Hey Trailmakers!

If you’ve been playing the game you’ve probably been eagerly watching the next update timer countdown for your next installment of Trailmakers content. Here at Flashbulb we’ve made the really tough decision to push the release of this update back and rather than give you two smaller updates in a month, we’ll roll it in to one larger update which will contain a mix of both new content, highly requested features and, most importantly - a whole host of bug fixes and performance improvements.

But why? 😢

This is not a decision we take lightly, but we simply want our players to have the best possible experience when playing Trailmakers. Whether that be in single player Expedition, or having a four player drag race with friends. This delay will allow us to deliver a much more optimal experience both for existing players and also new players joining the world of Trailmakers.

For the curious amongst you, here are some of the features from our next update!

• We’ve heard your complaints in regards to performance and we've gone to great lengths with the coming update to provide players with a much better experience.
  
• Made several improvements to multiplayer performance.
  
• Made more optimisations in regards to input lag.
  
• A whole host of quality of life changes to the builder - including being able to nudge a block by one space.
  
• Made our error messages much more informative and useful.
  
• Steam Workshop support for Blueprints!
  
• We’ve added controller support for build mode and generally improved the game experience when using a controller.
  
• Completely reworked keybinding set up.
  
• A new asphalt only Race Track on Race Island.
  
• We now have multiple leaderboards for each Race depending on the amount of Power Cores used.
  
• Improved the way Blueprints are displayed.
  
• More bug fixes than you can shake a rusty wrench at!

Once we get closer to releasing this update we’ll provide a full list of patch notes so you can see everything that’s changed. We really can’t wait to give you all this update as it will provide players with a greatly improved experience whilst also giving us a great foundation to work from and add the exciting stuff we have planned for the future!

But what if I can’t wait?

For those of you who want to be at the forefront of Trailmakers, we’re putting a new build on our Upcoming Branch which only includes the Steam Workshop part of the update! Please keep in mind this is very much an in development version and you will almost certainly have weird things happen. But we’d love for you to create some awesome vehicles and share them with everyone and let us know on our Discord when things go wrong!

Hey Trailmakers!

If you’ve been playing the game you’ve probably been eagerly watching the next update timer countdown for your next installment of Trailmakers content. Here at Flashbulb we’ve made the really tough decision to push the release of this update back and rather than give you two smaller updates in a month, we’ll roll it in to one larger update which will contain a mix of both new content, highly requested features and, most importantly - a whole host of bug fixes and performance improvements.

But why? 😢

This is not a decision we take lightly, but we simply want our players to have the best possible experience when playing Trailmakers. Whether that be in single player Expedition, or having a four player drag race with friends. This delay will allow us to deliver a much more optimal experience both for existing players and also new players joining the world of Trailmakers.

For the curious amongst you, here are some of the features from our next update!

• We’ve heard your complaints in regards to performance and we've gone to great lengths with the coming update to provide players with a much better experience.
  
• Made several improvements to multiplayer performance.
  
• Made more optimisations in regards to input lag.
  
• A whole host of quality of life changes to the builder - including being able to nudge a block by one space.
  
• Made our error messages much more informative and useful.
  
• Steam Workshop support for Blueprints!
  
• We’ve added controller support for build mode and generally improved the game experience when using a controller.
  
• Completely reworked keybinding set up.
  
• A new asphalt only Race Track on Race Island.
  
• We now have multiple leaderboards for each Race depending on the amount of Power Cores used.
  
• Improved the way Blueprints are displayed.
  
• More bug fixes than you can shake a rusty wrench at!

Once we get closer to releasing this update we’ll provide a full list of patch notes so you can see everything that’s changed. We really can’t wait to give you all this update as it will provide players with a greatly improved experience whilst also giving us a great foundation to work from and add the exciting stuff we have planned for the future!

But what if I can’t wait?

For those of you who want to be at the forefront of Trailmakers, we’re putting a new build on our Upcoming Branch which only includes the Steam Workshop part of the update! Please keep in mind this is very much an in development version and you will almost certainly have weird things happen. But we’d love for you to create some awesome vehicles and share them with everyone and let us know on our Discord when things go wrong!

When we started developing Trailmakers the social aspect was always a core feature for us - not just being able to play with others, but also the ability to build something you were proud of and then share that easily with the world.

Trailmakers Gallery is our central hub for people to share their creations with the world and find a vehicle for every occasion. Once you’re signed in with your Steam account you can upvote creations, easily share them with others and of course upload your own!




We’re also bringing Trailmakers to Game Preview on Xbox One later this year and our goal is to allow people, regardless of the platform they’re playing on, to take a cool looking creation and bring it into their game. The Trailmakers Gallery allows us to do just that!

Whilst sharing blueprints on social media works it can also be quite easy for them to be lost or drowned out by newer content, but on the gallery they can be easily found again and with the included gif of the vehicle in action, you get a good idea of what the vehicle is like before you import it into your game!




Have a vehicle you want to upload to the gallery? Awesome! There’s a couple of things you need to do! First you need to save that vehicle, if you haven’t already! Next you need to capture a spritesheet of it in action. Got a cool off road buggy? Go zooming over some hills and then press F7 to save the previous six seconds of action! Now you have both things you need the next step is to head to the gallery, sign in with your Steam Account and press the Upload button!



You’ll see the above window. You need to give your creation a name, upload the two files you created earlier, include any specific instructions such as keybindings for special functions and then press Upload!

Now your creation is on the gallery for all to see! If you want to share it further you can easily do so by clicking the Share Icon and picking how you want to share it!


That’s cool, we respect that. You’re of course welcome to share your creations however you want, and there’s a bunch of ways to do this!

• Posting them on our Discord. Our Discord community is very active and you can find a wide variety of blueprints there and people love giving feedback and in some cases, people even refine what others have created. We’ve even seen members working collaboratively on more complex creations!
  
• Sharing them on Social Media. Since your vehicle is saved as a .PNG sharing your creations on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit. Imgur etc is quick and easy.
  
• On the Steam Community Hub.

Hmm, kinda feels like there’s an obvious method of sharing through Steam missing here, right? Then read on!


We understand that not everybody is going to want to use the gallery, they just want easy, quick, in game access to cool stuff people have made. Steam Workshop support has been heavily requested by our community, and I’m happy to announce today that Steam Workshop support for sharing blueprints is coming very soon.

In the meantime, if you have a cool creation, why not upload it to the Trailmakers Gallery? :)

When we started developing Trailmakers the social aspect was always a core feature for us - not just being able to play with others, but also the ability to build something you were proud of and then share that easily with the world.

Trailmakers Gallery is our central hub for people to share their creations with the world and find a vehicle for every occasion. Once you’re signed in with your Steam account you can upvote creations, easily share them with others and of course upload your own!




We’re also bringing Trailmakers to Game Preview on Xbox One later this year and our goal is to allow people, regardless of the platform they’re playing on, to take a cool looking creation and bring it into their game. The Trailmakers Gallery allows us to do just that!

Whilst sharing blueprints on social media works it can also be quite easy for them to be lost or drowned out by newer content, but on the gallery they can be easily found again and with the included gif of the vehicle in action, you get a good idea of what the vehicle is like before you import it into your game!




Have a vehicle you want to upload to the gallery? Awesome! There’s a couple of things you need to do! First you need to save that vehicle, if you haven’t already! Next you need to capture a spritesheet of it in action. Got a cool off road buggy? Go zooming over some hills and then press F7 to save the previous six seconds of action! Now you have both things you need the next step is to head to the gallery, sign in with your Steam Account and press the Upload button!



You’ll see the above window. You need to give your creation a name, upload the two files you created earlier, include any specific instructions such as keybindings for special functions and then press Upload!

Now your creation is on the gallery for all to see! If you want to share it further you can easily do so by clicking the Share Icon and picking how you want to share it!


That’s cool, we respect that. You’re of course welcome to share your creations however you want, and there’s a bunch of ways to do this!

• Posting them on our Discord. Our Discord community is very active and you can find a wide variety of blueprints there and people love giving feedback and in some cases, people even refine what others have created. We’ve even seen members working collaboratively on more complex creations!
  
• Sharing them on Social Media. Since your vehicle is saved as a .PNG sharing your creations on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit. Imgur etc is quick and easy.
  
• On the Steam Community Hub.

Hmm, kinda feels like there’s an obvious method of sharing through Steam missing here, right? Then read on!


We understand that not everybody is going to want to use the gallery, they just want easy, quick, in game access to cool stuff people have made. Steam Workshop support has been heavily requested by our community, and I’m happy to announce today that Steam Workshop support for sharing blueprints is coming very soon.

In the meantime, if you have a cool creation, why not upload it to the Trailmakers Gallery? :)

When you update Trailmakers today, you will be able to play on our brand new Race Island map. Build a record-breaking drag racer, smash the leaderboard in a jet plane time trial, or race your friends with go-karts. There's tons to do in the new Race Island update for Trailmakers!

To make a better racing experience we have made a race challenge system, added a handful of new blocks, and improved the steering. Read more below, and thanks for having patience with us :)

• A brand new map is available in Single and Multiplayer - Race Island!
  
• There are 7 different race courses available on Race Island in this update. They will require vehicles that can travel by land, air, or sea.
  
• Each race course has a race zone and a start zone.
  
  • The race zone is indicated by a semi-opaque blue wall.
    
  • The start zone is a yellow square grid. When all players who are in the course’s race zone are ALSO in the start zone, a countdown begins.
• Each race course has a leaderboard where you can see your fastest time, the current world record, your Steam Friends times, and the race times of people close (in time) to you. The # number indicates their world ranking.
  
• Pressing [BACKSPACE] will quit the race and teleport you to the start of the track.
  [R] will let you repair/respawn at the last checkpoint and continue the race.

• Racing Camera - This camera will follow closely behind your vehicle for a great racing feel.
  
• Orbit Camera - This camera allows you to orbit freely around your vehicle without holding down the right mouse button.
  
• Added Motion Blur when driving fast! This can be turned off in Preferences.
  
• Added a few more names to the pre-order monument in Expedition.
  
• Added proper names for areas in the Expedition.
  
• We’ve added the ability to teleport to previously visited Checkpoints from the Map Screen in Expedition mode!

• (CHANGED): Dragon Jet Engine - The Dragon Jet Engine has had its weight increased to 30kg. We have made this change so it is more in line with the weight of the RAW Jet Engine and Mini-Thruster. Some of your flying vehicles might be affected greatly by this change - time to rebuild!
  
• (CHANGED): Mini-Thruster - The Mini-Thruster has increased power.
  
• (CHANGED): Hover Block - You can now configure it to turn on and off with a button press.
  
• (CHANGED): Steering Hinge - You can now configure the angle of rotation. The sensitivity of the hinges when tapping the button has also been improved so it’s easier to make small adjustments when steering, and driving fast.
  
• (CHANGED): Large Hinge - You can now configure the angle of rotation.
  
• (CHANGED): Rotating Servo - You can now configure the angle of rotation.
  
• (CHANGED): Suspension Spring - You can now configure the stiffness and damping.
  
• (CHANGED): Wheel - This wheel now has increased traction.
  
• (CHANGED): Racing Wheel - Higher top speed than the regular wheel but less traction. Better traction on asphalt than sand.
  
• (CHANGED): Monster Truck Wheel - These wheels now have a much higher top speed, but are also heavier, and have MUCH better traction on all surfaces.
  
• (CHANGED): Helicopter Servo - This servo now has TWO connection nubs on each side to accommodate the new Helicopter Blade. It now uses Power Cores, and has been moved to the Propulsion category. We have turned down the speed of the servo, but increased the lift of the blade to counter the decreased speed. (CHANGED): Helicopter Blade - Now has two connection nubs for better symmetry. The functionality has not changed which means there is still upwards propulsion no matter which way it spins.
  
• (CHANGED): Long Hood - New graphics.
  
• (NEW): Large Wedge - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Long Wedge - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Small Wedge - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Corner Block - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Go-kart Wheel - The smallest wheel in the game.

• Rotation no longer lets the block “wander”.
  
• Copying+rotating multiple blocks should not make them overlap inside each other.
  
• Easier to see when a block is attached (bounding box will turn green)

• We have a new UI for selecting game modes. The change was made to equally highlight all available game modes from the main menu.
  
• Added support for Ultra Widescreen resolution.

• Fixed the description of a few blocks.
  
• Chickens should no longer levitate… as much. They are birds though, so give them a break.

When you update Trailmakers today, you will be able to play on our brand new Race Island map. Build a record-breaking drag racer, smash the leaderboard in a jet plane time trial, or race your friends with go-karts. There's tons to do in the new Race Island update for Trailmakers!

To make a better racing experience we have made a race challenge system, added a handful of new blocks, and improved the steering. Read more below, and thanks for having patience with us :)

• A brand new map is available in Single and Multiplayer - Race Island!
  
• There are 7 different race courses available on Race Island in this update. They will require vehicles that can travel by land, air, or sea.
  
• Each race course has a race zone and a start zone.
  
  • The race zone is indicated by a semi-opaque blue wall.
    
  • The start zone is a yellow square grid. When all players who are in the course’s race zone are ALSO in the start zone, a countdown begins.
• Each race course has a leaderboard where you can see your fastest time, the current world record, your Steam Friends times, and the race times of people close (in time) to you. The # number indicates their world ranking.
  
• Pressing [BACKSPACE] will quit the race and teleport you to the start of the track.
  [R] will let you repair/respawn at the last checkpoint and continue the race.

• Racing Camera - This camera will follow closely behind your vehicle for a great racing feel.
  
• Orbit Camera - This camera allows you to orbit freely around your vehicle without holding down the right mouse button.
  
• Added Motion Blur when driving fast! This can be turned off in Preferences.
  
• Added a few more names to the pre-order monument in Expedition.
  
• Added proper names for areas in the Expedition.
  
• We’ve added the ability to teleport to previously visited Checkpoints from the Map Screen in Expedition mode!

• (CHANGED): Dragon Jet Engine - The Dragon Jet Engine has had its weight increased to 30kg. We have made this change so it is more in line with the weight of the RAW Jet Engine and Mini-Thruster. Some of your flying vehicles might be affected greatly by this change - time to rebuild!
  
• (CHANGED): Mini-Thruster - The Mini-Thruster has increased power.
  
• (CHANGED): Hover Block - You can now configure it to turn on and off with a button press.
  
• (CHANGED): Steering Hinge - You can now configure the angle of rotation. The sensitivity of the hinges when tapping the button has also been improved so it’s easier to make small adjustments when steering, and driving fast.
  
• (CHANGED): Large Hinge - You can now configure the angle of rotation.
  
• (CHANGED): Rotating Servo - You can now configure the angle of rotation.
  
• (CHANGED): Suspension Spring - You can now configure the stiffness and damping.
  
• (CHANGED): Wheel - This wheel now has increased traction.
  
• (CHANGED): Racing Wheel - Higher top speed than the regular wheel but less traction. Better traction on asphalt than sand.
  
• (CHANGED): Monster Truck Wheel - These wheels now have a much higher top speed, but are also heavier, and have MUCH better traction on all surfaces.
  
• (CHANGED): Helicopter Servo - This servo now has TWO connection nubs on each side to accommodate the new Helicopter Blade. It now uses Power Cores, and has been moved to the Propulsion category. We have turned down the speed of the servo, but increased the lift of the blade to counter the decreased speed. (CHANGED): Helicopter Blade - Now has two connection nubs for better symmetry. The functionality has not changed which means there is still upwards propulsion no matter which way it spins.
  
• (CHANGED): Long Hood - New graphics.
  
• (NEW): Large Wedge - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Long Wedge - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Small Wedge - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Corner Block - A new block in the aerodynamic category.
  
• (NEW): Go-kart Wheel - The smallest wheel in the game.

• Rotation no longer lets the block “wander”.
  
• Copying+rotating multiple blocks should not make them overlap inside each other.
  
• Easier to see when a block is attached (bounding box will turn green)

• We have a new UI for selecting game modes. The change was made to equally highlight all available game modes from the main menu.
  
• Added support for Ultra Widescreen resolution.

• Fixed the description of a few blocks.
  
• Chickens should no longer levitate… as much. They are birds though, so give them a break.

Hi Trailmakers,

We promised you the Race Island Update would be live today, March 1st. Unfortunately we have run into some last-minute serious bugs with the update so we will be postponing it until next week. We’re really sorry about this, but we’d rather give you something that works!

If you are extremely eager to try out the Race Island Update, you can switch to the ‘upcoming’ Beta branch. In a few hours, that branch will have a buggy version of the Race Island Update. If you find it too unstable, you can always go back to the Rings of Fire Update by selecting the Beta branch "none".



Changing to upcoming beta is done like this.

1.Right click on Trailmakers in the steam library.
2. Select properties.
3. Select the beta tab.
4. Change the drop down to 'upcoming'.

Hi Trailmakers,

We promised you the Race Island Update would be live today, March 1st. Unfortunately we have run into some last-minute serious bugs with the update so we will be postponing it until next week. We’re really sorry about this, but we’d rather give you something that works!

If you are extremely eager to try out the Race Island Update, you can switch to the ‘upcoming’ Beta branch. In a few hours, that branch will have a buggy version of the Race Island Update. If you find it too unstable, you can always go back to the Rings of Fire Update by selecting the Beta branch "none".



Changing to upcoming beta is done like this.

1.Right click on Trailmakers in the steam library.
2. Select properties.
3. Select the beta tab.
4. Change the drop down to 'upcoming'.

Concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts.

It’s time to rev up your engines, tighten your suspension and strap an extra rocket to your favorite off-roader. The next Trailmakers content update is all about racing! Here are a few of the features we have planned for this update going live on Thursday March 1st.



The brand new racing map will have several breakneck courses for you and other Trailmakers to compete on. Race in a solo time trial or compete with other players in 4-player multiplayer. Each race will have a leaderboard where you can see your Steam friends’ fastest time on a given track.



We are making adjustments to the traction of all wheels as well as giving more detailed options on the steering hinges and rotating servos to give an overall improved feel of driving at high speeds. We’re also adding a much-requested new wheel to the game, and making the suspension springs adjustable.



… or as we like to call it - switching up the flight-meta. There are some glaring inconsistencies and unintended block-usage going on in the game that we are trying to adjust. These adjustments might mean that your favorite plane, rocket or helicopter no longer works after the update. We hope you’ll manage to rebalance your creation so it works with the new and more accurate blocks. Most notably, we’ve significantly increased the weight of the Dragon Jet, and reduced the lift of tail fins. For more detailed descriptions of the changes, make sure you read the patch notes when the update is released.

Concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts.

It’s time to rev up your engines, tighten your suspension and strap an extra rocket to your favorite off-roader. The next Trailmakers content update is all about racing! Here are a few of the features we have planned for this update going live on Thursday March 1st.



The brand new racing map will have several breakneck courses for you and other Trailmakers to compete on. Race in a solo time trial or compete with other players in 4-player multiplayer. Each race will have a leaderboard where you can see your Steam friends’ fastest time on a given track.



We are making adjustments to the traction of all wheels as well as giving more detailed options on the steering hinges and rotating servos to give an overall improved feel of driving at high speeds. We’re also adding a much-requested new wheel to the game, and making the suspension springs adjustable.



… or as we like to call it - switching up the flight-meta. There are some glaring inconsistencies and unintended block-usage going on in the game that we are trying to adjust. These adjustments might mean that your favorite plane, rocket or helicopter no longer works after the update. We hope you’ll manage to rebalance your creation so it works with the new and more accurate blocks. Most notably, we’ve significantly increased the weight of the Dragon Jet, and reduced the lift of tail fins. For more detailed descriptions of the changes, make sure you read the patch notes when the update is released.