Biome

Each planet is made up of a combination of Biomes, that each have their own appearance, color palette, and resources that spawn. Biomes can combine to create unique terrain for the player to explore.

 Sylva

• Purple Forests: Sylva's Purple Forests scatter the surface of the planet, marked with blue and purple Soil and tall trees that can sometimes contain Research Items. They are also a good source for early Ammonium.

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  A picture of Sylva's Purple Forest biome.

• Gray Mountains: The mountains of Sylva are peaks of gray soil capped with white that imitate snow. Scattered around are rocks, Bouncevine and deposits of Malachite and Graphite. Research Items can be found here, mainly on large rock pillars. This is the biome on Sylva that has the signal from the Probe Scanner. With their steep cliffs and blade-like ridges, this area's terrain is very difficult to navigate.

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  A picture of Sylva's Gray Mountains Biome.

• Flat Plains: The flat, verdant plains of Sylva span the entire planet, with a mix of green and brown soil. The flat open areas make the perfect location for players to set up and expand their bases.

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  A picture of Sylva's Flat Plains biome.

• Deep Ravines: Occasionally a deep ravine would crack through the surface of the planet, creating a natural way to see directly into the first underground layers. They can be hard to traverse early on, and hard to see with a risk of the player falling in before seeing them due to the small hills that surround them. The surrounding areas can contain small amounts of Graphite.

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  A picture of a Deep Ravine on Sylva. You can see a lower cave layer at the bottom of the ravine.

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  A picture of Sylva's Deep Ravines, you can see a EXO Dynamics Research Aid on the second cave layer.

• Mushroom Forest: Sylva's unique mantle layer biome is a vast Mushroom Forest, with red soil spanning the entire layer. From small, short fungi to tall mushroom trees, the Mushroom Forest can contain many surprises, also being the best source for large deposits of Malachite and Ammonium on Sylva.

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  A picture of the Mushroom Forest Biome on Sylva.

 Desolo

• Grey Plains: Desolo is covered in these flat plains that are situated above the craters, the soil is grey as the name suggests, and there are occasional spikes and rocks dotting the landscape. There are generally Compound and Resin and rarely Ammonium deposits located near to or next to the small craters, but apart from this there are very few other resources.This is the arguably the best biome to set up solar power, as there are no crater walls to obstruct the sun at certain angles, which is important as Desolo has an extremely short Day-Night cycle. The Apollo Lunar Module is also commonly found in this biome.

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  A picture of the grey plains on Desolo.

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  The Apollo lander in the grey plains on Desolo

• Small Craters: This is one of the most common biomes on Desolo, they have a yellow soil with orange streaks on the floor with grey from the Grey Plains seeping into some of the crater. There are generally small plants that can be harvested for organic growing in these craters, while Sphalerite, Compound and Resin are also commonly found in this biome. This is also one of the main biomes to find small wrecks and EXO Dynamics Research Aids.

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  A picture of a small Crater, taken from the grey plains on Desolo.

• Large Craters: These are similar to the Small Craters, with the same small plants and the same coloration as the Small Craters . They are larger than the small craters and often contain Resin and Compound. They also generally have small wrecks and EXO Dynamics Research Aids located near the sides of the Crater. As they have many resources it is advisable to build a base above on the Grey Plains next to one of these craters so that you have easy access to these resources while still having maximum solar power. This is also the main biome that the Gateway Chambers on Desolo are located.

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  A picture of a Large Crater on Desolo.

• Orange Cap Mountains: These mountains are few and far between with dark grey soil at the base ( with spikes that are also found in the grey plains biome) and an dark orange-yellow cap. They generally have a deposit of Resin, Compound, or Sphalerite located near or on the top of the mountain. You will notice that the signal from the Probe Scanner will direct you here, just as it seems to direct you to biomes that have the highest elevation on all other planets as well.

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  A picture of Desolo's Orange Cap Mountains Biome.

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  A picture of the Orange Cap Mountains taken near the peak.

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  A low laying Orange Cap Mountain on Desolo.

 Calidor

• The Great Desert: The Great Desert is the largest biome on Calidor, and is the best place to find Resin, and Compound. It has a light orange soil, similar to Earth's desert sand. There are many cacti and other desert plants scattered about, with many dunes that vary in height and shape. This is the best biome to build a rover in, as the land is smother than any other biome. The only disadvantages to building a base here are that there are a few Hazardous Flora living in this biome, (such as the one in the foreground of the second picture) and that the mesa's sometimes obstruct the sun at certain angles, blocking off the best power source.

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  A picture of Calidor's Great Desert.

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  Some of the many Flora in Calidor's Great Desert.

• The Mesas: The Mesas are the highest terrain on Calidor, and have a dark orange soil. They often have wolframite on the top of the Mesa, and other resources on the base of the mesa. They also have the same flora as the Cuboid Caves. As they are the highest elevated land on Calidor, it is advisable to place your solar panels here, as they will not be obstructed by any other terrain. As they have very few hazardous flora and have the advantage of maximum solar power, it is advisable to build a base here and have a ramp to the Great Desert nearby so that you get the best of both worlds. The Probe Scanner will direct you towards this biome.

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  A picture of Calidor's Mesas.

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  Another picture of Calidor's Mesas.

• Folded Forest: This biome is generally located near the mesas, and generally has the same soil coloration as the Great Desert. It generally also has some Resin or Compound nearby. It is known for it's odd organic trees, which look vaguely like folded umbrellas (this is why it is called the folded forest). There are sometimes small research samples located on the trees.

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  A picture of Calidor's Folded Forest.

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  A picture of Calidor's Folded Forest, taken near a mesa.

• Cuboid Caves: This biome is located in Calidor's Mantle layer and has a dark reddish-orange soil and have the same cubelike flora as the Mesas. This biome has the highest value research samples on Calidor, at roughly 200 bytes a piece. This biome occasionally has some wolframite, laterite, and malachite.

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  A picture of Calidor's Cuboid Caves, with some laterite in the background.

• Dark Canyons: These Canyons have a dark blue soil at the bottom and reddish soil on the surface level ground ( and on rare occasions yellow soil in some very low clefts of the canyon as shown on the first picture).This biome does not generally have many resources, but does have some research samples along the sides of the canyons as shown in the second picture.

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  A picture of Calidor's Dark Canyons, note the yellow clefts at the bottom.

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  Another picture of Calidor's Dark Canyons note the research samples along the side of the Canyon.

 Vesania

• Bubble Tree Forest: This forest is known for it's interesting trees that look vaguely like the blue colored trees that used to be found exclusively underground before patch 1.0, and appear to have a fruit resembling bubbles. There is also a flora that appears to be a variant of this plant found much more rarely in this biome, which has a thinner stem, is a bit smaller, and has the same fruit, which has a curious flashing pattern when it falls. The soil is a deep fuchsia color, with some darker shades of purple mixed in (very rarely orange soil forms as well on the absolute highest terrain). This forest has a decent amount of underbrush, but not as much as the asparagus forest, being a more open type of forest. It is almost always located on the highest elevated land on the planet, and as such is relatively rare. This is also the biome that the probe scanner will direct you to on this planet.

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  A picture of Vesanias Bubble Tree forest biome

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  A picture of Vesanias' Bubble Tree Forest biome near the Snailshell Slopes

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  A picture of a Pre-Alpha flora endemic to the caves of various planets

• The Flower Caves: This biome is located at the mantle layer of Vesania. The soil is a dark blue, and there are many flower like plants located throughout the cave system. When venturing into this biome, you'll probably want a floodlight or preferably a worklight, because light is very limited in comparison to most other mantle layers.

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  A picture of the Flower caves, note how dark it is, and the titanium deposit

• The Snailshell Slopes: This biome spans almost the entire planet, and the soil has a fuchsia tint. There are many "snailshells" found in this biome which in all actuality are just rock formations. This biome is similar to the Great Desert on Calidor, with various dunes and slopes. Compound and Resin are commonly found in this biome, although rarer resources also exist on occasion. Because of these resources and the relatively flat terrain, this is one of the best areas to build a base on Vesania.

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  The Snailshell slopes biome of Vesania

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  A more open area in the snailshell slopes

• The Floating Islands: This biome is relatively rare, the soil is dark purple or blue, with occasional patches of orange as well. It is one of the most unique biomes in the solar system, with this being the only biome with these sorts of gravity defying "islands". Resources are not very common on the ground below the islands, with the islands themselves having occasional deposits of Resin and Compound. This is a hard biome to build a base in, since the space on the islands is very limited and the ground (while relatively smooth) has few resources and the islands can block off solar panels at certain angles. One interesting thing to note is that the formations on the islands look very similar to the trunks of Asparagus trees, which could imply that something (such as a space snail) dug out the islands and the trees died due to lack of a proper root system.

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  A picture of the Floating Islands biome on Vesania, note the large wreck in the background

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  Another picture of the Floating Islands biome

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  An earlier version of this biome before 1.0

• The Purple Ravines: These are large valleys and ravines that rarely contain resources. The soil is generally fuchsia with patches of light purple. This area should only be explored on foot, with thrusters, or with a buggy, since the terrain is particularly harsh.

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  A picture of the purple ravines biome

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  A picture of the Purple Ravines biome, showing how harsh the terrain is

• Asparagus Tree Forest: This biome is located at about the same elevation as the Snailshell slopes, and is populated by this trees that vaguely resemble Asparagus. Its Soil is colored the same as the snailshell slopes. There is much more Flora here than in any other biome on the planet, and it is much denser than the Bubble Tree forest. This biome does not have as many resources as the other biomes, but you may occasionally stumble upon Resin and Compound. It, along with the snailshell slopes, cover more of the surface than the others biomes combined.

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  A picture of the Asparagus Tree Forest biome, note the popcoral that sometimes grow within this biome

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  Another picture of the Asparagus Tree Forest, you can see some "snailshells" that have ended up in the forest, showing that often biomes aren't separate, but often have some mixing near their edges

 Novus

• The Great Polka-Dot Craters: These large craters are fairly rare on Novus' surface, and generally contain a decent amount of resources such as Resin and Compound. It's soil is primarily colored light pink, and because of their circular shape can look like large pink polka dots from a great height or orbit. At least one Gateway Chamber is generally located in this biome, due to it being pretty flat overall.

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  Novus's Great Polka-Dot Crater biome, which often hosts a Gateway Chamber

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  The same crater from a different angle, at sunset. The Great Craters have a few smaller craters inside them, like the one at center left.

• The Pink-Tipped Mountains: This is some of the most dynamic terrain in the solar system, with extremely steep mountains and canyons, The soil is generally a light pink, with small patches of fuchsia on the peaks. Most valleys are very thin and have almost no driveable terrain, some valleys are slightly larger, and are generally more flat, and these areas also generally have more resources, however it is not advised to make any major base here due to the terrain surrounding them. This is also the biome that emits the signal for the Probe Scanner on Novus.

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  Novus's Pink-Tipped Mountains biome.

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  Caves are common in this biome. Note the Lithium deposit on the right.

• The Foggy Forest: This biome covers most of the moon, and has a purple colored soil. The forest is actually more of a woodland, with small patches of more dense vegetation scattered around what could be very small water reservoirs. This is a relatively good biome to build a base, with there being good resources such as Resin, Compound, and occasionally some graphite or ammonium, as well as wind power working very well here. As long as you are careful to avoid the small craters, this is one of the best areas to drive a buggy as well.

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  Novus's Foggy Forest biome. Lesser Craters like the one at left are a common obstacle here.

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  More of the Foggy Forest, with some resources and flora shown.

• Lesser Polka-Dot Craters: These craters are quite similar to the small craters biome on Desolo and also has a pink colored soil. They generally contain few resources, but sometimes you may find resin and/or some compound. They often function similarly to potholes, keeping your rovers from going as fast as they normally would.

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  A group of four Lesser Polka-Dot Craters on Novus's surface, amid the Foggy Forest.

 Glacio

• Tundra: Broad plains of snow, broken into a jigsaw of very flat areas separated by stair-step minor elevation changes, with occasional giant ramps leading to cliffs. Features large amounts of wreckage and deposits of Hematite, and ammonium, but few other resources. Clusters of Volatile Cataplants make some areas dangerous. Bases here should be dug into the ground or cliffs to avoid the constant howl of wind.

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  The Tundra biome on Glacio, showing the "stair-step" terrain common here.

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  More rolling Tundra terrain, showing resources.

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  One of the giant cliffs found in the biome.

• Thermal Valleys: Broad, deep depressions with dark gray and red soil, dotted with geysers. Features lush plant growth, frequent Resin and Compound deposits, and lots of EXO Research Aids. May be deep enough to cut into cave-layer resource deposits. It's a good idea to make a base here, due to the flat terrain and easy access to resources.

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  Terrain and resources of Glacio's Thermal Valley biome.

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  Thermal Valleys sometimes cut deep enough to expose cave-layer resource deposits.

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  This biome is a welcome change from the stark whiteness that dominates Glacio.

• Black Buttes: Small rugged mountains with dark grey soil, with narrow canyons winding between them. Watch out for possible hostile plants such as Boomalloons, which can frequently spawn here. This is also the biome that the Probe Scanner points to.

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  The Black Buttes biome on Glacio.

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  This biome is small, and can easily be driven around.

• Cage Tree Caverns: This is the biome located in the mantle layer of Glacio, filled with a forest of angular polyhedral cage-like trees with pulsing spheres inside. The blue-grey soil here is dotted with glowing cyan Research Items, which have a high Byte value (as per usual on Glacio). This biome is made dangerous by many Dull Hissbines and Volatile Cataplants, though the gravity is so low on this layer that the latter's bombs will often explode far overhead.

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  The upper layer of Glacio's Cage Tree Caverns. Only smaller trees and underbrush grow here.

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  The main Cage Tree forest towers high into the cavern.

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  The natural light level of this biome outside flashlight range.

 Atrox

• The Pits: Steep-walled lowlands with hard yellowish soil, forested with funguslike trees with bulbous rootballs and tall glowing-green stalks. This biome is very smooth making it easy to explore with small rovers. The main hazards here are clusters of Daggerroots, which are easy to spot due to their white coloration. Resin and Compound can be found here, but there is little Organic cover. Sturdysquash are found down here during autumn, which were used for the EXO Biofuel Obtainment Operation and EXO F.A.R.M. events.

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  The Pits biome on Atrox, seen from the rim.

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  This biome is smooth-floored and safe, but barren.

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  The Pits take on an eerie charm at night.

• Mud Plains: Flat grassy highlands littered with bulky acorn-shaped flora. The ground here is black, liberally splotched with shallow green depressions resembling scummy ponds. Volatile Attacti are common here, making exploration quite dangerous even by Rover.

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  The Mud Plains biome of Atrox. Note the Volatile Attactus.

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  Another view of the biome, showing common resources.

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  The Mud Plains cover most of the planet's surface.

• Yellow Hills: This biome has steep but smoothly rounded rolling hills with yellow soil. This biome has few dangerous flora, but hard to drive on and lacking many resources. They are generally the highest terrain in the nearby area (the Shattered Peaks are taller, but very rare).

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  The Yellow Hills biome of Atrox.

• Shattered Peaks: Great sheets and swirls of hard yellow rock, so heavily shot through with tunnels that it resembles swiss cheese. Floating shards of rock are common, though resource deposits are not. This biome is almost impossible to navigate, short of boring a tunnel through it with a Paver/Drill Rover or flying right over it with a VTOL. This is the biome that the Probe Scanner points to.

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  The Shattered Peaks biome of Atrox. Note the floating shards of rock.

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  The harshest terrain in the solar system, bar none.

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  Overhead view, showing the sheet-like landforms that are common here.

• Cauldron Caves: This biome is located in the mantle of Atrox, and is scattered with large Flora resembling giant cauldrons full of yellow tendrils. This biome is also very dangerous, as it contains many elegant spewflowers. The soil here is extremely hard, requiring a top-tier drill or drill mod (or massive quantities of dynamite or other explosives) to make progress through this biome.

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  The Cauldron Caves biome of Atrox.

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  This bizarre flora gives the Cauldron Caves their name.

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  Rogues' gallery of hostile flora in this biome. Daggeroots are present as well.

Notes

• Some biomes can overlap, creating unique terrain and making it seem like resources that spawn in one biome can spawn inside of another. In some cases this affects what certain Flora looks like, such as the pine-like trees on Sylva, which become a more tan-like color in the Grey Mountains, and a blueish-purple color on the Flat Plains