Emitters and Scene Services

Some sensors query objects directly. Others require registered emitters or singleton scene services that define the stimuli available to sensing agents.

Luminance

Add Luminance Emitter to each gameplay light source that should contribute to sensing. Luminance Manager is added automatically when needed and determines whether ambient light contributes to the calculation.

Do not register purely decorative lights unless agents should react to them.

Surface

Create a Surface Type through Create > Opsive > Behavior Designer > Senses Pack > Surface Type.

Use Surface Manager to map textures to Surface Types. Alternatively, add Surface Identifier to a collider and assign the type explicitly. Use texture mapping for broad material rules and identifiers for project-authored exceptions.

Sound

Sound queries playing Audio Source components in the children of candidates selected by its detection modes. No separate sound emitter or manager registration is required. Configure the candidate filters, source volume and distance settings, and the sensor’s Audibility Threshold. A decorative source can be detected if it belongs to a selected candidate and its calculated sound level passes the threshold.

Temperature

Use Temperature Volume on a trigger to define a local temperature. Absolute volumes replace the local reading; Relative volumes add to the base Scene Temperature. The scene singleton can represent a changing baseline such as time of day.

Test overlapping volumes and additive scene transitions so agents always resolve the intended baseline and modifiers.

Trace

Trace Manager defines maximum world bounds and indexes emitted samples. In Play Mode, selecting it visualizes traces and their octree nodes.

Add Trace Emitter for blood, footprints, scent, or another trail. Choose emission spacing that allows a sensor to progress from one sample to the next without filling the index with redundant points. Dissipation Time should exceed the longest intended interruption when an agent must reacquire the trail later.

Keep manager bounds large enough for the playable trace area but not arbitrarily enormous.

Additive scene ownership

Keep manager and emitter lifetimes explicit. A scene service should not disappear while agents still reference stimuli from that scene. Verify manager creation, emitter registration, and sensing-agent enable order for every additive load and unload path.