History VideoGame / TerraTech

** The achievement for a 500 meter unpowered flight in campaign mode is ''[[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Falling with Style]]''.

* PowerCreep: GSO grade 5 has the Megaton Cannon, one of the most powerful weapons in the game. When an update gave GSO the new [[UpToEleven Gigaton Cannon]][[note]]a slower, but much more powerful version of the Megaton Cannon[[/note]] and the [[SerialEscalation Big Bertha]][[note]]an even slower, yet even more powerful cannon, with a limited firing arc[[/note]], they were placed into GSO's highest grade: Grade 5. As a result, all three are unlocked at the same time. They also all have a blast radius large enough to ignore shields.

[=TerraTech=] is a sandbox vehicle-creation and exploration game for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and [[UsefulNotes/Playstation4 PS4]]. It was officially released on the tenth of August, 2018, after four years in early access.

In the campaign, the player is a prospector gathering resources on a faraway planet and launching them back to Earth from a cannon. They can customise their mining rig, or "tech", with hundreds of blocks and tools that snap together to form just about anything, taking it from a tiny car with a drill on the front to an entire AI-controlled fleet or mobile base. VehicularCombat quickly sets in as rival prospectors drive their techs along to destroy it all.

Five different corporations offer the player membership: [[LightningBruiser Hawkeye]], [[FragileSpeedster Team Venture]], [[MightyGlacier GeoCorp]], [[EverythingIsAnIPodInTheFuture Better Future]] and the [[JackOfAllStats Galactic Survey Organisation]]. As the player fights enemies and completes missions for each company, they level up their licenses and unlock more powerful equipment, but stronger opponents are sure to come sniffing around for their parts.

A CompetitiveMultiplayer mode allows players to select from eight pre-made techs and blow each other up in one of three arenas. Players can steal parts from downed enemies and find powerful weapons in [[RandomDrop crates]] that fall from the sky to grow stronger. The host for each match can choose between a free-for-all and a [[ColorCodedMultiplayer team-based]] battle. Alternatively, up to four players can work together in creative mode or a simplified version of the campaign.

* ItemCrafting: Players can [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment craft parts]] out of the resources they harvest in the campaign for significantly better value than if they just bought the parts. Crafting is fairly physical, needing resources to be refined and moved between storage silos and crafters with conveyor belts.

* LevelScaling: [=NPC=] techs spawn depending on the value of and weapon count on the player's tech, although there is some variance to either party's favour. [=TerraTech does not have actual "levels" aside from the license grades which determine what blocks are available.=]

* {{Roboteching}}: A tech can have upwards- or side-facing missile launchers to launch salvos which will quickly change direction and home in on the target. The Hawkeye missile battery and the Cluster and [=HIVE=] missile launchers are pretty much designed for this trope, launching missiles straight up or at an angle so they can swerve down.
* ShiftingSandLand: The desert biome.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The ice biome.

* StarterEquipment: Players start out with incredibly weak Little Trekker wheels and a low-powered [[AKA47 ZK-74]] machine gun, which are good enough to gather a few blocks but useless compared even to other early-game blocks.

* PopTheTires: While [=TerraTech=] doesn't have advanced puncture physics, it is possible to knock the wheels off an enemy tech or destroy them altogether. A tech without wheels tends to be an easy target.

* ContagiousAI

* SnipingTheCockpit: Destroying all the cabs or AI units in a tech causes it to [[CriticalExistenceFailure fall apart]] immediately, no matter how much of it is still intact.

* FrickinLaserBeams: A handful of laser weapons are available, from the nimble [=COIL=] you get at the start of the game to the powerful, long-range Zeus turret and rapid-fire Streamline lasers.

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Several campaign missions have a unique set of blocks or armour pieces as a reward, such as the Groundhog set you get after beating the Spider King and the Wing-Nut parts you can loot from Wing-Nut.

** For a fighting tech, it's hard to go wrong with a tank or armoured car with shields, repair bubbles, plenty of batteries and a healthy number of cannons. A simple tech like that will outlast and outgun most flashy, agility- or gimmick-based enemies.

** Venture's double-barreled Rapid cannon has the highest DPS in the game, almost twice that of the next-strongest weapon.

* ItemCrafting: Players can [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment craft items]] out of the resources they harvest in the campaign for significantly better value than if they just buy the parts. Crafting is fairly physical, needing resources to be refined and moved to the crafter by conveyor belts.
* KillItWithFire: Speciality of the Reaper X-1 flamethrower and the experimental plasma flamethrower.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: Avalanche launchers and [=GSO=] missile turrets were built for this trope. A tech with enough of them can shoot dozens of missiles per second.

* {{Vibroweapon}}: The Reticule Research vibro-blade, for now exclusive to the [=R&D=] test pack.
* WaveMotionGun: Although they only fire in short bursts, Hawkeye railguns fit the bill.

* BigEater: Big Pete, the [=GeoCorp=] quest NPC, does almost nothing but eat resource chunks. A strange case, since it's unclear whether Big Pete is the fat, jolly tech itself or a normal person inside it.

* HealerSignsOnEarly: The player is given a repair bubble during the introductory missions.
* HomingProjectile: Missiles attempt to fly towards the nearest enemy.

* IProduct: Better Future's sleek, futuristic eCab.

* LevelScaling: [=NPC=] techs spawn depending on the value of and weapon count on the player's tech, although there is some variance to either party's favour.

* BoringButPractical: Pyramid-shaped techs. They look terrible, but a simple pyramid structure provides the maximum possible space for guns while allowing all of them to fire at once.

* GatlingGood: The Hawkeye Auto Cannon is a fairly typical gatling gun, capable of shooting rapidly from six rotating barrels. Better Future has a gatling ''laser'' which fires just as fast.

* {{Vibroweapon}}: The upcoming vibro-blade available in the [=R&D=] test pack.

In the campaign, the player takes on the role of a prospector working on a faraway planet. They can customise their mining rig, or "tech", from modular blocks and tools that snap together to form just about anything, eventually building up a base and an entire fleet of techs. VehicularCombat promptly ensues as various AI-controlled techs come to destroy it all. The player can alternatively forego building a base and wander the planet for as long as they wish.

Five different corporations are operating on the player's procedurally generated planet: [[LightningBruiser Hawkeye]], [[FragileSpeedster Team Venture]], [[MightyGlacier GeoCorp]], [[EverythingIsAnIPodInTheFuture Better Future]] and the [[JackOfAllStats Galactic Survey Organisation]]. Three more corporations are planned. As the player progresses through the game, they unlock more powerful blocks from each corporation, from bigger, faster wheels to stronger blocks and armour, from deadlier weapons to high-grade crafting machines. The player gains experience for each company by completing missions or simply blowing up enemy techs with the appropriate allegiance.

The game features a fast-paced racing mode, the [[RacingMiniGame Gauntlet]], where the player can design a custom racing tech and take on one of two racecourses. Course hazards include turrets, ramps, slaloms and an [[StuffBlowingUp explosive wall]]. Players can try as many techs as they fancy on each course in order to achieve the fastest time, competing on a locally-hosted leaderboard against whoever else plays [=TerraTech=] on the same computer. While multiplayer races are not yet possible, players can share [[RacingGhost racing ghosts]] and effectively take each other on.

A CompetitiveMultiplayer mode allows players to select from eight pre-made techs and blow each other up in one of three arenas. Players can steal parts from downed enemies and find powerful weapons in [[RandomDrop crates]] that fall from the sky to grow stronger. The host for each match can choose between a free-for-all and a [[ColorCodedMultiplayer team-based]] battle.

[=TerraTech=] is a sandbox vehicle-creation and exploration game for the PC, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and [[UsefulNotes/Playstation4 PS4]]. It was officially released on the tenth of August, 2018, after four years in early access.

[=TerraTech=] is a sandbox vehicle-creation and exploration game for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and [[UsefulNotes/Playstation4 PS4]]. It was officially released on the tenth of August, 2018, after four years in early access.

[=TerraTech=] is a sandbox vehicle-creation and exploration game for the PC, Xbox One, and [=PS4=]. It was officially released on the tenth of August, 2018, after four years in early access.

* BeehiveBarrier: High-end sheild generators project these.

Four different corporations are operating on the player's procedurally generated planet: [[LightningBruiser Hawkeye]], [[FragileSpeedster Team Venture]], [[MightyGlacier GeoCorp]] and the [[JackOfAllStats Galactic Survey Organisation]]. A fifth corporation, [[EverythingIsAnIPodInTheFuture Better Future]], is currently in testing. As the player progresses through the game, they unlock more powerful blocks from each corporation, from bigger, faster wheels to stronger blocks and armour, from deadlier weapons to high-grade crafting machines. The player gains experience for each company by completing missions or simply blowing up enemy techs with the appropriate allegiance.

* BeehiveBarrier: The Hawkeye Havoc shield generator projects one of these.

* CoolBike: Two-wheeled techs can be made easily enough with Hawkeye's bike wheels and Venture's fork wheels, although they need a few gyros to balance properly. Bikes can be fitted with guns, missiles and rocket boosters as desired, although resource processing can take up a bit much weight.
* CoolCar: The player can easily build one of these, complete with booster rockets, cannons and whatever they feel like.

** A notable example is the hover glitch. If a tech contains a hover plate facing a wheel, the hover plate generates continuous thrust in one direction and can allow the tech to use ground controls whilst airborne. Players have exploited the hover glitch to build airships and perpetual motion machines.

* FrickinLaserBeams: A handful of laser weapons are available, from the nimble [=COIL=] you get at the start of the game to the powerful, long-range Zeus turret.
* GatlingGood: The Hawkeye Auto Cannon is a fairly typical gatling gun, capable of shooting rapidly from six rotating barrels. Better Future has a gatling laser which fires just as fast, although without the six-barrel setup.

* ItemCrafting: Players can [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment craft items]] out of the resources they harvest in the campaign for significantly better value than if they just buy the parts.

* LampshadeHanging: The GSO Altimeter's description states that it measures the height above sea level, and then points out that it doesn't say in which direction the sea is.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: Avalanche launchers and GSO missile turrets were built for this trope. A large enough tech with enough of them can shoot dozens of missiles per second.
* MeaningfulName: All the quest [=NPCs=] have them. Crafty Mike teaches the player about crafting, Suzie Vroom drives fast cars, Big Pete is big and Sergeant Smash is a tough soldier.
* MoreDakka: A reliable strategy for mid-game techs. The more guns you have, the more damage you do; the only downside is that your tech must have space for all the guns.

* DrillSergeantNasty: Sergeant [[MeaningfulName Smash]] from the Hawkeye mission line. He starts out berating the player at every opportunity, but mellows out as the player's license grade goes up.

* LovableRogue: Crafty Mike, the GSO quest-giver. He always seems to have dubiously-legal "business" to take care of, so he ropes the player into doing minor tasks around his bases. The loveableness comes into play because he lets the player keep the bases, including [[DiscOneNuke powerful crafting equipment]] that can't be found anywhere else unless the player gets lucky with invaders.