Greetings Terrarians!
March already - Spring is nearly here! We will be glad for it and the chance to enjoy some warmer weather and the "greening up" of the outdoors. Fresh air is never a bad thing! It has been quite a challenging month for our entire team since the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Jason "Leinfors" Parker, at the end of February. The team has had a lot to sort through on this - but we are back up and running. It may still take some time to fully figure out the best ways of working moving forward, but we feel like we at least have a handle on things well enough to get 1.4.5 back on the road to completion. Thank you all again for your love and support, it means more than we can say.
Let's get into the latest then, shall we?
PC - RE-LOGIC
TERRARIA - 1.4.5 SEEING PROGRESS AGAIN
It has been quite a challenging month for our entire team since the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Jason "Leinfors" Parker, at the end of February. Beyond the emotional side of things, we have had quite a bit to unravel in terms of ways of working, figuring out how to best carry on what he was working on, etc. We are still in the midst of that process, but the team is up and running again - and we cannot thank you all enough for your outpouring of love and support during this extremely difficult time.
We feel like we have a decent handle on how best to proceed at this point - definitely enough so that we can progress towards the completion of 1.4.5. After a couple of weeks off to mourn and gather ourselves, the team has been hard at work pulling together an update that we hope will make everyone happy. Thus far, we haven't had a chance to show anything off, but let's end that streak with this month's SOTG!
Just a little taste for now - revamped banners from the amazingly-talented Crowno!
STEAM WORKSHOP NEWS
Click the banner above to check out the Terraria Workshop!
Over 81,000 packs and worlds so far?! You are missing out if you haven't taken the time to check out the Terraria Steam Workshop.
Obviously, the events of the past month have not allowed for much in terms of moderation here - our apologies, sincerely. We will try to get back to this as soon as we can.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
One eye on crossplay
Another on what is next
A big year ahead
TMODLOADER NEWS - TML TEAM
Hello everyone!
We are very happy to share that 1.4.4 is ready for modders to start porting mods! To set expectations, the preview is in an early access state, there are still several bugs to fix, and mods may break periodically as we make necessary changes in response to modder feedback, but we encourage everyone out there to start the process of porting your mods over to 1.4.4 if you have not already.
tML 1.4.4 is not yet what we would consider player-ready, to be clear, but it is very ready for modders to begin their work!
In addition, there have been multiple major changes in the tML engine, to support better localization, performance and cross-mod compatibility. These improvements will make for a much better tML experience both now and in the future. We know that everyone is excited to see their favorite mods make it over to 1.4.4, but remember to please be patient with modders as they port, adapting to the new systems will take time and many modders may be busy with school/work/family!
TMODLOADER STEAM WORKSHOP
The TML Steam Workshop has over 4200 mods already! Coupled with the in-game mod browser, the TML Steam Workshop is a great way to explore what modded Terraria has to offer - check it out today by clicking the banner above!
WHAT'S NEXT FOR TML?
Pushing closer and closer to a player-ready 1.4.4 version of tML… and then getting ready for whatever 1.4.5 has in store!
As always, you can keep track the current progress and much more in real time at tModLoader/tModLoader (But note that the completion percentage doesn't mean anything, because issues and PRs don't have weights.)
Developers who are willing to contribute may do so by doing PRs to the tModLoader/tModLoader branch. (See tModLoader/tModLoader)
PlayStation, XBOX, Nintendo Switch, Mobile - DR STUDIOS
The team at DR is also beyond saddened by the passing of Leinfors. He has been an integral part in the testing and improvements on Console and Mobile for years - since our taking over the project and long before that. His impact is greatly appreciated and will be sorely missed.
While the Re-Logic folks remain hard at work with getting 1.4.5 up to the point where we can begin our porting work in earnest (don't worry, we will catch up quickly!), we have taken the opportunity to conduct some backend technical work in order to prepare for the future (and crossplay). Of course, this is not always the most exciting kind of stuff to talk about - but it is necessary to keep the game's foundations strong, and the timing was perfect given that we needed to wait a bit for 1.4.5 to progress before we could get fully involved.
What is in this technical update?
1.4.4.9.2 Change Log
Changes and additions
- Improved the way backgrounds zoom in and out
- Massive internal systems upgrade in preparation for crossplay, bringing the latest APIs and a huge rework of the Xbox backend… Hold on to your butts!
Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the game would crash after creating two small worlds consecutively
- Fixed an issue where the Aether Monolith was not giving off light
- Fixed an issue where the seaweed in ocean caverns would not be visible
- Fixed an issue where some iOS users were unable to host Multiplayer sessions
- Fixed an issue where vanity accessories would disappear from the player selection screen when exiting a world immediately after death
Our Console & Mobile friends will be seeing this update soon, as it is almost ready for submission to first parties. We are at work now on a similar technical-side update for Mobile, which we expect to wrap up in the next few weeks. At that point, we will turn our full attention towards getting 1.4.5 on to Console and Mobile with our goal as before being a simultaneous launch with PC.
…and then, we prepare to work on entering the crossplay dimension. We are so excited to see what this work will hold!
Until next time, Console & Mobile friends - thanks for all of your love and support!
COMMUNITY
Greetings Terrarians!
Here's the latest and greatest happenings on the Community side of things. Thanks as always for being the most engaged and awesome gaming Community ever!
TERRARIA MERCHANDISE STORE HUB
The merchandise hub is where you can find all of the latest and greatest Terraria merchandise - with new stuff arriving all of the time! Check out the latest merch drops as well as some classics and pick up that epic Terraria gift for a friend (or yourself!).
Click the banner above to head to Terraria.org/store now!
TERRARIA MERCHANDISE UPDATES
LOTS OF COOL NEW STUFF COMING YOUR WAY IN 2023!
We came so close to having some pretty cool things to show off… but we feel it is best to wait one more month. So, we should have some new stuff to showcase to everyone next month, if all goes to plan. We think you are going to be really excited about some of what is in store.
TERRARIA GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES
The team is hard at work on putting together the full Book One package for retailers (Issues 1-4 in one book plus some bonus goodies). We expect that to be available in the second half of 2023.
If you have not yet received your shipment for Issues 1-4, please reach out to help@50ampproductions immediately so that we can take care of this ASAP. Feel free to let us know if you are having any issues as well, but the email above should be the best way to sort out any stragglers out there!
Work continues on Book Two's script and character development. Here's a quick sneak peek into that process - the concept/character sketch for a couple of Goblin Thieves. We will leave you to speculate about what that may mean for at least part of what is to come in Book Two.
OTHER COMMUNITY NEWS
THE TERRARIA COMMUNITY REMEMBERS LEINFORS
We saw so many amazing tributes to Jason over the past month, we felt like we would be remiss if we did not share a few of them with everyone. Know that we appreciated EVERY single tribute and kind message that anyone sent along. Truly, we have the best community of fans - your love picked us up when we were at our lowest point.
by GreyL1me
by Khaios
by Luna's Runic Pixels
by Lady Forestia
by NetBa
by ppowersteef
by Orange Dude
by Shadouette
LEINFORS MEMORIAL SERVER
The Leinfors memorial server was a community initiative hosted by Nescre, from DR Studios, from February 23 until March 26. The primary goal of the server was to provide users an opportunity to commemorate Leinfors, whose tireless commitment to this game and love for its community touched the lives of millions. On the server there were well over 40 builds made, each honoring Leinfors in their own unique way. In addition to this, many heartfelt messages were left by players, paying respects to or sharing memories of their interactions with Leinfors. The final product of this world serves as a celebration of the irreplaceable player-developer rapport Leinfors formed with our community, both through his friendliness and tireless dedication to his craft.
Leinfors family played an active role in the memorial server and all Terraria staff can’t express enough how appreciative we are of everyone that contributed. Whether you built something, or simply left a message, your willingness to help commemorate him has meant a lot.
If you'd like to download a copy of the world, you can find it on Steam Workshop here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953301895
Below are screenshots of a few builds people made on the server.
This is the snow pylon cabin, built by Stardust#8145. It was created after finding out that Leinfors really liked the snowstorm aesthetic of the snow biome.
This is the cavern pylon, built by Chronostasis#9117. Featuring a purple crystalline aesthetic, and including references to the Empress of Light and Leinfors’ shampoo, this build serves as an expansive and touching tribute.
This is the message board. The cloud and pillars were made by Nescre#0001, while the beautiful pixel art above it was made by Hallow Ice#2713. It served as the primary space for players to leave messages for Leinfors.
This is the Shimmer Sky Lake, built by Leinfors’ brother Aurailen#3333. Featuring shimmer instead of water, a crystalline aesthetic, and a heartfelt message at its center, it is a memorial which effectively encapsulates & celebrates his legacy.
This is the Temple of Leinfors, made by Lunautical#8819. A very clever combination of blocks, actuators, and walls were used to achieve the 3D effect in this build!
This is the “Palm of Lein’s Hand”, made by Hallow Ice#2713. A great deal of consideration was put into the specific blocks chosen, leading to an incredibly detailed shading job!
This is the heaven monument. It was contributed to by a variety of builders, including Nescre#0001, “Moon Lord”, and DuneX22#5256. It takes a regular sky island and completely repurposes it, containing mannequins of Leinfors’ coworkers as well as a cloud where he resides.
This is LeinTower, built by Adrian Delta Supdog#4063. Included within this massive build is a vault, a hot springs pool, as well as a room containing Leinfors’ favorite foods.
Until next time, Terrarians - we hope you have an amazing month, and we look forward to bringing you the latest and greatest next time!
