Store Page
RimWorld
All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos Workshop News Guides Reviews

RimWorld

Store Page
RimWorld >  Workshop > m00nl1ght's Workshop > Biome Transitions > Discussions
Biome Transitions
Description Discussions2 Comments331 Change Notes
Temenat Jun 2, 2022 @ 1:56am
Suggestions to avoid redundant transitions
I'll start by saying that the amount of biome variance generated by this mod is immense and it is certainly a welcome addition to the game. Thanks for this and geological landforms.
I have a bad habit of finding issues in everything though, and I don't think the way it's implemented makes 100% sense. For example, imagine having a desert tile next to a forest tile. The desert tile has a transition with forest on the right side of the map, but at the same time the desert tile has a transition with desert on the left side. What's the real transition then? The one on the desert tile or the one on the forest tile? I just can't stop thinking about this. A way to avoid this could be to add an option for less sharp transitions that would scatter other biomes adjacent to a tile at random on the map instead of putting them on one side of the map. Another way would be to make automatically generated transition biome tiles. A third way would be to restrict the generation of transition features to ensure that (for example) if the desert tile gets it, the forest one doesn't.
Don't take this too seriously though, as the mod is already very enjoyable as it is and I can only thank you for it.
< >
Showing 1-7 of 7 comments
m00nl1ght  [developer] Jun 2, 2022 @ 4:45am 
Thanks for the suggestions!

Initially I actually went for the first option (more scattered/random transition) but I was not happy with the results, it looked more like overlapping patches than a natural biome transition.

The second option (special tiles for biome transitions) is really hard to implement without breaking many of Rimworld's features, because of how the vanilla code works. It probably would also break compatibility with many mods.

I did consider the third option (only have the transition on one "side" of the border) but that felt really arbitrary and was quite annoying while looking around for cool tiles.

So far I haven't really found a good solution for this, but maybe I can find a way to get the second one to work without breaking too much stuff.
#1
Temenat Jun 2, 2022 @ 8:29am 
Thanks for the quick answer.
In order to make the third option better maybe you could try adding a visual effect to the tiles with transitions on them (just like tiles with rivers have rivers flowing through them), in order to make people able to see which tiles have which transitions directly on the map. For example, a tile could look like a gemstone with seven regions (1 central + 6 sides), colored according to its main biome and transitions on each side. Those tiles would look like the tiles suggested for the second option, except they would be normal biomes with features and not a new kind of automatically generated biome (which might break stuff). Hope you find a solution eventually :steamthumbsup:
Last edited by Temenat; Jun 2, 2022 @ 8:29am
#2
m00nl1ght  [developer] Jun 2, 2022 @ 11:25am 
@Temenat

thanks, I really like that idea, definitely gonna try to implement something like that :steamthumbsup:
Last edited by m00nl1ght; Jun 2, 2022 @ 11:26am
#3
noghettoblastrs Jul 20, 2022 @ 9:22am 
If you do that can you make it a toggle? I like the map as it is and don't mind the "gamified transitions"
#4
m00nl1ght  [developer] Jul 20, 2022 @ 10:18am 
@noghettoblastrs

currently I have an early prototype for a world map overlay to visualize the more realistic transitions. still gonna be a while until it's ready for release.
and yes, it will definitely be an optional feature, with toggle option in mod settings.
#5
Nova☆ Dec 14, 2022 @ 1:53pm 
Totally necroposting here, but...

IRL biomes don't really have clear borders. The edge of a desert looks like 'slightly more sand and slightly less plants.'

So, instead of having a tile with a transition running through it, the most realistic option would be having *both* border tiles (the forest-by-desert and the desert-by-forest) being sandier and sparser than the forest, but greener and more arable than the desert.

The most realistic thing would be to have the transition spread over, like, 4 tiles or something, (i.e. checking all biomes up to two tiles away) but that would be super hard to implement. Best to just check for adjacent tiles when generating a map.

.. anyways, that's just my 2c. Awesome mod, glad I stumbled across it. :steamhappy:
#6
m00nl1ght  [developer] Apr 30, 2023 @ 4:03am 
I finally have an update on this: There is now an experimental option in the "Debug" tab of the Geological Landforms mod settings that enables unidirectional biome transitions.

It uses a technique very similar to what Temenat suggested here:

Originally posted by Temenat:
In order to make the third option better maybe you could try adding a visual effect to the tiles with transitions on them (just like tiles with rivers have rivers flowing through them), in order to make people able to see which tiles have which transitions directly on the map. For example, a tile could look like a gemstone with seven regions (1 central + 6 sides), colored according to its main biome and transitions on each side.

This feature is disabled by default for now, but you can test it out by enabling the experimental option. Feedback is much appreciated!
Last edited by m00nl1ght; Apr 30, 2023 @ 4:03am
#7
< >
Showing 1-7 of 7 comments
Per page: 1530 50