Create POP growth preset (dendritic / coral / lichen)
create_pop_growthBuild a visual growth system with reaction-diffusion using particle POPs. Choose from dendritic, coral, or lichen presets to create organic patterns.
Instructions
Build a POP-native reaction-diffusion / growth system inside a fresh baseCOMP. Three mode presets: 'dendritic' (sparse fibrous tendrils, low decay), 'coral' (dense outward accretion, mid decay, strong force), 'lichen' (patchy crust, high threshold emission clusters). A particle_pop emits points gated by a noise threshold; a noise_pop drives a force_pop vector field that biases their motion; a feedback_pop loop carries point state forward one cook so accumulation simulates organic growth. Output is a Null TOP via poptoSOP → geometryCOMP → renderTOP. POP chain delegated to buildPopChainScript. POPs are Experimental — par writes are fail-forward; result reports unverified op/par set. Warns when feedback_gain × (1 − decay) ≥ 1.0 (divergence risk).
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| mode | No | Preset selector — picks the default param bundle. 'dendritic': sparse fibrous tendrils; 'coral': dense outward accretion; 'lichen': patchy emission clusters. | dendritic |
| name | No | Container baseCOMP name. | pop_growth |
| parent_path | No | Parent COMP where the container is built. | /project1 |
| growth_rate | No | Particle birth rate per cook (drives particle_pop birth/rate par defensively). Overrides preset. | |
| decay | No | Per-frame multiplier applied through the feedback loop (1 − decay retained). Overrides preset. | |
| threshold | No | Emission gate: noise sample below threshold suppresses new births. Overrides preset. | |
| feedback_gain | No | Scale of the feedback contribution mixed back into the active POP each frame; >1 risks divergence. Overrides preset. | |
| force_scale | No | Amplitude of the noise-driven force_pop vector field. Overrides preset. | |
| noise_freq | No | Spatial frequency of the noise_pop. Overrides preset. | |
| seed | No | RNG seed for the noise. | |
| max_points | No | Safety cap on particle count (passed defensively as numpoints/maxparticles). | |
| resolution | No | Render TOP + Null TOP resolution [width, height]. | |
| expose_controls | No | Expose GrowthRate / Decay / Threshold / FeedbackGain knobs on the container. |