Timberborn News

Hello everyone,

It’s time for another batch of experimental tweaks to the Update 5 content! We’ve updated badwater colors, added a new model for the Herbalist, and changed the maps (including Helix Mountain which now features badwater). Most notably though, Timberborn is no longer missing one of the most important animations. You can now actually see your beavers cutting trees!

[h2]Visual[/h2]

The first version of badwater could be mistaken for lava, and the second resembled sewers too much. Today, we’re trying to strike the right balance between these two extremes. Also, Herbalist no longer uses the old Healer model.

• Updated colors for badwater and extract.
  
• Updated the Herbalist’s model to better correspond to its current role (see below).
  

[h2]Animations[/h2]

The first recorded request for proper tree-cutting animations in Timberborn is from 1784. We’re so happy we’re finally here!

• Added tree-cutting animations for beavers and bots.
  
• Trees are now swaying while being cut.
  
• The dev team can now sleep at night.
  

[h2]Maps[/h2]

The work on getting the built-in maps ready for Update 5 continues.

• Remade Helix Mountain, our inspired-by-community map. It is now badwater-compatible.
  
• Made smaller tweaks to Craters, Meander, Terraces, and Waterfalls. Thanks for the feedback, everyone!
  
• Removed that randomly placed birch tree from Plains.
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]
Apparently, the Decontamination Pod was so comfy some beavers would often overstay their welcome. On the other hand, the Hard difficulty was sometimes a little too brutal.

• Contaminated beavers placed in Decontamination Pods now recover faster.
  
• On Hard difficulty, the first badtide can now hit after two cycles of the grace period (up from one).
  

[h2]Audio[/h2]
How about some new, bubbly sounds?

• Added new sounds to the following Update 5 buildings: Centrifuge, Grease Factory, Decontamination Pod, Badwater Source, Exercise Plaza, Advanced Breeding Pod.
  

[h2]Keybindings[/h2]
The newly added keybindings required a little extra care.

• Hitting Esc while setting up a new keybinding now closes the window.
  
• It is now possible to use Ctrl + mouse wheel to go through the main categories on the toolbar. Shift + mouse wheel goes through the buildings within the selected category. We estimate this saves you about 1 kcal per two-hour game session.
  
• Updated default keybindings in the map editor.
  
• MacOS users can now use CMD in keybindings.
  
• Updated several default keybindings on MacOS to use CMD instead of Ctrl.
  

[h2]UI and QoL[/h2]

• The post-crash screen now includes a text box. You can use it to explain what happened before the game exploded. This comment will be included in the crash report.
  
• It’s now possible to preview a building before unlocking it. To unlock the building, either try placing it down in the preview mode, click the dedicated button, or hit Enter with the building selected.
  
• Updated icons for Badwater Sources, Water Sources, and Badwater Rig.
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• The camera now focuses correctly on water pumps, rather than on their pipes.
  
• Fixed a minor highlighting bug caused by moving between categories on the toolbar.
  
• Fixed a bug with stranded sheep left at the base of a cliff beavers not dying.
  
• Fixed a bug with multi-key keybindings not fitting the UI.
  
• Stranded bots that run out of fuel now correctly use the stranded animation.
  
• Buildings that make a terrain cutout (such as Underground Pile) now include the terrain cutout in the construction stage.
  

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• Added missing Update 5 translations.
  

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• Badwater bodies with bottoms and sides entirely built with levees no longer contaminate tiles next to them - this time for real.
  

Hi everyone!

Today, we’re having a second look at how badwater and pollution spread across the map, and what the player can do about it. This update adds several new buildings and structures which should address the feedback we’ve been receiving since Update 5 first dropped and after our most recent patch. As a bonus, we’re removing a certain irritation-inducing tower.

Let us know what you think about today's changes - either below or on our Discord in the #experimental channel.

[h2]Badwater sources[/h2]

Many of our players have been vocal about the ability to stop the contamination at its, ahem, source. With this update, we’re allowing you to do that, provided your beavers can access sufficient resources. On an even more important note, droughts now disable badwater sources.

• Badwater sources are now disabled during droughts, similar to regular water sources.
  
• Tweaked the RNG a bit so that the same season of pain (a drought or a badtide) doesn’t trigger too many times in a row.
  
• New building: Badwater Dome (2000 SP; 100 Planks, 200 Gears, 100 Metal Blocks; Folktails only; ground only). Built on top of a Badwater Source, this heavy-duty structure allows you to manually open and close the source.
  
• New building: Badwater Rig (4000 SP; 400 Gears, 200 Treated Planks, 150 Metal Blocks; Folktails only; ground only). This even more advanced building seals a badwater source for good but allows employed beavers to gather and store large amounts of badwater right there.
  
• New building: Badwater Discharge (4000 SP; 300 Gears, 200 Metal Blocks, 50 Explosives; Iron Teeth only; ground only). The Iron Teeth counterpart works similarly to Folktails’ Badwater Dome with one important difference: keep it open during a drought, and the badwater will continue to flow!
  

[h2]Contamination[/h2]

We may have gone overboard with the recent change to levees, dams, and floodgates so we’re reverting their behavior to the previous state. However, we’re also adding new structures that should give you more control over pollution and badwater in general - so much so that we felt compelled to delete a certain building from the game. Oh, and there’s a cool new pump!

• Levees, dams, and floodgates no longer prevent irrigation and contamination spread.
  
• Water (and badwater) bodies with bottoms and sides entirely built with levees no longer irrigate (and contaminate) surrounding areas.
  
• Patch highlight: Removed Irrigation Tower from the game. We believe the current set of irrigation-related tools is enough for you to not miss the memiest of Timberborn buildings.
  
• New building: Contamination Barrier (400 SP; 5 Planks, 1 Metal Block; Folktails only; ground only). This structure doesn’t stop the water flow but stops pollution from passing through all the tiles below it. Simply wall off the areas you want safe. It’s super effective!
  
• New building: Irrigation Barrier (400 SP; 10 Logs, 5 Treated Planks; Iron Teeth only; ground only). This barrier blocks both contamination and irrigation. Sure, this may be a heavy-handed approach, but you can still use it to separate an area from a river that may get contaminated. You can then irrigate the terrain with water from sources officially approved by the Water Purity Committee.
  
• New building: Large Water Pump (400 SP; 20 Logs, 5 Gears, 10 Treated Planks, Folktails only). Effective farming relies on access to clean water - simply find it, and with this bad boy, you’ll get enough in no time.
  
• Renamed Barrier to Blockage. It just made sense to us to shuffle these names around.
  
• Contamination now spreads diagonally, similar to irrigation.
  

[h2]The Dandelion Returns[/h2]
After a brief disappearance, everyone’s favorite - apparently - garden plant is back. And it’s stronger than ever.

• “New” building: Herbalist (300 SP; 20 Planks, 5 Gears, 5 Treated Planks; Folktails only). In a blatant asset flip, we’ve repurposed and renamed the previous Healer building to use dandelion. It now creates antidotes - a new good that’s stored in tanks. It heals contaminated beavers at a slow rate.
  
• Decontamination Pods are now Iron Teeth-exclusive.
  

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• Updated map thumbnails with new badwater visuals.
  
• Updated particles for Double and Triple Dynamite.
  
• Improved the visibility of Badwater Sources.
  
• In certain scenarios, beavers now get to work right after reaching their destination rather than idling.
  
• Large Science Points costs are now shortened (10,000 becomes 10k etc.)
  
• Updated descriptions for several buildings.
  
• After the game is over, it acknowledges that in a subtle way.
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• “Contaminated” status no longer disappears from the event log after the affected beaver gets tired and heads home.
  
• Fixed power connectors for Wind Tunnel and Bot Assembler.
  
• Fixed beavers delivering goods to Advanced Breeding Pods so eagerly they’d clip through.
  
• Fixed an issue with floodgates partially clipping through terrain.
  
• Fixed a crash caused by exiting Timberborn directly from the game.
  
• Fixed a crash caused by clicking Rubble.
  
• Homeless beavers will now sleep at a building’s doorstep if they can’t find better spots. :(
  

Hello everyone!

We want to thank you for the great feedback shared since Update 5 hit the experimental branch two weeks ago. Badwater is a huge change that was bound to require some tweaks, and today, we’ve got the first batch ready. Please let us know what you think!



[h2]Visuals[/h2]
You’ve made it clear that the colors of badwater and extract should change. We’re happy to oblige.

• Toned down the hue of badwater to make it look less like lava more like the toxic waste it is.
  
• Changed the color of extract to red so that it better corresponds with badwater’s.
  

[h2]Water physics[/h2]
You asked for more ways to control how the pollution spreads, so from now on, Dams, Levees, and Floodgates stop the ground’s contamination. This change also applies to irrigation, though, so plan carefully.

• Dams, Levees, and Floodgates now prevent irrigation and contamination spread.
  

[h2]Extract[/h2]
While badwater does well as a new threat, its positive side has been lacking. We sought a way to improve that, and we’ve found bots to be a good choice.

• New building: Grease Factory (2000 SP; Gear x30, Treated Plank x20, Metal Block x10; 2 workers; Iron Teeth-only). Boasting Danny Zuko’s seal approval, this building turns extract into a new, oily resource.
  
• New good: Grease (Extract x1, Canola Oil x1 gives Grease x2). Stored in tanks and consumed by Iron Teeth bots, grease increases their condition by 1.
  
• New good: Punch Cards (Paper x2, Plank x1 gives Punch Card x2; Folktails-only). Containing more precise instructions, punch cards are an extra paper sink and a new, earlier boost to Folktails’ bots. Produced at Printing Press (which is now a Folktails-exclusive building, remember?) and stored in warehouses, cards are consumed by Folktails’ bots to increase their condition by 1.
  
• Updated recipe: Catalyst (Maple Syrup x1, Extract x1 gives Catalyst x3; Folktails-only). With extract added to its recipe, we’re making catalyst the second, more advanced boost available to Folktails’ bots.
  
• The maximum condition achievable by bots is now 2. A bot with access to both faction-specific boosts enjoys +80% movement speed and +120% working speed.
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]
In light of Update 5 changes, we’re tweaking the game’s balance and difficulty levels.

• Small Windmill: maximum power output is now 150, down from 200.
  
• Large Windmill: maximum power output is now 300, down from 400.
  
• Wheat flour recipe: now takes 0.5h to complete, down from 0.78h.
  
• Cattail flour recipe: now takes 0.25h to complete, down from 0.66h.
  
• Bread recipe: now takes 1h to complete, up from 0.42h.
  
• Maple pastry recipe: now takes 1.5h to complete, up from 0.55h.
  
• At hard difficulty preset, it now only takes a single guaranteed drought cycle before the game starts randomizing your plight between droughts and badtides.
  

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• Updated the Diorama map to remove a visual glitch causing water to clip through the terrain.
  
• Updated icons for several water- and badwater-related buildings, as well as the icon for the injured beavers.
  
• Updated descriptions of difficulty levels to mention badtides.
  
• Updated the welcome screen so that it no longer refers to the ancient alpha, beta, and demo times.
  
• When selecting a good in a storage building’s panel or via the storage overlay, its extended tooltip - the same as the one used in the top bar - is now used.
  

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• Fixed a crash caused by using the layer hiding tool (again).
  
• The “It’s dying” progress bar is no longer displayed for partially collected crops.
  
• Fixed the map editor’s “Hide resources” icon behaving incorrectly.
  
• Fixed the missing injury chance in Dirt Excavators and the incorrect injury chance in Explosive Factories.
  
• Fixed the “Empty storage” status icon being displayed under range lines.
  
• The units’ movement speed bonus is now correctly displayed.
  
• Fixed a bug with goods’ icons on barrels sometimes having the wrong color.
  
• Fixed a bug with water pumps partially disappearing while in preview mode.
  
• Fixed a bug with Water and Badwater Sources setting the contamination of the water tiles above them to 0% and 100%, respectively.
  
• Fixed numerical input fields crashing the game when trying to use certain character combos.
  
• Beavers now only become contaminated right after finishing their current task. Illness is an illness, but finishing work takes priority.
  

• Saves with dandelions marked for demolition will no longer crash while loading.
  
• Using layer hiding tool will no longer cause a crash.