v0.31:Calendar

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.12 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31.25 · v0.28 · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

The dwarven calendar is used to display the day, month, and year of any given date, and is visible in the upper right corner of the Status Screen (z). There are 12 months in the dwarven year divided into 4 seasons of 3 months each. Unlike the traditional Gregorian calendar, each dwarven month is exactly 4 weeks long, or 28 days. New Year's Day and the first day of Spring both fall on the 1st of Granite. New Year's Eve and the last day of Winter both fall on the 28th of Obsidian. The months are named after kinds of stones, ore, gems and wood.

The game's first playable year begins whenever the world stops generating. By default, the world will stop genning at year 250. Worldgen can be set to stop at several distinct years ranging from 5 to 1050 when selecting Create a World, and can also be set to any arbitrary year by editing the advance option End Year in the Design New World with Advanced Parameters screen, or by interrupting world generation.

Months and seasons

	Month	Gregorian version	Season		Caravan
•	Granite	March	Early-	Spring
•	Slate	April	Mid-		Elven
•	Felsite	May	Late-
*	Hematite	June	Early-	Summer	Human
*	Malachite	July	Mid-
*	Galena	August	Late-
•	Limestone	September	Early-	Autumn	Dwarven
•	Sandstone	October	Mid-
▬	Timber	November	Late-
♦	Moonstone	December	Early-	Winter	Goblin
♦	Opal	January	Mid-
•	Obsidian	February	Late-

Farming

The seasons correspond to growing seasons from the farm plot q menu, which dictate what can be grown when during the year. (See the List of crops.) It should be noted that crops grow during seasons regardless of the actual weather, so any crops that grow during the spring will do so regardless of how much rain your area gets.

Trading

Civilizations will visit your fortress based on what season it currently is. Trade caravans for each race show up during the specific seasons each year, with the elves arriving during the Spring, the humans during the Summer, and the dwarves during the Autumn. No caravans arrive for the winter, so it's smart to stock up on food and drink during the fall.

Ages

In addition to the year, a world's history is also divided into ages. An age can be seen as an epoch, something which defines the period of years it describes. The age itself has no bearing on gameplay other than as categorization in Legends mode, though players may witness a change in age (with an accompanied announcement) should their actions cause the current age to end. This may happen after killing a large number of megabeasts.

Ages are determined by the states of the world during world generation. Worlds start in the Age of Myth, though this may not always hold true if changes to world gen parameters are made. Some of the known things that influence the ages are number of megabeasts currently living and dominant civilizations. It is also possible for a world to enter a particular Age more than once (e.g., The Second Age of Legends) if the appropriate conditions are met.

Known Ages

Below is a list of 'Ages' that may occur, an explanation and their (possible) triggers, and their in-game descriptions.

• Age of Myth, Age of Legends, Age of Heroes
  In previous versions, those three were the most common. Since the first .31 update, changes in underlying parameters in world gen mean that it has become rarer for the world to reach even the Age of Legends. The progression from Myth to Legends to Heroes is conditional upon the percentage death of megabeasts in a given world during generation. Slaying Megabeasts that visit you in Fortress Mode is known to trigger change of Age. When there are very few Megabeasts/Demons left, breaking into a very bad place can also trigger an Age change.

The Age of Myth was a time when living gods and mighty beasts still held sway.

The Age of Legends was a time when powers of the world were fading.

The Age of Heroes was a time when the last of the powers fought their final battles.

• Age of (Megabeast's/Demon's name/title)
  Occurs mostly in pocket worlds, where there's one Megabeast/Demon with relative large kill list.

The Age of Flarrgh was a time when the dragon Flarrgh was the only great power in the world.

• Age of (Megabeast/Demon) and (Megabeast/Demon)
  Same as above, but with two notable Megabeasts/Demons. eg: "The Age of Titan and Dragon" or "The Age of Two Demons"

The Age of Dragon and Demon was a time when the dragon Flarrgh and the demon Blarrgh were the only great powers in the world.

• Age of Three Powers
  Even better than above, three notable Megabeasts/Demons.

The Age of Three Powers was a time when the dragon Flarrgh, the demon Blarrgh and the titan Glarrgh were the only great powers in the world.

• Age of (Race name)
  One race becomes dominant in the world, or it's the only race left in the world. eg: "The Age of Dwarves"

The Age of Dwarves was a time when dwarves ruled the world.

• The Golden Age
  Civilizations are expanding, and there are no wars and other things for them to worry about.

The Golden Age was a time when various civilized races peopled the world.

• Age of Fairy Tales
  Toady One' quote from 2008 devlog:

"I finally saw a world arrive at the Age of Fairy Tales, which happens if mundane creatures (ie humans) make up at least 90% of the world's civilized population with the requirement that there are still a few fantasy creatures lurking around. In this case, it was a kobold cave that their scouts never found. I guess all of the fairy tales were about people having their crap stolen."

The Age of Fairy Tales was a time when fantastic creatures were few and far between, and some even doubted their existence.

• Age of Twilight
  There are no wars and other worries, but civilizations are too weak to expand or are crumbling apart.

The Twilight Age was a time when fantastic creatures no longer lived in great numbers.

• Age of Civilization
  Seems to be triggered when the world is mostly occupied by civilizations and there's no more fanciful creatures around.

The Age of Civilization was a time when fantastic creatures were but mere stories told by travelers.

• Age of Death
  The Age of Death is a time when there are no civilizations left alive. It is respected in Dwarf Mode, so no invaders, merchants, immigrants.

The Age of Death was a time after civilization had crumbled completely.

• Age of Emptiness
  The Age of Emptiness is a time when there are no civilized beings left alive. This is a game state that can be achieved in adventure mode, because everything can be killed in adventure mode. However, the game does not register the civilizations themselves as being extinct, so the Age of Emptiness is not respected in dwarf mode; things will be re-populated.

The Age of Emptiness was a time when no civilized peoples existed in the world.

Information taken from this Bay12 forum thread
Information about Age of Death/Emptiness taken from this research thread

V · T · E Worlds
World generation (Advanced · Rejection)
Biome · Climate · Surroundings · Map legend · Calendar
Civilization · Sites (Cave · Town · Fortress · Ruin)
Aquifer · Brook · Caverns · Island · Tunnel · Volcano · Waterfall
Chasm · Desert · Forest · Glacier · Grassland · Lake · Mountain · Murky pool · Ocean · River · Savanna · Shrubland · Tundra · Wetland