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Map Tile Grid Creator

2020-06 - 2020-10 Tool 1 2020

Unity extension to create and modify 3D regular maps (cube, hexagon, etc) and gameplay. Published on Asset Store. Developed during free time.

Technologies

Unity C#

Main skills

Grid Systems Editor Development Level Design Undo/Redo Systems
assetstore gitlab

Images & Video

Description

An Unity extension to create and modify 3D regular maps (cube, hexagon, etc.) with gameplay support. The tool was designed for the Asset Store to familiarize myself with Unity custom editors.

I implemented a generic grid system by defining the coordinate system and grid form (hexagonal and cube grids), which is a solid approach. However, using prefabs as the base for the graphic part wasn’t ideal—it’s heavy for performances. Instead, we could merge static meshes, but that would have been too time-consuming for this project’s ambition.

Procedural modifications require tricks to avoid infinite loops, making them bug-prone for future users.

Missions & Responsabilités

  • Level editor: Built level editor with prefab pallets for tile-based construction
  • Generic grid system: Implemented generic grid system (hexagonal and cube grids) with coordinate definitions
  • Runtime gameplay support: Added runtime gameplay support for dynamic tile modification during play
  • Procedural modifications workflow: Created procedural modifications system for runtime changes
  • Debug functions: Integrated debug and utilities functions for editor testing
  • Undo/Redo operations: Implemented undo/redo stack for editor operations

Reflection

The prefab-based approach worked well but performed poorly at scale. I explored merging static meshes as an alternative, though it would have consumed too much development time. Procedural modifications had inherent loop issues that made the system fragile—important lessons learned about performance optimization and algorithmic design in Unity editors.

Credits

Solo project by Marc Cerutti.