Setup

beginner concepts

Setup Guide

This page covers how to position and configure the grid on your terrain or mesh object for the best visual and performance results.

Grid Center and Scale

Tip: For large terrains, avoid covering the entire surface. Instead, display only a portion of the grid around the player using gridCenter and gridScale.

Property	Range	Description
`gridCenter`	(-0.5, -0.5) to (0.5, 0.5)	Position of the grid center relative to the terrain. `(0, 0)` = terrain center, `(-0.5, 0.5)` = top-left corner.
`gridScale`	(0, 0) to (1, 1)	Size of the grid relative to the terrain. `(0.1, 0.1)` = 10% of terrain size.
`gridCenterWorldSpace`	World position	Sets the grid center using a world-space position. Useful for centering the grid on a character by assigning `transform.position`.

See demo scenes 10 and 10b for practical examples of dynamic grid positioning.

Elevation and Depth

The grid is a physically generated mesh that sits on top of the terrain. Precise offset control prevents z-fighting while keeping the grid flush with the surface.

Property	Description
Mesh Pivot	Appears only for custom meshes. Adjusts the local center offset if the mesh origin is not at (0,0,0).
Depth Offset	Controls Z-buffer offset for highlight surfaces (Colored Depth Offset) and grid lines (Mesh Depth Offset).
Elevation + Elevation Base	Combined Y-axis displacement. Elevation Base uses a numeric field for finer or larger values.
Min Elevation Multiplier	Controls the tiny Y-axis offset between the grid root, cell layer, and territory layer (~0.01). Reduce for very large terrain scales.
Camera Offset	Dynamically displaces the grid toward the camera. Updates automatically when the camera moves.
Normal Offset	Per-vertex displacement along the terrain normal. Makes the grid "wrap" around the terrain. Expensive — only use when needed.

Mesh-Based Terrains

When attaching TGS to a non-Unity-Terrain object (e.g., a mesh-based terrain), additional filter options appear:

Option	Description
Objects Name Prefix	Filter child objects by name prefix.
Objects Layer Mask	Filter objects by layer.
Search Global	When enabled, searches the entire scene for matching objects instead of only children.

Next Steps

Inspector Reference — complete property reference
Performance Tips — optimize for large grids
Scripting Support — position the grid dynamically from code

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