MOD MAKERS UPDATE NOTES

23/03/2021

TRAILMAKERS 1.3 – MOD MAKERS

With this latest update to Trailmakers we’re adding Steam Workshop support for Mods and bringing along some much requested Quality of Life features. It is now easier than ever to modify your game and try out Mods made by the Trailmakers Community! Want to change Gravity? Or perhaps create your own race track? These Mods and more are now just a few clicks away!

If you’re interested in creating your own Mods, be sure to join our active Discord Community where our most active modders hang out and share their knowledge.

This update also greatly improves how structures break apart with the new Structure Destruction system. Now when a structure takes a hit from an explosive cannon shell for example it will have chunks break off, leading to more satisfying collisions and battles.This combined with our improved damage propagation should greatly improve vehicular combat in the game!

GENERAL

Improved Damage Propagation – Layers of blocks will now do more to protect the blocks behind them. This should mean way less one-shot kills from Explosive Cannons (unless the root block of the structure gets a direct hit!)
Structure Destruction – Structures will now break into satisfying chunks when taking damage!

A single tank cannon in the Perfect Pitch Update

And here’s what the same tank cannon does in Mod Makers!

Explosive damage tweaks – Explosions now do more focused damage over a smaller radius. We felt that explosions were quite simply too powerful and ultimately unsatisfying to use due to their one-shot kill nature. Now explosions will do much more localised damage. This combined with the new damage propagation and structure destruction means vehicular combat is more satisfying than ever.
Structure Metadata now transfers across clients – On a server with somebody and you jumped into their structure? The UI will now display the structure and author name alongside the button icons.

MODS (STEAM RELEASE ONLY)

Added Steam Workshop support for mods!

Now when opening the In-Game Workshop you’ll see a new category for Mods.
Upload your Mod by opening the In Game Menu and navigating to Session Options. Here you’ll find a sparkly new “Upload Mod” button.
If you place a .png called “Preview.png” in the mod-folder you’re uploading, It will be the thumbnail for the mod in the Workshop!

Open Mods Directory Button – This button can be found in the same place the Upload and Activate Mod button is for quick access to the default Mod Directory. This is primarily for mod developers for quick and easy access to testing their work.
LoadFile and SaveFile have been renamed and work differently now. If you’ve already made a Mod using the tm.os.LoadFile() function for example, you’ll need to update your Mod for it to work in this new update.

LoadFile -> ReadAllText_Dynamic(string path): string and ReadAllText_Static(string path): string
SaveFile -> WriteAllText_Dynamic(string path, string stringToWrite): void

Dynamic means data that is unique to the user. This can be both read and written to. The dynamic data will not be uploaded with your mod. It is not located in the Workshop directory, like the rest of the Mod, but is instead located in Steams userdata. This is to prevent user made data from being overwritten by Steam when updating the Mod, and to prevent different users on the same machine from overwriting each other’s data. Static means data that’s uploaded with the Mod. This can only be read.
Introduced better messaging when certain features are disabled when using mods.
Removal of the mods.txt file – We removed this file since it’s no longer required. You can now place mod folders in the default mod directory and the game will detect them.
If a Mod throws an error we’ll try to notify the user with an in-game message in the bottom right corner of the screen.

BUILDER

Blueprints that are over the Complexity Limit can now be spawned in and fixed to be used again. This is mostly relevant if you happen to join a Server which was a lower Complexity limit set.
Added a tooltip to the loading spinner when Blueprints are in the process of being loaded.
The Tags list in the Workshop is now displayed within a drop down list.
We flipped around the order of the Input in the Configurator for more consistency across the game. Negative Axis Input is now on the left side of the Configurator, Postive to the right.

Here’s how a layered wall would take a Tank Cannon shot in the Perfect Pitch Update

Here’s the same structure in Mod Makers with the new Damage Propagation and tweaked explosives!

PERFORMANCE

Further improvements and optimisations to the bullet system. There’s now a maximum of 2048 per player + 2048 for unoccupied structures.
Improved the bandwidth usage of Logic Blocks.
Improved how we render the green connection nubs to indicate where blocks can be placed.
Added a View Distance option to the Advanced Graphics Panel.

BUG FIXES

Fixed an issue that would cause already placed blocks to become unselectable in the builder after particular actions.

Fixed an issue with Korean Localisation displaying in game.
Introduced a fail safe for getting stuck in a death loop within Stranded in Space.
Fixed a bug with the Overlapping check failing after detecting more than five block overlaps.
Fixed an issue with Steam Workshop downloaded Blueprints not appearing correctly in game.
Fixed an Oh No that would occur if trying to change a lot of inputs at once.
Fixed a bug that would cause the structure of another player to despawn if they repaired.
Fixed a bug with the paging in the in game Workshop.
Fixed a bug with Author names not displaying the first time you loaded a page in the Workshop.
Fixed a bug with Activating Auto Build whilst blocks were already placed in the build context that would lead to a softlock.
Fixed some cases of sounds becoming stuck in the world.
Fixed an incorrect image being displayed when collecting the first Power Core in Stranded in Space.
Fixed some floating trees in Rally Mode.
Fixed an issue with the rubber on tires not being rendered after a respawn until the structure moved.
Fixed an issue with the Block Preview not displaying in the Customisation screen if playing on lower settings.
Fixed a bug with Undo reverting all blocks to the same colour.
Fixed a bug with some prefabs not correctly rendering if Max LOD was set to Good.
Fixed Tires being able to be punctured during the invulnerable period after repairing.
Fixed the Explosive Barrels getting stuck in a respawn explode loop if they were destroyed from 100m+
Fixed the resolution of the Blueprint displayed when editing an uploaded being low.
Fixed a soft lock that would occur if entering the seat in the same frame that it was destroyed.
Fixed a bug with the Daily Challenge not displaying correctly.
Fixed numerous localisation issues.

Ever since Trailmakers launched on Early Access we’ve continually been impressed by what our community has created with the things we’ve given them in-game, and we can’t wait to see the Workshop fill with your Mod creations!

We’re hard at work bringing the 1.3 Update to PlayStation and Xbox too, though of course without the Mod Support. Stay tuned for more news regarding this release on those platforms and for us to dive deeper into our plans for the 1.4 update…