Field System

A unified, deterministic model for all world state.

The Field System is the data backbone of E.D.E.N.
All simulation state — whether scalar, categorical, or vector-like — lives in fields that map cleanly onto the geodesic topology.

This ensures clarity, consistency, and extensibility across the entire engine.

Purpose

The Field System provides a single, coherent mechanism for representing world state.
Instead of scattering data across objects or bespoke structures, E.D.E.N. unifies all internal state into tile, edge, and directed-edge fields.

This enables modular subsystems and predictable state transitions.

Core Principles

  • Single Source of Truth — all simulation state lives in fields.
  • Tile / Edge / Directed-Edge Structure — spatial relationships remain explicit.
  • Precision Policies — data stored efficiently without sacrificing accuracy.
  • Immutable Commit Model (conceptually) — subsystems compute updates cleanly.
  • Interoperability — any subsystem can read from any field safely.

System Model

Tile Fields

Store scalar or categorical data per tile:

  • elevation
  • temperature
  • biome type
  • moisture

Edge Fields

Store symmetric relationships between tiles:

  • slope
  • boundary tension
  • plate stress

Directed-Edge Fields

Store asymmetric processes:

  • water flow
  • wind direction
  • gradient-driven transfer

Precision Policies

Define appropriate numeric resolution for each field type.

How It Interacts With Other Systems

  • Geodesic Topology provides spatial anchors.
  • Tick Engine schedules field updates.
  • Subsystems compute changes based on field inputs.
  • Overlays visualize field data.
  • Application Layer modifies or inspects fields.

What This Enables

  • unified domain modeling
  • deterministic simulation
  • modular subsystem architecture
  • visualization for every subsystem
  • scalable data representation
  • powerful future SDK tooling

Visual Examples (Optional)

  • tile-based heatmap
  • edge-based gradient visualization
  • directed-edge flow map

Public Extensibility Notes

Future SDK features may allow developers to:

  • define new fields
  • derive fields from other fields
  • build custom field sampling tools
  • create interactive field-driven scenarios

The Field System remains the core abstraction for all world state.

Related Topics