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[phillosopher]

So for the first time I noticed that pre-embark I can change the size of the square of the zone of where I want to start (I've been playing how long now...I know right?). Anyway I'm wondering does that change the size of the map that I'm playing on if I were to make it bigger or does it just make it more random as to where exactly my dorfs set up? I know that this is probably a extremely stupid question but I figured I might as well ask. Also, if it does increase the map, how much more of a load should I expect from say making it like a 4x4 instead of a 3x3?

[SebasMarolo]

Yes, selecting a large area will both increase the land you can build on and your procesing load. I usually go for 3x3, and once had some awful lag with a 5x5. I'm sure the fact there was a running river and a volcano had something to do with it too.

[phillosopher]

thanks for the quick response!

[Fleeting Frames]

How much more load....Hm. Here's few figures from my experiences that might be helpful:

16x16 12z embark, rocky wasteland on embark: 85 FPS
6x6 147z embark after a year at 18 dwarves, mostly temperate forest: 85 FPS.
16x16 12z embark, terrifying shrubland on embark in rain: 20? FPS.
3x5 130?z embark after 2,5 years with two magma and water rivers and 140? dwarves/visitors: 40 FPS.
aforementioned 6x6 after a year in clearcutting and mass-construction at 60 dwarves: 35 FPS.
3x3 worldgen fortress, 100~ goblins and 500~ elves present on embark: 25 FPS.
3x3 embark, free-pathing 192 strong poultsplosion, 90 strong dogsplosion, swamp: 15 FPS.
The above, chicks caged and dogs walled into a room: 97 FPS.
3x3 embark, 1 pet-forbidden door with few pets locked behind: 7 FPS.

The area all my forts fit into: 2x2 embark.

Lot of FPS load behaviours stack, tbh.
- Clutter by itself impacts FPS, but for every stone to consider for a job, for each job it has to look through each stone. Caravan arriving on map can give a slump.
- Pathfinding can get lost in big open spaces like sky, which scales with embark. You can run around fine at 100, and then pack of flying nasties from below can quarter your FPS.
- Each creature has their own timer and job check. But when it comes to pathing, each creature has to path around all the creatures in its' path.
- The more things it has to decide to render on display, the more resource that uses up. You can lose third of your FPS by viewing the surface level on areas with vegetation, and I've heard of threefold difference between small and maximized windows for a certain setup.

[Tiruin]

So for the first time I noticed that pre-embark I can change the size of the square of the zone of where I want to start (I've been playing how long now...I know right?). Anyway I'm wondering does that change the size of the map that I'm playing on if I were to make it bigger or does it just make it more random as to where exactly my dorfs set up? I know that this is probably a extremely stupid question but I figured I might as well ask. Also, if it does increase the map, how much more of a load should I expect from say making it like a 4x4 instead of a 3x3?

Your dwarves generally start somewhere near the central areas of the map.

And on the 'load' speed, I've forgotten the terms but DF runs on one core as compared to utilizing multiple processing cores. SO larger maps past a certain boundary will create lag--depending on terrain, climate, and biome factors which place emphasis on the creatures that abound in them. Emphasis on the creature populations running through your game map area because creature pathing and otherwise affect your FPS due to the coding they've got, as shown by Fleeting Flames' nice post up there.

[Fleeting Frames]

Oh yeah. When you're selecting embark area, you can press the F1, F2, F3 biome keys to drop party down on that biome, as near to the center of embak as possible.

[Immortal-D]

Oh yeah. When you're selecting embark area, you can press the F1, F2, F3 biome keys to drop party down on that biome, as near to the center of embak as possible.

Wow, I learned something new.  I thought that was just for viewing the different biomes, had no idea it affected the actual starting location.