Tower Unite News

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for May 6th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since April 29th, 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]May/June 2024 Condo Contest[/h2]



Hey everyone, this time the contest is about custom Game World Maps!

Your entry can be for any of the Game Worlds that have Workshop Map SDK support (so Virus, SDNL, or Little Crusaders), and there’s no time requirement for when the map was made!

Unlike previous contests, your entry must be uploaded to the Workshop and playable in TU! (We want maps to be judged on their gameplay and art!)

The submission period ends on June 6th, 2024 at 11:59 PM.

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

[h2]May 2024 Dev Update[/h2]



Last week, we released our May 2024 dev update, which detailed everything we worked on in April, and what we plan on working on in May.

You can check that out here.

[h2]Minigolf SDK[/h2]

Work continues on getting the Minigolf SDK ready for release.

Johanna continued working on the Minigolf SDK.

macdguy worked on getting the Minigolf SDK editor completed.

[h3]Minigolf SDK: Editor WIP[/h3]



[h3]Minigolf SDK: Visible Grid for Grid Snap WIP[/h3]

Note: This will also work for Condo Editing.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna started working on a major optimization and small art pass to the Subway area of the Plaza.

Joshua worked on getting the new workshop rig ready for release.

Lifeless worked on some accessibility features. He made a basic color blind mode for Minigolf.

macdguy continued working on Workshop Sound Packs.

Nuclearxpotato remade the keypad model, made a second keypad model, and started working on a new Minigolf map.

Sketchman worked on fixing some outstanding issues and bug fixes.

[h3]New Keypad Item and Updated Keypad[/h3]



[h3]Workshop Sound Packs WIP[/h3]



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since April 29th, 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: 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/devupdates/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

Hey everyone, we’re back to talk about what we’ve been up to in April, what we’re going to get up to in May, and other topics!



We’ve got more fun events lined up for you all in May! Once again, be sure to let us know what events you want to see in the game. We really appreciate any input you all have on these. We’ve also made a thread to keep track of any suggestions you have here.


The Cornelius and Birb Makeship plush campaign was a success! You guys rock! We sold 726 plushes, and we are so grateful for everyone’s support with the campaign. They’re now being made, so if you bought a plush, keep an eye out for more info on shipping from Makeship in the coming months!

Keep an eye out for future merch collaborations with Makeship as well!


During April we were hard at work on the Bumper Cars update!

As Bumper Cars is a Plaza attraction, it was a tricky process to work on and test as we have to work on the large main Plaza level. Working on that level can often bring about issues with lighting and other parts of the game that are inter-connected, but Bumper Cars is finally released!

We’re so glad it’s finally out to you all, and its been awesome to see you all having fun with it. We also got a hot fix out to resolve any issues that popped up along the way.


These are the big features on our minds post-Bumper Cars:

• Minigolf SDK
  
• Ball Race SDK
  
• Workshop Sound Packs
  
• New Workshop Rig
  
• Transit Station Optimizations/Art Pass
  
• Arcade, SDNL, & Game World Maps

We’re shifting our focus to completing the Minigolf SDK, which will allow players to create custom Minigolf maps! It’s an ambitious feature, but it’s going to be fun for you all and also help give us streamlined tools when making Minigolf maps in the future!

During April, progress has been made on various features of the Minigolf: SDK, such as:

• curved ramp tool
  
• side shifter tool
  
• improvements and additional features for existing tools
  
• half pipe tool
  
• s-bend tool

We’re in the final stretch of creating all of the assets for the Minigolf editor, and just need to finish up some additional tools as well as setting it all up.

Like we’ve said before, these Minigolf tools require a lot more work than other Game World Map tools, and we have to balance what we’re working on between the different projects going on. But, we’re making a lot of progress with it!


We are also working on getting the Ball Race SDK out, which comes with its own tools, such as a spline platform tool (Canvas Spline Mesh), custom music support (with ogg), and leaderboards for Workshop maps.

For leaderboards, we are planning a way to create staff-approved leaderboards for SDK maps which will work the same as our normal leaderboards but tied to the Workshop map. This process will be similar to the staff-approved unit payouts that both Minigolf and Ball Race will require. The staff-approved process will be done by us tagging a Workshop map as “Unit Approved” and then the unit payouts & leaderboards will be enabled for that map. This is planned so we can ensure maps are made fairly and not just for unit boosting.


We’re really excited to share we’ve been working on Workshop Sound Packs. These will allow players to upload custom sound packs to the Workshop to use in their Condos and SDK Maps! This feature should be available in the next update.


We’re also very close to finishing a guide for the new Workshop rig and putting some finishing touches on implementing it in the game, and that will be coming out very soon as well.


We also wanted to share that we’ve been doing optimization work as well as an art pass on the Transit station, which will improve performance and visuals.


We’ve gotten started on implementing voice lines for SDNL, but, since working on the Boardwalk, we’ve also been talking about shifting gears and getting some work done on the Arcade as we discussed at the beginning of the year. These discussions have been about finishing games that have artwork, adding new games, and doing optimization work.

There has already been progress on that optimization work, mainly reducing server-side CPU calculations to help with server performance.

Game World Maps are still always in development and waiting for an opportunity for testing and release, and we’re experimenting with some fun ideas for upcoming ones that we’re excited to see come to fruition.


There’s a couple of things we wanted to touch base on in regard to backend work.

In previous Dev Updates, we brought up the Patron rewards as well as Dedicated Condos work. Patron rewards have had some delays as we were prioritizing a new ban appeal system that will better streamline our moderation process, and dedicated Condos have had delays due to Plaza Optimization work mentioned above. You should see progress on both soon.

We’ve also been working on more thoroughly going through and organizing our forum backlog of bug reports, crashes and other game issues, as well as suggestions. We may ask for some feedback from you all to help us out with narrowing down existing issues in a survey some time, so keep an eye out for that.

That’s gonna do it for this Dev Update, thanks for reading!



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/devupdates/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

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for April 29th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since April 15th, 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]Bumper Cars Update! (0.17.11.0)[/h2]



Last week, we released the Bumper Cars update, bringing a new plaza activity for you to bump and bash your friends in.

The update also includes a bunch of new food, party, and anniversary items.

You can check out everything about that update here.

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna worked on getting the models completed for bumper cars, as well as working on the Mingolf SDK.

Joshua worked on food items for the snack stand, as well as new weapon animations for custom hands. He also worked on getting the new workshop rig ready for release.

Lifeless continued working on a new map, Zombie Massacre: Escape.

macdguy worked on releasing the bumper cars update.

Nuclearxpotato worked on bumper car upgrades, and new items.

Sketchman worked on fixing some outstanding issues and bug fixes.

[h3]New Weapon Animations[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since April 15th, 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: 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/devupdates/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

This update addresses issues with the new Bumper Cars update.


Changes

• Plaza - Bumper Cars: Removed nightclub requirement from one of the bumper car upgrades
  
• Plaza - Bumper Cars: Increased max players to 12 and added more spawn points

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Plaza crashes relating to Balloon Pop
  
• Fixed player model appearance colors not showing up for default player models
  
• Plaza- Boardwalk: Fixed "Steady Aim" and "Seahorse Wrangler" achievements
  
• Plaza - Milk Jug Toss: Fixed "Milk Jug Champion" and "Milk Delivery" achievements
  
• Plaza - Balloon Pop: Fixed Balloon Pop submitting leaderboard scores that are less than 5 seconds
  
• Plaza - Bumper Cars: Fixed blurry textures for bumper car color masks
  
• Plaza - Bumper Cars: Fixed "Harlequin Bumper Car Paintjob" not showing up on the upgrade list
  
• Condo IO: Fixed Damage Heal Volume not displaying name of player who was killed by it to Global Message module
  
• Condo IO: Fixed Hit Target Volume not displaying name of player who killed the volume to Global Message module
  
• Condo IO: Fixed Global Message connection message data sometimes clearing when first loading the connections

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!

http://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/devupdates/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

Bumper Cars are here at last! Bump and bash into friends and strangers in this fun new Plaza minigame! Hop into a bumper car or join any ongoing matches to get in on the action!


Bumper Car upgrades and customizations are available right next to the Bumper Cars arena. Chat with Firey Guy - he's got horns, paint jobs, lights, and antenna accessories for your ride.





More candy & food have arrived at the Boardwalk! There’s a new Snack Bar that just opened up by a totally friendly and not unit-grubbing pup, Franky Jr.! You can get some delicious-looking junk there, so be sure to check it out! He's got cotton candy, corn dogs, and churros.

We also adjusted the Boardwalk attractions, making Roll & Race and Splash Blasterz playable solo, and added leaderboards and achievements to the boardwalk games.





Kalleira has more anniversary items at the Anniversary store, including new guitars, and more party items such as a Kazoo!




Tower Threads and Celebrations have new party items such as a Clown Afro and Neck Ruffle, and Paper Streamers.

Songbirds also has a new Retro Guitar available, with 8-bit MIDI support!





We're really proud of this update and Bumper Cars, and happy to finally get it out for you all to enjoy. We'll be working on more Boardwalk games, along with new Arcade games in upcoming updates. We are also busy working on the Minigolf and Ball Race SDK tools, along with a new Ball Race map - Eruption!




Changes

• NEW PLAZA MINIGAME: Bumper Cars!
  
• Plaza - Boardwalk: Added new Snack Bar store with a new character and items
  
• Plaza - Boardwalk: Milk Jug Toss's lights are now animated
  
• Plaza - Boardwalk: Added leaderboards for Best Time of the Week - Roll & Race, Best Time of the Week - Splash Blasterz, Most Points of the Week - Bumper Cars, Best Time of the Week - Balloon Pop
  
• Plaza - Boardwalk: Roll & Race and Splash Blasterz can now be played alone
  
• Plaza - Bumper Cars: Added Bumper Car Upgrade store with upgrades for Paint Jobs, Horns, Lights, and Antenna Toppers
  
• Added Cardboard Catsack, Party Crown (Red), Pretty Catsack, Party Crown (Green), Party Crown (Blue), Logo Bass Guitar, Catsack Guitar, and Kazoo to Anniversary store
  
• Added Neck Ruffle, Clown Afro, Colorful Afro to Tower Threads clothing store
  
• Added Paper Streamers to Celebrations store
  
• Added Holdable Cotton Candy, Holdable Corn Dog, Corn Dog, Cotton Candy, Churro, Holdable Churro to new Franky Jr.'s store
  
• Added Hot Dog (placeable), Bagged Lunch, Franky Fries to Franky's store
  
• Added Milk Carton, Peanut Butter Jar, Marshmallow, Flour Bag, Binary Bytes Cereal Box, Soy Sauce, Sugar Bag, Butter, Tomato to Fresh food store
  
• Added Jimmy Joystick Ball, Cotton Candy Beehive to Arcade prize store
  
• Added Popsicle Catsack to Theater and Freezing Point stores
  
• Added Retro Guitar to the Songbirds music store
  
• Added Ashtray to Rob's Imports store
  
• Plaza: Added Catsack Popsicle to the Freezing Point (also still in the Theater)
  
• Added One Way Blocking, which is the old blocking method. Blocking is still by default Two Way Blocking, this is just a new Block method
  
• Plaza - Boardwalk - Milk Jug Toss: Updated scoring to match the ticket payout
  
• Plaza - Boardwalk - Balloon Pop: Sped up throwing a bit
  
• Condo IO: Global Message now supports longer messages
  
• Condo IO: Added new keywords to Global Message - %host%, %date%, %time%, %health%, %location%
  
• Condo: Added "Has Frame" setting to Transdimensional Painting
  
• Condo - Mover: Added "SetSpinRate" IO input
  
• Condo - Mover: Added "ApproachSpinRate" IO input
  
• Condo - Seat Volume: Added pool tube poses
  
• Condo - Fireworks: Fireworks no longer remove after exploding and will reset back to where they launched
  
• Condo - Fireworks: Added "Ignite" IO input to fireworks
  
• Condo - Light Rope Items (ex. Midway Lights): Added "Toggle", "TurnOn", "TurnOff" IO inputs
  
• Condo - Soda Machine: Added "SetCanvas", "SetGlow", "SetSpawnLimit", "SetVelocity", "SetSpawnDelay" IO inputs
  
• Condo - Trivia Podium: Added "OnSit" and "OnLeave" IO outputs
  
• Condo - Spirit Bored: Added "SetQuestion", "SetAnswer", "StartTalk" IO inputs
  
• Condo - Spirit Bored: Added "OnGoodbye" IO output
  
• Condo - Canvas: Added "SetAnimColumns", "SetAnimRows" IO inputs

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a crash when copying a counter from itself
  
• Fixed Canvas Wedge walkable slope angle being too strong
  
• Fixed Basket not being colorable
  
• Fixed a few bugs with Two Way Block
  
• Condo IO: Fixed line breaks not working well with Global Message
  
• Accelerate: Fixed Accelerate kart preview being blown out
  
• Libretro: Fixed DPad buttons pressing with left joystick on gamepads
  
• Condo/SDK: Fixed delete item command (with delete key) occurring while in item properties menu
  
• Boardwalk - Milk Jug Toss: Fixed timer ending too soon
  
• Condo: Fixed guitar instrument animations not playing
  
• Condo - Fireworks: Fixed firework rockets not launching into the air (because they thought there was a wall in the way)
  
• Ferris Wheel (including Condo version): Fixed carriages sometimes snapping off and fixed a duplicate carriage
  
• Condo: Fixed weapon projectile physics (such as bowling ball) not interacting with IO Trigger Volumes

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!

http://forums.pixeltailgames.com/c/devupdates/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