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From Grassy Plains to Snow Banks - 2025 in review

[p]Hello Trailmakers.[/p][p]Before we all go home to our families for Christmas, we want to revisit this year and everything that happened. All the way from Pioneers up to the release of Frozen Tracks. It’s been a year of grand and ambitious updates![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]New tech was developed this year, opening up for millions of new possibilities in Trailmakers. We’ve had bugs of both the funny and frustrating kind. We met ScrapMan and we rented an APC for the Tank Tracks announcement. Let’s dive into it all.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Early Pioneers[/h3][p]In January we announced the biggest update in Trailmakers history: Pioneers. The development of Pioneers began in Spring 2023 with the ambition to make a better first-hand impression of Trailmakers for new players, while at the same time giving existing players a campaign unlike anything they’ve seen before.[/p][p][/p][p]Screenshot from ALVAROP1NG testing a very early build of Pioneers, August 2023. [/p][p]In this version, you had to build power grids to expand the zone in which your battery blocks would recharge. Both the power grids and battery blocks were later scrapped, with the battery block being replaced by the fuel system in the final version.[/p][p][/p][h3]Catarinth Collab[/h3][p]The announcement of Pioneers came with the unveiling of our collaboration with Catarinth (more commonly known as ScrapMan in the Trailmakers community). For years, we have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with ScrapMan and we wanted him to be immortalized in the game as a token of appreciation for the many new players he has introduced to Trailmakers.[/p][p]We contacted him with the proposal of him creating boss music for the Megadrill fight. For months, Catarinth and former Trailmakers composer Carl Lindegaard worked together to create the epic symphony of battle that is in the game today. [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h3]The New Tech of Pioneers[/h3][p]From the get-go we wanted crafting and survival to be part of the new campaign, inspired by games like TerraTech and Scrap Mechanic. [/p][p]We succeeded with resource gathering and crafting and created opportunities for ourselves to use this tech in future Trailmakers adventures. The fuel system was the “survival” part of Pioneers which in retrospect was less impactful. We didn’t really get the impression that fuel was ever a challenge for players and instead of tweaking it we decided to remove it altogether from Frozen Tracks, the new expansion released in November.[/p][p]The NPCs weren't anything new, as we already had the Chirpos in Airborne, but in Pioneers we did build on this to create NPCs that felt a bit more alive and responsive than our flightless friends in Airborne.[/p][p][/p][p]Froggit NPCs in an early build of Pioneers, Winter 2023.[/p][p][/p][h3]Pioneers Launch[/h3][p]On March 6 we released Pioneers after the longest development cycle of any Trailmakers update.[/p][p]We flew ScrapMan and his wife to Copenhagen to partake in the festivities[/p][p]Our good friend Yzuei surprised us by showing up in person, resulting in a wholesome release party with the people who have helped Trailmakers become what it is today.[/p][p][/p][p]From left to right: Henrique (Graphics Programmer), Melvin (Melvin), Yzuei, ScrapMan, Johannes (Community Manager), Rune (Game Co-Director)[/p][p]Bottom: Gui (UX Designer), March 6 2025. [/p][p][/p][h3]PVP Update Part 2[/h3][p]When we were concepting the first PVP update in 2024 we had a meeting that went something like this:

“This will be the first PVP update of two but what do we call it?”

“What about PVP Update Part 1?”

“Genius.”
[/p][p]And in the summer of 2025 it all came together with PVP Update Part 2, Packing Heat, and the Frontline DLC. This led to the introduction of Deathmatch as a game mode in Trailmakers - a gamemode we felt like the game had been lacking for a long time. [/p][p][/p][p]PVP Update Part 2, artwork by Flashbulb artist Marco.[/p][p][/p][h3]Packing Heat and Frontline - and what we learned from it[/h3][p]For the first time ever we released an update with two DLCs attached to it. Packing Heat was a collection of new weapons and Frontline introduced block skins for the first time.[/p][p]This move brought some heat (ironic, we know) from our community. A lot of people expressed their concerns over this approach to paid content. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The key art for Packing Heat and Frontline[/p][p][/p][p]We know paid content is not the most popular thing you can do as a game studio, however, DLCs are a necessity for the survival of Flashbulb Games. Without paid content, we wouldn’t be able to fund all the free stuff that gets added to Trailmakers and continued development on Trailmakers would not be possible without a steady income from existing and new DLCs.[/p][p]Thank you to those of you who buy them and make all the free stuff a possibility for everyone else![/p][p][/p][h3]Back to the Indies[/h3][p]At the end of August 2025 after months of negotiations, the four original founders of Flashbulb bought back the company from Nordisk Games. [/p][p]Nordisk Games was shifting focus to their larger assets and the founders still had a very soft spot for Trailmakers, so it was a good time to take back control of Flashbulb Games and make sure that Trailmakers kept getting the love and attention it deserves.[/p][p][/p][h3]2.2 Tracks - of the Tank and Frozen variety[/h3][p]On August 16 we announced that the highly requested Tank Tracks were finally coming to Trailmakers.[/p][p]Given the gravity of the situation, we had to take the announcement to the next level.[/p][p]So we rented an FV432, an APC from the 1980’s - fitted of course with tracks. [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h3]The Overcoming of Tank Tracks[/h3][p]Tank Tracks have been on the wishlist of the players since the release of the game all the way back in 2018. So for that same reason it has been on our drawing board many times.[/p][p]Due to the way wheels work in Trailmakers, Tank Tracks have been incredibly challenging to develop but in May of 2025, a somewhat functional prototype had been made.[/p][p][/p][p]The first Tank Track prototype, May 2025[/p][p][/p][p]With this exciting new breakthrough, something else was suddenly and painfully missing from Trailmakers: Deformable terrain to use the Tank Tracks in. A perfect excuse to make real snow in Trailmakers - none of that “white sand” trickery we had before. Thankfully, the work on deformable terrain had already started a month prior (it’s almost like we plan these things).[/p][p]With this, Frozen Tracks and Planet Hoff was born. Trailmakers’ first ever all-snow map (with real snow!) ((not real real but you know what we mean))[/p][p][/p][p]The first stab at deformable terrain with snow that affected aerodynamics, April 2025[/p][p][/p][p]Needless to say, despite having made the system for resource gathering and crafting, there were plenty more new challenges for Frozen Tracks.[/p][p]Through the hard work of the many talented people who make up Flashbulb Games, Frozen Tracks, deformable terrain, Tank Tracks and everything in between shipped on November 20, wrapping up a year that began with vast green plains and ended with frozen snowbanks. [/p][p][/p][p]That’s 2025! [/p][p] What a year it’s been. We want to thank all of our players who spent their year playing Trailmakers, buying our DLCs, participating in Build Challenges, and engaging with us online. There would have been no ambitious updates in 2025 without you, and what a dull time that would have been.[/p][p]We can’t wait to return to work next year and continue our quest to make Trailmakers everything YOU want it to be.[/p][p]We love you,[/p][p]Flashbulb Games[/p][p][/p][h3]Hold on, what’s next in 2026?[/h3][p]Guess you’ll have to wait and see :)[/p][p]
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