Frequently asked questions

A multiplayer co-op mod for Timberborn: you and your friends build one colony together in real time, each with your own camera. It's an independent fork of the original BeaverBuddies by thomaswp and contributors, and keeps everything the original does.

• Steam friend invites, with no port forwarding.
• A connection panel with players, pings, sync status, a chat box and a speed boost.
• Teammates' cursors, selection outlines and Viewing / Editing labels, each cursor styled as you like.
• Fixes for a water desync, an animation crash, random-number, saving and demolition problems, and more.
• Clearer failures: a different build is refused before the save is sent, and a failure says why.

The home page and the changelog say how well each fix is confirmed.

It gets bug fixes and updates for new Timberborn versions, but no new features, so please report problems. New features go into Timber Together, which includes everything here and can also give each player their own colony. It's still in beta. Don't enable both mods at once.

Yes. It's free and open source under the GNU General Public License v3.0, with the original authorship and license preserved.

Only on GitHub Releases. The Steam Workshop and mod.io pages belong to the original project.

It's built and tested for Timberborn 1.1.2.4, and needs at least 1.1. Every player runs the same game version and the same mod download: the mod compares both when someone joins.

It's tested on Windows with the Steam version of Timberborn. Steam invites need the Steam version. Other stores, macOS and Linux haven't been tested.

It's tested with two players. Larger groups haven't been tried.

Yes. Every player needs their own copy of the game and the same mod download. Only the host needs the save: guests get a copy when they join, under Online Games.

Not with a Steam invite. For direct IP, the host's router must forward port 25565. A virtual LAN such as Hamachi also works, without port forwarding.

No. Nobody can join once the host unpauses, or once anyone has built, marked or changed something. Everyone must start from the same save, so save, host that save again and invite them.

No. It's one shared colony, but every player has their own camera and interface. You see teammates' cursors and selections, and you can ping the map.

The game tells you. The host chooses Save and Rehost, then guests choose Reconnect (wait for Rehost). This fork removes many known causes but can't promise none, so keep backups of your saves. See Troubleshooting.

No. Every player must run the exact same build, so a mixed session is refused. The two also share a mod ID, so you can't have both installed.

Yes, but every player should have the same mods at the same versions. You're warned when someone joins with a different list. Interface-only mods are usually harmless; a mod that changes the simulation causes desyncs. Settings aren't compared, so keep the ones that affect the simulation (such as Reduce the number of forced pauses) the same. See Troubleshooting.

Yes, both. Get them from the install guide.

The game must play out identically on every computer, and even a rebuilt copy of the same version can differ. So when someone joins, the mod compares the game version and its own build, and refuses any difference.

That's an old name for this mod. Delete it from Documents\Timberborn\Mods before you copy in the new BeaverBuddies-Stability-Fork folder: the two share a mod ID and conflict.

Steam connects players directly when it can and relays through its network otherwise. Valve documents that relaying keeps players' IP addresses hidden from each other. With direct IP, the host's address goes to the players it's given to.

Not over Steam: the host accepts players from its friends-only lobby only. Over direct IP, anyone with your address and port can try to connect until the game is running, so share it only with people you trust.

Other players in your session get your game actions. With Player activity indicators on, they also get your cursor, selection, recent edits, and the name and color you chose. This fork can't upload bug reports, and diagnostic files stay on your computer.

Everyone starts from the same save. Every action goes to the host, which picks the tick it happens on and sends it to everyone. The same save and the same actions on the same ticks play out identically on every computer. The home page explains it in a minute, and the original project's wiki goes deeper.

How many simulation ticks per second the game runs right now, averaged over about three seconds. It's about 1.7 at normal speed, rises with the game speed, and drops to 0 when paused.

Normal play has little overhead. The exception is Always Use Detailed Logging, which records extra detail for diagnosing desyncs. Leave it off unless you're asked to turn it on.

A little. A guest's action goes to the host, which puts it on a tick and sends it back, so it shows a moment after you click. This fork sends your actions at once, which saves about 0.3 seconds at normal speed. Over Steam the delay doesn't grow with the game speed.

Download the new zip, close the game and replace the BeaverBuddies-Stability-Fork folder. Everyone updates together: different builds can't join each other.

Open an issue on the project's GitHub page with every player's Player.log. Collecting logs says where they are.

• Every player installs the same download and runs the same game version. Other mods should match (you're warned when they don't), and settings aren't compared.
• Nobody can join once the host unpauses, or once something has been built, marked or changed.
• Desyncs can still happen.
• Tested with two players on Windows and Steam only.
• Text this fork adds is English only.
• One fix, for demolishing a selection that includes already-demolished buildings, has automated tests but hasn't been confirmed in a live session. Several others were in builds that were played, but their exact situations were never set up on purpose (see the changelog).

The multiplayer design and most of the code come from the original BeaverBuddies by thomaswp and contributors. This fork is maintained by Timbermods. It's an unofficial community mod for Timberborn, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mechanistry.