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Grid Placement v6.0

Choosing Terrain vs Objects

Choose whether a placement workflow should paint terrain or place scene objects.

Status
Current
Version
v6.0
Source updated
Active v6.0 guide line from Grid Placement repo
Generated on
2026-09-01

Grid Placement has two different content models:

  • 2D terrain painting changes cells in a TileMapLayer.
  • Scene-object placement creates individual node instances in 2D or 3D.

3D GridMap terrain editing is not part of the 6.0 contract. In 3D, use scene-object placement.

Decision rule

Need Use
Connected 2D ground/road/floor/wall visuals owned by a TileSet 2D terrain
Individual scripts/state/selection/health/inventory Scene object
Move/rotate/flip/demolish one placed instance Scene object
2D LINE/rectangle/flood region painting 2D terrain
Object LINE of repeated independent props Scene objects with LINE enabled
3D building/fence/window/prop placement Scene object
GRID CELL/EDGE/FACE/socket structure 3D scene object
Free world-space object position SMOOTH scene object

2D terrain

Terrain painting is appropriate when the cell pattern matters more than individual object identity.

Typical examples:

  • roads and connected ground;
  • floor/wall/hedge patterns drawn through a TileSet;
  • large repeated static visual/collision regions.

Supported terrain brushes:

  • SINGLE
  • LINE
  • RECTANGLE_FILL
  • RECTANGLE_OUTLINE
  • FLOOD_FILL

Terrain preview does not mutate the real TileMapLayer; commit does.

Game-specific terrain behavior

A terrain cell is not a scene object with a Manipulatable component. If your game needs durability, ownership, resource costs, or interaction state per cell, keep that game-domain state in your own data/overlay and use terrain paint/remove hooks to coordinate it.

Scene objects

Use a ScenePlacementEntry when each placement needs identity.

Typical examples:

  • buildings and foundations;
  • crates, lamps, furniture;
  • interactive doors/gates;
  • NPC/spawner/interactable scenes;
  • 3D floors, walls, fences, windows, props.

Scene objects can participate in object validation, manipulation, stable placement identity, mounts/sockets, refunds, and persistence.

Fences: choose by behavior and dimension

“Fence” is not automatically terrain or object placement.

2D

Use terrain when the fence is primarily a connected TileSet visual/static collision pattern. Use scene objects when segments need individual scripts/state/manipulation, or when object LINE placement is the better model.

3D

Use scene objects. GRID EDGE placement is the supported 6.0 path for cell-aligned fence/wall segments; SMOOTH world sockets are available for free-positioned joins.

Terrain rules vs object rules

  • Object placement uses the object validation/rules pipeline and placeable/profile data.
  • Terrain painting uses terrain validation/paint gates/hooks.

Do not duplicate one pipeline inside the other just to share a gameplay rule. Put game-owned facts in a reusable provider/bridge when both workflows need the same restriction.

Save/load

  • Scene objects use stable placement identity and the placement-world persistence flow.
  • 2D terrain uses terrain/tile persistence appropriate to the TileMapLayer and your game save format.

Your game remains responsible for the complete save-file/profile/cloud-save schema.