---
title: Creating Tile Groups Programmatically
framework: spritekit
role: article
role_heading: Article
path: spritekit/creating-tile-groups-programmatically
---

# Creating Tile Groups Programmatically

Paint tiles on a map by putting tile definitions in a group that you create in code.

## Overview

Overview To paint tiles on a map using a tile group, you call fill(with:) on the group. The fill behaviors you use depend on the type of group you make:  |   |   |   |  Create a Tile Group with a Single Tile Although a tile group is a container for multiple tiles, you can create one with a single tile, if you wish. Use the init(tileDefinition:) initializer, as shown in the following Swift code. let backgroundTexture = SKTexture(imageNamed: "BG.png") let backgroundDefinition = SKTileDefinition(texture: backgroundTexture) let backgroundGroup = SKTileGroup(tileDefinition: backgroundDefinition) Create a Heterogenous Tile Group with Random Placement For a tile group with more than one texture, use the init(rules:) initializer. The following code shows how you can create a tile group containing two definitions—one based on an image named RED.png and the other on an image named BLUE.png. let redTexture = SKTexture(imageNamed: "RED.png") let redDefinition = SKTileDefinition(texture: redTexture) redDefinition.placementWeight = 3   let blueTexture = SKTexture(imageNamed: "BLUE.png") let blueDefinition = SKTileDefinition(texture: blueTexture) blueDefinition.placementWeight = 1   let redBlueRule = SKTileGroupRule(adjacency: .adjacencyAll,                                                                    tileDefinitions: [redDefinition, blueDefinition]) let group = SKTileGroup(rules: [redBlueRule]) When a tile map node is supplied with a tile set using this group and its tiles are filled with the fill(with:) method, the placement weights control the random assignment of tiles. In this case, there are three times more red than blue tiles. Create a Tile Group Using Adjacency Rules To create a tile group that uses adjacency, you need to create a set of rules for each of the adjacency values. For a grid-based layout, you need 13 rules, as shown in the following illustration:

To create the tile group programmatically, create definitions and rules for each adjacency: let centerTileDefintion = SKTileDefinition(texture: SKTexture(imageNamed: "CENTER.png")) let centerRule = SKTileGroupRule(adjacency: .adjacencyAll,                                  tileDefinitions: [ centerTileDefintion ])   let upEdgeDefinition = SKTileDefinition(texture: SKTexture(imageNamed: "N.png")) let upEdgeRule = SKTileGroupRule(adjacency: .adjacencyUpEdge,                                  tileDefinitions: [ upEdgeDefinition ])   let downEdgeDefinition = SKTileDefinition(texture: SKTexture(imageNamed: "S.png")) let downEdgeRule = SKTileGroupRule(adjacency: .adjacencyDownEdge,                                    tileDefinitions: [ downEdgeDefinition ])

[...] The 13 rules are used to make a tile group: let group = SKTileGroup(rules: [centerRule, upEdgeRule, downEdgeRule, ...] With automapping enabled, when an individual tile is placed on the map using  setTileGroup(_:forColumn:row:), SpriteKit also sets the tile definitions for the surrounding tiles based on the group’s adjacency rules.

## See Also

### Creating Tile Groups

- [init(tileDefinition:)](spritekit/sktilegroup/init(tiledefinition:).md)
- [init(rules:)](spritekit/sktilegroup/init(rules:).md)