Trailmakers News

The 1.0 update is the biggest and greatest update to Trailmakers we have ever made. For returning players, it will feel both familiar and like a brand new game as we have added tons of new blocks and a brand new massive campaign. For new players, it has never been easier to get into Trailmakers with better tutorials and help menus. You can read the full change notes under the new launch trailer. From the whole Trailmakers Team, we really hope you enjoy it!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

• NEW CAMPAIGN - STRANDED IN SPACE
  • On your way to deliver a not-so-precious cargo of Space trash, you are hit by an asteroid and stranded on an alien planet. You must explore the planet and recover the space trash. Each part you salvage can be used to build new means of transportation and ultimately a spaceship that can bring you back into orbit and home again.
    
  • You collect the lost salvage and unlock new blocks by delivering it to the Recovery Drones. This is not always easy as the salvage can be stuck in holes, at the bottom of the sea or even highly explosive!
    
  • To help you recover the salvage, we have added a new block to the game: The Electromagnet. After you find this block in Stranded in Space, salvaging will be a lot smoother. You can read more about this block in the New Blocks section of the update notes.
    
  • There are new ways to earn coins, that you can spend on accessory blocks. If you find a Nugget Thief make sure to chase them down and take their gold.
    
  • There is an unprecedented amount of new wildlife and fauna to find on the planet in Stranded in Space. Explore above and beneath the surface to find them all.
    
  • Unlike the old Expedition game mode, Stranded in Space is available as a MULTIPLAYER mode in its entirety. Your progress carries over if you join a multiplayer game, and you can collaborate to recover some of the trickier salvages.
• The TRANSFORM FEATURE is back!
  With the push of a button you can transform between different vehicle you have made (or downloaded). PC Players assign the vehicles they want to transform to by hovering over the blueprint and pressing a number from 1-4. You can transform while driving by pressing ALT+1-4. Xbox Players can use the D-pad while hovering over a blueprint, and transform in-game by pushing LB+D-pad.
  
• We have added some very satisfying Water Splashes and foam effects for all you sailors out there!
  
• There are now a series of Steam and Xbox Achievements you can complete if you’re a real completionist!
  
• We have added more template vehicles - premade vehicles by the Trailmakers developers. You can find them in the builder menu next to your saved blueprints.
  
• The First Person camera view is now much nicer. You can access it on PC by cycling through the camera angles by pressing C, and on Xbox by pressing down the right stick.
  
• There is a new camera angle called Helicopter Chase camera. We have added it as a great angle when you are piloting helicopters or drones. You can access it on PC by cycling through the camera angles by pressing C, and on Xbox by pressing down the right stick.
  
• Due to some engine tweaks (see the Blocks section), we have changed some things in the Trailmakers Rally mode AND on Race Island. This includes:
  
  • New Bronze, Silver and Gold ghosts on most tracks.
    
  • New instruction vehicles.
    
  • Many track tweaks like more tarmac.
    
  • Now, you can also teleport to another race track while in the builder by opening the map.
    
  All these changes will of course mean a leaderboard reset.
  
• The player’s Visor opens up when out of seat.
  
• Changed the Chat Font - goodbye Comic Sans, you will not be missed.
  
• The soccer field in the Sandbox map is much more professional.

Please note that your graphics settings might have been reset in this update. Go to preferences, and select your preferred graphics settings again - sorry for the inconvenience.

• Loading times have been vastly improved across the board.
  
• A great many textures have been optimised.
  
• There are new minimum quality setting for potato PCs.
  
• Maps now have greater details.

We have continued our work to make the Trailmakers builder intuitive and informative. Here are the changes to the builder in 1.0:

• You can now toggle the arrows that indicate the aerodynamic properties of your vehicle on and off.
  
• We have added a Complexity indicator to warn you when your vehicle is nearing the complexity limit.
  
• Many blocks now have a “Show Advanced” toggle in their configuration menu. If you are missing some block options that used to be there, remember to toggle the advanced view.
  
• We have added an info window when you hover over blocks with the cursor. It shows the name of the block, the weight and the keybindings (if applicable).
  
• There’s a brand new Help Menu available from the top right of the builder or from the Escape Menu. Here you can find quick images and videos explaining basic concepts in Trailmakers like aerodynamics, Power Cores, controls and more.
  
• The builder UI has been redesigned completely.
  
• When you open the builder you will notice an arrow on the ground. We recommend you build your vehicle facing in this direction. It makes the aerodynamic arrows match, makes sure other vehicles you transform to are pointed in the same direction, and aligns many blocks in the right direction when pulling them out of the inventory.
  
• The game will attempt to auto save your creation if the server crashes or shuts down while you are in build mode.
  
• Increased the cursor speed when using a controller in the builder.
  
• Blocks now become opaque when rotating or coloring in the builder.
  
• You can now build underwater!
  
• We have removed the ‘Favorites’ category of blocks and added one with Lights.
  
• There is now a Lights category in Blocks AND one in Accessories. The Lights in Blocks are free, the ones in Accessories are purchased with coins.
  
• Armor plates have been moved from the Gadgets category to the Frames category.

• NEW: ELECTROMAGNET - The Electromagnet attracts or rejects magnetic objects when you activate it. This is configurable. Many objects in the game have been made magnetic.
  
• NEW: Spaceship Seat - The Spaceship Seat is a brand new seat designed for the Spaceship in the new game mode, Stranded in Space. It is immediately available in all Sandbox modes.
  
• NEW: Ship’s Wheel - You can finally sail your boat in style with a proper Ship’s Wheel.
  
• NEW: Ski - Snow not included.
  
• Engine Tweaks
  
• The Bulldawg, RAW and Dragon Engines have been reworked. The diminishing returns when using several of the same engine is now less noticeable.
  
• The Spinning Servo and Helicopter Engines have received some big changes. The curve of the speed configuration has been normalised - previously there was virtually no difference between 6 and 10. The new top speed (10) is a little higher than before, while the new 6 is slower than the old 6. The new servos will also feel more like they are applying a certain amount of force rather than trying to spin at a certain speed. This will be evident when you try attaching something light to them - it will spin faster than when you adjust something heavy. If you have vehicles that rely on these servos, you might want to readjust their configurations.
  
• NEW ACCESSORY BLOCKS:
  
  • Rainbow Maker
    
  • Bubble Maker
    
  • Mad Science Block
    
  • Swine Hood
    
  • Snake Hood
    
  • Hound Hood
    
  • Periscope
    
  • Rib Cage Pipes
    
  • Stop Sign
    
  • Yellow Neon
    
  • Wind Sock
    
  • Wind Propeller
    
  • Wood Bumper
    
  • Swirling Rim
    
  • Fidget Rim
    
  • Sun Rim
  
• Many Accessories have had their coin price changed.
  
• The Propeller AND the Underwater Propeller now have a keybind for going in reverse. You can assign this in the configuration menu on the individual block.
  
• Many Aerodynamic blocks have been changed from having block colliders to mesh colliders. In practice, this means it is much more smooth to build a ramp and drive on it for example.
  
• All Aerodynamic blocks have received new weight values - now properly based on science and stuff.
  
• Some blocks have had their aerodynamic values adjusted.
  
• All accessory blocks are now much less of an obstruction when it comes to making fast and aerodynamic vehicle. You should not have to choose between putting cool accessories on your vehicle and going fast.
  
• We have added three new trophies for repeating winners of the Weekly Challenge (more info: https://www.playtrailmakers.com/weekly-challenge)

• The horn will no longer keep blaring when you respawn.
  
• Fixed some memory leaks.
  
• Light in the blueprints category is now consistent.
  
• Light in blocks category is now consistent.
  
• Fixed uneven ground warning when ground is not uneven.
  
• Fixed aerodynamic arrows not showing in multiple cases.
  
• Fixed some seats spawning 90 degrees rotated.
  
• Fixed camera anchor point issues.
  
• Fixed glitchy camera movement during repair.
  
• Fixed birds hovering above ground in some situations.
  
• Fixed builder inventory appearing empty when going between tracks in rally.
  
• Fixed camera spinning out of control when rotating while assigning input in the configurator.
  
• Fixed values in configurator not saving correctly if using the slider.
  
• Fixed the ramp.

Hey Trailmakers!

Today we are announcing the release date for Trailmakers 1.0, marking the transition from Early Access to “Full Release”. It’s happening on September 18th!

The 1.0 launch is also our biggest update yet, which is why it has been so long since we last updated the game. We wanted to make something that was deserving of a 1.0, and lives up to your high expectations. The update adds a new game mode that is bigger both in terms of world size and playthrough length than the old Expedition game mode. We’ve also added a lot of new features, blocks, optimizations and bug fixes.

Moving from 0.X to 1.0 can seem like an arbitrary decision, because when is a sandbox game like Trailmakers ever really “done”? We have received so many feature suggestions (find many of them on the Community Suggestion Trello) that we could keep working on this game for 50 years. We are calling this update 1.0 because it’s the biggest one yet, and adds a grand campaign. In our opinion, Trailmakers 1.0 is a complete game.

If you need entertainment while you wait for the launch, head over to our Discord and join the Weekly Challenge competition for a chance to win a trophy in the game. You can read more about the competition in the #announcements channel. We will also be sharing tidbits of information about the details of the next update on Discord and Twitter.

Hi Trailmakers! :makertool::tmchicken::tmlogo::trailmaker1::trailmaker2:

A short update from us this time. We've added a batch of Steam Trading Cards along with the emotes, profile backgrounds and badges that goes with them. The trading cards feature creations made by the community, so I'd like to send a big thank you to Lartzam, MexOff, SteelRain444, Muramatsu Kiko, and Ozy.

You're probably also wondering how our progress with the next update is coming along. Seeing all your excitement and hype after our Exploration Game Mode reveal has motivated us to make Exploration bigger and better. The consequence is that we are not currently delivering as frequent game updates as we used to. On the other hand, the next update will be by far the biggest Trailmakers update yet. I hope you have patience with us, and that you enjoy the Summer. Here's another sneak peek at what you have in store in the next Trailmakers update:

Firstly, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to check out the Tailwind update, we hope you're having fun with the new blocks, Rally races and general improvements we made to the game.

Since release we've had reports of a handful of bugs which we didn't want to wait until the next update to fix. This small update is now live, if you're curious what it fixesyou'll find the Changelist below.

Changelist for Tailwind Hotfix (0.8.1.24474)

• Fixed the bendy structures due to welding improvements made in Tailwind.
  
• Fixed certain blocks being turned into others when duplicating on certain machines.
  
• Fixed the Daily Challenge UI breaking after switching game modes and then completing a challenge.
  
• Fixed Pistons with multiple parts connected sometimes deciding that those parts were actually disconnected.
  
• Fixed the glitch which allowed free floating parts.
  
• Fixed an issue with some VTOLs behaving differently.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Snowball Dispenser when used on servers.
  

The new Exploration mode is coming along nicely. It's very motivating to see so many of you excited for the update. The image in the top of this news post is a screenshot from the new map. Right now, we are busy sprinkling the map with challenges and hidden secrets.

The core gameplay of the new exploration mode will center around searching and retrieving. For that purpose, we are currently working on a new Magnet Block you can attach to vehicles. We can't wait to show you more from the new game mode - stay tuned.


Since the Rally Update released we've been trialing a Public Bug Trello on Discord, and we'd like to bring in our Steam community members too. It's by no means a definitive list, but we wanted a nice, concise way for our users to be able to see which bugs we're aware of, if we're investigating, or if a fix is coming in the next update.

For more specific info you can read this Info Card.


We of course, also have our Public Feature Suggestions Trello which is a great resource for us as we plan future updates and content! If you see a feature on there you'd love to see in the game, take the time to vote it up! If it isn't there, let us know in the Steam Forums, or on our Discord!


If you're not already a member of the Official Trailmakers Discordserver, now is a great time to join. Not only can you easily share your latest creations with other players, you can get tips and suggestions from them to improve your builds, set up multiplayer sessions and even enjoy some teasers of upcoming updates!

As new updates draw closer to release, we also share beta builds with our most trusted members, so if you want to help us test the upcoming updates, you should join!

As always, if you enjoy Trailmakers a Steam review is greatly appreciated! Thanks for playing and helping guide us on this journey!

The Tailwind Update is releasing tomorrow, 10th May, but we wanted to give you all an early look at what you can expect in the update, alongside some exciting news regarding Exploration!

In this Trailmakers update we have added some exciting new race tracks to the Rally - this time you will have to master the skies to become a champion. We are also making some big changes to Wingfins, adding some awesome new blocks and fixing some exploits which necessitates a leaderboard reset. Finally, we have added one of the most requested features: Advanced Graphics Settings.

We hope you enjoy the update, and as always let us know what you think in the comments or for a more detailed discussion of the Tailwind Update head over to our Discord (https://discord.gg/Trailmakers).

• Added 6 new race tracks to the Trailmakers Rally.
  
• Added support for AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboard layouts.
  
• Added an Advanced Graphics Settings menu. You can now fine tune the visual settings of Trailmakers like LOD, grass and trails, or just pick a preset.
  
• Added a lot more options on the multiplayer server creation screen. You can now create a custom block loadout, and adjust the allowed complexity limit for vehicles on the server.

We tweaked the Coin rewards from races, so now there's a smaller difference between beating one ghost, or all three. Or if you happen to be playing offline.

• We have added a feature that automatically finishes building the template vehicle in the races for you.
  
• If you load in a Blueprint that has locked blocks, you now have the ability to purchase them through the builder. Just select the locked block and you’ll have a purchase button.

In this update we have finally changed the Wingfins. We have been meaning to do this for a while, but we needed to come up with a solution that would not break too many old vehicles. The Wingfins have always had an unrealistic amount of drag which enabled crazy turning, but also made planes float like paper. The solution we have come up with is to change the old Wingfins so they cost a Power Core, rename them “Powered Wingfins,” and let them keep their drag properties. We have made three new Wing Fins that do not cost Power Cores, and have less drag than the powered versions. Old creations will have their Wingfins replaced with Powered Wingfins.

• 2x2x1
  
• 2x2x2
  
• 3x3x1
  
• 4x4x1

NEW: Motorcycle Seat
NEW: Motorcycle Wheel



NEW Large Paddle Block
NEW: Powered Wingfins with the same drag as the regular wingfins before the update.
CHANGED: Wingfins have reduced drag.
CHANGED: Cannons explosions have reduced blast radius and power.
CHANGED: Made the Armored Seat slightly more aerodynamic.
CHANGED: The RAW Jet now takes slightly longer to begin its cooldown period. This is to prevent constantly tapping the Jet being the best strategy in many races.
CHANGED: The Propeller now has a wind-up time and we have reduced the power core cost from 4 to 2.
CHANGED: We changed the Shield Plates so you can colour each half of them a different colour, consider this a first step towards further customisation of your creations!

• Added block building sounds to many blocks that didn’t have them.
  
• Added reverb to caves and tunnels.

• Fixed a bug that would spawn the vehicle on top of you so it fell on your head.
  
• Fixed an inverted aerodynamic block that had non-symmetric aerodynamics.
  
• Fixed a bug that showed you had improved in race rank when you had not.
  
• Fixed a bug that would break the builder when binding a key to Z.
  
• Fixed the invisible Carball ball.
  
• Fixed an exploit that allowed you to only complete 1 lap on multi lap races.
  
• Fixed the reward for flying through all the Rings of Fire in Sandbox Island.
  
• Fixed the trigger for the Rings of Fire in Sandbox Island.
  
• Fixed the Marquee Tool activating when clicking on UI elements in the builder.
  
• Fixed a bug with the builder info weight not updating when placing a new block.
  
• Fixed the ramp.

We know a lot of you reading these update notes are going to be hoping for some news on Exploration mode, and we’re happy to confirm that Exploration will be the core feature of the next Trailmakers update.

As we’ve finished up work on the Tailwind update, we’ve been in many design meetings, armed with your feedback and our own visions and ideas for Exploration and now we’re ready to start building the brand new map for you all to explore, discover and build in. We’ve already started work, and our current goal is to release the update before we all take our summer vacation!

As we progress through development of Exploration, we’re going to do our best to keep you updated with how things are going. We of course want to keep some surprises for when the update releases, but for now, please enjoy the Tailwind Update and check back soon for more news regarding Exploration!

If you enjoy the Tailwind update, please don’t hesitate to leave us a Steam review, the entire team really appreciates it!