by theygamesIt’s an exciting time for Terraria fans, with a Terraria 1.4.4 update release window now announced for late September as development on the Labor of Love update reaches endgame. However, that’s not enough anticipation for the game’s lead developer, Andrew ‘Redigit’ Spinks, who has stirred up speculation among fans of one of the best crafting games by sharing some early concept art for the Terraria 2 world map.
The Terraria state of the game post for August is fairly light, but shares a few key details about the progress of the Terraria 1.4.4 update. Firstly, work on the PC version is complete and has reached ‘code freeze’ – meaning that nothing new is being added, and that remaining work is just on bug fixes, tweaks, and ports. Speaking of ports, Re-Logic says it plans to make 1.4.4 the first simultaneous Terraria update release across all platforms – PC, console, and mobile. The team adds that, barring any issues or delays in platform submissions, it expects the Terraria 1.4.4 update Labor of Love release date to fall in late September.
Before we move onto Terraria 2 “news,” there are a couple of other quick announcements for 1.4.4. The first is a very welcome accessibility change, with Spinks revealing that an autofire toggle has been added for non-autouse weapons and equipment. Asked about the feature, Spinks says, “I know I can be stubborn at times, but once people framed it as an accessibility issue I knew we had to make the option.” One other fun item spoiler was dropped into the state of the game post – the addition of a recreation of the painting created by Terraria fans during Reddit’s r/place community art project.
Presumably dissatisfied with the already high level of excitement in the Terraria community around the Labor of Love update, Spinks took the opportunity to post some early Terraria 2 concept art for “what T2’s world map could look like.” Spinks says, “it’s crazy rough so forgive me.” It’s unclear how much of the post is legitimate design considerations versus another of his elaborate jokes, but the MS Paint-style drawing has certainly got the sandbox game’s community whipped up into a frenzy contemplating what the sequel might include.
Joke or not, users on the game’s subreddit have embraced the post and are contributing all sorts of ideas about what might show up in a second Terraria. “The area below the mushroom caves reminds me of the aquatic depths from the Thorium mod,” says one commenter. Another points to the biome comprising pink, cream, and brown segments, asking, “Why is no-one talking about the Neapolitan cave?” Others suggest the post might be framed as a cheeky nod to Noita – another game that sees you spelunking through underground caves with all manner of tools and spells before your inevitable and calamitous demise – while one particularly observant person simply remarks, “Balls biome.”
Whatever the truth behind Redigit’s rather lovely artwork may be, it serves as a welcome reminder that plans for a sequel to Terraria are in the works – though don’t expect to see it any time soon. After all, Labor of Love is just the latest in a long line of expansions touted as the game’s “final update.”
If you’re playing Terraria ahead of the 1.4.4 update, check out our guide to Terraria happiness and pylons to optimise your travel options. Our pick of the best Terraria mods will help you tweak your game to perfection, and we’ll even walk you through each of the Terraria bosses you’ll encounter along your journey. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any other additions in the future, such as the incoming Terraria gear loadouts and a key tweak that brings an end to Terraria corrupted jungle woes after all those years of digging out a huge trench to keep your biomes safe.