It’s been a long time in coming for fans of Terraria, but the big 1.3 update is finally here. It launched today (June 30th) with a plethora of new features and improvements. Every part of the game seems to have gotten some attention in this update, from world generation to sprites to AI. Some foes have new or improved AI, and there are new foes waiting to stand in your path (should you survive long enough to challenge them). If you need even more challenge, you can turn on Expert Mode in the world creation options to make life even harder for yourself. If you do, the game will reward you with better rewards (some of which are exclusive to Expert Mode).
The screenshot above shows several of our old NPC friends who’ve been given a visual makeover, as well as AI improvements to make them come alive more. The developers wanted them to feel more like an interactive part of your world and not do dumb stuff like stand in front of your chest! There is also a new NPC willing to join your town should you rescue him (he is called the Tax Collector). With that name, do you really want to rescue him? Fluid visuals have also gotten a makeover in the massive Terraria 1.3 update, which is also shown above.
Terraria 1.3‘s terrain generation has also seen some changes including both improvements and additions. There are new mini biomes hiding in the bowels of the Earth for players to discover. For example, there is a new underground desert biome. Starting areas have been improved as well. Some trees that didn’t drop acorns before now can.
Even small things in your Terraria 1.3 world have gotten updates. The opening/closing of chests is now animated, for example. There are a few new appearance options to choose from during character creation, and the character selection screen has been revamped to allow it to show more detailed character information. Terraria 1.3 worlds track kills and reward you with banners for every 50 enemies killed. There is also even a new way to take screen shots in-game that cover much larger portions of your world, too.
In the days leading up to today’s launch of Terraria 1.3, the developers have released a wall paper and a trailer. The wallpaper image below was created by their art director. As you can see, it is a pretty cool picture.
According to Terraria 1.3‘s long official change list, there are over 800 new items to be discovered in the game now. You will likely want to start a new world, but that’s a small price to pay for all the new loot you’ll get, right? All 2×2 items can be placed on tables now. Even server side code has gotten improvements, such as the networking code for liquids having been improved to make it much less laggy. You can also connect to Terraria 1.3 servers directly through Steam now.
In short, Terraria 1.3 is a massive update, as we’ve come to expect from major updates to the game. All of the new content and improvements should help to hold over Terraria fans until its follow-up game, Terraria: Otherworld, can eventually reach completion and have a launch day of its own. Check out the trailer for Terraria 1.3 below:
