Biome Definitions

BIOME DEFINITIONS

The <biome_filename>.xml file goes in the vegetation folder beside the other folders for the package and should be formatted as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<BiomeRules>
    <!-- Define a single biome Rule -->
    <BiomeRule name="[BIOME NAME]" speciesInstancesPerHectar="NUM" onlyArtificialAreas="BOOL">
        <!-- Add one or more species to the biome -->
        <SpeciesList>
            <Species name="big_cactus" spawnRatio="1">
                <!-- Optional color multiplier tag to apply to this species -->
                <Color r="15" g="0.5" b="0.5"/>
            </Species>
        </SpeciesList>
        <!-- An optional list of EcoRegions where this biome will be used. -->
        <EcoRegionList>
            <EcoRegion name="[REGION NAME]"/>
        </EcoRegionList>
        <!-- An optional list of PotentialNaturalVegetation where this biome will be used. -->
        <PotentialNaturalVegetationList>
            <PotentialNaturalVegetation name="[NATURAL VEGETATION NAME]"/>
        </PotentialNaturalVegetationList>
    </BiomeRule>
    <!-- Further biome rules here -->
</BiomeRules>

Here you must include the <BiomeRules> element, and the rest of the XML is comprised of the elements listed on this page. You can find a complete example of a biome file here:

Biome Example

`<BiomeRules>`

This element is a container element for one or more <BiomeRule> elements. It has no attributes.

`<BiomeRule>`

This element is what is used to generate a rule for specific biomes about what species of vegetation is to be used within the biome. It can contain <SpeciesList>, <EcoRegionList>, and <PotentialNaturalVegetationList> sub-elements and has the following attributes:

Attribute	Description	Type	Required
`name`	A unique name for the biome.	String	Yes
`speciesInstancesPerHectar`	The number of vegetation instances in this biome, per hectare.	Integer	Yes
`onlyArtificialAreas`	This indicates whether the biome will only be used in artificial areas ("true") or not ("false") within the eco region.	Boolean	Yes
`artificialSurfacesScaleFactor`	If the biome is to be used on articifial surfaces within the eco region, then you can set this scale factor to make sure that vegetation spawned on these surfaces is smaller (or larger) than vegetation spawned on a "natural" surface. Default value is 1.	Float	No
`hideInEditor`	This option sets whether the biome will show in the scenery editor's biome picker ("false", default) or not ("true").	Boolean	No

`<SpeciesList>`

This element is a container element for one or more <Species> elements. It has no attributes.

`<Species>`

With this element you can define a single species that will be used to populate the biome being defined. This is a sub-element of the <SpeciesList> and you can have more than one of these elements to define multiple species to be spawned within a single biome. The element can contain the <Color /> sub-element and has the following attributes:

Attribute	Description	Type	Required
`name`	The name of the previously defined species to use. This is the name as set for the `<Species>` in the Species Definitions.	String	Yes
`spawnRatio`	This permits you to set an optional spawn ration for this species in this biome. Default is 1.	Float	No

`<Color />`

This optional sub-element of <Species> is used to define multiplier values for each of the colourt components of a species. This is a self-closing element with the following attributes:

Attribute	Description	Type	Required
`r`	The red color multiplier component.	Float	Yes
`g`	The green color multiplier component.		Yes
`b`	The blue color multiplier component.		Yes

`<EcoRegionList>`

This optional element is a container element for one or more <EcoRegion /> elements. It has no attributes. This element is used to add in specific Eco Regions where the biome species will be spawned, and can be used in conjunction with the <PotentialNaturalVegetationList> element, or on it's own.

`<EcoRegion />`

This element is used to define an Eco Region where the biome species will be spawned. This is a sub-element of <EcoRegionList> and has the following attribute:

Attribute	Description	Type	Required
`name`	The name of the Eco Region. This can be any one of the regions listed here: Eco Regions	String	Yes

`<PotentialNaturalVegetationList>`

This optional element is a container element for one or more <PotentialNaturalVegetation /> elements. It has no attributes. The natural vegetation types selected in the sub-elements within this element are generalised groupings of vegetation species based on the environment. These can be used on their own to define a very general biome that will be spread out over multiple areas of the simulation, or in conjunction with the <EcoRegionList> element to be used no only generally, but in specific eco-regions too.

`<PotentialNaturalVegetation />`

This element is used to define the kind of natural vegetation type that the biome species will belong to. This is a sub-element of <PotentialNaturalVegetationList> and has the following attribute:

Attribute	Description	Type	Required
`name`	The name of the vegetation group. This can be any one of the types listed here: Natural Vegetation Types	String	Yes