GreedyTile

A tile based pattern generation algorithm.

Examples

Source	Generated

Installation & Usage

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/GeEom/greedytile
cd greedytile
cargo install --path .

# Generate pattern from source image
greedytile input.png

# Process directory of images
greedytile ./patterns/

Options

Option	Description	Default	Without Option	With Option
--seed	Seed reproducible generation	42
--iterations	Maximum iterations	1000
--prefill	Use content of <input>_pre.png	disabled
--visualize	Generate placement animation	disabled
--width	Maximum pixel width	unbounded
--height	Maximum pixel height	unbounded
--rotate	Enable 90°/180°/270° tile rotations	disabled
--mirror	Enable tile reflection	disabled
--quiet	Suppress progress output	verbose
--no-skip	Process overwriting existing output	skip existing

Details

GreedyTile generates patterns by placing 3×3 tiles extracted from a source image. Weights for randomly selecting placement are influenced by several factors:

1. Entropy weighting: Prioritizes positions where fewer tile options are valid (similar to WFC)
2. Distance-based probabilities: Pixel distance patterns in the source are replicated in the output
3. Global balance correction: If pixels are under-represented then selection is biased towards the source balance
4. Deadlock recovery: If no choices exist which respect tiles, pixels in a local area are removed before continuing

Commentary

For efficiency, the global balance correction uses a normal distribution to approximate what should technically be a binomial distribution. The approximation becomes accurate at large counts where it matters most.

Limitations

• Fixed tile size: Currently hardcoded to sample 3×3 pixel tiles from the source
• Extensibility: Would be improved by a plugin interface for adding new probability rules