An Observation on the Inability to Teleport Underground

Alright, so I *know* why this was put in place. It's because people complained that you would just be able to teleport to your ship when you were in danger underground, trivializing Hardcore mode, yadda yadda yadda, whatever.

Thing is, it's completely and utterly pointless: Logging out and back in relogs you on your ship. Ultimately, all it amounts to is an annoying inconvenience.

Yes, you could make it so it doesn't teleport you back to your ship until you've been logged out for a while, but this wouldn't stop people from doing it anyway, walking off for 15 minutes to get a snack, and coming back. Even if you made it NEVER return you to your ship, and accepted the various usability issues this would come with, people could still do it on networked servers in order to duck out until the monsters despawn.

Point is, I don't see this ever really being fixable. Now, I suppose you may get tech later on that lets you teleport underground, but even so, at the moment this feature does absolutely nothing to add to gameplay since, once again, relogging achieves the same thing. Thus I think it might be better to just remove the underground limitation, and if it's deemed necessary, find another solution, such as a delay when underground.

 

I'd have to agree... I find it very tedious trying to backtrack all the way back to the surface, and would like a teleport option. A brief delay in which you can't move seems fine to me.

 

There is probably a lore reason why it doesn't work. Maybe the ship can't lock on your due to interference from the rocks, maybe there is a limit how deep it can get you, doesn't matter. I don't see a problem with it that I can't just bail out in the middle of the underworld. If you dug yourself that far down, just climb all the way back up. Minecraft is not different, Terraria was no different, unless you found a magic mirror. I might be assuming too much, but I thought people who play games of this genre actually like the digging down and making your way back aspect, since that's what you do 90% of the time. And if you get horribly maimed by monsters on your way back, you can only blame yourself for digging too deep.

 

From what I read you need a LoS to your ship to be beamed up. Can anyone test if you dig a tunnel straight down, will the beam option work?

 

Yeah, a clear path to the ship above. This is what I figured, and I like the fact that you can't just get the hell out of there every time your ass gets beaten on.

 

Both in Starbound and Terraria, logging out and in again puts yo at your spawn point. The OPs point is that because this is the case, the teleport should simply work underground, since you can use the slightly less convenient log out teleport to do the same thing.

I have played over 300 horus of terraria and the ability to log out to shortcut back to your spawn, be it with the mirror or without, was used all the damn time. This is the case because going back up is boring. If you go exploring, you have the potential to find new stuff and that is exiting. If you have to go back with a full pack it's a chore and only consumes time.

I agree with the OP. If metagaming can this easily solve a situation, game mechanics should adapt to be as good as the workaround.

 

Terraria beds allow you to change the spawn at least, to a more desirable location. Perhaps similar thing will be implemented in the future and we'll only need to get/make the item to teleport without restarting.

 

I just tested it and it doesn't seem to be LoS based. In fact, I just knocked the background out of a pit and THAT'S what allowed the teleport icon to light up... I wonder... If you knock the background out deep underground... Testing this!

 

It's simple. Bust a whole in the background. Teleport to surface. I don't know why it works... but it does.

 

LOL! Yep! If you knock the back wall out underground, it lets you teleport to your ship. So uh... Not only is this pointless, it... Doesn't actually... Even... Really do anything.


Why did they even code this in? Maybe the full functionality is unfinished?

 

I agree too. the Teleport option is usefull underground to avoid climbing up. As a sandbox game players will play as they wish. teleport during fight or not is up to them.

 

At least we learned something useful then. And tested stuff ;D

 

I think this decision will have more of an impact when the dungeon protectors are implemented. I wouldn't judge it's usefulness just yet.

 

There are meteorites in the air, and having to detect blocks above your head could be tricky with those in the way. Either way, who cares, it's a trip to the surface!

 

Hrmmm, yeah, if they make it so you can't easily bust the back wall out of a dungeon this could have a greater effect. ...Still seems a bit of a hodgepodge way of going about it, though, it'd be more sensible to make dungeon walls *specifically* block teleportation.

 

I must be one of the few who never used that, because on the way back I ran into another motherload of stuff. But I used the magic mirror.. a LOT And reading the rest of the thread, hell I just poke the back wall out then.

 

"Beam me up, Scotty!" "Sorry sir, we appear to be having some sort of interference with our guidance system, can you change location and see if we can pick up your signal?"

 

See, in another thread I referenced Scotty when I talked about our ability of interstellar teleports from another planet to your friends ship, and people didn't know who Scotty is

 

Should perhaps be more known, what with movies coming out and more interest in Star Trek(All those hot actors and actresses) ;D
Not everyone have played Terraria or Minecraft either, imagine how confusing the game is for them? e.e;

 

Hehe yes, I saw that in all the other threads. I guess that's where most of the "teh game is teh hard" stuff comes from. I feel right at home with it.. now just to get home from work and play some more, before an update wipes the sweet-sweet equipment I gathered Got myself a buckler and a one-handed sword. I'm itching to pay a visit to that bloody apex that shot me last night.