[DEVBLOG#288] Vanilla Furniture Expanded

Hey folks,

We’ve got some exciting news to share: we’re finally giving Vanilla Furniture Expanded the full rework it’s been needing for a long time. This was one of the earliest mods in the Vanilla Expanded lineup, and while it's served players well over the years, it’s definitely showing its age.

We’ve learned a lot since we first made it. Better balancing, cleaner art process, and more thoughtful integration with the rest of the game are some of the things I think will be beneficial here. So, it’s time to bring it all up to speed with our current standards. That means improved visuals, rebalanced stats, and a bunch of new content to make it the ultimate furniture mod for RimWorld - as it is right now the most popular mod in our collection.

And don’t worry, this update will be fully compatible with ongoing saves. No broken colonies here.

Why We're Doing This

Honestly, it was overdue. VFE has always been popular, but it’s also always been a bit of a relic. We want it to stand proudly next to the other Vanilla Expanded mods and feel just as modern and polished.

We’re looking at:

• Balancing everything properly, no more weird stats or underwhelming furniture that doesn't seem to do anything relevant

• Redoing a lot of the visuals to make everything more consistent

• Making sure all tech levels feel distinct and useful

• Adding quality-of-life features players have come to expect

This is more than just a patch. We’re rebuilding a lot of it from scratch to give you the best experience possible.

What's Changing?

We’re not removing anything, but a lot of it is getting reworked. Names are being cleaned up, stats are being adjusted, and a lot of objects are getting art passes. I mean, some items will be removed, but it's a soft removal - they will remain in your game and not get deleted, you just won't be able to build anymore of them.

Some examples:

• Slab Bed is now the Chiseled Bed — fireproof, durable, and it even works with Ideology precepts.

• Stone Campfire becomes the Firepit.

• Royal furniture is actually royal now — higher beauty and better comfort.

• Beds now influence birth quality properly and play nicely with all linkables.

• Modern additions like arcade machines, roulette tables, and pianos now give recreation and passive skill XP.

• Computers (both old and modern) now tie into research and intellectual growth.

• Radios offer music-based recreation and function differently depending on tech level.

In short, everything feels more polished, more useful, and more RimWorld-y.

New Stuff

We’re not just reworking the old, we’re adding a ton of new content too. Here’s a taste of what’s coming:

Neolithic

• Chiseled Double Bed – stone bed for two, fireproof and tribal-friendly

• Dark Firepit – a dim heat source that fits darklight preferences

Medieval/Industrial

• Simple Double Bed – fast to build, cheap, no quality - which means even terrible construction pawns will build a decent bed

• Punching Bag – trains melee while relaxing now

• Animal Sarcophagus – give your muffalo the burial it deserves

• Floor and Desk Lamps – compact light sources for tight spaces

• Lounger – lets pawns relax and sunbathe for recreation

Modern

• Modular Couch System – build corner couches with changeable visuals

• Coffee Table – links to couches/armchairs to boost comfort

• Long Plant Pots – decorate long stretches with flowers

• Royal Standing Lamp – for colonies that want both beauty and light

And yeah, modular furniture with adjustable visuals is finally a thing. You can set couch layouts manually and the game will remember what you picked if something gets destroyed.

What's the Goal Here?

At the end of the day, we just want VFE to feel like a mod that fits perfectly into RimWorld. We want it to be the first and last furniture mod anyone needs, whether they’re playing tribal, medieval, industrial, or spacer colonies.

Everything now integrates properly with DLCs like Royalty, Ideology, and Biotech. Everything is rebalanced. Everything looks good. And nothing breaks your save.

While I don't have infographics yet, here's a link to the design document!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AjRbyPPbNfb5s7YfYoynQLR0p2uOmoYcUzhlfDAGJhw/edit?usp=sharing

Wrapping Up

This is a big update, and we’re really excited to finally share it with you. It’s been a long time coming, and we think the wait will be worth it.

We’ll be sharing more previews soon, so keep an eye out. Thanks for sticking with us all these years, we hope you enjoy building your colonies with a whole new set of tools.

Yes, that's me on the cover of the mod.