Server & map generation¶

Overview¶

The server (src/server/) provides a Node.js API for procedural map generation. The client fetches terrain via HTTP; Vite proxies /api to the server during development.

Flow¶

Client (MapGenerator)  →  GET /api/map?width=256&height=256&seed=12345
                         ↓
Vite proxy (/api → localhost:3000)
                         ↓
Server (Express)  →  MapGeneratorService  →  NoiseMapGenerator (or fallback)
                         ↓
Response: { success, width, height, seed, tiles: [{ x, y, type, elevation }] }

API¶

Endpoints¶

Endpoint	Method	Description
`/health`	GET	Health check: `{ status: "ok", timestamp }`
`/api/map`	GET	Generate terrain tiles

Map generation¶

Request: GET /api/map?width=256&height=256&seed=12345

Query param	Type	Default	Description
`width`	number	256	Map width (tiles)
`height`	number	256	Map height (tiles)
`seed`	number	random	Seed for deterministic generation

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "width": 256,
  "height": 256,
  "seed": 12345,
  "tiles": [
    { "x": 0, "y": 0, "type": "grass", "elevation": 180 },
    { "x": 1, "y": 0, "type": "sand", "elevation": 95 }
  ]
}

Terrain types¶

Type	Description
`deep_water`	Ocean (terrainNoise < 0.2)
`shallow_water`	Sea (0.2–0.4)
`sand`	Beach (0.4–0.45)
`grass`	Grassland (0.45–0.6)
`stone`	Rocky (0.6+, variant)
`mountain`	Mountain (0.6+, variant)

Components¶

MapGeneratorService (`src/server/services/MapGeneratorService.ts`)¶

Uses NoiseMapGenerator by default (custom Open Simplex Noise)
Fallback: @reldens/tile-map-generator or simple deterministic pattern
Output: GeneratedTile[] with x, y, type, elevation

NoiseMapGenerator (`src/server/services/NoiseMapGenerator.ts`)¶

Open Simplex Noise (multi-octave) for elevation and moisture
Border gradient – edges fade to water for natural island shape
Variant noise – sub-types (wet/dry sand, stone/mountain)
Config: frequency, octaves, persistence, blur

Client MapGenerator (`src/sim/core/MapGenerator.ts`)¶

Fetches from /api/map (Vite proxy → server)
Fallback: local simple pattern if API fails
Used by IsometricMap.generateMap() when starting a new game

Vite proxy¶

In development, vite.config.ts proxies /api to http://localhost:3000:

proxy: {
  '/api': { target: 'http://localhost:3000', changeOrigin: true }
}

So fetch('/api/map?width=256&height=256') goes to the Node server.

Running¶

Dev: npm run dev – Vite + API server together (or docker compose up dev)
API only: Server listens on port 3000 (configurable via PORT env)