Game Component: Noise Generator

Generate noise, waveforms, and other interesting signals for games and visual effects.

Installation

npm install @basementuniverse/noise-generator

How to use

The library has two parts: a compiler that turns a saved graph document into a portable compiled program, and a runner that evaluates that program step-by-step.

1. Compile a graph

Use the visual editor to build a graph, then save it as a JSON file (a graph document). Pass that document to compile():

import { compile, CompileError } from '@basementuniverse/noise-generator';
import graphDocument from './my-graph.json';

let program;
try {
  program = compile(graphDocument);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof CompileError) {
    console.error('Invalid graph:', e.message);
  }
}

compile() returns a CompiledProgram — a plain, JSON-serialisable object. You can save it to disk and load it later; there is no need to recompile on every run.

2. Run the compiled program

Create a NoiseGeneratorRunner from the compiled program and call sample() each frame (or tick):

import { NoiseGeneratorRunner } from '@basementuniverse/noise-generator';

const runner = new NoiseGeneratorRunner(program);

// In your game loop:
const { outputs } = runner.sample();
console.log(outputs); // e.g. { "result": 0.42 }

Passing input parameters

If your graph has input-parameter-* nodes you can supply values each sample:

const { outputs } = runner.sample({ frequency: 2.0, amplitude: 0.5 });

Missing keys fall back to the default value configured on the node.

Overriding time and random sources

Pass a RuntimeServices object to control the clock or RNG:

const { outputs } = runner.sample(
  { frequency: 2.0 },
  {
    time:   () => myEngine.elapsedSeconds,
    random: () => mySeededRng(),
  }
);

Resetting state

Call reset() to rewind all stateful nodes (tick counters, buffers, sequences) to their initial values:

runner.reset();

Output values

sample() returns a SampleResult whose outputs map contains one entry per output-parameter-* node, keyed by the parameter's configured key. Values are either a number or a Vec4 ({ x, y, z, w }).