Map

Map drives a parameter on another Natsura node, so the value changes across the tree instead of being one number for every branch. It doesn't change geometry: it works out a value, and a parameter points at it. One map can drive several parameters. Mapping covers the idea.

Making a map

Parameters that can be mapped have a map button beside them. Its menu offers Constant, Map, Map from attribute… (pick the attribute, then the level to read it from), Random, and Pick from network… to reuse a map already in the scene. Picking one creates a Map beside the node and points the parameter at it; the parameter then shows the map's path instead of a value. The new map starts from the parameter's current value (as its Value, the top of its Output Range, or its Max), not from the map's default. The same button unlinks it.

While a map is selected, the Natsura toolbar shows a button for each map node. Click Map (or Map Blend, Map If and the others), then Append (left) to put the new node before the selected map, or Insert (right) to splice it in after; with Insert it takes over the selected map's links. Map links are references, not wires. To see them in the network, pick Interface > Graph > Show Dependency Links on the display toolbar, or Show for Selected Nodes.

Modes

The choice on the map button's menu sets the mode: Map (and Map from attribute…), Constant or Random.

Map reads an attribute and remaps it. Attribute is the graph attribute to read, u by default, and Read From is the level it is read at, from Self up to Parent+4. Source Attribute Range is the span of values that matters, and Output Range is what those values become. The same attribute can hold a different value at each level, so if a map behaves oddly after a network edit, check Read From first. Mapping covers the ranges, the neg and pos buttons and the ramp.

Constant gives one Value everywhere: one shared number that several parameters can use.

Random gives each element its own value between Min and Max, shaped by a ramp when Use Ramp is on.

Chaining maps

A Map's input takes another map, and Blend Mode decides how this map's value combines with the incoming one: replace (the default, which ignores the input), add, minus, multiply, divide, max or min. Chaining lets a random spread sit on top of an attribute-driven base, or a map on the parent's u add to one on the branch's own. To combine maps in other ways, use Map Blend and Map If.

Options

The menu button at the top of the parameters holds display options (Use Quick Menu, Show String Fields, Force Passenger Override, Show Advanced Options), which can stay as they are.