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40d: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. (See the Template:L for more detail).
Understanding 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 and some exclusive 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.v0.28.181.40d
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. You might get wood from a forest, ore from a mountain, and flux from Template:L that just happen to have a flux layer; many other permutations are possible.
Any biome can have any set of Template:L; for example a Template:L could be Template:L, Template:L or Template:L. However, a named region (which is a contiguous area of one category of biomes, such as forests or wetlands) 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 several alignments, 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.
The exact process is unknown, but no relation has been found between biomes and the stone layers that lie deep beneath them in the same area block.
Available Biomes
Arctic
Temperate
- Template:L Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
- Temperate Template:L
Tropical
- Template:L Dry Template:L
- Tropical Wet Template:L
- Tropical Template:L
- Tropical Template:L
- Tropical Template:L
- Tropical Template:L
- Tropical Template:L
- Tropical Template:L
Biomes at World Generation
Biomes are created at Template:L based on the elevation, rainfall, and drainage of the tile as follows:
Biome | Elevation | Rainfall | Drainage |
---|---|---|---|
Water | 0-99 | Any | Any |
Sand Desert | 100-299 | 0-9 | 0-32 |
Rock Desert | 100-299 | 0-9 | 33-49 |
Desert Badlands A | 100-299 | 0-9 | 50-65 |
Desert Badlands B | 100-299 | 0-9 | 66-100 |
Grassland | 100-299 | 10-19 | 0-49 |
Savanna | 100-299 | 20-32 | 0-49 |
Marsh | 100-299 | 33-65 | 0-32 |
Shrubland | 100-299 | 33-65 | 33-49 |
Hills | 100-299 | 10-65 | 50-100 |
Swamp | 100-299 | 66-100 | 0-32 |
Forest | 100-299 | 66-100 | 33-100 |
Low Mountain | 300-332 | Any | Any |
Mountain | 333-365 | Any | Any |
High Mountain | 366-400 | Any | Any |
More visually, for just the middle elevations:
Rainfall | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0-9 | 10-19 | 20-32 | 33-65 | 66-100 | ||
Drainage | 0-32 | Sand Desert | Grassland | Savanna | Marsh | Swamp |
33-49 | Rock Desert | Scrubland | Forest | |||
50-65 | Badlands A | Hills | ||||
66-100 | Badlands B |
See Also
- Template:L for the possible values for Trees, Vegetation and Surroundings.
- Template:Les which are not a biome in Dwarf Fortress, but may provide important resources
- Template:L
Worlds | |
---|---|
Badlands · Desert · Flatland · Forest · Glacier · Lake · Marsh · Mountain · Murky pool · Ocean · River · Rocky wasteland · Sand desert · Swamp · Tundra |