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Unified Build UI Philosophy

The build system uses one builder and one simulation, accessed through two camera modes.
The difference between “AR” and “VR” is not technology, it is camera anchoring and authority.

Core Principle

Everything is built with the same tools.
What changes is where the camera is and what authority it grants.

Camera Modes

1. World-Anchored Mode (In-Situ / AR)

Purpose: Grounding, intuition, and consequence.

  • Camera is pinned to:
    • the player avatar
    • a drone
    • or a fixed world location
  • World remains visible and spatially correct
  • UI appears as overlays and holograms
  • Editing is limited by:
    • proximity
    • access
    • safety constraints

Used for:

  • Inspecting systems
  • Viewing envelopes, arcs, and heat flows
  • Swapping modules or loadouts
  • Committing designs
  • Living with past decisions

This mode answers:
“What is this, and how does it exist in the world?”

2. World-Detached Mode (Engineering / Design)

Purpose: Reasoning, iteration, and planning.

  • Camera is free-flying and unbounded
  • World may be dimmed, frozen, or hidden
  • Time can be paused or scrubbed
  • UI becomes dense and analytical
  • Full system authority is available

Used for:

  • Designing missiles, weapons, ships, and bases
  • Editing component graphs and parameters
  • Running simulations and stress tests
  • Comparing variants and branching designs
  • Saving doctrines and templates

This mode answers:
“What will happen if I commit to this future?”

Authority Model

Actions are gated by type of authority, not by menus.

Action Type Authority Camera Mode
Inspection Cognitive Either
Minor tuning Physical World-Anchored
Deep redesign Cognitive World-Detached
Simulation Cognitive World-Detached
Final commit Physical World-Anchored

Design Invariants

  • One simulation state
  • Multiple camera controllers
  • No duplicated logic
  • Complexity is shown visually, not hidden in text
  • The builder scales from missiles to bases without changing mental model

Design Mantra

One builder.
One simulation.
Two camera modes.
Time is the battlefield.

Ship Slicing and Orthographic Views (X/Y/Z)

A core builder feature is the ability to slice the ship along X, Y, and Z to reveal internal layout, routing, and structural layers. This supports the “ships are engineered objects” theme and makes large designs readable without relying on external editors.

Goals

  • Make navigation and compartment layout obvious (floor plans, decks).
  • Make system integration visible (power, coolant, data, ammo paths).
  • Reduce cognitive load by letting the player “peel the onion.”
  • Provide consistent views across ships, bases, and large weapon systems.

View Modes

1) Z-Slice: Deck / Floor Plan View (Top-Down)

  • Slice plane moves vertically through the ship.
  • Shows:
    • rooms and corridors
    • bulkheads and doors
    • equipment footprints
    • hazards and damage zones
  • Optional: “Multi-deck selection” for tall rooms or hangars.

This is the primary mode for interior design and navigation.

2) X-Slice: Front/Rear Cross-Section (Side Cut)

  • Slice plane moves along the ship length.
  • Shows:
    • compartment stacking
    • armor thickness gradients
    • engine/drive train alignment
    • recoil bracing paths for large weapons

Best for understanding longitudinal structure and thrust lines.

3) Y-Slice: Port/Starboard Cross-Section (Front Cut)

  • Slice plane moves across the ship width.
  • Shows:
    • symmetry and balance
    • turret wells and firing arcs obstructions
    • radiator placement vs protected internals
    • lateral routing and redundancy

Best for balance, survivability, and turret integration.

UI Controls (Unified Across Modes)

  • Three slice sliders (X, Y, Z) with numeric readout and snap-to-deck markers.
  • Toggle:
    • single slice plane
    • thick slice (“slab”) for viewing multiple layers at once
    • exploded view spacing between decks/sections
  • “Pin slice to component” (jump slice plane to the selected room/system).
  • “Lock axes” (move only Z for deck editing, for example).

Overlay Layers (Optional Toggles)

  • Power flow heatmap
  • Coolant / air / mass-flow routes
  • Data bus / sensor network routes
  • Structural load paths (thrust, recoil, impact)
  • Combat overlays:
    • line-of-sight and firing arcs
    • vulnerable-through-the-slice pathways
    • compartment isolation boundaries

Design Invariants

  • Slices are a view, not a separate build mode.
  • Same slicing tools apply to ships, bases, and large systems.
  • Slices work in both camera modes:
    • World-Anchored: inspection + local edits
    • World-Detached: planning + full redesign

Outcome

Slicing turns a voxel hull into a readable engineering object:

  • Z-slice answers “How do people move?”
  • X-slice answers “How does the ship push and brace?”
  • Y-slice answers “How is the ship balanced and protected?”
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