The Terraria State of the Game for November 2023 is here, giving us our regular monthly insight into the development of one of the best sandbox games on PC. Developer Re-Logic is hard at work on the Terraria 1.4.5 update, ostensibly the very final major upgrade to the indie game before we start to hear about the possibility of a Terraria 2, or even something else. Nevertheless, the team still makes time to let us know about some of the new features, including a Terraria fishing upgrade that I’m personally very excited about.
It’s been a busy 2023 for Terraria. Following the launch of the Terraria 1.4.4 Labor of Love update in September 2022, Re-Logic has continued to make improvements and upgrades over the course of the year, and is now deep in development on the next upgrade to the beloved sandbox game. In its latest State of the Game blog, head of business strategy Ted ‘Loki’ Murphy gives us a development update along with some more teasers of what’s to come.
“The team has once again been hard at work adding more and more fun stuff to Terraria 1.4.5,” Loki says. “Things will start to wind down for the year as we get into the second half of December, but we are planning to finish the year strong in order to give us a ton of momentum as we head into 2024.” Of course, it wouldn’t be a State of the Game post without at least a few spoilers, so Loki adds, “we thought we might show a couple of things that are small but really cool.”
The first of these is an upgrade for Terraria fishing. No longer will you be casting your rod into an empty void; you’ll now actually see the fish underwater once you start fishing. Not only is that a really nice little visual improvement, but also the team notes, “now you can see what you might be reeling in while fishing!” I’m curious whether that will extend to the likes of crates, which are one of the most potentially lucrative hauls you can get, but it should also make catching fish for the Angler quests far more manageable.
Also teased is a fun visual filter. By placing a television in your world, you’ll be able to apply a CRT-style filter complete with scanlines to your screen. For the youngsters among you, CRT televisions are those old, bulky ones that were the standard back before the days of flat screen TVs and monitors. “You may have found yourself thinking what Terraria might feel like ‘back in the days’ on a good old CRT,” Loki says. “Well, wonder no more!”
There’s one additional feature that’s a very welcome upgrade – spectator mode. “Know what sucks? Having to stare at your dead character, not even knowing how that epic boss fight is going,” Loki notes. “Now you can cheer on from the sidelines as you await your respawn with the new spectate feature.” Not only is that a nice little quality-of-life upgrade, an extra pair of eyes on the action is always welcome too, especially when fighting the more chaotic Terraria bosses.
Eagle-eyed viewers watching that video demonstration might also note that it appears to show off another glimpse of Terraria crossplay. Loki emphasizes that there’s “no more updates on crossplay timing just yet, other than to reiterate that we expect it will be a post-1.4.5 addition.”
There’s certainly a lot in the works, then – once again, Re-Logic proves that it has a wonderful talent for turning even the smallest of upgrades into a comprehensive update. But then that’s why Terraria remains one of the most successful and best indie games out there.
While we wait for more news, get up to speed on the Terraria map and biomes you’ll encounter when starting a new world, along with the best Terraria mods to make your next playthrough even spicier.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides.