About 4 minutes

Terrain and vegetation colours

The base map uses colour to separate water depth, national territory, lowlands and mountain elevation. Within your country, elevation and moisture together shape the land colours.

Applies to game version 0.1.13

The quick map key

Ocean and waterBlue; darker means deeper.

Foreign landNeutral grey outside your territory.

Your lowlandsGreen bands shaped by elevation and moisture.

Your mountainsWarm cream through pale alpine rock and white peaks.

Ocean and water depth

Water is divided into four flat blue bands. The colour becomes lighter as the water becomes shallower. Coastlines are smoothly blended at their edge, so a narrow transition may appear between the last water pixel and the first land pixel.

Deep oceanThe deepest open-water band.#8BBBD6

Open waterDeep-to-mid-depth water.#B6DFF7

Coastal waterWater approaching the coast.#CDE9F9

Shallow waterThe lightest water immediately beside land and in shallow areas.#E4F4FD

Beaches and steep coasts

Beach · #F1D7A2

Flat, very low land beside the open sea can receive this sand colour.

The beach band can extend a few cells inland on a low, gentle coast. It becomes narrower as the slope rises. A steep cliff can therefore meet grass or rock directly, without a visible beach.

Only water connected to the map edge counts as open sea for beach generation. Inland lakes use water colours but do not create an ocean beach band.

Your land and foreign land

LowlandFoothillAlpine

Your territory

Shows the complete lowland, vegetation and mountain palette.

Foreign land

Foreign territory · #C8C8C8

Uses one neutral grey regardless of local elevation or moisture.

The national border is anti-aliased, so a thin visual blend can appear exactly along the boundary. This is edge smoothing, not a third type of territory.

Lowland, vegetation and mountain bands

Your territory uses seven land bands. The first three are green lowlands; the next three describe increasingly high mountain terrain; the highest band is white.

1234567Lower and greenerHigher and paler

Moist or low lowlandThe strongest green used across the low-elevation belt.#B6D37A

LowlandAn intermediate lowland and vegetation band.#C7DC90

Upper lowlandThe lightest green before mountain colours begin.#DEE9B4

FoothillsThe first warm mountain-elevation band.#FDF0CC

RockHigher and more exposed mountain terrain.#FBE3B6

Alpine rockVery high, pale mountain terrain.#F8F1DD

Highest peaksThe top elevation band.#FFFFFF

How moisture changes the green belt

Vegetation is not painted as an independent icon or transparent overlay. Instead, moisture slightly shifts where the green elevation bands end.

DrierMountain colours begin sooner

At the same elevation, drier ground is more likely to move into a paler band.

WetterGreen extends higher

Moister ground can retain a green lowland colour farther up the elevation range.

This means colour is a combined terrain signal. A slightly different green does not represent a named forest type, agricultural zone or land-use category.

How to read the base map

Start with ownership.Grey land is foreign; coloured land belongs to your nation.
Read water from light to dark.Light blue is shallow and darker blue is deeper.
Read your land from green to cream and white.This is the broad progression from lowland to high mountain.
Treat green variation as a combined clue.Both elevation and moisture affect the displayed band.
Check the actual route quote before building.Map colour explains the terrain visually, but it is not a precise construction-cost measurement.