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Starting a new game

Selecting New Colony from the main menu opens a short setup flow: choose a scenario, then a storyteller, difficulty, and save mode, then configure the world. This page covers those screens in order. The next two pages cover choosing a landing site and creating your colonists.

Each screen advances with Enter when you are done, and Escape goes back to the previous screen.

Choosing a scenario

A scenario sets the starting rules: who your colonists are, what equipment they begin with, and what conditions apply throughout the game. When the screen opens, the mod announces the current scenario's name, summary, and category.

Use Up and Down to move through the scenario list. The mod announces the name, summary, and category of each scenario as you navigate. Type letters to jump to a scenario by name (typeahead search).

The default, Crashlanded, starts you with three survivors and some basic supplies. The Rich Explorer starts with one well-equipped colonist; Lost Tribe starts with more people and less technology. The choice has a meaningful effect on the early game.

Reading the scenario details

Press Tab to switch to the detail panel for the selected scenario. The detail panel is a tree view listing the starting colonists, starting items, items scattered on the map, and any special conditions. Use Up and Down to move through the entries, Right to expand a node, and Left to collapse it. Press Tab or Escape to return to the scenario list.

Editing or copying a scenario

Press Alt+E to open the selected scenario in the editor. If the scenario is a built-in or another user's Workshop upload, the mod creates an editable copy for you and says so. If it is your own custom or Workshop scenario, it opens directly for editing.

The scenario editor is a separate page with its own navigation. When you are done in the editor, the screen returns you to the scenario list.

Selecting a scenario

Press Enter on the scenario list to confirm the highlighted scenario and advance to the next screen. If the Scenario Builder entry is selected, Enter opens the Scenario Builder instead.

Choosing a storyteller, difficulty, and save mode

This screen contains three sections cycled with Tab and Shift+Tab: storyteller, difficulty, and save mode. The mod announces which section you are in when you switch.

Within each section, press Up and Down to move between options, and type to search by name.

Storyteller

The storyteller controls the pacing and style of events that hit your colony.

  • Cassandra Classic sends a steadily escalating challenge. This is the default and the most common choice.
  • Phoebe Chillax spaces events out and gives more breathing room. A calmer pace if you want to build without constant pressure.
  • Randy Random does whatever it wants. Sometimes quiet, sometimes three raids in a row.

For the differences in how each storyteller behaves, see the Storyteller article on the RimWorld wiki.

Difficulty

Press Tab to move to the difficulty section, then Up and Down to choose. Each option reads its name and a short description.

There is also a Custom difficulty option. Press Enter on Custom to open the custom difficulty editor, which exposes individual sliders for threat scale, population cap, disease frequency, trade prices, and many other factors. You can adjust these sliders at any time during a running save, so there is no pressure to get them exactly right before you start.

For a description of what each preset difficulty changes, see the Difficulty article on the RimWorld wiki.

Save mode

Press Tab to move to the save mode section, then Up and Down to choose:

  • Reload anytime lets you save and load freely.
  • Commitment mode keeps a single rolling save you cannot reload. Events are permanent.

When all three sections are set, press Enter to advance to the world configuration screen.

Anomaly settings (Anomaly DLC)

If the Anomaly DLC is active, a fourth section appears after save mode. Press Tab to reach it. The Anomaly Settings dialog is already open at that point, so there is nothing to confirm to open it: you are placed directly in the dialog, which lets you set the anomaly playstyle and adjust related sliders. Press Alt+S to accept your changes, or Escape to discard them and return to the storyteller screen.

World configuration

This screen lets you set the world seed and adjust parameters such as planet coverage, rainfall, and temperature. It is a list of sliders; press Up and Down to move between them and Left and Right to adjust the current one. Press Enter on the Seed field to type a seed directly.

The defaults produce a valid world, and the seed is randomized automatically. This screen is mainly useful for experienced players who want a specific type of world.

Press Enter to generate the world. After generation, the world map opens for you to choose a landing site.

For information about how world generation parameters affect the planet, see the World generation article on the RimWorld wiki.

Next steps