The making of Terraria mobile (I was the product lead 10 years ago)

[watsonw]

Hi folks — a while back I posted about my experience bringing Terraria to consoles 10 years ago, and people seemed to enjoy it. So I figured I'd write about my experience also bringing the game to mobile in case it's interesting history for anyone

• Part 1, Breaking ground
• Part 2, Touch controls
• Part 3, Crafting a new UI
• Part 4, Game balance and release

As I said last time, the game (and mobile version) have changed a TON since then, and I haven't been involved with Terraria for many, many years — but in case there are any hardcore Terraria history nerds out there!

 

[Nescre]

Your bit about simplicity resonated with me quite a lot - you're not developing for an input method, so much as you are for the most likely demographic to use it. What can seem like a great feature to seasoned Terraria veterans might be daunting / confusing to newcomers, and it's a constant balancing act between simplicity vs. functionality.

This was a really fun and insightful read though, thank you! Lot of cool history / tidbits there, and it was especially neat to see you guys' underlying thought process on certain things (UI in particular). I grew up on your mobile version - played the hell out of it with friends for years - and I wouldn't be working on it today if it wasn't for the love you all poured into it. Your work has profoundly impacted my life, and I'm very grateful for where it's brought me

 

[ppowersteef]

I recall my first time playing Terraria was actually through the mobile demo, back in 2013, so this is pretty special to me. Thanks for your efforts.

 

[zenithspeed]

as a long-time mobile player i'll have to check this out later, but i will just say thank you for your contribution :)

 

[watsonw]

Your bit about simplicity resonated with me quite a lot - you're not developing for an input method, so much as you are for the most likely demographic to use it. What can seem like a great feature to seasoned Terraria veterans might be daunting / confusing to newcomers, and it's a constant balancing act between simplicity vs. functionality.

This was a really fun and insightful read though, thank you! Lot of cool history / tidbits there, and it was especially neat to see you guys' underlying thought process on certain things (UI in particular). I grew up on your mobile version - played the hell out of it with friends for years - and I wouldn't be working on it today if it wasn't for the love you all poured into it. Your work has profoundly impacted my life, and I'm very grateful for where it's brought me

Thanks so much for the kind words — really lovely to hear that our work had such a positive impact on such a personal level for you Hopefully the history and context is useful as you help introduce the game to even more players like yourself!