To expand on my last post, you cannot assume that because an orthagonal step and a diagonal step are equivalent in movement cost, that any step, orthagonal or diagonal, is 5' and that the grid is mapped with the traditional coordinate system.
There are two ways around this, that I can see:
1) You can honestly move faster along a diagonal path than an orthagonal path. As a result, you cannot rotate the grid and keep spaces identical - there is actually a great difference in distance between the characters in Figure A and the characters in Figure B, even if they can reach each other in equal time without impediments. As such, the solution is to actually be further from your enemies (duh) and try to not line up on a diagonal.
This forces you to assume a universal grid of reference for your gameworld. This is relatively practical, really.
2) "It's all an abstraction, you really should just relax."
I think you could also probably make a case for the grid not mapping to the traditional coordinate system but conceptualizing that hurts my brain. As such, I will leave how that would work an exercise for future posters.
There are two ways around this, that I can see:
1) You can honestly move faster along a diagonal path than an orthagonal path. As a result, you cannot rotate the grid and keep spaces identical - there is actually a great difference in distance between the characters in Figure A and the characters in Figure B, even if they can reach each other in equal time without impediments. As such, the solution is to actually be further from your enemies (duh) and try to not line up on a diagonal.
This forces you to assume a universal grid of reference for your gameworld. This is relatively practical, really.
2) "It's all an abstraction, you really should just relax."
I think you could also probably make a case for the grid not mapping to the traditional coordinate system but conceptualizing that hurts my brain. As such, I will leave how that would work an exercise for future posters.