The current map is the Santa Monica Basin. It replaced the older Los Angeles Basin layout. Sea level in the setting is lower than today, with coastal prairie on the exposed shelf, cooler and wetter weather, juniper-oak woodland, and coastal redwoods in mountainous riparian forest. The January 23, 2026 update changed the coastal prairie. It did not publish a coordinate list, so relearn that shore instead of trusting an early-access path.
Migration zones
Herbivores use migration zones. Carnivores do not see them.
- The Santa Monica Basin has 8 possible zones. Two are active at a time, and they can overlap.
- Western Horses, mammoths, and Ancient Bison can share a zone.
- Zones change on a 5 to 15 minute window and show a 2 minute countdown.
- Travel inside and between zones pays Tracks. The base is 1 Track, then your survival multiplier. The mission table also lists 1 to 2 Tracks every 2 minutes in the zone, plus a migration bonus of 1 to 2 every 2 minutes. These are the payments that skip the one-hour cooldown.
- The old Los Angeles Basin note of 24 zones and a single active zone is marked obsolete.
A full server makes the same sit-in-zone method pay better. A July 2026 tutorial described a multiplier moving a zone payment from about 1.4 up to 2 or 3 after a long life. That multiplier is your survival score, not a separate item.
Territory
Carnivores claim territory with P on the published chart. Hexes show on the map. The maintain mission pays a variable amount from server size, group size, and how much you hold. Defending pays 5 to 7. Taking an enemy claim pays 5 to 6. An October 2025 player description added a cap of 10 hexes and about 1 Track per hex on a short timer, and said the hour cooldown does not apply. If your panel shows a different hex cap, believe the panel.
Leave a claim and another pack can take it. Territory is a reason to stay with your group, not a flag you plant once.
Tar
Tar is at Rancho La Brea, which is visible on the title screen, at Arrowhead Hollow, and elsewhere in the Santa Monica Basin. Seams and pits both count.
- A brief step can be crossed.
- Staying on tar slows you, then locks movement.
- You cannot pull yourself out. Sleeping to respawn kills you and leaves a carcass in the pit.
- Predators can scavenge those carcasses. The ecoregion note says 5 Tracks. The mission table says 5 to 6. Standing on the carcass lets you feed without stepping into the tar.
- In the wet season, water can cover a pit and hide the tar. You can drink from water over tar if you do not step into the tar.
An Instinct example is to escape tar before you are trapped. That is the window while you are only slowed.
Trails and named landmarks
Game trails are the flashing paths peccaries follow. Use them to find the Peccary you need for Smilodon, and use them when you need the stamina discount.
Baldwin Hills is the closed-cone conifer example, with Monterey pine and Monterey cypress. Palmshade Cradle is the coastal sage and chaparral example. Vulture's Roost is a grassland landmark tutorial makers use for a mammoth skeleton, described near a large rock and an oasis. It is a search hint, not a guaranteed fossil after the quest has already assigned your zones.
Mineral licks exist as a drink mission. Their own article was still unfinished, so this guide does not invent a pin for them. When you are a herbivore, drink at the lick the mission or Instinct names.