Terraria PC update apparently in the works, due Mayish.

[EpicAaron]

I wonder why they moved all of the mining functionality to the pickaxe? I'm still finding myself switching to my axe whenever I want to mine wood.

[FlowerChild]

I wonder why they moved all of the mining functionality to the pickaxe? I'm still finding myself switching to my axe whenever I want to mine wood.

Yeah, I don't much care for that either. They did the same to the hammer.

There seems to be a lot of "convenience" features in this update, and I can't say I'm a fan of them.

[EpicAaron]

While we are discussing the less favorable side of this update, am I the only one that isn't exactly pleased by the new aesthetics? The background changes between biomes seem much more drastic and less smooth than before, and this is especially noticeable underground (The sudden morph from ice tiles to dirt and rocks isn't pretty).

The huge amount of gag mobs added aren't fun either. I once got excited when I saw something rare like a pinky slime or explorer zombie, but now the night is filled with monsters in ridiculous costumes, walking/flying fish, and enough color variants to paint a rainbow. It feels like one big joke.

I'm not sure how I Feel about the smoothed terrain.

[FlowerChild]

Just a question here: was this update done by the same guy/guys as the original? Because yeah, I'm sensing a certain bit of substandard quality control here as well.

[EpicAaron]

Just a question here: was this update done by the same guy/guys as the original? Because yeah, I'm sensing a certain bit of substandard quality control here as well.

I know that two of the developers moved on and are currently working on different projects.

The more I think about it, this update may have spawned as a quick service to all of the PC players that were upset over the release of the console version which apparently had extra content. This update certainly doesn't have the same magical feeling that Terraria 1.0 had.

[FlowerChild]

Ah...that would explain the wood armor then :P

Some of it feels like "let's listen to random player suggestions to shut them up" territory.

[Psion]

I'm not sure if it applies to all wood, but for normal trees, you still need an axe. Living wood on the other hand requires a pick, but it also doesn't drop as a resource, and drops normal wood instead. (you need a special wand to convert and place normal wood into living.) Not sure about the special trees in various biomes yet, but as far as I know, the axe still has its normal functionality.

Hammers lost their old functionality to be used in creation of half blocks, such as when your making waterfalls, and to mine out backgrounds like walls. This is a nice change imo, since you don't have to worry about hammering out your furnishings when changing up your walls.

And I was expecting random items that looked like suggestions, since well, it's terraria. it always has those silly things. :P

[Six]

Psion: You used to be required to use an axe to collect wood that had been placed, but yeah, I actually feel the changes to the tools are for the best and have made them more consistent overall. Hammer breaks background walls and toggles block variations, axes cut down things like trees and tall mushrooms, and the pick breaks all blocks and foreground items.

[FlowerChild]

I'm definitely on the other side of that. I remember that one of the things I remarked about Terraria when I first played it was that each tool had its role, and each served a definite purpose that made having it in your inv worthwhile, in contrast to vanilla MC which really didn't have that. Also, part of the thrill of getting the higher level tools was in gaining the ability to start combining them in order save on inventory space.

Now, you can happily leave your axe and hammer in a chest somewhere and only pull them out when needed for their overly specific purpose. The choice as to which tools to upgrade next when you have limited resources has also become much less interesting.

So yeah, I think they really lost something there in favor of turning the pick into a universal tool. You'll note that I put a lot of work into giving each tool a more defined role in BTW, trying to attain what Terraria already had, and just threw away in favor of something akin to a Paxle. Yes, stuff like destroying furniture when you meant to break background blocks was annoying, but there are other ways to resolve that. To me, this is just another convenience feature at the expense of gameplay.

They even went and expanded the size of the inventory on top of this, making inventory management even less of a concern :P

EDIT: Honestly, I don't think I'm going to play anymore Terraria. I'm starting to get the same sensation I do when playing vanilla updates of someone who doesn't know what they're doing inadvertently vandalizing a work of art. It's heartbreaking for me to see stuff like that, and I've already had my fill of that sensation the past couple of years. I think I'll just retain my fond memories of Terraria and leave whatever this is alone :)

[Taleric]

The point FC makes on the tools I would have completely missed prior to BTW HC changes.

A well designed game provides choices right down to limited hot bar/tool management. The more simplified/distant a game gets from this it feels on rails and a waste of time.

I was pretty bummed when I got to that first chest and heart realizing the hammer was virtually pointless.

The small things really add up quick to give the satisfaction of a game vice a simulation with annoyances. Kind of bummed food was never a concern.

[FlowerChild]

And I was expecting random items that looked like suggestions, since well, it's terraria. it always has those silly things. :P

BTW has almost always had stuff like the Companion Cube, & Gimp Suit as well. However, if every 2nd block or item was like that, I suspect it would rapidly become tiresome.

Humor in small doses is funny. Live with a full time circus clown though, and you'll likely find yourself reaching for a gun.

[Mr_Hosed]

<shakes head> It's like they took the ideas from the various larger mods, threw 'em in a blender, and tossed out a patch...

[ignika42]

Aside from the axe nerf (poor axe feels so useless now), I'm loving the update so far, especially the new music, also the

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Crimson biome (and it's music), the Brain of Cthulhu boss, and the magic staffs.

It's really brought back the feeling of there being things that are unknown out there, compared to before the update where I'd exhausted it completely.

[logorouge]

Reading the changes made by this patch, plus the fact that my favorite mod isn't/won't ever be compatible with it, I'm now trying to find a way to stop the game from auto-updating. Not as easy as one might think.

[Six]

Oh wow, I never made the 'Hamaxe' -> 'Mattock' connection before. And yeah, after actually trashing my hammer for inventory space and not building another till I just got enough meteor for a Hamaxe, I can see what people are getting at about with tool management. Although I have to say that feels a lot better in the setting of BTW, where things are a lot less action focused and gameplay is far more cautious and methodical.

In saying that though I really feel like there is a amazing game lurking under the surface somewhere in Terraria. The progression curve is all out of wack, with cool mechanics and items quickly becoming obsolete in favor of items to make things easier. But now with all the items like the slow fall umbrella, wall slide/jump boots/gloves, double jump bottle, high jump balloon and all the other stuff, you can pretty much make full Knytt-like metroidvania maps in it. If the game itself could work out some way to capitalize on this, I feel it could be far more than it currently is. Though I'm still enjoying it.

In summary, grappling hooks are cool, but end up making many other cool features obsolete.

[TheGreatIntelligence]

It does feel like the game is becoming a bit too "fuck game design"-ey. The minimap was incredibly well done in my opinion but, as others have said, pointless. How do you get lost along a straight line? I know some people might get lost underground but I have semi-photographic memory which made the map all the more pointless. I did like the random massive tree-dungeons and some of the new items/blocks, but with the new graphics everything just seems a bit... off... Its not quite Terraria anymore...

I really have no clue how I fell about this update.

[FlowerChild]

Oh wow, I never made the 'Hamaxe' -> 'Mattock' connection before.

Yup, exactly. Battle Axe too. I honestly cant remember which came first (me playing Terraria or those tools) but I do distinctly remember remarking that Terraria had "done it right" when I first played it. There's a part of my brain that's constantly analyzing my own sensations as I play games, and it tends to stick in my mind when I recognize something like that.

In order for an inventory system to be meaningful, stress has to be put on it. This inspires the player to think about what they're carrying, and in a creative game like MC or Terraria it's all the more important, as such stress will often act as inspiration to build (storage and crafting areas, transportation networks, etc.). With an infinite inventory, there's just no real reason to build stuff like that, and this cuts directly into the core of the gameplay. In the process you're also losing player satisfaction in solving their own problems through upgrades down the road.

Same thing with the minimap. Laying out your tunnel network in such a way that you can easily recognize your way out, placing landmarks, and that kind of thing, is all tied directly into creative gameplay. Remove the necessity to do that, and there goes that gameplay in the process. More and more you can play the game on autopilot, relying on the game itself to bail you out should you get into trouble.

IMO, there's a lot of parallels between what's happening to Terraria with this patch, what happened to MC when Notch abandoned it, and a lot of the work I've done on BTW to try and correct the resulting problems.

Anyways, like I said above, I really don't think I want to play Terraria in this state. It'll just piss me off.

[FlowerChild]

Oh, also worth mentioning as being tied into this kind of thing is what I did recently to require arrows in the hot bar in order to use a bow.

This places additional stress on the player's inventory in the way I talked about above, basically encouraging a decision as to whether a player is equipped for melee or for ranged attacks, and I find this plays out quite well in my current game. It also emphasizes the reward of being able to basically gain a couple of hot bar slots when you hit SFS through the Mattock and Battle Axe, which in turn makes it far more viable to be both ranged and melee at the same time.

It's a small thing, but it inspires thought, which as I've described before, I tend to equate with gameplay, and all these little things add up to keep the player engaged. It also motivates the player to progress further in the tech tree so that they can benefit from the above.

It's also worth taking a look at what Don't Starve does with this, as I think they did a bang-up job of making inventory management a part of gameplay, at least in the early game. I find the late-game is a little short on upgrades in that regard.

[Katalliaan]

In Terraria, I've never felt that hotbar space was terribly valuable, to the point that I kept every tool in my hotbar at all times. Melee weapon, ranged weapon, pick, axe, hammer, magic mirror, blocks, and now coils of rope. Torches and health/mana potions don't need to be in the hotbar because you can get them with hotkeys.

I've played it for about seven and a half hours so far. Of note, I've gotten a zombie arm, found a crystal heart, and made myself the wooden armor set and an iron pick; my little home is up to 5 NPCs so far. I have yet to hit any of the more dangerous biomes, either.

[TheGreatIntelligence]

One thing I noticed is that the game no longer pauses while your in your inventory. I quite like this because of: "Oh snap! There's X number of flying eyeballs coming towards me! Better get out my sword * hits inventory key * Now where did I put that sword... I've only got until the next power outage." Mean while the flying eyeballs are safely frozen until you come out of your inventory, giving you literally unlimited planning time. With 1.2 you have to be alot faster in combat and it makes it feel like I should actually keep a weapon on my hot bar instead of picks, axes, blocks and torches. I likes it.

[EpicAaron]

With 1.2 you have to be alot faster in combat and it makes it feel like I should actually keep a weapon on my hot bar instead of picks, axes, blocks and torches. I likes it.

The game used to pause in the inventory? I just now realized that I only ever played multiplayer. I suppose this is one thing the update got right.

[FlowerChild]

Is there any way to pause though? During my brief time with 1.2 I couldn't find one, and found it to be an annoyance on the level of the missing pause in 7 days to die.

Having to quit the game to have a smoke or answer the phone while playing single player isn't exactly a feature.

[EpicAaron]

Is there any way to pause though? During my brief time with 1.2 I couldn't find one, and found it to be an annoyance on the level of the missing pause in 7 days to die.

Having to quit the game to have a smoke or answer the phone while playing single player isn't exactly a feature.

Now that sounds incredibly annoying. Especially since the game resets your position back to spawn when you leave.

[Thordan Ssoa]

The autopause is an option, and always has been. They've just set it to default to off now.

[Six]

There's actually an option (has been for a long time) for if the game pauses when in the menu or not, though for obvious reasons it doesn't apply when playing in multiplayer. The 'return to spawn on login' thing is still one of my biggest qualms with the game and has been for a long time, because as FC said, if playing with the pause turned off there is no way to pause the game or even log out for a second without feeling like you are cheating to get back home.

And yeah, this update was a whole huge volume of content and only a few gameplay focused changes. It highlights quite well something I realized recently about the distinction between 'content' and 'gameplay' in game design, and how they are two distinct things which determine the how long you enjoy playing a game. Luckily for me, I still enjoy the gameplay side of the game, even if it is a bit (or a lot) shallow.