Godot 3D world (level and environment artist)

Target: Godot 4.7.2.stable, macOS Apple Silicon, Jolt Physics, Forward+.

REQUIRED BACKGROUND: scenario-godot-expert (channels, gd_run, the review loop, 4.7 traps). If a sibling skill named here is missing from your available skills, ask the user to install it (npx skills add scenario-labs/skills --skill <name>); unattended, proceed from tool schemas and flag the gap.

Status (2026-10-02): all 14 live test groups in tests/code/godot-3d-world/test_world_live.py passed (live_20261002-215949.json); L8 and L12 were extended and passed again in round 2 (live_20261002-223935.json). The 11 offline checks pass. Details in references/procedures.md.

Toolkit: scripts/gd_world.py (runner side) and scripts/agentkit/world/*.gd (jobs, a post-import script and two runtime scripts), installed with gd_world.install_world(P).

Stance (the expert delta)

1. Zero Y before normalizing the camera-relative direction. GDQuest (JlgZtOFMdfc 00:22:00): otherwise looking down slows the walk. With the order right, the controller kept 6.00 m/s at -60 degrees of pitch.
2. CharacterBody3D needs a stairs module, and the step height must come from the tread. Majikayo (Tb-R3l0SQdc 00:17:01) snaps up with body_test_motion and checks the tread with a ray, because the capsule touches the leading edge. A stock r 0.35 capsule stops at 0.18 m steps. Taking the height from the capsule's travel let it climb 0.6 m over a 0.45 m limit; the tread ray fixed it.
3. Guard the snap-down with a floor-below ray. Majikayo (00:14:58): without it, every ledge walk-off snaps down. The guard does not fix steep stairs: keep the rise at or under about 0.25 m for smooth descents.
4. Graybox in CSG, then bake it; never animate it. Four Games (gIK02BgCCBI) and PiCode (S5kRpEKIh38 00:01:51): static CSG costs about what modeled geometry costs, moving CSG is slow, and the cost follows the operand (a 128-segment sphere cut cost 1,000 times a box cut per move). CSG needs closed meshes: an open CSGMesh3D operand is silently ignored, with no error.
5. Prefer simple collision for props. Four Games (00:05:37) prefers -colonly hand shapes. Trimesh (-col) for static level geometry only, box or convex for props and anything dynamic, -noimp for reference geometry.
6. Post-import scripts work outside the tree. Allard (5fDuf2IlizU 00:11:14): set owners, use local transforms, use reparent(node, false); set collision layers in the script so they cannot be forgotten (00:15:15). Reproduced: an unowned node is not saved, global_transform returns identity, default reparent() zeroes the position.
7. Spring arm with a sphere and the player excluded. Octodemy (ZCb12AHKMfE 00:07:40, 00:08:35): SphereShape3D r 0.3, a top_level pivot, add_excluded_object(player). The arm stops one radius before a wall.
8. AI GLBs are normalized placeholders until a manifest says otherwise. Scenario-delivered Tripo, Meshy and Hitem3D files arrived unit-boxed, pivot centered, double-sided, metallic 1.0, 4K maps, 15k to 1M triangles. Jan (L5emNlNYVfY 00:02:00, vendor) remeshes to 6k to 8k triangles first. Size, pivot, facing, collision and budget come from a manifest the import script applies.
9. Terrain3D: check the region layout, prepare the textures, save binary. Tokisan (oV8c9alXVwU 00:20:22): badly placed regions multiply memory. In 1.0.2 a 1,024 m terrain centered on the origin takes 16 regions of 256 or 4 of 512 (1.05 km² allocated), but 4 of 1,024 (4.19 km²). Textures seamless, square, power of two, equal sizes, channel-packed (albedo plus height, normal plus roughness), one compression for all (00:04:33; Four Games ejlD8cM9kk4 00:10:06). Save as .res, since .tres loads slowly (YtiAI2F6Xkk 00:01:30).
10. Hand over runnable code, and label measurements. A plan for someone without this kit gives the GDScript the helper runs (procedures.md has it), not only gd_world.* calls. Numbers measured here are effect sizes on an M-series Mac: say so, and re-measure on the target.

Disagreements: capsule (GDQuest) or cylinder (Juli, U5A_JArREUc): capsule for ledge tolerance, cylinder for clean wall-run and slide normals. CharacterBody3D (GDQuest, Juli) or RigidBody3D (Bramwell, sVsn9NqpVhg): RigidBody only when the player must be a simulated object.

Establish first

Input	Why it changes the plan	Default
Camera	spring arm or head pivot	third-person, spring 4.5 m
Character size	capsule sets door, step and corridor sizes	r 0.35, h 1.8, step 0.45
Level type	GridMap kit, Terrain3D or stock heightmap	blockout then kit
World size	precision and streaming	single precision (float32 step 0.12 mm at 1 km, 1 mm at 8 km); stream when the profiled worst view or load time misses budget, not at a fixed size
Asset source	Blender suffixes or an AI GLB manifest	AI GLB + manifest
Targets	renderer, budgets, compression	desktop Forward+; web and mobile Compatibility (Juli 00:24:02)
Physics engine	Jolt default since 4.6, new projects only	Jolt, checked by the gate

Workflow

1. Project gate (P1). gd_world.physics_gate(P) proves the engine: with Jolt, a ray on a concave shape returns face_index -1 (Godot Physics returns 8). A hand-written project.godot gets Godot Physics. Name the layers with set_layer_names. GATE: engine_running "Jolt Physics", no flags.
2. Player (P2). build_player, then controller_suite (headless, --fixed-fps 60). GATE: speed at move_speed, same speed looking down, jump apex within 0.1 m of v²/2g, stairs to max_step_height and a refusal above, no snap at the ledge, 40-degree ramp yes and 50 no, arm shorter at the wall.
3. Blockout (P3). validate_layout(layout) offline, then build_village, door_test, bake. GATE: every door walkable by the real capsule (0.70 m blocks, 0.72 m passes for r 0.35; the offline rule asks 1.00 m [added margin]), baked triangles equal CSG triangles, capture reads as intended.
4. Kit (P4). build_kit, build_grid, stairs_walk. Materials go on the mesh surfaces and each item holds one StaticBody3D and one NavigationRegion3D (docs). Set the lightmap texel size before building the library (GridMap auto-UV2 uses 0.1 per the docs, not re-measured; the .import default is 0.2) and keep navmesh cell size equal to the map's 0.25 (docs). GATE: a ray hit on every used cell, and the player climbs each stairs item (a 3 m story needs 8 steps; 6 blocked).
5. Terrain (P5, P6). Small worlds: build_island (chunked ArrayMesh plus one HeightMapShape3D), then collision_check. Sculpted or painted worlds: gd_world.terrain3d, with change_region_size() (setting region_size is ignored) and region-aligned placement. Painting is a human step: base paint on large consistent areas, then spray, never spray over autoshader areas (YtiAI2F6Xkk 00:05:45 to 00:07:25). GATE: collision within 0.1 m at 400 rays, region count and size recorded, .res data, capture opened.
6. Scatter (P7). gd_world.scatter, always windowed. GATE: every instance grounded, a buffer per tile in the .tscn, rejections counted, close capture checked.
7. Props from GLB (P8). glb_stats and glb_flags offline, then ingest_glbs(P, drop, manifest) (pre-written .import with LODs, shadow meshes and light baking, post_import_prop.gd, textures retuned to VRAM at 2048), then audit_props and lod_probe. Asset front is +Z (Vector3.MODEL_FRONT); look_at(t, up, true) turns +Z to the target. Blender exports are triangulated, transforms applied, rig in rest pose (docs). GATE: manifest heights, base at y 0, cull back, budget flags understood, lineup capture next to a 1.8 m reference, facing checked.
8. Streaming (P9). runtime/cell_streamer.gd, unload_radius greater than load_radius, tested windowed with world_stream.gd:walk. GATE: 0 requests pacing on a border, every cell unloaded and the node count back to baseline at the end, worst frame within budget.
9. Audit and profile (P10). audit_level(scenes), then gd_run.profile_scene(..., driver="vulkan"). GATE: no leftover CSG, no headless MultiMesh, no unnamed layers; GPU ms and draw calls recorded. Windowed frame time is capped at the display refresh, so judge GPU and CPU ms.

Numbers

Value	Measured or source	Relative to
Controller defaults	speed 6, accel 40, air 8, jump 5.5 m/s, fall cap 30	this kit [added], GDQuest shape
Stairs module	climbs 0.45, refuses 0.6; descent airborne 0 / 8 / 49 of 120 frames at 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.45 rise	tread 0.35, 6 m/s
Floor-below ray	1.5 x max step	Majikayo 0.75 for 0.5
HeightMapShape3D error	max 0.058 m, mean 0.004 m	bilinear, 1 m and 2 m spacing
Scatter	1,931 trees from 6,000 rays in 11.7 ms	30-degree slope, 2 m clearance
AI GLB textures	19.6 MB lossless to 2.8 MB S3TC per 4K map	size limit 2048, mipmaps
LODs at 1080p	lighthouse 986,642 tris at 30 m, 61,616 at 300 m	mesh_lod_threshold 1.0
Streaming	69 loads in 240 frames without hysteresis, 0 with	border pacing, 64 m cells
Water z-fighting, plane 1 mm below	Compatibility: 1.7% of pixels at near 0.05, 0% at near 0.25; Forward+: 0% at both	Tokisan near 0.25 (YtiAI2F6Xkk 00:18:00)

Quality gates

• The engine is proven by the probe, not read from settings. Layers are named.
• Every walkable surface has collision: ray tests on every GridMap cell, house floor and terrain sample.
• The controller suite passes for the project's real step and door sizes.
• No CSG in shipped scenes, no scaled collision shapes (HeightMapShape3D spacing excepted), no double-sided closed meshes.
• MultiMesh scenes written by windowed runs; the audit finds a buffer.
• Props at manifest size, base at y 0, simple collision, textures at 2048 or less in VRAM, LOD0 within budget (LODs never reduce LOD0).
• Terrain3D data in .res, regions counted, textures to the rules in stance 9.
• Captures opened: village, kit, island close-up, Terrain3D, props lineup, stairs.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Symptom	Fix
Step height from the capsule travel	climbs steps above the limit	ray onto the tread
No floor-below ray	snaps down every ledge	ray of 1.5 x step first
Scatter run headless	trees vanish after reload; no buffer	windowed run
update_map_data_from_image(img, -1000, 1000)	10 m becomes 19,000 m	pixels read 0..1: use (0, 1)
FastNoiseLite.get_image for heights	terracing (8-bit)	float loop or an RF image
Terrain3D before the camera	"Cannot find the active camera"	camera first or set_camera()
Terrain3D.collision_mode or region_size set before add_child	ignored	collision.set_mode(), change_region_size() in the tree
Region size above the terrain, origin-centered	4x the memory	256 or 512, or align to the region grid
One GridMap for floors and walls	the wall replaces the floor	a second GridMap
reparent() in _post_import	children jump to the origin	reparent(n, false)
Suffixed names colliding after stripping	@StaticBody3D@19793	unique base names
Trusting LODs for a 1M-triangle GLB	986k triangles at 30 m	decimate before import
Coplanar water and ground	flicker on Compatibility	near 0.25, or offset the water

Handoffs

• scenario-godot-expert: toolkit, review loop, version traps.
• scenario-godot-rendering-lighting: lightmaps, occluders, GI, fog (depth fog can hide streaming edges [added]), shadows.
• scenario-godot-shaders: terrain splat or triplanar shaders, water.
• scenario-godot-animation: rigged characters and imported animation.
• scenario-godot-gameplay: navigation baking, AI, interaction.
• scenario-godot-pipeline-automation: batch import, CI, plugins beyond post_import_prop.gd.
• scenario-godot-performance-export: platform budgets, web and mobile exports, merged far-cell proxies (HLOD) [added].
• blender skills: Blender markers replaced on import (Allard 00:04:38), linked data refreshed only when the dependent file is saved (00:27:49), the "glTF Settings" node group for AO (FinePointCGI PIpCl6TYnC0 00:03:23).
• scenario-3d: generating the GLBs. Write "Scenario MCP" in customer-facing text.

Godot 4.7 notes

• Jolt is the default in new 4.6+ projects; hand-written project.godot needs physics/3d/physics_engine="Jolt Physics".
• Scene .import keys observed: meshes/lightmap_texel_size 0.2, gltf/naming_version=2, per-node physics in _subresources. A minimal pre-written .import is honored.
• Headless --import leaves extracted glTF textures lossless; the retune pass sets VRAM.
• SurfaceTool.set_smooth_group(-1) gives flat normals.
• No LightmapGI.bake or OccluderInstance3D.bake in the script API.
• Terrain3D 1.0.2 loads in 4.7.2; the first --import crashed (signal 11), the second ran clean.

References

• references/procedures.md: P1 to P10 with code, live results and numbers.
• references/expert-notes.md: what each expert says, with timestamps, and where 4.7.2 disagrees.
• references/critique.md: what the baselines and graded answers got wrong, and the limits of this skill.
• references/gui-paths.md: editor paths for viewport-only work, with the code substitute for each.
• references/sources.md: videos, docs, add-ons, versions.