Devlog | February 2026

[p][/p][h3]Ahoy, Tinkerlanders! [/h3][p]February has been a busy one - especially after we posted our updated roadmap. The team’s been working hard, and now we’re ready to try something really important in the wild.[/p][p][/p][p]We’re launching an Experimental branch to test a major multiplayer upgrade. Multiplayer can look perfect in the lab and fall apart in real-world conditions, so we want to validate stability where it matters most.[/p][p][/p][p]And that's not all, the new Experimental branch also contains a new collision system that makes the world feel less cluttered, a new automatic crash report system and an overhauled ingame report tool. We've also updated our engine (GameMaker) to the latest available version, which should improve performance overall, but It's likely to introduce new bugs that we still need to find and fix.[/p][p][/p][h2]Experimental Branch[/h2][hr][/hr][p]As said, the new experimental branch includes a lot of changes that might or might not make the cut into the final game. This is our way to involve the community into early testing, and to help us decide which features are worth to be pushed to stable, or to be cut off.[/p][p][/p][p]We are particularly worried about the connection issues in the Asia region, so first of all we've created an experimental build that uses a newer steam networking protocol, that should work better accross the sea and hopefully reduce the issues that players from the Asia region are facing. If you've had issues with Tinkerlands multiplayer, we kindly ask you to give the experimental branch a go and share with us If It feels better, the same, or worse. We are a small team based in Spain so we don't have the means to test this out on Asia and get real feedback.[/p][p][/p][p]Apart from that, there's a new collision system that we'd love to hear your feedback. It's still a work in progress as there are zones in the game that weren't thought to be played with this freedom, but we'll be fixing them as they appear. There's a new automatic crash report that gives us much more info without the user needing to manually create a report and share files. Just hit "Send" and everything will be handled automatically.[/p][p]In order to test the experimental branch, you just need to:[/p]

• [p]Right-click 'Tinkerlands' in your library.[/p]
• [p]Click 'Properties'.[/p]
• [p]Go to 'Game Versions & Betas'[/p]
• [p]Select 'experimental'.[/p]
• [p]Close the window[/p]

[p]The game then will be automatically updated to the experimental build.[/p][p][/p][p]⚠ WARNING: The experimental build is only meant for testing purposes, please expect crashes and other issues in this build. We recommend frequent backups of your files as they can be permanently lost.[/p][p][/p][h2]Now, the actual devlog![/h2][hr][/hr][h3]SYSTEM UPGRADES[/h3]

• [p]New Steam Multiplayer Protocol — The big one. This is the foundation for better and more stable online play. While Tinkerlands is playable in multiplayer without major issues for most people, there's a few people that have low-speed or unstable connections and makes the game unplayable at times. This new multiplayer protocol should work much better in this regard, and hopefully will alliviate most of the issues players are experiencing.[/p][p]This is only part one of the multiplayer upgrades, as we are looking into integrating Epic Online Services as an alternative multiplayer playing method, which should reduce the friction for most players even further.[/p][p] [/p]
• [p]Upgraded Report Tool — We've had the integrated report tool (by pressing F8 ingame) since the Early Access began. We've now upgraded it so It automatically sends us much more information about what's going on. This includes player and world files, a screenshot of the last moment before the report, the user configuration file (so we can check resolution, language and other misc stuff), the world seed, player's position, etc.[/p][p]This will make the reports you make much more useful to us, without the need of manually giving all that info.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]New Crash Report Tool — An extension of the previously mentioned ingame report tool. Now when the game crashes, you'll get a message telling you some information about what happened. The next time you open the game, you'll get prompted by a message that asks you to send a report about the previous crash. If you click the "Send" button, all information regarding the crash will be automatically sent, including the same information as the ingame report tool.[/p][p]This makes reporting crashes and issues a breeze for the user, reducing it to just a single click. And at the same time, it gives us huge information to be able to fix the issues much more quickly.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]NEW OPTIONAL ISLAND: The Hive[/h3][p][/p][p]So, this one is for the people that thought that all that we are going to add in the next update is the things we mentioned in the roadmap — a new optional island is approaching, taking place after Coraline Fields and with a similar difficulty than Volcano island. The Hive is a place that is infested by different bugs, and will take everything from you to not get overwhelmed.[/p][p][/p][p]We didn't want to spoil too much things yet but we wanted to let you know that yes, we've increased the time between updates in the new roadmap, but updates are going to be bigger with more things that the major features shown in the roadmap.[/p][p][/p][h3]NEW CLASSES[/h3][p]We've talked about this for a while now, but never got into the details. And while we don't want to spoil it too much yet, here's some information about the new classes that will come to Tinkerlands in the next update.[/p][p][/p][p]Musician — Uses instruments as weapons. Instruments have different rhythms, BPM and stacks. Play the instrument correctly to increase the stack amount, increasing the instrument effects with each stack![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Summoner — Yeah we know, summons aren't new, but Summoner will now have complete gear sets, and accessories. And guess what? Reforging summon weapons now actually works. Technologia![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Thrower — Same as the Summoner, the Thrower class gets their own gear sets and accessories now. With a lot more variability in their weapons they can use almost anything thinkable and throw it at you.[/p][p][/p][h3]QUALITY OF LIFE[/h3]

• [p]Collision System — We've heard your feedback, in particular your complaints about the player getting stuck with all the trees and clutter in the beginning area. While we still believe that the amount of interactables in the starting areas are a necessary evil, we've been reworking the collision system for the player.[/p][p]The new collision system is no longer grid-based for the player, and collision masks are adjusted manually for each sprite. This means that the player can move now more freely between objects, and will hopefully make the movement feel smoother.[/p][p][/p]
  [p]Old Movement (Grid-based)[/p]

  [p]New Movement (Mask-based)[/p]

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• [p]Multi-material ingredients — Another common suggestion was being able to use different types of wood to create torches. So we've expanded our crafting system to allow using multi-material ingredients in recipes. This allows using for example 'Any wood' as a recipe, giving the player the chance to use any kind of wood to create torches. [/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p]And that’s it for February, fellas.
[/p][p]Thanks for sticking with us - and if you’re willing to help test multiplayer (and other features) on Experimental branch, you’re basically doing the heroic work of saving other players from future disconnect pain![/p][p][/p][p]And as always, our Discord is the best place to share feedback, find co-op partners, and get the latest dev updates![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Tinkerlands Team[/p]