Talk:Spatial variable standards

Fire

Me and a few others are using the term "Fire" to represent something being inside a fire. alizard (talk) 02:29, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

This would be a good generic term as it's simple and a lot of items can easily be converted/setup to read from or use it LeCloutPanda (talk) 02:34, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

While it can be assumed from context, forgot to specify type bool alizard (talk) 02:37, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

Water

Along side Fire Water would be also useful which can be used for stuff like water guns, buckets and water balloons so like this could either be used as a state or trigger to set a state. LeCloutPanda (talk) 03:01, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

USFN has been using a system on top of this, where Float variables like "Water" can be layered on top of this to define how much water is in the space, and thus how quickly the wetness should accumulate. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 09:31, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Temperature

A float type spacial variable measured in Celsius. Would go good along with Fire. Virgil (talk)

This is probably better handled by the existing Temperature spatial variable using the quantity unit since you can parse it into whatever units you prefer, and quantities are stored as Doubles by default so it would be more accurate for sampling too. Venport (talk) 21:37, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

As conversions aren't simple, USFN has been primarily using the "Float as Celsius" standard proposed here, with another, Quantity-Based one in the same space: these standards stack somewhat well, the only annoyance being having to build for both. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 09:32, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Pressure

USFN has been using a Float called "Pressure", defined in Atmospheres, as this is easy to work with. Several others had also been using this before Quantity.Pressure was implemented and understood, and the two standards can easily be layered so Quantity.Pressure can be used as a fallback.

I would also like to propose a Dynamic "World/Pressure" variable be used for the default, as this is what we've been using to define the outside space. Perhaps a mention of "Area/Pressure" and "Room/Pressure" dynvars would be reasonable here too, as we have been using those since before Spatial Variables were announced, and still use them for a few systems. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 09:27, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Breathable Air

I need to bring this up on the Discord, but the USFN systems (mainly the Helmet) are going to require a variable to tell is if the air in an area is breathable or not. This would do well as a standard, so I'm proposing it here. Ours is mainly cosmetic - the helmet opens and there's an indication on the HUD - but I'm curious what other people might do with it if it's used elsewhere, and I'd like for other systems to be compatible. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 09:36, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Detectable Magnetism in Objects

Someone has asked me to make a Metal Detector type system for an activity, and I think that sort of thing would be especially useful for USFN's adventure game. There is no standard for this, but it would be great to set up as a spherical gradient Spatial Var, and it would really help if there were a standard one so metal detectors had compatibility. Looking for a name for it, I guess. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 09:40, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

CharacterParenter

A while back I made a User Culling / Parenting system with Spatial Variables which used a <Slot> var named "CharacterParenter". I've been slowly upgrading this system to handle better as I've learned better how to use it, and how well it works for not simply culling users but the items they spawn and for enforcing reparents that are necessary for interactions. I would like this to be considered a standard so more things can work with it. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 09:44, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Steam / Fog / Vapor

As part of some visual effects, USFN has a Spatial Var <Float>, currently called "Steam", for when an area is steamy and should thus fog up a visor. So far, we have either used this as a gradient for steam coming out of a pipe, or fading in and back out in an airlock to fog up the player's visor, which adds to the effect there. I think it would be good to standardize, and wonder if anyone has any other ideas for what it should be called. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 10:21, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

Lighting / Visibility

At some point, we'd like for the USFN NPC system to be able to account for darkness when looking for the player. It'd be useful to have some standardized variables for stuff like whether an area should be considered lit or otherwise obscured, possibly with floats. Nuki Raccoon (talk) 10:22, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

I think this should be linear with lumens 989onan (talk) 16:24, 3 August 2026 (UTC)