Size of Melee Hexes

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

Drving need here is to get the whole MELEE map on a legal sized sheet of paper so it goes in the box. Since there will be a PDF, players could print bigger ones.

Get a bigger box. :D... A *much bigger* box.

JK

[tbeard1999]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

Drving need here is to get the whole MELEE map on a legal sized sheet of paper so it goes in the box. Since there will be a PDF, players could print bigger ones.

The original Melee map (I think) was on a legal sized sheet of paper, so your hexes will likely be similar in size. Too bad, since that’s going to make them hard to use with miniatures that have 1 inch bases.

If you make battle mats, tiles, etc., please consider using hexes a bit larger than 1 inch. Of course, that would make them incompatible with the Melee map, so it may not be practicable.

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by tbeard1999

The original Melee map (I think) was on a legal sized sheet of paper...

Just measured; original Melee Map is 8 1/4" x 14"

JK

[Tolenkar]

We used SJ's Cardboard Heroes because they were sized to fit the ITL hexes. I still have a bunch of these around. My miniature painting through the years has progressed to a high quality and I would love to be able to use 28mm figures instead. The .PDF option is really nice, Steve, since I have access to a laser cutter and would love to make appropriately sized MDF or acrylic dungeon tiles with it.

Yours in adventure,
Tolenkar

[Groknard]

Originally Posted by tbeard1999

If you make battle mats, tiles, etc., please consider using hexes a bit larger than 1 inch. Of course, that would make them incompatible with the Melee map, so it may not be practicable.

One of the things Steve showed me yesterday was how the dry erase megahexes could be used to expand from the edges of the upcoming Melee and Wizard maps, to build bigger and more complex boards that match areas of the colored map. So it's likely that the megahexes will be the same scale of the map for this reason.

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by Groknard

One of the things Steve showed me yesterday was how the dry erase megahexes...

Dry-Erase Megahexes... brilliant!

JK

[tbeard1999]

Originally Posted by Groknard

One of the things Steve showed me yesterday was how the dry erase megahexes could be used to expand from the edges of the upcoming Melee and Wizard maps, to build bigger and more complex boards that match areas of the colored map. So it's likely that the megahexes will be the same scale of the map for this reason.

Well, maybe they’ll be able to work something out. Many (most?) fantasy roleplayers have a substantial investment in modern 28mm minis. And a 1 inch base is depressingly common.

I’d make every commercially reasonable effort to try to accommodate them, if I were SJG. A lack of interoperability with existing RPG gear may make folks far less willing to try TFT. (There’s already gonna be a bit of an issue with using hexes - that aren’t even the same scale as GURPS - so I hope that Steve will include a “how to play TFT with squares” appendix. That will be so much better than relying on the fan base to come up with something IMHO.

As an aside, in 1981, 25mm miniatures were much closer to true 25mm. Most had small bases - 1/2-3/4 inches. The Cardboard Heroes have a comparable footprint to the miniatures available at the time. Even 19mm hexes were adequate for such miniatures. Everything has just gotten bigger since then.

[Terquem]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

Drving need here is to get the whole MELEE map on a legal sized sheet of paper so it goes in the box. Since there will be a PDF, players could print bigger ones.

I can easily print my map on an 11x17 sheet

[Groknard]

Legal is 8.5" x 14", close to the original. Needs to comfortably fit 3 x 5 megahexes, and the scale needs to allow a 5 x 5 megahex map for the larger Wizard sheet (14" x 14"?). And both need to match the size of the components (counters and rules) and fold in such a way as to meet the packaging and shipping requirements. Scale any one element up or down, and everything else may need to be re-evaluated.

[Terquem]

Originally Posted by Groknard

Legal is 8.5" x 14", close to the original. Needs to comfortably fit 3 x 5 megahexes, and the scale needs to allow a 5 x 5 megahex map for the larger Wizard sheet (14" x 14"?). And both need to match the size of the components (counters and rules) and fold in such a way as to meet the packaging and shipping requirements. Scale any one element up or down, and everything else may need to be re-evaluated.

I'll fire up AutoCad today

The sheet of paper that will display the map should have a regular size (ISO 216 standard sizes are close but not exact to ANSIY14.1 standard sizes, and I don't know what standard Steve Jackson Games is more familiar with and uses for all their product development, if they are determined to stick with American "Loose" paper sizes, well I suppose I can work with that, haha) and on this sheet I need to decide how much "Area" will be taken up by the image

I can't know the product size of the boxes that will be offered for the Kickstarter, but let's say they are 9"x12" (that original "red box" game, you know that "other" game we aren't talking about here was 9x11.5")

If the box is 9"x12" and I am shooting for producing an image on an ANSI Y14.1 sheet size C which is 17"x22" (close to ISO A2, 16.5"x23.4") I bet I can put an image of the Melee Map on a field with sufficient borders and text in the margins with handy references using 32mm hexes, and with bleed through (printing right to the edge of each sheet) have two folded 11"x17" sheets that when placed together make a 17"x22" game board

I'll check back after I've run a few changes on my AutoCad file


I'll also run a version on two "Legal" size sheets (8.5"x14" which is a unique "Loose" American paper size that is not close to either ISO or ANSI standards, but can be reproduced in AutoCad Plotting formats)

I suppose the 8.5"x14" sheet would have to be folded itself (otherwise the box size would need a dimension in one plane greater than 14 inches, right?). If this is 7"x8.5" and there were two folded maps placed side by side. this would be a game board 14"x17" (?)

The Car Wars box game (released a few years ago) was 6.25"x9.25" (approximate to within .0625 inches)

Edited