Tile maps

For large, structured worlds, build the map from an ASCII string: map each character to a deck of terrain prefabs, then fill a tile grid from the art. It's a compact way to lay out sectors of space (used by HereThereBeMonsters and theta_quadrant).

Create a tile map

tile_map = maps_tile_map_create(0, 100_000, 1_000, 2_000)
#                                min_x  min_z  cell_x  cell_z

Define decks

A deck is a weighted set of terrain prefabs; each mapped character draws from one:

nebula_deck = maps_deck_create()
nebula_deck.add_card(prefab_terrain_nebula_sphere, {"density": 0.5, "cluster_color": "red"})

black_hole_deck = maps_deck_create()
black_hole_deck.add_card(prefab_black_hole, {"gravity_radius": 10_000})

add_card(card, data=None, count=1, cost=0) adds a prefab to the deck; count weights how often it's chosen.

Map characters to decks

tile_map.map_deck("n", nebula_deck)
tile_map.map_deck("b", black_hole_deck)

Fill from an ASCII string

map_art is a string (often imported from its own .mast file). Each character maps to a deck; spaces and unknown characters are skipped.

res = await tile_map.fill(map_art, x_count=100)
res &= role("black_hole")     # the result is a role set of everything spawned

Missions can use several tile maps with different cell sizes for different regions (theta_quadrant uses 16). For simpler asteroid/nebula fields without a grid, see the field helpers in World building.