I did this in 3 dimensions, I'm sure I could get it pretty near perfect.

So, I ended up with the 30 ring for 5 and 6 players, a 24 ring inside it for 3-4 players and an 18 ring inside that for 2 players. I think it works for my purposes, but I may have to tweak 5 player rules to get it where I want them.

Thanks for all the help... keep posting more ideas if you got them... we all need the help of others here... if it weren't for Bluesea reminding me about the exterior math, I might have took forever with it.

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Sun, 05/10/2009 - 07:21
#7
bluesea
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Willi B wrote:I came up with

Willi B wrote:
I came up with a 30 hex (around the edge) board that isn't horrible, but you still don't have equal distance with other players... the 2 and the 3 groupings will be a bit different. If I did this in 3 dimensions, I'm sure I could get it pretty near perfect.

So, I ended up with the 30 ring for 5 and 6 players, a 24 ring inside it for 3-4 players and an 18 ring inside that for 2 players. I think it works for my purposes, but I may have to tweak 5 player rules to get it where I want them.

I think that this is an elegant solution. I like very much how as the number of players decrease, the starting positions still remain similar distances apart because the players start on the next inner ring. Very simple and extremely clever solution!

My suggestion is to start the 3 player on the smae ring as the 2 player.

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Sun, 05/10/2009 - 09:29
#8
Willi B
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updated with Bluesea's input

Sorry for taking up so much space on the forums... I'm still not good at uploading images.

We ended up with a distance of 5 hexes for 2-5 players along the perimeter and 4 hexes for 6 players. The diagonal and opposing positions have a varying and greater distance in the 4-6 player setups, but all players are on equal ground in all but the 5 player setup.

As advice to any that uses this as a basis for their games, I suggest considering using some sort of balancing mechanism for the 5 player setups.

Consider the following:

The top 2 position and the bottom center position are equal in terms of overall distance to other players but the bottom 2 not in the center are 1 hex closer overall by comparison.... certainly a small concession, but being closer to the front lines in a territorial battle make for easier targets through proximity.

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