Gridfall Design Hub

Hex-Based World Design

Scalable Map for 10,000+ Players

A 50×50 hex grid architecture designed to support massive concurrent player counts from day one, with built-in expansion capability for future seasons.

Zone Layout

OUTER RIM

FRONTIER

WARZONE

CAPITOL RING

Outer Rim

Safe starting zones for new players

~800 hexes (32%)

Low

Frontier

Contested territory with trade posts

~700 hexes (28%)

Medium

Warzone

High-value contested buffer zones

~500 hexes (20%)

High

Capitol Ring

Strategic control points for alliances

~400 hexes (16%)

Very High

Central Nexus

Ultimate objective - The Grid Core

~100 hexes (4%)

Extreme

Season Scaling

Season	Grid Size	Total Hexes	Player Capacity	Alliances	Capitols
Launch (S1) Initial launch map supporting 100 alliances of 100 players each	50×50	2,500	10,000	100	8
Season 2 Expanded map with new outer territories and additional capitols	65×65	4,225	15,000	150	12
Season 3+ Full-scale continental map with cross-server merge capability	80×80	6,400	25,000	250	16

50×50

Launch Grid Size

2,500

Total Hexes

10K+

Player Capacity

Sector Capitols

Points of Interest

Player Bases

×10,000+

Individual player settlements

Sector Capitols

×8

Alliance control points

Trade Posts

×64

Economy and trading hubs

Warzone Outposts

×32

Contested military positions

Resource Nodes

×500

Harvestable resource locations

Grid Core

×1

Central season objective

Density Analysis

Player Distribution

Players per hex (avg)4.0

Players per alliance100 max

Alliances per capitol12-15

Hexes per player base1 (expandable)

Resource Distribution

Resource nodes per zone~100

Trade posts per quadrant16

Warzone outposts total32

Respawn rate (nodes)4-8 hours

Performance Architecture

Chunk-Based Loading

Map divided into 10×10 hex chunks, only visible chunks loaded

90% memory reduction

Level of Detail (LOD)

Distant hexes render simplified, nearby hexes full detail

60% GPU savings

Fog of War Culling

Unexplored areas not rendered, only fog texture

40% render reduction

Instance Batching

Similar structures batched into single draw calls

75% draw call reduction

Server Sharding

Map regions handled by dedicated server instances

Linear scalability

Viewport Management

Zoom Levels

Strategic View

Full map overview

50×50

All hexes visible

Regional View

Zone-level detail

20×20

~400 hexes

Tactical View

Combat detail

10×10

~100 hexes

Base View

Structure detail

3×3

~9 hexes

Fog of War Rules

Visible (Full Detail)

Own territory, allied territory, scouted areas (24h decay)

Partial (Icons Only)

Previously explored areas, shows POI markers but no player data

Hidden (Fog)

Never explored, static fog texture, no data rendered

Competitive Comparison

Metric	Competitor S1	Competitor S5	Gridfall Launch
Grid Size	~20×20	~40×40	50×50
Player Capacity	~1,000	~10,000	10,000+
Capitols	1	8	8
Zone Tiers	6	4	5

Key Advantage: Gridfall launches with S5-equivalent scale, eliminating the need for disruptive map expansions that fragment player bases in early seasons.

Map Architecture Summary

A 50×50 hex grid with 5 concentric zones, 8 sector capitols, and chunk-based rendering to support 10,000+ concurrent players from launch day.