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v0.31:Biome

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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.

Worlds




Chasm · Desert · Forest · Glacier · Grassland · Lake · Mountain · Murky pool · Ocean · River · Savanna · Shrubland · Tundra · Wetland