Timberborn News

Hello everyone!

You’ve outdone yourselves, again. Our third map-building contest turned out to be the most popular yet, with over 400 entries submitted! The competition has never been tougher, and once the dust settled after our studio members cast their votes, the results at the top were very close.

We’ve seen you tackle the badwater theme in many different ways. Whether it was about clever badtide preparations, splitting a map into contrasting halves, building badwater-filled volcanoes, or something entirely different - lots of fun (yet often deadly) challenges were made!

Below are the winning entries and honorable mentions in all three categories. In addition to eternal glory in the in-game credits and on our Discord, the winners receive 1000 EUR each, as well as a Timberborn T-shirt and mug of choice. The swag also goes to those honorably mentioned. Congratulations to you all, and a big thank you to all participants!



[h3]Winner - Mixed Up (64x64) by Pshy[/h3]

It's a diorama-esque map where you start out with very little land, so using it properly will be key to survival. After the initial challenge, you will need to do some careful thinking on how and where to redirect water and badwater to irrigate the land, which could be tricky considering the settlement is located below every liquid source on the map. Try not to get flooded!

[h3]Honorable mention - Surrounded! (128x128) by CkiCeluila[/h3]

As the title suggests, your beavers start out surrounded - stranded on a small island in the middle of a badwater lake. The challenge is to escape, reach the additional water sources, and use the contaminated lake to your advantage. In a crafty beaver’s eye, it's free real estate, ready to become a reservoir of clean water that will sustain a large colony.

[h3]Honorable mention - Mixing Bowl (128x128) by totrider[/h3]

The start might look fairly peaceful, but you will have to consider which barriers to break and where to dam up so that your settlement doesn’t become the titular mixing bowl itself. Multiple clean water sources are available, but reaching them to reap the benefits won't be easy. Separate the mixed liquids before you can make full use of the majority of the map.

[h3]Honorable mention - The Evil Twin (69x69) by Le_Vanda[/h3]

You start tucked away in the corner with the only clean water source in the form of a waterfall. Past a small lake, the water drops into a river of badwater. You’ll need to figure out the best way to redirect the badwater and recover the land around you. Careful land management will be required due to limited space and big elevation differences.



[h3]Winner - Heaven & Hell (200x240) by EnlaApa[/h3]

This map’s name comes from a split between an area with clean waterfalls and its evil badwater half. While in the early game, you can enjoy the peaceful "heaven", getting any significant amounts of metal won’t be possible without venturing into "hell". While a similar concept was used in many maps across the contest, our team liked EnlaApa’s execution best.

[h3]Honorable mention - Hadean (196x196) by Flor3nce2456[/h3]

There's a mega-project bound to happen in the form of a giant reservoir in the center. You will need to build around the crater while ridding the landscape of corruption. Similarly, while there were many examples of volcanoes and craters in the contest, none really matched this very detailed creation.

[h3]Honorable mention - Eddic Ashes (155x155) by GinFuyou[/h3]

A mix of water and badwater flows from the pillar-esque landmark in the center, allowing for flexible redirection or optimising its flow according to your needs. Be wary, however, as some advanced water engineering will be required to avoid disastrous badtides

[h3]Honorable mention - Fetid Pools (128x196) by Whiskey267dm0ZaMCQ1K[/h3]

Here, we have a bunch of plateaus, with the starting point being an oasis. With other safe spots looming in the distance, you will need to bridge your way to other clean water sources and push out the toxic liquid. Just remember that the floor is… badwater.



[h3]Winner - Badwater Ridge (256x256) by jokimty[/h3]

This map echoes our previous competition theme, and outside of badwater, it introduces large elevation shifts throughout. You begin with access to a large coastline and some flat ground, but access to clean water is limited. Clearing up the contamination will probably be the first thing on your list. However, you will also need to pay attention to a nasty surprise next to the starting area. Act quickly and destroy the barriers, or your beavers might start seeing red!

[h3]Honorable mention - Bad Ocean (256x256) by FustigateM[/h3]

As the title suggests, your beaver settlers are in for a dangerous beach party. While at first, this may not seem like the perfect vacation spot, with enough tenacity, you could potentially clean it all up and return the ocean to its rightful blue colour. Before you reach the great red holes, though, take care of your immediate surroundings so that the badtides don’t ruin your fun.

[h3]Honorable mention - Canyon Depths (256x256) by Infinite_Grinch[/h3]

Incredibly detailed - and filled with stumps and barriers that need to be cleared - Canyon Depths puts you in the center of a crater-like canyon surrounded by badwater. You will have to decide in which direction to expand, as there are various pockets of clean water available. Even the pretty oasis under a waterfall will stop being a safe haven when it starts reeking of contamination.

[h3]Honorable mention - Diatomic (256x256) by Skizz112[/h3]

Diatomic drops your colony in the middle of a huge area where water and badwater rivers are in the near vicinity, with the two craters giving testament to hoomanity’s past actions. Use the flow to your advantage, just be careful not cross the streams. Thankfully, lots of redirect options are available, giving this large map a nice replayability boost.


To play on any of the maps above, you will simply need to download an archive off Mod.io and unpack it to your Maps folder. You can find a short guide on how to do this here.

And what if the above selection isn't enough to keep you busy? Well, you can find all 413 submissions - as well as hundreds of other maps AND many crazy mods for the game - on our Mod.io hub.

Hello everyone!

Now that you’ve had a chance to play with Update 5 - Badwater (and since we’ve already made some important changes to the main feature), it’s time to kick off our third official Build-a-Map Contest!

The three winners will receive 1000 EUR each and a T-shirt + mug of choice from the Timberborn Merch Store, not to mention the eternal glory in the in-game credits and on our Discord. Authors of the nine honorable mentions (three per category) also get the T-shirt + mug combo.

[h2]☢️ Badwater Edition ☢️[/h2]
The idea is simple: create an original, playable, and pretty map that encourages players to interact with badwater. By that, we mean both badwater sources with preexisting badwater rivers and lakes, and the badtides coming over time. It's up to you to decide what you focus on - the only formal requirement is that the map needs to feature at least one badwater source. How you approach the theme, how difficult you make the map etc. it’s for you to decide.

As usual, there are three map categories:

• 128x128 and lower
  
• 129x129 through 255x255
  
• 256x256 and higher
  

with similar prizes in each category. Each winner gets 1000 EUR and merch, and three honorable mentions in each category get the merch.

To participate in the contest, you must upload the map on Mod.io by March 14, 2024, and tag it with the “Build-a-Map Contest 3” tag.

We’ll announce the winners by March 28, 2024. We can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with!

[h2]🔥 Important note🔥[/h2]
Before participating, please be sure to read the updated documents:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Contest Terms & Conditions

And if you still have questions, the best place to discuss the contest, exchange ideas etc. is our Discord server - look for the dedicated contest category.

Hi everyone!

It seems you liked what we did to badtides and the game’s difficulty last week - that's great!

In today's update - just imported to the main branch from the experimental branch - we’ve got one extra badwater-related tweak, as well as a few smaller changes we wanted to push out.

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• Decontamination Pod now cures beavers twice as fast.
  

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• For debugging purposes, save files now store the information about the map’s name and type (whether it’s official or custom).
  

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• Fixed a bug with the main menu’s bottom breaking on the UI set to the maximum scale.
  
• Fixed a bug with the game autosaving while the Load game menu was opened, and then crashing when the player attempted to load the oldest, just-replaced autosave.
  
• Fixed a bug that made it impossible to have a temperate weather season of maximum duration.
  
• Fixed a bug with slightly incorrect irrigation ranges.
  
• Fixed a bug caused by scrolling through the toolbar while a building with an open dropdown list was selected. The building would become unselected but the dropdown list would hover in the void and crash the game when clicked, probably out of embarrassment.
  

Hi everyone!

It seems you liked what we did to badtides and the game’s difficulty last week - that's great! In today’s experimental build, we’ve got one extra badwater-related tweak, as well as a few smaller changes we wanted to push out.

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• Decontamination Pod now cures beavers twice as fast.
  

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• For debugging purposes, save files now store the information about the map’s name and type (whether it’s official or custom).
  

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• Fixed a bug with the main menu’s bottom breaking on the UI set to the maximum scale.
  
• Fixed a bug with the game autosaving while the Load game menu was opened, and then crashing when the player attempted to load the oldest, just-replaced autosave.
  
• Fixed a bug that made it impossible to have a temperate weather season of maximum duration.
  
• Fixed a bug with slightly incorrect irrigation ranges.
  
• Fixed a bug caused by scrolling through the toolbar while a building with an open dropdown list was selected. The building would become unselected but the dropdown list would hover in the void and crash the game when clicked, probably out of embarrassment.
  

Hello, everyone!

Update 5 - Badwater has been live for exactly two weeks, and it has attracted more players than any previous Timberborn update. We are overwhelmed by your support and committed more than ever to making the game better. Thank you!

Today’s patch addresses some of the preliminary feedback we received during this two-week period. Yesterday, we confirmed these tweaks didn't break the game. Now, they are live on the main branch for everyone, so hopefully, they'll make your weekend badwater baths more fun.

(The experimental branch was also updated to match today's game version.)



It is now easier to customize your game using any of the built-in difficulty levels as a preset. You can also switch droughts and badtides on and off with simple checkboxes, without having to decipher the meaning behind the more advanced parameters.

Subsequent badtides now increase in intensity in a more gradual manner on easy and normal difficulties. The easy mode is now also easier throughout, while the hard mode is harder. We are hoping that these changes will accommodate a wider range of playstyles.

[h2]Difficulty settings[/h2]

• Added the new Customize button to easy, normal, and hard difficulties on the difficulty selection screen. Click it to start a custom game with all settings preset to match the chosen difficulty’s default values.
  
• Added the Drought and Badtide checkboxes to the custom difficulty. Pair that with the above, and you can quickly start a new game on a selected difficulty level without droughts and/or badtides if your heart desires.
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• The first badtide triggered on a new game on easy and normal difficulty now always lasts only a day. That gives new players a taste of what badtides are before striking with full force.
  
• The length of a drought or a badtide is now adjusted based on how many times that particular event has struck the settlement already. This should result in a smoother learning curve, since the first badtides will now be noticeably shorter than the droughts the player has already known for a while.
  
• At the start of a badtide, the contamination of water sources starts at 50% and gradually increases to 100% over 12 hours. Similarly, the contamination starts decreasing 12 hours before the badtide ends - when temperate weather returns, the contamination is at 50%, and then instantly drops to 0%.
  
• Reparameterized droughts and badtides to make the easy difficulty more approachable, and hard - more challenging. This includes changes to the seasons’ duration as well as to the handicap multiplier and length.
  
• Plants affected by badwater contamination now survive between 0.2 and 0.3 days (up from 0.1 and 0.15).
  
• Reduced food and water consumption on easy difficulty to 40% of the default values (down from 60%).
  
• Updated building: Herbalist. Cost lowered to 10 Planks, 20 Gears (down from 20 Planks, 5 Gears i 5 Treated Planks). By removing the need for Treated Planks, curing the contamination should be as easy (or as difficult) as it is for the Iron Teeth.
  
• Updated good: Medicine. Recipe updated to 2 Dandelions, 2 Berries, 1 Paper (up from 1 Dandelion, 1 Berry). This is to counterbalance the change above.
  

[h2]Maps[/h2]

• Updated map: Waterfalls. This beginner-friendly map is now even more beginner-friendly thanks to the complimentary blockages and some other minor layout tweaks. While at it, we removed that weird 1x1 hole.
  

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• Added the What’s new window to the main menu for an extra compact (and localized) list of the features found in the most recent major update. In hindsight, we should have called it Update 5 - Badwater & Flippable Buildings, judging by the number of players asking us why we removed the Mirrored Lodge. ;)
  
• Updated the warning popping up when trying to load a pre-U5 save on the game already updated to Update 5. It now mentions the ability to downgrade the game to an older major version to finish the playthrough without the changes. Here’s how you do that.
  
• (NEW!) Updated the tutorial by moving the "Build the Inventor's Hut" step before the "Build Lodges" step.
  
• Added the Pause button to Agora (ex-Temple) since it now consumes resources.
  

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• Zero-length droughts or badtides are no longer possible on the non-customized easy difficulty. (You can still set them to zero duration in custom settings - or just use the new checkboxes to switch them off completely). This change only applies to games started after today’s patch.
  
• Fixed the Large Water Pump’s collider to make it easier to select an object below the pipe.
  
• Fixed low FPS when editing old maps.
  
• Fixed a crash related to the demolishing tool.
  
• Fixed a crash caused by deleting the map you were working on. Why would you even do that, though?