Multiplayer has been one of the most requested features since day one of the game's release. It's to be expected, multiplayer functionality is standard in games of this type. However, I avoided doing it for a couple reasons. One, I didn't know how. I still don't really know how, but using steam's built in p2p functionality I managed to cobble something together. Second, the game's code is a mess, and certain aspects of it are NOT built in a way that would allow multiplayer to work. This late in the game's production, it's an absolute mess to work with. I had standards, and I didn't want to make multiplayer when I knew it wasn't going to be fully functional.
I put the project down with the last update, and decided to move on to other things.
The other day though I thought to myself: wouldn't BAD multiplayer be better than NO multiplayer? So I got to work, and this update is the result. I'm labeling it as "experimental" because the functionality is pretty poor and will be prone to issues. There's also missing features, enemies are not synced at all (this is because they use lots of rng and are also not built to handle multiple players. Implementing them would mean rewriting and changing the behavior of every enemy in the game, something I'm not willing to do.)
You can build stuff together though, and I think that's enough for at least some people to have some fun with.
To create a lobby, open up a world or create a new one. Pause the game, and in the pause menu there will be an option to "create lobby". To join a lobby, press "lobbies" on the main menu. If your lobby is public, it will appear on this list. If not, you'll have to get the lobby id from the host, which you'll be able to see on the pause menu in game.
Changes:
New experimental multiplayer !
New lobby screen on the main menu
Ability to create lobbies in pause menu
Chat messages take longer to disappear
Command line is now "chat box"
Chat box will open when pressing "Enter" and in a multiplayer game
Running commands will now require you to type "/" before them. Not doing so will send a regular chat message
Chat messages are no longer framerate dependent
Added a new pair of pants to honor a certain corn stick mascot