---

name: add-material description: Add a new terrain material definition (dirt, stone, sand, etc.) to the Asciicker material system. Use when adding new materials, defining terrain types, or expanding the material palette. allowed-tools: Read, Edit, Bash

Add Material Skill

Adds a new terrain material definition to the Asciicker material system.

Material System Overview

The material system supports 256 materials (IDs 0-255):

• Material 0: Water (blue-gray, , ! glyphs)
• Material 1: Grass (green, " ' ` glyphs)
• Materials 2-255: Available for new materials

Each material has:

• 4 elevation ramps (for height variation)
• 16 shade levels (for lighting/shadows)
• Background color (RGB)
• Foreground color (RGB)
• Glyph (ASCII character)

Quick Start: Add a New Material

Example: Adding Dirt (Material 2)

1. Open asciiid.cpp
2. Find the material initialization code (around line 483)
3. Add material definition after grass

Material Definition Template

Copy// MATERIAL X: [NAME] (explicitly defined)
uint8_t [name]_bg_base[3] = {R, G, B};      // Background base color
uint8_t [name]_fg_base[3] = {R, G, B};      // Foreground base color
uint8_t [name]_glyphs[4] = {'A', 'B', 'C', 'D'}; // Glyphs for 4 ramps

for (int r = 0; r < 4; r++)  // For each elevation ramp
{
    for (int s = 0; s < 16; s++)  // For each shade level
    {
        float shade_factor = 1.0f - (s / 16.0f) * 0.6f;  // Darken by up to 60%

        m[X].shade[r][s].bg[0] = (uint8_t)([name]_bg_base[0] * shade_factor);
        m[X].shade[r][s].bg[1] = (uint8_t)([name]_bg_base[1] * shade_factor);
        m[X].shade[r][s].bg[2] = (uint8_t)([name]_bg_base[2] * shade_factor);

        m[X].shade[r][s].fg[0] = (uint8_t)([name]_fg_base[0] * shade_factor);
        m[X].shade[r][s].fg[1] = (uint8_t)([name]_fg_base[1] * shade_factor);
        m[X].shade[r][s].fg[2] = (uint8_t)([name]_fg_base[2] * shade_factor);

        m[X].shade[r][s].glyph = [name]_glyphs[r];
    }
}

Common Material Types

Dirt/Soil:

• Background: Brown RGB(139, 90, 43)
• Foreground: Light brown RGB(205, 133, 63)
• Glyphs: :, ;, ., ,

Stone/Rock:

• Background: Dark gray RGB(70, 70, 70)
• Foreground: Light gray RGB(150, 150, 150)
• Glyphs: #, ▓, ▒, ░

Sand:

• Background: Sandy yellow RGB(238, 214, 175)
• Foreground: Light yellow RGB(255, 248, 220)
• Glyphs: ., ·, °, ˙

Snow:

• Background: White RGB(240, 248, 255)
• Foreground: Bright white RGB(255, 255, 255)
• Glyphs: *, ❄, ·, ˙

Lava:

• Background: Dark red RGB(139, 0, 0)
• Foreground: Orange RGB(255, 140, 0)
• Glyphs: ~, ≈, ∼, ~

Code Location

Material definitions are in asciiid.cpp:

• Water (Material 0): Lines ~450-482
• Grass (Material 1): Lines ~483-516
• Add new materials here: After line 516

After Adding a Material

1. Rebuild the editor: make -f makefile_asciiid_mac
2. Test in editor:
   • Launch editor: ./.run/asciiid
   • Set brush to new Material ID
   • Paint on terrain
   • Verify colors and glyphs appear correctly
3. Document: Add material to MATERIAL_SYSTEM_EXPLAINED.md

Instructions

When the user asks to add a new material:

1. Ask for material details:
   • Name (dirt, stone, sand, etc.)
   • Base colors (or suggest common colors)
   • Glyphs (or suggest thematic characters)
2. Read asciiid.cpp to find material initialization section
3. Add material definition after existing materials
4. Rebuild editor
5. Provide testing instructions

Related Files

• asciiid.cpp - Material definitions
• MATERIAL_SYSTEM_EXPLAINED.md - Documentation
• terrain.cpp - Terrain rendering using materials