diff --git a/Core/Scripts/MATH_MARCHING_CUBES.md b/Core/Scripts/MATH_MARCHING_CUBES.md
index f3bd14b..6f53ad4 100644
--- a/Core/Scripts/MATH_MARCHING_CUBES.md
+++ b/Core/Scripts/MATH_MARCHING_CUBES.md
@@ -45,16 +45,17 @@ Instead of writing 256 `if/else` statements, the algorithm uses a hardcoded **Lo
### 4. Linear Interpolation (Why it looks Smooth)
If the algorithm just drew triangles exactly halfway between the inside and outside corners, the terrain would still look a bit jagged (like a low-poly PS1 game).
-To make it perfectly smooth, we **Interpolate**:
-* Corner A has a density of `1.0` (Very solid).
-* Corner B has a density of `-0.1` (Just barely in the air).
-* Because `-0.1` is much closer to our `0.0` Iso-Level than `1.0` is, the algorithm slides the triangle vertex much closer to Corner B. This creates gentle slopes and sharp cliffs dynamically.
+To make it perfectly smooth, we **Interpolate**. Remember the sign convention from §1 —
+negative is underground, positive is air:
+* Corner A has a density of `-1.0` (deep underground, very solid).
+* Corner B has a density of `0.1` (just barely up in the air).
+* Because `0.1` is much closer to our `0.0` Iso-Level than `-1.0` is, the algorithm slides the triangle vertex much closer to Corner B. This creates gentle slopes and sharp cliffs dynamically.
---
## ⚙️ The Execution Loop (What our C# Script will do)
-When the Server tells the Client to render a 16x16x64 chunk, the mesher does this:
+When the Server tells the Client to render a 24x24x256 chunk, the mesher does this:
1. Loops through every X, Y, Z coordinate in the chunk.
2. Checks the 8 corners of the current voxel.
3. Creates an `8-bit integer` (a byte) based on which corners are solid (e.g., `00001111`).
diff --git a/Tools/Scripts/MapGenerator.cs b/Tools/Scripts/MapGenerator.cs
index 9cd2f17..54c3c73 100644
--- a/Tools/Scripts/MapGenerator.cs
+++ b/Tools/Scripts/MapGenerator.cs
@@ -625,7 +625,9 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
GD.Print($"[A*] Starting Logistics Pathfinding for {MapSize}x{MapSize} world...");
_highwayPaths.Clear(); _branchPaths.Clear(); _ruggedPaths.Clear(); _trailPaths.Clear();
- AStarGrid2D astar = new AStarGrid2D();
+ // RoadPathGrid is a stock AStarGrid2D with a scaled-up distance estimate, so the
+ // search stops flood-filling the island for every road. See the class for why.
+ AStarGrid2D astar = new RoadPathGrid();
astar.Region = new Rect2I(0, 0, MapSize, MapSize);
astar.CellSize = new Vector2I(1, 1);
astar.DiagonalMode = AStarGrid2D.DiagonalModeEnum.OnlyIfNoObstacles;
@@ -653,8 +655,8 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
Vector2 startPos = highwayNodes[i].Position;
Vector2 endPos = highwayNodes[(i + 1) % highwayNodes.Count].Position;
- Vector2[] rawPath = astar.GetPointPath(
- new Vector2I((int)startPos.X, (int)startPos.Y),
+ Vector2[] rawPath = FindPath(astar,
+ new Vector2I((int)startPos.X, (int)startPos.Y),
new Vector2I((int)endPos.X, (int)endPos.Y)
);
@@ -688,7 +690,7 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
}
}
- Vector2[] bossPath = astar.GetPointPath(
+ Vector2[] bossPath = FindPath(astar,
new Vector2I((int)snowBoss.Position.X, (int)snowBoss.Position.Y), bestPixel
);
@@ -744,8 +746,8 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
else
{
// Attempt the connection. (If it freezes here, we know exactly which town caused it!)
- countyPath = astar.GetPointPath(
- new Vector2I((int)bestUnconnected.Position.X, (int)bestUnconnected.Position.Y),
+ countyPath = FindPath(astar,
+ new Vector2I((int)bestUnconnected.Position.X, (int)bestUnconnected.Position.Y),
new Vector2I((int)bestConnected.Position.X, (int)bestConnected.Position.Y)
);
}
@@ -769,6 +771,19 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
GD.Print("[A*] Logistics Network Complete!");
}
+ ///
+ /// The one place a road path is actually searched for.
+ ///
+ /// Every road — highway, branch, county — comes through here, so this is the single
+ /// seam where pathfinding can be changed without touching any routing decision
+ /// (which towns connect, in what order, at which tier). Those all live above and
+ /// only ever deal in town positions.
+ ///
+ private Vector2[] FindPath(AStarGrid2D astar, Vector2I from, Vector2I to)
+ {
+ return astar.GetPointPath(from, to);
+ }
+
private float GetSeaLevel(float t) => Mathf.Lerp(0.26f, 0.15f, Mathf.Clamp(t, 0f, 1f));
private Vector2I FindClosestPixel(Vector2 pos, HashSet set) {
@@ -823,6 +838,23 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
}
}
+ ///
+ /// How much extra a step costs near an already-drawn road. This is what stops new
+ /// roads from lying on top of old ones — it is SEPARATION, not terrain avoidance,
+ /// so it is unrelated to the mountain/beach/wasteland weights.
+ ///
+ /// It used to be 10,000, which was far past "discourage" — a normal step costs 1,
+ /// so it made the ground near a road effectively infinite. That wrecked the search:
+ /// every later road had to weigh routes costing tens of thousands, which is exactly
+ /// the situation A* handles by giving up on being clever and searching everything.
+ /// Worse, it compounded — each road drawn made the next one slower.
+ ///
+ /// 250 still means "strongly prefer not to run alongside an existing road" (250x a
+ /// normal step) without dwarfing the search. Raise it if parallel roads crowd
+ /// together; lower it if roads take silly detours to avoid each other.
+ ///
+ private const float ROAD_REPULSION_PENALTY = 250f;
+
private void PenalizePath(AStarGrid2D astar, Vector2[] path, int radius)
{
int step = Mathf.Max(1, radius / 2);
@@ -834,8 +866,7 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
int ny = Mathf.Clamp((int)p.Y + dy, 0, MapSize - 1);
var cell = new Vector2I(nx, ny);
if (!astar.IsPointSolid(cell)) {
- // The true Iron Curtain
- astar.SetPointWeightScale(cell, astar.GetPointWeightScale(cell) + 10000f);
+ astar.SetPointWeightScale(cell, astar.GetPointWeightScale(cell) + ROAD_REPULSION_PENALTY);
}
}
}
@@ -937,6 +968,44 @@ public partial class MapGenerator : TextureRect
}
// Place this at the very bottom of the file!
+///
+/// The road pathfinder's grid, with one change from stock: a scaled-up estimate.
+///
+/// WHY THIS EXISTS. A* explores outward from the start until the cheapest route it
+/// has found is provably the best. It decides how far to keep looking by comparing
+/// what a route has cost so far against an ESTIMATE of what remains. Godot's stock
+/// estimate is plain straight-line distance — it assumes every step costs 1.
+///
+/// Our steps don't cost 1. A step through mountains costs up to 401, and a step near
+/// an existing road used to cost 10,001. So the estimate was wildly optimistic about
+/// the remaining journey, and A* responded the only way it can: by refusing to rule
+/// anything out and searching almost the whole island for every single road.
+///
+/// Multiplying the estimate makes the search commit to a direction sooner. It's a
+/// well-known trade ("weighted A*"): paths are allowed to be up to HEURISTIC_WEIGHT
+/// times more expensive than the theoretical best, in exchange for exploring far less.
+/// We want believable roads, not provably-optimal ones, so that's a good trade.
+///
+/// It does NOT make roads climb mountains. Crossing a ridge costs hundreds of times
+/// more than walking around it — a 3x bias nowhere near pays for that.
+///
+public partial class RoadPathGrid : AStarGrid2D
+{
+ ///
+ /// How strongly the search commits toward the goal.
+ /// 1.0 = stock behaviour: guaranteed-shortest, explores enormously.
+ /// 3.0 = default: still routes sensibly around terrain, explores far less.
+ /// higher = faster still, but paths get progressively less considered.
+ /// Raise it if generation is still slow; lower it if roads start looking careless.
+ ///
+ public const float HEURISTIC_WEIGHT = 3.0f;
+
+ public override float _EstimateCost(Vector2I fromId, Vector2I toId)
+ {
+ return fromId.DistanceTo(toId) * HEURISTIC_WEIGHT;
+ }
+}
+
public partial class MapDrawProxy : Control
{
public MapGenerator Source;