Hello everyone,
It’s time for another batch of experimental tweaks to the Update 5 content! We’ve updated badwater colors, added a new model for the Herbalist, and changed the maps (including Helix Mountain which now features badwater). Most notably though, Timberborn is no longer missing one of the most important animations. You can now actually see your beavers cutting trees!
Visual
The first version of badwater could be mistaken for lava, and the second resembled sewers too much. Today, we’re trying to strike the right balance between these two extremes. Also, Herbalist no longer uses the old Healer model.
- Updated colors for badwater and extract.
- Updated the Herbalist’s model to better correspond to its current role (see below).
Animations
The first recorded request for proper tree-cutting animations in Timberborn is from 1784. We’re so happy we’re finally here!
- Added tree-cutting animations for beavers and bots.
- Trees are now swaying while being cut.
- The dev team can now sleep at night.
Maps
The work on getting the built-in maps ready for Update 5 continues.
- Remade Helix Mountain, our inspired-by-community map. It is now badwater-compatible.
- Made smaller tweaks to Craters, Meander, Terraces, and Waterfalls. Thanks for the feedback, everyone!
- Removed that randomly placed birch tree from Plains.
Balance
Apparently, the Decontamination Pod was so comfy some beavers would often overstay their welcome. On the other hand, the Hard difficulty was sometimes a little too brutal.
- Contaminated beavers placed in Decontamination Pods now recover faster.
- On Hard difficulty, the first badtide can now hit after two cycles of the grace period (up from one).
Audio
How about some new, bubbly sounds?
- Added new sounds to the following Update 5 buildings: Centrifuge, Grease Factory, Decontamination Pod, Badwater Source, Exercise Plaza, Advanced Breeding Pod.
Keybindings
The newly added keybindings required a little extra care.
- Hitting Esc while setting up a new keybinding now closes the window.
- It is now possible to use Ctrl + mouse wheel to go through the main categories on the toolbar. Shift + mouse wheel goes through the buildings within the selected category. We estimate this saves you about 1 kcal per two-hour game session.
- Updated default keybindings in the map editor.
- MacOS users can now use CMD in keybindings.
- Updated several default keybindings on MacOS to use CMD instead of Ctrl.
UI and QoL
- The post-crash screen now includes a text box. You can use it to explain what happened before the game exploded. This comment will be included in the crash report.
- It’s now possible to preview a building before unlocking it. To unlock the building, either try placing it down in the preview mode, click the dedicated button, or hit Enter with the building selected.
- Updated icons for Badwater Sources, Water Sources, and Badwater Rig.
Bugfixes
- The camera now focuses correctly on water pumps, rather than on their pipes.
- Fixed a minor highlighting bug caused by moving between categories on the toolbar.
- Fixed a bug with stranded
sheep left at the base of a cliffbeavers not dying. - Fixed a bug with multi-key keybindings not fitting the UI.
- Stranded bots that run out of fuel now correctly use the stranded animation.
- Buildings that make a terrain cutout (such as Underground Pile) now include the terrain cutout in the construction stage.