novafarma/docs/HEIGHT_SYSTEM_PLAN.md

🏔️ HEIGHT SYSTEM & 2.5D TERRAIN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

📋 OVERVIEW

Transforming flat pixel-art terrain into 2.5D with procedural hills and elevation.

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🎯 PHASE 1: HEIGHT GENERATION (IMPLEMENTING NOW)

Changes:

1. Add height property to tiles (already exists in terrainTypes)
2. Generate height using 2nd Perlin noise layer
3. Visual height representation:
   • Tint (darker = lower, lighter = higher)
   • Scale (higher tiles = slightly bigger)
   • Y-offset (elevation visual)

Code Changes:

TerrainSystem.js - generateChunk():

// NEW: Height noise (separate from terrain type noise)
const heightNoise = this.noise.noise(x * 0.05, y * 0.05);
const elevationHeight = Math.floor((heightNoise + 1) * 2.5); // 0-5 range

// Store height in tile
this.tiles[y][x] = {
    type: tileType,
    height: elevationHeight, // NEW!
    solid: false
};

TerrainSystem.js - updateCulling() rendering:

// Apply visual height effects
const tile = this.tiles[y][x];
const height = tile.height || 0;

// 1. Tint (darker low, lighter high)
const tintValue = 0xffffff - (height * 0x111111);
sprite.setTint(tintValue);

// 2. Scale (subtle)
const scaleBonus = 1 + (height * 0.02);
sprite.setScale(scaleBonus);

// 3. Y-offset (elevation)
const yOffset = -(height * 4);
sprite.y += yOffset;

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🎨 VISUAL RESULTS:

Before (Flat):
████████████
████████████
████████████

After (Hills):
    ▓▓▓▓        ← Height 4 (lighter, higher)
  ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒      ← Height 3
░░░░░░░░░░░░    ← Height 2
████████████    ← Height 0 (valleys, base)

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🚀 NEXT STEPS (PHASE 2):

1. Walkability constraints

   • Can't walk over height diff > 1
   • Pathfinding with elevation

2. Smooth transitions

   • Slope tiles between heights
   • Gradient blending

3. Cliff edges

   • Visual edge sprites
   • Shadow effects

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📊 CURRENT STATUS:

• ✅ TerrainTypes have height property
• ✅ Perlin noise available
• ⏳ Height generation (implementing)
• ⏳ Visual rendering (implementing)
• ❌ Walkability (Phase 2)
• ❌ Slope transitions (Phase 2)

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Implementation Date: 2025-12-14
Status: In Progress
Files Modified: TerrainSystem.js