Dev Diary: Autumn 2024 State of the Game Update
Hey, Prospectors!
We’ve been hard at work continuing to develop TerraTech Worlds but it’s been a little while since we’ve given you an update on exactly what we’ve been doing, and the state of the game in general.
We’ve had questions about why we haven’t released an Unstable build recently, which is a fair question considering that just a few months ago, we were releasing one pretty much every two weeks.
Since the end of the summer, we’ve moved into a new phase of development. Back at launch we had to be very reactive, prioritising fixes and high impact, quick turnaround changes. Then we had the Summer Sale event season, with several events in the calendar, keeping us in a constantly-releasing state (making it hard to take on large scale tasks).
But now, we’ve had time to step back a bit, digest feedback and start on some longer term work, shifting focus from quick fixes to deeper issues that take longer to address. This is why you’ve seen the releases slow down.
There has been a lot to factor into this work! We’ve had a lot of feedback, both positive and negative. Some of it confirmed things we already knew, some surprised us a bit, but all of it was incredibly useful - and by now we’ve had time to put all of this together, boil it down together with our own ambitions for the game and come up with a new development focus, which we have been working away on since the summer.
We’re now approaching the point where we’re ready to start showing things, so we wanted to start by explaining the rationale so you’ve got some idea of what to expect.
We’re currently working towards November for the next update release, with an Unstable build coming out before this. As always with active game development, this may change, but we’ll keep you updated along the way! Just a reminder that everything we’re sharing today is part of ongoing development, and is still subject to change.
Let’s dive into what we’ve been working on, and show you all the good stuff!
[h2]Progression[/h2]
Probably the biggest overall area we wanted to improve was the early-stage game experience. We were too focused on teaching crafting and automation, at the expense of finding blocks and building Techs - which is really the heart & soul of TerraTech. Meanwhile there wasn’t a clear overall mission, to guide you through the world, so that players were losing track of what to do next, before really exploring the later biomes.
We have re-thought this completely, starting off by focusing on getting blocks and rebuilding your Tech, delaying the crafting & automation elements until later, and adding some high-level objectives to give a clear sense of purpose.
At the same time, we have simplified the onboarding flow, which was very directive without much sense of why you are doing each thing. Now it’s much more focused on simple goals, leaving you to figure out the steps in between.
[h2]Flight and Boat Blocks[/h2]
If you’re part of our Discord server, you may have already seen some of the work we’ve been doing on Flight and Boat blocks, to help you better traverse the seas and skies.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We’ll have more information on both of these soon, as well as a separate Dev Diary that’s solely devoted to Flight and Boat blocks!
[h2]Biome Reworks[/h2]
We couldn’t really make all these ambitious changes without updating the world itself. Resource distributions have to be updated in line with the new crafting and economy balance, and there's a whole new scanning system which makes prospecting for resources much more meaningful - especially because a lot of key materials will now be buried!
We’re taking the opportunity to give the environment a major face lift while we’re at it. Most biomes will get an uplift, especially the Forest and Swamp, and should have a clearer sense of progress aligned with the technologies you unlock. We’re doing an overall atmospheric art pass across all the biomes, so you’ll see new VFX updates to weather like lightning and fog, as well as general visual updates to terrain and natural structures to make things feel more varied and interesting as you explore the planet.
Biomes will also feel easier to drive around in; you should have less instances of getting stuck (and seeing enemy Techs getting stuck!) on scenery such as rocks. We’re also tidying up some pieces of weird geometry which have been leading to some frustrating accidental collisions!
[h2]UI Changes[/h2]
We’ve received a lot of feedback about the game’s 3D spatial UI design, and how some of you found this made some text–especially moving text–to look blurry or slightly less sharper than was ideal.
Based on this feedback, we will be changing the UI to a ‘flatter’ two-dimensional design, ensuring that numbers and letters are clearer and easier to read against the backdrop of the planet!
A lot of feedback we received was centred around the complexity and limitations of building. Some aspects of this are a core part of the game vision, which won’t change: TerraTech Worlds is not intended to be as freeform and sandbox-y as TerraTech, and it deliberately has more depth in the building system. That said, some systems feel a bit clunky and overcomplicated, and the whole point of Early Access is to figure these things out and improve them.
The Reactor Efficiency system for Techs is one of these things. It has too many rules and conditions - this will be much simpler in the next update, making it easier to understand where the limits are and how to optimise them. Also we are gradually adding more Attach Points to Tech blocks, to give more freedom in placement. You will see this more in new blocks being added, but some existing blocks will be revised too.
For structures, we are reworking the controls to make it smoother and easier to move around while building, and we have a few other things in the works to give you more freedom and creative expression. We’re also expanding the Tech Yard modular upgrade system with new functionality and customisation.
[h2]Block Updates[/h2]
We’ve also been thinking a lot about Blocks, and how they’re obtained. We’ve seen a lot of feedback relating to early-game grind, and how the beginning of TerraTech Worlds can feel a little slow for some people. Additionally, some of you have let us know that completing objectives doesn’t feel as rewarding as it could potentially be, so we’ve taken these comments on board as we’ve re-developed the way that obtaining Blocks works.
As collecting scavenged blocks is probably the defining feature of TerraTech, we wanted to make this feel great in TT Worlds; but the problem is, it’s very hard to balance finding loads of blocks (basically for free) with crafting or buying blocks. This was not working well, so we are making some fairly dramatic changes here.
Tech blocks will no longer be crafted, in the next update. You can get them by scavenging, but if you want to keep them permanently you will need to pay a fee - this upgrades their stats and makes them accessible (with unlimited storage) at any Tech Yard you place in the world. You can also get fully-owned blocks by buying them in a shop or in some cases by completing a mission.
To summarise:
- Scavenged blocks, taken from enemy Techs, are functional but visibly worn and battle damaged. They can’t be stored in a Tech Yard, or customised, and may have some other limitations.
- At your Tech Yard, you can pay for full ownership of scavenged blocks, giving them a health bonus and unlocking full customisation, with unlimited storage and access from any Tech Yard you own.
- The Tech Yard also functions as a shop, allowing you to sell scavenged blocks you don't need, and buy new blocks so you don't have to rely on scavenging.
- There will also be some other shops you can find elsewhere in the world, which might have a more interesting selection of blocks available - including some you can't get anywhere else!
[h2]Crafting[/h2]
We’re not removing crafting completely! This is still used to manufacture structure blocks - which aren’t purchased like Tech blocks - as well as consumables like ammunition and fuel. We are separating out manual crafting (“I need 2 of these, now”) from production-line automation, because it was confusing to have one machine that could work two different ways.
The automation stuff will come a bit later in the game, along with story mission goals which require larger scale crafting to complete - this is to allow time to focus on Tech building in the early stages.
[h2]Narrative[/h2]
We’ve also been fleshing out the world of Nibiru with some narrative structure that you’ll see reflected in-game as part of the next update. Yes, you read that right!
We always intended TerraTech Worlds to have a more prominent storyline than TerraTech, but this was something we planned to introduce during Early Access, after we had the gameplay fundamentals ironed out. We aren’t all the way there yet - these big changes we are making will need some time to settle - but we do want to start introducing some narrative material now.
In the next update you will see some story missions that start to give a bit more context to why you are here in the Nexus Cluster and what you’re doing. Also there might be some other material to discover… stay tuned!
[h2]Progression Reset[/h2]
Firstly… if you’ve read this far then: thanks and well done! Secondly you’ve probably been wondering “how does the progress I’ve made in my game save make sense with all these changes?” The answer is… it doesn’t.
There’s no practical way we can make major revisions like this, which rethink the core principles of how you advance through the game, and preserve progress meaningfully. This means that with the next update comes a full progress reset. You will need to start a new save.
Obviously this sucks if you have put a lot of time into your save file. We don’t want you to lose all your hard work, so if you want to retain access to your existing save, the Legacy Branch is your friend.
Our current plan is as follows:
Current Game Saves:
These will be available in a separate branch, which you can access via Steam when launching the game- similar to accessing an unstable build. These save games will not be updated with new content, but you can still continue to play on them. They will not be compatible with game saves made post-autumn update release.
Game Saves Made Post-Autumn Update:
These will receive regular content updates and new features/balance changes, but will not be compatible with older game saves on the separate branch.
This may change in the future, but these separate branches are what we’re currently working towards.
We’re also working on lots, lots more things for TerraTech Worlds that we can’t wait to show you over the next few weeks and months, including improvements to existing systems as well as brand new weapons, structure blocks, skins and more.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to make TerraTech Worlds the best it can be, and remember that you can join us over on our official Discord server to chat with our devs and find out more about the game: https://discord.gg/ZtE6WZnM
We also have our feedback site where you can report bugs and leave suggestions about anything you’d like to see in-game: https://feedback.terratechworlds.com/
Oh, and did someone say lightning guns? 🌩️
‘Til next time, Prospectors!
