Hex Grid Renderer
Free AppAbout Hex Grid Renderer
Hex Grid Renderer (HGR) is a free (and ad-free) Android app for creating hexagonal grids and exporting them to image files. It is intended as a utility for gamers who play tabletop games which use hex grids. HGR appears to be the only app of its kind in the Google Market.
ACHTUNG! NO LONGER MAINTAINED: as of Dec. 2014, nerve damage (from too much typing!) severely limits my programming time, so this app is being dropped from my list of projects. If you are interested in (and capable of!) taking over coding of this application, please get it touch!
This is my first Android app. It is "functional but beta," not terribly pretty, but what's there seems to work.
If you feel you need to rate it as only 1 or 2 stars, PLEASE be adult enough to explain why (in the review text).
This description page exists in an expanded form on the project's web page:
http://android.wanderinghorse.net/hex-grid-renderer/
The complete source code can also be found there.
Features:
- Easily create hexagon grids with only a few finger-taps.
- Customize the colors, labels, center dots, border, and hexagons.
- Supports wide-grain and tall-grain grids.
- Export hex grids as image files to other Android Activities via Intents. What does that mean? It means it can export your hex grids directly to GMail, GDrive, Dropbox, printer services, and others.
- Has undo support (15 levels) and save/load support. Loading can be "undone."
- User-configurable starting values for row/column numbers (version 20130309+).
- It speaks English and some degree of German. If you want it in a language of your choice, get in touch and i will send you the information you need to translate it :). Contact info is at the bottom.
ACHTUNG: If your device force-closes this immediately or when changing map sizes, then it has too little memory. See the NOTES section below for why.
PERMISSIONS:
- HGR requires EXTERNAL STORAGE WRITE permissions in order to save its images to the SD card (under SD/app-data/net.wanderinghorse.android.hexish/...) before handing them off to services like GMail, GDrive, or Dropbox. If there were a way to do this without a file, _and_ not risk an out-of-memory error by buffering the exported data in a byte array, the app would need no special permissions.
DEVICE COMPATIBILITY:
HGR is has been seen to work on API7 devices (Android 2.1.x). It is tested on several emulator configurations (with various Android versions), a Samsung Galaxy S2 phone, and an Asus TF300 tablet (both running ICS).
NOTES AND CAVEATS:
- "No warranties," and all that.
- When exporting an image, a copy is placed in your SD storage under under SDCARD/app-data/net.wanderinghorse.android.hexish/. There is a menu entry which shows you the exact path for your device. Also be sure to check your Gallery, as saved images "should" show up there at some point.
- If HGR suddenly crashes at startup (after it worked before), try the "Clear Data" option in the app control center to remove its persistent state. This "shouldn't happen", but just in case it does.
KNOWN PROBLEMS:
- If it crashes after changing radii or dimensions then the problem is almost certainly that the rendered grid takes up too much memory and Android is killing the app. Workaround: scale it back a notch. The memory hog is the drawing/scrolling parts, not the actual hex data (which has low, constant memory costs).
- If the app starts up with a blank black area, use Hexes==>Radius to set the radius. (This might have been a side-effect of local tests and might never happen in the wild.)
CONTACT:
Constructive criticism is always welcomed: feel free to contact the developer (Stephan Beal) directly (in English or German) via sgbeal@googlemail.com. Code contributors are of course also welcomed (just get in touch). i cannot commit to adding every requested feature, but am nonetheless interested in hearing about your ideas for improvements.
ACHTUNG! NO LONGER MAINTAINED: as of Dec. 2014, nerve damage (from too much typing!) severely limits my programming time, so this app is being dropped from my list of projects. If you are interested in (and capable of!) taking over coding of this application, please get it touch!
This is my first Android app. It is "functional but beta," not terribly pretty, but what's there seems to work.
If you feel you need to rate it as only 1 or 2 stars, PLEASE be adult enough to explain why (in the review text).
This description page exists in an expanded form on the project's web page:
http://android.wanderinghorse.net/hex-grid-renderer/
The complete source code can also be found there.
Features:
- Easily create hexagon grids with only a few finger-taps.
- Customize the colors, labels, center dots, border, and hexagons.
- Supports wide-grain and tall-grain grids.
- Export hex grids as image files to other Android Activities via Intents. What does that mean? It means it can export your hex grids directly to GMail, GDrive, Dropbox, printer services, and others.
- Has undo support (15 levels) and save/load support. Loading can be "undone."
- User-configurable starting values for row/column numbers (version 20130309+).
- It speaks English and some degree of German. If you want it in a language of your choice, get in touch and i will send you the information you need to translate it :). Contact info is at the bottom.
ACHTUNG: If your device force-closes this immediately or when changing map sizes, then it has too little memory. See the NOTES section below for why.
PERMISSIONS:
- HGR requires EXTERNAL STORAGE WRITE permissions in order to save its images to the SD card (under SD/app-data/net.wanderinghorse.android.hexish/...) before handing them off to services like GMail, GDrive, or Dropbox. If there were a way to do this without a file, _and_ not risk an out-of-memory error by buffering the exported data in a byte array, the app would need no special permissions.
DEVICE COMPATIBILITY:
HGR is has been seen to work on API7 devices (Android 2.1.x). It is tested on several emulator configurations (with various Android versions), a Samsung Galaxy S2 phone, and an Asus TF300 tablet (both running ICS).
NOTES AND CAVEATS:
- "No warranties," and all that.
- When exporting an image, a copy is placed in your SD storage under under SDCARD/app-data/net.wanderinghorse.android.hexish/. There is a menu entry which shows you the exact path for your device. Also be sure to check your Gallery, as saved images "should" show up there at some point.
- If HGR suddenly crashes at startup (after it worked before), try the "Clear Data" option in the app control center to remove its persistent state. This "shouldn't happen", but just in case it does.
KNOWN PROBLEMS:
- If it crashes after changing radii or dimensions then the problem is almost certainly that the rendered grid takes up too much memory and Android is killing the app. Workaround: scale it back a notch. The memory hog is the drawing/scrolling parts, not the actual hex data (which has low, constant memory costs).
- If the app starts up with a blank black area, use Hexes==>Radius to set the radius. (This might have been a side-effect of local tests and might never happen in the wild.)
CONTACT:
Constructive criticism is always welcomed: feel free to contact the developer (Stephan Beal) directly (in English or German) via sgbeal@googlemail.com. Code contributors are of course also welcomed (just get in touch). i cannot commit to adding every requested feature, but am nonetheless interested in hearing about your ideas for improvements.
All Application Badges
Free
downl.
downl.
Android
2.1+
2.1+
Bug
buster
buster
Android app
App History & Updates
What's Changed
v20131012:
- Fixed a minor sizing problem which caused the right/bottom hex edges to get truncated in some cases.
- More internal work on exporting the underlying JSON data, but it is not yet exposed to users.
v20130922:
- Can now set hex label size relative to the current hex radius (4 size settings).
- Undo levels increased to 15.
v20131012:
- Fixed a minor sizing problem which caused the right/bottom hex edges to get truncated in some cases.
- More internal work on exporting the underlying JSON data, but it is not yet exposed to users.
v20130922:
- Can now set hex label size relative to the current hex radius (4 size settings).
- Undo levels increased to 15.
What are users saying about Hex Grid Renderer
Q
by Q####:
by Q####:
I was hoping for a tool that I could do hex-based mapping for a Science Fiction game in.. After downloading the app I find I can toggle from hexes with number labels and hexes with dots but I cannot figure out how to add information (points for stars, lines for star lines, etc) I might edit this if the app was updated to include those features I am looking for. OR those features may be there and I'm just not finding them... in which case they may as well not be there. EDIT: I do like the fact that the developer replied so quickly. I believe that if this app was what I had been looking for I would have given this product a much higher rating so I would recommend this to others if it met their needs.
Q
by Q####:
by Q####:
Works, but it doesn't have enough functionality to be worthwhile. I would use it if I could at least change the color of individual tiles.
T
by T####:
by T####:
Perfect since I couldn't draw hexagons... Bloody tricky things. Exported it to sketchbook apps and what not and got exactly what I needed. Thank you.
T
by T####:
by T####:
But not many options and user interface is meh.
Q
by Q####:
by Q####:
I like what you can do with this, but I wish I could apply this to actual images as a decal to an image.
T
by T####:
by T####:
Lagy and surves little puorpus
B
by B####:
by B####:
I dont know what to do with the program, really. A tutorial mode or help menu would be useful. Also the UI is really user unfriendly. I get that the app is in a kind of 'beta' phase but it takes too long to get used to what I actually have to press to get anything done. In later stages, pre made templates for DnD sessions or 40k campaigns would help for DMs who just want a generic map to get started on would be epic
U
by U####:
by U####:
It's weird but can you post an apk mirror?
K
by K####:
by K####:
I like what you can do with this, but I wish I could apply this to actual images as a decal to an image.
R
by R####:
by R####:
I don't know what this app is for if you cant change the individual hexes
R
by R####:
by R####:
I was hoping for a tool that I could do hex-based mapping for a Science Fiction game in.. After downloading the app I find I can toggle from hexes with number labels and hexes with dots but I cannot figure out how to add information (points for stars, lines for star lines, etc) I might edit this if the app was updated to include those features I am looking for. OR those features may be there and I'm just not finding them... in which case they may as well not be there. EDIT: I do like the fact that the developer replied so quickly. I believe that if this app was what I had been looking for I would have given this product a much higher rating so I would recommend this to others if it met their needs.
K
by K####:
by K####:
This app deoes exactly what it is intended to do. Works very well & is actually 'intuitive'. HGR isn't exactly what I was looking for, but is a great jumping off point for me. I contacted the dev asking questions; I heard back quickly with actual answers about what I wanted. I will check out any app this dev puts out in the future. Quality, passion, and a brain all combine to make something good.
M
by M####:
by M####:
It is possible to export the image file to the device's storage, but it's hard to find the file. If it could be pointed to an easier location, that would be cool. Also, I would like to see an option to change where the grid starts numbering. That way I could start with 0101, which I need for some projects, and 0030, and 3000, and 3030 for making larger grids.
R
by R####:
by R####:
Nice app. Very easy to work.with. A suggestion would be the ability to add objects directly from the app. Objects such as shapes that could be manipulated on the hex grid.
R
by R####:
by R####:
Ich kann endlich spontan neue Maps basteln und direkt zum Netzwerkdrucker schicken :-D. So lang man die Maps nicht zu gross macht funktioniert sie einwandfrei (sonst Force Close wegen out-of-memory, wogegen die App nichts tun kann).
A
by A####:
by A####:
I'll update this if I can, when it opens without a 'force close' failure on my Toshiba thrive, at100, I believe. Works now. Second attempt to submit updated review.
R
by R####:
by R####:
Of course, I'm not sure how to use it yet, but I'm old:)
R
by R####:
by R####:
OK, I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5 because I too would like SVG output, and there's one 'minor' tweak I would like (but I'm likely the only person out there wanting this). Overall, it works great on my tablet and phone and has a set of tools that allows for almost every customization possible for making a basic hex map grid. This is one of the best apps I have ever found on Google play. The only feature(s) I would like is a way to clarify the map size. The current set up is for an even distribution in the length of the hex columns: if the first column is 15 hexes long, all the columns are 15 hexes long and the second column starts 1/2 a hex down and the third is 1/2 hex up from the second and so on. Would it be possible to have the second column start the 1/2 hex up and then the third column be 1/2 hex down from the second? Second, some maps alternate the column hex length so if the first column is 15 hexes, the second might be 16 (taller) or 14 (shorter) by count and then the third would be 15 again. So I'm hoping for an option(s) for Map Height: Map Even or Offset; If Even, 2nd Column Up or Down; If Offset, 1st Column Long or Short. Does any of that make sense?
M
by M####:
by M####:
OK, I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5 because I too would like SVG output, and there's one 'minor' tweak I would like (but I'm likely the only person out there wanting this). Overall, it works great on my tablet and phone and has a set of tools that allows for almost every customization possible for making a basic hex map grid. This is one of the best apps I have ever found on Google play. The only feature(s) I would like is a way to clarify the map size. The current set up is for an even distribution in the length of the hex columns: if the first column is 15 hexes long, all the columns are 15 hexes long and the second column starts 1/2 a hex down and the third is 1/2 hex up from the second and so on. Would it be possible to have the second column start the 1/2 hex up and then the third column be 1/2 hex down from the second? Second, some maps alternate the column hex length so if the first column is 15 hexes, the second might be 16 (taller) or 14 (shorter) by count and then the third would be 15 again. So I'm hoping for an option(s) for Map Height: Map Even or Offset; If Even, 2nd Column Up or Down; If Offset, 1st Column Long or Short. Does any of that make sense?
M
by M####:
by M####:
Here's my 4-point rating of my own app :-D. i'll change it to 5 when it supports SVG output.
I
by I####:
by I####:
It is possible to export the image file to the device's storage, but it's hard to find the file. If it could be pointed to an easier location, that would be cool. Also, I would like to see an option to change where the grid starts numbering. That way I could start with 0101, which I need for some projects, and 0030, and 3000, and 3030 for making larger grids.
M
by M####:
by M####:
Nice app. Very easy to work.with. A suggestion would be the ability to add objects directly from the app. Objects such as shapes that could be manipulated on the hex grid.
M
by M####:
by M####:
Ich kann endlich spontan neue Maps basteln und direkt zum Netzwerkdrucker schicken :-D. So lang man die Maps nicht zu gross macht funktioniert sie einwandfrei (sonst Force Close wegen out-of-memory, wogegen die App nichts tun kann).
N
by N####:
by N####:
I'll update this if I can, when it opens without a 'force close' failure on my Toshiba thrive, at100, I believe. Works now. Second attempt to submit updated review.
M
by M####:
by M####:
Of course, I'm not sure how to use it yet, but I'm old:)
by Q####:
I used this to create a map for my tabletop game. I had to export the file into a sketchpad as noted in other review. Then i filled that in to get what o wanted. Note to dev. Thank you much appreciated. If only you can make this into an all in one graph, hex, etc... sketchbook/graph paper.