The 2.0 Update is still in review. Judging by our telemetry about 80 sessions have been played by the Microsoft Review team. So while we work away at version 2.1, I’d like to talk about the plains biome.

The plains are the most common biome in CraftWorld. This is because it is comprised of three biomes in total:

1) Wet Plains
2) Dry Plains
3) Temperate plains

Wheat in a forest, and a painting. PC screenshot, with some debug.

As mentioned previously, the biomes are based upon temperature and humidity. Areas such as the desert, with a high heat and low humidity as well as the freezing arctic live at the extremes of CraftWorld. But the mid ranged areas and where they cross over are what forms the plains biomes.

The plains are simple lands, with a sprinkling of trees,  and patches of various grasses, they form the default look and feel of CraftWorld’s terrain. Sugarcane can be found in the hotter areas such as the dry plains, whilst Hops grows where it is wetter. Grasses and wheat are a little less picky about placement.

You can observe the subtle change of these three biomes by keeping an eye on the grass. It bears a slight tint as the surrounding world warms or cools. As the biomes blend into one another, such as the desert and the dry plains, it is easy to assume that the finding of a material belonging to a specific biome (such as the cactus) with be instantly found on the border. This would be an incorrect assumption simple due to the fact the blocks suddenly change from grass to sand. The fact is that the biome borders are much more subtle despite their appearance,

In v2.0, plants are not bound by biome, although they may be bound by a block type. Eg. A Cactus will never naturally grow in dirt, only in sand. See keep an eye on these signs to know what kind of plains you are in, by checking out the trees, and soil type to know what you may find nearby. This means a lot for the farming system I am currently working on.

A few final notes on v2.1:
The controls have been improved, and should make the game a lot more easier to play in version 2.1.
We are aiming to kick off the weekly updates again, but that’s a lean target for a big system.

Be sure to post in our forums and leave plenty of feedback there!