Terraria State of the Game - February 2021

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They haven't shown the journey mode research yet. I wonder how it is going to work.

Depends on what you bind things to. The new gamepad approach opens up a LOT more options for bindings and its pretty clever how things are done to avoid conflicts or duplications (such as the old "fire a grapple when you use something" on some current gamepad defaults). For Research (on Advanced Default - which is what I use and recommend), its basically move over to an item, R3 to bring up the research box (the little progress bar thing) and X to confirm research. Once you learn the muscle memory, it is super fast.

Also ngl, I think the new ui for console looks even stranger than the pipeworks one. The very first one imo was great and tailored for consoles well

The old Engine UI is not coming back, sorry. We have consistently said this for years. It is a vast departure from the look and feel of the game that we desire and was limited in so many ways. The overarching idea here is to have a common look and feel - while allowing for tailored differences by platform - so that things feel familiar for folks that change platforms while also not constrained/derivative of another platform.

What we really would like here is for people to dive into some constructive details for us. "Stranger" in what ways? Things are still very much in development and iteration here so this is the time to have those ideas shared and voices heard!


All that said, you are going to see a lot more options and customizations and control binding choices than you have ever had before - by a large margin. You can somewhat see a bit of this in the video that DR made when they are in settings.... I mean (WIP caveat as always) - just look at these two non-control based tabs. Then you have dedicated tabs for gamepad, kb+m, and yes... even touch because you know things like Xbox Remote play are a thing (Switch touch will operate a bit differently, but I imagine it will have a touch tab all its own).

You will be able to turn things off/on, up/down, etc. like not seen before - and hopefully that customization will make for an even better experience for everyone. The truth in the end is that no one default setup/UI/settings is going to make everyone happy. Saw it on PC, saw it on mobile, seen it in the past on Console. So, the team will make the very best default via those team discussions and onboarding feedback - but also try to give the player as much power as feasible to change things (there will have to be limits, as there always are - I doubt you are going to see something crazy like a fully malleable UI, for example).

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Depends on what you bind things to. The new gamepad approach opens up a LOT more options for bindings and its pretty clever how things are done to avoid conflicts or duplications (such as the old "fire a grapple when you use something" on some current gamepad defaults). For Research (on Advanced Default - which is what I use and recommend), its basically move over to an item, R3 to bring up the research box (the little progress bar thing) and X to confirm research. Once you learn the muscle memory, it is super fast.



The old Engine UI is not coming back, sorry. We have consistently said this for years. It is a vast departure from the look and feel of the game that we desire and was limited in so many ways. The overarching idea here is to have a common look and feel - while allowing for tailored differences by platform - so that things feel familiar for folks that change platforms while also not constrained/derivative of another platform.

What we really would like here is for people to dive into some constructive details for us. "Stranger" in what ways? Things are still very much in development and iteration here so this is the time to have those ideas shared and voices heard!

All that said, you are going to see a lot more options and customizations and control binding choices than you have ever had before - by a large margin. You can somewhat see a bit of this in the video that DR made when they are in settings.... I mean (WIP caveat as always) - just look at these two non-control based tabs. Then you have dedicated tabs for gamepad, kb+m, and yes... even touch because you know things like Xbox Remote play are a thing (Switch touch will operate a bit differently, but I imagine it will have a touch tab all its own).

You will be able to turn things off/on, up/down, etc. like not seen before - and hopefully that customization will make for an even better experience for everyone. The truth in the end is that no one default setup/UI/settings is going to make everyone happy. Saw it on PC, saw it on mobile, seen it in the past on Console. So, the team will make the very best default via those team discussions and onboarding feedback - but also try to give the player as much power as feasible to change things (there will have to be limits, as there always are - I doubt you are going to see something crazy like a fully malleable UI, for example).

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I can’t help but chuckle that I thought that this was mobile for a second lol
But I’m curious what the inventory page mode is?
 
Depends on what you bind things to. The new gamepad approach opens up a LOT more options for bindings and its pretty clever how things are done to avoid conflicts or duplications (such as the old "fire a grapple when you use something" on some current gamepad defaults). For Research (on Advanced Default - which is what I use and recommend), its basically move over to an item, R3 to bring up the research box (the little progress bar thing) and X to confirm research. Once you learn the muscle memory, it is super fast.



The old Engine UI is not coming back, sorry. We have consistently said this for years. It is a vast departure from the look and feel of the game that we desire and was limited in so many ways. The overarching idea here is to have a common look and feel - while allowing for tailored differences by platform - so that things feel familiar for folks that change platforms while also not constrained/derivative of another platform.

What we really would like here is for people to dive into some constructive details for us. "Stranger" in what ways? Things are still very much in development and iteration here so this is the time to have those ideas shared and voices heard!

All that said, you are going to see a lot more options and customizations and control binding choices than you have ever had before - by a large margin. You can somewhat see a bit of this in the video that DR made when they are in settings.... I mean (WIP caveat as always) - just look at these two non-control based tabs. Then you have dedicated tabs for gamepad, kb+m, and yes... even touch because you know things like Xbox Remote play are a thing (Switch touch will operate a bit differently, but I imagine it will have a touch tab all its own).

You will be able to turn things off/on, up/down, etc. like not seen before - and hopefully that customization will make for an even better experience for everyone. The truth in the end is that no one default setup/UI/settings is going to make everyone happy. Saw it on PC, saw it on mobile, seen it in the past on Console. So, the team will make the very best default via those team discussions and onboarding feedback - but also try to give the player as much power as feasible to change things (there will have to be limits, as there always are - I doubt you are going to see something crazy like a fully malleable UI, for example).

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Wow that is amazing! Also, I completely understand what you are doing now since you want to make all platforms similar.
 
Hello Terraria forum members, hello Loki,

I'm far from being a Terraria expert, having played the Wii U version for about 60 hours and the Switch version for about 30 hours, but maybe it is interesting to hear impressions from a Terraria 'newbie' (but quite experienced video game enthusiast)?

First of all: I think Terraria is a fantastic game and you can be proud to have developed such a comprehensive, fun game. Thank you!

Some ideas/criticism: As I'm waiting for the 'Journey End' update on Switch, I've not yet played the Switch version equivalent to 1.3.5.3. While I'm happy that the Switch version runs well for me (and gets all the new content), I have to say that the Switch version doesn't quite match the brilliant (!) controls of the Wii U Terraria version, but that's mainly due to the Switch's more limited control options compared to the Wii U (zoomed-in touch screen controls while playing on the TV came very close to a PC mouse control). While I would love more Switch specific controls, e.g. pointer controls (simulating a mouse via gyro) like in World of Goo, Human Resource Machine or some (few) others, I can understand that this is not easy (and maybe costly) when having the reasonable aim of 'one' console version -- plus the gyro controls have the disadvantage that you often have to re-center, for example compared to the Wii Sensor Bar concept. Nevertheless, that would be very interesting!

To be honest, I was quite irritated/shocked about the very poor German translation, which often seemed to be translated without context (leading to very different words) and in very many cases did not make sense. I've read that there are translation improvements in the version 1.3.5.3 and really hope that it's much better with the newer version. It's really a pity that such a great game got such a translation!

I missed, when playing the Switch version, an option to cycle through the top left 'hot bar' (to replace the displayed items by one push of a button to the next row), like for example done in Stardew Valley -- or other games. Have I overlooked something (such an option) and, if not, is this something that is considered for the console versions @Loki?

Additionally, I would really like having a mouse/keyboard option on the Switch version, too. I was under the impression that this was mainly discussed for the PS4/XBOX versions and questioned whether the switch supports it, but I would like to mention that Switch games can actually support mouse/keyboard, too, for example Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (keyboard for typing) or the rather unknown Hypnospace Outlaw, supporting both keyboard and mouse.

Apart from the translation, I really enjoyed the Switch version, too, and would like to thank you again for developing such an amazing game! I'm really looking forward to the 'final' version and for all the improvements you are still implementing! :)
 
I can’t help but chuckle that I thought that this was mobile for a second lol
But I’m curious what the inventory page mode is?

Still a bit in-development, so subject to change... but there is a current toggle that either fully expands or truncates the visible inventory slots in each section (this is just for the default, you can turn each window up/down on its own on the fly too). Allows for a trade off of visible space vs how much you can see at once, tailored to the situation or what you prefer. Very useful for when building from inventory, etc.

I mean, I'm sure DR lifted their same iconography, etc from Mobile - because why reinvent the wheel (and again, consistency) and it makes no practical difference to functionality - but that screen is very much taken from a full size TV, because I took it myself. I do think there is some work to be done on making some bits feel sharper, but the team already talked about that earlier this week.
To be honest, I was quite irritated/shocked about the very poor German translation, which often seemed to be translated without context (leading to very different words) and in very many cases did not make sense.

This has been a common thing to chase at least on the PC end - as without the context of knowing the game, some English words could be taken as one of several meanings... and often are done incorrectly. Most professional translators are not also Terraria experts, if that makes sense. Then, as none of us are native <language> speakers, we have no way to directly check it until its out in the wild. Cannot speak to the console translations, but I assume its much the same.

I missed, when playing the Switch version, an option to cycle through the top left 'hot bar' (to replace the displayed items by one push of a button to the next row), like for example done in Stardew Valley -- or other games. Have I overlooked something (such an option) and, if not, is this something that is considered for the console versions

I am not entirely certain what you mean - can you explain further? I played SDV primarily on PC (though I do play a lot of Switch games, I don't often play the same game in multiple places).

I know that you can cycle hotbar via bumpers... and if you use the vertical 5x2 hotbar, you can use a control combo (LB+RStick iirc in advanced default) to navigate around the hotbar vs having to only cycle. You can even map individual buttons to slots on the hotbar - for example, advanced default has the "1" and "0" slots mapped, as these are most commonly where people place their primary weapon (1) and magic mirror (0). Of course, all of that is able to be swapped around to whatever custom format you want - the default cannot even fit all of the options in because there are too many... but we left those options in there because maybe you would prefer a slightly different way.

Would be happy to address your exact question, but I don't quite follow what you mean just yet. :)
 
Still a bit in-development, so subject to change... but there is a current toggle that either fully expands or truncates the visible inventory slots in each section (this is just for the default, you can turn each window up/down on its own on the fly too). Allows for a trade off of visible space vs how much you can see at once, tailored to the situation or what you prefer. Very useful for when building from inventory, etc.

I mean, I'm sure DR lifted their same iconography, etc from Mobile - because why reinvent the wheel (and again, consistency) and it makes no practical difference to functionality - but that screen is very much taken from a full size TV, because I took it myself. I do think there is some work to be done on making some bits feel sharper, but the team already talked about that earlier this week.

Is attention being paid splitscreen UI as well?

The UI change that came with 1.3 on console, while perfectly functional (albeit a bit unclear at in places) in solo, is less so in splitscreen.

Parts of the UI are missing, especially the bottom of each players screen. Tool tips cover up things you are trying to look at (for example, when crafting, hovering over an item to see what you need to craft it and which crafting station you need, the tool tip for the item covers that information up). Also, the top of tool tips are often missing themselves, especially if the item has a lot of modifiers from reforging (legendary being a good example).

Also, with everything displayed at once as it is in solo play, everything is nearly half the size, resulting in tiny text that can be hard to read from across the room.

Is there a way that the splitscreen UI can be streamlined or maybe changed to tabbed pages, to reduce the amount on screen at once, allowing what is on screen to be a little more visible?

TLDR: can as much attention be paid to optimizing splitscreen as solo? Pretty please?
 
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This has been a common thing to chase at least on the PC end - as without the context of knowing the game, some English words could be taken as one of several meanings... and often are done incorrectly. Most professional translators are not also Terraria experts, if that makes sense. Then, as none of us are native <language> speakers, we have no way to directly check it until its out in the wild. Cannot speak to the console translations, but I assume its much the same.
Thank you for your reply! Yes, this is what I had suspected as well. Usually (or ideally?), video game translators get a short 'context' description, but I assume and can understand that the translation process was quite complex due to the numerous content updates. One example (and there were unfortunately so, so many of them): The word 'table' was translated to the german word 'Tabelle' (english: table, a list of for example numbers) and not 'Tisch' (english: table, the furniture). In other cases, it was much more difficult (or impossible) to reconstruct the meaning. Additionally, quite a few translations were simply grammatically incorrect and not comprehensible, so I sometimes couldn't figure out the effects of certain objects, which was slightly frustrating for me as a Terraria 'newbie'. I read that the patch 1.3.5.1 (which I have not played yet on Switch, as I'm waiting for the 'final' update) added a professional localization, so I'm quite optimistic that it is better nowadays! :)Just wanted to share my impressions, as it definitely affected my fun with the game (nevertheless enjoyed it immensely as I said), and, to give feedback as, like you said, it is obviously not easy for native english speakers to identify these issues.
I am not entirely certain what you mean - can you explain further? I played SDV primarily on PC (though I do play a lot of Switch games, I don't often play the same game in multiple places).

I know that you can cycle hotbar via bumpers... and if you use the vertical 5x2 hotbar, you can use a control combo (LB+RStick iirc in advanced default) to navigate around the hotbar vs having to only cycle. You can even map individual buttons to slots on the hotbar - for example, advanced default has the "1" and "0" slots mapped, as these are most commonly where people place their primary weapon (1) and magic mirror (0). Of course, all of that is able to be swapped around to whatever custom format you want - the default cannot even fit all of the options in because there are too many... but we left those options in there because maybe you would prefer a slightly different way.

Would be happy to address your exact question, but I don't quite follow what you mean just yet. :)
Let me try to clarify (english not being my native language and being a Terraria 'newbie' is a complicated combination! ;)). There are ten items in the top left corner, and I can use the 'L' and 'R' button to cycle through these ten items. In order to get access to the next 'row' of ten items, I (was under the impression that I) need to press 'X' and manually choose the item that I want to use out of 50 item slots. I was looking, when playing on Switch, for an option to not having to go to this huge menu. I would prefer to simply change the top left hotbar row, for example by pressing 'ZR', to the next 10 items, so to speak to cycle through the rows (that's what the console SDV version does).

------
I also thought about the pointer controls once more ... Actually, that wouldn't need to be a Switch specific feature, as the PS4/PS5 dualshocks have a gyro sensor too (not sure about official XBOX controllers). Due to Nintendo actively using the gyro controls in many games (starting with the Wii -- in games that did not use the Sensor Bar, but Wii Motion Plus, like Zelda: Skyward Sword), gyro controls have gotten more and more popular, despite still being quite niche. Maybe you know the gyro assist in Zelda games (Wind Waker HD on Wii U, Breath of the Wild on Wii U and Switch) when using a bow. In online shooters like Splatoon 2, competitive players basically only play with gyro controls on, as it is these days the most accurate way to simulate mouse controls on a console. Sony patched The Last of Us II in order to finally implement gyro aiming (not sure how good the implementation is, though), but overall, it's way more common on Nintendo consoles.

More interesting for Terraria (than those shooter game implementations) could be the (rare) indie games on Switch that use gyro controls to directly simulate a mouse (pointing), like 'World of Goo' or '7 billion humans'. Compared to the Wii U Terraria version (and likely the PC version, of course), mining/building on Switch in docked mode is not nearly as comfortable. It's difficult to improve it -- I think the implemented solution is, given the limited console options, a good one! And additionally, with 'Journey's End', you will even support mouse/keyboard controls on console, soon, which is excellent! But I believe there could be a lot of potential in gyro building/mining, too -- as a good compromise between these two options. I suspect it could be very challenging to implement it in a satisfying way, as Terraria would need a very precise gyro sensor (due to the rather small 'blocks'), but maybe it is feasible? If not, one could think about a zoomed in 'building/mining mode frame' (where you see your surrounding, e.g., reachable blocks, zoomed in) that would be activated when pressing a gyro build/mine button (similar to the building/mining mode on the Wii U gamepad when playing on TV, only with the difference that it's all on one screen). That would also solve the problem of having to recenter from time to time when using permanently active gyro controls, a typical gyro-inherent issue.

Just some ideas ... Really looking forward to the final update, and all the great new customizability options.
 
Thank you for your reply! Yes, this is what I had suspected as well. Usually (or ideally?), video game translators get a short 'context' description, but I assume and can understand that the translation process was quite complex due to the numerous content updates. One example (and there were unfortunately so, so many of them): The word 'table' was translated to the german word 'Tabelle' (english: table, a list of for example numbers) and not 'Tisch' (english: table, the furniture). In other cases, it was much more difficult (or impossible) to reconstruct the meaning. Additionally, quite a few translations were simply grammatically incorrect and not comprehensible, so I sometimes couldn't figure out the effects of certain objects, which was slightly frustrating for me as a Terraria 'newbie'. I read that the patch 1.3.5.1 (which I have not played yet on Switch, as I'm waiting for the 'final' update) added a professional localization, so I'm quite optimistic that it is better nowadays! :)Just wanted to share my impressions, as it definitely affected my fun with the game (nevertheless enjoyed it immensely as I said), and, to give feedback as, like you said, it is obviously not easy for native english speakers to identify these issues.

Let me try to clarify (english not being my native language and being a Terraria 'newbie' is a complicated combination! ;)). There are ten items in the top left corner, and I can use the 'L' and 'R' button to cycle through these ten items. In order to get access to the next 'row' of ten items, I (was under the impression that I) need to press 'X' and manually choose the item that I want to use out of 50 item slots. I was looking, when playing on Switch, for an option to not having to go to this huge menu. I would prefer to simply change the top left hotbar row, for example by pressing 'ZR', to the next 10 items, so to speak to cycle through the rows (that's what the console SDV version does).

------
I also thought about the pointer controls once more ... Actually, that wouldn't need to be a Switch specific feature, as the PS4/PS5 dualshocks have a gyro sensor too (not sure about official XBOX controllers). Due to Nintendo actively using the gyro controls in many games (starting with the Wii -- in games that did not use the Sensor Bar, but Wii Motion Plus, like Zelda: Skyward Sword), gyro controls have gotten more and more popular, despite still being quite niche. Maybe you know the gyro assist in Zelda games (Wind Waker HD on Wii U, Breath of the Wild on Wii U and Switch) when using a bow. In online shooters like Splatoon 2, competitive players basically only play with gyro controls on, as it is these days the most accurate way to simulate mouse controls on a console. Sony patched The Last of Us II in order to finally implement gyro aiming (not sure how good the implementation is, though), but overall, it's way more common on Nintendo consoles.

More interesting for Terraria (than those shooter game implementations) could be the (rare) indie games on Switch that use gyro controls to directly simulate a mouse (pointing), like 'World of Goo' or '7 billion humans'. Compared to the Wii U Terraria version (and likely the PC version, of course), mining/building on Switch in docked mode is not nearly as comfortable. It's difficult to improve it -- I think the implemented solution is, given the limited console options, a good one! And additionally, with 'Journey's End', you will even support mouse/keyboard controls on console, soon, which is excellent! But I believe there could be a lot of potential in gyro building/mining, too -- as a good compromise between these two options. I suspect it could be very challenging to implement it in a satisfying way, as Terraria would need a very precise gyro sensor (due to the rather small 'blocks'), but maybe it is feasible? If not, one could think about a zoomed in 'building/mining mode frame' (where you see your surrounding, e.g., reachable blocks, zoomed in) that would be activated when pressing a gyro build/mine button (similar to the building/mining mode on the Wii U gamepad when playing on TV, only with the difference that it's all on one screen). That would also solve the problem of having to recenter from time to time when using permanently active gyro controls, a typical gyro-inherent issue.

Just some ideas ... Really looking forward to the final update, and all the great new customizability options.
Whoa very long answer :eek:
 
Depends on what you bind things to. The new gamepad approach opens up a LOT more options for bindings and its pretty clever how things are done to avoid conflicts or duplications (such as the old "fire a grapple when you use something" on some current gamepad defaults). For Research (on Advanced Default - which is what I use and recommend), its basically move over to an item, R3 to bring up the research box (the little progress bar thing) and X to confirm research. Once you learn the muscle memory, it is super fast.



The old Engine UI is not coming back, sorry. We have consistently said this for years. It is a vast departure from the look and feel of the game that we desire and was limited in so many ways. The overarching idea here is to have a common look and feel - while allowing for tailored differences by platform - so that things feel familiar for folks that change platforms while also not constrained/derivative of another platform.

What we really would like here is for people to dive into some constructive details for us. "Stranger" in what ways? Things are still very much in development and iteration here so this is the time to have those ideas shared and voices heard!

All that said, you are going to see a lot more options and customizations and control binding choices than you have ever had before - by a large margin. You can somewhat see a bit of this in the video that DR made when they are in settings.... I mean (WIP caveat as always) - just look at these two non-control based tabs. Then you have dedicated tabs for gamepad, kb+m, and yes... even touch because you know things like Xbox Remote play are a thing (Switch touch will operate a bit differently, but I imagine it will have a touch tab all its own).

You will be able to turn things off/on, up/down, etc. like not seen before - and hopefully that customization will make for an even better experience for everyone. The truth in the end is that no one default setup/UI/settings is going to make everyone happy. Saw it on PC, saw it on mobile, seen it in the past on Console. So, the team will make the very best default via those team discussions and onboarding feedback - but also try to give the player as much power as feasible to change things (there will have to be limits, as there always are - I doubt you are going to see something crazy like a fully malleable UI, for example).

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Very Pog
 
Is attention being paid splitscreen UI as well?

Yes, of course - you have to have an eye towards that experience even as you build the "core" UI for the mainline single-screen default (which is the foundational basis of the game, in terms of core design, as Terraria content always hits from PC first).

As to what form that will take, I doubt you will see something like a tabbed format (aka the Engine approach) - however, if you look at settings like the expand/contract UI sections, you can see immediately how those could come into play to cover less of the screen for a player with a smaller effective playing area. Tooltips are always a double-edged sword because there is a lot of text potentially to digest but then that same text then winds up covering up other things (in single and split). Maybe the first time you want to read all about that Terra Blade... but later on, you don't want that text to get in the way. That's why you can manually adjust tooltip fading (there are way more settings on those two menus that you cannot see because they scroll down and I only took still shots) - all the way down to 0s so that they basically appear and instantly vanish.

Fonts will always be an issue - because you equally do not want to make things too small by default on single screen just to keep them consistent on split... but you don't want them too big or too small on split either. I'm sure all will be looked at.

What the DR team might do beyond that is still TBD, but those are just two examples of how some core settings are in place to anticipate smaller playing areas - ironically, DR's experience with even smaller screens (remember, on mobile, they have to design for everything from a tablet to something like an iPhone SE) is likely a big help here.


Yes, this is what I had suspected as well. Usually (or ideally?), video game translators get a short 'context' description, but I assume and can understand that the translation process was quite complex due to the numerous content updates

Indeed - and where possible, we have asked for corrections (at least on the PC side) when we have been made aware. There is a LOT of text in Terraria - if my memory serves me correctly, it is something like 25000 words that have to be translated in each language. Couple that with cultural jokes and game-only references, and I guess its a minefield for these folks.

Appreciate the thoughts on motion/gyro controls. I cannot promise anything there - primarily because the team really needs to focus on the core experience and getting that out to everyone first and foremost. I suspect something like that would need a ton of iteration that iteration = lots of time. That said, I made note of the interest. :)
 
this is just sad for console its been like idk a year or longer now and we are still on 1.3 its almost like we were forgotten ;-; i want 1.4 ;-;
 
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