Different soil types (terrain tiles variety)

Comments: 33

• 24 Jul, '21
  Skrewn

  I think it would also be nice to let the player dry the bog tiles if he wants so, especially if they come with strict building limitations.
  Any idea what to do with the pebbles coming from the river ?

• 19 Aug, '21
  Gin Fuyou

  Erosion system suggestion is here https://timberborn.featureupvote.com/suggestions/203753/add-erosion-system
  I think it would have a really cool synergy.

• 18 Sep, '21
  Purser Merged

  To add another element of difficulty to various maps, there could be a terrain square of rocky or rough land. You would not be able to build on this tile (which will allow for map editors to restrict available land in the early game), additionally crops would not grow here, and a wall of rocky tiles would restrict land fertility near to a body of water. There should be a researchable technology, after which you can task beavers with converting the rocky tile into normal land tiles.

• 19 Sep, '21
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Suggestion: Rocky Terrain (restricting building areas)" (suggested by Purser on 2021-09-18), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 27 Sep, '21
  Dazenith

  Another soil type you could have is permanently arable land. I.E. doesn't require nearby water at all.
  This would be a nice addition to add in difficult to reach areas of a map as a prize or a way to allow a player to have a small area to more easily maintain a small population at the start. Or a map maker could go full ham and make the entire map permanently arable if they so wish.
  Not sure what would be the best name for this type of soil. Perhaps Loam? Or Clay Loam to represent better the water retention it has.

• 23 Oct, '21
  Kenneth Ferland

  My sugjestion is a gradiation from Gravel, Sand, Mud and Clay. Larger particle sizes need faster water to move, but are more porus to water flow/irrigation but also dry faster. A 1-dimensional spectrum is easier for players to grasp even if it's not as accurate as 'Silty loam Clay' vs 'Loamy clay Silt'

• 09 Nov, '21
  Jaco3011

  It should match with actual soil types, or at least the most common ones.

• 24 Nov, '21
  Yukke Merged

  Under the current game rules, terrain changes (dynamite) tend to be available at the end of the game, making water control difficult in the early stages. Also, because dynamite is too powerful, it tends to make the terrain perfectly flat, spoiling design diversity and technology.
  
  Therefore, the terrain blocks are divided into three types. Soil can be turned into farmland with current ordinary blocks and can be removed by excavation. Rock can be removed with dynamite and is buried under Soil. Bed Rock is irremovable and corresponds to the current bottom block, but can be layered in map design to form terrain.
  
  If Bed Rock forms the terrain, it is not possible to easily flatten the terrain, and technology and design corresponding to the terrain are required, and various play styles can be created.
  
  Further handling of Soil will be added in the comments.

• 24 Nov, '21
  SirMichael Admin

  "Soil, Rock, Bed Rock. Reconstruction of terrain system." (suggested by Yukke on 2021-11-24), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 25 Nov, '21
  Yukke

  Care must be taken when handling soil as it is not possible to create farmland on Rock or Bed Rock. Soil is stockable and must be stocked. Soil is stocked in the Soil yard. The soil storage area is inconvenient enough to store 9 soils per block, so the difficulty of excavation should be increased. In addition, the Soil storage area where Soil remains cannot be deleted.
  
  We do not provide facilities to generate Soil. This is because if Soil can be generated infinitely, it will end up in a flat terrain due to landfill.

• 03 Dec, '21
  Rémy Bretin Merged

  Rock vs Soil ground: currently, arable lands can only be destroyed (by dynamites) but can’t be built. It would be nice to make two different ground cubes: rock vs soil.
  
  Rock:
  - Anything can be built on rock ground, but only a few things can be cultivated on it (birch trees or berries bushes for example).
  - The only way to destroy rock ground would be with dynamites.
  
  Soil:
  - Anything can be cultivated on soil ground, but not everything can be built on top.
  - can be dug out without dynamites.
  - can be built, but only on top of a rock ground. The resources needed would be compost made from a mix of ressources. Birchbark could be used as a resource component to make soil ground.
  - it also can be eroded from flooding: the more the cube is surrounded by other cubes, the less erosion it will suffer. For example, 8 surrounding cubes = no erosion, but 0 surrounding cubes = maximum erosion rate. After X days of exposure to water, the soil cube would disappear. This would destroy

• 04 Dec, '21
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Rock vs Soil ground" (suggested by Rémy Bretin on 2021-12-03), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 09 Dec, '21
  Rémy Bretin

  I really hope that this post would get more attention. I really think this would make the game more chalanging. Right now, except managing the water, all the rest is pretty boring. It's only aesthetic stuff, and almost 0 survival.

• 01 Jan, '22
  Coatimundi Merged

  A new biome suggestion: Wetlands/Swamp/Bogs.
  Trees can be in shallow waters such as Bald Cypress, Tupelo Gum. Water friendly trees by the shores are River Birch, Swamp White Oak, Weeping Willow, Black Tupelo, Willow Oak and American Sycamore.
  Now the cool thing is the Tupelo Gum tree produces unique wood that is prized by woodworkers for its color and patterns; on top of that the tree also makes Tupelo fruit which is utilized by wildlife as a food source and can be used for drinks, marmalades, and sauces.
  Along with the trees theirs a numerous amount of plants on the water and land that are unique to swamps. Ie Algae, water lilys, wild grapes, and black alder, plus many more if you dig into it.
  Overall I think swamps would make a great edition to Timberborn. If you really wanted to get creative you might even be able to spin a new faction: Swamp Beavers :D

• 01 Jan, '22
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Wetlands" (suggested by Coatimundi on 2022-01-01), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 25 Mar, '22
  Nyoraia Merged

  Currently, there are only two type of terrain blocks: dirt (dry or fertile -- with sides of stone), debris (rocks and wood entangled which can be demolished).
  
  It would be great to have more variety of terrain blocks since one of the main aspect of the game is terrain management (along with resource management and water management).
  
  DIRT
  - current terrain block, but the sides should be replaced with a more dirt looking texture. Dirt blocks could only be found as the 2-3 top layers. Dirt blocks could be generated by fertilizing other types of terrain blocks. As mentioned in other suggestions, this could be a terrain block that beaver labourers could remove/move/place without dynamite if a special building is created for this purpose.
  
  STONE
  - a stone terrain block. The stone terrain would not be affected by droughts. No crops could be planted on it but building could be built on them. Stone terrain could only be removed with dynamite. Stone terrain would be deeper layers of the

• 26 Mar, '22
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Variety of terrain type (not just dirt and debris)" (suggested by Nyoraia on 2022-03-25), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 02 Apr, '22
  Nyoraia

  TUNDRA / ICY DIRT
  - dirt block that is fertile during a drought, but icy during the normal season. It could replace dirt on the two top-most layers (height 15-16)
  
  MUD / SAND
  - similar to dirt block, but not fertile and cannot be built on (except roads). Could be processed to be changed into regular dirt using other mechanics.
  - slower beaver movement when walking on it except if there are roads.
  - mud block is created if dirt is flooded for too long. Reverts to dirt during drought if un-flooded.
  
  SLOPE
  - a triangular block as an alternative to the stony stairs for a more natural feel

• 12 Apr, '22
  Nyoraia

  LAVA
  - same dynamic as water but changes the surrounding tiles in "drought" mode (as opposed to making them fertile)
  - slower movement than water
  - beavers cannot swim in it and beavers become thirsty faster if they are in the drought effect area.
  - Has precedence over water for the dry effect if water is nearby
  
  CONCRETE-METAL RUIN BLOCK
  - terrain block that looks like concrete and metal, as a remnant of human civilization
  - this would be a ground block, not a ressource block, that can be walked on or built on.
  - useful for map settings in old human metropolis

• 

  26 Apr, '22
  Not a native speaker Merged

  A new terrain type called 'beach' that maybe has a height of 0.5 and needs to be connected with water
  
  - new decorations like shells/parasols/crabs
  
  - new tree: palm tree with harvestable coconuts than can either directly be turned into food or further processed into coconut milk that's more nutritious than raw coconuts.
  
  - different activities for the beavers: deck chairs to sit on and beach balls to play with
  
  - water wings or lifebelt for the children

• 29 Apr, '22
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Beach Terrain" (suggested by Not a native speaker on 2022-04-26), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 

  15 Sep, '22
  Mozzarella

  Having different ground types in the game can also be educational.
  
  For instance, the ground underneath Bogs are made from Peat. The O2 levels in the water of bogs are lower than swamps or marshes, and are brown and acidic from the tannin produced by Peat. Peat serves as an important natural CO2 trap, but can also be used for a variety of other things.
  There are also certain berries that are native to bogs and peat, like cranberries.
  
  Sand is not merely "sand", but has a few different types as well. Although they are all made out of silica, they were formed in different ways, and have differing characteristics, and uses.
  Dirt, or Soil, too, has differing characteristics, like how it is composed. Sand, Silt, Clay, and Ph balance, if we want to be detailed, or simply, its fertility for certain crops.

• 01 Nov, '22
  Martin Theobald Merged

  Introducing multiple soil types would make maps look nicer. Additionally irrigation spread could be based on soil type.

• 09 Nov, '22
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Allow different soil types with different hydrating profiles" (suggested by Martin Theobald on 2022-11-01), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 19 Dec, '22
  EmperorPoe Merged

  Create more options for map creation and editing such as soil types ( Rich green, Rocky brown, Boggy grey). Expand on vegetation and or resource types and varieties. I love where you are so far. I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

• 23 Dec, '22
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Map editing options" (suggested by EmperorPoe on 2022-12-19), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 17 May
  Georg Erharter Merged

  I propose a diversification into different ground types that could be implemented in different levels of complexity. E.g.:
  
  simple: split into 2 types: soil and bedrock
  - would add challenges to the game when e.g. farming can only be done on soil or some heavy buildings can only be built on rock.
  - would open up for new buildings like to replace the "dirt excavator" with a "soil excavator" and a "rock excavator"
  - would enable new landscape features
  
  medium: different soil & rock types
  - enables everything from simple plus
  - different crops can only be farmed on some soils
  - would enable to mine for different raw materials like different metals, gemstones, ... uranium ... thus opening up for a whole range of new buildings and functions
  
  complex: different soil & rock types + ground properties
  - groundwater flow in permeable soil -> enables water wells and other groundwater related buildings
  - different load bearing capacities for ground types

• 20 May
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Geology update" (suggested by Georg Erharter on 2023-05-17), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 29 May
  Georg Erharter Merged

  I suggest making the ground conditions more realistic and essentially improve the geology behind Timberborn. This can be done in multiple levels of complexity, e.g.
  
  1. distinction between "bedrock" and "soil" above it -> makes farming more demanding, could affect how easy ground can be removed with explosives / open up for new ground removal techniques etc.
  
  2. same as 1 + distinction between different rock types and soil types -> opens up the whole world of advanced mining (raw minerals, metals, oil, uranium...) for the game and can also make farming more complex when different soils are needed for different crops.
  
  3. same as 1 & 2 + introduction of ground properties depending on the ground types, thus introducing complex hydrogeological and geotechnical properties to enable groundwater flow, bearing capacity problems etc.

• 02 Jun
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Geology update" (suggested by Georg Erharter on 2023-05-29), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 03 Jul
  John W Bjerk

  I can definitely see the gameplay point of having blast resistant (rock) soil and fertile soil.
  
  I don’t want erosion or some of those other suggestions.

• 29 Aug
  Michael Merged

  Water doesn't just stay in the river it is absorbed by the land. You already have this in the sense of irrigating the land, but what if the land could soak up water to release it later during the dry, or lower level.
  
  You could even have these marshier areas support reeds, and mangroves providing different resources. Actually having reeds/mangroves slows the water flow in that area capturing more for later.
  
  Could also integrate with the idea of having fish use these areas to survive the dry/breed.

• 31 Aug
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  "Swamps" (suggested by Michael on 2023-08-29), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.