Terraria: Otherworld Changing of the Guard: An Update from Otherworld

[Xylia]

505 Games is a publisher (in our case, they handle console and mobile in that capacity). They do not develop/code/etc. anything. Engine Software was doing the bulk of the coding, etc. work on Otherworld until this change (under our direction). That work wasn't hitting the mark - to a degree where we felt a change was necessary.... and here we are.

Oh, right, PUBLISHER. Derp. I keep forgetting the difference between Dev and Publisher... because I've been playing Indie games so long, where the devs are also the publishers lol.

Seriously, I haven't touched a Trip-A since the original release of Skyrim. Unless you want to count Final Fantasy XIV. I suppose one could, but eh. That's an MMO. I don't really think it counts, and besides, SE is a dev and a publisher too.

To what end, other than to quote Miyamoto once again: A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.

Eh, I am not entirely convinced of this. I have seen rushed games that were terrible but were made better through patches though it is kind of rare, I will admit. A rushed game usually ends up hitting the "shelves" and tends to be crap no matter how hard they struggle to fix the glaring flaws. Other games do OK, though with lots of bad publicity... it's a mixed bag.

We would have loved to have had everything be perfect and done long ago. That isn't the case. Rather than sit back and fiddle about, we did something about it (with its related costs, as Xylia mentioned). Suffice to say that enough was "off" that we felt that expense was necessary to deliver on Miyamoto's implied guidance.

This is what makes me think that the work Engine Software did was just... I don't think I have polite words to finish the sentence, so I'll trail off there.

For Re-Logic to be willing to spend that kind of cash to dump them, it must have been really bad.

 

[Xylia]

Asinine?

No... I was more referring to the quality of work (either how good it is, or how fast they were producing) they were putting out, not being up to Re-Logic's standards. That's gotta be an understatement for Re-Logic to be willing to put down cash to let them go and get another developer instead.

EDIT: But I suppose there's not much point in trying to figure out just how bad the work they did was. Important thing is just for us to know that this is NOT something "minor", that it was fairly major. How major? It was enough for them to agree to delay the game even further by getting a new developer and spending the cash to do it. That's "major enough" for me to agree that it needed done, despite our boredom/impatience/whatever.

 

[Joost8910]

I trust you guys know what you are doing, so i'll just comment on the screenshot.
The game looks Beeyoootiful and i love it. I notice a water fracturing effect on the rope in the well, i just love that attention to detail!

 

[Xylia]

I trust you guys know what you are doing, so i'll just comment on the screenshot.
The game looks Beeyoootiful and i love it. I notice a water fracturing effect on the rope in the well, i just love that attention to detail!

Don't similar effects happen in Terraria today?

I see the water distorts the image of anything underwater and I know that's already in Terraria...

But yes, the graphics... I hope that after T:OW they would consider making a T:OW texture pack for original Terraria too. Maybe people who buy T:OW can also get the pack to install for Terraria?

 

[FlyKip]

Don't similar effects happen in Terraria today?

I see the water distorts the image of anything underwater and I know that's already in Terraria...

But yes, the graphics... I hope that after T:OW they would consider making a T:OW texture pack for original Terraria too. Maybe people who buy T:OW can also get the pack to install for Terraria?

Or maybe TOW can get a Terraria texture pack for peeps who don't like the current graphic...

 

[Tunnel King]

Asinine?

There is really no reason for name calling. Some of the Engine folks still have accounts here and are welcome in our community, as I believe I have reminded you of before.

Things happen in business that aren't always pleasant, and that's just the way things work out sometimes. Re-Logic is moving forward, and I suggest we join them in keeping it classy.

 

[Xylia]

Or maybe TOW can get a Terraria texture pack for peeps who don't like the current graphic...

I don't see why it can't work both ways, no. Although, any furniture items/objects that are in T:OW but not Terraria will not look right (such as the purification towers, assuming we're keeping the Tower Defense style) against the Terraria's background.

Likewise for anything Terraria has that T:OW doesn't, if there is anything.

 

[TinchoX]

Alright, let's hope Otherworld sees the light of the day someday...

 

[FlyKip]

I don't see why it can't work both ways, no. Although, any furniture items/objects that are in T:OW but not Terraria will not look right (such as the purification towers, assuming we're keeping the Tower Defense style) against the Terraria's background.

Likewise for anything Terraria has that T:OW doesn't, if there is anything.

I guess you're right... Or the TD mechanisms could be done by this awesome community I'm Terraria style!

 

[Xylia]

I guess you're right... Or the TD mechanisms could be done by this awesome community I'm Terraria style!

That could be done, yes. I suppose it'd be a lot easier for the fanbase to do a handful of sprites, than an entire texture pack, lol.

I think that Texture Packs ought to be made available both ways (Terraria for T:OW and T:OW for Terraria) on the agreement that it is OPTIONAL and might not be the ideal experience due to aforementioned issues (and any other issues that might occur).

It's something a player would have to opt-in for, especially if they had to manually edit a config file to get it to do that. I just want the option to be there even if less-than-ideal.

 

[Canito]

It doesn't matter how long it will take to make the game, many have the patience. I will be looking forward to the game, and good luck to all.

 

[Ultimate Fury]

I am certainly glad that we have some concrete news again. It is definitely nice when a developer is honest and upfront with their customers. I was beginning to wonder what the reason behind the extended silence was but now it all makes sense.

I also agree with their reasoning behind keeping things quiet until now. It would certainly have been very chaotic on the forums if they had told us about this before having a replacement for Engine nailed down and moving forward. In situations like this it is almost always better to wait until you can give a complete picture of how you will be moving forward. After all, who would really want to wade into the mess the forums would have dissolved into had they told us before they knew who they were going to replace engine with. There were already people wondering whether it had been canceled when we didnt have any news. If they had come out and said "Yeah, Engine just isnt working for us, they aren't going to be handling development anymore, no idea yet who we will replace them with" we would have seen the forum equivalent of rioting in the streets.

Though I am now even more interested in hearing news updates about the development of the game. If the developers themselves are this excited about the potential that Pipeworks has shown that just means it is even more likely that T:OW will be just as awesome, if not more so, than Terraria is.

Honestly, Terraria has been one of a select few games that I can continuously come back to and play back through. I count it up there with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, (Two of my favorite game series of all time) in terms of replayability. Everything that I have seen so far is pointing towards T:OW being right up there with them.

I don't post on here often, mostly I just check for new updates and read what people have to say. However I did want to express my gratitude for you guys being honest with us about what has been happening. So many other companies could have just been like "some things are taking a little longer than we thought" but you actually let us know what had been going on behind the scenes and that makes a lot of difference in my opinion.

I can't wait to see what the finished product looks and plays like whenever that ends up being, keep up the good work and thanks for keeping us informed!

 

[Alex_Games]

Honestly though, as long as the game comes put within the next 3 years, I'll continue to look forward to it. Terraria's not a game I've ever gotten truly tired of, and that's because of all the detail and quality that the creators have taken the time and effort to thoroughly polish. I look forward to otherworld, in its finished form. I'm not going to get impatient, and I hope fans don't either.

Truly great things are well worth the wait, after all. Besides, there's still so much I haven't done in Terraria.

 

[LuciousTPK]

I'm happy as long as that corruption and space theme stay put, love dem. Especially that base in the corruption them!

 

[Leinfors]

That could be done, yes. I suppose it'd be a lot easier for the fanbase to do a handful of sprites, than an entire texture pack, lol.

I think that Texture Packs ought to be made available both ways (Terraria for T:OW and T:OW for Terraria) on the agreement that it is OPTIONAL and might not be the ideal experience due to aforementioned issues (and any other issues that might occur).

It's something a player would have to opt-in for, especially if they had to manually edit a config file to get it to do that. I just want the option to be there even if less-than-ideal.

@Xylia, do you mean developer created texture packs for T1 and TOW? To support the two different games looking like each other?

Or are you just talking about fan generated content.

 

[FairyPrincessSerenity]

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an example of a delayed game with an overhaul or two to better fit the developer's vision, and that game ended up hitting legendary status. We'll see if Otherworld has what it takes. It does feel like a pretty special project. Like, one of those rare instances where the creator has passion for their work. The last I time I saw that level of care, the gaming world got Stardew Valley, and Shovel Knight before that. There are other games that meet the description, but those are the ones I noticed exploding the gaming community.

 

[Leinfors]

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an example of a delayed game with an overhaul or two to better fit the developer's vision, and that game ended up hitting legendary status. We'll see if Otherworld has what it takes. It does feel like a pretty special project. Like, one of those rare instances where the creator has passion for their work.

Pretty good point. Resident Evil 4, for instance, had its engine scrapped, gameplay, and storyline scrapped multiple times during its development. One of the engines ended up so far from the intended use that it actually was converted into an entirely standalone series, now known as Devil May Cry. It took more than half a decade for the game to eventually come out, but now its one of the most positively received entries in the franchise. I often imagine what could have been, but the end result was undoubtedly fantastic.

 

[Jofairden]

I am SO HAPPY that you guys are being so honest about all this. I'm sad to hear that the previous teams were a mess, but I know for sure Pipeworks delivered, they already have proven themselves 'worthy'! Let the games commence!

 

[sweetbuzzy]

I would be cool if they created a mobile version of terraria other worlds.

 

[Eldrithia]

Sounds like everyone will be hard at work when they begin developing the game, it's nice to have an update for it too. At least we know what's going on with the game now.