OK, I finally took the plunge on Baldur’s Gate 3, and, coming from playing several hundreds of hours of Solasta recently, the first thing I noticed is the lack of a combat grid.
Going back a bit further, my son and I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. We were super pumped for the sequel, but when it finally came out, it kind of fell flat for both of us. Whether or not it’s down to this, I don’t know, but they also removed the grid.
That game, of course, was an XCom-like. XCom used a grid, but a more recent Firaxis game, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, got rid of the grid as well.
To me, all these gridless iterations of classic strategy games just aren’t as engaging. I guess they’re going for a more immersive rpg type of feel? But to me it seems to sacrifice the strategy aspect, and ultimately, judging based on my hours played, that always ends up being too great a sacrifice. My play time on Marvel’s Midnight Suns is less than 10% of Xcom 2, and the same is true for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
I’m sure BG3 is a great game, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the campaign, but so far it’s not giving me the ‘feels’.
Do you miss grids? Or did they only slow you down?
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Ultimately, the world is not a grid. So while grids may be great for pure strategy games like XCom (and I really enjoyed XCom, not knocking it at all), I think a lot of people would say that for more story-focused games like RPGs, they break the immersion. Thus, BG3 (which I’m also really enjoying) does not use one. Neither do any of the party-based RPGs that I can think of off the top of my head. For me personally, it depends on the game. I am perfectly happy without one in BG3. But I enjoyed having one for XCom, and more recently for Warhammer 40k Mechanicus. I would offer that as a suggestion if you are looking for a gridded turn-based strategy game.
The world isn’t turn based either.
You comment.
Then I comment.
Then you deliver a burn.
Then I submit.
Waves 3D printed wand… Magic also no workie in real world 😖
Not when you hold it….
Warhammer 40k Mechanicus Oh damn, it’s -76% off right now on Steam. Yes, I think I will be checking it out, thank you!
Do it.
It’s really is a good game, especially if you’re a 40k fan
Serve the Omnissiah well young adept
I’m really confused as to why everybody’s saying BG3 doesn’t have a grid. It’s not visible, but it’s there. BG3 is obviously built around a grid of hexagonal prisms as its basic building block and it shows in everything, including combat and level design. They’ve done a great job with graphics and animations to make them smooth and make it seem like the grid is not there, but it is.
Of course the ground itself needs some kind of abstraction, there is no actual computing in the real numbers. Thats not the kind of grid OP is talking about though, they mean a grid where a character uses up a single tile.
I find grids helpful when I’m the game master, because they simplify the job of fairly resolving distance and AoE mechanics, and speed the game along. Also in big strategy games, because they allow me to plan ahead on a map with many (often stacked) units without unfair surprises.
I’m enjoying the gridless approach here, though. The computer handles the geometry crunching, there aren’t too many actors for me to keep track of, and the freedom of movement lets me play with tactics that would be impossible on a grid.
Worth noting: I don’t think D&D has ever required a grid, so it might be inaccurate to say this game has gotten rid of it.
Fair enough. I started with 3.5 and the PHB does have a section on the battle grid, though of course it’s never listed as a requirement, only an aid. I think there are certain times the grid really helps the strategy, both in tabletop and video game scenarios. Something as simple as ‘I want to block this doorway’. With the grid, it’s very obvious which squares need to be occupied. With a GM at the table I suppose you could just say ‘I block the doorway’. But, at least so far, every time I’ve tried to block a doorway in BG3 (limited play time, granted), they’ve just moved right past me, making me look rather foolish, and usually leading to my early demise.
I haven’t seen that yet. I wonder if the game is internally using 5e’s tumble or overrun actions. (DMG page 272)
I don’t think so - I’ve been playing since early access and you can block doors, it just usually takes 2 people to do so.
Putting Jump on a bonus action basically fills the role of tumbling through enemy (and ally) spaces.
I’ve played more BG3 now, and maybe I’m an idiot, but I can’t figure out how to block anything. E.g. I’ll stand at the top of a ladder to block enemies from climbing up, but they’ll happily climb up and walk right through me. Or standing on a narrow beam, and somehow they go to stand next to me on the narrow side to push me off? What am I missing? How are you able to block any space?
Bg3 it’s not an strategy game, it’s and RPG, in fact based in the trrpg rules of d&d 5
Also BG1 and 2, weren’t grided, so it’s not like they doing it to “modernize” the game.
I really enjoyed all xcoms (from the msdos first games, so many hours wasted with xcom apocalypse…) But also enjoyed al bg (including not MMO Neverwinter, icewind Dale, etc)
Simply, it’s not one of these games.
5e rules explicitly refer to spaces on a grid and had to be changed in several ways to work in a gridless setting.
I believe that’s officially a variant rule. The system itself works fine without a grid. It can be done completely in the theater of the mind.
The grid is just commonly used because it simplifies movement and positioning greatly.
Right? I only played like a campaign and a half of 5e, but I specifically remember the 5’ spaced grids.
The assertion is plain wrong. Some games don’t use grid, some do. There is no trend that I can see.
Solasta released an expansion this year and aow4 dropped in April iirc. There certainly are many others.
I do not miss the grid at all, I hate being conformed to grids instead of more fluid real movement. It’s just more immersive to order my troops to move as a real person could move, not slide on a rail and stand there in this open space like a chess piece
Removed by mod
Yeah, I’m pretty sure in X-com there wasn’t any sliding? It was all very fluid movement, but you could easily see where you troops could move to.
Jagged Alliance 3 has grid, but the movements are more fluid than I’ve seen in a while. It’s all about polish and execution.
I like that they donnt use the grid. Feels more natural. That being said, I would occasionally like a measurement tool or something so you can see if you’re within 5/60 ft or whatever
Grids certainly don’t slow me down, though they do reduce the spectacle and I suppose lower immersion. They certainly make me more aware that I am playing a game rather than taking actions in a world that actually exists. I’d say this is a feature rather than a bug though as they are often used in games that I want to be handling in that analytic piece moving fashion.
Yea, the games I mentioned are all turn based, so I’m not sure that immersion is really what I’m looking for. I will say that the opening combats in BG3 felt very chaotic, and I guess more immersive, but I also felt like I made a lot of dumb mistakes because I was treating it more like a shooter/hack & slash, rather than thinking my moves through.
I play a lot of strategy games and absolutely hate the grid. Always feels super basic and limiting to strategy.
Think it’s just a personal taste thing/what you grew up with playing.
Same and I agree.
Don’t know why. Because XCOM is full of flexibility. But It’s like a feeling like once you see those boxes, it feels like you’re playing by their rulebook.
Which is weird because BG3 is literally about rulebooks.
I’vealways seen grids as a way to simplify what is otherwise a challenging mechanic to track and utilize. They function as something of a “good enough” for when you are willing to sacrifice accuracy for simplicity. And there’s something to be said for the way that simplicity can be appealing to the player, as it get some of the more fiddily mechanics out of the way and frees you up to focus on more substantial or engaging mechanics like character builds and team comps.
So, do I miss then when they’re replaced with the more intricate measurement systems that they were designed to simplify? Not really. But I can certainly see why some would feel that way.
Oh I mean I never thought of it. I kinda like a grid. But I think that a grid would severely limit bg3
I think your just playing games that don’t have a grid. I still play a lot of games with a grid. If you want a strategy game that has a grid, my dad has been playing a lot of jagged alliance 3 and has been saying very positive things about it.
I know I’m late to respond, but I did check out jagged alliance 3,and it looks awesome. Thanks for the recommendation!
Grids definitely make a different type of game. I think BG3 makes sense gridless, but I also enjoy Into the Breach which is very chess-like.
Even in tabletop rpgs, I advocate for the removal of the grid. I prefer to do combat in the style of tabletop wargames, free movement in any direction, treating each inch of movement as 5 feet (for D&D and Pathfinder).
I just find that a lot more dynamic.
They could just make an option to unable/disable it. I like grids :)
I feel like a lot of design decisions downstream are dependent on that choice. You could absolutely lock gridless combat to a grid, but I don’t think it’d feel the same.
I’m trying to remember a game that has done that, because I’m pretty sure there’s at least one.
@anakin78z Also the DnD Grid kinda break when you put it in an actual 3D world. It work by convention on a TTRPG but the work around to do it are just not really sensible when you step away from the table. Diagonal movement, sphere, angled line,… All of that kinda gets more messy to apply if you are representing a 3D world.
I’ve been playing Solasta the past few weeks, great game with a grid system that makes real good use of 3d and height :)
Huh, I’m not sure I agree. It’s fairly straightforward to represent any volume as a 3D grid, and depending on how the game system does the math, it’s easy to count cells on any diagonal. I think the controls are a bit messy, but Solasta has a totally usable 3D grid for things like flying, and also shows how area effects like spheres or such affect surfaces on different levels.
