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The Tiled Map Editor v0.9 recently added support for staggered tilemaps in addition to its usual isometric tilemap support.
What are the exact technical differences between these two types of isometric tilemaps? What are their advantages/disadvantages?
"Staggered" refers to the jagged edges of isometric maps that have an overall rectangular shape. These maps emphasize the north/south and west/east axes, and often have North up (example: Civilization 2). Diamond maps on the other hand emphasize the diagonal orientation and movement. North is often at the top right (example: Simcity 2000). Also notice the different coordinate systems:
"Normal" or "diamond" isometric map:
Notice the overall shape of the map is a diamond.
"Staggered" isometric map:
Notice the overal shape of the map is a (rough) rectangle
See also this explanation:
The math in terms of rendering both types of maps is similar but has its differences. Diamond maps are a bit more tricky particularly in terms of optimizing the render loop.
Diamond maps are typically used in RTS and Tactical Combat types games whereas Staggered/Block maps tend to be used for RPG's and Turn-Based Strategy games.
In terms of the Tiled XML, staggered adds a new possible value for the attribute "orientation" of the map.
Finally, don't confuse these staggered maps with staggered square maps. The latter are a way to get pseudo-hexes:
Note how the tiles are squares, but movement and adjacencies conform to those of a hexgrid.
