Bug/PSA: Water seepage is simulated, but isn't affected by blocking tiles
Per title, for those who didn't know, water off-edge is deleted through two mechanics:
- Evaporation, based on surface area
- Seepage, based on surface area and perimeter.
This means that a long thin channel (like an irrigation canal) will disappear faster than a more square retention pond. So far, so good - this is how it works in real life too. The issue is, the tiles that stop the effects of seepage (aka irrigation/contamination) don't actually reduce the calculated water loss to seepage. Water loss to seepage is also significantly greater than water loss to evaporation for ponds with high circumference to area ratios.
Attached is a quick little test/demonstration. All were filled at the same time, left is surrounded by dirt, right is Irrigation Blockers and Impermeable Floor on dirt, top is Levees, and middle is a larger pond to verify that both seepage and evaporation is simulated. As you can see, all the single blocks are at the same level regardless of surrounding tiles, while the larger pond is significantly higher.
This feels like something that should be easy to fix with a mod so I'm going to start learning how modding Timberborn works (unless someone already experienced feels motivated to do it). There's other QoL stuff I'd love to see fixed too, like the silly Builder/Hauler job allocation system (I've seen 6 builders all run out to a single tile build job, each carrying 1 plank/gear/metal, then walking away without actually building it leaving another builder to run out empty handed to actually construct it... Rimworld/ONI/etc does a *much* better job).
Posted Apr 1, 2026, 5:55 AM UTC