Worlds


 * Not to be confused with the biomes.
 * For the automatically generated list of all worlds, see Category: Worlds.
 * For the type, size, weather, topography and difficulty of each world in the campaign, see Campaign - Settings.

A world is an environment or dimension composed of blocks where dwarfs do their activities and missions.

These blocks are randomly generated just before the first dwarf arrives in the said dimension.

Dwarfs come from their homeland to a world through a special portal that opens near the main stockpile.

Types
There are four different worlds that can be chosen for a custom game (single or multiplayer) or be played in a pre-set sequence in the campaign.

Below, each world with its title:

Composition
All worlds are generally composed with air on top, sea on both sides and various earth layers in the large middle. These earth layers are the deposit of minerals like iron, silver, gold and mithril, as well as crystals of various colors.

Columns of indestructible rock separate the earth from the seas.

In the Underground World, floating islands (around five) will appear in the air and there is no sea. The right and left edges of the map are delimited with the indestructible rock from top to bottom.

Surface of the world
The contact with the first earth layer and the air is called the surface of the world. This is where the flora grows and animals and some monsters spawn.

In the Forest, the Desert and the Underground Worlds water from the rain will occasionally form water ponds, specially if it falls over a large stone surface. In the Snow World, snow will fall instead, forming a one-to-three blocks-high snow layer over the entire surface. Some bushes will grow from snow blocks.

In the Desert World, there is no first earth layer. A thin sand layer will cover the major part of the surface, allowing a steppe-like vegetation growth. In the Desert, the second earth layer will sometimes appear in the surface, allowing the natural spawming of palms. An artificial first earth layer can be created by dwarfs to facilitate the growth of more palms.

Under all earth layers there is lava, and just above the lava, an area where everything - except background blocks and creatures - will burn.

Features
Each world type has a specific flora, fauna and foraged food.

The Snow World has specific furniture and traps.

The Desert and the Snow Worlds have specific weather events and initial clothes.

The Snow and the Underground Worlds have specific raw and processed materials.

The Desert and the Underground Worlds have specific locales.

And only the Underground World has a specific tech tree with particular armors, weapons and food recipes.

Settings
The following topics are all configurable parameters while creating a custom game, with the exception of topography.

Sizes

 * See the main article World size.

Regarding the size, worlds can be: The Underground World is an exception: it can only be large.
 * small,
 * medium or
 * large.

Weather events
Weather events always include:
 * rain, in the Forest, Desert and Underground Worlds,
 * snow, in the Snow World, and
 * tornados, in the Desert World.

And the frequency of these events can be:
 * rare,
 * average and
 * frequent.

Topography
Topography is a pre-set characteristic that only appears in campaign games and cannot be configured by any means.

It can be seen:
 * by pressing ESC while in a campaign game or
 * choosing a world in a saved game.

Difficulty

 * See the main article Difficulty levels.

And concerning the difficulty level, worlds can be:
 * very easy,
 * easy,
 * normal,
 * hard,
 * very hard or
 * nightmare.