Which faction do you play and why?

[nordstern]

i am playing timberborn now for a loing time and get it to its limits, because i try to have as much beavers as possible and a completly automatic water-system.

I have played the folktails most of the time but i tested also the Ironteeth the last weeks. And for me it feels wrong. I do not see the advantage of the Ironteeth.

Overall i like the idea of the Ironteeth. But i do not see any advantage of using them. Even the description of workoholics and metal/technology users. They have no technology who makes them more productive than the folktails. Their demand of beavers is higher overall than the folktails (waterpumps, farmer, haulers for energy) and their usage of metal and their production is the same. Also they are no workholics because they need the same amout of food, fun and social buildinngs and are not working harder. And their problem with the enviroment... they do have no one, because they do not have any negative output or so. Even the space management with energylines to charging stations and tubes is more worse than the folktails and also they have more buildings who need energy. But why? they have no advantage


Ironteeth have a better lumbermill, but they must use two instead of one beaver for this. The output per beaver is the same so you save only some space here.

They have stackable industrial stockpiles. But also here its not so important, because they are only used for building materials. And most of the time we stockpile food, water, etc and not metal, wood, planks, etc.

They can have food without fields with algae and fungus. But also here the space they need for food is 15-20% higher than the folktails because of the bee hives (without 10% lesser). And with their higher demand its even more.

They have pods... so they can maybe have a reserve for bad times. But also they need berries which is from the space the worst food in the game and these pods needs beavers to maintain and children are not born instant. In the midgame you have no children but you need huge amounts of extract... which can be difficult after many drys in a row. And also you can not plan your population because of the wellbeeing effect.

Their farms only have 2 beavers so they need more farms, but they are smaller.

They can gain research with bots... but this is not relevent at the end, because researcher are not so many in the game at all.

They can gain energy with engines. But for this they need wood and haulers to maintain them and it gives 400 energy. The windmill of the folktails need nothing and gain in average 200-300 energy. The waterwheels have the same energy depending on the energy per tile. Also their starting energywheel is much more difficult to place than the folktails small ones.

From the water aspect the folktails can gain much more water per space which is important because water-space is limited and especially if you play tall like me you need huge waterproduction. For every pump i have with the folktails on 3x3 i had to place for the same water 3 x 2x2 normal pumps.. so i need instead of 3 tiles for the same water 6tiles. And the same amout of beavers.

The bots have the same productivity but are much more difficult to maintain in an existing city. Because they need energywheellines to the loading stations.

The upcoming tubes sound great because they are double as fast as the zip lines, but the ziplines can be easily integrated in an existing layout.. the tubes not.


What do you think? have i overseen something?

greetings
nordstern

[Detective Costeau]

I play both, because variety is nice.

[cursed boi]

I play both factions, though I think I do tend to play Folktails more often because they are kind of more convenient. The birth management is less tedious, like you say, and they feel a bit "better" to me as well. I do like the Ironteeth aesthetic though. Also they have coffee. I like the look of their mushroom/algae farms, but they should be more efficient imo. Overall I'd agree that it'd be nice if the faction's workaholic mindset would actually reflect in gameplay, because I don't think it really does.

[nordstern]

yea.. i would like to see that their workforce is more productive. Maybe with the downside that their tech-buildings need more ressources to build. So a smelter is more expensive or a limbermill but with advanced ressources like metal.

Also i would like to resuce their demand (how often they visit them to fullfil the need) social life and fun buildings so they can work longer before you need to reduce the worktime for the bonuses. On the other side increase their demand on food, because they work harder and so they need more. They still need more like the folktails. maybe a mechanic: foodconsume depends on the working hours or so. And they are not getting tiered outside their houses.

And at least they need lesser workforce because of automatic production. And their hightechbuildings produce bad water or so which they must handle or clean in a expsnsive process. Maybe also the air gets more polluted to their risk of beeing ill is higher.

And to make them work harder, give them a building which delivers food and water to workplaces so they must not move to the storages. Or something like a cantine.

[City Builder]

Folktails - I want best control over population numbers.

[Wolfman]

It bothers me that there are not all buildings available from both factions. The folktail energy issues before batteries kills the fun. It's not a challenge, it's annoying. So lately, it's mostly iron teeth for me.

[Gresh]

I go back and forth. Generally I prefer Folktails because I find breeding pods to be a bit more annoying for regulating population and they have an easier time with initial food production.

[jonnin]

I play both. For a long time early on the iron teeth felt slightly stronger, but redos and rebalances have largely equalized them.

Both sides have advantages and disadvantages. The point is not that one side is better than the other, but that both colony types require different approaches to each map and so you get some variety and different ideas and more fun from the game by playing both sides.

The biggest pros and cons for me are power* and space. Folktails *require* LOTS of windmills and batteries, and the windmills require separation so they don't bonk each other. They don't need workers or fuel, but wind is fickle and many a time my colony has gone dark for a day or two because wind was missing for too many days (and this is with 4ish high and dynamited out deep batteries of some 20k HP each). IT faction engines don't need batteries, just wood and workers, but you never run out of power -- its consistent.

space, the IT faction just destroys the folktails. 100% of your food can be grown in like 8-10 total tiles, for stacked mushroom platters and a processing building. You don't even need a farm once you get past the basic Koalarabies stage. Their homes stack tall even early game, so housing space is also less of a mess -- I really, really HATE the "gotta have a ladder to use it" big FT housing (yea you can dynamite it to the ground level but its annoying regardless). Lacking farms, batteries, sprawling windmill farms, convoluted housing, etc you can tighten them up and get probably 3 times the population and industry etc onto the smallest map.

That sounds like I favor iron teeth, but folktails have plenty of advantages too. The minimalist / tall IT colony may be smaller but if you want them happy, you need more, and that explodes into like 10+ food processing buildings, while their power production can creep so high with all that you end up trading big food farms for big tree farms. I also find the FT look nicer; the industrialized look is a little depressing over a long game while the wood themed buildings are cute and lighthearted. I also find the iron teeth baby makers to be nothing but an aggravation because they are tied to your happiness, so you can be running along with a static, well oiled colony and then build like a major fun building that shoots your happiness up 3 or so levels and suddenly you are running out of food and water and such because the happy building quietly kicked your babymaker cluster into overdrive.

**I know that late game you can rig a perpetual motion machine with water wheels for both sides, but by that point you are just playing with your colony and have beaten that map and developed that colony fully.

[QueenPixxa]

The advantage of having 2 workers in the same building is a big space saving, just like pumps and farms are superior in FTs. I usually have a minimum of 5 building, 3x10 instead of 3x20. Huge. Also when you start a game you need less resources to build.
Tubeways are so much more efficient than ziplines.
Barracks will house 10 beavers; you'll need 4 lodgings for the FTs.
Large water wheels are one of the best features, working wonders on aqueducts.
Power wheels are also more advantageous, a 3x3 footprint for a good amount of energy instead of the risible 50hp of the single FT wheel.
Pumps have a longer reach, all of them.
Bots work without veggies and wood; only canola and only if you want to feed them grease, which is optional.
The industrial woodpile is great: when you have 1k logs, stacking is necessary IMO. Only disadvantage is the lack of larger buildings.
Corn and eggplant fields don't need to be huge, they are extremely convenient.
Numbercruncher is a wonderful building: no need for workforce, paths, nothing; you build them and forget they exist.
Adult pods are great at creating a permanent stream of workers.
The badwater caps provide a continuous stream of energy, making badwater a good thing to be tamed instead of a nuisance.
I remember when I first played Iron Teeth, I didn't like them at all; like all new things they need time to be appreciated and to take advantage of their unique and positive aspects. Once I got used to the different playstyle I never looked back.
I hate the reproduction system with a passion and it's the only negative thing I can think of, about ITs.