environment

The environment namespace — 31 functions.

globals/environment/capture

environment.capture(x: number, y: number, z: number) -> boolean

Bake the scene into the environment from (x, y, z) as the single global reflection (slot 0 + one full-coverage probe). Every PBR surface reflects it. Queued — takes effect on the next frame. For multiple proximity-blended probes use the reflectionProbe system instead.

Parameters

• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

Returns boolean — True — the capture was queued.

environment.capture(0, 2, 0)

globals/environment/captureSky

environment.captureSky(x: number?, y: number?, z: number?) -> boolean

Render the SKY alone into the environment's sky slot from (x, y, z) and arm the sky fallback. A reflective surface no probe covers then reflects the sky rather than black, and a partially covered one blends the shortfall against it. The capture holds whatever the scene's sky draws — a gradient, a physical atmosphere, a skybox material — with no geometry in it, so it stays correct wherever the camera goes. Once captured, the slot follows the sky the scene draws: a sky that changes is recaptured from the same position. Queued — takes effect on the next frame.

Parameters

• x number (optional) — World X of the capture position. Defaults to 0.
• y number (optional) — World Y of the capture position — the altitude a height-dependent atmosphere is sampled at. Defaults to 0.
• z number (optional) — World Z of the capture position. Defaults to 0.

Returns boolean — True — the sky capture was queued.

environment.captureSky()

globals/environment/captureSlot

environment.captureSlot(slot: number, x: number, y: number, z: number) -> boolean

Bake the scene into reflection-probe slot from (x, y, z). Renders the FULL scene (geometry + sky) six times from that point into that slot. Register the probe's position+radius via setProbes so surfaces blend it by proximity. Queued — takes effect next frame.

Parameters

• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

Returns boolean — True — the capture was queued.

environment.captureSlot(0, 0, 2, 0)

globals/environment/captureSlotToAsset

environment.captureSlotToAsset(name: string, slot: number, x: number, y: number, z: number, timeoutFrames: number?) -> (string?, string?)

Bake the scene into reflection-probe slot from (x, y, z) AND persist the 6 rendered faces into a faces6 .texture cubemap asset at /source/<name>.texture/ (px/nx/py/ny/pz/nz PNGs + a cube.yaml sidecar). Survives an engine restart and syncs like any other texture. Yields a few frames while the bake + GPU readback complete; must be called from a task/coroutine context (component hook, task.spawn, or execute). NATIVE only — the wasm async-readback path is a tracked follow-up.

Parameters

• name string — Destination asset identity (writes /source/<name>.texture/).
• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.
• timeoutFrames number (optional) — Optional max frames to wait for the readback (default 180).

Returns (string?, string?) — The asset path on success, or (nil, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.captureSlotToAsset("probe_lobby", 0, 0, 2, 0)

globals/environment/captureToAsset

environment.captureToAsset(name: string, x: number, y: number, z: number) -> (string?, string?)

Bake the single global reflection AND persist it to a faces6 .texture asset (slot 0). Yields a few frames; call from a task/coroutine context.

Parameters

• name string — Destination asset identity (writes /source/<name>.texture/).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

Returns (string?, string?) — The asset path on success, or (nil, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.captureToAsset("env_main", 0, 2, 0)

globals/environment/ensureSkyFallback

environment.ensureSkyFallback() -> boolean

Ensure the scene's sky is in the environment's sky slot: a reflective surface no probe covers then reflects the sky rather than black, and a partially covered one blends the shortfall against it. Queues a capture when the sky slot holds none, and re-arms the fallback when a capture is there but switched off. The engine's own state answers both questions, so everything that stands a sky up can call this and one capture is shared between them. Once captured, the slot follows the sky the scene draws on its own.

Returns boolean — True if a capture was queued, false if the sky slot already holds one.

environment.ensureSkyFallback()

globals/environment/loadFromAsset

environment.loadFromAsset(name: string) -> (boolean, string?)

Load a persisted global reflection asset into slot 0 and make it the active single reflection (one full-coverage probe).

Parameters

• name string — Source asset identity (reads /source/<name>.texture/).

Returns (boolean, string?) — True on success, or (false, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.loadFromAsset("env_main")

globals/environment/loadSlotFromAsset

environment.loadSlotFromAsset(name: string, slot: number) -> (boolean, string?)

Load a persisted faces6 .texture cubemap (written by captureSlotToAsset) into reflection-probe slot WITHOUT re-rendering the scene. Reads the 6 face PNGs from /source/<name>.texture/ and uploads them into the slot's cube layers. How a persisted probe restores its baked environment on reload.

Parameters

• name string — Source asset identity (reads /source/<name>.texture/).
• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).

Returns (boolean, string?) — True on success, or (false, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.loadSlotFromAsset("probe_lobby", 0)

globals/environment/setProbes

environment.setProbes(probes: { any }) -> boolean

Set the active reflection probes' blend data. probes is an array of { x, y, z, radius } (or { position = {x,y,z}, radius = r }); index i is probe slot i. Surfaces blend the probe slots by proximity to these positions, gathering the highest priority first — each rank takes the coverage the ranks above it left, so a small interior probe ranked above a large exterior one wins outright wherever it reaches full weight. Coverage left over reflects the sky once captureSky has run. Queued for next frame.

Parameters

• probes { any } — Array of { x, y, z, radius, priority? }, one per active probe slot. priority defaults to 0.

Returns boolean — True — the probe data was queued.

environment.setProbes({ { x = 0, y = 2, z = 0, radius = 12 } })

globals/environment/setSkyFallback

environment.setSkyFallback(active: boolean) -> boolean

Arm or disarm the sky fallback against the sky already captured, with no recapture. Disarmed, reflections come from the probes alone. Arming is refused while the sky slot holds no capture (captureSky fills it), since an uncaptured slot reflects black; renderer.reflectionEnvironment() reports whether the fallback ended up armed.

Parameters

• active boolean — Whether reflections fall back to the captured sky.

Returns boolean — True — the change was queued.

environment.setSkyFallback(false)

modules/environment/README

require("@builtin/modules/api/engine/environment") -- environment (also available as global 'environment')

Environment / reflection capture — bake the scene into reflection-probe cube slots from world positions, persist them as faces6 .texture assets, and set per-probe blend data so surfaces reflect the nearest probe(s). Public Luau surface over the __environment Internal FFI namespace. The generic "render the scene into a cubemap from a point" capability the reflection probe system is built on.

Usage: local environment = require("@builtin/modules/api/engine/environment") Also available as global: environment

modules/environment/capture

capture(x: number, y: number, z: number): boolean

Bake the scene into the environment from (x, y, z) as the single global reflection (slot 0 + one full-coverage probe). Every PBR surface reflects it. Queued — takes effect on the next frame. For multiple proximity-blended probes use the reflectionProbe system instead.

Parameters

• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

environment.capture(0, 2, 0)

modules/environment/captureSky

captureSky(x: number?, y: number?, z: number?): boolean

Render the SKY alone into the environment's sky slot from (x, y, z) and arm the sky fallback. A reflective surface no probe covers then reflects the sky rather than black, and a partially covered one blends the shortfall against it. The capture holds whatever the scene's sky draws — a gradient, a physical atmosphere, a skybox material — with no geometry in it, so it stays correct wherever the camera goes. Once captured, the slot follows the sky the scene draws: a sky that changes is recaptured from the same position. Queued — takes effect on the next frame.

Parameters

• x number? (optional) — World X of the capture position. Defaults to 0.
• y number? (optional) — World Y of the capture position — the altitude a height-dependent atmosphere is sampled at. Defaults to 0.
• z number? (optional) — World Z of the capture position. Defaults to 0.

environment.captureSky()

modules/environment/captureSlot

captureSlot(slot: number, x: number, y: number, z: number): boolean

Bake the scene into reflection-probe slot from (x, y, z). Renders the FULL scene (geometry + sky) six times from that point into that slot. Register the probe's position+radius via setProbes so surfaces blend it by proximity. Queued — takes effect next frame.

Parameters

• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

environment.captureSlot(0, 0, 2, 0)

modules/environment/captureSlotToAsset

captureSlotToAsset(name: string, slot: number, x: number, y: number, z: number, timeoutFrames: number?): (string?, string?)

Bake the scene into reflection-probe slot from (x, y, z) AND persist the 6 rendered faces into a faces6 .texture cubemap asset at /source/<name>.texture/ (px/nx/py/ny/pz/nz PNGs + a cube.yaml sidecar). Survives an engine restart and syncs like any other texture. Yields a few frames while the bake + GPU readback complete; must be called from a task/coroutine context (component hook, task.spawn, or execute). NATIVE only — the wasm async-readback path is a tracked follow-up.

Parameters

• name string — Destination asset identity (writes /source/<name>.texture/).
• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.
• timeoutFrames number? (optional) — Optional max frames to wait for the readback (default 180).

environment.captureSlotToAsset("probe_lobby", 0, 0, 2, 0)

modules/environment/captureToAsset

captureToAsset(name: string, x: number, y: number, z: number): (string?, string?)

Bake the single global reflection AND persist it to a faces6 .texture asset (slot 0). Yields a few frames; call from a task/coroutine context.

Parameters

• name string — Destination asset identity (writes /source/<name>.texture/).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

environment.captureToAsset("env_main", 0, 2, 0)

modules/environment/ensureSkyFallback

ensureSkyFallback(): boolean

Ensure the scene's sky is in the environment's sky slot: a reflective surface no probe covers then reflects the sky rather than black, and a partially covered one blends the shortfall against it. Queues a capture when the sky slot holds none, and re-arms the fallback when a capture is there but switched off. The engine's own state answers both questions, so everything that stands a sky up can call this and one capture is shared between them. Once captured, the slot follows the sky the scene draws on its own.

environment.ensureSkyFallback()

modules/environment/loadFromAsset

loadFromAsset(name: string): (boolean, string?)

Load a persisted global reflection asset into slot 0 and make it the active single reflection (one full-coverage probe).

Parameters

• name string — Source asset identity (reads /source/<name>.texture/).

environment.loadFromAsset("env_main")

modules/environment/loadSlotFromAsset

loadSlotFromAsset(name: string, slot: number): (boolean, string?)

Load a persisted faces6 .texture cubemap (written by captureSlotToAsset) into reflection-probe slot WITHOUT re-rendering the scene. Reads the 6 face PNGs from /source/<name>.texture/ and uploads them into the slot's cube layers. How a persisted probe restores its baked environment on reload.

Parameters

• name string — Source asset identity (reads /source/<name>.texture/).
• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).

environment.loadSlotFromAsset("probe_lobby", 0)

modules/environment/setProbes

setProbes(probes: { any }): boolean

Set the active reflection probes' blend data. probes is an array of { x, y, z, radius } (or { position = {x,y,z}, radius = r }); index i is probe slot i. Surfaces blend the probe slots by proximity to these positions, gathering the highest priority first — each rank takes the coverage the ranks above it left, so a small interior probe ranked above a large exterior one wins outright wherever it reaches full weight. Coverage left over reflects the sky once captureSky has run. Queued for next frame.

Parameters

• probes { any } — Array of { x, y, z, radius, priority? }, one per active probe slot. priority defaults to 0.

environment.setProbes({ { x = 0, y = 2, z = 0, radius = 12 } })

modules/environment/setSkyFallback

setSkyFallback(active: boolean): boolean

Arm or disarm the sky fallback against the sky already captured, with no recapture. Disarmed, reflections come from the probes alone. Arming is refused while the sky slot holds no capture (captureSky fills it), since an uncaptured slot reflects black; renderer.reflectionEnvironment() reports whether the fallback ended up armed.

Parameters

• active boolean — Whether reflections fall back to the captured sky.

environment.setSkyFallback(false)

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/capture

environment.capture(x: number, y: number, z: number) -> boolean

Bake the scene into the environment from (x, y, z) as the single global reflection (slot 0 + one full-coverage probe). Every PBR surface reflects it. Queued — takes effect on the next frame. For multiple proximity-blended probes use the reflectionProbe system instead.

Parameters

• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

Returns boolean — True — the capture was queued.

environment.capture(0, 2, 0)

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/captureSky

environment.captureSky(x: number?, y: number?, z: number?) -> boolean

Render the SKY alone into the environment's sky slot from (x, y, z) and arm the sky fallback. A reflective surface no probe covers then reflects the sky rather than black, and a partially covered one blends the shortfall against it. The capture holds whatever the scene's sky draws — a gradient, a physical atmosphere, a skybox material — with no geometry in it, so it stays correct wherever the camera goes. Once captured, the slot follows the sky the scene draws: a sky that changes is recaptured from the same position. Queued — takes effect on the next frame.

Parameters

• x number (optional) — World X of the capture position. Defaults to 0.
• y number (optional) — World Y of the capture position — the altitude a height-dependent atmosphere is sampled at. Defaults to 0.
• z number (optional) — World Z of the capture position. Defaults to 0.

Returns boolean — True — the sky capture was queued.

environment.captureSky()

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/captureSlot

environment.captureSlot(slot: number, x: number, y: number, z: number) -> boolean

Bake the scene into reflection-probe slot from (x, y, z). Renders the FULL scene (geometry + sky) six times from that point into that slot. Register the probe's position+radius via setProbes so surfaces blend it by proximity. Queued — takes effect next frame.

Parameters

• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

Returns boolean — True — the capture was queued.

environment.captureSlot(0, 0, 2, 0)

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/captureSlotToAsset

environment.captureSlotToAsset(name: string, slot: number, x: number, y: number, z: number, timeoutFrames: number?) -> (string?, string?)

Bake the scene into reflection-probe slot from (x, y, z) AND persist the 6 rendered faces into a faces6 .texture cubemap asset at /source/<name>.texture/ (px/nx/py/ny/pz/nz PNGs + a cube.yaml sidecar). Survives an engine restart and syncs like any other texture. Yields a few frames while the bake + GPU readback complete; must be called from a task/coroutine context (component hook, task.spawn, or execute). NATIVE only — the wasm async-readback path is a tracked follow-up.

Parameters

• name string — Destination asset identity (writes /source/<name>.texture/).
• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.
• timeoutFrames number (optional) — Optional max frames to wait for the readback (default 180).

Returns (string?, string?) — The asset path on success, or (nil, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.captureSlotToAsset("probe_lobby", 0, 0, 2, 0)

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/captureToAsset

environment.captureToAsset(name: string, x: number, y: number, z: number) -> (string?, string?)

Bake the single global reflection AND persist it to a faces6 .texture asset (slot 0). Yields a few frames; call from a task/coroutine context.

Parameters

• name string — Destination asset identity (writes /source/<name>.texture/).
• x number — World X of the capture position.
• y number — World Y of the capture position.
• z number — World Z of the capture position.

Returns (string?, string?) — The asset path on success, or (nil, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.captureToAsset("env_main", 0, 2, 0)

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/ensureSkyFallback

environment.ensureSkyFallback() -> boolean

Ensure the scene's sky is in the environment's sky slot: a reflective surface no probe covers then reflects the sky rather than black, and a partially covered one blends the shortfall against it. Queues a capture when the sky slot holds none, and re-arms the fallback when a capture is there but switched off. The engine's own state answers both questions, so everything that stands a sky up can call this and one capture is shared between them. Once captured, the slot follows the sky the scene draws on its own.

Returns boolean — True if a capture was queued, false if the sky slot already holds one.

environment.ensureSkyFallback()

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/loadFromAsset

environment.loadFromAsset(name: string) -> (boolean, string?)

Load a persisted global reflection asset into slot 0 and make it the active single reflection (one full-coverage probe).

Parameters

• name string — Source asset identity (reads /source/<name>.texture/).

Returns (boolean, string?) — True on success, or (false, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.loadFromAsset("env_main")

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/loadSlotFromAsset

environment.loadSlotFromAsset(name: string, slot: number) -> (boolean, string?)

Load a persisted faces6 .texture cubemap (written by captureSlotToAsset) into reflection-probe slot WITHOUT re-rendering the scene. Reads the 6 face PNGs from /source/<name>.texture/ and uploads them into the slot's cube layers. How a persisted probe restores its baked environment on reload.

Parameters

• name string — Source asset identity (reads /source/<name>.texture/).
• slot number — Reflection-probe slot (0-based).

Returns (boolean, string?) — True on success, or (false, errorMessage) on failure.

environment.loadSlotFromAsset("probe_lobby", 0)

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/setProbes

environment.setProbes(probes: { any }) -> boolean

Set the active reflection probes' blend data. probes is an array of { x, y, z, radius } (or { position = {x,y,z}, radius = r }); index i is probe slot i. Surfaces blend the probe slots by proximity to these positions, gathering the highest priority first — each rank takes the coverage the ranks above it left, so a small interior probe ranked above a large exterior one wins outright wherever it reaches full weight. Coverage left over reflects the sky once captureSky has run. Queued for next frame.

Parameters

• probes { any } — Array of { x, y, z, radius, priority? }, one per active probe slot. priority defaults to 0.

Returns boolean — True — the probe data was queued.

environment.setProbes({ { x = 0, y = 2, z = 0, radius = 12 } })

typed/builtin//modules/api/engine/environment/environment/setSkyFallback

environment.setSkyFallback(active: boolean) -> boolean

Arm or disarm the sky fallback against the sky already captured, with no recapture. Disarmed, reflections come from the probes alone. Arming is refused while the sky slot holds no capture (captureSky fills it), since an uncaptured slot reflects black; renderer.reflectionEnvironment() reports whether the fallback ended up armed.

Parameters

• active boolean — Whether reflections fall back to the captured sky.

Returns boolean — True — the change was queued.

environment.setSkyFallback(false)