- The Final Update - 15 December 2025
This is what I expect to be the final update for the game, version 2.5.It contains no gameplay changes, but some Quality of Life updates and improvements:updated engine/core codevisual improvements to volumetric lights, general graphics, building effectsremoved Unity Analytics and privacy screen.I am officially ending support for the game with this patch. If there are serious bugs I will of course fix those, but there will be no further updates aside from that.The game is complete and there is nothing on my wishlist that I would want to add.It has been an interesting journey, both in its highs and lows. The game has reached a lot of players, and for a while there were a good number of streamers and YouTubers playing. I'm glad that you all enjoyed a few hours in the Black Forest and it's night terrors.Thank you all.
- Final Update in preview for testing - 6 December 2025
I've uploaded what I expect to be the final update for the game, version 2.5.It's on the preview branch for now, so I can fix any bugs that may have crept in (though there shouldn't be any).Changes:updated engine/core codevisual improvements to volumetric lights, general graphics, building effectsremoved Unity Analytics and privacy screen.
- Bug- and Security-Fix Update - 5 October 2025
This is a small update containing a few internal updates, bugfixes and an important fix for a security issue in the Unity engine.
- Update 2.4 - bugfixes and improvements - 25 February 2025
I have uploaded an update to improve a number of issues that crept in and make some all-around improvements. It is live on preview now, if there are no issues it will go live on the main branch in a few days. Here's the list of changes: Fixed the vegetation and ground texture on Kroburg, RefugeeCamp Fixed a rare mouse input issue on Windows Improved resolution of some textures (buildings, mostly) Improved anti-aliasing should remove or at least considerably reduce the shadow "shimmering" effect Improved positional sound effects Slightly improved loading times Slighly improved particle effects Improved debug/error output to make finding bugs easier Slightly improved memory management Reduced texture memory usage on low quality settings for those with older computers Improved texture and audio data handling Lots of cleanup and minor fixes Updated engine version
- bugfix update double-pack - 6 December 2024
Fixed the bandits quest in Children's Tales to no longer refer to the armoury. Fix for the trial in Darkest Nights. Fixed a naming issue that may in rare cases lead to the game pausing randomly. Improved vegetation and wind handling on Schramberg, Castle and Farmstead. This should speed up loading the levels and slightly improve performance. Let me know if you notice anything or something goes wrong. Added a bit of animation to the loading screen. Why not? Fixed several graphics issues Quest and dialog windows should now follow the UI scale you set in options Fixed a code error in the tutorial story.
- Version 2.3 is here ! - 17 November 2024
This is a major behind-the-scenes update, it includes: New Spanish and Russian translations (incomplete, head to https://weblate.lemuria.org/engage/black-forest/ to contribute!) Visual refresh, giving the 3D scene more clarity and a hint of a stylized look Added ivy to a number of buildings for more visual variance and interest. Added sound effects to bear, orc, tree Gave the stone gate collision detection more tolerance so it's easier to find a spot across the path where it's possible to build it. Fixed the "hire mercenaries" part in the Children's Tales story. Fixed: Maypole should now be properly removed when loading a game in the tutorial story. Started to add Spanish and Russian translation - still incomplete. Head to https://weblate.lemuria.org/projects/black-forest/ if you want to help with translations. Added some debug output to trace an elusive bug that apparently only occurs…
- Update on Beta Branch - 11 November 2024
I've uploaded a new build to the testing/beta branch. This is a major behind-the-scenes update, with a new engine major version and considerable code updates. It fixes a small number of bugs as well. Please test and let me know if you run into any problems. The sooner I get some feedback, the sooner I can send it live for everyone.
- Community Translations Available - 24 October 2024
From time to time, players have asked if the game is available in their language. Until now, I always had to say sorry no. I speak English and German good enough. Other languages need a native or good speaker. I found one person to translate parts of the game to French, very happy about that. Now, you can all help translating the game into your language. Maybe just a few words, maybe a whole story block - as you wish. I've set up an online translation system here: https://weblate.lemuria.org/engage/black-forest/ Go there, select your language and start translating. The system has good documentation for all needs, and if you need another language, tell me and I'll add it. The game's texts are split up into a number of chunks, due to the way the export and import work, but the actual translation work is basically: It shows you the English original and you enter your translation. You can a…
- Small Bugfix Update - 3 October 2024
Completed the "Darkest Nights" story (though it is now a bit shorter than I had hoped) Doubled the number of monster lairs that rangers will seek out before giving up for the day Night summary now shows temperature (to better understand when peasants need heating or die of frostbite) Made a number of changes to handle monster collision issues better A small number of additional translations Fixed a small pathfinding error Fixed a small error in construction assignment for walls Removed outdated code related to the map editor (code that might have caused false positive exception messages) Updated Unity engine Fixed a small library error in the build process
- Small Bugfix Update - 26 August 2024
Fixed: Storage display now updates correctly again Fixed: Eliminated peasant "follow ghosts" (by switching anti-aliasing from temporal to FXAA) Fixed two small script errors Added 3 ultra-wide (21:9) resolutions in the options menu
- Bugfixes Update - 20 August 2024
This update should fix all but one of the known bugs and includes a number of other improvements. I recommend that you install it as quickly as possible. Note: I have changed some parts of the save game files. The game should load old saves without any issues, but new saves made with this version will not be compatible with older versions of the game. Fixed: Market UI should be visible again Fixed: Market UI still listed weapons as tradeable (removed) Fixed: Death markers animation and disappearance Fixed: Camera Shake Fixed: A certain monster's kill text caused an error Fixed: Story mode dialogs should now correctly appear in German if you've set your language to German Fixed: French was not available in the options menu Fixed: Options toggles now update immediately when you change your language Fixed: Leaderboard for a few levels New: German translations for level names, descriptions,…
- small bugfix update - 9 August 2024
Hot on the heels of the previous update, here are two more bugfixes: Fixed: Market UI still listed weapons as tradeable Fixed: Camera Shake
- Bugfix and Quality-of-Life Update - 8 August 2024
ATTENTION - this is part 2 of the major walls update, this one is destructive. Old saves (by now 3 months or more old) may not work or not correctly restore any walls built. This update also fixes a number of bugs, adds French translation and more. Here's the full changelog: Removed old wall section prefabs French translation (partial, dialog texts still missing) Wayposts now create paths to connect to the nearest existing path Improved the interaction between game speed and monsters during the night (less chance for you to miss monster attacks due to high game speed) Increased the hitbox size of small monsters (rats, kobolds, goblins) in order to reduce the "monster phasing through walls" issue. Fixed: Work summary now scrolls when there are too many projects for the view size Fixed: Walls should now again be enabled correctly in the tutorial mission Fixed: Text bug (smelter/smithy mix…
- Summertime is here ! - 27 June 2024
If you've been holding off, now is the perfect time to get the game into your collection. Black Forest will be on sale during the Steam Summer Sale. It's also a great time because the game just received a major update, and another (smaller) update is on the way. Go and defend these villagers, they'll be eaten without you !
- Attention: Next Update is a Breaking Change - 7 June 2024
I'm working on part 2 of the major update. This will have far fewer changes, but the important part is that I will be cleaning up old, no longer used things. So if you have any quite old saves (from before the last update), now is the time to finish those game. In the next update, I will be removing old walls and no longer used buildings. This might break old saves, meaning that those buildings won't exist anymore if you load a game where they were still present. In other news, the update will also include French localization. I know it's been asked a few times, it's finally coming.
- Sale + Update - 26 May 2024
Black Forest is on sale. Steam tells me that over 10,000 of you still have it on your wishlist. Now, with the sale and the big update that just came out, is the perfect time to get Black Forest into your library.
- 2024 Major Update - 22 May 2024
This is the first of a two-part major update to the game. I am re-focussing on the core gameplay and removing elements that distract from it. That includes the night watch option for villagers and the armoury, weapons and guard posts. The game was always meant to be unique in that you don't have combat as a serious option, and having these elements in the game creates the false impression that this is how you could (or should) defend your village, when it was only ever meant to be a small part of your total strategy. New building: Barn - you can't build it but most maps come with one set up already. It serves no purpose and is only for decoration (though it does block monster attacks) New building: Waypost - use it to guide the dynamic paths that some buildings automatically create. New building: Harvest stuff - a decoration item showing crates, sacks, etc. full of harvested fruits, gra…
- Short New Features Dev Stream - 16 May 2024
I'll be streaming gameplay of the new version today evening, showcasing changes and new features. Stream will be on my Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/blackforestdev/ If I can manage it I will upload a recording to YouTube afterwards. The time is 21:00 local time. Check here to convert to your time: https://www.zeitzonenrechner.net/at/2761369
- Update Teaser #2 - 10 May 2024
Still preparing for the next update. Here is a teaser of what you can expect: New building: Barn - you can't build it but most maps come with one set up already. It serves no purpose and is only for decoration (though it does block monster attacks) Walls have been reworked. More variety with procedural generation and reduced cost in resources and workers. Carpenter and Mason will now provide a construction speed bonus to wood and stone walls - 10% per Carpenter/Mason you have. Added a small random bonus to wall construction speed just to break it up visually. Removed the map editor Small updates to most of the maps Peasant visuals update: Now using tools (hammer, bucket, etc.) when building, digging a new field, harvesting wheat or carrying water Major update to how Guardians work. They now target monsters directly, emerging from the tavern when a monster is spotted. Slightly extended t…
- Major Update Teaser - 5 May 2024
I've been working on a major update for the game, re-focussing on the core gameplay and removing elements that distract from it. That includes the night watch option for villagers and the armoury, weapons and guard posts. The game was always meant to be unique in that you don't have combat as a serious option, and having these elements in the game creates the false impression that this is how you could (or should) defend your village, when it was only ever meant to be a small part of your total strategy. In addition to that, I have given several maps small upgrades, added tools to many of the villagers' jobs, completely reworked the way walls are generated (you won't see a big difference, but it's a lot easier for me to manage them now) made monster spawn timing more predictable and interesting. I'm still working on more bugfixes and improvements. Looking forward to putting this big upd…
