It was probably when the first screenshot from Starbound emerged onto the hazy plains of the internet that a law was passed making it illegal to refer to the game without nodding approvingly and saying, “Huh, Terraria in space I guess”. Yes, it’s a side-scrolling game with mining and construction, a similar visual style, and, yes, there’s crossover in some of the design talent, but there are plenty of differences as well. For one, rather than seeding standalone worlds, Starbound takes place on planets which can be visited by other players, provided you pass them the coordinates. There’s a lot more variety in terms of creatures and landscapes as well, with procedurally generated flora and fauna. Thrillingly, the only video I’ve found is a lighting demo. Be thrilled!

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If you’re still mourning the fact that Terraria won’t be receiving even more additions, perhaps the appearance of a game that looks very much like Terraria on the distant horizon may be succour to you in these hard times. Take out your ocular device of choice and scan the distant land of ‘unannounced release date’, there in the valley of ‘very early stages’ you’ll see Nioki Adventure. There are only a couple of screenshots to look at, the art style reminding me of Tontie. An emphasis on cooperative play and a class system differentiate from Terraria, while crafting and exploration of random worlds undifferentiate a little. Another picture awaits below.

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Action RPG platform sandbox thing Terraria has seen its last major update. In a statement to the fans, developer Andrew “Redigit” Spinks thanked them for making the game so popular, but admitted there would be no more extra content coming.

After a lot of internal debate, we have decided that it is time to move on. My wife and I are due to have another boy soon, and I want to spend some time getting to know him. I also want to spend the time recharging and bettering myself as both a programmer and game designer. I have learned a lot from working on Terraria and plan on using what I’ve learned, building upon it, and moving forward with another, even better project. However, we are still planning at least one more bug fix for Terraria.

So no more additions, no new ores or monsters, or bosses. The developers will focus on bugfixes, while the huge fan-base clamours for a proper mod API.

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Terraria, the absolutely superb Minecraft-meets-side-scrolling-platformer, is to get a retail release. For, er, £20. The digital version costs £6 at most, regularly dropping to amazing bargain prices during various sales, and is unquestionably amazing value. But £20 for an “Exclusive Collectors Edition” when it’s a year old, in a box, in a shop? That seems a little strange.

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Such is the way of RPS, gaming, and my brain, that long-term diary projects might not necessarily reach an absolute conclusion. We like to call these, “ongoing”. So it is that I attempt to plug the awkward silence over the holidays with the “ongoing” A Smurf In Terraria series. >

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Christmas has come early to Terraria, with a patch containing a Daddy Crimble costume, snow, ice, presents, candy canes and gift-wrapped blocks. Most importantly though, gangs of snowmen will attack, armed with knives, snowbombs and Tommy guns. What this means is that you’ll be able to decorate the world with lights and festivity and then die at the hands of Al Snowcone and his meltable mobsters. A cheerful video awaits you.

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Wow, that is a busy>-looking little videogame all of a sudden. Terraria receives its version 1.1 update on December 1st, and it’s one whose contents the devs have been careful not to spill all of until very recently. There will be 222 new items, 39 monsters, female characters, new ores and resultant armours, all sorts of new combinations, wiring and resultant mechanisms, a new lighting system and, naturally, a boss called Wall of Flesh.

The devs reckons this update will completely change the game; I can’t speak for that, but I can say v.1.1 looks off the hook bonkers, as you’ll see below. The new lighting really pumps up the colour, too. (more…)

Once more I return to Terraria, as it seems I will do until I die, or something better comes along. You can read part one here, and part two here, and then part three below. This entry actually spans a few weeks, the first half soon after the last entry, the second half after significant progress was made. But more progress is required! My time in Terraria is not yet done. But if you could lend a hand in the comments, that would be much appreciated. Oh, and don’t forget to check out the RPS Terraria server.>

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I KEEP saying I’ll do this regularly, but something about numbered lists makes me curl into a tiny ball and weep for mother. Anyway, let’s do it this week and maybe I’ll be a better boy again next week. Here’s the top ten best-selling released PC games on Steam last week, in comparison to the top 10 at UK retail. As always, there are some verrrry interesting variations, which have much to say about both Steam and retail’s own peccadilloes…
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It may have been a few weeks since my first Terraria entry. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been playing. I’ve been playing in all the spare time I’ve had (which admittedly mostly occurs when I’m stuck on a plane without internet access). And so it is that I bring you part two of the adventures of a young blue man called Smurf, and his desire to hit at squares with tools.>

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