Docs

Control

Every decision Neonyte makes has a default. Press Give me the Signs with nothing else set and you get a complete street.

Three levels of control sit on top of those defaults: Adjustment Notes, the Advanced rows, and the VEXpression hooks. They reach the same decisions three different ways.

The three levels

Level Where it lives How exact When to use it
Adjustment Notes One text field in the Content tab Changes how likely things are Art-directing a whole street fast
Advanced rows 52 rows in Manual Overrides (Global), street-wide Sets one decision exactly Pinning one decision for the whole street
A sign's card The Note, Title, Subtitle and Business Group on each sign's card Sets one sign Steering one sign without touching the rest
VEXpression Two fields, VEXpression (Per Sign) and VEXpression Override Exact, per sign, can read the input geometry Per-sign control, or anything driven by the geometry

Precedence

Each level overrides the ones above it. An override replaces the value rather than blending with it. A card whose Note says yellow beats a street-wide Colour row set to something else. The status bar says which control overrode a note.

Order Source Effect
1 (weakest) Theme preset Sets the base weighting everything else starts from
2 Adjustment Notes Merged over the theme
3 Street-wide Advanced rows Overlay, replaces
4 The sign's own card (its Note, Title, Subtitle, Business Group) Overlay, replaces
5 Pre-plan VEXpression force_* Overlay, replaces - wins over everything above
6 (strongest) Post-plan VEXpression Runs after everything, on the finished plan - the last word before geometry is built

Every control at a glance

Every control, and the three ways to reach it. A blank cell means that control cannot be reached at that level; hardware has no pre-plan VEXpression hook, so change hardware from the post-plan VEXpression Override instead.

Section Control Parm VEXpression In a note
Aging Deterioration decay s@force_decay_mode fresh, immaculate, maintained
Aging Deterioration Amount decay_amt s@force_decay_amt abandoned, aged, battered, broken
Colour Colour families - - warmer, cooler, pastel, acid, jewel
Colour One palette for the street - - consistent, all the same, one palette
Content Business Type ga_type s@force_type adult, arcade, arcades, auto, only bars
Content Era ga_era s@force_era 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s
Content Name Form ga_form s@force_form acronym, acronyms, attested, categories
Content Script ga_script s@force_script arab, arabic, cantonese, cyrillic
Content Theme theme s@force_theme americana, brash, classy, cyber
Content Title Auto-Fit ga_txt_fit s@force_txt_fit fill the sign, leave the title alone
Content Title Offset X ga_txt_offx s@force_txt_offx nudge the title left, nudge the title right
Content Title Offset Y ga_txt_offy s@force_txt_offy nudge the title up, nudge the title down
Content Title Rotate ga_txt_rot s@force_txt_rot tilted, angled, slanted, level titles, straight titles
Content Title Tracking ga_txt_track s@force_txt_track tighter lettering, tight tracking, wider tracking, looser lettering, spaced out
Decor Background Decor ga_bg s@force_bg background decor, a backdrop
Decor Dashed Decor ga_dash s@force_dash dashed, dotted
Decor Decor Count ga_decor_n s@force_decor_n busier, busy, busiest, simplest, sparse
Decor Decor Family ga_ornaments s@force_ornaments arrow, arrows, badge, badges
Decor Decor Stroke Lines ga_strokes s@force_strokes thicker decor lines, thin decor lines
Hardware Backing ga_hw_l1 - panel, panels, plate, backboard, scaffolding
Hardware Backing Margin ga_hw_margin - tight margin, generous margin
Hardware Backing Size ga_hw_fit - fitted backing
Hardware Bracing ga_hw_brace - trussed, cross braced
Hardware Cable Runs ga_hw_cab_n - cable, cables, clean mounts, tidy mounts
Hardware Electrical Box Style ga_hw_eb_style - driver brick, led panel box
Hardware Electrical Boxes ga_hw_eb_n - electrical box, junction box
Hardware Frame Depth ga_hw_tr_base - deep frame, shallow frame
Hardware Member Section ga_hw_profile - square section
Hardware Metal Tone ga_hw_grey - dark metal, pale metal, bright metal
Hardware Minimal Run Count ga_hw_min_n - one run, two runs, three runs
Hardware Panel Edge ga_hw_edge - outset edge, inset edge, square edge
Hardware Part-Panel Division ga_hw_mix - top plate, bottom plate, left plate, right plate, band plate
Hardware Rim Frame ga_hw_frame - rim frame
Hardware Rivet Layout ga_hw_rivet - rivet, rivets
Hardware Roof Frame Bracing ga_hw_tr_brace - roof bracing
Hardware Roof Frame Count ga_hw_tr_n - roof frame
Hardware Roof Frame Purlins ga_hw_tr_tie - purlins
Hardware Sign Silhouette ga_hw_shape - rect shaped, rect signs, ellipse shaped, ellipse signs, rounded shaped
Hardware Standoff Count ga_hw_l3n - standoff, standoffs, spacers
Hardware Standoff Spacing ga_hw_l3pat - evenly spaced standoffs, standoffs in pairs
Hardware Standoffs Reach For The Wall ga_hw_l3fan - legs to the wall, standoffs to the wall
Hardware Sub-Frame ga_hw_l2 - spine frame, cross frame, ladder frame
Layout Alignment ga_align s@force_align centred titles, centered titles, left aligned, right aligned
Layout Composition ga_arch s@force_arch horizontal lockup, wordmark, split composition, mark only, emblem composition
Layout Icon Presence ga_icon s@force_icon icons, symbols, no icons
Layout Letter Swapped For Icon ga_glyph s@force_glyph letter swap, swap a letter, letter for an icon
Layout Named Layout ga_layout s@force_layout underlined, framed, with borders, bordered
Modifier Scale that strength - - a bit, slightly, very, way, max
Modifier Strength of a clause - - no, fewer, more, mostly, only
Scope Aim at a trade - - yellow on the bars, red for the diners
Scope Aim at part of the street - - big signs, the vertical ones, rooftop signs, every other sign
Scope Everything but - - except, apart from, other than
Type Brightness ga_emit s@force_emit blazing, blinding, bright, brighter
Type Colour ga_colors s@force_colors amber, amethyst, apricot, aqua, only red
Type Font Class ga_fontclass s@force_fontclass army, bold, cursive, deco
Type Font Style ga_font s@force_font army, bold, cursive, deco
Type Title Colour Policy ga_col_mode s@force_col_mode one colour per sign, one color per sign, single colour, single color, one colour titles
Type Tube Gauge ga_gauge s@force_gauge lightest gauge, fine gauge, medium gauge, fat gauge, heaviest gauge
Type Tube Thickness ga_radius s@force_radius beefy, bolder, boldest, bulky

Which one do I want

  • Adjustment Notes to art-direct a whole street fast, in plain language, without opening a single folder.
  • An Advanced row to pin one decision exactly across the street, when a note does not give you a strong enough guarantee. For one sign, use its card's Note.
  • A VEXpression for exact per-sign control, for a decision the rows and notes do not cover, or for anything that has to be driven by the input geometry itself rather than by a fixed rule.

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