Terraforming and Landscape Engineering Guide

Terraforming in Timberborn lets you reshape the landscape itself, blasting through hills with Dynamite, excavating dirt for construction, and building entirely new terrain to redirect rivers and create reservoirs. This guide covers every aspect of terrain modification, from the basics of the Explosives Factory to advanced dam engineering techniques. Mastering terraforming transforms you from a settler working within the map's constraints to an engineer who redesigns the map itself.

Terrain Mechanics: How the Ground Works

Timberborn's terrain is built from discrete blocks, each occupying one tile and one vertical unit. During map creation, terrain can reach up to 16 tiles in height. In-game, the total height limit is 22 tiles, with 11 additional tiles reserved for vertical building above the terrain surface. This means you can raise terrain up to 22 blocks high by stacking Terrain Blocks, and then build another 11 blocks of structures on top of that.

Terrain blocks interact with water physics in important ways. Water flows downhill and pools behind solid terrain. Removing a terrain block that is holding back water will release a flood, so always check what is on the other side before blasting. Adding terrain blocks can create dams, redirect water channels, or raise the ground above flood level. Newly added terrain blocks function identically to the original map terrain for all purposes: water flow, irrigation, construction compatibility, and tree growth.

One critical limitation: fluid sources (the points where water enters the map) cannot be altered, added, or removed through any terraforming method. You can redirect the water that flows from these sources, but you cannot create new sources or destroy existing ones.

The Explosives Factory: Your Terraforming Hub

The Explosives Factory is the only landscaping building that produces resources, and it is essential for any serious terraforming project. It costs 30 Planks, 30 Gears, and 30 Metal Blocks to construct (plus faction-specific Metal Parts: 30 for Folktails, 60 for Iron Teeth), requires 400 Science to unlock, and employs 1 worker. The building measures 4x2 tiles with a height of 2 and consumes 150 horsepower to operate.

The factory produces Explosives from Badwater. Each production cycle converts 5 Badwater into 1 Explosive over 3 production cycles. At standard efficiency, the factory consumes approximately 1.67 Badwater per hour, which is just over half the hourly output of a single Badwater Pump (3 Badwater per hour). This means one Badwater Pump can supply roughly 1.5 to 1.8 Explosives Factories depending on efficiency and hauling logistics.

The factory can also produce Fireworks (1 Badwater into 10 Fireworks over 3 cycles), which are used for celebrations and wellbeing rather than terraforming. Internal storage holds 25 Badwater, 5 Explosives, and 50 Fireworks. For large terraforming projects, build 2 or 3 Explosives Factories and keep them running continuously to maintain a healthy stockpile.

Dynamite Types: Single, Double, and Triple

Timberborn offers three tiers of Dynamite, each removing a different number of terrain blocks. Single Dynamite (simply called Dynamite) removes one terrain block when detonated. This is your precision tool for surgical terrain modifications: widening a canal by one tile, removing a single obstacle block, or carefully lowering a hilltop one layer at a time.

Double Dynamite removes two terrain blocks in a vertical column when detonated. This is twice as efficient as single Dynamite for cutting through elevated terrain and is the workhorse for most medium-scale terraforming projects like carving channels or reducing hill heights. Triple Dynamite removes three terrain blocks vertically and is the tool of choice for large-scale terrain removal: cutting through mountains, carving deep reservoirs, or rapidly clearing multi-level obstacles.

All Dynamite types are produced at the Explosives Factory and placed by builders working from a District Center or Builder's Hut. Builders need to be within their 10-tile working range of a path to place and detonate charges. Plan your demolition projects by building temporary paths close to the blast sites, ensuring builders can reach every charge location. After detonation, rubble may remain that builders need to clear before the area is usable.

The Dirt Excavator: Mining Earth

The Dirt Excavator is a powered building that removes terrain blocks and produces Dirt as a resource. Unlike Dynamite, which simply destroys terrain blocks, the Dirt Excavator converts them into usable Dirt that can later be turned into Terrain Blocks. This makes it the preferred method when you need both to lower terrain and to gain building material for raising terrain elsewhere.

The Dirt Excavator requires workers and power to operate. It removes terrain blocks from its designated work area and deposits the resulting Dirt into storage. While it is slower than Dynamite for pure terrain removal, the recovered Dirt is valuable. Six Dirt are needed to construct one Terrain Block through the builder system. If you are planning to both excavate one area and build up another, the Dirt Excavator provides a self-sustaining material cycle.

However, for terrain reduction where you do not need the Dirt (for example, blasting a path through a hill just to create a passage), Dynamite is faster and requires no ongoing power. Use Dirt Excavators when you have a specific use for the Dirt and Dynamite when you just need terrain gone quickly.

Terrain Blocks: Building New Ground

Terrain Blocks are the flip side of terrain removal. Builders can construct Terrain Blocks from 6 Dirt each, effectively creating new ground anywhere on the map (up to the 22-block height limit). These blocks function identically to natural terrain: water pools against them, irrigation spreads through adjacent soil, trees can grow on top of them, and buildings can be constructed on their surface.

Terrain Block construction is handled by builders from Builder's Huts or the District Center. Builders follow the same 10-tile range limit for terrain placement as for other construction tasks. They need to be able to reach the placement location from a connected path. For building terrain in remote locations, you may need to construct temporary paths or even a temporary Builder's Hut nearby.

Common uses for Terrain Blocks include: building dam walls to create reservoirs, raising ground level above flood lines, creating artificial islands or peninsulas, filling in unwanted depressions, building causeways across shallow water, and creating elevated platforms for building construction. At 6 Dirt per block, large terrain projects require substantial Dirt stockpiles, so pair your Terrain Block projects with active Dirt Excavator operations.

Building Reservoirs: Water Storage Engineering

One of the most impactful terraforming projects is building custom reservoirs to store water for droughts. A reservoir is simply a depression in the terrain that holds water. You can create one by excavating terrain to form a basin, by building walls around a flat area using Terrain Blocks, or by combining both approaches. The key is creating a watertight enclosure connected to your water supply during wet seasons.

To calculate reservoir capacity, multiply the surface area in tiles by the depth in blocks. A 10x10 reservoir that is 3 blocks deep holds 300 units of water (before accounting for the water source flow rate and evaporation during droughts). Larger and deeper reservoirs hold proportionally more water but take longer to fill.

The ideal reservoir location is upstream of your main settlement, close to a water source, and at an elevation that allows gravity-fed distribution to your Water Pumps. Build the reservoir walls using Terrain Blocks (6 Dirt each), ensure there are no gaps in the walls, and connect the reservoir to the river system with a controlled inlet. Use a Floodgate at the inlet to control water flow: open during wet seasons to fill the reservoir, closed during droughts to retain stored water.

On maps like Canyon (source strength 4.0) and Oasis, where water is scarce, a well-engineered reservoir system can double or triple your drought survival time. Even on water-rich maps like Thousand Islands (source strength 54.0), reservoirs at strategic locations ensure every district has local water access during dry periods.

Creating Canals: Water Redirection

Canals are artificial channels that redirect water from one location to another. They serve multiple purposes: extending irrigation to distant farmland, creating new waterways for Water Wheel power generation, connecting separate water bodies, and routing water away from areas you want to keep dry.

To build a canal, first plan the route on pause. The canal needs a slight downhill gradient (or at least level terrain) from the water source to the destination. Use Dynamite or Dirt Excavators to carve the channel, keeping it at least 1 tile wide and 1 block deep. Wider canals (2 to 3 tiles) carry more water and are less likely to dry out during droughts. Line the canal banks with Terrain Blocks or Levees to prevent water from spilling out sideways.

For irrigation canals, you only need shallow water. A 1-block-deep, 1-tile-wide channel is sufficient to irrigate farmland within range. For power canals designed to drive Water Wheels, deeper is better. A 2 to 3 block deep channel concentrated into a 1-tile width creates fast-flowing water that maximizes Water Wheel output. Place Water Wheels along the length of the canal at regular intervals.

Leveling Terrain: Preparing Construction Sites

Many building types require flat terrain. On maps with significant elevation changes (Terraces, Helix Mountain, Mountain Range), you will frequently need to level terrain before placing buildings. There are two approaches: cutting down high spots with Dynamite or Dirt Excavators, and filling in low spots with Terrain Blocks.

For small leveling jobs (1 to 5 tiles), single Dynamite is the fastest option. Place charges on the high spots, detonate, clear rubble, and the area is ready. For larger leveling projects (clearing a hillside for a new district), use Double or Triple Dynamite to remove multiple layers at once, then clean up with single Dynamite for precision.

When filling low spots, source your Dirt from Dirt Excavators running in an area you want to lower anyway. This kills two birds with one stone: the excavation site gets lowered while the fill site gets raised. At 6 Dirt per Terrain Block, budget your Dirt carefully. A 10x10 area raised by 1 block requires 600 Dirt, which is a substantial excavation project.

Strategic Demolition with Dynamite

Dynamite is not just for clearing building sites. It is a strategic tool that can reshape the map's geography to your advantage. Blast through natural land bridges to create new water channels. Demolish terrain barriers to connect previously isolated areas. Remove elevated terrain to create direct paths between districts that previously required long detours around hills.

One powerful technique is using Dynamite to create overflow channels for flood control. If a river threatens to overflow during wet seasons, blast a secondary channel that diverts excess water to a safe area (a natural depression or purpose-built reservoir). During droughts, this overflow channel remains dry and does not waste water.

On maps like Pressure, strategic Dynamite use can solve water routing puzzles that seem impossible through building alone. Removing a few key terrain blocks can redirect water flow in ways that change the entire map's dynamics. Always save before major demolition projects, as an unexpected flood from a misdirected blast can devastate a settlement.

Advanced Dam Engineering

Advanced dam engineering combines Terrain Blocks, Dynamite, Floodgates, and Levees into integrated water control systems. A basic dam is just a wall of Terrain Blocks across a river. An advanced dam includes: a main wall built high enough to contain maximum expected water levels (typically 3 to 5 blocks above the riverbed), a Floodgate for controlled water release, an overflow spillway (a section of wall 1 block lower than the rest) to prevent catastrophic overtopping, and a secondary retention wall downstream for safety.

For maximum water retention, build dams at natural choke points where the river channel is narrowest. This minimizes the number of Terrain Blocks needed. A 5-tile-wide channel requires a dam wall of only 5 blocks wide per layer of height, while a 20-tile-wide river needs 20 blocks per layer. Use Dynamite to narrow the channel first if the natural width is too great.

Multi-stage dam systems use several dams along the same river to create a chain of reservoirs. Water cascades from the upstream reservoir through a Floodgate into the next one downstream. This maximizes total water storage capacity and provides redundancy: if one dam overflows, the next one catches the excess. On long rivers like those found on Meander or Plains, a chain of 3 to 4 dams can store enough water to last through the longest drought cycles.

Terraforming Project Planning and Execution

Large terraforming projects should be planned during wet seasons and executed in phases. Before starting, calculate your material needs: how many Explosives for the Dynamite charges, how much Dirt for Terrain Blocks, and how many builder-hours the project will consume. A project that removes 100 terrain blocks with Double Dynamite needs 50 Explosives, which requires 250 Badwater from your Explosives Factory at 5 Badwater per Explosive.

Phase your projects to avoid disrupting your colony's daily operations. Run Explosives Factories during wet seasons when power is abundant and store the output. Build temporary paths and Builder's Huts near the project site during the planning phase. Execute demolition work in stages, checking water flow after each round of blasting to ensure nothing unexpected happens. Pause construction during droughts when your workforce is needed for survival tasks.

Tunnels offer an alternative to blasting through terrain. Produced at the Explosives Factory, tunnels allow you to create passages through solid terrain without removing the blocks above. This preserves the surface terrain (including any buildings, trees, or water features on top) while creating a usable passage below. Tunnels are ideal for connecting districts through hillsides without disrupting the terrain above.