Circuit Trace Generators live

1 · Tiling router

circuit-background.js. An occupancy-grid router run on a torus, so the 900×450 tile it emits repeats in both axes with no visible seam and no two traces ever cross. That makes its output usable directly as a CSS background-image with background-repeat: repeat.

How a tile is built

1. placeFormations scatters terminal groups (via ladders and rows) across the grid. These are the pads everything else routes between.
2. routeNets runs A* between pins, weighted by a turn penalty (higher means longer, calmer runs) and a weave preference for 2-lane neighbour spacing, with a matching cramp aversion to 1-lane spacing outside bundles.
3. replicateWalk adds translated-copy bundle followers, so neighbouring traces bend together the way a real bus does.
4. tapCombs and routeStubs add comb and stub motifs as punctuation.
5. sealEnd enforces the via mandate: every trace starts and ends on a via, trimming blocked ends with per-step claim tracking.

Tuning

Twelve generation knobs, all sliders in the demo and kebab-case flags on the CLI: density, formations, busWidth, turnPenalty, weave, cramp, horizontalBias, netReach, jogBias, stubChance, inlineViaChance, combs.

Motion: the signal fountain

Every signal is mortal. A passive spawn timer (signalInterval, 240 ms) is the fountain: each tick, if the census is under maxSignals (12), a new signal appears near the cursor, runs to a trace-end via, then rolls its chain's survival. Passive and clicked chains decay at separate rates (hopSurvival 0.4 against burstSurvival 0.72). Presets: None (default), Fireflies, Swarm, Cursor sparks, Slow streams.

Progressive reveal

circuit-background-reveal.js grows the same geometry with Etch, Flood, Sweep, Bloom, or Scatter. A canvas layer draws only moving or cooling routes, then clears after the glow reaches zero and reveals the exact static SVG beneath it.

Headless CLI

node generate-tile.mjs --seed traces --out tile.svg
node generate-tile.mjs --seed foo --turn-penalty 0.8 --combs 0 --transparent > tile.svg

Seed traces yields 334 traces and 482 vias per tile.

2 · Field router

circuit-background-v9.js builds one continuous field at the mount's real dimensions. Version 9 separates geometry, obstacles, reveal, and ambient motion so each system can change without regenerating the others.

Routing and obstacles

fill, routeLength, horizontalFlow, flowAngle, diagonalFlow, longFlow, swirl, swirlScale, jogLength, channelAttraction, edgeDensity, featureScale. Obstacles can avoid, outline, or outline and wrap rectangles, ellipses, polygons, rings, and wordmarks. obstaclePreset: "adom" uses the built-in mark.

Reveal

• Instant mounts the finished field.
• Flow sweep grows each via-to-via route on a timed front.
• Scroll weave unlocks routes from page progress and can append new seeded world sections without moving existing geometry.

Ambient systems

• None mounts only the static SVG.
• Adom reflection sends a restrained brand-color sheen across a precomposed trace mask.
• Original conductor runs currents, nodes, packets, convoys, waves, and pointer wake.
• Routed field keeps the legacy spatial sweep and bloom system.
• Adom handshake caps sparse via-to-via request and acknowledgement transactions.

API

import { createCircuitBackground } from "./circuit-background-v9.js";

const circuit = createCircuitBackground(mount, {
  seed: "product-launch",
  obstaclePreset: "adom",
  obstacleMode: "outline-wrap",
  revealSystem: "scroll",
  continuousGeneration: true,
  animationSystem: "reflection",
  motion: true,
});
circuit.regenerate({ seed: "another-layout" });
const svg = circuit.exportSvg();  // static, no motion layers

generateCircuitField(options) returns deterministic geometry with no DOM. Each trace carries points, length,