Dungeon GE (2).txt:

J:
Explain to me how the "Mask" Actor flag works in Dungeon.

Ariel:
I’ll ground this in the Dungeon project context you’ve built up rather than guessing from generic game-engine terminology.

Thought for 12s

In Dungeon, Mask is an Actor property/flag used for runtime visibility control.

The core rule is:

When a Player unit has a populated Mask, actors with the same Mask value are hidden from view.

So, for example:

{
	"Name": "Player",
	"Mask": "darkness"
}

would hide actors like:

{
	"Name": "Hidden Trap",
	"Mask": "darkness"
}

while that player-controlled unit’s mask is active.

Important details:

Mask affects visibility only. It should not remove the actor, disable its logic, change collision, break interaction rules, or alter its stored state.

Masked actors still keep their normal ZIndex. Mask does not replace layering or hitbox ordering. The actor should still have the same render/hitbox priority rules when visible again.

Mask behavior must be invertible. That means Dungeon should support both “hide matching masks” and the opposite style, such as “only reveal matching masks” or “reveal through mask,” depending on the configured mode.

Mask can also support a float transparency/radius component, allowing softer effects such as:

{
	"Mask": "torchlight",
	"Mask Radius": 3.5
}

That lets the engine do things like transparent reveal, fog-of-war, or lack-of-illumination style masking instead of just hard show/hide.

Because Dungeon game logic should live in conditions.json, the exact mask modes, reveal radius behavior, inversion rules, and transparency handling should be defined there rather than hardcoded directly into the engine.

Also, because Receiver/Granter inheritance is evaluated before runtime behavior, a Mask inherited through a Granter should behave the same as a Mask placed directly on the Actor.

So the short mental model is:

Mask is a visibility filter. Player units carrying a mask affect which same-masked actors are visible, optionally with invertible reveal/hide modes and radius-based transparency, while leaving actor logic, collision, ZIndex, and persistence intact.

J:
Add this to the Dungeon GE Conditions Guide please.

Ariel:
I found the existing guide context: it’s a self-contained HTML “living rules contract” for Dungeon + GE maintainers, so I’ll add Mask as a conditions-driven Actor visibility rule without changing the guide’s structure/style.

Stopped thinking
Dungeon GE Conditions Guide.html
File

I’ll update the uploaded HTML directly and return a revised standalone file. I’m going to place the Mask details primarily under Actor Conditions, then add matching quick-reference, diagnostics, testing, and example-pack entries so the guide stays consistent.

Thought for 1m 12s

Done — I added the Mask Actor flag details to the uploaded Dungeon GE Conditions Guide, including Actor Conditions, Example Pack, Diagnostics, Validation, Testing, Rendering, and Quick Reference updates.

Download the updated HTML guide