Real data / authored worlds / AI-assisted development

Kitbashing worlds
from real terrain.

Planetary heightmaps, volcano lidar and glacier scans become playable landscapes. A look inside the data, code and review loop behind Helios.

Explore the maps ↓Follow the process
Io patera built from Kīlauea terrain

Io / Kīlauea patera — Earth lidar, authored volcanic activity and simulated deposits.

01 / Find the landform

Research measured terrain that has the shapes the map needs. Review hillshades, heightmaps and scans.

02 / Compose the world

Blend measured relief, place scan modules and add procedural systems. Preserve scale and record each transplant.

03 / Look, critique, repeat

Claude builds tools and scene code. Fixed camera screenshots guide concrete revisions and the game port.

Nine maps to explore

Three Io scenes, two textured Europa game ports, three Moon regions and a Martian fissure field. The Moon additions include textured native galleries and measured-base viewers; the Tranquillitatis pit and Io/Mars scenes have full browser demos. Drag live scenes to orbit and scroll to zoom. Desktop WebGL2 is recommended. Full scan detail means a first load can be large.

Kīlauea patera terrain demo

Io / 2019 USGS lidar / Hawaiʻi

Kīlauea patera

Kīlauea’s collapsed summit becomes a patera: measured terraces, authored lava activity, simulated sulfur deposits.

Tarawera fissure terrain demo

Io / 1 m LINZ lidar / New Zealand

Tarawera fissure

Tarawera’s fissure chain supplies the structure. Lava fountains, flow composition and sulfur dressing give it an Io identity.

Krafla plume field terrain demo

Io / 2 m ArcticDEM / Iceland

Krafla plume field

Krafla provides the caldera. Transplanted pits, cones and flow relief meet procedural plume fallout and lava emission.

Europa textured scan-built terrain

Europa / Galileo DTM + terrestrial cliff scans

Conamara chaos

The accepted textured game port: real plate layout, jointed scan walls, salt crust, ice blocks and baked relief.

Tranquillitatis pit terrain demo

Moon / Kaguya TC + LROC NAC / Moon

Tranquillitatis pit

Measured mare relief and transplanted lunar features. The shaft and overhang are authored from pit measurements.

Cerberus twin fissures terrain demo

Mars / HiRISE + CTX / Mars

Cerberus twin fissures

Stereo topography supplies the fissures; scanned wall modules add faces a heightfield cannot describe well.

Shackleton ridge textured native terrain

Moon / LOLA + authored landforms + photographic detail

Shackleton ridge

Sunlit polar ridges and shadowed crater basins. Measured large-scale relief supports authored terraces, cold traps and construction sites.

Marius Hills / sinuous rille textured native terrain

Moon / LOLA + authored landforms + photographic detail

Marius Hills / sinuous rille

Measured mare and dome-field relief with an authored sinuous channel, pit, crossing spans and boulder-lined banks.

Open the working notebook

This is a selected showcase, not a release of the entire game or raw scan archive. Original code retains its upstream MIT notice. Browse the source repository on GitHub. The final license for new showcase code/documentation remains undecided.