Seasonal Planning
The 100-day year creates a rhythm of abundance and scarcity. Planning around seasons is the foundation of colony management.
The Yearly Cycle
| Season | Days | Foraging | Regen | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring (Awakening) | 0-24 | ×1.0 | +2/dawn | Renewal. Spirit heals fastest. |
| Summer (Radiance) | 25-49 | ×1.5 | +1/dawn | Abundance. Best foraging season. |
| Autumn (Fading) | 50-74 | ×1.25 | +1/dawn | Good foraging still. Peak beauty terrain. |
| Winter (Stillness) | 75-99 | ×0.5 | Skip odd days | Scarcity. Spirit dormant. Survival mode. |
(Source: src/sim/climate.rs)
Winter Preparation Checklist
Winter is the most dangerous season. Prepare during Summer and Autumn:
- Food stockpile ≥ 15 — the Dummy Curator won't schedule revels in Winter unless food is above 15 (vs. 5 normally)
- At least 1 Dwelling — shelter from storms and cold. Elves without shelter get "Chilled" (-2 mood) when temperature drops below 25
- Garden(s) built — the forest spirit doesn't heal naturally in Winter. Gardens are the only calming mechanism (-2 per garden per dawn)
- 2+ Gatherers assigned — winter foraging yields only 60% of normal (30% with snow). You need more hands gathering
Spring Opportunities
Spring is the most generous season:
- Resource regen doubled (+2 per source per dawn vs. +1)
- Spirit heals twice as fast (-2 natural dawn decay vs. -1)
- Foraging ×1.0 — baseline rate (Summer at ×1.5 is actually the best foraging season)
- But: clearing forest in Spring angers the spirit more (+7 vs. +5 normally)
Strategy: clear forest in Summer/Autumn when the spirit penalty is lower (+5 vs. +7 in Spring). Summer's ×1.5 foraging is the best stockpiling window. Use Spring's natural healing to recover from any anger accumulated over Winter.
Seasonal Composition Effects
Seasons subtly influence genre selection:
| Season | Genre Tendency |
|---|---|
| Spring | Leans Traditional |
| Summer | Favors Radical |
| Autumn | Most varied |
| Winter | Favors Pastoral |
If you're pursuing a specific cultural direction via Artistic Direction, plan your composition pushes around favorable seasons.
Weather Awareness
Weather has 70% momentum — it tends to persist for a few days. Plan around multi-day patterns:
- Rain: outdoor elves get "Caught in rain" (-1 mood). Shelter helps.
- Storm: elves shelter indoors. Good for composers in Workshops, bad for Gatherers.
- Snow: foraging halved again (stacks with Winter penalty). But "Snow-covered landscape" gives +2 beauty mood.
- Fog: creative elves (Music > 5) get "Mysterious fog" (+1 mood, +1 nature inspiration). A hidden bonus for composers.
Interactions
- Seasons & Weather — full weather mechanics
- Resources — foraging yield formulas
- Forest Spirit — seasonal anger and calming
- Revels — revel scheduling constraints