Advanced Shapes

16. Lathe Shapes

Lathe shapes are surfaces of revolution — defined by a 2D profile curve that's rotated around the Y axis.

The Lathe Profile inspector showing profile curve points, shell settings, caps, and a real-time 3D preview.

Built-in Lathe Shapes

PileGen includes 40+ lathe profiles organized by category:

• •Bottles — Wine, beer, spirits, potion bottles
• •Cans — Soda cans, tin cans, paint cans
• •Jars — Mason jars, apothecary jars, cookie jars
• •Kitchen — Cups, bowls, pitchers, teapots
• •Industrial — Pipes, funnels, containers
• •Architectural — Columns, pillars, balusters
• •Fantasy — Potion flasks, chalices, urns
• •Utility — Buckets, barrels, vases
• •Debris — Broken pottery, shards

Creating a Lathe Profile

1. •Assets > Create > PileGen > Lathe Profile (or MeshGen > Container Settings)
2. •Edit the Profile Points — each point defines (radius, height)
3. •Adjust Segments (radial resolution) and Rows (vertical resolution)
4. •The preview updates in real-time

Using in a Shape Rule

1. •Set the shape's Base Primitive to Lathe
2. •Assign your Lathe Profile (Container Settings) asset

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17. Compound Shapes

Compound shapes are multi-part objects assembled from multiple primitives, each with its own transform offset, material, and palette settings.

The Compound Shape inspector showing a multi-part assembled object with sub-shapes and preview.

Sub-Shape Properties

Each sub-shape has:

• •Type — Any primitive (Cube, Cylinder, Lathe, Extrude, etc.)
• •Local Position / Rotation / Scale — Offset from the assembly pivot
• •Scale Multiplier — Uniform scale for this sub-shape
• •Material — Per-sub-shape material override (Standard mode)
• •Palette Offset — Fixed palette index offset (LowPoly mode), e.g. Trunk=0, Leaves=+2
• •Palette Jitter — Random palette index variation per instance (±N slots)
• •Arc Degrees — For cylindrical sub-shapes (360 = full, 180 = half)
• •Pivot Y Offset — Vertical pivot alignment

Built-in Compound Shapes

• •Wooden Crate — Box with internal slats
• •Wooden Pallet — Flat platform with support beams
• •Wooden Chair — Seat with legs and back
• •Wooden Table — Flat top with four legs

Creating a Compound Profile

1. •Assets > Create > PileGen > Compound Profile
2. •Add Sub Shapes — each is a primitive with position, rotation, and scale offsets
3. •Preview updates in real-time

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22. Extrude & Rock Primitives

Extrude

Creates a 3D mesh by sweeping a 2D silhouette curve along a 3D Bézier path.

The Extrude primitive inspector showing silhouette drawing, path control points, and taper/twist.

Extrude with mirror symmetry and pattern-based silhouette for a decorative cross-section.

• •Silhouette Curve: Defines the cross-section (circular, square, custom polygon)
• •Path Curve: Interactive Bézier points defining the extrusion sweep
• •Taper/Twist: Profile-driven tapering and twisting over the sweep length
• •Mirror X / Y: Automatically duplicates and reflects your drawn shape across the horizontal or vertical axes (4-way symmetry supported)
• •Clip to Axis / Snap: When enabled alongside mirroring, slices the shape exactly at mirror axes using Sutherland-Hodgman clipping. Guarantees seamless fusing without hidden internal geometry.

Rock

Generates a unique convex hull for every instance.

• •Voronoi Basing: Base shape is derived from multi-point Voronoi cells
• •Feature Points: Number of base shape anchor points
• •Snap Grid: Quantize vertices for a more angular, faceted look
• •Flatness: Vertical compression for flat path stones
• •Jitter: Vertex noise magnitude for surface irregularity

Rock Presets (Quick-Add):

• •Rock Cluster: Interlocking groups of 3-4 rocks for natural formations
• •Path Stone: Flat, chunky stones optimized for low-poly walkways
• •Stone Pillar: Tall, vertical monoliths/menhirs
• •Pebbles: Clustered tiny river stones
• •Sharp Rubble: Highly faceted, craggy debris chunks

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23. Shape Modifiers

Shape Modifiers are procedural operations applied after the base mesh is generated but before it's placed. They can be stacked and reordered in any combination.

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