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Tundra

From Dwarf Fortress Wiki
Revision as of 20:51, 12 April 2023 by Cali (talk | contribs) (→‎Creatures: Fixed reindeer sprite)
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This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

Not a good embarking area.
Some elk wandering through a desolate tundra.

Tundras are very cold, mostly flat biomes, essentially freezing grasslands with nearly no vegetation - unlike glaciers, though, they do not have a layer of ground ice. Rivers do not flow into tundras, and will in fact stop immediately on the tundra border - however, the elevation change will continue as if the river was still there. Any lakes and oceans in the same climatic region are covered in ice, staying frozen year-round or melting only at the peak of summer.

No trees grow in tundras - only three surface crops can tolerate the environment: bilberries, blueberries, and cranberries. Other surface crops will generally not be growable, even in an underground "greenhouse". If you have non-dwarven neighbors, they can still bring surface plant products, but you will be unable to do anything with the resulting seeds, other than cooking or trading them.

Embarking in a site with overlapping biomes may result in a river that only exists outside of the tundra. Such rivers will begin to flow normally when the temperature rises high enough, possibly causing the downstream end (if there is one) to drain off the map completely. Channeling should fix this temporarily (although the river will freeze again eventually).

Fortress construction

If you plan to start a fortress on a tundra, find a cavern as soon as possible. Caverns are vital, as they are the only source of wood other than trading. They also give easy access to water, which you would otherwise need to melt ice for.

Players are advised to empty their wagons, and move all their goods and population underground as soon as possible, because some tundras are cold enough for your dwarves to quickly freeze to death. Likewise, trade depots should also be built underground, and a tunnel to the edge of the map should be made with a road leading to the absolute edge (must be above-ground) and continuing underground to the depot, to encourage merchants to use it and to protect them from said cold.

Wildlife

Creatures

Name
Coyote sprite.png / c Coyote
Eagle sprite.png / e Eagle
Elk sprites anim.gif / E Elk
Great horned owl sprite.png / o Great horned owl
Muskox sprite.png / M Muskox
Peregrine falcon sprite.png / p Peregrine falcon
Polar bear sprite.png / B Polar bear
Porcupine sprite.png / p Porcupine
Reindeer sprite.png / R Reindeer
Raven sprite.png / r Raven
Snowy owl sprite.png / o Snowy owl
Stoat sprite.png / s Stoat
Weasel sprite.png / w Weasel
Wolf sprite.png / w Wolf

In savage tundras:

Name
Coyote man sprite.png / c Coyote man
Eagle man sprite.png / e Eagle man
Elk man sprites anim.gif / E Elk man
Giant coyote sprite.png / C Giant coyote
Giant eagle sprite.png / E Giant eagle
Giant elk sprite.png / E Giant elk
Giant great horned owl sprite.png / O Giant great horned owl
Giant muskox sprite.png / M Giant muskox
Giant peregrine falcon sprite.png / P Giant peregrine falcon
Eagle man sprite.png / B Giant polar bear
Giant porcupine sprite.png / P Giant porcupine
Giant raven sprite.png / R Giant raven
Giant snowy owl sprite.png / O Giant snowy owl
Giant stoat sprite.png / S Giant stoat
Giant weasel sprite.png / W Giant weasel
Giant wolf sprite.png / W Giant wolf
Great horned owl man sprite.png / o Great horned owl man
Muskox man sprite.png / M Muskox man
Peregrine falcon man sprite.png / p Peregrine falcon man
Polar bear man sprite.png / B Polar bear man
Porcupine man sprite.png / p Porcupine man
Raven man sprite.png / r Raven man
Snowy owl man sprite.png / o Snowy owl man
Stoat man sprite.png / s Stoat man
Weasel man sprite.png / w Weasel man
Wolf man sprite.png / w Wolf man
Yeti sprite.png / Y Yeti

In evil tundras:

Name
Blizzard man sprite.png / M Blizzard man
Ice wolf sprite.png / w Ice wolf

Vermin

In savage tundras:

Name
Two legged rhino lizard sprite.png / Two-legged rhino lizard

In good tundras:

Name
Fairy sprite.png / Fairy
Fluffy wambler sprite.png / Fluffy wambler
Pixie sprite.png / · Pixie

Vegetation

Shrubs

Name
Bilberry shrub sprite.png / " Bilberry
Blueberry shrub sprite.png / " Blueberry
Cranberry shrub sprite.png / " Cranberry

Grasses

Name
. Bentgrass
. Cloudberry
. Cottongrass
. Fescue grass
. Hair grass
. Meadow-grass
. Mountain avens
. White mountain heather

In good tundras:

Name
O Bubble bulb
. Downy grass

In evil tundras:

Name
O Staring eyeball
Wormy tendril
"Tundra" in other Languages Books-aj.svg aj ashton 01.svg
Dwarven: kekath
Elven: zepave
Goblin: strasnu
Human: tor
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