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v0.31:Biome
| This article is about an older version of DF. |
A biome is a biotic area with homogeneous features, characterized by distinctive Template:Ls, Template:L and Template:L. A biome will also contain only one set of stone layers, though these usually expand beyond a single biome. Your Template:L will find different resources depending on which biomes they select when starting a fort.
Selecting a biome
Biomes are important when choosing a fortress location in order to understand your Template:L. Individual biomes, which form at least one map-tile of your embark location, can be cycled with the F#-keys; for example, an area with 3 biomes present can be cycled using F1, F2 and F3. The selected biome will be highlighted with flashing Xs on the Local Map, and the biome's information will be displayed on the right side of the screen.
Characteristics of biomes
Selecting different biomes gives you some ability to influence the difficulty of your game. Each biome has a different set of resources; the availability of Template:Ls, Template:L, certain Template:Ls or Template:Ls, and sometimes Template:L is specific to a particular biome, and different biomes may have different stone layers containing Template:L, Template:L, useful Template:Ls, or a high chance of Template:L. Template:Ls have a lot of Template:L, but no Template:L.
Generally it is advantageous to plot your embark Template:L at the convergence of multiple different biomes, the more the better (within reason) - which is made easier if you enlarge your starting embarkation area. However, it is not usually too hard to find three or four biomes using the default size.
Note: Making the starting plot larger will slow your game down considerably; likewise, a small embark area can dramatically increase framerate.
By making use of several biomes you can provide more resources for your fort. Making sure one of your biomes contains either a broadleaf or conifer Template:L will provide you with an ample supply of Template:Ls, even if the rest of your plot extends into badlands and Template:L.
All biomes also have some kind of "alignment" -- good, neutral, or evil -- and a degree of "savagery", which essentially measures how relatively peaceful the biome is. The combination of alignment and savagery is referred to as the biome's Template:L. However, a named region (which is a contiguous area of one category of biomes, such as Template:Ls or Template:Ls) will be either good, neutral, or evil. It is not uncommon to see a large mountain range with one alignment and a few mountains, disconnected from the main mountain range by a single region tile, with a different alignment. Therefore, the more biomes you have, the more likely it is to have combinations of different alignments and savageries, if so desired.
If your plot contains only Template:L, Template:L or Template:L biomes you will not be able to embark. The dwarves would have difficulty parking their Template:L on water, while mountains are too barren and remote to reach.
Available Biomes
| Biome | Token |
|---|---|
| Every biome | ALL_MAIN |
| Any land biome | ANY_LAND |
| Any not freezing biome | NOT_FREEZING |
| Any Template:L biome | ANY_TEMPERATE |
| Any Template:L biome | ANY_TROPICAL |
| Template:L | GLACIER |
| Any Template:L | ANY_DESERT |
| Template:L | DESERT_BADLAND |
| Template:L | DESERT_ROCK |
| Template:L | DESERT_SAND |
| Any Template:L | ANY_GRASSLAND |
| Template:L | TUNDRA |
| Template:L | GRASSLAND_TEMPERATE |
| Template:L | GRASSLAND_TROPICAL |
| Any Template:L | ANY_SHRUBLAND |
| Template:L | SHRUBLAND_TEMPERATE |
| Template:L | SHRUBLAND_TROPICAL |
| Any Template:L | ANY_SAVANNA |
| Template:L | SAVANNA_TEMPERATE |
| Template:L | SAVANNA_TROPICAL |
| Any Template:L | ANY_FOREST |
| Template:L | FOREST_TAIGA |
| Any temperate forest | ANY_TEMPERATE_FOREST |
| Any temperate broadleaf forest | ANY_TEMPERATE_BROADLEAF |
| Template:L | FOREST_TEMPERATE_BROADLEAF |
| Template:L | FOREST_TEMPERATE_CONIFER |
| Any tropical forest | ANY_TROPICAL_FOREST |
| Any tropical broadleaf forest | ANY_TROPICAL_BROADLEAF |
| Template:L | FOREST_TROPICAL_DRY_BROADLEAF |
| Template:L | FOREST_TROPICAL_MOIST_BROADLEAF |
| Template:L | FOREST_TROPICAL_CONIFER |
| Any Template:L | ANY_WETLAND |
| Template:L | SWAMP_MANGROVE |
| Template:L | SWAMP_TEMPERATE_FRESHWATER |
| Template:L | SWAMP_TEMPERATE_SALTWATER |
| Template:L | SWAMP_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER |
| Template:L | SWAMP_TROPICAL_SALTWATER |
| Template:L | MARSH_TEMPERATE_FRESHWATER |
| Template:L | MARSH_TEMPERATE_SALTWATER |
| Template:L | MARSH_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER |
| Template:L | MARSH_TROPICAL_SALTWATER |
| Any Template:L | ANY_POOL |
| Temperate brackish pool | POOL_TEMPERATE_BRACKISHWATER |
| Temperate freshwater pool | POOL_TEMPERATE_FRESHWATER |
| Temperate saltwater pool | POOL_TEMPERATE_SALTWATER |
| Tropical brackish pool | POOL_TROPICAL_BRACKISHWATER |
| Tropical freshwater pool | POOL_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER |
| Tropical saltwater pool | POOL_TROPICAL_SALTWATER |
| Any Template:L | ANY_LAKE |
| Temperate brackish lake | LAKE_TEMPERATE_BRACKISHWATER |
| Temperate freshwater lake | LAKE_TEMPERATE_FRESHWATER |
| Temperate saltwater lake | LAKE_TEMPERATE_SALTWATER |
| Tropical brackish lake | LAKE_TROPICAL_BRACKISHWATER |
| Tropical freshwater lake | LAKE_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER |
| Tropical saltwater lake | LAKE_TROPICAL_SALTWATER |
| Any Template:L | ANY_OCEAN |
| Arctic ocean | OCEAN_ARCTIC |
| Temperate ocean | OCEAN_TEMPERATE |
| Tropical ocean | OCEAN_TROPICAL |
| Any River | ANY_RIVER |
| Temperate brackish river | RIVER_TEMPERATE_BRACKISHWATER |
| Temperate freshwater river | RIVER_TEMPERATE_FRESHWATER |
| Temperate saltwater river | RIVER_TEMPERATE_SALTWATER |
| Tropical brackish river | RIVER_TROPICAL_BRACKISHWATER |
| Tropical freshwater river | RIVER_TROPICAL_FRESHWATER |
| Tropical saltwater river | RIVER_TROPICAL_SALTWATER |
| Underground Chasms | SUBTERRANEAN_CHASM |
| Lava | SUBTERRANEAN_LAVA |
| Underground Pools | SUBTERRANEAN_WATER |
| Template:L | MOUNTAIN |
Note: Biomes with "Any" in their names are general biomes - they do not exist in the game, but are provided for more easily allowing given creatures and plants to occur in multiple biomes.
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