Desert

The desert is one of the biomes found in The Long Drive, a barren, arid landscape, hostile to life.

## Description

The desert was also the first biome added to the game, with the other biomes following suite in the biome blending update. It is also considered to be the most iconic biome and landscape in the Long Drive.

The desert is mainly made up of a seeming endless expanse of sand, at times relatively level, sometimes forming large hills. All around the region colossal towers of rock can be found, reminiscent of those seen at the Grand Canyon. Sometimes, you could be travelling in a massive valley. Although this is not that common anymore, it happened much more in the previous versions of the game.

The desert is mainly made up of a seeming endless expanse of sand, at times relatively level, sometimes forming large hills. All around the region colossal towers of rock can be found, reminiscent of those seen at the Grand Canyon. There are no longer any natural bodies of water, and a haze of heat is present throughout your time here.

The desert landscape encountered in the game is the result of an unspecified catastrophic event that has befallen planet Earth. Listening to the radio reveals some clues as to what may have happened.

As would be expected, there is very little life to be found. Remains of trees appear to be long dead but cacti and some forms of grass can still be found thriving. Here, rocks are also plentiful. Bunnies are the only creatures seen in the desert, apparently a mutant form of rabbit.

Abandoned vehicles and buildings can be found very commonly here, so it would be nice to stock up on fuel, items, and car parts before going into the great desert.

The temperatures in the desert reach 50° during the daytime, and -9° at night, so make sure your vehicle has adequate cooling

## Lore

The desert landscape encountered in the game is the result of an unspecified catastrophic event that has befallen planet Earth. Listening to the radio reveals some clues as to what may have happened.

The order of events leading up to the creation of this vast desert is unclear. The presence of large cargo ships stranded in the sand indicates that some areas were beneath the sea or a great lake. The fact that the road runs past these ships would suggest that the road was constructed after these bodies of water dried up.

There is plenty of evidence of fairly recent human activity in the form of the road, buildings and abandoned vehicles. According to the host of the radio frequency "Chat 'til You Die", It is relayed through him that the scientists left in the world have come up with a common estimate of there being ~300,000 people left alive in the world, let alone whoever may still be in the desert the player is in.

## Strategy

The desert is pretty easy to navigate if you know what you are doing. However, it has the highest concentration of rocks and trees, so make sure to traverse around them.

Since your car overheats the fastest in the desert, you can always break cacti to get water from them and refill you cooler.

Rabbits are the most common here, so make sure to watch out for them as well.

If you want to only have the desert as the default and only biome, you can do that in the settings.

## Sub Biomes

Currently, the desert only contains one sub biome, which are the mountains.

You can occasionally find them if you go off the road too much, in slopes, or as a natural part of the road itself. These mountains are home to the highest peaks of the desert, and possibly the world as well.

Meanwhile, pink sands are the desert's only transitional biome, having pink sand and being created when there is a transition between the desert and ice plains biome.

## Facts

* The desert was the first biome in the game, and has been here since the first version
* Other biomes were only added officially to the game in the biome blending update, making the desert the only biome for quite some time
* The desert seems to be the main hub for lore in the game