Terraria developer Andrew Spinks announced last week that the 1.2 update will be ready (and free) on Steam on October 1, while promising a new trailer would soon be in our midst. This is that trailer.

It’s a little tough to find out exactly what the new update’s bringing to the expertly-crafted table, what with barrage of spells whizzing over our heads, though people should expect new equipment, enemies, furniture, biomes, spells, character menus—I could go on and on, but we’d be well into October by the time I finished the list. Trust me—it’s a lot of stuff.

Given that the folks at Re-Logic have been working on 1.2 since the start of 2013, I’m curious if this will actually be Terraria’s final update. You don’t often see updates of this magnitude coming out a full two years after a game’s release. I’m not complaining, mind you, but Re-Logic mentioned an “even better project” back before the 1.2 update was even announced, which makes me suspect something’s lying in wait on the back-burner. It’s just something to chew on while you sift through all the different touches Re-Logic has added to Terraria's already dense world.

It's been almost 20 months since the last Terraria update; one that, for a long time, was destined to be the last Terraria update. Now, though, the 2D sandbox is coming out of retirement for one last heist patch. Re-Logic's Andrew "Redigit" Spinks announced over Twitter that the 1.2 update would be mining through the Steam tunnels on October 1st.

The news you have all been waiting for... The update will be out on October 1st!— Andrew Spinks (@Demilogic) September 11, 2013

Given that the update has been in development since the beginning of this year, details of its features and additions are spread out over months of small teases and spoilers. It'll likely be a major revision to the game, with new items and features to be found across the majority of its existing systems. Basically: expect a little bit of everything.

Some of the features were rounded up in a teaser preview that was posted back in May:



Further details and a new trailer are expected next week.

How many biomes will Starbound have? Quite a lot, according to this teaser video for Terraria's sort of spiritual successor. Which naturally leads to a second question: when did we start referring to these things as "biomes" instead of "environments" or "terrain types"? Whatever they are, they'll be available in many shades, including snow, lava, desert and... eyeballs?



Yup, eyeballs.

The Starbound team is posting daily updates on their blog, detailing the progress of the game. Previous videos have shown what you can find up in space, and revealed that it's possible to sing the background music to the Bridge Zone of Sonic the Hedgehog's Master System version. Important work being done here.



While there's no release date, beyond "2013", you can explore how much progress the team has made here.

The surprise news about an update for the thought-to-be-unsupported sandbox Terraria sure was shocking, wasn't it? But nobody's trolling. That update is real, and they're talking about it in the Terrarian Times and everything. Welcome back, Terraria; we're glad you're growing again.

The below video gives a tiny glimpse of what to expect from the new update, demonstrating the paint feature specifically, but everyone's favorite virtual newspaper has got the full story. According to the latest issue of the Terrarian Times, we can expect new building materials, new weapons, new tinkery things, new clothing, new mechanics, a new rideable unicorn head, and probably a whole new lease on life. And then there are the aesthetic additions, too—an overhauled character menu, for instance, as well as rainclouds.

And this is only a tiny bit of the update's known details, mind you. You'll want to read up on the Times for the full list, which is a bit of a doozy—it's all snowballs, cactus armor sets, and randomly generated stalactites galore.

The update is still "far from done," with a targeted release window of July. It's pretty far off, but considering it sounds like we'll be receiving an expansion's worth of content in what they're calling a mere update, we're cool with that.

Re-Logic continue to tease the surprise Terraria update announced earlier in the year. In a forum post, designer and artist "Jimmarn" provides screenshots of a new ice biome. Rather than the light snow smattering that covered previous cold-weather climates in the game, this update appears to add a full winter world - with everything from frosty caverns to penguins.

"Some of you might wonder what Terraria related work I'm doing," writes Jimmarn, "and to be honest I do something in every category containing graphics/design. Everything from Tilesets, weapons, items, props, npc's to player graphics," suggesting the potentially huge scope of the update.





Previously Re-Logic head Andrew "Redigit" Spinks posted the below images, showing floating islands and jungle waterfalls:

To coincide with IGF, PAX, GDC, OMG and WTF, Steam have slung up one of their impromptu sales, discounting tons of indie games to ensure that our libraries continue to heave under the sheer weight of unplayed games. How nice of them. I hope you've hidden your wallet after last time, because there are some cracking deals to be had, including Super Hexagon, Binding of Isaac and Terraria for silly money.

There's no countdown, so I'm assuming the many games on sale are going to stay the same price until the sale ends on March 29th (the 'Featured' games will likely rotate day by day, without offering any additional savings). There's a lot of games going cheap - more than is evident from the main page - so be sure to poke around for the ones you're interested in. Here are few of the better offers:

FTL - £3.49 (50% off)
Hotline Miami - £3.49 (50% off)
To The Moon - £2.79 (60% off)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent - £3.24 (75% off)
Miasmata - £5.99 (50% off)
Lone Survivor - £3.39 (50% off)
The Blackwell Bundle - £3.74 (75% off)
Retro City Rampage - £3.99 (67% off)
Ultratron, which came out like yesterday - £3.49 (50% off)
Euro Truck Simulator 2 - £12.49 (50% off)

It seems today is a good day to speak to the community and ask them how you should update your game. Following the news that Terraria is being ported to consoles with a bunch of new features including split-screen support, a world map and even a new final boss, developer Andrew 'Redigit' Spinks has hinted at a potential update to the PC version of the game. He's taken to the forums to ask players what they want to see, and (at the time of writing) he's received 40 pages worth of replies.

Posing it as a hypothetical question, Spinks posted the following: "Say I am considering doing an update for the PC version of Terraria... In the event that such a thing were to take place, what would be some things that you would be interested in seeing?" Responses include "steal shamelessly from the console functionality", Steam Workshop compatibility, ropes, quicksand, better wiring and larger map types. So far, Spinks appears fond of another pet/s (possibly of the turtle variety), ocean biomes, and more holiday content.

I second the vote for Steam Workshop support, which would give the game an edge over the newer, more feature-packed console versions, and potentially soften the vitriol of those who are angry that it even exists. ALSO: a donkey. I would like a donkey. What about you?

Thanks, PCGamesN.