VoxelForge/CODEMAP.md

VoxelForge — Code Map & Knowledge Index

Purpose: a navigation index so anyone (human or AI) can locate and modify code without re-reading the whole plugin. Anchors are File:line — line numbers drift as code is edited, so trust the symbol name first and the line as a hint.

Plugin root: Source/VoxelForge/ · ~8,300 lines of C++ across 25 files. Comments in the code are mixed French + English. UE module = VoxelForge (Runtime).

---

1. What this plugin is

A density-field voxel terrain plugin for Unreal Engine, built around underground "strates" (vertical geological layers, each a self-contained mini-world).

• No block grid. Terrain is a continuous scalar density field evaluated on the fly from world coordinates. Convention: negative = solid rock, positive = air (the Marching Cubes convention used throughout).
• Marching Cubes turns the density field into a smooth mesh per 32³ chunk.
• Strates stack downward from Z=0. Each strate is a UVoxelStrateDefinition data asset that picks a generator type and a huge bag of cave-shaping params.
• Async streaming: chunks load/unload around the player on background tasks; meshes are applied on the game thread under a per-frame budget.
• Player edits (carve/fill) are stored as a diff layer added on top of the procedural density — procedural generation stays deterministic.

Core terminology

Term	Meaning
Chunk	32×32×32 voxels (CHUNK_SIZE). Voxel = 25 cm (VOXEL_SIZE).
Density	Scalar field. < 0 solid, > 0 air, 0 = surface (IsoLevel).
Strate	Vertical layer of the world, stacked downward. Has its own generator + params.
Generator type	Archetype per strate: TunnelNetwork, FlatPlain, CrystalChamber, Maze, SurfaceWorld, VerticalShafts, FloatingIslands, Underwater. See §8.
(0,0) spine	Guaranteed open landing column at world XY (0,0) in every strate; descent is player-dug through the seals. See §8.
Terrain op	Optional density modifier (pit, arch, terrace…) attached to a strate.
Passage	Carved tunnel connecting two adjacent strates (progression path).
Diff layer	Player carve/fill modifications stored on top of procedural density.
Epoch	Generation counter; stale async results are discarded on mismatch.

---

2. The big picture — data flow

                         AVoxelWorld (actor, orchestrator)
                         Tick → UpdateChunksAroundPosition
                                   │  (load/unload around player, by distance + LOD)
                                   ▼
                         LoadChunk → UE::Tasks::Launch  ──────────► background thread
                                                                         │
   UVoxelMarchingCubesMesher::GenerateMesh(chunk, step) ◄────────────────┘
        │ samples density per cell corner
        ▼
   UVoxelGenerator::GetDensityAt(x,y,z)        ← THE density entry point
        │ asks StrateManager which strate/params/generator-type applies
        ├─ TunnelNetwork → GetDensityWithParams()  (rooms+tunnels+ops+worms+seal+passages)
        │       └─ VoxelCaveMorphology::BuildChunkCache + EvaluateSDFCached  (room/tunnel SDF)
        ├─ FlatPlain / CrystalChamber → GetSlabDensity()  (floor+ceiling+columns+seal+passages)
        └─ + UVoxelDiffLayer::GetDensityOffset()   (player carve/fill)
        │
        ▼ FVoxelMeshData (verts/tris/uvs/normals)
   ProcessQueue (lock-free) ──► game thread: ProcessPendingChunks → ApplyMeshToChunk
                                                                   (RealtimeMeshComponent)

UVoxelStrateManager is the side oracle: "what strate is at this Z, what params, what generator type, and is there a passage/elevator SDF near here?"

---

3. File-by-file reference

Paths relative to Source/VoxelForge/. Public/ = headers, Private/ = impl.

3.1 Module & build

File	Role
../../VoxelForge.uplugin	Plugin manifest. One Runtime module VoxelForge. Beta.
VoxelForge.Build.cs	Deps: Core, CoreUObject, Engine, GameplayTags, RealtimeMeshComponent.
Public/VoxelForgeModule.h / Private/VoxelForgeModule.cpp	FVoxelForgeModule boilerplate (Startup/Shutdown just log).

3.2 Foundational types — Public/VoxelTypes.h (no UClass, everyone includes it)

Symbol	Line	Notes
CHUNK_SIZE (32), CHUNK_SIZE_SQUARED, CHUNK_VOLUME	19-21	Chunk dimensions. (64³ tried for fewer draws → reverted: streaming too bursty. fps is fixed render-side instead.)
VOXEL_SIZE (25.0f cm)	23	World scale.
EVoxelFace enum + GetFaceDirection / GetFaceNormal	33-61	6 cube faces.
WorldToChunkCoord / WorldToLocalCoord / ChunkToWorldPos	74-104	Coord-space conversions (handle negatives via floor/positive-modulo).
LocalToIndex / IndexToLocal / IsValidLocalCoord	107-131	Flat-array 3D↔1D indexing.
SmoothStep01	140	3x²-2x³ — used everywhere for blends.
VOXEL_NOISE_SCALE (1.25f)	147	Rescales UE PerlinNoise3D to ~[-1,1].
EVoxelTileClass enum (Mixed/AllSolid/AllAir)	—	T1.d verdict. MOVED here from VoxelGenerator.h 2026-07-27 so VoxelDensityOp.h can share it without a UCLASS dependency. A false AllSolid/AllAir is a HOLE; a false Mixed only costs CPU.
FVoxelMeshData struct	157-173	Mesher output (Vertices/Triangles/UVs/Normals/Colors). Plain C++, not USTRUCT. Colors = F6 material masks (R=dominant biome palette, G=slope, B=border blend weight, A=neighbour biome palette). §8.15.

3.2b Density operator stack contract — Public/VoxelDensityOp.h (plain C++, no UHT)

Phase 1 skeleton, added 2026-07-27. Nothing is wired in yet — GetDensityAt's archetype switch is untouched and no operator exists. See OPSTACK-PLAN.md for the plan and OPSTACK-DECOMPOSITION.md for the per-archetype breakdown.

Symbol	Notes
EVoxelOpRole	The four roles: FieldSource (what the field IS) · Combiner (how fields merge) · DetailModifier (today's UVoxelTerrainOpDefinition) · StructuralPost (spine→seal→passage→diff, appended automatically, never author-omittable).
EVoxelOpCombine	Replace/Union(min)/Subtract(max)/SmoothUnion/SmoothSubtract/Add/Mask. Sign reminder: negative = solid, so "add solid" is min.
EVoxelOpEffect	Identity/CarveOnly/FillOnly/Both. Conservative: Both is always safe, the wrong one is a hole.
FVoxelOpContext	Chunk-constant inputs. Carries LayoutVersion by construction so a new op cannot forget it (AUDIT C2).
IVoxelDensityOp	PrepareChunk / Eval / EffectOverBox / ClassifyBox / IsXYPure.
IVoxelDensityOp::ClassifyBox	⚠️ not source-only. Forcing ops (the boundary seal inside its band) overwrite the input entirely, which pure direction cannot express.
FVoxelBoxHypotheses + VF_ForceHypotheses / VF_FoldEffect / VF_FoldOp	The fold that turns a stack into an EVoxelTileClass. Reproduces today's hand-written ClassifyTile line for line — the mapping is written out in the header.

3.3 Chunk identity

VoxelChunk.h (the old FVoxelChunk coord wrapper) was DELETED — dead since the tile redesign; tile identity lives in FVoxelTileKey (VoxelWorld.h).

3.4 Settings — Public/VoxelSettings.h

UVoxelSettings : UPrimaryDataAsset — the single tuning asset assigned on AVoxelWorld.

Group	Fields (line)
Streaming	ViewDistanceXY=16, ViewDistanceUp/Down=5, MaxConcurrentTasks=16, MaxMeshAppliesPerFrame=4 (defaults — actual values live on the data asset)
Clipmap	ClipRadius, MaxClipLevel, FullResClipLevels, CoarseTileCells, RenderDistanceChunks (custom horizontal reach: the outermost shell keeps generating until it covers this many chunks; 0 = off), bFarSheetRing + FarSheetSpanLevels (F18 — the render-distance ring streams per-surface SHEETS: level MaxClipLevel+span heightfield tiles instead of MC, see GenerateSheetMesh), skirts, LODOctaveDrop (T2.b octave drop on coarse tiles — 0 = off/byte-identical) (the old LOD0/1Distance + ContentMaxLevel were dead → removed)
Lighting	bEnableDensityVolume + DensityVolume* tunables (§3.11 density clipmap / mini-sun shadows)
Rendering	VoxelMaterial (61)
Strates	Seed (69), CurrentSeason=1 (73), StratePool (78), FixedStrates map (83), TotalStrates=10 (87)
Carving budget	MaxModifications=0 (97), MaxBrushRadius=15 (102), MaxTotalVolume=0 (107). 0 = unlimited.

3.5 World orchestrator — Public/VoxelWorld.h + Private/VoxelWorld.cpp

AVoxelWorld : AActor — owns everything, drives streaming. Also FChunkResult struct (VoxelWorld.h:35) = async task payload (coord, chunk, meshdata, LOD, Epoch).

Owned objects (UPROPERTY): Settings, Generator, Mesher, StrateManager, DiffLayer (VoxelWorld.h:55-78). Storage: Chunks map, ChunkMeshes map, ChunkLODs, ProcessQueue (TQueue), PendingChunkCoord (TSet) (VoxelWorld.h:85-312). Async state: bShuttingDown, ActiveTaskCount (atomics), GenerationEpoch.

Method	.cpp line	Role
AVoxelWorld() ctor	12	Enables Tick.
RegenerateAllChunks()	21	Bumps epoch, unloads all → Tick reloads. CallInEditor button.
ValidateDeterminism()	—	F2 CallInEditor button (PIE): re-samples boundary points under left- vs right-chunk cache warm-ups + a same-alignment repeat; any non-zero delta = window-invariance regression (§8.4). Run after every "bit-identical" hot-path refactor.
GetMaxConcurrentTasks()	—	T2.d — asset MaxConcurrentTasks capped to logical cores − 2 (all three budget checks use it).
PostEditChangeProperty	45	Editor live-edit hook.
OnObjectModifiedInEditor	58	Regenerates when a strate asset is edited (if bLiveEditStrates).
EndPlay	140	Sets bShuttingDown, waits for ActiveTaskCount→0, unbinds delegate.
BeginPlay	177	Constructs Generator/Mesher/StrateManager/DiffLayer, wires services, seeds.
Tick	220	UpdateChunksAroundPosition(player) + ProcessPendingChunks().
GetPlayerPosition	231	Pawn position or zero. (GetLODForChunk/LODToStep/IsChunkInRange removed — dead since the clipmap.)
ProcessPendingChunks	301	Drains ProcessQueue under per-frame budget; applies each via ApplyTileResult.
ApplyTileResult	—	Shared game-thread apply for one FChunkResult (async drain + sync carve): discards stale epochs, marks loaded, ingests capture, EMPTY releases the tile's existing component (a re-gen can flip content→empty on band change — old geometry must not linger), else ApplyMeshToTile. Returns true iff a visible mesh uploaded (counts the budget). Doesn't touch PendingTiles (caller's).
GenerateTileResult	—	Shared worker-side gen for one tile (async LoadTile task + sync SyncRemeshTile): ClassifyTile (T1.d) → GenerateMesh/GenerateSheetMesh → BuildTileStreamSet. Reads Generator/Mesher only → safe on a worker or the game thread; fills FChunkResult, no enqueue.
SyncRemeshTile	—	INSTANT DIG: level-0 same-frame re-mesh on the game thread (GenerateTileResult + ApplyTileResult inline, Cells=CHUNK_SIZE/Step=1 + strate band, no capture). Used for the tile under the brush centre so a carve is visible THIS frame; one full-res gen on the game thread.
UpdateChunksAroundPosition	362	Builds desired set, sorts by distance, loads/unloads, handles LOD changes. Delta cull: BuildDesiredTiles returns the LEAVERS (stamped DesiredStamped map, one sweep) — only those + TransitionHold are considered per crossing, not every loaded tile. BuildDesiredTiles also applies RenderDistanceChunks: the outermost shell widens to cover the distance — as level-MaxClipLevel MC tiles, or (F18 bFarSheetRing) as a SHEET ring at level MaxClipLevel+span (covered-check vs the MaxClipLevel box; VF_OuterShell shared with IsTileInClipRange so the cull sees the same horizon), dz pre-clamped to the vertical band. §9.3 anchors: also prunes dead StreamingAnchors + detects their chunk crossings → rebuilds the desired set when an anchor moves/(un)registers (bAnchorsMoved/bForceDesiredRebuild), same cadence as player movement. §8.10.
BuildDesiredTiles	~722	Builds DesiredSorted+DesiredStamped (player clipmap shells + F18 sheet ring) then AddAnchorDesiredTiles() before the leaver sweep.
AddAnchorDesiredTiles	—	§9.3 multi-anchor: folds each FVoxelStreamingAnchor's thin level-0 box (XYRadiusChunks/ZBelowChunks/ZAboveChunks) into the SAME desired set (deduped by stamp) so AI/remote players keep collision loaded around them; delta cull releases them on move/unregister. §9.4: a tile only a CollisionOnly anchor wants (clipmap didn't stamp it) → CollisionOnlyTiles → hidden at apply. Zero cost when no anchors.
ReconcileAnchorTileVisibility	—	§9.4: after each rebuild, toggle SetVisibility on ALREADY-LOADED tiles that flipped render↔collision-only (diff CollisionOnlyTiles vs prev — bounded, no O(loaded) scan; unhide only if still desired). No-op without CollisionOnly anchors.
RegisterStreamingAnchor / UnregisterStreamingAnchor	—	BlueprintCallable §9.3: add/remove an actor as a streaming anchor (EVoxelAnchorPolicy CollisionOnly/FullVisual + XY/ZBelow/ZAbove box). Idempotent; forces a rebuild next Tick. §9.4: CollisionOnly tiles cook collision but are hidden (no draw/VSM) unless the player clipmap wants them too.
LoadChunk	445	Budget check → UE::Tasks::Launch background gen+mesh; RAII task guard. Worker runs Generator->ClassifyTile first (T1.d): AllSolid/AllAir ⇒ skip GenerateMesh, tile stays empty (capture tiles always generate). STRATE CONTENT CUT: tiles ≥ StrateContentCutMinLevel pass the player-strate band (MeshBandChunkLo/Hi → voxels) to GenerateMesh + stamp it on FChunkResult::BandChunkLo/Hi; band change re-queues via BandRemeshQueue (see UpdateChunksAroundPosition). TOO-COARSE SKIP: if one cell is taller than the band (Step > band height — level ≥7 territory) the tile is enqueued EMPTY without launching a task (cell-granular cut could only render garbage). F18: Tile.Level > MaxClipLevel = SHEET tile → routed to GenerateSheetMesh (band mid-chunk = strate ref; band unarmed ⇒ empty; MC-ring sampling density, cells capped 128/axis; carries the XY hole SheetHole*Vox — hole moves ⇒ overlapping sheets re-queue via BandRemeshQueue, see UpdateChunksAroundPosition). §8.10.
UnloadTile	—	Clears tile state; the component is PARKED in the pool (T2.c), not destroyed.
ApplyMeshToTile	—	Upload geometry. One component per tile (clipmap keeps count low; supersedes the old region batching); worker-built streams (T1.f) → CreateSectionGroup(MoveTemp). Reuses the component's existing URealtimeMesh (no per-apply mesh alloc). F17: two polygroups (0 ground / 1 sky-cap, per-triangle class from the mesher) → RMC auto-section per non-empty group; slot 0 = override/default material, slot 1 = CeilingMaterial (fallback ground); config gated by FChunkResult::bHasGroundTris/bHasCeilingTris. Takes FChunkResult&; strate lookups clamp Z into Result.BandChunkLo/Hi (strate content cut) — ground at clamped bottom chunk, cap at clamped top (mid = gap fallback). Collision level-0 only (T1.c) both groups; shadow per SECTION: ground casts at level≤1, cap never. §9.4: SetVisibility(false) when the tile is in CollisionOnlyTiles (anchor-only, hidden — collision still cooks). §8.10 + ARCHITECTURE SurfaceWorld row.
AcquireTileComponent / ReleaseTileComponent	—	T2.c component pool (TileComponentPool, bounded): park on unload (geometry+collision stripped, hidden, stays registered), pop on apply — no NewObject/RegisterComponent/GC churn during travel & regen. §8.10.
GetStrateAtPosition	965	Gameplay query → strate index.
GetBiomeAtWorldLocation	—	BlueprintCallable biome probe at a world point (undoes actor xf → voxel → Generator::QueryBiomeAt). Returns FVoxelBiomeQuery for BP debug ("what biome / how many decos under the cursor?").
GetVoxelSurfaceHeightAt	~1534	BlueprintCallable ground finder (F7 bridge): world XY → terrain + sky-cap world-Z via Generator::GetSurfaceHeightAt, NO trace/collision, deterministic, available before the area meshes → self-arranging prefab/ruin BPs snap their parts to the real ground. False (outs=input Z) on non-SurfaceWorld strates; ignores passage/spine carving.
CarveAtPosition / FillAtPosition	691 / 709	Build FVoxelModification → ApplyModification.
ApplyModification	~1581	Single funnel for all brushes: DiffLayer → sync-remesh the brush-centre level-0 tile (SyncRemeshTile, instant hole; skipped if that tile is mid-gen — would race a stale in-flight result) → RemeshDirtyChunks(..., excludeCenter) for the neighbours → RemoveDecorationsInSphere.
ClearAllModifications	726	Clears diff layer, regenerates.
ChangeSeed	740	Season reset: new seed everywhere, clear diffs, bump season, reload.
GetCurrentSeed / GetCurrentSeason	784 / 789	Accessors.
RemeshDirtyChunks	798	Queue loaded level-0 dirty tiles onto DirtyRemeshQueue (async re-mesh, no pop) + MarkDirtyVoxelBox the volume. Optional ExcludeTile = the sync'd centre. Drained FIRST in the submit loop at BackgroundHigh (ahead of streaming/band) so a dig never waits behind streaming; in-flight tiles stay QUEUED (not dropped) so a stale pre-carve result is corrected once it lands — fixes "hole shows up a beat late / not until I move".

Game-thread profiling (Perf): AVoxelWorld::Tick and its sub-steps are wrapped in TRACE_CPUPROFILER_EVENT_SCOPE — VoxelForge_Tick / UpdateChunks / BuildDesiredTiles / CullTiles / SubmitTiles / ProcessPending / ProcessUnload / UpdateDecorations / UpdateWater. Capture a Count/Incl/Excl Insights timer export and read the Excl column to see which step owns the per-frame cost (the actor tick shows as BP_VoxelWorld_C if subclassed in BP). VoxelForge_ClassifyTile (T1.d) / VoxelForge_GenerateMesh + VoxelForge_BuildStreams are worker-side (off the frame): the RMC FRealtimeMeshStreamSet is now built on the gen worker (BuildTileStreamSet) and carried on FChunkResult::Streams (TSharedPtr), so ApplyMeshToTile is game-thread-cheap — just material/ceiling resolve + CreateSectionGroup(MoveTemp). See ARCHITECTURE §8.10 "Worker-built StreamSet (T1.f)".

3.6 Density generator — Public/VoxelGenerator.h + Private/VoxelGenerator.cpp

UVoxelGenerator : UObject — lightweight; holds Seed, and injected services StrateManager + DiffLayer (both nullable). This is where terrain shape lives.

Symbol	.cpp line	Role
FractalNoise3D (static)	25	fBM (layered Perlin).
RidgedNoise3D (static)	55	Ridged multifractal — craggy.
CellularNoise3D (static)	101	Worley/cellular — grotto/scallop.
ApplyBoundarySeal (static)	170	Solidifies strate top/bottom shells.
ApplyPassageCarving (static)	197	Punches passages/elevator through the seal.
InitializeSettings	211	Copies seed from settings.
GetDensityAt	218	Entry point. Picks strate + generator type, dispatches, adds diff offset.
GetDensityWithParams	277	TunnelNetwork pipeline (~1000 lines). See §4.
GetSlabDensity	1306	FlatPlain/CrystalChamber pipeline. See §4.2.
SampleSurfaceStructuralZ	—	F20: the RAW SurfaceWorld heightfield (continents+mountains+detail), BEFORE any terrain op; returns terrain Z + relief M. Cliff re-samples it at an XY offset for a cheap analytic slope.
ComputeSurfaceTerrainZ / GetSurfaceDensity	—	SurfaceWorld heightfield → terrain Z, then density; biome output-blend lerps dominant/neighbour heights (ParamsD/ParamsN/weight). F20 surface ops (FSurfaceGenerationParams, biome-selected + slope/relief-conditioned, all default off): Cliff (slope-gated STEEPENING — push height from local mean where steep ⇒ sheer walls; 4 structural resamples only when on), Terrace (relief-gated + TerraceHardness), LayerLines (sedimentary shelves) — pure per-column height REMAPS applied here so the single height oracle stays consistent (MC/sheets/ClassifyTile/deco/BP bridge). Phase 2 OVERHANG (volumetric — real jutting shelves): in SurfaceDensityFromColumn, for AIR voxels in a window (TerrainZ, TerrainZ+OverhangHeight] above a steep slope, the heightfield is re-sampled UPHILL (toward the cliff) by a reach that GROWS with height (tiny low ⇒ air over the void, full high ⇒ borrows the far cliff rock) and unioned in ⇒ a shelf attached to the cliff, tapering out over the void with air beneath (the sketch). Per-column OverhangAmp(=strength·slope-gate) + unit uphill (DirX,DirY) resolved once in ComputeSurfaceColumn (gradient sampled at the REACH scale so a spot over the void can see the cliff), cached on FSurfaceColumn. Genuine 3D (per-voxel structural re-eval, gated to steep overhang columns). Off ⇒ byte-identical. §8.14.
ClassifyTile	—	T1.d trivial-tile reject (worker, called by LoadTile before GenerateMesh): proves a tile AllSolid/AllAir on the mesher's exact lattice (gap chunks + SurfaceWorld columns via the SHARED GSurfColCache; seal bands; guards: diff mods, passages, spine, disturbances, F20 overhang — a column point in (TerrainZ, TerrainZ+OverhangMargin] (margin = max OverhangHeight) is unprovable ⇒ Mixed, UPWARD only since the shelf union only ADDS rock above ground, so an overhang shelf never holes a trivially-skipped tile) → skip gen. Mixed = generate normally. §8.10.
SampleRelief / SampleMoisture	—	Climate fields (pure XY, [0,1]). Relief = shared source of truth for the relief map M. §8.14.
SampleBiomeAt	—	Warped-Voronoi + climate biome query (dominant + neighbour + weight). Reference used by the preview bake + GetDominantBiomeAt. §8.14.
ResolveBiomeSampleAt / RebuildBiomeGrid	—	Hot-path biome resolve (FBiomeSample) via a box-validated per-chunk cell-grid cache. Bit-identical to SampleBiomeAt. §8.14, §8.10.
GetDominantBiomeAt	—	Game-thread query → dominant biome ASSET (content/atmosphere). §8.14.
QueryBiomeAt	—	Rich game-thread biome probe → FVoxelBiomeQuery (dominant/neighbour asset, relief/moisture, blend weight, dominant deco count). Diagnostic behind AVoxelWorld::GetBiomeAtWorldLocation. §8.14.
EvaluateTerrainConditions	~2548	F7 aware placement: AND-evaluate an entry's FTerrainCondition[] (relief/moisture/biome-border) at a candidate voxel XY. Empty = true (zero cost). Pure query (SampleRelief/SampleMoisture/SampleBiomeAt) → worker-safe + game-thread; caller passes the strate's FBiomeContext (freq/contrast + Voronoi map). Consumed by deco BuildCellSpawns + SpawnLandmarkInstance; shared core of the future quest FindFeature locator.

Per-voxel hot-path memos (perf pass 2, all bit-identical — same hashes/math, hoisted per chunk/cell): GetDensityAt uses the DiffLayer snapshot cache (§3.9); GetDensityWithParams memoizes the strate index per (chunkZ, GetLayoutVersion()); thread_local per-cell lattice bakes cover slab columns (GetSlabDensity step 4), maze open edges, vertical shafts + cross-connectors, floating-island constants, and the disturbance chasms/bridges/ridges; worm tunnels short-circuit the 2nd Perlin when N1 ≥ WormThreshold (N2 ≥ 0 ⇒ can't carve). Room shapes are pre-baked in FCachedRoom (§3.7). T2.b: per-voxel fractal call sites take their octave count through VoxelGenLOD::Eff(N) (VoxelGenerator.h) — a thread_local bias set per tile by the mesher drops tail octaves on coarse tiles (opt-in LODOctaveDrop, default 0 = off); XY-field noise (heightfield/ceiling/relief/moisture) deliberately stays un-biased. §8.10.

3.7 Cave morphology (SDF rooms/tunnels) — Public/VoxelCaveMorphology.h + .cpp

Header is rich with inline docs. Two namespaces + a per-chunk cache system.

• namespace VoxelSDF (h:46): Sphere, Ellipsoid, Capsule, RoundedBox, TaperedCapsule, SmoothMin, SmoothMax — all FORCEINLINE SDF primitives.

• namespace VoxelHash (h:158): Mix, Cell, Pair, ToFloat01, ToFloatSigned — deterministic hashing for room/tunnel placement (no storage, infinite worlds).

• Cache structs (h:224-330): FCachedRoom, FCachedTunnel, FCachedPit, FCachedChimney, FCachedColumn, FChunkSDFCache.

• namespace VoxelCaveMorphology:

  Function	.cpp line	Role
  BuildChunkCache	47	Phase 1 (once/chunk): collect rooms, guaranteed backbone (bTunnelsFlowTowardOrigin: tree rooted at the (0,0) hub — every room reachable, links flow inward; false = legacy NN forest), slope-aware link metric (TunnelHorizontalBias now applies to backbone too), decide tunnels, cull zero-connection rooms (no sealed bubbles), store rooms by their OWN reach (fixes origin-room clipping at MaxInfluence), pre-bake pits/chimneys/columns via the shared BakeRoomFeature hash-placement skeleton (one gate/XY/radius pattern + per-type Emit lambda), hash-roll per-room terrain op.
  EvaluateSDFCached	757	Phase 2 (per voxel): SmoothMin over cached rooms/tunnels; returns nearest room idx for terrain-op lookup. Signature changed (perf pass 2): RoomShapeVariety param REMOVED — the shape roll + capsule trig are pre-baked into FCachedRoom (ShapeType/ShapeA/ShapeB/ShapeR) by BuildChunkCache, bit-identical.
  EvaluateSDF	738	Convenience wrapper (builds temp cache) for one-off queries.

  Performance note (h:209-220): caching rooms/tunnels once per chunk instead of per voxel is the single biggest CPU win.

3.8 Strate system

Public/VoxelStrateTypes.h — shared structs/enums (1228 lines, the data vocabulary):

Symbol	Line	Role
EVoxelPassageType	38	Sloped/Vertical/Spiral/Cascading/Crack passage shapes.
ESurfaceType	78	Floor/Wall/Ceiling/Any (decoration placement).
EVoxelNoiseType	99	FBM/Ridged/Mixed/Cellular.
ECaveGeneratorType	146	TunnelNetwork / FlatPlain / CrystalChamber.
EVoxelStrateTransition	183	Gradient / Hard / Interleaved boundary blends.
FStrateGenerationParams	~350	The giant TunnelNetwork param bag (rock, worms, rooms, tunnels, warp, roughness, all terrain-op transport fields, boundary seal). Lerp() static blends two sets at boundaries — it expands the VF_STRATE_PARAM_FIELDS X-macro (defined just above the struct): adding a field to the struct? add it to that list or blends silently reset it to default.
FStrateTerrainOpEntry	965	Soft-ptr to a terrain op + Weight + Probability.
FSlabGenerationParams	1019	Floor/ceiling heights, roughness, columns, seal — for slab generators.
FPlacementProfile	~1747	Shared placement vocabulary for every scatter primitive (FStrateDecoration, FStrateLandmark, coming FStrateSetPiece): spawn (ActorClass/InstancedMesh), Filter gates (surface/slope/overhang/water/RequiredBiome + F7 awareness Conditions[] — FTerrainCondition relief/moisture/biome-border predicates, AND-ed, evaluated by Generator::EvaluateTerrainConditions), Transform (align/offsets/RotationOffset+RandomRotation/scale), Render (cull/shadow). Each primitive embeds it as Profile + keeps only its own DISTRIBUTION fields. Per-primitive defaults set in each struct's ctor (deco: scale 0.8-1.2 + RandomRotation.Yaw=360; landmark: Ceiling + no align).
FStrateDecoration / FStrateLandmark	~1830 / ~1900	Profile + distribution: deco = StreamTier/SpawnDensity/MaxPerChunk; landmark = SpacingChunks/JitterFraction/SpawnProbability/StreamRadiusChunks + Light-Orb block.
ELandmarkAnchor (on FStrateLandmark)	~1940	F7: AnchorMode = HashLattice / PassageMouth + passage toggles + exclusion (ExclusionRadiusChunks/Priority) folded into FStrateLandmark (set-pieces merged in — one primitive, one Landmarks list, UpdateLandmarks).
FStrateAmbientActor / FStrateCreature	~2090 / ~2110	Content spawn entries (consumed by future systems).

Public/VoxelStrateDefinition.h — UVoxelStrateDefinition : UPrimaryDataAsset (line 36). One asset = one strate type. Fields: identity, StrateHeightInChunks(60), TransitionType(79)/TransitionBlendChunks(89), GeneratorType(102), GenerationParams(113), SlabParams(124), Biomes[]+BiomeMapParams (the biome list + field tuning — empty ⇒ unchanged world, §8.14), TerrainOperations(147), visuals/fog/light, content lists, audio, GameplayTags(223). EditConditions show/hide param groups by generator type.

Public/VoxelStrateManager.h + .cpp — UVoxelStrateManager : UObject (h:108). Maps depth→strate at runtime; owns passages.

• FVoxelPassage (h:39): endpoints, radius, type, control points.
• FStrateSlot (h:84): definition + chunk-Z range + index.

  Method	.cpp line	Role
  Initialize	10	Builds the stacked layout from settings+seed (fixed slots + shuffled pool), then GeneratePassages.
  GeneratePassages	146	Deterministic passages between consecutive strates (per-type control points).
  EvaluateModifierSDF	357	SDF of passages at a point (for carving). Per-chunk thread_local shortlist (PassagesVersion-stamped) → far chunks return FLT_MAX without walking Passages. §8.10.
  AnyPassageNearBox	—	Conservative sphere-vs-AABB test of every passage's bound against a voxel box (+carve blend pad). Per TILE (ClassifyTile guard), never per voxel.
  FindSlotIndexForChunkZ	427	Z → layout index.
  GetStrateAt / GetStrateIndex	443 / 455	World-Z queries.
  GetLayoutVersion	h:161 (inline)	Layout/passage generation counter (= PassagesVersion, bumped by every Initialize). Hot-path callers key thread_local memos on it (strate-index memo in GetDensityWithParams, passage shortlist) so editor rebuilds never serve stale data.
  GetStrateForChunk	466	Chunk → definition.
  GetGeneratorTypeForChunk	476	Chunk → generator type.
  GetSlabParamsForChunk	490	Slab params with runtime Z bounds (no blend — slabs use Hard).
  GetBiomeContextForChunk	—	Flatten the strate's Biomes[] + BiomeMapParams into a POD FBiomeContext for the biome field. Empty ⇒ biomes disabled. §8.14.
  GetGenerationParams	515	Blended TunnelNetwork params (handles Gradient/Hard/Interleaved transitions).
  BuildParamsFromDefinition (static)	771	Base params + merge all referenced terrain op assets. The one place ops fold into params.

Public/VoxelTerrainOpDefinition.h + .cpp — UVoxelTerrainOpDefinition : UPrimaryDataAsset (h:67). One asset = one terrain op. EVoxelTerrainOpType (h:36): Terrace, LayerLines, Ribbing, Cliff, Scallop, Overhang, Arch, Column, Pit, Chimney, Dome, Pinch. Per-type param groups gated by EditCondition. ApplyTo(OutParams, Weight) (.cpp:6) copies only the active type's fields into FStrateGenerationParams, scaled by Weight.

Public/VoxelBiomeTypes.h (NEW) — biome vocabulary. FBiomeMapParams (Voronoi cell size / border warp+blend / climate field freqs), EBiomePreviewChannel (preview-bake selector), FVoxelBiomeQuery (BlueprintType result of GetBiomeAtWorldLocation — dominant/neighbour asset, climate, blend weight, deco count), and plain runtime PODs FBiomeResolved / FBiomeContext / FBiomeSample / FChunkBiomeCache (the box-validated per-chunk grid cache). See §8.14. FChunkBiomeCache::Invalidate() (added 2026-07-27, AUDIT C2) — force a rebuild when the strate layout version moves. The validity BOX says nothing about the FBiomeContext the cells were classified against, so after a RebuildStrates the grid is stale even though the box still covers the query. Called by all four callers on a GetLayoutVersion() change.

Public/VoxelBiomeDefinition.h + .cpp (NEW) — UVoxelBiomeDefinition : UPrimaryDataAsset. One asset = one biome: identity + DebugColor, climate placement box (ReliefMin/Max, MoistureMin/Max), terrain override (bOverrideTerrain + GeneratorType + archetype params), content profile (Decorations/AmbientActors, atmosphere override, WaterMaterial, MaterialPaletteIndex (F6 — baked to vertex colour, §8.15)), GameplayTags. Referenced from UVoxelStrateDefinition::Biomes[]. Generator-agnostic (surface biomes now, cave biomes later). §8.14.

3.9 Player edits — Public/VoxelDiffLayer.h + .cpp

UVoxelDiffLayer : UObject (h:77). Stores FVoxelModification (h:43: Center/Radius/Strength; negative Strength = carve, positive = fill) grouped by chunk in TMap ChunkMods.

Method	.cpp line	Role
SetBudget	10	From VoxelSettings carving caps.
CanModify	20	Budget check (no consume) — for UI.
GetRemainingModifications / GetRemainingVolume	47 / 53	-1 = unlimited.
ApplyModification	63	Enforces budget, stores in all overlapped chunks, returns dirty coords.
GetDensityOffset	131	Per-voxel combined diff (smoothstep falloff, additive).
HasModifications	160	Fast reject for hot path.
HasAnyMods / GetModsVersion	h:238 / h:241 (inline)	Lock-free atomics: any-mod-exists flag + monotonic mod-state version (bumped by ApplyModification/Clear).
GetChunkModsSnapshot	—	Copy one chunk's mod list under ONE read lock. Workers snapshot per (chunk, version) instead of locking per voxel — GetDensityAt keys a thread_local 64-slot direct-mapped cache on it (~27 lock ops per tile task instead of ~86k once any carve exists).
HasAnyModInChunkRange	—	Any modified chunk key in an inclusive chunk box? One key walk under a read lock — ClassifyTile's diff guard (per tile, conservative by construction: mods are stored in every chunk their radius overlaps).
EvaluateMods (static)	—	Lock-free pure evaluation of a mod list at a voxel — shared core of GetDensityOffset and the generator's snapshot path.
Clear	170	Wipe all (season reset).
GetTotalModificationCount / GetModifiedChunkCount	182 / 192	Stats.

3.10 Mesher — Public/VoxelMarchingCubesMesher.h + .cpp

UVoxelMarchingCubesMesher : UObject (h:21). Holds Generator ptr, IsoLevel=0, skirt params. (The dead trio GetDensity/InterpolateEdge/ComputeGradientNormal + GradientOffset was removed — since T1.b the pre-sampled grid supplies positions AND gradients inline.)

Method	.cpp line	Role
GenerateSheetMesh	~455	F18 far-field SHEET (render-distance ring, Tile.Level > MaxClipLevel): two displaced heightfield grids per tile — ground (polygroup 0) + sky-cap (polygroup 1) from GetSurfaceHeightAt columns (StrateChunkZ = band mid identifies the strate; non-SurfaceWorld ⇒ empty). Classes true BY CONSTRUCTION (no vote/probes). Same conventions as GenerateMesh (world-cm positions, planar UVs, F6 colour masks, −N double-faced perimeter skirts per bucket, ground‖cap + NumCeilingTriangles). Margin ring keeps normals continuous between sheets. XY HOLE params: cells fully inside the MC-covered box around the player (AVoxelWorld::SheetHole*Vox, shrunk 1 tile for seam overlap) are skipped — a partially-covered sheet must not overlay near terrain; hole-edge cells get no skirt. Carved features (passages/spine/chasms) + diff layer NOT represented — accepted at sheet distance.
GenerateMesh	~15	The MC loop over cells; Step controls LOD sampling. Sets the T2.b octave bias for the tile (TGuardValue on VoxelGenLOD::OctaveBias, from LODOctaveDrop × log2(Step); 0 at LOD0/off). Edge t + grid-gradient normals computed inline (SampleG/GradAt). Optional OutCaptureGrid (4th arg) = CAPTURE-DURING-MESHING: when non-null + full-res (CellsPerAxis==CHUNK_SIZE), copies the already-sampled CHUNK_SIZE³ density grid (quantized via VF_QuantizeDensity, VoxelTypes.h) so the density clipmap reuses it instead of re-sampling GetDensityAt. Pure read of the grid — §8.10 untouched. F17 surface class: each unique vertex is classified sol/sky-cap in GetOrCreateVertex (down-facing only → memoized GetSurfaceHeightAt, nearer CeilSurf = cap); triangles bucket by majority into GroundTris/CapTris (thread_local), skirts emit per bucket, then Triangles = ground‖cap + FVoxelMeshData::NumCeilingTriangles (→ polygroups in BuildTileStreamSet). Same tris, only index ORDER changes. STRATE CONTENT CUT: optional BandZMin/MaxVox params restrict the cz cell loop (+ gz sampling rows) to the player-strate band — coarse straddling tiles mesh ONE strate (kills far-LOD inter-strate aliasing holes); meshed cells bit-identical.

Public/MarchingCubesTables.h — EdgeTable + TriTable reference data (Paul Bourke). Cube corner/edge layout documented at top (lines 7-37). Rarely needs editing.

3.11 Per-chunk content & per-strate atmosphere (2026 redesign — see §8)

File	Role
Public/Private/VoxelContentManager.h/.cpp	UVoxelContentManager — distance-based world-grid decoration scatter (no LOD pop, surface-snapped via GetDensityAt) + level-0 water planes. F7 companions: each FStrateDecoration may list FDecoCompanion satellites (rocks/mushrooms around a tree) — emitted per placed parent in PlaceAtCrossing, deterministic (pure fn of the parent hash), inherit the parent's surface point; FDecoSpawn::CompanionIdx routes each back to its Companions[ci].Profile at apply. TWO streaming grids (FDecoGrid Near/Far, picked per entry via FStrateDecoration::StreamTier): NearGrid = short radius + fine column grid (groundcover); FarGrid = full radius + coarse grid (cheap rare/large props). Plus UpdateLandmarks — rare deliberately-placed objects: mini-suns, ruins, shrines, monuments (FStrateLandmark; set-pieces folded in 2026-07-06). Per entry an AnchorMode: HashLattice (coarse hash lattice, cell = SpacingChunks chunks → cheap at any radius, no per-chunk freeze) or PassageMouth (GetPassages() endpoints landing in this strate). Gated by Profile + Profile.Conditions; optional deterministic exclusion radius (Priority+hash rank, ExclusionRadiusChunks; 0 = off → pure scatter is unchanged, skips the O(n²) resolve). Synchronous, deterministic, strate-wide; spawns via SpawnFromProfile (+ orb wrapper). Exclusion is POP-FREE (gathers a MaxExcl ring of suppress-only candidates so a piece's fate is player-position-independent). bSuppressDecorationsUnder/SuppressRadiusChunks clear grass under a footprint (on spawn + re-cleared in ApplyRegion). RemoveDecorationsInSphere (world sphere → both grids' HISMs via GetInstancesOverlappingSphere+RemoveInstances) is the shared primitive, also called by AVoxelWorld::ApplyModification so player digging removes floating grass instantly. Owned by AVoxelWorld. §8.5.
Public/Private/VoxelAtmosphereManager.h/.cpp	UVoxelAtmosphereManager — per-strate fog/skylight + persistent ceiling/floor layer actors + full AtmosphereActor override. Owned by AVoxelWorld. §8.6.
Public/Private/VoxelDensityVolume.h/.cpp	UVoxelDensityVolume — player-centred DENSITY CLIPMAP (N toroidal R8 levels, fine near / coarse far) streamed to GPU UVolumeTextures for the mini-sun raymarched shadow march. Fills run on ONE dedicated thread (FVoxelDensityFillRunnable, off the task pool); level 0 is mostly fed by CAPTURE-DURING-MESHING (mesher grid reuse, gated by IsTileCaptureUseful so only tiles near the shadow window pay the capture). Carve → MarkDirtyVoxelBox refills locally. VolumeEpoch drops stale fills. Owned by AVoxelWorld (bEnableDensityVolume); shader params pushed via shared per-base-material MIDs (AVoxelWorld::UpdateTerrainMaterialParams, change-detected).

The big 2026 redesign (8 archetypes, (0,0) spine, inter-strate gap, per-strate passages, disturbances, content/atmosphere, brush shapes, perf invariants) is documented in §8 — read it first when touching generation/strates/passages.

---

3.12 Automation tests — Private/Tests/ (added 2026-07-27, #if WITH_DEV_AUTOMATION_TESTS)

The plugin's first tests (OPSTACK-PLAN.md Phase 0.5). Run them from the editor's Session Frontend → Automation, filter VoxelForge.

File	Test name	What it proves
VoxelForgeTestFixture.h	—	FTestWorld: a headless world (transient strate definitions → UVoxelSettings → a real UVoxelStrateManager::Initialize) so tests hit GetDensityAt, where the thread_local caches live. One strate per archetype, pinned via FixedStrates so slot index → archetype is stable across seeds (SlotSurfaceWorld etc.).
VoxelForgeDensityPurityTest.cpp	VoxelForge.Determinism.DensityPurity	10k points re-sampled in shuffled order, same thread and on N workers, asserting BIT equality. ValidateDeterminism is game-thread only and cannot see worker-cache divergence. Includes a flat-field canary (AUDIT C1) and a diff-layer pass.
″	VoxelForge.Determinism.LiveEditInvalidation	AUDIT C2 regression: triple the heightfield params, Initialize again, require the density to MOVE. The edit does not move the strate, so only LayoutVersion changes.
VoxelForgeClassifyTileTest.cpp	VoxelForge.Determinism.ClassifyTileSoundness	Scans for a non-Mixed verdict, then brute-forces the exact mesher lattice (g ∈ [-1, Cells+1]). A false verdict is an invisible, collisionless hole — T1.d v1 was reverted for exactly this. Errors out rather than passing if it found nothing to check.
VoxelForgeDiffLayerTest.cpp	VoxelForge.Determinism.DiffLayerContention	N readers running the worker call mix while the game thread writes and Clear()s. Survival + monotonic ModsVersion.

4. The density pipeline (most-edited hot path)

4.1 GetDensityWithParams (TunnelNetwork) — VoxelGenerator.cpp:277

Stage order (negative=solid throughout). Each stage's anchor:

Step	Line	What
1 — Vertical scale	307	Stretch Z before noise (VerticalScale).
2 — Base density	316	Everything starts solid at BaseDensity.
3 — Cave warp	321	Domain-warp the SDF query coords (organic shapes).
4 — SDF morphology	368	Rooms+tunnels via BuildChunkCache/EvaluateSDFCached.
4b — Surface roughness	564	Volumetric noise near surfaces (fBM/Ridged/Mixed).
4c–4h — Terrain ops	688	Per-room op applied near surfaces. Sub-anchors below.
· Terracing	727	Step-like ledges.
· Layer lines	823	Horizontal grooves (sin of Z).
· Ribbing	853	Parallel ridges (sin of Z).
· Overhangs	882	Low-Z-freq noise shelves.
· Cliff sharpening	918	Amplify vertical gradient.
· Scallop	962	Cellular erosion bowls.
· Arch/Bridge	998	Hash-placed capsules across voids.
4d — Columns	1053	Pre-baked vertical cylinders.
4g — Domes	1077	Room-relative hemispherical ceilings.
4h — Pinch	1142	Passage bottlenecks.
5 — Worm tunnels	1241	abs(noise1)+abs(noise2), masked by distance-to-network (WormNetworkRange: braids hugging rooms/tunnels, no far-field speckle; 0 = legacy unmasked).
6 — Boundary seal	1274	Solid top/bottom shells (ApplyBoundarySeal).
7 — Inter-strate passages	1281	Carve passages/elevator (ApplyPassageCarving).

4.2 GetSlabDensity (FlatPlain / CrystalChamber) — VoxelGenerator.cpp:1306

Step	Line	What
1 — Floor surface	1317	Noisy floor height.
2 — Ceiling surface	1343	Formations hang downward (abs(noise)).
3 — Void→base density	1379	Solid outside [floor,ceiling].
4 — Columns	1399	World-space hash grid, full-height.
5+6 — Seal + passages	1461	Same seal/passage carving as TunnelNetwork.

---

5. "I want to change X" → go here

Goal	Location
Chunk size / voxel scale	VoxelTypes.h:19-23 (rebuild everything).
View distance / task budget / LOD distances	VoxelSettings.h (no recompile of logic — data asset).
LOD step mapping	AVoxelWorld::LODToStep VoxelWorld.cpp:268; GetLODForChunk :242.
How chunks stream in/out	UpdateChunksAroundPosition VoxelWorld.cpp:362.
Async threading / stale-result handling	LoadChunk :445, ProcessPendingChunks :301, Epoch logic.
Add a new cave feature / terrain op	Add enum in VoxelTerrainOpDefinition.h:36, params there, ApplyTo (.cpp:6), transport fields in FStrateGenerationParams, consume it in a new Step inside GetDensityWithParams.
Tweak room/tunnel shapes	VoxelCaveMorphology.cpp BuildChunkCache :47 / EvaluateSDFCached :757.
Worm tunnel behavior	GetDensityWithParams Step 5, VoxelGenerator.cpp:1241.
Strate stacking / which strate where	UVoxelStrateManager::Initialize :10.
Boundary blend between strates	GetGenerationParams :515 + FStrateGenerationParams::Lerp (expands VF_STRATE_PARAM_FIELDS, StrateTypes.h — new fields go in that list).
Passages between strates	GeneratePassages :146 + EvaluateModifierSDF :371 + ApplyPassageCarving (Generator.cpp:197).
Player carve/fill	CarveAtPosition/FillAtPosition VoxelWorld.cpp:691/709 → UVoxelDiffLayer::ApplyModification :63.
Mesh smoothness / normals	Grid-gradient in GenerateMesh (GradAt lambda), IsoLevel (h).
New slab/flat-world generator	GetSlabDensity Generator.cpp:1306 + FSlabGenerationParams (StrateTypes.h:1019).
Biome placement / layout	BiomeMapParams on the strate (cell size, warp, climate freqs) + each biome's climate box. Bake AVoxelWorld::BakeBiomePreview to tune. §8.14.
What a biome does to terrain	A full archetype param override on the biome (bOverrideTerrain + SurfaceParams); surface output-blends dominant/neighbour heights in GetSurfaceDensity. Caves = content/atmosphere only (determinism, §8.14).
Add a biome / biome content	New UVoxelBiomeDefinition asset → add to the strate's Biomes[]. §8.14 / §8.12.
Season reset	AVoxelWorld::ChangeSeed :740.

---

6. Conventions & gotchas

• Density sign is the #1 source of confusion. Internally (MC) negative = solid, positive = air. Carve = subtract density (toward positive); Fill = add (toward negative). FVoxelModification::Strength negative = carve. Comments sometimes say the inverse in different layers — trust the MC convention at the mesher.
• Coordinate units: density functions take voxel coords (not cm). World↔voxel conversions live in VoxelTypes.h. Mesher converts before calling the generator.
• Determinism: all randomness is hash-of-(coord, seed, strateIndex) — no RNG state. Same seed ⇒ identical world. Player edits are the only non-deterministic overlay.
• Async safety: background tasks must check bShuttingDown and only touch the generator/mesher (no UObject mutation). Results return via ProcessQueue. EndPlay blocks until ActiveTaskCount == 0.
• Epoch: every regeneration bumps GenerationEpoch; results tagged with an old epoch are dropped in ProcessPendingChunks. Always carry the epoch through new async paths.
• Generated code under Intermediate/ and Binaries/ is build output — never edit. *.generated.h / *.gen.cpp are UHT output for the UCLASS/USTRUCT above.

---

7. Files NOT to touch

Binaries/, Intermediate/ — compiler/UHT output, regenerated on build. MarchingCubesTables.h — canonical reference tables, only change if switching MC variant.

---

8. Architecture & design deep-dive → ARCHITECTURE.md

Moved out of the codemap to keep this file a fast navigation index. The archetypes, (0,0) spine, disturbances, content/atmosphere, biomes, and the performance invariants (§8.10 — read before optimizing the hot path) now live in ARCHITECTURE.md. All §8.x cross-references throughout this file point there. §9 = the MULTIPLAYER model (listen-server-first, design-only) — read before touching streaming / carve / AI: terrain is never replicated (determinism = replicate seed+layout+diff events only), streaming goes multi-anchor (collision-only vs full-visual policy per anchor), carves are server-authoritative.