Map editor: road/terracing tool to level slopes into walkable paths #246

New issue

Closed

opened 2026-08-01 20:04:35 +02:00 by panda · 1 comment

panda commented

2026-08-01 20:04:35 +02:00

Collaborator

Follow-up from the cliff-faces work (#245) + terrain-Z (#224/#238).

Context: GameOptions.MaxStepZ = 2, so any adjacent step of ΔZ ≥ 3 already blocks walking (server TileMap.CanStep). Cliff faces (#245) render the dramatic steps (ΔZ ≥ 8) as visible walls; the smaller 3–7 steps stay walkable-blocking but are deliberately NOT walled (would over-clutter, and coasts must stay clean).

Need: a map-editor road / terracing tool — paint a walkable path across a slope that levels (terraces) the underlying relief so the path's step-to-step ΔZ stays within MaxStepZ, making it walkable through otherwise-blocking relief. Roads already exist as terrains (road_dirt, road_dirt_snow); this is the elevation-levelling authoring on top.

Rough shape:

Editor brush: stroke a path; the tool re-grades the touched cells' relief so consecutive cells along the stroke differ by ≤ MaxStepZ (a smoothed ramp), optionally widening to the neighbours.
Writes the levelled relief into the chunked elevation grid (the authoritative GroundZAt), so the server's CanStep passes along the road with no rule change.
Purely authoring/content — no runtime/protocol change.

Deferred; capture before world-building leans on relief-heavy regions.

Follow-up from the cliff-faces work (#245) + terrain-Z (#224/#238). **Context:** `GameOptions.MaxStepZ = 2`, so any adjacent step of ΔZ ≥ 3 already blocks walking (server `TileMap.CanStep`). Cliff faces (#245) render the *dramatic* steps (ΔZ ≥ 8) as visible walls; the smaller 3–7 steps stay walkable-blocking but are deliberately NOT walled (would over-clutter, and coasts must stay clean). **Need:** a map-editor **road / terracing tool** — paint a walkable path across a slope that levels (terraces) the underlying relief so the path's step-to-step ΔZ stays within `MaxStepZ`, making it walkable through otherwise-blocking relief. Roads already exist as terrains (`road_dirt`, `road_dirt_snow`); this is the *elevation-levelling* authoring on top. **Rough shape:** - Editor brush: stroke a path; the tool re-grades the touched cells' relief so consecutive cells along the stroke differ by ≤ `MaxStepZ` (a smoothed ramp), optionally widening to the neighbours. - Writes the levelled relief into the chunked elevation grid (the authoritative `GroundZAt`), so the server's `CanStep` passes along the road with no rule change. - Purely authoring/content — no runtime/protocol change. Deferred; capture before world-building leans on relief-heavy regions.

panda referenced this issue from a commit

2026-08-01 21:28:30 +02:00

docs(spec): map editor Z visualization + road auto-grading — design (#246)

panda referenced this issue from a commit

2026-08-01 21:28:30 +02:00

feat(world): road terrain flag + shared MaxWalkStepZ constant (#246)

panda referenced this issue from a commit

2026-08-01 21:28:30 +02:00

feat(editor): RoadGrader — walkable Z ramp along a road stroke (#246)

panda referenced this issue from a commit

2026-08-01 21:28:30 +02:00

feat(editor): ReliefShade hillshade + FillZWindow for the Z-shaded canvas (#246)