1. Tower Unite
  2. News

Tower Unite News

Minigolf Map Maker (0.18.0.0)



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Minigolf Map Maker

Hold on to your putters, because the Minigolf Map Maker is here!!!

TU players can now create their own functional Minigolf maps using the map maker!

You can use custom workshop models, workshop sounds, canvases, movers and more to make your Minigolf map!

To get started, we made a guide here: https://towerunite.com/guides/wk_minigolf.html



You can find the Minigolf Map Maker tools with the rest of the Game World creation tools in the Condo I/O inventory tab.

We spent a lot of time creating unique course pieces with tons of variations which can be snapped together using the grid snap tool! Simply place your pieces, adjust their settings, place down a hole and start pad, and play!



You can utilize camera tools, pipes, launchers, cannons, out of bounds volumes, and so much more to create awesome courses, and upload them to the Steam Workshop so other players can join the fun!

There will also be the opportunity for community maps to be approved for unit payouts, so players can get rewarded for their skills like they would when playing a standard Minigolf map.



Plaza: New Transit Station!

The transit station has been completely revamped, redesigned, and fully optimized. This new station offers a more exciting spawn point for the Plaza and runs better than the previous one! Fans of Lobby 2 will enjoy our callbacks.



Plaza Optimizations - Less Hitches!

We have been working hard on optimization for the Plaza and have greatly reduced hitching in the Plaza!


New Game World Map Select

Starting a game world is now easier than ever, along with improved support for custom game world maps.

When going to the Game Worlds tab on the menu menu, and selecting a game world of your choice, you will now see thumbnails of the available maps and custom maps.

Installing custom maps has also been improved and is now quicker to get into.



Virus: Horde Mode - New PVE Gametype

Tired of sitting around and waiting for the infection to spread? In Horde mode, it’s already here!

Horde mode is a new PVE gametype for Virus, where you must fend off the infected until the time runs out!

You can now join Virus matches in single player and fend off the horde of infected!

You can play horde mode with friends as well, but it only requires one player to begin!

Horde Mode is also supported in user created maps!


SDNL Mutators & Player Outlines

Mutators are game settings that can be applied by the game host that customizes gameplay.

Mutators have been added to SDNL to allow for more customized matches that suit lobby sizes and play preferences!

Also, we have added player outlines to non-team game types for better visibility.



Minigolf: Player Collision Mutator

We’ve added Minigolf: Collision mode for you all to play around with. This mutator allows balls to collide, allowing for wacky antics galore. Keep in mind, when this mutator is enabled, HIO achievements are disabled along with leaderboards.




Camera I/O - Create your own cutscenes in your Condo!

There are new Camera Volume and Camera IO items that can be accessed through the IO tab! Use these items to make walking through your Condo more dramatic and cinematic, or create cutscenes for your stories! There are tons of ways these tools can be messed around with to add to the Condo-building possibilities, so mess around with them today!



We made a guide to get you started on how to use the new Camera tool: https://towerunite.com/guides/condo_camera.html


Condo: Live Surface Previewing

The condo material editor has been improved. Now when you hover over a material for your walls, it'll preview what it'll look like immediately, allowing you to make better decisions on if it works for your condo.



New Guide Website

We have created a new guide website that covers a range of helpful information about the game, common support issues, how to play, and how to use the new condo tools and map creation tools.

Check it out here:
https://towerunite.com/guides/intro.html


New Tiki Furniture Set

In anticipation for the new Dino Drive Minigolf map we're working on, we have a new Tiki furniture set for you!




VR Alpha Menu

We’re really excited to get to share more VR functionality with you all! If you’ve been keeping up with our monthly Dev Updates, you’ll know we recently had a breakthrough in our VR development and have been able to get back to work on it.

VR is not fully functional still, but there is much better menu functionality than there was before. It is still very much in alpha, but there is now a new menu you can interact with and join the Plaza, your Condo, and other player Condos. Keep in mind that VR is not finished, so while you can interact with some items such as doors, things like picking up items does not work and using games will lock you. VR is view only right now. We currently recommend using a gamepad to navigate the VR world if you intend on playing games while in VR. Game Worlds are currently not supported.

To access this new menu, press one of the right buttons on your right motion controller. You can then interact using the right trigger.



Changes
  • New Transit Station!
  • Minigolf Map Maker
  • Virus: Added a new game type - Horde Mode! Horde Mode is a singleplayer/co-op gametype where infected zombies attack. Players must fend them off until the time runs out. Horde mode is compatible with custom levels
  • Minigolf: Added new mutator - Players Collide. When this mutator is enabled, golf balls will collide with each other. HIO Achievements are disabled while this mode is enabled
  • Game Ports: The Plaza is now visible in the background, giving a more immersive feel
  • Added Plaza restart chat notifications when the Plaza is about to restart for daily maintenance
  • Sped up workshop map browser
  • New map select: Now displays maps as thumbnails instead of a list. Top voted custom levels also now show up automatically in the map select
  • Added Random option when starting a new map to the map select screen
  • Laser Tag: Reduced rounds from 3 rounds to 2
  • You can now set a custom thumbnail for your Condos/Maps
  • Added controller support to Fishing


New Items
  • Added Tiki Torch, Tiki Bar, Modular Bamboo, Tiki Armchair, Tiki Sofa, Tiki Dining Chair, Tiki Dining Table, Tiki Coffee Table, Tiki Accent Table, Tiki Shelf, Outdoor Cushion to Seasons/Celebrations/Oasis stores
  • Added Bag of Chips to Fresh/Vendy/Boardwalk Snackbar stores
  • Added Barrel (Physics), Green Goo (Physics) to Rob's Imports store
  • Added Camera Volume, Camera IO, and Minigolf SDK items to Condo IO inventory


Misc Changes
  • Clicking on Play on a workshop level will now check if the map is downloaded, download automatically, then start play after it was finished downloading (instead of having download then having to click on play after)
  • Added up vote count display on workshop level thumbnails when browsing workshop maps
  • Added visual feedback when the host is downloading a custom workshop level
  • Added visual feedback when the custom levels in the votemap screen are being searched for
  • Reduced amount of clicks needs to start a new game - you just need to click on a map to host a server
  • UI: Reduced visual clutter on workshop vote maps
  • UI: Removed glow effect from current events image to reduce visual clutter
  • Added controller support to Game World map selection menus



Condo IO Changes
  • Condo IO: Added != to Logic Gate Equals
  • Condo IO: Added "Lock", "Unlock" IO inputs to Relay Module, allowing you to lock relays from being fired when in this locked state
  • Added Camera Volume IO item, which allows players to override player cameras while inside the volume, used with Camera IO. Can be used for level editors such as Minigolf
  • Added Camera IO item, which is a placeable camera (hidden from view) that can set the player's view. The camera has features for following the player, FOV, aspect ratio, zooming (IO input), setting the camera for individual players, and setting the camera for all players (for cutscenes)
  • Added Physics Spawner IO item, which is a new IO item that can spawn physics items when used with IO. Can be used for level editors


Condo Changes
  • Condo/SDK: Added Live Surface Previewing - when highlighting over surfaces it'll update the in-game surface as a preview so you can decide on surfaces easier
  • Condo/SDK: Surface thumbnails now animate for surfaces that have animations (such as fire)
  • Condo/SDK: Added Heat Wave condo surface material


SDK Changes
  • SDK - Little Crusaders: Birb now moves around in custom levels! Birb AI pathing now works automatically


Game World Changes
  • SDNL: Added player outlines for better visibility on non-team games
  • SDNL: Reduced kills to end round from 30 to 10
  • SDNL: Added mutators per game type (low grav, 1 HP mode, longer rounds)
  • SDNL: Sliding will now slide you towards the direction you first started the slide in
  • SDNL: Sliding will uncrouch you after sliding
  • SDNL: Sliding now has a slight cooldown


Bug Fixes
  • Plaza optimizations and hitching fix
  • Fixed canvas cache system not working properly
  • Fixed High Quality Shaders setting not working
  • Fixed several issues where Game World hosts could not download custom levels and votemap would get stuck waiting
  • Fixed several issues where game world ports would not download custom levels / start custom levels
  • Fixed co-op condo clients timing out when using slider settings
  • Fixed a crash with IO and movers (specifically with stop/start events)
  • Fixed first person camera being broken after leaving RC items (such as RC minigolf ball, RC dragon)
  • Fixed workshop pending download count not showing up
  • Fixed performance issues with Logic Gate Equals IO
  • Fixed workshop map titles not showing up on waiting for players menu
  • Fixed up an absurd amount of player wearable offsets
  • Fixed pool tube animations not looping
  • Fixed Noise Makers Volume and Sound Emitter Volume settings not restoring from save data
  • Fixed voice chat volume slider closing the scoreboard when you interact with it
  • Fixed canvas URL data not being saved if you set the URL then click on a different canvas tab
  • Fixed not being able to use camera controls (mouse wheel) after using a Hidden Seat that has a non-default pose set
  • Fixed pending workshop sound packs not displaying as if a sound pack is being downloaded
  • Fixed Teleport Volume not teleporting Ball Race orbs or Minigolf balls
  • SDK: Fixed LC round end music not being muted when the Game World Music manager has music muted
  • Fixed hair not hiding (for hats that hide hair) if you have multiple wearables and also not unhiding hair when removing wearables
  • Fixed Vault item render scale causing it to pop out when open
  • Fixed up vote count not updating correctly when previewing different maps in the map workshop browser
  • Fixed relax pose for NPCs
  • UI: Fixed padding issues with map select in 720p mode
  • UI: Fixed long map titles going off the map icon section
  • Fixed Project 12 NPC dialogue clipping through media player
  • Fixed Workshop Sound Emitters not playing when leaving their range unless you are very close to them
  • Fixed pending workshop downloads not displaying when on a custom game world level
  • Fixed RC Golf Ball not working with Trigger/Teleport Volumes
  • Fixed vehicles not teleporting properly with teleporters





Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail
We love awesome people like you!

Follow our developments on our Trello in near real-time:
https://trello.com/b/6BwRMiPw/tower-unite-roadmap

If you love our game and want to support its development, please consider getting a Supporter Pack! We'd be so grateful!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2792910/Tower_Unite__Supporter_Pack

Take a peek at what's being worked on every week in our weekly dev logs! There's bound to be something interesting every week!

https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/announcements/weekly-dev-logs

Please report bugs & submit suggestions on our forums. We're active everyday & here to help.
For bug reports: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/bug-report/18
For suggestions: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/suggestions/7

Weekly Dev Log for July 30th, 2024

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for July 30th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since July 22nd, 2024. Note: Devs that don't appear in the weekly log are not necessarily away or not doing work, but may be working on things currently not announced or backend work that doesn't need to be detailed.

[h2]August 2024 Condo Contest (Sci-Fi)[/h2]



Hey everyone!

The theme of this month's contest is Sci-Fi!

So, think alien invaders, spaceships, laboratories, robots, high-tech cities, or anything else like that that reasonably fits the theme!

Your submission can be a regular Condo or a Workshop Game World Map. The submission should be something that was made after the contest was announced.

Winner will take home 2,000,000 units!

The submission period ends on September 2nd, 2024 at 11:59 PM CT.

Be sure to look at the prizes and follow the rules here.

[h2]Minigolf[/h2]

macdguy worked on a mutator that adds collision to the Minigolf balls.

[h3]Minigolf: Collision Mutator[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]SDNL[/h2]

macdguy worked on adding outlines to players to help with visbility, as well as mutator support.

[h3]SDNL: Mutators[/h3]

Players can now select different mutators / settings in SDNL (will also be in other game worlds in the future).



[h3]SDNL: Player Outlines[/h3]



[h2]Virus: Theme Park[/h2]

Johanna continued working on the Virus map, Theme Park.

[h3]Virus: Theme Park[/h3]



[h3]Virus: Theme Park Ice Cream Van WIP[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Joshua worked on getting the Workshop Skeleton V3 ready for release.

Lifeless continued working on the Minigolf map, "Dino Drive".

macdguy worked on fixes for the Minigolf Map Maker, had a breakthrough with adding VR support, fixed some issues with SDNL, and finished Virus Horde Mode.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on the Minigolf map, "Dino Drive".

Sketchman worked on bug and crash fixes.

Wheezwer worked on a demo map made using the Minigolf Map Maker to demonstrate it's capability and flexibility.

[h3]Minigolf: Dino Drive Props[/h3]

These will be future furniture sets.



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since July 22nd, 2024 at PixelTail Games.

---

Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail
We love awesome people like you!

Follow our developments on our Trello in near real-time: https://trello.com/b/6BwRMiPw/tower-unite-roadmap

If you like our game and want to support development, please consider getting a Supporter Pack:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2792910/Tower_Unite__Supporter_Pack

Take a peek at what's being worked on every week in our weekly dev logs! There's bound to be something interesting every week! https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/announcements/weekly-dev-logs/65

Please report bugs & submit suggestions on our forums. We're active everyday & here to help.
For bug reports: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/bug-report/18
For suggestions: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/suggestions/7

LAST CHANCE: Kalleira Plush & TU Pins Campaign Ends in about 29 Hours!

LAST CHANCE!

The Kalleira Plush & TU Pins Campaign on Makeship is ending!

This will be the LAST CHANCE to get a Kalleira Plush and TU Pins of your own!

Check out the page to see how it works and get one for yourself!

ORDER THEM HERE


https://www.makeship.com/products/kalleira-plushie


https://www.makeship.com/products/tower-unite-3-pack-of-pins





Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail
We love awesome people like you!

Follow our developments on our Trello in near real-time:
https://trello.com/b/6BwRMiPw/tower-unite-roadmap

If you love our game and want to support its development, please consider getting a Supporter Pack! We'd be so grateful!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2792910/Tower_Unite__Supporter_Pack


Take a peek at what's being worked on every week in our weekly dev logs! There's bound to be something interesting every week!

https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/announcements/weekly-dev-logs

Please report bugs & submit suggestions on our forums. We're active everyday & here to help.
For bug reports: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/bug-report/18
For suggestions: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/suggestions/7

Weekly Dev Log for July 22nd, 2024

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for July 22nd, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since July 16th, 2024. Note: Devs that don't appear in the weekly log are not necessarily away or not doing work, but may be working on things currently not announced or backend work that doesn't need to be detailed.

[h2]Kalleira Plushie and Pins - 3 days left![/h2]



Since you guys are awesome and funded our previous campaigns, we were able to start two Makeship campaigns on June 28th!

For a limited time, you can grab:
3-pack of pins and/or
Kalleira (+ Cosmic Catsack) plushie!

You can order them in a bundle, so you can save, if you want to do that!

The campaigns will be running for a limited time, so be sure to keep an eye on them if you want to snag them for yourself!

Buying this merch seriously helps us with funding TU's development, and we can't thank you enough for supporting us in any way you have already.

Also, to those of you who bought the Cornelius Plush: keep an eye out! Those should be shipping out later this month!

[h2]August 2024 Condo Contest (Sci-Fi)[/h2]



Hey everyone!

The theme of this month's contest is Sci-Fi!

So, think alien invaders, spaceships, laboratories, robots, high-tech cities, or anything else like that that reasonably fits the theme!

Your submission can be a regular Condo or a Workshop Game World Map. The submission should be something that was made after the contest was announced.

Winner will take home 2,000,000 units!

The submission period ends on September 2nd, 2024 at 11:59 PM CT.

Be sure to look at the prizes and follow the rules here.

[h2]New Guide Website[/h2]

We wanted to share the New Tower Guide website with everyone.

The new guide website is a collection of all our guides all in one location, and covers a range of subjects, such as Condo I/O, Movers, Map Makers, etc.

This new guide website will serve as the place for players to look for help on certain aspects of the game - and people can use it to link to others if people need help with common things.

Existing guides have been updated as well. For example, the Condo IO / Movers guides have more information and now there's a guide on how to use the Spline tool.

Right now, we focused on porting and updating existing guides, as well as creating the Minigolf Map Maker guide, but we want to also cover some more simpler guides, like how to get started when first decorating your condo, and some gameplay guides on each game world.

There are videos and image examples included in most guides. We'll be updating the in-game help menu to open the guide website as well. The Minigolf Map Maker guide is on here if you want to get a preview of it before the map maker update comes out.

Check it out at https://towerunite.com/guides/.

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Sabrina finished setting up the new guide website.

Johanna finished working on the Plaza optimizations.

Lifeless continued working on the Minigolf map, "Dino Drive".

macdguy worked on AI navigation changes required for the Workshop Map Makers, as well as adding testing support to all of the Minigolf objects. He also worked on adding information to the guide website.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on the Minigolf map, "Dino Drive".

Sketchman worked on bug and crash fixes.

Wheezwer worked on art for Virus and the Plaza.

Will continued working on music for SDNL.

[h3]Custom Map Thumbnails[/h3]

You can now set a custom thumbnail for your workshop condo/maps.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Camera Example[/h3]

The camera volume is now complete and ready for release. We've made an example of what's possible with the new tool.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since July 16th, 2024 at PixelTail Games.

---

Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail
We love awesome people like you!

Follow our developments on our Trello in near real-time: https://trello.com/b/6BwRMiPw/tower-unite-roadmap

If you like our game and want to support development, please consider getting a Supporter Pack:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2792910/Tower_Unite__Supporter_Pack

Take a peek at what's being worked on every week in our weekly dev logs! There's bound to be something interesting every week! https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/announcements/weekly-dev-logs/65

Please report bugs & submit suggestions on our forums. We're active everyday & here to help.
For bug reports: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/bug-report/18
For suggestions: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/suggestions/7

Weekly Dev Log for July 16th, 2024

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for July 16th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since July 8th, 2024. Note: Devs that don't appear in the weekly log are not necessarily away or not doing work, but may be working on things currently not announced or backend work that doesn't need to be detailed.

[h2]Kalleira Plushie and Pins[/h2]



Since you guys are awesome and funded our previous campaigns, we were able to start two Makeship campaigns on June 28th!

For a limited time, you can grab:
3-pack of pins and/or
Kalleira (+ Cosmic Catsack) plushie!

You can order them in a bundle, so you can save, if you want to do that!

The campaigns will be running for a limited time, so be sure to keep an eye on them if you want to snag them for yourself!

Buying this merch seriously helps us with funding TU's development, and we can't thank you enough for supporting us in any way you have already.

Also, to those of you who bought the Cornelius Plush: keep an eye out! Those should be shipping out now!

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Sabrina worked on setting up a new guide website.

Johanna finished working on the Plaza optimizations.

Lifeless worked on the Minigolf map, "Dino Drive", as well as some screens for the Game Worlds Ports.

macdguy worked on finishing the Minigolf Map Maker, finished the Unit approval tag for Workshop Maps, worked on a Live Surface Previewer, worked on the new guide website (Minigolf Map Maker guide), and the VR menu and VR IK arms.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on the Minigolf map, "Dino Drive".

Sketchman worked on bug and crash fixes.

Wheezwer worked on Makeship marketing and helping with the guide website.

Will continued working on music for SDNL.

[h3]Condo: Live Surface Preview[/h3]

Now when you hover over a surface, it'll update the in-game surface as you hover allowing you to preview it live (works with your color settings as well).

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Minigolf: Dino Drive Prop[/h3]

A souvenir shack with some Dino Drive accessories. The accessories are unlocked with the usual Minigolf map-specific achievements (Played, Mastered, etc).

The shack has the same scale as the other Booth-style condo items and will be available as an item.



[h3]Game Worlds Ports: In-Progress Board[/h3]

A new board that will show you all currently in-progress games across all game worlds, allowing you to quickly jump in an active game.



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since July 8th, 2024 at PixelTail Games.

---

Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail
We love awesome people like you!

Follow our developments on our Trello in near real-time: https://trello.com/b/6BwRMiPw/tower-unite-roadmap

If you like our game and want to support development, please consider getting a Supporter Pack:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2792910/Tower_Unite__Supporter_Pack

Take a peek at what's being worked on every week in our weekly dev logs! There's bound to be something interesting every week! https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/announcements/weekly-dev-logs/65

Please report bugs & submit suggestions on our forums. We're active everyday & here to help.
For bug reports: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/bug-report/18
For suggestions: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/suggestions/7