Hey everyone, on September 15 – exactly seven days from now – [url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1062090/view/2986437439410245984]Timberborn Early Access begins[/url]. To keep you up to date with what to expect from the game in its new incarnation, we’ll be counting down to the release date with daily previews on different aspects of our beaver city-builder. Today, let’s look at Timberborn’s core feature, droughts, and how they affect the game’s flow and difficulty. Because you know, we’ll have different difficulty modes at launch. We were planning to add that later, but since it was often requested, we moved it up on our priority list. [h1]Weather with you[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//36026812/cfe04d782618b3045bdb3174ac4076d073c4947c.jpg[/img] Timberborn Early Access comes with the [b]infinite survival mode[/b]. When you begin a new game, it’s [b]temperate weather[/b] (previously known as “wet season”). In most cases, a good portion of the map is a dry wasteland but some rivers, lakes, or a combination of the two surround the starting area. Water flows in from the sources and the ground near water bodies is green. Green areas can sustain the forests and fields your beavers grow as well as the already present flora. During temperate weather, the water evaporates at a very slow rate, and you can distribute this life-giving resource as you see fit. Unless you go overboard with the canals or pumps in the area, the water should stay at a level high enough to keep water wheels operating, and your beavers will be fine. What exactly you can do with water is a subject of another preview but the gist here is to balance your city-building efforts with Timberborn’s focus on water and irrigation. [h1]Droughts[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//36026812/f59ae8efe68e885d82c1f0c873496f858e6d8fd6.jpg[/img] It’s post-apocalypse now, which means the [b]drought[/b] (previously: “dry season”) eventually comes. The strength of water sources on the map begins to fade and after a while, the water sources “turn off” completely while the evaporation continues. The river beds gradually dry up and with them – the surrounding areas. Fields and forests turn yellow and will wither unless you have a way of preventing that with a clever combination of dams, floodgates, irrigation towers, canals, water dumps etc. If you do not prepare for a drought properly, you will also end up with useless pumps and water wheels, so unless there's a lot of water in the tanks and you have alternative power sources, your population might [i]wither[/i] too, if you catch our drift. [i]Here’s a note for our demo players – we’re evil and we made the second drought in the demo a little too severe on purpose. That’s not what will happen to you in the normal game. Sorry, not sorry.[/i] [h1]Difficulty modes[/h1] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//36026812/7f5d130d60e1c9f3cbbed622130c53a772360aa7.jpg[/img] Speaking of which, Early Access comes with [b]different difficulty levels[/b]. In addition to picking a beaver faction and a map, you will now need to decide how much of a challenge you want.[list] [*] [b]Easy[/b] difficulty is a relaxed experience with a focus on building a grand city rather than on surviving. Droughts are sparse and short, your colony starts with more resources and uses fewer of them. [*] [b]Normal[/b] is a standard Timberborn experience as we envisioned it. You start with some resources, and droughts – while short at the beginning – get longer and longer each time. It’s a good mix of having to survive and building cool settlements. [*] [b]Hard[/b] is a proper challenge. Expect small amounts of starting resources and droughts that get longer to a point where after a few times it’s dry more often than not.[/list]Not only that, we’re giving you an option to create a [b]custom difficulty[/b]. You can choose how many beavers you start with, how much water and food they need, how many resources they have at the beginning of the game and how long the droughts will be. If you want to, you can make it an ultimate sandbox experience, or an ultimate hardcore desert world. Which difficulty level will YOU pick for your first Early Access playthrough? Let us know in the comments or [url=http://discord.gg/timberborn]on our Discord[/url] and [b]check back this time tomorrow for another preview[/b]! -Team Timberborn