AgrarianGameArchive/Docs/Terrain/GroundZeroLandforms.md

Ground Zero Landform Pass

This pass classifies the selected Ground Zero 1 km tile from the extracted 1-meter DEM so terrain decisions are data-driven before gameplay polish begins.

Source

• Tile: gz_us_ca_pacifica_utm10n_e544_n4160
• DEM: Data/Terrain/Extracted/gz_us_ca_pacifica_utm10n_e544_n4160/gz_us_ca_pacifica_utm10n_e544_n4160_1m_dem_subset.tif
• Analysis: Data/Terrain/Analysis/gz_us_ca_pacifica_utm10n_e544_n4160/gz_us_ca_pacifica_utm10n_e544_n4160_landform_analysis.json

First-Pass Classification

• Hills: present.
• Mountains: not present inside this MVP tile.
• River: not confirmed from the DEM-only pass.
• Stream: not confirmed, but low drainage/search zones exist.
• Lake: not present.
• Coastline: absent inside this tile, as confirmed by the water/shoreline pass.

Handling Decisions

• Use hills and slope classes for movement modifiers, resource placement, and foliage density.
• Do not invent river, stream, lake, or coastline geometry from elevation alone.
• Use the possible drainage/freshwater search zone as a candidate area for later NHD or equivalent hydrography validation.
• Keep ocean, bathymetry, and coastline handling attached to west/southwest neighboring coastal tiles.

Gameplay Implications

• Favor flatter and gentler terrain for the spawn area, primitive shelter, and first resource cluster.
• Treat steep and very steep areas as future slow-travel or stamina-cost terrain.
• Use low coastal/valley areas as the search area for a later MVP freshwater source.
• Avoid placing a fake lake or river until a hydrography source confirms it.

Follow-Up

The next map pass should verify neighboring tile edge coordinates against the registry before multi-tile stitching, then continue into foliage and biome-appropriate natural resources for the Ground Zero tile.