Terrain heightfield system
Summary
Perlin-noise-based heightfield terrain with runtime editing, graph integration, and physics interaction. 51 commits from 2026-02 to 2026-04 formed this subsystem.
Motivation
Interactive world building requires editable terrain as a first-class object. Terrain should be exposed through the graph like everything else, with live editing, physics collision, and persistence.
Design
- Heightfield mesh: Perlin noise generation with runtime vertex manipulation
- Graph integration: Each terrain is exposed through the graph with typed properties (size, resolution, heightmap). Terrain data lives in world scene state; the graph node is a projection.
- Physics: Terrain mesh generates Bullet collision shapes; physics containment replaced the infinite floor plane
- Editing: Raise/lower/smooth/flatten brushes with visual feedback and undo
- Persistence: Heightmap stored in world state, persisted alongside world serialization. The graph exposes the terrain for navigation/linking/editing.
Tasks
- [x] Heightfield mesh generation (Perlin noise)
- [x] Runtime terrain editing (brush tools)
- [x] Physics collision from heightfield
- [x] Graph node integration (terrain exposed as graph node)
- [x] Persistence and serialization
- [x] Selection model for terrain editing