Chapter 9 — Perception Layers
Part III — Simulation Systems
How entities observe the world.
Topics
Section titled “Topics”- Sensory channels — sight, hearing, smell, tremorsense, thermal, network
- Perception filters — layers that determine what an entity detects
- Clarity model — 0.0 to 1.0 scale determining interpretation quality
- Cross-zone hearing — detecting events in adjacent zones
- Signal noise — environmental interference with perception
Objective Truth vs Perceived Truth
Section titled “Objective Truth vs Perceived Truth”The engine always knows what actually happened. But each entity perceives events through its own filters.
A perception check determines:
- Did the entity detect the event? (based on stats, sense type, difficulty)
- How clearly? (clarity score: full, partial, or none)
Clarity Interpretation
Section titled “Clarity Interpretation”| Clarity | Interpretation | What the Entity Knows |
|---|---|---|
| 0.8–1.0 | Full | Accurate details |
| 0.5–0.7 | Partial | Something happened, details unclear |
| 0.0–0.4 | None | Missed entirely |
Built-in Perception Layers
Section titled “Built-in Perception Layers”| Layer | Sense | Base Difficulty | Cross-Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| visual-movement | sight | 30 | no |
| visual-combat | sight | 20 | no |
| auditory-combat | hearing | 25 | yes |
| visual-defeat | sight | 15 | no |
Example
Section titled “Example”A guard in an adjacent room hears combat through the auditory layer (cross-zone). Their perception check succeeds at clarity 0.6 — partial interpretation. They know something violent happened nearby but not who was involved. Their cognition layer updates with a low-confidence belief about intruders. Their intent system shifts toward investigation.
No script triggered this chain. The systems produced it.