Haba
Harbinger of Decline
How terrible.
Watched the trailer, didn't see anything of the charm of Terraria.
Read the blurb, saw the words "Tower Defense" and lost what little interest there was left.
Terraria Otherworld: Bringing You Up to Speed
Good day, Terrarians!
We hope that everyone has had an amazing time with the most recent updates across the board. On our end, we just finished our first official Re-Logic in-person meeting and we are more excited than ever for the future of Terraria and our company!
On that front, we would like to give each of you a long-overdue update on a project that so many of you have asked about over the past several months - Terraria: Otherworld.
When last we checked in on Otherworld, we let everyone know that the project was not ready, that we weren't going to sacrifice our standards for deadlines, and shared some sweet spoilers of the Crimson biome. Since then, we have been mostly quiet on the project. That silence ends today - we are going to share what's going on, why, and where we are heading.
So, what happened?
To keep it short and simple, at the beginning of this year, we undertook a full in-depth review of the project versus our standards, expectations, and vision for the game. It was pretty clear to us at the time that Otherworld needed quite a bit of work - and even a good bit of rework - in a number of areas in order to hit that mark.
We then spent some time in detailed discussion among ourselves and also with Engine Software in regards to how best to get things to where they need to be. We then made a list of requested reforms and changes and such. As a part of this, the project team at Engine now has a new lead designer and art lead along with other changes made to better align to our vision for the game. On top of that, our two teams have laid out clearly what needs to be done and are pushing forward executing towards that roadmap to deliver the game we expect - and our fans deserve - as soon as possible.
Of course, we have to stress that our philosophy of the game being ready "when it's ready" will not be compromised here. We feel it's our promise to each of you and we will stick to it.
Where do things stand?
We are reworking a number of elements to bring more "Terraria-ness" to Otherworld as well as to really make the things that make the game different stand out in fun and engaging ways.
Want an example? Well, we felt the dynamics of the purity vs corruption did not feel "big" or "dangerous" enough....so that has been aesthetically redone (as just one small piece of that revamp) - check out the below for a taste (as well as few other new aesthetic touches):
We have also been focusing on revamping other biomes - to make them feel more diverse and deep - as well as putting a lot of work into the Weapon Leveling system:
Other examples of ongoing work include across-the-board tweaks to armors and gear, a complete overhaul of the AI (especially around making the tower defense elements deep and challenging), fleshing out the story, and much, much more.
So, what's next?
We will work hand in hand with Engine to keep up the momentum on the work and rework in the weeks and months to come. We are confident in this new approach - but rest assured that we will remain closely involved and will make sure that Terraria: Otherworld gets finished in a way that will be worthy of the Terraria name.
We don't have a date to give you - our focus is on getting the game done right first and foremost. That said, expect it to be a while still - there is a lot of work to get done and done right. As we know more, we will share it - so expect a return of spoilers (though maybe not every few days as before ).
Again, our apologies for the really long radio silence here - but we wanted to be sure that we had things squared away and a plan in place before we shared it with you. We are sure you will have tons of questions - so fire away!
Thanks as always for your massive support of our company and games - it's because of that and you that we continue to strive to develop exciting new games and fresh content. We look forward to delivering on that with Terraria: Otherworld!
Starting to feel like they should just drop this and focus on Terraria 2.
I'm of two minds about this. On one hand, you are right, but on the other hand, the better graphics make the limitations even more visible. Like those windows(?). The simple glass of Terraria made it work somehow, but these elaborate plates look fake. Or are those mirrors?I really like the step up from 8-bit-like graphics style to 16-bit-like one though, looks great. And characters now actually have animations.
Does anyone actually work on Terraria 2, more than just fool around a bit? I'm not sure.Starting to feel like they should just drop this and focus on Terraria 2.
Why? This is made by a different team of people, isn't it?
Is it? I thought there was some overlap.This looks pretty good to me. As long as you don't go in expecting it to be Terraria 2 (which it obviously isn't) then your butt should remain serene. It's just a semi-experimental side project to tide you over until the real sequel comes out.
Starting to feel like they should just drop this and focus on Terraria 2.
Why? This is made by a different team of people, isn't it?
My main issue is that, with this level of detail on the glass, you would want to have an actual window instead of a glass plate in a stone wall. The detail levels are inconsistent.I assume the reflections on windows move when you move the camera. I mean the other way to do them would be to just have a translucent pane.
I think adding an automatic frame around it is not something that would be very difficult. Other than that you'd probably need separate window type materials for different styles.My main issue is that, with this level of detail on the glass, you would want to have an actual window instead of a glass plate in a stone wall.I assume the reflections on windows move when you move the camera. I mean the other way to do them would be to just have a translucent pane.
Good Day, Terrarians-
We wanted to take a few moments to share some important news with you all in regards to the status of Terraria: Otherworld.
As you all know from when we first announced the game a good while back, Re-Logic’s focus has and always will be on delivering complete and quality game experiences to our fanbase. This means that we will not compromise game quality for speed to market or for any other reasons within our control. Our team had a clear vision for this game – one that we shared with all of you with much shared excitement – and, as much as we hate to say it (and in spite of all of the reforms we tried last year) - the current state of the game is still equal parts far from that vision and well behind schedule.
As a result, we have made the decision to move on from having Engine Software continue development of Terraria: Otherworld. Re-Logic has possession of the game (code, art, sounds, etc.) as it exists today, and we have been examining the array of options available to us to get TOW to a place to where we can confidently deliver on the vision and expectations we all have for this game. After taking a good hard look at everything, we feel that a new and fresh start/direction is the only way Otherworld will ever reach its full potential at this point.
So, where does TOW head from here? The great news is that we already have a dedicated and passionate team ready to pick up the torch and continue the Otherworld journey! Based upon their really impressive work to-date with the Terraria re-write on Console/Mobile, coupled with an amazingly on-point proposal for completing Otherworld (after a thorough review of the game on their end), we have made the decision to bring Pipeworks on board as our new development partner for Terraria: Otherworld!
We know that the "radio silence" and all of the shifting development work aimed at continuing the journey for Terraria: Otherworld has been frustrating for a lot of you. It isn’t a happy or easy call for us either – however, we feel strongly that we owe it to our community and loyal customers to uphold the standards that both you and we expect and to focus on delivering the best possible games that we can for you all to play. The length of the silence was purely driven by "these things take time to occur and then set up" coupled with our desire to have an actual solution/path forward before just sharing the news about Engine.
Come whatever may, quality is simply not something we are willing to compromise on to make a quick buck. It may be painful in the short term, but our sincere hope is that it will pay off for everyone in the long term. Clearly, had we known this would be the scenario way back then, we would have held off on announcing the game until a later time - but such is game development. That said, we are really happy and confident with the new team and new plan - and cannot wait to get back on track.
Some quick details/questions that you may have:
Thanks so much to you all for your amazing support of Terraria, Terraria: Otherworld, and our company. It is that support that drives us every day to do amazing things for you and we look forward to sharing more of what is to come very soon.
- Scope: We will be working with Pipeworks to examine the entire game, from top to bottom, to see how it fits with our high expectations and core vision for this project.
- Timing: As we know more about the specifics of timing, etc and/or have fresh spoilers to share, we absolutely will - though expect the "quiet period" to go on just a bit longer while Pipeworks gets ramped up and we actually have new things to show.
- Impact on other work: Pipeworks will staff up appropriately so that the Otherworld workload does not have any impact on the timing/quality of Console/Mobile/Switch launch
- Other Changes: We will be doing a full refresh of all of the Otherworld public-facing locations (Website/Twitter/Facebook/etc.) - including a revamp of the logo itself As these are completed, we will be sure to let you know so that you can check things out!
We are sure that you have a ton of questions, and we will answer what we can – but we will not delve into some areas out of either respect or confidence or the unknown. So we will ask your patience and forgiveness in advance there.
Thanks!
This is the End: Otherworld Development Cancelled
Good Day, Terrarians-
We wanted to take a few moments to share some important news with you all in regards to the status of Terraria: Otherworld.
As you all know from when we first announced the game a long while ago – and as we repeated in our subsequent posts - Re-Logic’s focus has and always will be on delivering complete and quality game experiences to our fanbase. Just to underscore it once more, this means that we will not compromise game quality for speed to market or for any other reasons within our control. Our team has a clear vision for this game – one that we shared with all of you with much shared excitement – and, in spite of all of our efforts, the current state of the game remains equal parts far from that vision and beyond behind schedule from our initial planning when we shared Otherworld with all of you three years ago. Progress has absolutely been made during that time – but unfortunately, a very thorough status review of the game versus its intended design showed both the Re-Logic and 505/Pipeworks teams that things were quite a bit further away from the finish line than we had imagined. Taking the massive amount of work that would be remaining to complete along with the extensive time it would take to get that done, and how that would greatly interfere with the pursuit of other projects on behalf of Re-Logic – it becomes clear that this leaves things in a very undesirable state.
As a result, we have made the decision to terminate development of Terraria: Otherworld.
We sincerely thank both of our external development teams for their hard work on the game, but at some point, we have to be honest with ourselves and realize that Otherworld simply is never going to reach its potential in any sort of reasonable time or fashion.
We know that the cancellation of Terraria: Otherworld will not be happy news to anyone. It is FAR from a happy moment for us either, when we look at all the time/effort/resources that we poured into the project. However, we feel strongly that we owe it to our community and loyal customers to uphold the standards that both you and we expect and to focus on delivering the best possible games that we can for you all to play. Come whatever may, quality is simply not something we are willing to compromise on to make a quick buck. It may be painful in the short term, but our sincere hope is that it will pay off for everyone in the long term in regard to our future games. T:OW will never come to pass, but its lessons learned and ideas generated will absolutely yield dividends for everyone.
So, what now? Next Steps for Re-Logic & Lessons Learned
- In hindsight, it goes without saying that we never should have spoken publicly about this game as early-on as we did. We will fully own that error in judgement. Moving forward, we will be far more judicious about only sharing information on projects in which we are fully confident in regards to timing, etc. We can only apologize for all of the emotional rollercoaster this caused.
- Trying to outsource development of such a critical title for our company – even if just in part – was not the way to go. Moving ahead, our focus for the core development of new/future titles will be more inward and will seek to utilize our own people. We will share more information there just as soon as we have it.
- Re-Logic has possession of the game (design, code, art, sounds, etc.) as it exists today, and there are still a ton of amazing ideas under the hood here – many of which have never been publicly shared. These are ideas that we have not and will not forget and that you will very likely see implemented in our future titles.
- Active development of Terraria continues - 1.3.6 is still very much in active development. We know that we have not shared a lot in the way of spoilers there – but rest assured that the team has been working tirelessly on our next PC wave.
- This keeps our partners at 505/Pipeworks wholly focused on Console/Mobile/Switch – and there is still a TON to get done there, so that should be good.
Thanks so much to you all for your amazing support of Terraria, Terraria: Otherworld, and our company. It is that support that drives us every day to do amazing things for you and we look forward to sharing more of what is to come very soon.
We are sure that you have a ton of questions, and we will answer what we can – but we will not delve into some areas out of either respect or confidence or the unknown. So we will ask your patience and forgiveness in advance there. Thanks!