Hello, Prospectors!
It’s been about a month since we’ve given you a proper look at what we’ve been working on here at Payload, as we’ve been busy making sure the recent patches and hotfixes went out without a hitch after the launch of Early Access!
We’re still hard at work on squishing bugs and creating brand new shiny things for the game, but we wanted to take some time today to talk about the current state of TerraTech Worlds, and to show you some of what you can expect to see in-game over the next few months.
State of the Game
As it’s been a little while since we’ve checked in with you, we wanted to give you a quick overview of the current state of TerraTech Worlds.
Since launching in Early Access in March, we’ve been listening to your feedback and suggestions from Discord, Steam Discussions threads, Reddit, Twitter and our Feedback Website, and the Community team has been working in tandem with the Development/Design teams to make sure that all issues, queries and suggestions are passed on to the appropriate Payload developers.
Whilst we can’t list every single thing we’re working on here (mostly because it would be an incredibly long post that would become someone’s full-time job to write!), we’re mostly focusing development around the following areas, based on the feedback we’ve been seeing:
- Grind: resource spawn rates, resource health and item stacking.
- Tech Limits: cab capacity, build size and Tech Repairs.
- Awkward Blocks: limited attachment points and block shapes.
- Automation: limited conduits, and unclear power information.
- Onboarding/Tutorials: confusion around reward claiming and some game features not being overtly explained in the tutorial.
We’re committed to continuing to updating the game using Community-driven development, and here are just a few of the most recent updates/changes that have been made based on your direct feedback:
Grind
- We’ve already reduced resource health, recipe costs, crafting times and adjusted some power settings, as well as increased resource yields, item stack sizes and block/ammo drops.
- We’re now reducing more recipe costs and increasing more item stack sizes, and we also have plans to improve the flatbed and reintroduce the seam scanner into the game.
Tech Limits
- We’ve already added different Cabs with larger Cab Capacities, as well as reduced Reactor costs for some blocks. With 0.2, we also increased the Tech Size Limit from 16x16x16 to 32x32x32, and added in Fusion Cores.
- We’re now working on creating items that help you further expand Tech limitations–more info on this coming soon!
Awkward Blocks
- We’re working on adding new blocks with more APs on them, as well as planning to add more APs to existing blocks in the future. (The first set of these was added in the recent 0.2 update!)
Automation
- We’ve already fixed batteries and sped up the way that conduits work, as well as added new animations to help you understand when machines are powered/working. We’ve also changed the way that power consumption works, so that machines no longer consume resources when idle.
- We’re now working on adding splitters, mergers and filters, simple conduit placement and direction flipping, in order to improve the overall efficiency of automation. (More on some of these below!)
Onboarding/Tutorials
- We’ve added automatic reward collection for some objectives and increased BB reward amounts.
- We’re now working on updating the Objectives Panel to make it easier to use, and will most likely overhaul this menu completely in the future. Additionally, we're integrating the tutorial into the main game and removing the separate tutorial planet. We’re also building contextual tutorials that teach you about all sorts of mechanics at relevant points throughout the game, so you’ll get the chance to explore at your own pace whilst also getting tips to help you along the way.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the other things we’re working on!
T-Junctions, Conduits and Splitters/Mergers
This has been a big topic of discussion internally, as we’ve been reading a lot of comments mourning the loss of the ‘T-Shape’ piece from the early demo version of TerraTech Worlds.
Whilst the simple answer to this might seem to just be ‘Put it back in, Payload! Duh!’, we’ve actually been working on some splitter/merger type pieces which will both function as a ‘T-Shape’ piece and also provide other much-needed functionalities within TerraTech Worlds. Because of this ongoing discussion between devs, we’re asking you to wait just a tiny bit longer before we debut these, and show you what we’ve been working on, but we think it will solve some of the shape-based issues whilst also bringing new conduit flow features to the game.
We’re very keen to take our time with Community-flagged queries and desires, and to make sure that we’re thoroughly investigating and testing all possible directions before anything makes it to the game. This is why, instead of simply adding the ‘T-Shape’ back in, we’ve been focused on the root of the problem that you’ve been raising with us, and working on coming up with the best solution that isn’t necessarily just the easiest or most obvious thing to do.
We can tell you a little bit about what will be coming as a result of these internal design discussions, though, and tell you that we’re currently re-working the idea of Inputs & Outputs as a whole.
We're moving away from the "Inputs on the left" and "Outputs on the right" concept and focusing on a more direct correlation between the machine's Conduit APs and the machine's "inventory slots".
On top of that, we are currently working on seven (number subject to change!) types of advanced Conduits:
- 3-Way Alternating Splitter: a Splitter that players connect to with Conduits which pushes items through its 3 Outputs in an alternating fashion.
- 3-Way Priority Splitter: a Splitter that players connect to with Conduits that pushes items through the Input and down to the 3 priority-based Outputs.
- 3-Way Alternating Merger: a Merger that players connect to with Conduits that collects items through its 3 Inputs in an alternating fashion and pushes them down the Output.
- 3-Way Priority Merger: a Merger that players connect to with Conduits that collects items through its 3 fixed priority Conduits, and pushes said items down the Output.
- 4-Way Alternating Junction Box: a more "dynamic" node-type structure that can Merge and/or Split, depending on how the Conduits to and from the machine are setup.
- 3-Way Splitter (Target) Filter: a Splitter similar to the 3-Way Alternating Splitter except the player can configure it to filter the Outputs depending on the item placed on the available slot.
- 3-Way Merger (Target) Filter: a Merger similar to the 3-Way Alternating Merger except the player can configure it to filter the Inputs depending on the item placed on the available slot.
Bear with us, and we’ll have a more thorough Dev Diary update on this coming within the next few days, which will include a more detailed look at upcoming splitters/mergers and conduits.
Planet Settings
Another thing we’ve been talking about is how to best facilitate different play styles throughout TerraTech Worlds: some of you are pro 360 noscope pewpew experts who can take down our mini boss in just a few hits, whilst some of you would rather spend your time mining and foraging your way across the gentle rolling hills.
There’s no wrong way to play TerraTech Worlds, and we think one of the best ways to allow you to customise your games but still have a balanced experience is through Planet Settings, where you’ll be able to choose from the following options (all very much still in-development/subject to change!) when starting a new game:
Explorer: for those who want a friendlier experience, and are focused on harvesting resources, growing structures, and taking their time to explore the open road.
Prospector: this is pretty much the experience you’re having in-game now (as of May 2024). If you’re happy with the spawn rate of resources and the chonkiness of enemies as they are now, choose this option!
Pioneer: for any of you who are finding enemies too squishy, and the harvests too plentiful. Choose this option to make enemy Techs hit harder, and resources more sneaky.
1st Wave: this is for those who really love a challenge. Good luck out there.
Custom: this option is for anyone who wants to tweak with any of the default planet settings. Playing God is fun!
These settings can be changed at any time (after loading into the planet for the first time) from the Planet Select screen, so you can change your options whenever you want, without having to restart your game from scratch.
More information about Planet Settings will also be coming soon, and you’ll see these options in-game before the summer!
And finally, we have one last thing to show you...
"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.”
Talk to you soon, Prospectors!