Choosing a landing site¶
After the world generates, the world map opens so you can pick where your colony will be. Your job here is to find a tile you like and settle it. The navigation you learn here carries over to the same map you will use later for caravans and travel.
Moving around the map¶
Arrow keys move the cursor one tile at a time and the camera follows. When you move onto a tile, the mod announces the biome name and a short summary of conditions. Use this to get a quick read on the terrain as you explore.
A few shortcuts make navigation faster:
- R jumps the cursor to a random valid starting tile and reads its details. A generated world holds tens of thousands of tiles, so this lands you somewhere new each time you press it.
- Space re-announces the current tile.
- Ctrl+Up/Down/Left/Right jumps to the next biome boundary in that direction, useful for finding the edge of a desert or the start of a forest.
Reading tile details¶
When the cursor is on a tile, the number keys 1 through 5 each read a specific category of information. These are on-demand spot checks; much of this information is already announced as you arrow around, so you do not need to press these after every move.
- 1 reads growing conditions: the growing period, rainfall, forageability percentage and food type, whether animals can graze, and stone types available for mining.
- 2 reads movement and travel cost: movement difficulty (including any road multiplier and winter penalty), terrain and hilliness, elevation, roads, and rivers.
- 3 reads disease frequency: how often diseases strike here per year, plus pollution and haze data if the Biotech DLC is active.
- 4 reads time zone and global coordinates: the tile's latitude and longitude, and its UTC offset.
- 5 reads regions and landmarks: the region or feature name, plus any landmarks (DLC only).
For how each biome plays and what a good starting climate looks like, see the Biomes article on the RimWorld wiki.
Finding a site with the scanner¶
The scanner is the fastest way to locate anything on the map without arrowing across it. On the world map its categories include biomes, roads, and settlements. Switch categories with Ctrl+Page Up and Ctrl+Page Down, move between entries with Page Up and Page Down, and press Home to jump the cursor to the current entry.
When the scanner lands on a clump of related tiles (such as a biome spanning many tiles), it reports a tile count. Press Home once to jump to the nearest edge of the clump. If the clump has a distinct center, the mod offers a hint: press Home a second time to jump to the center.
To find neutral factions nearby, switch the scanner to the settlements category. The scanner announces each settlement's faction name and whether it is hostile or friendly.
For the full set of scanner keys, see The scanner.
Where you can and cannot settle¶
- You cannot settle on a tile already owned by a faction. The game will refuse and explain why.
- Settling within 5 tiles of another faction's settlement incurs a goodwill penalty for crowding them. Settle at least 5 tiles away to avoid it. There are no friendly factions to settle near at this stage: other factions are hostile or neutral.
If a tile is otherwise invalid (an ocean tile, for example), the game tells you when you try to settle.
Settling¶
When the cursor is on a tile you want, press Enter to settle there. The mod validates the tile first. If it is invalid, you hear why and stay on the map to pick somewhere else. If it is valid, you hear "Starting site selected" and move to the next screen.
If settling would affect a nearby faction's opinion of you, the game may prompt you to confirm. Confirm to proceed.
Next steps¶
After you settle, you choose who comes with you. See Creating your colonists.