Okay guys, I''ve posted a few times in other forums - general concept questions and the likes. Now I need to be a little more specific. I''m developing an *online* game. Because it is online, the information that I send to the client obviously has to be as small and as compact as possible. Likewise, any dynamic image manipulation will be server-side. The game falls into the typical genre of world-empire-armies type of stuff, so there will be an entire world, viewable on several levels. But now here a little advise and some opinions would be very helpful. It''s going to be a sql server 2000 database. Whatever detail I''m on, it would be nice to know - say - what terrain a given unit is standing on. If one thinks within a grid, hex map or isometric frame work, then this is not an issue. *However*, if a hex is 10 miles across, and my world will be an accurate representation of something 24,000 miles in circumference, then we''re looking at a hex-sheet atleast 2,400 hexes across ... and perhaps close to that in height. Well, that''s a lot of data - but sql server can handle it - and it''s also a lot of hexes, but with a good world builder, plenty of time and no life, it''s do-able. But here''s the catch ... a. Is there a better way of developing such a huge playing area? The objective is to have server-side code (C#,c++ etc) extract the actual viewable area and construct an image representing this from the correct tile set/s. This is then sent to the player. b. If one looks at a map of - say - England, you''ll see that it''s perhaps only 250 miles across (ish). If I increase the scale of each hex, to make a more doable project, I decrease the detail of the visuals, what a given area represents etc. Now, I realize that I''m probably confusing the hell out of people here, but is there a way to store detailed data, construct an image from this data and then - through any web interface - know the circumstances surrounding a given unit ... or, more specifically, what''s under the mouse? I mean, in an ideal world it sure would be swell to roll the mouse across a detailed mountain range - not drawn from hexes - and have the game know that''s what I was over ... or have villages, towns and cities drawn anywhere, rather than in a specific hex. Is there a trade off bewteen detail and playability? Would I have to go wth some form of activeX control or Java applet? (I''ve seen some very powerful ones out there and I''m wondering if they are *too* much). So, I guess, my question is; is there a more detailed way of building a playable map - for us on the web - that''s a step above hex tiles? Or do I then have to create some form of embedded object and downloadable code (which I really want to avoid, I want a client-side lightweight solution, all the work done on the server).