Tiles and Geometry

Tile recipes are height-first procedural assets. Fields and patterns build scalar structure; materials then color that structure and provide renderer surface channels.

Tile root

Tile
  name = "Dungeon Stone Wall"
  placement = Surface
  blocking = true
  size = I2(128, 128)
  coverage = I2(2, 2)
  wrap = Repeat
  seed = 17
  pixelate = 1

Field	Default	Meaning
name	"Untitled Tile"	Human-readable name.
placement	Surface	Surface owns the host; Fixture overlays an existing host.
blocking	false	Default placement solidity for map compilers.
size	I2(64, 64)	Pixel size of one Tile cell.
coverage	I2(1, 1)	Coordinated Tile cells across and down.
wrap	Repeat	Sampling outside the domain.
seed	1	Root deterministic seed.
pixelate	1	Positive sampling-pixel size.

The complete rendered image is size × coverage. A coverage of I2(2, 2) produces one coordinated four-cell surface rather than four copies of a smaller image.

Use placement = Fixture for host-independent props such as torches, switches, and door mechanisms. A fixture carries geometry, lights, particles, and named attachments but does not replace the wall, floor, or ceiling beneath it. The placement host therefore keeps its own continuous texture coverage.

Height workflow

Pattern Stones
  Voronoi
    cells = I2(5, 4)
    jitter = 0.82
    falloff = 1.4

Height Surface
  source = Stones.height

  Shape
    contrast = 1.25
    rim = 0.08

  Clamp
    min = 0.0
    max = 1.0

Output
  height = Surface

Height operations are ordered. They can reshape, add, multiply, clamp, terrace, blur, or otherwise combine scalar sources. An explicit Output.height makes the final geometric field clear.

When no material or Colorize block is present, the height can be rendered directly as grayscale for inspection.

Surface assignment

Use material = alias for a single material or MaterialMap for masked layers. Tile height remains visible to the Tile masks but is deliberately not an implicit input inside reusable Material documents.

This division prevents a material that works on stone geometry from becoming unusable on an Avatar, button, or prop that has a different shape source.

Programmable placement geometry

The Geometry block contains generic constructive primitives. The host supplies a local placement basis; the recipe does not contain hardcoded concepts such as "niche" or "beam":

Geometry
  Box Recess
    operation = Subtract
    surface = niche-stone
    position = F3(0.12, 0.76, 0.0)
    size = F3(0.76, 1.06, 0.46)

Add emits a solid; Subtract carves the Box from the placement solid. A wall placement maps local X across the face, Y upward, and Z into the wall. A ceiling placement maps X/Z across the cell and Y down into the room. The same IR is therefore useful for cavities, beams, frames, ledges, and later non-map hosts.

Use repeat = I3(x, y, z) with spacing = F3(x, y, z) for arrays. The Source adapter clips subtractive volumes to the placement and applies surface to the newly exposed faces. Additive Boxes use that surface on every face.

Every named Box exposes <name>.distance, a signed distance to its local XY footprint. A Tile can use it to align mortar, wear, or other material masks with the generated shape:

Height RecessJoint
  source = 1.0 - Smoothstep(0.025, 0.080, Abs(Recess.distance))

The geometry and appearance therefore stay synchronized in one recipe while the adapter remains responsible for map-aware placement.

Named attachments and placement effects

Attachment declares a reusable point in the same local coordinates as Geometry. Light and Particles blocks refer to that point by name:

Attachment Flame
  position = F3(0.50, 1.58, -0.47)
  direction = F3(0.0, 1.0, 0.0)

Light TorchLight
  attach = Flame
  color = #ff9a45
  intensity = 1.75
  range = 5.2
  flicker = 0.22

Particles TorchFlame
  attach = Flame
  direction = F3(0.0, 1.0, 0.0)
  spread = 0.48
  rate = 25.0
  color_ramp = #fff2a8, #ffc14f, #f0641f, #401008
  lifetime = F2(0.32, 0.78)
  radius = F2(0.025, 0.065)
  speed = F2(0.28, 0.72)
  spawn_area = F3(0.045, 0.015, 0.035)
  flame_base = true

The host transforms attachments, geometry, lights, and particle directions through one placement basis. A wall torch therefore keeps its flame over its basket on every exposed wall direction. Effects belong to the owning Tile recipe rather than a Box surface, preventing one emitter from being created for every textured geometry face.

Light fields are attach, color, intensity, range, flicker, and lift. Particles supports attach, direction, spread (radians), rate, color, an optional four-color color_ramp, color_variation, ordered lifetime, radius, and speed ranges, spawn_area, and flame_base. Multiple named attachments and effects may coexist in one recipe.