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[blackpensnowbird]

woa, that's awesome.

 

[ToyBroker]

oh boy pixel art

Same thing I thought rofl.

You gotta be crazy to compare the building aspect to Minecraft. Not even in the same league.

The Terraria boss mobs and weapons are way better though.

 

[Dice]

What strikes me isn't the art but the fact he walled that entire area. It's part of a finished building.

 

[Twig]

What strikes me isn't the art but the fact he walled that entire area. It's part of a finished building.

Hah, it's true. That would take so goddamn long.

 

[Houston3000]

Just finished my Molten Set and crafted the huge ass Fiery Greatsword... Upgrading to that from my Shadow Armor and Light's Bane makes everything so much slower. God damn though is it a lot of armor and damage.

 

[Hawkian]

Obviously Terraria comes nowhere close to the creativity offered by Minecraft. Anyone who denies this is insane. For god's sake there's no equivalent to redstone at all, and you miss out on an entire dimension.

Still... you seem pretty jaded, Twig. Seems to go unrealistically far sometimes. Is it a character?

There are things about building in Terraria that are legitimately great. For starters, despite all the ways that 2D limits you, it also allows you to place blocks through other blocks, which is enormously helpful. And the creativity outlet is not at all limited to pixel art:

But yes, it's 2D block-based design and lends itself to pixel art. Not all of it is bad!

Bummer, his armor doesn't match any more cause of the update.

 

[vareon]

That....is....whoa. Now my castle sucks.

 

[speedpop]

Yeah. The only thing stopping the creativity in Terraria is yourself.

 

[strata8]

The problem is building things in this game sucks.

Er, why? How could they possibly overcome the 2D limitations?

 

[Hawkian]

Yeah. The only thing stopping the creativity in Terraria is yourself.

Well I wouldn't go that far! If a redstone analogue and transportation (minecarts/boats) make it into the game, then I'd say it was roughly as potent as Minecraft except for the 2D vs 3D caveat. For now there are plenty of limits, but there's still a lot of awesome you can do!

 

[HaRyu]

Oh great, now I feel insignificant. I really need to build a better base...

 

[Twig]

Er, why? How could they possibly overcome the 2D limitations?

Dunno if they could. The game being 2D is a large part of why it sucks. The other part is precision-block-placing is a fucking pain in the ass.

Still... you seem pretty jaded, Twig. Seems to go unrealistically far sometimes. Is it a character?

...Jaded? I fucking love this game. What you say makes no sense. Sorry!

 

[Hawkian]

Well, I don't really make sense a priority.

I wonder when the cobalt armor's getting reinserted. I've been stockpiling stars to give to my second character because I never use magic with my main.

 

[jman2050]

The problem isn't lack of creativity compared to Minecraft, it's a lack of function. Like, both Minecraft and Terraria have water and water physics but one lets you do interesting neat things with water while the other doesn't.

Still like a lot of the stuff people are coming up with in Terraria.

 

[Twig]

The problem isn't lack of creativity compared to Minecraft, it's a lack of function. Like, both Minecraft and Terraria have water and water physics but one lets you do interesting neat things with water while the other doesn't.

Exactly.

Although, water is the last thing I would complain about in Terraria. Bugginess aside - how the hell did I flood hell? No water ever even got down there! - I much prefer the more "realistic" behavior of Terraria's water to the... strange, blocky behavior of Minecraft's. It might not be as exploitable, but... I dunno. I like it more. U:

Also, as a random aside, inventory management is horrendous.

 

[vareon]

Exactly.
Also, as a random aside, inventory management is horrendous.

This. My eyes hurt from sorting all the small icons. Maybe a filter would be nice.

Anyway HUGE progress for me since last night. Explored the underground jungle for a bit (boy that was MASSIVE) and got some nice treasures. Since breaking the first orb there has been three freaking random meteorites crashing down so I got myself a nice Meteor Armor.

Found the sky island, too, and got the lucky horseshoe which is a tremendous help.

Decided to face the eater of worlds next, but it was pretty easy compared to the efforts when I'm fighting the eye of cthulhu.

Next...I don't think I'm ready to face Skeletron yet. Maybe I'll explore the underground dungeon a bit more or try my way to the underworld. Wish I had an orb of light, though.

 

[rohlfinator]

I'm in the "building sucks" camp as well, and I think a lot of it is unfortunately inherent to the 2D design. The dimensions and scale of things is all so much more exciting in 3D, block placement is more intuitive (though not being able to build down is kind of a pain), and there's a lot more potential for interesting architecture. Just walking through some of my structures in Minecraft is fun, whereas in Terraria it often feels like a bit of a chore to move around indoors.

Don't get me wrong, there are some impressive things you can do with this game, but I'll never be able to find a distant hill and gaze out at a landscape full of my creations, and that's a big loss IMO. Fortunately the rest of the game is compelling enough to make up for it... I just hope they don't put too much effort into chasing a building experience that may not be possible.

 

[Grinchy]

Also, as a random aside, inventory management is horrendous.

OMG so much this....

There are seriously times when I turn this game off just because I don't feel like putting items away from my inventory. It's a fucking mess even when you arrange it in a way that kind of makes sense to you.

 

[Houston3000]

I built myself a statue... I'm not really too great at pixel art but at least it's recognizable - I was trying to really mix the blocks to get the different shades but it looked too disjointed. Originally the plan was to create the broadsword but I ran out of blocks so I just made a torch for now.

With that here's my updated "castle" - I may add some spires next so it... you know, actually resembles a castle. I was hoping I had a floating island right above me so I'd have an excuse to build up but no luck.

The Entrance Way is a little bare right now - may throw some windows and pots in there or something. I notice some castles have really cool light orb things hanging from their ceilings... how do I make those?

EDIT: In the mean time:

 

[owlbeak]

I still don't get why all the Minecraft fans are butthurt by this game. Two different games that have a handful of things in common but are completely different. Half the shit I see in Minecraft is pixel art as well, no reason to come in here and complain about pixel art in a 2D game. :\

This game is more about adventure and loot than it is about building, which is the main focus of Minecraft.

 

[Dreavus]

I built myself a statue... I'm not really too great at pixel art but at least it's recognizable - I was trying to really mix the blocks to get the different shades but it looked too disjointed. Originally the plan was to create the broadsword but I ran out of blocks so I just made a torch for now.

With that here's my updated "castle" - I may add some spires next so it... you know, actually resembles a castle. I was hoping I had a floating island right above me so I'd have an excuse to build up but no luck.
http://i.imgur.com/1YRQq.jpg[IMG]

The Entrance Way is a little bare right now - may throw some windows and pots in there or something. I notice some castles have really cool light orb things hanging from their ceilings... how do I make those?[/QUOTE]

You steal the lamps from the dungeon. There are tons hanging in there.

 

[Hawkian]

Houston, that's excellent!

 

[BooJoh]

Well, I don't really make sense a priority.

I wonder when the cobalt armor's getting reinserted. I've been stockpiling stars to give to my second character because I never use magic with my main.

As far as I can tell, the Jungle Armor is functionally identical in every way to the Cobalt. It's just got a different name and is about 100 times uglier.

I got the Cobalt set partially because I really liked how it looked compared to all the other sets. Now I look terrible in the Jungle set. I've been working on farming hellstone but the death to ore ratio is not terribly in my favor atm.

 

[Twig]

I still don't get why all the Minecraft fans are butthurt by this game. Two different games that have a handful of things in common but are completely different. Half the shit I see in Minecraft is pixel art as well, no reason to come in here and complain about pixel art in a 2D game. :\

This game is more about adventure and loot than it is about building, which is the main focus of Minecraft.

I hate when people do pixel art in Minecraft, too.

You're seeing bullshit where there ain't any - aside from random nutjobs on the internet, which are nutjobs no matter the topic at hand. I love both games for different reasons.

 

[kevm3]

It's not as 'creative' as minecraft, and emphasizes a completely different set of gameplay mechanics... or in other words, it's not Minecraft, but its own game that happens to share a gameplay mechanic of Minecraft.

 

[kevm3]

I really hope they add more to the invasion aspect and allow different materials to have different rates of being able to break down... for example you can make a door out of iron which skeletons can't get through. Making more of a town defense element of the game would make things much more interesting.

 

[snack]

What artistic minds we have here.

 

[Hawkian]

I wouldn't say it shares many gameplay mechanics if any with Minecraft. Stuff like making obsidian and holding left click to keep picking/chopping are the best I can come up with. But generally playing a 2D game is way different. The crafting system is completely simplified. You can get around the world in any number of ways if you have an established character, double jump, use grappling hooks, etc.

On the other hand it shares a large number of gameplay concepts, like a randomly generated world, substances and items having rarity, a sandbox approach to gameplay, and the ability to build what you want. But it's a completely different game. First of all, if you've played the game a while, you probably have a character you like with items you want to keep, since your items stay with you. This is a pretty different situation. In Minecraft you'd be a lot more attached to things you'd created and your experiences exploring, rather than things you'd found (though I of course sympathize with you for that time you fell in lava and lost 5 diamonds). The prospect of losing all your items at any time would feel very, very different in Terraria.

 

[Enco]

Minecraft is better for creation.

Terraria is better for exploration and everything else.

Personally I would rather play Terraria over Minecraft if I had to choose.

 

[-Deadpool-]

So, managed to summon the Eye of Cthulhu today. Promptly got my arse handed to me, so won't be trying that again for a while lol.. What did you lot use to beat it?

Found a floating island today. Was venturing to the outskirts of the map and coming over a mountain, there's like 2 pixels of a jungle vine at the top of the screen. An hour later and I had the Starfury, a heap of Gold Ore, Gold Bricks and Silver Ore. Awesome. Love the little surprises in this game.

Still haven't ventured down far enough for lava/Hell.

Anything I should be doing before summoning the Eye again? I have full Gold armour now, Gold Broadsword, Enchanted Boomerang thing and the Starfury. That be enough?

 

[Hawkian]

Ahh finally lucked into a boomerang and upgraded it. Thing is awesome.

 

[dalin80]

Also to remember is that terreraiairrieaia is very young and there's a good chance of a good stream of updates for it over the next couple of years.

 

[vareon]

So, managed to summon the Eye of Cthulhu today. Promptly got my arse handed to me, so won't be trying that again for a while lol.. What did you lot use to beat it?

Found a floating island today. Was venturing to the outskirts of the map and coming over a mountain, there's like 2 pixels of a jungle vine at the top of the screen. An hour later and I had the Starfury, a heap of Gold Ore, Gold Bricks and Silver Ore. Awesome. Love the little surprises in this game.

Still haven't ventured down far enough for lava/Hell.

Anything I should be doing before summoning the Eye again? I have full Gold armour now, Gold Broadsword, Enchanted Boomerang thing and the Starfury. That be enough?

I defeated the Eye on first try using silver armor and arrows. Made a long platform so that I can always see it. It's long but you'll manage it, just don't forget to use potions in the battle.

 

[NBtoaster]

Just beat the eye. Took the whole night but managed to kill it with a boomerang. Had no idea you could upgrade until now..

I'm kind of annoyed that a meteor has landed in my world but I have no idea where it is. My fault for using a medium world.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I'm finding that getting good shit in this game takes forever. I've put in about, what, 5/6 hours maybe? And I'm still without any armour/helmet/whatever, no magic, I found one heart, a decent amount of the rare stones/special ores... it's a slow grind. The exploration is just top-notch, though. It's definitely something I get sucked into when playing. It's also less intimidating then I expected, although still pretty intimidating. Playing in multiplayer is usually more fun, although the isolation of exploring the caves reminds me of Metroid, in a good way. Also: fuck worms. Not as unfond (is that a word? eh, it is now) of them as I was first time I found them, but still, just annoying.

 

[Grinchy]

I'm finding that getting good shit in this game takes forever. I've put in about, what, 5/6 hours maybe? And I'm still without any armour/helmet/whatever, no magic, I found one heart, a decent amount of the rare stones/special ores... it's a slow grind. The exploration is just top-notch, though. It's definitely something I get sucked into when playing. It's also less intimidating then I expected, although still pretty intimidating. Playing in multiplayer is usually more fun, although the isolation of exploring the caves reminds me of Metroid, in a good way. Also: fuck worms. Not as unfond (is that a word? eh, it is now) of them as I was first time I found them, but still, just annoying.

I think there is definitely a tipping point where it's no longer slow. For me, the game sped up a bit too fast once I killed a couple bosses.

 

[pr0cs]

I think there is definitely a tipping point where it's no longer slow. For me, the game sped up a bit too fast once I killed a couple bosses.

QFT
kill a few bosses or find a few chests. I found it too easy since the chests often have equipment or weapons that take a lot of the challenge out of the game.

from copper->gold the game can be tricky but once you get gold and start going deeper or smashing a few orbs you'll be decked out like stupid and the game gets way too easy.

the mid-game needs to be improved it goes from you feeling like you have no defense no power to being godlike within a few hours.

 

[dalin80]

I have found about a dozen chests and have got nothing better then a few sticks of dynamite from them. :-(

As good as this game is it could really do with a much greater variety of items including enchanted armour pieces.

edit- although i have got a pair of boots that eventually let you run faster, utterly useless for mining.

 

[Darklord]

Is this game hard to get into like Minecraft where it doesn't tell you how to do anything? Or does it tell you how to do things?

 

[Retro]

Is this game hard to get into like Minecraft where it doesn't tell you how to do anything? Or does it tell you how to do things?

As soon as you spawn in your world, within a few screens or two there's a guide NPC who will give you all the info you need to get started. You also start with all the tools you'll need to get to work.

 

[Gilby]

Is this game hard to get into like Minecraft where it doesn't tell you how to do anything? Or does it tell you how to do things?

There is a guide character that tells you how to do almost everything.

edit:beaten

 

[-Deadpool-]

Killed the Eye of Cthulhu, so I've got a little bit of Demonite now. Only enough for a Bow or Sword though.

Am I best saving this? I can summon Cthulhu again and start grinding Demonite can't I?

 

[Hot Coldman]

QFT
kill a few bosses or find a few chests. I found it too easy since the chests often have equipment or weapons that take a lot of the challenge out of the game.

from copper->gold the game can be tricky but once you get gold and start going deeper or smashing a few orbs you'll be decked out like stupid and the game gets way too easy.

the mid-game needs to be improved it goes from you feeling like you have no defense no power to being godlike within a few hours.

Well that's encouraging! Haha. I'll keep on digging for sure :lol

I wish this game used Steam for multiplayer though. Connecting to IP addresses makes me feel dirty for no rational reason.

 

[Chinner]

I'm finding that getting good shit in this game takes forever. I've put in about, what, 5/6 hours maybe? And I'm still without any armour/helmet/whatever, no magic, I found one heart, a decent amount of the rare stones/special ores... it's a slow grind. The exploration is just top-notch, though. It's definitely something I get sucked into when playing. It's also less intimidating then I expected, although still pretty intimidating. Playing in multiplayer is usually more fun, although the isolation of exploring the caves reminds me of Metroid, in a good way. Also: fuck worms. Not as unfond (is that a word? eh, it is now) of them as I was first time I found them, but still, just annoying.

Once you get the grappling hook the pace changes completely. I remember my friends and I struggling to get the grappling hook and iron, and once we did everything pretty much opened up for us.

 

[Treefingers]

Killed the Eye of Cthulhu, so I've got a little bit of Demonite now. Only enough for a Bow or Sword though.

Am I best saving this? I can summon Cthulhu again and start grinding Demonite can't I?

Yup you can summon him again with 10 lenses and a Demon Altar.

I would use that Demonite to make a Light's Bane and use that when fighting the Eater of Worlds. Then he'll drop more Demonite and Shadow Scales which you can use to make Shadow Armor & a Nightmare Pickaxe.

 

[ZZMitch]

It is kind of annoying having to resize the window every time I want to open Terraria, but whatever.

Also I got a second hook, is there anything I can do with it besides a grappling hook?

 

[Treefingers]

It is kind of annoying having to resize the window every time I want to open Terraria, but whatever.

Also I got a second hook, is there anything I can do with it besides a grappling hook?

You can make another grappling hook and craft an ivy whip with that and some jungle roses and vines.

 

[Locke562]

I'm on my fourth day of a Goblin invasion because they're only showing up in groups of 2-3 at a time.

 

[ZZMitch]

You can make another grappling hook and craft an ivy whip with that and some jungle roses and vines.

I need to find my undeground jungle for that stuff right?

And oh god for some reason the eye of Cuthulu spawned tonight! I hid underground. I am not ready to face him yet.

 

[vareon]

Basically this is how my game runs. Put it in spoilers just in case someone didn't want to be spoiled.

Spoiler

The beginning was extremely slow. Finding enough iron for the anvil takes a bit of exploration and luck, and basically I never have enough materials to make a full armor set. Basically I mined every ore I met to make a weapon/armor. Finding ores were beautiful since it means I can craft more.

Mining was slow since I need to put platforms to make sure I can go back. Once I found a grappling hook, exploration is much more faster, but I still need to put torches in the cavern. Then I have enough gold to buy a mining helmet.

This is where it gets too fast. I no longer need to carefully build platforms where I go AND I don't really need to put torches. Basically I zipped through the cavern with ease.

When I have a gold broadsword and a silver armor set, I decided it's time to beat the Eye of Cthulhu. It was hard, but I won in the end.

Then I destroyed the shadow orb and the meteor crashed and I was able to make a piece of armor. For some reason another meteorite crashed and I made a Meteor Hamaxe. At this point I can travel to other worlds to mine another meteorite, but that would ruin the sense of exploration in my world. Time to explore the underground jungle then.

This is when things go a bit downhill: When exploring the caverns, I have a clear goal: find as many ores as possible, make the best armor. This goal is not present in my jungle exploration. My next best armor is obtained from a random drop of a Hornet, which encourages farming, not exploration. The way Hornets keep spawning also encourages me to zip through the jungle fast instead of exploring it. I also get a Staff of Regrowth, which is extremely powerful at that time and makes fighting Hornets tremendously easier.

The best thing in the Underground Jungle for me was the shrines. Finding one felt veeery awesome and the reward's good too.

I only decided to fight the Eater of Worlds since I don't have any goals left in the jungle--no more need to mine ores since I got a better equipment and I got more than enough ores to decorate my castle.

The shadow scale drop from Eater of Worlds allows me to make the Shadow Armor. I even fought it twice since it was easy and the drops are good.

This is where I am now. I can reach Underworld pretty effortlessly with digging a straight tunnel using the Nightmare Pickaxe, but it's still too hard for me to collect ores. The floating islands are rewarding when found, but still felt too small. I can also fight the Skeletron if I wanted then explore the dungeon. I find it weird that the game's current strongest boss is placed in FRONT of one of the late-game biome instead somewhere inside, which makes the dungeon anti-climactic I guess?

Basically the game felt much more awesome to me in the beginning to middle, where I slowly dig my way through tunnel, going back since my inventory is full, then continue the exploration where I left it.

I simply can't wait for a next major content update--a new boss or biome, hopefully. It's understandable they want to improve the multiplayer first, though. The game's just been released for a few weeks and they most likely had awesome things in mind.

Edit: There might be a time where I'm "playing it wrong". Maybe I looked on the wiki too much, or maybe I'm just not motivated enough to build crazy shit castle.