More hydro, less wind and gravity.

I’d like to give some feedback on the current power balance, especially regarding wind power and gravity batteries.

Right now, wind power feels disproportionately strong. It is cheap, easy to place, works in all seasons, and can be stacked vertically without any meaningful downside. Because turbines don’t interfere with each other (no wind shadow or placement penalty), it becomes trivial to scale power production in a very small footprint.

The real issue appears when this is combined with gravity batteries. Since energy storage is effectively lossless, wind power can be smoothed out completely. This removes most of the challenge from energy management, as players can simply overbuild wind power, store the excess, and ignore variability or drought conditions.

I understand that adding realistic mechanical transmission losses across the entire power network would likely make the game frustrating, especially since Timberborn uses mechanical shafts instead of electricity. Long-distance friction losses would create too much micromanagement and reduce fun.

However, I believe there is a good middle ground:

Instead of simulating losses in power transmission, introduce an efficiency loss in gravity batteries. This would represent the mechanical inefficiencies (friction, gearing, lifting systems) without complicating the rest of the system.

For example:

Energy stored: 100%
Energy returned: 50% (tunable for balance)

This change would:

Make energy storage a strategic buffer instead of a perfect solution
Reduce the dominance of wind power
Increase the value of stable energy sources like water power
Encourage more thoughtful planning rather than brute-force scaling

The goal is not strict realism, but better gameplay balance. Right now, wind + batteries removes too much of the intended challenge, especially in a game centered around water management.

See attachement!

Thanks for the great game, and I hope this perspective is useful.

Nerf_wind_power_hhwo4k.txt