DD3 Room Tool Hex Grid

Fnugus

So, DD3 features a menu where you can add rooms just like that, and add both background fill, foreground fill, and wall fill. Now, the foreground fill I want to be a hex grid, which I can add, but only at a specific scale (Dungeon->Add Room->). I'm making a map with 5 ft scale, and would like the hex grid to fit that, but the only one I can add is either the default, which matches a 20 ft scale, or a 10 ft. version. How do I go about making a 5 ft. version of it?

Monsen

1. Click the fill style indicator in the top left, and choose the symbol fills tab
   
2. In the Fill Style Name dropdown, select "Hex Grid, 10'"
   
3. Click New. A dialog pops up asking for the name, call it "Hex Grid, 5'", then click ok.
   You now have a copy of the 10' grid. Let us turn it into a 5' grid:
   
4. Divide all the values under Spesifications by 2. (No need to calculate yourself, just add /2 behind each number, and CC3 will calculate it when you close the box.)
   
5. Click ok to close the box. Now you should be able to draw a room with your brand new grid
   

Fnugus

Fantastic! You have my gratitude!

Fnugus

Right, a totally different issue: The hex grid doesn't come anywhere near fitting with the square grid.

What numbers should I change to make them fit together seamlessly? Something like this http://kilenna.dk/hexgrid.php?size=8

Monsen

You can't. If you look at that image, that is not a true hex grid. Look at the corner of the hexes. Notice how the angles are not the same all the way around. That "hex" grid has been deformed to make it fit the square grid.

The reason for why you cannot do this with a true hex grid is that because of the shape of a true hex, is because a horizontal hex (like in that image) that is 5' tall will be 5.77347' at it's widest (the middle) and 2.88675' wide at it's narrowest (top/bottom). This means that the width of 2 hexes side by side will always be 8.66022' (For 5' tall hexes), while two 5' tall squares will of course be 10' wide (because a square is as wide as it is tall).
So, if you use 5' tall horizontal hexes, they will match the height of the squares in the grid, but will never line up properly along the width. If you use vertical hexes, they will line nicely up along the with, but not the height.

Fnugus

It's not all that important that it's true hexes. For practical purposes, it is nice to have them fit together, because it makes the map equally usable by hex-based games and square-based games.

Monsen

If you want to deform your hexes, multiply the x scale value (y scale value if you use vertical hexes) in the fill style by 10 and divide by 8.66022. This will cause the hexes to be deformed, and fit the hex grid. Note that this doesn't automatically set the origin, as this is based on the placement of each room, so the grid will still not line up exactly as the image, but the sizes will match.

If you need them to line up exactly as well, you are probably better off drawing the hex grid manually on top of each room instead of using the hex pattern floor fill style.

Fnugus

That might be the way to go then. Thanks for the numbers!