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Your First City

Let's build your first WhookTown city! In this tutorial, you'll create a simple layout with a few buildings, then launch the 3D scene to see it come alive.

Step 1: Access the Map Builder

From the dashboard, click Map Builder in the Quick Actions section, or use the sidebar navigation.

Dashboard

Step 2: Name Your City

In the Map Builder, enter a name for your city in the City Name field. For example: "My Infrastructure".

Map Builder

Step 3: Set Grid Size

Adjust the grid dimensions using the Grid Size controls:

  • Width: 5-20 cells
  • Height: 5-20 cells

For your first city, try a 5x5 or 6x6 grid.

Step 4: Add Roads

  1. Select the Road tool from the Tools section
  2. Click on grid cells to draw roads
  3. Roads connect buildings visually and enable traffic flow

Road patterns

Try creating a simple cross pattern (+) or a loop for traffic to flow through.

Step 5: Place Buildings

  1. Browse the Building Palette on the left
  2. Buildings are organized by category:
    • Infrastructure: Windmill, Data Center, Tower, Pyramid, etc.
    • Residential: House A, B, C (different skyscraper styles)
    • Farm: Agricultural buildings and fields
  3. Click a building type to select it
  4. Set the Orientation (N/E/S/W) for the building's facing direction
  5. Click on a grid cell to place the building

Suggested First Buildings

Building Represents Size
Windmill Application server 1x1
Data Center Database cluster 3x3
Tower A API gateway 1x1
House B Microservice 2x2

Step 6: Configure Building Properties

  1. Click on a placed building to select it
  2. In the right panel, configure:
    • Name: A descriptive name (e.g., "Production API")
    • Description: What this building represents
    • Tags: Keywords for filtering (e.g., "production", "api")
    • Notes: Additional information

Building Properties

Step 7: Save Your Layout

Click the Save button in the top-right corner. Your layout is now saved and ready to use.

Step 8: Launch the 3D Scene

  1. Return to the Dashboard
  2. Click the Launch WhookTown button in the header
  3. A new tab opens with the 3D scene at scene.whook.town

Scene Launch

  1. Click anywhere on the "Click to Enter" screen to start
  2. Your city appears in 3D!

Step 9: Explore Your City

Use these controls to navigate:

Control Action
Left-click + drag Rotate view
Right-click + drag Pan view
Mouse wheel Zoom in/out
Click a building Show details

What's Next?

Now that you have a basic city, you can:

Control Buildings in Real-Time

Go to Control Center > Buildings to:

  • Change building status (Online/Warning/Critical/Offline)
  • Adjust activity levels (Slow/Normal/Fast)
  • Show/hide building labels

Add Traffic

In Control Center > Traffic:

  • Enable traffic to see Tron-style vehicles on your roads
  • Adjust density and speed

Create Camera Paths

In Control Center > Camera Path:

  • Define automated flyover paths through your city
  • Create cinematic sequences for presentations

Send Sensor Data

Integrate your monitoring tools to update buildings automatically:

# Using the CLI
wt sensor send --id <building-id> --status online --activity fast

# Using the API
curl -X POST https://sensor.whook.town/sensors \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id": "<building-id>", "status": "online", "activity": "normal"}'

Create Workflows

Use the Workflow Editor to automatically update building states based on conditions:

  • If Database is offline → Set API to critical
  • If all services online → Set Status Dashboard to online

Congratulations! You've created your first WhookTown city. Explore the Web App Guide to learn about all the features.