Hex Terrains Framework

Hex Terrain Framework – Modular, High-Performance Hex-Based World System for Unity DOTS

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The Hex Terrain Framework is a fully modular, runtime-editable, high-performance hexagonal terrain system built for Unity’s ECS (DOTS) architecture. Designed from the ground up for large-scale simulation and strategy games, it offers a Photoshop-like editing workflow with full brush-based control, multichannel data layering, and dynamic surface generation — all with performance and flexibility in mind.

Whether you're building a game like Civilization, Factorio, or your own simulation-heavy world, this framework provides everything you need to create, edit, render, and interact with vast hex-based environments.

Core Features

  • Brush-Based Terrain Editing Edit terrain in real time with brush tools that support size, opacity, stamping, alt-sampling (like a color picker), and auto-painting — just like Photoshop.

  • Dynamic Terrain Creation Create new terrains at runtime with custom dimensions, cell resolution, and layer configuration. Resize or regenerate terrain without restarting.

  • Modular Data Layer System Add or remove data layers (heightmap, biomes, countries, items, entities, etc.) on demand. Each layer is self-contained and supports dirty flagging and job-safe dependency tracking.

  • Surface Layers & Water Support Render complex layered surfaces (e.g., ground, water, snow, oil) using custom or built-in mesh generators. Water is its own elevation map — fully interactive and editable.

  • Highly Optimized Mesh Generation Meshes are generated using Burst-compiled jobs with support for simplified or detailed topology. You can extend it with your own generators for custom visuals.

  • Minimap with Viewport Sync Real-time minimap renders any data layer texture. Click-to-center camera control. Camera position indicator with normalized tracking included.

  • HDRP & URP Ready Sample content provided for both pipelines. Choose your look and customize with Shader Graph.

  • Custom UI Toolkit-Based Editor In-game terrain editor built with Unity UI Toolkit, featuring fully data-bound property windows, tool panels, and a modular view model system. Easily extend with your own tools.

  • Save/Load Support Modular binary serialization built-in. Save and load entire terrain states, including all data layers, runtime changes, and surface configuration.

  • Wraparound Map Support Connect terrain edges horizontally and vertically (e.g., like a globe or Civ-style map). Seamless camera movement across terrain boundaries.

Technical Highlights

  • Built entirely on Unity DOTS (ECS 1.0)
  • Burst-accelerated hex math with axial/offset and flat/point top options
  • Minimal allocations and full job safety — optimized for large terrains
  • Data layers store per-chunk dirty flags and read/write job handles
  • Render system designed for Graphics.DrawMeshInstanced, not hybrid entities
  • Designed for multi-terrain projects (e.g., Earth, Moon, Mars...)

Ideal For

  • 4X and Strategy Games
  • Simulation and Economy Games
  • City Builders
  • Custom World Editors
  • ECS Learning Projects
  • Games that require fully interactive hex terrain with high performance

Included

  • Full source code (C# + DOTS)
  • Demo project with HDRP and URP samples
  • In-game terrain editor with sample tools
  • Procedural brushes and auto-painting systems
  • Modular, extendable UI framework