Wow... when you almost exclusively played Tundra.. with frigid temps... the forest regions aren't much of a challenge...
You're right.
The tundra maps where there is no time of the year to plant vegetables and half of the time it is below -50 Celsius are one of the hardest challenges. I played this maps when i first bought the game and then started with the other zones which were much less difficult.
I've been playing a Boreal Forest Biome at 6k elevation and loving it. You have to cram all your outdoor growing into that tiny 2-3 months of tolerable weather and then move everything inside the mountain fortress for the long winter. It gives a bit of both worlds with some careful management necessary. Especially for me since my chosen cave start has no geothermal vents anywhere nearby at all.
Tundra was just too much for me, boring the other direction as in nothing outside so why ever go outside? It was all indoors and once I had hydroponics up was just as easy as year round growing anyways.
There needs to be something to even out the difficulty.
Like...
-Have wolves that wander in (without notification) that can attack survivors if you're not paying attention.
-Have insect swarms that, if they make contact with a colonist, give minor injuries that are easily infectious (so they need to be treated and possibly bedridden for a few days).
-In dry thunderstorms, give lightning an increased chance at hitting large/tall constructions (wind turbines, solar panels, mortars, etc.)
Or something. These are just ideas that popped into my head as I typed; I hadn't really thought on it.
What about Diseases?
Same here, "learned" to play on boreal forests, had to restart aplenty because of cold weather/lack or resources/plainly freezing to death. In the end, I finally figured a strategy to "win" the scenario.
Decided to start in temperate forests and/or mild ecosystems thereafter: piece of rimcake...
I love the cold and snow and the way the landscape changes through the seasons... Makes the whole game for me! The temperate forest look wonderful... Just not the challenge...
I was playing on an ice sheet and decided to enter dev mode to execute a coldsnap.
The temperature actually got warmer.
I always thought the different biomes should vary in difficulty. In fact, I'm not a huge fan of having different game modes, sub difficulties and biomes. I know it seems silly to dislike MORE options, but I'm a big fan of minimalism. In DF the difficulty is mostly determined by the location you're in. I'd prefer scrapping the sub difficulties all together, although I'm sure I'm in the minority.
I agree that in DF most of the challenge comes from PvE but in DF you also have a Good/Evil and Calm/Savage elements. You also need to deal with finding water or fighting cave dwellers
But I think you've missed a major danger of forest biomes, a forest fire can be devastating even if you don't build your colony out of timber
Especially after Alpha 9 Tundra becomes the hardest. Parkas was to OP before.
Tundras have some advantages too. Free freezer, mother nature is your freezer, and no need to chop Down many trees before you build stuff, and Wind Power rules. ;)
Quote from: Andy_Dandy on February 18, 2015, 09:34:22 AM
Especially after Alpha 9 Tundra becomes the hardest. Parkas was to OP before.
Tundras have some advantages too. Free freezer, mother nature is your freezer, and no need to chop down many trees before you build stuff, and Wind Power rules. ;) Also do not forget: No heatstrokes ever!
Quote from: hesoyam on February 18, 2015, 08:42:43 AMBut I think you've missed a major danger of forest biomes, a forest fire can be devastating even if you don't build your colony out of timber
Paving 2-3 squares around your buildings and fields makes the risk of fire negligible. If you're unlucky you might lose something but it won't spread beyond that immediate area.
^ Unless you run power lines or something over the flooring. Fire loves power lines!