Terraria

Terraria
File:TerrariaLogo2.png Terraria logo
Developer(s)	Re-Logic
Publisher(s)	Spike Chunsoft
Programmer(s)	Andrew "Redigit" Spinks
Platform(s)	Windows XP, Vista, and 7
Release	May 16, 2011
Genre(s)	Indie side scroller action-adventure/RPG
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Terraria is an action-adventure/RPG indie game released by independent game studio Re-Logic. The game features exploration, crafting, building structures and combat with a variety of creatures in a randomly generated 2D world. The game's slogan was previously "Shut Up and Dig Gaiden", a reference to another indie game, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden.

Released on May 16, 2011, the game is estimated to have sold about 50,000 copies during its first day of release, with over 17,000 players online at the same time during the first day's peak. Over the course of a week, 200,000 copies of the game were sold, making it the top selling game on Steam for the week, "ahead of games like The Witcher 2 and Portal 2." It remained number one on Steam for the first six days of its release before it eventually dropped to the number four slot.

Gameplay

File:Terraria screenshot.jpg

A screenshot of Terraria gameplay.

Terraria is noted for its similarity to Minecraft and classic exploration/adventure titles such as Metroid. Basic gameplay features day/night cycles, aggressive nocturnal attackers such as zombies and floating eyeballs, world-building elements and character advancement based on increases to health/mana and equipment found while exploring. The game has a tile-based graphical style reminiscent of the 16-bit sprites found in video games released for the SNES.b At the start of the game, players have a copper axe, a copper pickaxe and a copper shortsword. They start out with 5 hearts, which is equal to 100 health. When the player first spawns in a new world, an NPC called the Guide will appear nearby and can explain the basics of gameplay. The Guide can also show the player the various crafting recipes if the player has obtained a relevant ingredient. Once the player's first house has been built, the Guide will move in to the first available NPC room, provided that one is available. The first day in-game is usually spent by gathering materials around the randomly generated world to build a shelter for the first night, while fending off slime creatures. Although night is more dangerous than day, players can find Fallen Stars at night which allow them to obtain Mana.

There are three character difficulties; Softcore, Mediumcore, and Hardcore. Death penalties vary between difficulty but they are otherwise the same. In Softcore, players drop half their coins. In Mediumcore, players drop all their items including coins and ammo. In Hardcore, players drop all their items and become a ghost, unable to alter the world. After disconnecting the ghost character will be removed from the selection screen, causing you to have to make a new character.

Enemies

At night, different creatures may spawn, such as Zombies and Demon Eyes, who will constantly attack the player until morning. At dawn, they all run away, even if they are still attacking the player. Daytime creatures are limited to gentler slimes. However, different biomes may contain powerful monsters including giant worms and hornets, while enemies progressively get harder as you travel deeper. Each night there is a one in seven chance there will be a Blood Moon. Blood Moons spawn more enemies and give zombies the ability to open doors, as well as many other subtle changes, like NPC dialogue and shop inventory.

Players may also summon powerful boss monsters, such as the Eye of Cthulhu or the Eater of Worlds. Independently of summoned bosses, each map has a dungeon that contains rare items and unusual enemies, and can only be safely entered after defeating the Skeletron boss guarding the dungeon on that map. Defeating the Wall of Flesh turns the current world into hard mode, which contains new enemies, blocks, biomes, items, and more.

Unique features

Beyond basic gameplay features, Terraria has several elements not present in the games it takes its inspiration from. By completing specific goals (such as defeating a boss, or gaining an extra heart), players can attract NPCs to occupy structures or rooms they have built, including the Merchant, Dryad, Demolitionist, Arms Dealer, Clothier, Nurse, Mechanic, Wizard, Goblin Tinkerer, and Santa Claus. Santa Claus is only available during the Christmas holiday season (December 15th-31st). Players may then buy equipment with coins gained from defeating monsters, selling items, breaking pots, or finding treasure chests hidden within the world. Each map also contains generated biomes with unique monsters and surroundings, such as the Underworld (a lava-filled chthonic area filled with demons and skeletal serpents), the Corruption (a dangerous, diseased wasteland full of deadly creatures and chasms full of rare items), deserts and jungles above and below ground.

Random events may occur in the course of play, such as the Blood Moon, which increases the number of monsters out at night and allows some to enter the player's structures, and the Goblin Invasion, which sends a goblin army to march from one/both ends of the map, and lay siege to the players' home. Meteorites can fall randomly during gameplay, allowing the player to mine meteorite ore and create armor and weapons. Events can also be caused by destroying shadow orbs in corrupted map areas (biomes) and creating certain boss summoning items near demon altars, amongst others. It is possible for some bosses to spawn randomly.

Resource gathering

The player starts out with a Copper Shortsword, a Copper Pickaxe and a Copper Axe. Each of these can have a prefix giving them extra stats. These can be used to attack monsters, mine ores, stone and dirt and collect wood respectively, at a slow speed. The correct tool must be used to collect resources, and ores can be smelted in a furnace to make bars, with which better and faster tools can be made. Before activating hardmode, the best tools are made from Hellstone, which is found deep underground, guarded by dangerous enemies. New kinds of ore can spawn in the world if one breaks Demon Altars with certain items. There are three kinds of ores that can be forged into weapons and items; these items can then be forged with all the others to create super-powerful equipment.

Items can be made by gathering resources and standing near the appropriate crafting station, like a workbench or furnace, then opening the inventory. As long as the ingredients are present, new items can be made just by clicking on them (as opposed to the often-compared game Minecraft, where one must visualize and 'draw' the item with the ingredients). There are several types of crafting stations in the game, with the most basic station being the workbench. Throughout gameplay, the player will discover new crafting station recipes depending on the ingredients they obtain. There are hundreds of items that you can collect throughout the game.

Reception

Terraria has received favorable reviews with an 83/100 metascore on Metacritic. In a review for Destructoid, Jordan Devore stated that, "You need to give Terraria a chance. It's affordable, unpredictable, full of depth, and most promising of all, the game is still growing through free updates." Gameblog.fr reviewer Fumble gave the game four out of five stars, with the one major criticism being that the 800x600 max window size makes playing the game difficult(however, this maximum window resolution has been changed to 1920x1200 as of a month after release). For Videogame.it, reviewer Stefano Castelli said, "This is a game that takes over the whole concept and mechanics of Minecraft, but manages to successfully integrate it into a fully two-dimensional sphere." GameZone gave the game a 9 out of 10, stating "Re-Logic has given gamers the opportunity to either enjoy Terraria as a side-scrolling action-adventure title or like a toy that they can play with for hours on end. Either way you look at it, Terraria is a sandbox that you won’t be able to get away from regardless of whether or not you’ve already invested entire days."

GameSpot reviewer Tom Mc Shea praised Terraria's exploration and feeling of accomplishment by stating "And then, out of the corner of your eye, you see a sparkle amid the gloom and point your pickaxe in that direction. A small cache of silver awaits. It may not sound like much, but you need it to build the next set of tools, and the feeling of joy when you find such a treasure is hard to contain." but criticised its lack of tutorial or explicit directions. Mc Shea concluded the review on a high note by stating "The early hours are punishing because you have no idea what you're supposed to do, and the lack of direction makes Terraria initially off-putting. But after sinking dozens of hours into this impressive game, you'll wonder how you could ever have been frustrated."

See also

• Spelunky
• Clonk

External links

• Official website
• Official wiki