Developer’s Log #7: 2022 in review
Hello everyone!
A lot has happened in 2022, so it's time to look back at the crazy past twelve months. Let's rewind the first full (calendar) year of Timberborn Early Access!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Update 1, a.k.a. the first major Timberborn content patch, dropped on December 17, 2021, adding mechanical pumps, mines, multiple new resources and attractions. It was quite a heavy hitter so, in the following months, we took things a bit slower. Behind the scenes, we had been expanding our team and working on Update 2. Fortunately, the community was as active as ever - as evidenced by our mod and map showcases from that time.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
In March, our first significant update of the year went live on the experimental branch to address many popular requests. The most visible change was a new day and night cycle, now affected by the active season and featuring sunrise and sunset. This is also when we added the first iterations of job priorities and the proper settlement panel. A challenging, lore-driven new map, Beaverome, was also added, ready to shatter many beaver dreams with its abundance of water.
Timberborn may be a game about bipedal beavers that grill potatoes but we refuse to ignore what was (and still is) happening behind the borders of our country. With the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, we decided to support the life-saving efforts of Polish Humanitarian Action. And to recognize our neighbours’ sovereignty and culture, we added Ukrainian to the pool of supported languages and introduced a symbolic new in-game crop - the sunflowers.
April 20 marks the annual World’s Earth Day. We celebrated the occasion by putting together a special dual-themed Steam sale. The event, dubbed Earth Appreciation Festival, included games that either show the beauty of nature and our planet, or warn us about what can happen due to climate change, lack of sustainability, conflicts, and other perils. The sale featured over 100 awesome titles such as The Long Dark, Plague Inc., Frostpunk, Eco, and Let’s Build a Zoo.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
It’s hard to believe that this also happened in the same month but yes, on April 28, we launched our most ambitious community project yet. We partnered with Timberborn’s talented composer, Zofia Domaradzka, and the vocal community members Synthron and DerHouy, to record a beaver-themed rendition of a classic 19th-century sea shanty “The Shores of Botany Bay”. To make it a truly community-driven creation, we invited everyone to join the song’s chorus.
We finally revealed the “futuristic” Update 2 feature we had been teasing for a while. We were about to add golems - as bots were known pre-Update 3. We envisioned robotic beaver workers that could perform any job 24/7 - be it to help living beavers a bit, to take over all work, or even run self-sufficient robocolonies. The initial experimental Update 2 build dropped a week later and we started collecting feedback on what was to become the largest new post-launch feature.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The final result of the Timberborn Sing-along - fully mixed, with tens of community members on the chorus - was released as part of our submission to the Save & Sound Festival on Steam. We took this opportunity to also show behind-the-scenes material on how Timberborn’s soundtrack - and the sea shanty - came to be. If you don’t have 15 minutes to watch the full thing (which we recommend, though), you’ll find a song-only lyrics video here.
The testing of Update 2 on the experimental branch continued. We implemented an updated Needs system that, for the first time, featured negative effects such as broken teeth and injuries. Afterwards, we also added a huge (literally) golem pay-off. The players have been asking for the ability to put up new land blocks - in addition to removing them - for a while now. In this update, we added fully realized terraforming with golem-operated Dirt Excavators, the most advanced timber-tech yet.
After weeks of gathering experimental feedback, we decided to make a few important changes to the Update 2 content. We made it easier to maintain golems, and the robobeavers would no longer explode on death, poisoning their masters. We also made further tweaks to the Needs system. We switched to the current tier system and linked bonuses such as Movement Speed to a unit’s well-being tier rather than to a particular need. There was much rejoicing!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Almost exactly on the launch anniversary, our second major update dropped. Other than the evolved golems and the reworked Needs system, we added gravity batteries, the migration panel, and more. We also shared our huge sales milestone - in the first year of Early Access, Timberborn sold over 750.000 copies. Update 2 generated the most buzz around the game since launch, including some of the most popular Timberborn live streams ever, including a series by the mighty CohhCarnage.
As a fully-remote studio with members scattered all across Poland, we rarely see each other face-to-face. Since launch, the team had grown from seven to eleven members (and now it’s twelve already). In September 2022, we met live in such numbers for the first time! Other than discussing Timberborn’s future, we participated in beaverish activities such as driving cars through a lake and getting them stuck in mud in the middle of the forest.
After a content-packed Update 2 in September, we knew we would focus on the quality of life next - with Update 3 which would be smaller but also come sooner. In our devlog, we revealed that we would add a new storage system and recyclable buildings, redesign bots, improve migrations, and more.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
And that’s where we are! Following the experimental testing, Update 3 moved to the main branch, and you can check its patch notes here. The update changed quite a bit, hence the broken save compatibility (that you can work around with the Update 2 branch). The main feature is the new storage system that you should check out. There are also some well-hidden in-game secrets yet to be discovered. In the name of Ol’ Kazko, find them already!
Speaking of secrets, we do not have any new details to share yet (booo!) but be on the lookout for cool new updates in 2023. We’re working on both new content and technical tweaks for the game, and we can’t wait to share more details with you when the time comes.
Having said that, from everyone at the studio, a big thank you to all our players for your support in 2022! The game wouldn’t be here without the massive feedback, constructive discussions, and community creations, be it mods, maps, or memes. We’re dam grateful for that.
Happy New Year!
~Team Timberborn
A lot has happened in 2022, so it's time to look back at the crazy past twelve months. Let's rewind the first full (calendar) year of Timberborn Early Access!
Post-Update 1 world
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Update 1, a.k.a. the first major Timberborn content patch, dropped on December 17, 2021, adding mechanical pumps, mines, multiple new resources and attractions. It was quite a heavy hitter so, in the following months, we took things a bit slower. Behind the scenes, we had been expanding our team and working on Update 2. Fortunately, the community was as active as ever - as evidenced by our mod and map showcases from that time.
New dawn - March 3, 2022
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
In March, our first significant update of the year went live on the experimental branch to address many popular requests. The most visible change was a new day and night cycle, now affected by the active season and featuring sunrise and sunset. This is also when we added the first iterations of job priorities and the proper settlement panel. A challenging, lore-driven new map, Beaverome, was also added, ready to shatter many beaver dreams with its abundance of water.
Sunflowers - April 7, 2022
Timberborn may be a game about bipedal beavers that grill potatoes but we refuse to ignore what was (and still is) happening behind the borders of our country. With the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, we decided to support the life-saving efforts of Polish Humanitarian Action. And to recognize our neighbours’ sovereignty and culture, we added Ukrainian to the pool of supported languages and introduced a symbolic new in-game crop - the sunflowers.
Earth Appreciation Festival - April 20, 2022
April 20 marks the annual World’s Earth Day. We celebrated the occasion by putting together a special dual-themed Steam sale. The event, dubbed Earth Appreciation Festival, included games that either show the beauty of nature and our planet, or warn us about what can happen due to climate change, lack of sustainability, conflicts, and other perils. The sale featured over 100 awesome titles such as The Long Dark, Plague Inc., Frostpunk, Eco, and Let’s Build a Zoo.
Timberborn Sing-along - April 28, 2022
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
It’s hard to believe that this also happened in the same month but yes, on April 28, we launched our most ambitious community project yet. We partnered with Timberborn’s talented composer, Zofia Domaradzka, and the vocal community members Synthron and DerHouy, to record a beaver-themed rendition of a classic 19th-century sea shanty “The Shores of Botany Bay”. To make it a truly community-driven creation, we invited everyone to join the song’s chorus.
Golems say hi - May 31, 2022
We finally revealed the “futuristic” Update 2 feature we had been teasing for a while. We were about to add golems - as bots were known pre-Update 3. We envisioned robotic beaver workers that could perform any job 24/7 - be it to help living beavers a bit, to take over all work, or even run self-sufficient robocolonies. The initial experimental Update 2 build dropped a week later and we started collecting feedback on what was to become the largest new post-launch feature.
The Shores of Beaver Bay - July 21, 2022
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The final result of the Timberborn Sing-along - fully mixed, with tens of community members on the chorus - was released as part of our submission to the Save & Sound Festival on Steam. We took this opportunity to also show behind-the-scenes material on how Timberborn’s soundtrack - and the sea shanty - came to be. If you don’t have 15 minutes to watch the full thing (which we recommend, though), you’ll find a song-only lyrics video here.
Terraforming and more - August 11, 2022
The testing of Update 2 on the experimental branch continued. We implemented an updated Needs system that, for the first time, featured negative effects such as broken teeth and injuries. Afterwards, we also added a huge (literally) golem pay-off. The players have been asking for the ability to put up new land blocks - in addition to removing them - for a while now. In this update, we added fully realized terraforming with golem-operated Dirt Excavators, the most advanced timber-tech yet.
Reworking hard - August 24, 2022
After weeks of gathering experimental feedback, we decided to make a few important changes to the Update 2 content. We made it easier to maintain golems, and the robobeavers would no longer explode on death, poisoning their masters. We also made further tweaks to the Needs system. We switched to the current tier system and linked bonuses such as Movement Speed to a unit’s well-being tier rather than to a particular need. There was much rejoicing!
Update 2 drops - September 14, 2022
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Almost exactly on the launch anniversary, our second major update dropped. Other than the evolved golems and the reworked Needs system, we added gravity batteries, the migration panel, and more. We also shared our huge sales milestone - in the first year of Early Access, Timberborn sold over 750.000 copies. Update 2 generated the most buzz around the game since launch, including some of the most popular Timberborn live streams ever, including a series by the mighty CohhCarnage.
Mechanistry meets again - September 26 - 30, 2022
As a fully-remote studio with members scattered all across Poland, we rarely see each other face-to-face. Since launch, the team had grown from seven to eleven members (and now it’s twelve already). In September 2022, we met live in such numbers for the first time! Other than discussing Timberborn’s future, we participated in beaverish activities such as driving cars through a lake and getting them stuck in mud in the middle of the forest.
Update 3 already? - November 8, 2022
After a content-packed Update 2 in September, we knew we would focus on the quality of life next - with Update 3 which would be smaller but also come sooner. In our devlog, we revealed that we would add a new storage system and recyclable buildings, redesign bots, improve migrations, and more.
Update 3 already! - December 15, 2022
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
And that’s where we are! Following the experimental testing, Update 3 moved to the main branch, and you can check its patch notes here. The update changed quite a bit, hence the broken save compatibility (that you can work around with the Update 2 branch). The main feature is the new storage system that you should check out. There are also some well-hidden in-game secrets yet to be discovered. In the name of Ol’ Kazko, find them already!
What’s next?
Speaking of secrets, we do not have any new details to share yet (booo!) but be on the lookout for cool new updates in 2023. We’re working on both new content and technical tweaks for the game, and we can’t wait to share more details with you when the time comes.
Having said that, from everyone at the studio, a big thank you to all our players for your support in 2022! The game wouldn’t be here without the massive feedback, constructive discussions, and community creations, be it mods, maps, or memes. We’re dam grateful for that.
Happy New Year!
~Team Timberborn