Working with the node graph
Every LibreTerrain project is a graph of nodes. Each node takes inputs, has settings, and produces outputs. Data flows left to right: change a node and everything after it updates.
Adding and connecting nodes
- Drag a node from the Nodes panel onto the graph, or double-click it.
- Right-click empty graph space and start typing to search for a node.
- Drag from an output port to an input port to connect them.
- Click a node to view it in the viewport and edit its settings on the right.
- Click empty space to edit the world settings (world size, height range and so on).
Port types
Ports are typed, and only compatible ports connect.
| Type | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Heightfield | Terrain heights, in metres. |
| Mask | Values from 0 (black) to 1 (white), such as a slope mask or a vegetation density. |
| Colour map | RGBA colour, made in the Colour tab. |
| Points | Vegetation or debris instances: position, rotation, scale and species. |
Caching: only what changed is recomputed
Results are cached. After an edit, only that node and the nodes after it are recomputed, and the status bar says how many ("1 node computed, 7 ms"). Put slow nodes such as Hydraulic Erosion late in the chain so that tweaking early shapes stays quick. Or tweak with a low preview resolution.
Resolution independence
All sizes are in metres and all randomness comes from each node's seed. The same graph gives the same landscape at a 513² preview and a 16,385² build, and on every machine. Nodes are tested for this: every node is checked for determinism across thread counts and for resolution independence.
Mask ports
Settings with a Mask port button can be driven by a mask. Click it and connect a mask to the new green input: black scales the value to 0, white keeps the value you set. For example, drive an erosion node's strength with a height mask so only the mountains erode.
In the node reference, these settings carry a Mask port badge.
Tabs and portals
A project has three graphs: Terrain, Vegetation and Colour. To use a Terrain output in another tab, click → Vegetation or → Colour in its settings. It arrives there as a Height Portal or Mask Portal. Work in the Vegetation or Colour tab then never recomputes the Terrain graph.
Undo and redo
Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z (or Ctrl+Y) undo and redo every graph, setting and world change.
Stability promise
Nodes are frozen from 2026.1. Any later change to an existing node's output comes with a new node version and an automatic migration, so projects saved in 2026.1 open with exactly the same result in every later release.