The E.D.E.N. Architecture

A principled foundation for deterministic, emergent planetary simulation.

E.D.E.N. is built from first principles.
Every layer serves clarity, determinism, and extensibility.

1. Geodesic Planetary Substrate

The world surface is a seamless geodesic sphere composed of:

  • tiles
  • edges
  • directed edges

This provides:

  • equal-area representation
  • stable numeric behavior
  • consistent neighbor relationships
  • natural global continuity
  • a perfect foundation for flows, gradients, constraints, and emergent systems

It replaces the distorted grids that limit most simulations.

2. Field-Based Simulation Model

All world state lives in explicit fields:

  • Tile Fields – scalar/categorical tile-centered data
  • Edge Fields – relationships between tiles
  • Directed-Edge Fields – flow, direction, shear, asymmetric phenomena

Subsystems interact purely through fields:

  • no hidden state
  • no brittle references
  • deterministic state transitions
  • infinite extensibility

Fields are the universal data language of E.D.E.N.

3. Deterministic Multi-Clock Tick System

Different domains evolve at different tempos.
E.D.E.N. enforces a clean temporal architecture:

  • Slow Clocks – geology, plate motion
  • Medium Clocks – hydrology, long-term climate
  • Fast Clocks – atmosphere, weather
  • Real-Time Clock – interactions, UI, tools

Each subsystem selects its clock and cadence.

Result:

  • clean multi-scale behavior
  • reproducible simulation
  • stable emergent dynamics

4. Modular Subsystems

Each domain is isolated into a subsystem:

  • Geology
  • Hydrology
  • Atmosphere
  • Ecology (future)
  • Resources (future)
  • Civilization (future)
  • Orbital mechanics (future)

Each subsystem:

  • declares its fields
  • reads from world state
  • writes its outputs
  • updates on its own clock
  • exposes overlays

Subsystems are plug-in modules, not hardwired components.

5. Overlay Visualization Platform

Overlays make the simulation visible.

E.D.E.N. supports:

  • scalar heatmaps
  • categorical palettes
  • tile overlays
  • edge overlays
  • directed-edge flows
  • vector fields
  • diagnostic modes

Subsystems declare overlay descriptors.
The Overlay Manager orchestrates rendering.

This layer is essential for development, debugging, education, and gameplay.

6. Application Layer

Above all simulation layers sits the Application Layer:

  • tools
  • inspectors
  • editors
  • scenario systems
  • experimentation modules
  • educational workflows
  • gameplay UIs (future)

This is how humans interact with the simulation.

The Result

A coherent, elegant world engine built on geodesic topology, field-driven state, deterministic time, and modular subsystems.

E.D.E.N. is the substrate for the next generation of scientific tools, educational models, and emergent simulation games.

Architecture Document Map

Architecture
├── Overview
├── Core Substrate
│ ├── Geodesic Topology
│ ├── Tile / Edge / Directed-Edge Model
├── Field System
│ ├── Field Types
│ ├── Precision Policies
│ ├── Field Access Patterns
├── Time & Tick Engine
│ ├── Multi-Clock Structure
│ ├── Temporal Determinism
│ ├── Tick Scheduling Model
├── Subsystems
│ ├── Architecture
│ ├── Geology
│ ├── Hydrology
│ ├── Atmosphere
│ ├── Extensibility Principles
├── Overlay Architecture
│ ├── Renderer Types
│ ├── Styles & Presets
│ ├── Visualization Philosophy
├── Application Layer
│ ├── Tools & Inspectors
│ ├── Scenario System
│ ├── Interaction Layer
├── Integration
│ ├── Unity Workflow
│ ├── Performance Model
│ ├── Future GPU Considerations