Trailmakers News

When we decided to remove the Expedition from the game and add the Rally game mode, we knew it would be a controversial decision. We did not do it lightheartedly, but because we thought it would make the game better. Our reasons for removing the Expedition have not changed:

• The problem solving was too linear - like a string of puzzles instead of a challenging open world.
  
• The balance of many blocks were tied to the environmental challenges of Expedition so changing them or fixing inconsistencies would mean a broken game mode.
  
• It was too difficult for a small team like Flashbulb to expand it further.
  

Since removing the Expedition, many players who had not previously voiced their opinion about Trailmakers spoke up and told us how much they missed the game mode. We read everything in the reviews, the Steam forums, on Discord, Twitter, Facebook etc, and a majority of you wanted the same things:

• A clear sense of progression.
  
• Exploration in a big map.
  
• Rewarding creativity.
  
• Finding blocks instead of buying them with points.
  

We believe we can make something that gives you all of that while also solving the grievances we had with the old Expedition. We will soon begin work on something we will tentatively call “Exploration Mode”. It will not be the old Expedition or even a Expedition 2.0, but something new entirely. It will not replace the Rally mode - development of the Trailmakers Rally continues with many new tracks added in the next update.

When we put up the Steam page for Trailmakers back in January 2018, we answered the “Why Early Access?” question with this (and the answer has remained the same):
“Like any other game in Early Access, we need your help to decide what goes in the game and what does not. Trailmakers is a construction game made out of thousands of small parts. There is an endless opportunity to adjust and add to the features in the game, and we have a plan of where we want the game to head. It’s up to you to tell us if that is the right direction.”

For us, that is the essence of Early Access and open development. We want to thank you for letting us know what you think of Trailmakers. In particular, it has been a joy to read the very detailed feedback, and sometimes heated debate on Discord. With thousands of Trailmakers players, only a minority voices their opinion. If you took time out of your day to let us know how you feel, know that we appreciate you.

Hey folks!

First, I want to thank you for all your comments and feedback on the Rally Update. We read every word you send us (though we might not answer all of them), and they influence the future updates of Trailmakers. We love to hear from you on Steam, Discord, Twitter or wherever else you throw words at us.

Since the Rally update came out, we have released a couple of hotfixes. Due to some balance changes and fixes to exploits, we have also reset the leaderboards. This will not be the last time we reset them. The plan is to reset them when changes we make will impact the times you can get in races.

Hotfix 1&2 change list:

- Fixed players getting ejected from the builder when involuntarily leaving the race area.
- Fixed resetting of hinges when repairing.
- Fixed Power Core limit on servers.
- Fixed the Boat tutorial on Race Island
- Fixed various memory leaks.
-Fixed the blueprint browser for updating existing workshop items. It previously only displayed two blueprints to choose from.
- We squashed the issue that was causing some users to see lag and rubberbanding in extended play sessions.
- The old style FPS counter should not appear and remain on the screen anymore, displaying an incorrect FPS.
- Uploads made to the Steam Workshop in this update should now be downloaded correctly and visible in your Blueprint Inventory once again.
- Fixed Alternative Rendering requiring to be enabled on GPUs that shouldn't need to use it.
- Fixed Toggled Hinges not resetting correctly on repairs.
- Blueprints that previously had locked parts will now correctly lose the ! when you own the blocks.
- Fixed an issue with an unbound Logic Block set up not accepting input anymore.
- Reimplemented the Builder Camera focus on block selected.
- Fixed the Blueprint Inventory reloading every time you entered it.
- Fixed the Blueprint Inventory not remember your last position.
- Snowball Dispenser is back again.
- Fixed the worse than intended Aerodynamics on the VIP Seat. It's now the same as the Standard Seat.
- Fixed Sandbox being listed as Unknown Game Mode in the Server List.
- Fixed Sensor Blocks being turned off when pressing ESC in a multiplayer game.
- Fixed the Boombox sounds breaking after crashing/repairing. Again.
- Fixed the missing tool tips inside the configurator.
- Fixed Hover Engine sounds cutting out after crashes/repair/respawns.
- Fixed the Blueprint context menu appearing behind the tooltip when right clicking a blueprint.

It’s been a long time underway, but the Rally Update is finally here. There are a ton of changes to Trailmakers - adding a new game mode, removing another game mode, rebalancing a lot of blocks, and much more. We’re very proud of how the update turned out, and we can’t wait to hear what you think. Read the full update notes right here.


Today also marks our Xbox One Game Preview launch! It has been a big undertaking for us to get Trailmakers ready for Xbox One, but we are super happy with the results. If you have friends who have been dying to play Trailmakers on their console, do us a favor and let them know that Trailmakers is out on Xbox!

The Xbox version has all the features of the PC version… almost. We are not launching with multiplayer as that would require dedicated servers, but we plan to add it in an update. The Steam Workshop is replaced with a Trailmakers Gallery that we are hosting ourselves. It has the same functionality as the workshop, but not the same Blueprints.


The price of Trailmakers on Steam will soon be increasing to $24.99/£19.99/€24.99. Since we launched Trailmakers at its current price point, we have released 12 content updates that improved the game and added tons of content. What you get when you purchase Trailmakers today is significantly more than it was a year ago. To keep the momentum going, and help fuel the development we are confident in increasing the price a little.

This will obviously have no impact on current players, but if you have a friend who is looking to get Trailmakers now is a great time. We plan to increase the price in the very beginning of April.

Hey Trailmakers

Some of you have gotten in touch to ask us why we are replacing Expedition instead of just leaving it in and adding the new game mode. We know it might be counterintuitive to remove content from the game, so here are the reasons that went into this decision.

What we think the Expedition did well was to give an introduction to the builder and the physics of Trailmakers. You would learn how to make your first car, how to upgrade it, make it aerodynamic etc. There was a nice sense of progression in the Expedition, and it was nice to have an obvious next goal - something you did not get in Sandbox.

There were also a lot of things that the Expedition did not do so well. We think that it was a weird mix of being open world, but still very linear. We never managed to make it feel like you had true freedom in how to solve the challenges. It felt more like a puzzle game where the developers had a specific solution in mind for the environmental challenges, and you had to figure out how we intended them to be solved. We think that goes against the idea of creative building.

However, the biggest problem with the Expedition was how it limited the rest of the game. In order to make environmental puzzles in the Expedition, we had to tweak certain blocks so that you could just barely overcome the challenge by using them. For example, the traction of the wheels was balanced so that you could just barely make it up the first hills. The same goes for the aerodynamic blocks which were balanced around the windy sections of the Expedition. Since then, whenever we have wanted to change the wheels or aerodynamic blocks to be more realistic and consistent or work for other game modes like Racing, we have had to take the Expedition into consideration. Changing one little parameter on a block could make the Expedition impossible to complete.This has on many occasions meant that we have chosen not to “fix” obvious flaws in the game.

All these issues also mean that we cannot “leave it in there” as many have requested. That would mean that we would have to live with weird settings on blocks while also having to maintain all the systems related to the expedition.

So the expedition is dead. Long live the new campaign, which is … a secret for now. But it will be a game mode that is much easier for us to expand upon, and way more aligned with what makes Trailmakers stand out. It will also serve as a way to introduce the builder, the basic blocks and game mechanics to new players while giving a sense of progression.

I hope this clarifies why we are replacing the game mode. Keeping it in means continuing to support it, and that would stunt the growth of the game in other areas. When all that is said, we would very much like to know what you will miss about the Expedition. It will give us a better chance to make the kind of content that you want to see in the future! Let us know in the comments :)

Hi Trailmakers!

It’s been a while since we’ve updated Trailmakers. Apart from a nice Christmas holiday, the reason for the lack of updates is because we are working on a larger project.

The project is two-fold. First of all, we are revamping the main “campaign” of Trailmakers. The Expedition didn’t really hit the mark for a lot of players (or for us for that matter) so in the spirit of Early Access we are going to remove it and replace it with something we think fits the DNA of the game a lot better. We can’t wait to show you more about it when it’s ready. We think this update is important in order to make Trailmakers ready for 1.0 release later this year.

In regards to the accessory blocks that are spread out in the current Expedition, there will be a new way to obtain them in the new Campaign mode. If you’ve already unlocked them all you will get to keep them of course. The update will also have a ton of other features, making it the biggest Trailmakers update yet. We expect to launch it on Steam in February.

Secondly, we are also finishing up Trailmakers for Xbox. We decided long ago to do the Xbox version ourselves instead of outsourcing it to make sure the quality was satisfactory. We are launching in the Xbox Game Preview program, so the new campaign and the Xbox launch are not to be confused with a transition into 1.0 and exiting Early Access. That will come later this year. We plan on releasing Trailmakers on Xbox at some point between February and April, depending on how many last minute obstacles we run into. When we finally commit to a release date, we will put out a date reveal trailer.

Thank you for your patience!

P.S. There's always something to do in Trailmakers. Head over to our Discord to participate in weekly building competitions, or try some of the awesome new inventions made by the community.