Galactic map.

[DaloLorn]

The SERS galactic map consists of three layers.

Layer 1: Galaxy View

• Consists of a square grid with 'sector' tiles one parsec (subject to change - stars should typically be around a few tiles away from each other) wide. Diagonal movement is allowed without penalties, much like Galactic Civilizations 2.
• Not sure if I should instantiate interstellar tiles (give them a layer-2 implementation) or just go with a message asking stuff along the lines of "You have entered a sector containing units of %EMPIRE%, do you want to do %ACTIONS% to them?"
  • If using the former variant, then discard the sector instances when no objects/effects can be found inside; at high galaxy sizes it could be a little overwhelming to store and process so many sectors.
• Star systems and interstellar starbases have an 'influence radius' several sectors wide, denoting their owner's territory. As in SR2, trade cannot proceed through unowned space.
• Implement Z axis, perhaps? (Still no penalties for diagonal movement - Z-axis movement is controlled by a separate 'height' map or something... must flesh this one out or just remove it and pretend we're playing in a flattened galaxy.)

Layer 2: Sector View

• Consists of a circular hex grid similar to SE5. Unlike SE5 or SR2, there will probably be a fixed radius for all sectors.
• Much greater hex density to account for the combat system's 'zone of control' mechanic. One SE5 hex maps to seven layer-2 SERS hexes, which map to one layer-3 SERS hex.
• Movement behavior is basically the same as in SE5. Much fewer movement points are used for layer-2 movement than they are for layer-1 movement.

Layer 3: Tactical View (Combat)

• SR2 Region object populated on-demand based on the contents of the layer-2 hexes it's created from.
• Only one Region exists at any time, because there can only ever be one battle taking place at any given moment. All we're really doing is changing the contents rather than the underlying Region.
• When combat ends, use some kind of algorithm to determine which layer-2 hex a unit is supposed to be in.
• Only used during combat. The attacked layer-2 hex is the center of the battlefield, but the attacker starts in whatever hex he was moving in from, just like the defenders.