- **Oceans and lakes**: Oceans surround the island, and are impassable. Lakes are in the interior of the island, and are also often impassable. Both oceans and lakes have some shallow [water](/wiki/water) near the edges, which can only be walked through slowly.

- **Roads**: They increase movement speed by 33% and make circles around the island. There are three circular main roads in each map, which may cross or form loops. Roads guide you to areas with monsters of the same difficulty.

- **Rivers**: They decrease movement speed and run from mountains to the coast. Rivers guide you to areas with monsters of higher (or lower) difficulty.

- **Vegetation**: Plants, trees, and rocks, depending on the kind of terrain you're in. Each monster type prefers certain types of terrain and vegetation. With the exception of small bushes, they can't be passed through.

- [**Quest areas**](/wiki/landmarks-and-setpieces): Groves of trees, graveyards, towers, castles, lava fissures, and other quest areas are located all over the map. The typical pattern is a boss in the center surrounded by henchmen and minions. After defeating the boss there is a treasure chest with loot. Some event bosses (Like Hermit Gods, Pentaracts, etc) do not have treasure chests.

###Different areas ####[Shoreline](/wiki/shoreline) In this area, the enemies pose minimal threat. They don't hit hard and their attacks are easy to dodge. Beach is the only biome found in this area. This area includes a single type of wandering quest enemy. ####[Lowlands](/wiki/lowlands) In this area, enemies are relatively easy but are more numerous. In certain locations, swarms of enemies can be seen. This biome is divided from driest to wettest into desert, grassland, forest, and swampland. All quest enemies found in this elevation are wandering quest enemies. ####[Midlands](/wiki/midlands) In this area, the enemies are the most erratic, and it can be very hard to dodge their attacks. Being careless in this region can be fatal for lone low-level adventurers, but it's still acceptable to fight enemies here with basic equipment. Reasonably well-equipped level-20 players will have little trouble in this area. This area includes both wandering quest enemies and quest area enemies. Biomes in this region (from driest to wettest) are desert, savanna, grasslands and forests. Desert biome is rather rare in this area. ####[Highlands](/wiki/highlands) While the attacks of the enemies in this area are not as erratic as in midlands, and though they can be dodged with some care, it's still easy to die here. Attacks here pack a lot of punch, and proper equipment is recommended to travel alone. All quest enemies in this area are located in specific structures. Biomes in this region are the same as in midlands, except that desert is rarer. ####[Mountains](/wiki/mountains) This area harbors the strongest monsters found in the main Realm. Traveling alone or with poor stats may lead to death. Many enemies in this region have elaborate bullet patterns. The mountains include a snowy area and a rocky area sometimes known as the Godlands. Lava fissures are present in this area. Build 104 features newer maps than build 100. Terrain features are generally smoother and less angular, with a more gradual transition between different terrain types. The shape of the landmasses is more complex, with more bays and peninsulas. Roads and rivers are improved. The world maps are generated every few months, and every time Oryx destroys the world one of the 20 maps is randomly chosen for the new world. The creation of geographical features (but not quest areas, vegetation, terrain types, or monsters) for build 100 and up is described in these blog posts: - [ocean, land, lakes, beaches](http://simblob.blogspot.com/2010/09/polygon-map-generation-part-1.html) - [elevation, rivers, moisture, biomes](http://simblob.blogspot.com/2010/09/polygon-map-generation-part-2.html) - [rendering, **Flash demo**, source code](http://simblob.blogspot.com/2010/09/polygon-map-generation-part-3.html) Build 92 through 99 had twenty maps in rotation. Earlier builds had a single map. These maps were created using Perlin Noise. See [amitp's post on map creation](http://simblob.blogspot.com/2010/01/simple-map-generation.html) for more information.

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