Beginner: Beekeeping Simulator

Development Getting Started & Setup
,
1

Hello All,

This may be the wrong place to ask, so apologies if so. I’m a complete newbie but have been playing around with a couple different platforms and think Unreal may be best for me. Even so, I find myself overwhelmed by the amount of material out there and determining what I need to be looking into to accomplish what I want.

I want to make a realistic Beekeeping Simulator because I don’t have the time to manage a hive anymore but I miss it! So, specifically I’ve been looking into hex grids as a possible means to physically represent different states of each cell. Every tutorial I’ve found on the subject appears to be for a hex map and maybe I’m just not thinking about this correctly but maybe someone can assist.

To make the cells of a hive using a hex grid on a 2 sided plane, would that be just a simple visual difference? Maybe I need to think about it like levels? Each side of a frame as a different level? Am I barking up the wrong tree? What guides do you recommend?

I’ve followed the basic ones and followed a tutorial to create a hex mesh but that’s as far as I’ve gotten and I’m probably making it more complicated than necessary.

image
image1920×1286 894 KB

2

Hi there, welcome to the community!

I’d need to know a little more about what gameplay you’re trying to achieve to be able to answer this one. Are players interacting with each cell on the hex grid for example?

3

I think you’re making it a bit harder than it needs to be. I’d separate the visual side from the simulation side.

The hex grid is really just a way to display the hive. Under the hood, each cell can simply be an object or struct with values like nectar, pollen, brood stage, honey, temperature, etc. Then update those values over time and let the visuals reflect the current state.

I wouldn’t treat each frame or side of the hive as a different level unless there’s a gameplay reason for it. You can keep everything in one scene and organize the frames however you like.