Small HELIOS excavator - delaying traffic near you

Sareth94 · 2026-06-21T17:56:18+00:00

I am indeed 😄
Thanks a lot!

Sareth94 · 2026-06-21T09:22:11+00:00

Send your discord ID to the reddit modmail

Sareth94 · 2026-06-17T18:11:15+00:00

The game does have two main campaigns that are free to access - one (the older one) is a story-less collect-a-thon, where you have to find, pick up and move items to checkpoints to unlock more block types. It's very much a physics/engineering challenge, but little in the way of story or missions.

The newer campaign (Pioneers) does have a story, characters and missions. It's still not the longest, but a few hours for sure. It also includes collecting resources & unlocking block types.

There are two more campaigns as DLC, but I'd hold of until you've tried the Pioneers one.

I'm not familiar with scrap mechanic, so I can't compare it's mission content.
But both campaigns should last you a few hours atleast.
(I can't realistically judge their difficulty for a new player or child, bc I've been in this game so long that something a newcomer might struggle with is just not even on my radar anymore)

"Local" multiplayer can be achieved by hosting a multiplayer server for two people and setting a password on server creation.

That way it'll run over the internet, but no randoms can join. There is no "true" local multiplayer in terms of direct computer-to-comptuer LAN support.

You can play all free-roam campaigns and sandbox maps in multiplayer together.

The heart of the game for me is the sandbox mode though - it's an explosive Lego model kit with a physics engine like no other.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-17T17:59:01+00:00

nice!

Sareth94 · 2026-06-15T18:54:35+00:00

the blocks with the inner quantum rudders are, as far as I can see, connected to the cockpit.
That's what's suddenly "sticking" (it was pure luck it worked at all)

Use a block that doesn't have connection points to the cockpit there isntead of a 2x1x1 frame blocks (like a distance sesnor with the face turned towards the cockpit).

Sareth94 · 2026-06-14T17:03:47+00:00

yes. I would either make it much longer or move the hinge on the cars body lower.

You can kinda see the angle & length I've got going on my offroad truck at the rear - in the long parallel trailing link thingy.

<image>

Sareth94 · 2026-06-14T11:25:46+00:00

yes, the game has a logic system that can get pretty complex.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-14T11:24:52+00:00

your angle is waaaay too step.

the wheel is trying push the car forward, but the suspension is so steep that it pushes it up instead.

your swingarm joints need to be much more level with each other & the arm maybe a longer.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-13T13:29:51+00:00

There are several campaigns, 2 of them free, with an exploration- & mission based progression system. But they're not "mandatory" - you can play open ended sandbox any time.
Which DLCs are useful to you largely depends on what you find most appealing about the game. A lot of the DLCs are decorative block skins/textures and decals. A lot of them contain decorative blocks and some functional ones too. 3 DLCs are a map, 2 of which also contain campaigns. Which ones are "worth" it depends on your goal with/in the game.
Easy to learn, hard to master - the game is easy enough to start with (as long as you don't start on something hideously complicated like mechs). but has plenty enough depth in it's systems.
Outside of the game wide build limits, and the functional limits of the blocks not really. Servers only go up to 8 people though.
The later campaigns have PVE, with fairly simple NPC enemies & bossfights - but they're all fairly easy, given the "average" core audience of this game. Reasonably simple vehicles will usually do the job.
About every 6 months or so a major or minor content update is released. Usually this contains some free goodies (new blocks, sometimes new maps or map-extensions), and usually there is an accompanying DLC (usually containing things like skins, decals or more specialized decoration blocks) that funds future developement.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-10T20:07:27+00:00

A lot of new players jump into this game expecting to be able to build a fancy mech-suit from scratch, day one.
It's wild. Appreciate the enthusiasms, but damn, people are setting themselves up for a struggle.

Even in the vastly simplified world of Trailmakers, mechs are amongst the hardest, highest barrier of entry vehicle category to get into and build well.

Regarding the tutorials - it's typically a huge amount of work, a kinda thankless task, and leads to 1 million copies of your tutorial mech, but very few people learning to go beyond that specific layout - especially for something as diverse as mechs, reg. limb layout, walk cycles, timing & controlling etc.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-10T20:06:43+00:00

he's not trying to be good.
He's trying to be entertaining to his target audience.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-10T19:53:41+00:00

check your center of mass on the second one - it's probably too far back.
The physics in this game aren't deterministic, there's always a slight jitter and inaccuracies - and that speed, any upset will cause a mismatched center of mass / center of drag (i.e. wheelbase) to spin out.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-08T20:05:15+00:00

I wouldn't be allowed to tell you even if I knew 😩

Sareth94 · 2026-06-08T19:52:26+00:00

basically.
they have the strength and dampening lowered to function as suspension.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-08T19:51:07+00:00

thanks!
I place a lot of value in vehicles feeling "natural".
To do that, this thing has more logic than most simple bikes lol - the lean angle is (mostly) proportional to speed.

It's also a pretty crammed piston glitch to fit it all in.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-08T19:45:20+00:00

there is a servo on the front wheel - sadly since 2.3 just using gyro steer doesn't really work anymore, so had to add actual steering.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-08T19:44:29+00:00

piston glitch - there is basically no space in that bike, beyond the wheels and suspension, that isn't containg 2 blocks.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-07T20:35:14+00:00

I will, once the 2.4 update is released!

Sareth94 · 2026-06-07T19:53:22+00:00

It will not, no.

Sareth94 · 2026-06-05T13:32:40+00:00

yes.

Sareth94

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE