Eco balance is a feature exclusive to Eden Burning scenario which determines the state of the environment of La Xultuna. The island's environment can change depending on many factors, and its current state is determined by the eco balance rating, which is split into three categories: water, soil and air. Every one of them has a separate rating represented by health bars and quality points, which max amount is 1000. Based on all categories the average health of the island (percentage) is calculated. The appearance of the island, for example the water around it, will also change based on the eco balance.
Each eco balance category has their own regeneration rate, which is a combination of multiple effects. The regeneration rate indicates how many quality points you gain or lose per minute in the category. Keeping the eco balance positive is one of the main goals of the scenario. If the rating in any of the categories drops below specific thresholds, specific events and catastrophes will occur, which requires player's intervention and may even lead to permanent negative effects. If any of the ratings drops to zero, the scenario is lost.
Eco Balance Overview[]
At the top part of the screen, below the workforce bar and above the island's name, there is a quick overview of eco balance of La Xultuna. On the left side there is the average health, indicated by the percentage. Then on the right there are three bars representing each eco balance category: water represented by a droplet symbol, soil represented by a sapling symbol and air represented by air/wind symbol. The fulfillment of the bars determines the quality of the environment in each category – the more the bar is fulfilled, the better the eco balance is. Hover over a bar to see how many quality points the island has. Arrows next to each category's symbol indicate the regeneration rate – green arrow pointing up indicates positive rate, gray arrow pointing to the right indicates neutral rate, red arrow pointing down indicates negative rate.
Exclamation marks on each bar indicate first threshold, located at 750 quality points, below which certain events might occur due to pollution. There is a second threshold represented by dead fish, dead plant or acid rain icons. It is located at 250 quality points, dropping down to that level causes specific effects to occur due to the devastating level of pollution – those effects are permanent and negatively affect La Xultuna, its population and production.
Clicking on the eco balance bars opens a more detailed eco balance overview menu, which shows each quality bar in greater detail and lists all factors which impact the regeneration rate in each category. If a factor has an arrow on the left of its icon and name, it can be clicked on to expand the list of all individual buildings/object belonging to that factor. Clicking on all such individual factors allows to jump to its location, closing the overview and centering the camera on that location.
Ruins[]
La Xultuna with ruins indicated by numbers - blue ones affect water, green ones affect the soil, purple ones affect air quality
One of the important factors affecting the eco balance, especially in the beginning, are various ruins remaining on the island since the Pyrphorians' occupation ended. Ruins can be cleared up to improve the regeneration rate and retrieve some resources, but it requires time and workforce. Ruins located inland also free up construction space when cleared up but they appear again in later playthroughs. Ruins which are located within the valley behind the dam do not appear in future playthroughs, but it is still possible to retrieve the resources which would be left after getting rid of those ruins. The only exception is the pyrphorian generator, which despite being in the valley, will always reappear upon restarting the scenario.
| Ruin | Type | Pollution | Time | Workforce | Retrieved resources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaking Pyrphorian Ruin #1 | Inland |  -3
|
05:00 | -75 
|
10 
|
| Leaking Pyrphorian Ruin #2 | Inland | -8
|
10:00 | -150
|
11  • 16 
|
| Leaking Pyrphorian Ruin #3 | Inland | -8
|
10:00 | -150
|
15 • 12
|
| Leaking Pyrphorian Ruin #4 | Inland | -8
|
10:00 | -150
|
22 
|
| Polluting Pyrphorian Ruin #1 | Inland |  -3
|
05:00 | -75
|
12
|
| Polluting Pyrphorian Ruin #2 | Inland | -6
|
10:00 | -150
|
24
|
| Polluting Pyrphorian Ruin #3 | Inland | -6
|
10:00 | -150
|
19
|
| Polluting Pyrphorian Ruin #4 | Inland | -6
|
10:00 | -150
|
18
|
| Smoking Pyrphorian Ruin #1 | Inland |  -6
|
10:00 | -150
|
9  • 11 
|
| Smoking Pyrphorian Ruin #2 | Inland | -6
|
10:00 | -150
|
12 • 8
|
| Pyrphorian Jail | Dam Valley | -9
|
20:00 | -300
|
15 • 11
|
| Pyrphorian Barracks | Dam Valley | -9
|
20:00 | -300
|
19 • 16 
|
| Pyrphorian Factory | Dam Valley | -9
|
20:00 | -300
|
24 • 16
|
| Pyrphorian Generator | Dam Valley | -12
|
40:00 | -300
|
25 • 15 • 26 
|
Eco Balance categories[]
Eco balance of the island is divided into three separate categories, each with separate quality rating and regeneration rate, influenced by their own factors. At any moment each category has specific amount of points assigned to it, between 0 and 1000, representing eco balance quality of the island. The quality can change over time, depending on the regeneration rate, defined by amount of quality points gained or lost every minute. When quality drops below 751 points, dangerous events may occur, demanding player's attention and potentially leading to negative consequences. If quality drops below 251 points, the island is at risk of catastrophic disasters which have dramatic and permanent results. When quality drops to 0 in any category, the scenario is lost and has to be restarted from the beginning or a previous savegame.
For silver and gold reward it is important to finish the dam construction with island's average health above 80%. Average health is a percentage and is calculated based on the sum of quality points in all three categories.
Regeneration rates can depend on many factors. Each category has a base regeneration equal to +25 quality points per minute, this is a permanent factor which cannot be changed. Pyrphorian ruins located across La Xultuna have strong negative impact on the eco balance until they get cleared up. Regeneration rates in each category can be influenced by specific production buildings, water by fisheries and animal farms, soil by crop farms, air by heavy industry. The strength of the effect imposed by production buildings depends on their productivity. For example, steelworks at 100% productivity decreases air regeneration rate by -15/min, but if it operates at 200% productivity its effect is twice as strong, equal to -30/min.
Water[]
Regeneration rate
Water's regeneration rate can be influenced by the following factors:
- Removed Oil Spill: +20 (requires cleaning an oil spill on one of the small islands surrounding La Xultuna – does not appear in each playthrough)
- Turtle-Cleaned Waters: +20 (requires rescuing a turtle trapped in a net on one of the small islands surrounding La Xultuna – does not appear in each playthrough)
- Animal farms: -10
- Fish shoals (14): from 0 to +2 each
- Fisheries: -2
- Oil Refinery: -10
- Water Purifiers: +30
- Leaking Pyrphorian Ruins (4)
- Pyrphorian Jail
Soil[]
Each crop farm has a circular radius around its building, placing farms of different types within that radius can be beneficial for the environment. Monocultures, on the other hand, will have negative impact on the island.
Regeneration rate
Soil's regeneration rate can be influenced by the following factors:
- Crop farms: -1
- Aquafarms: +5
- Polluting Pyrphorian Ruins (4)
- Pyrphorian Barracks
Air[]
Regeneration rate
Air's regeneration rate can be influenced by the following factors:
- Forestation: depends on the amount of trees on the island, starts at +30, can drop down to -50 or increase to +50
- Heavy industry production buildings
- Non-polluting production buildings, if affected by items: between +1 and +3
- Smoking Pyrphorian Ruins (2)
- Pyrphorian Factory
- Pyrphorian Generator
