Hello everyone!
With the launch of Timberborn’s Mod.io hub, a lot has changed in the world of Timberborn mods! Today, we’d like to take a fresh look at the beautiful - and sometimes quirky - add-ons created by our talented players. Expect a custom rat beaver faction, a random map generator, ladders, and more.
Please note that modding Timberborn is not officially supported, and all add-ons we show today are community-made. According to our limited testing, they should work on the current main branch version (a.k.a. Update 4) when installed separately, but every new patch has a chance of breaking them. Also, launching the game with too many mods may easily crash it, so we suggest you go slow.
In other words, install the mods at your own risk, preferably one at a time, after you back up your saves. And if you’re still unsure how to start, visit the #modding-basics channel on our Discord first.
With that out of the way, here are some of our favorite Timberborn mods!
BePinEx
Mod Manager and TimberAPI by Hytone and TheBloodEyes
Here’s where you should begin. The three mods above unlock access to most other creations, and make it possible to modify the game. (For that, we want to give their creators a big shout-out: you never cease to impress our coders).
After you install BePinEx and the Mod Manager manually as described here, adding mods and custom maps becomes a matter of a single click. Simply open the Mod Manager available from the main menu, install TimberAPI, and you'll be ready to go deeper.
Water Beaver Overhaul by lapantouflemagic
Easily the most expansive mod on the list, this one adds an entirely new playable faction. It also plays with the game’s mechanics and aesthetics in a big way. As soon as you start a new game and find your Labrats Whitepaws around a broken cart rather than a regular district center, you know you’re in for a ride. Browse the toolbar, and you will get dizzy.
Whitepaws use all their workshops and storage as dwellings, adding to the population control challenge. Many of their buildings, lodges included, are “Watertight” - they act like levees. Some buildings can now be upgraded. Food production chain and factory workings are all changed, with tens of new resources requiring figuring out - how about feeding your beavers sauerkraut, growing brambles, digging up salt in the mine, or penning multi-resource blueprints to build advanced structures? Round that up with other additions, such as billboards or the balloon landing pad used to “trade” with other factions, and you have a monstrosity of a mod.
Water Beaver Overhaul quickly makes for an entire new playthrough or more, although with the sheer amount of content included, be prepared for creatively reused assets, work-in-progress iconography, and some balance woes - but hey, that’s what makes it beautiful!
Timberborn Terrain Generator by R-T-B
Right now, this is the closest you can get to randomly generated maps. With the mod installed, open the map editor and click the new “Random Map” button. Then, adjust several settings such as the map’s size, terrain amplitude, native flora, or how “bendy” the included river body will be.
After the map is generated, you will probably want to iron out some kinks such as interestingly placed water sources prone to overflowing - but R-T-B’s tool is an excellent way to get the initial work out of the way if you don’t want to start by staring blankly at the empty canvas.
Faction Exchange by KnatteAnka
Can’t decide whether our studio favors Folktails or the Iron Teeth? That’s not a problem! Simply download this mod to unlock several faction buildings to be used by both factions. Canola and corn grown with the help of Folktails’ bees? Sure. Gristmills powered up by smoking engines? Right on. This only applies to the buildings and resources that are of use to the other faction, though - your Folktails won’t taste the eggplants, and the Iron Teeth will not craft Biofuel.
Curiously, this mod depends on Water Extension which is an excellent pick by itself. It adds several buildings expanding on interactions with water such as pipes with integrated pumps (regular and underground), levees that transform power, and stackable water tanks. There's even an Irrigation Tower variant that fixes the building’s issues in a big way.
Ladder, Staircase, More Platforms, Vertical Power Shafts by Tobbert
While the above mods are separate, you probably want to go all-in on Tobbert’s creations that turn your settlements even more vertical thanks to more space-efficient tall designs. If you go with all proposed mods, you’ll see additions such as ladders and spiral stairs. And with overhangs, you can build on structures attached to a cliff or the new reinforced platforms.
You will probably also want to use vertical power shafts. As part of the mod, Tobbert also created a universal shaft module that changes its setup depending on what it connects, no matter the axis.
Spoiler: these mods will probably come in handy on the maps created for Build-a-Map Contest 2: Vertical Edition. Submissions closed yesterday with 250 (!) entries so expect the winner announcement in a few weeks.
Timelapse Camera by Yurand2000
We often create time-lapses ourselves, so we can see Yurand2000’s tool is extremely helpful. All you need to do is pick a desired camera position and set a screenshot interval measured in in-game time. Then, without you noticing (sans for micro stutter when a shot is taken), the add-on will start taking UI-free pictures as long as it’s daytime. Then, you can convert them into a timelapse using any external tools such as Ezgif.
All shots are taken as high-quality PNGs, and it’s easy to forget about the add-on, so don’t set the interval too low, or you may discover that the screenshots folder has grown too much. It’s better to use a higher interval and just take extra shots manually using a dedicated button.
Smart Power by Igor
This modification is of greatest use for the Iron Teeth enjoyers (or those with Faction Exchange installed). With Smart Power, Engines’ operators are more clever about burning logs, and can be told to charge gravity batteries only to a set degree. This add-on also updates the Charging Stations not to consume energy when there are no bots inside.
Both factions benefit from the mod’s Power Saving Mode added to powered attractions and factories. When there are no visitors or the factory cannot work (either because it’s missing ingredients or its workers are out for lunch), the energy usage drops to 10%. This is a great QoL mod if you do not mind why something similar was not added to the vanilla game - it makes it more difficult to gauge the current power consumption and usage spikes.
AutoRecipe and HousingOptimize by AllTheNamesAreGone
Enabling these two add-ons doesn’t add any extra UI elements… but whenever a new in-game day begins, things get optimized, especially in large settlements. Auto Recipe, as the name suggests, updates the recipes in multi-recipe buildings such as Fermenters. To pick an optimal recipe, the mod checks for resources that would allow production to be started, and if the yield could be stored. If yes, it selects whatever currently occupies the least storage. It also auto-picks a recipe whenever a relevant building is attached to a district.
House Optimization is also self-explanatory - each morning, the mod’s greedy (author’s own words!) algorithm relocates the beavers to houses closest to their workplaces. Don’t shuffle the workforce too often, and your colonists will probably be quite thankful for shorter commuting.
Bonus: Choo Choo! by Tobbert
If you feel like turning Timberborn into Beaver Train Tycoon, you’ll find the components here. This mod adds train yards, customizable train models, stations, and a set of tracks, including crossings for pedestrians and an elevated track that enables rollercoaster-like setups. The trains can simply turn back on the spot, but you can also set up the tracks to only allow movement in a single direction, effectively setting up a rail network across the map.
Other than being dam addictive, the two basic usages of trains are transporting passengers and resources between stations, including between districts. Sadly, based on our experience, these features often bug out on the current iteration. That’s why, despite the mod's popularity, we only include Choo Choo! as a bonus. As soon as the fixes are in, go get it!
You can find all mods (as well as custom maps) on the Timberborn hub on Mod.io. From all of us at Mechanistry, we want to thank our fantastic players for creating so many incredible add-ons... and we can't wait to see what you come up with next!