Latest Terraria Update Brings Mac And Linux Support
SteamOS not mentioned.
Mac and Linux support for indie games is sort of like the rolling spaceship from Prometheus. Everyone thinks you can just get it out of the way but it's a little more difficult than that when you're actually in the hotseat. Terraria [official site] first launched in 2011 as an adorable and fun 2D alternative to big boy creative juggernaut Minecraft. Since then it's had numerous spin-offs and a sequel announced, plus three huge updates that make it almost unrecognisable from that initial product. But this week, finally, OSX and Linux players have access to the game.
Owning it on Steam will be enough to get you the correct versions. The announcement post also has links to where you can grab dedicated server tools for the newly supported operating systems. This is the area where it's actually quite an important development, as the vast majority of always-on servers scattered across the world do not run Windows. Linux is the stable OS of choice for these machines and now they can host Terraria servers to their owner's heart's content. There's also a few known issues and workarounds in that thread and details on exactly which Linux distro is supported.
This news is actually quite useful to me, as Terraria is exactly the sort of game that will run on my old Macbook and that I want to play in quick bursts while out of the house. Presumably, a SteamOS version is also on the way. If you're considering revisiting the game, why not join our young but very lovely Terraria RPS community server?
Meanwhile, alternate universe spin-off Terraria: Otherworld [official site] is currently in development, focused on fighting back against an already corrupted world rather than Terraria's more serene beginnings. Terraria 2, it's said, will come afterwards.