Worlds

A planet as seen on the planetary map.

Overview

A world is the location that a Sapiens game takes place in. Every world consists of a unique planet larger than Earth, generated by a seed.

Generation

When a player presses the "Create world" button on the main menu, they are shown a planet with a panel on the left showing its seed and the options that were used to create it.

By default, all sliders will be in the middle. The player can set the following options:

• World Name
• Seed
• Sea Level
• Rainfall
• Temperature
• Continent Size
• Continent Height
• Mountains
• Mountain Height

World Name

World names are pseudorandomly generated using a short list of Toki Pona nouns and adjectives to create a name. Often these names do not make that much sense when translated to English.

Continent Height

The Continent Height slider is a world customization feature in Sapiens that controls the average elevation of the game's land masses and the depth of the oceans.

Adjusting this feature alters the general topography of the continents and sea floors, influencing the formation of geographical features throughout the game world.

Effects of the Setting

Increased Continent Height

When this slider is set to higher values, it results in elevated continent interiors and deeper ocean depths. The terrain will feature more large-scale cliffs and high plateaus due to rivers cutting through these elevated landmasses. The higher altitude also contributes to colder temperatures across these raised areas.

Decreased Continent Height

Lower settings result in flatter continents and shallower ocean depths. The land will be generally less varied, with fewer high-altitude areas and fewer large-scale geographical features. The overall temperatures will be warmer due to the lower altitudes.

This feature allows players to introduce additional variability and complexity into their game world, affecting climate, biome distribution, and the availability of certain resources. It is an essential tool for players looking to create a unique and customized environment in Sapiens.

Trivia

• Every world in the game has a surface area of 884,279,719km² according to a graphic posted by Dave Frampton, the developer. This is 57.6% larger than the surface area of Earth in real life.
• In colder environments like the north pole, Sapiens will wear coats to keep themselves warm and the day/night cycle is fairly accurate to that of the real world, with winter days being very short and summer days very long.
• In hotter environments like the equator or desert, Sapiens are more likely to have a dark skin tone as they produce more melanin.