Tower Unite News

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for June 17th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since June 11th, 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]Workshop Sound Packs - The Big Summer Update! (0.17.12.0)[/h2]



Last week, we released Update 0.17.12.0, which brought with it Workshop Sound Packs, a new Emote menu, optimizations for the Arcade, fixes for Workshop on Linux and Steam Deck, a new Workshop Rig, and much more.

You can see all the features in that update here.

Additionally, we released a hotfix over the weekend to fix some bugs, which you can see here.

We're currently working on another hotfix to address other issues, like server stability. You can see the progress on that hotfix here.

[h2]Updated Transit Station[/h2]

Johanna has been working on an updated transit station, working to make the area more inviting and less overwhelming. The updated station is based on the original Lobby 2 transit station, but completely remodeled from the ground up, with the aim of it being incredibly optimized.

It also features fully functional and animated escalators!

[h3]Updated Transit Station[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Sabrina worked on putting the finishing touches on the web based ban appeal system.

Johanna worked on finishing up the Minigolf SDK.

Lifeless continued working on the Ball Race map, Eruption, while also working on other quality of life features.

macdguy helped release the update and the accompanying hotfix.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on a new Minigolf map.

Sketchman worked on various optimizations and bug fixes, along with helping release the update.

Wheezwer worked on an art pass of the arcade cabinets, along with other art related tasks.

Will continued working on music.

[h3]Minigolf SDK: Cannon Items WIP[/h3]



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since June 11th, 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

This hot fix addresses issues with the latest update.

Changes

• You can now emote while in seats
  
• Workshop sound emitter will now default to 0 random playback interval so it'll loop cleanly
  
• Condo IO - Logic Compare: Added IO inputs "SetCompare", "SetComparisonType" and "Copy"

Bug Fixes

• Fixed some more issues relating to translucent workshop player models and arcade machines, fixing their materials from becoming opaque
  
• Fixed weapon animations not working well with seats
  
• Fixed view self locking head forward
  
• Fixed workshop sound packs looping even when "play once" is enabled
  
• Fixed workshop sound pack editor not creating a scroll bar when there are a lot of sound files
  
• Fixed noclip speed adjust changing without having CTRL down
  
• Fixed Hidden Button not restoring button shape
  
• Fixed Dialogue Volume not being interactive

Known Issues We Are Working On Resolving

• Workshop player model materials get weird normal map issues when playing an arcade game
  
• Plaza server stability issues
  
• Trophy items are not displaying in inventory despite players owning them
  
• Performance issues with Floating Text item
  
• Inventory sorting does not work
  
• Workshop static mesh editor crashes on import
  
• Wearable offset issues for default masculine model and milk cartons
  

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

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

Workshop Sound Packs are here! Now players can upload custom sound packs to the Workshop to use in their Condos and SDK Maps.

Sound Packs are a collection of sound files that can be placed in your Condo and shared with others. A tutorial on how to get started can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3266039265

We also added a bunch of new sound features:

• Playlists - play multiple sounds in an order
  
• Sound Volume - a new volume that handles playback of sound emitters (clientside) based on if you are inside the volume or not. Has options to mute outside sounds as well
  
• Game World Music Manager - override gameplay music for your custom levels
  
• New IO inputs: "SetSound", "SetPlaylistID", "FadeToPitch", Fade duration
  

We’ve jazzed up the emote menu with some custom icons and a larger UI! You can now set up emotes on your keyboard shortcuts for easy access!



This update includes Arcade physics server optimizations, which have been in progress for a few months now! They were tough to work on due to the many unique physics for each Arcade game, as well as a major cleanup of the code. What this means for players is that we’ve improved the networking and reduced the amount of work the simulation has to do so it’ll execute it faster - putting less strain on the Plaza servers.



You can now see quick results as you type in the inventory search bar. This will allow you to get to your intended items quicker and to have a better view of your inventory as a whole.

Internally, we also optimized how items are queried in the system to make improvements to the inventory UI and you’ll see an FPS boost for large inventories.



We’ve fixed the issue with Workshop Models not appearing on Linux machines. The change required us to rework how Workshop models are installed, and, with the added sound packs, the pipeline had to be gutted and refitted. We’re very happy that Workshop will be working again for Linux & Steam Deck.



This update introduces phase 1 of the new Workshop rig! This new rig allows for more fluid animation of player models, IKs, modifying proportions of a model, and massive improvements to the process of rigging player models. We’ve retargeted the old rig to work with the new rig (and existing player models) without any changes needed. That means that legacy Workshop player models are compatible immediately. All the animations have all been overhauled and improved in many ways.

This change was extremely challenging, so we are going to be doing this in phases. This first phase is just implementing the new rig into the game and updating all the animations for it, while also starting to implement IK features for Arcade games (such as on Wheel of Fire).

We are currently getting the importer SDK updated with the 3.0 rig. In phase 2, you will be able to use it for importing your own player models. We are also creating a new updated guide.



As we mentioned in our May Dev Update, we’ve been working on organizing our backlog of bug reports, crashes, and other game issues, and accessibility suggestions have been a part of that! We’ve been able to get a better overview of these suggestions and get a good chunk of them in the game in this update.

All of the accessibility changes in this update were suggested by players. These include various changes to improve general visual and audio experience, changes to reduce eye strain and nausea, changes to controls for easier interactions, and improvements to existing accessibility settings, among other changes. Plaza Minigames, Arcade, Minigolf, Drunk Effects, Condos, Stores, Controls, and other parts of the game all had accessibility changes, so be sure to check out what’s new in the change log below.

And, if you have an accessibility related suggestion or feedback to improve any existing accessibility options, please drop a post in our Accessibility Related Suggestions Megathread: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/t/accessibility-related-suggestions-megathread/40333



[h2]Canvas URL Replacer Tool[/h2]
Big features in this update have had a connection to Condos, so other work has been done on our building tools as well. There are some accessibility additions such as a 3D grid visual and more editor options such as Noclip Speed Adjustment.

There’s also a new Replace Canvas URL tool and Find Canvas tool that will help out with quickly fixing dead image links in a Condo, as well as updating URLs quickly.

Changes have been made to the inventory system, grid snapping, organization, I/O options, and much more.

[h2]Condo Snapshot Improvements[/h2]
And that’s not all! We also massively improved the time it takes to reset your Condo and load Condo snapshots. For builders, you’ll see immediate improvements to these systems.

[h2]Condo IO Updates[/h2]
There’ve been quite a few updates to Condo I/O, but here's some of the highlights:

[h3]Volume Shapes[/h3]
We’ve added Cylinder and Sphere shape types for Volumes!



[h3]Logic Gates[/h3]
Logic Gates are now working! AND, NOT, OR, XOR, Boolean Switch, and Compare are all available to help your IO logic



A new "Relay To All" module was added which lets you call inputs to all items connected to it at once, allowing you to set properties on multiple items with just 1 input

We also moved some items to be I/O items; Sound Emitter, Floating Text, Floating Dialogue, Hidden Seat, Aquarium Volume, and Sound Emitter are now I/O items (no unit cost).


[h2]Libretro[/h2]
We’ve made some improvements to Libretro support, too. These improvements include automatically positioning the camera for Arcade cabinets (allowing for easier play with controllers) and Fullscreen support. Fullscreen also comes with lightgun and touchscreen support!

You can also disable automatic save states and we’ve added hot keys for save states (F3, F4 keys).




Changes

• New Feature: Workshop Sound Packs!!
  
• New Player Emote menu! Emotes now have icons and you can bind hotkeys to each player emote. Hotkeys can be assigned by hovering over the emote and pressing the corresponding weapon key (1-9) and can be used by pressing C + the hotkey (ie. C+1, C+2, etc.)
  
• Added new player emotes: Wave (far), Wave (near), Peace, Clap
  
• Floating Text, Floating Dialogue, Hidden Seat, Aquarium Volume, and Sound Emitter are now IO items (no unit cost)
  
• Updated high quality shaders setting to "Shaders Setting" with low, medium, and high options
  
• Added setting to disable Workshop Player Models in SDNL (separate from the existing Game World setting)
  
• Plaza - New Minigame: Robot Rumble
  
• When the game is not focused, controller inputs will now be ignored
  
• Zombie Massacre: Time is larger and at the top center of the screen now
  
• Zombie Massacre: Weapon info now follows the nearest weapon pickup, making it more noticeable and useful
  
• Virus: Improved Plasma Autorifle weapon animations and effects
  
• Added Workshop Sound Emitter settings to disable, adjust volume, and enable only for your friends only
  
• Store UI: Added +5/+10/+100 buttons when adding things to the cart
  
• Store UI: Capped how many items you can place into your cart to 100 (checkout was always capped to 100, but cart could go above 100 for some reason!)
  
• Store UI: Added remove all button next to items in checkout
  
• Collection Book UI: Plaza Activities and Game Modes are now in alphabetical order
  
• Plaza - Minigames: Increased collision radius of booze in booze bash (should make it easier to play)
  
• Plaza - Minigames: Increased collision radius of fruit in Fruit Frenzy
  
• Casino - Blackjack: Previous bet amount is now remembered for next round
  
• Casino - Roulette: Previous bet amount is now remembered for next round
  
• Casino - Bingo: You can now leave Bingo at any time, but it'll forfeit your cards if you had any
  
• Laser Tag: Reduced waiting for players timer from 30 to 15 seconds
  

New Items

• Added Workshop Sound Emitter (IO item)
  
• Added Sound Volume, which is a new volume that handles playback of sound emitters (clientside) based on if you are inside the volume or not. Has options to mute outside sounds as well
  
• Added Modern TV Stand, Teapot, Mortar And Pestle, Kitchen Plant, Kitchen Decor Plant, Modern Pot Plant Tall, Modern Pot Plant Small to Sweet Suites Furnishings store
  
• Added Security Keypad Plastic to DIY store
  
• Added TV Modern to Central Circuit store
  
• Added Plane TV (a flat plane media player) to Central Circuit store
  
• Added Plane Arcade (a flat plane libretro) to Toy Stop
  

Condo

• Inventory: Search is now instant and shows results as you type
  
• Added "Allow Melee Weapons" condo rule
  
• Added "Replace URL" feature to canvas URL menu, which will replace a given URL with a new URL and apply it to all canvas items that are using that URL
  
• Added "Find" feature to canvas URL menu, which will highlight all items that are using the same selected canvas URL
  
• Added "Check URL" feature to canvas URL menu, which will test download the image so you can check if the link is working
  
• Canvas URL menu now splits the Libretro artwork into its own tab
  
• Added Inventory Icon Scaling: Small, Normal, Large, Very Large (Independent of UI Scaling)
  
• Surfaces (built-in condo walls) now have a glow setting
  
• Inventory: Added "Primitives" section to the category tabs
  
• Inventory: Combined Animation & Story IO category tabs
  
• Inventory: Added icons to the IO category tabs
  
• Editor: Added grid snap settings to the inventory settings UI, so you can change your grid snap amount directly instead of just the hot keys
  
• Editor: Added visual 3D grid while dragging/placing or moving items (Gizmos) or copying items (Copycat) while in grid snap mode
  
• Editor: Defaulted grid snap values on placeable inventory, gizmo editor, and Copycat to 25 units
  
• Editor: Added decimal support to grid snapping
  
• Editor: Added "Ignore Z" setting to grid snapping, which will make grid snapping not snap on up/down placement (Z axis), making it easier to use grid snap while dragging items around
  
• Editor: Each gizmo (translation, rotation, scale) now has its own grid snapping mode toggle, which means if you enable grid snap in translation mode, it won't enable grid snap in rotation mode unless you also toggle grid snap in that mode as well
  
• Editor: Inventory outlines no longer draw tinted color of items behind other items
  
• Editor - Advanced edit mode: Item Finder now remembers if it was open or closed when toggling
  
• Editor - Advanced edit mode: When closing out of advanced edit mode, the gizmos and edit item menus will automatically close
  
• Editor: Translation grid snap mode and grid snap scale are now synced across all actions - gizmos, copycat, and dragging (meaning if you are in grid snap while dragging, you will also be in grid snap while using copycat)
  
• Editor: Added ability to adjust noclip speed within the inventory settings UI and also with CTRL+Scroll Wheel
  
• Editor: Added current player coordinates to the top left of the screen when holding the inventory button (only for players who have build permission)
  
• Added scroll bar to text entry UI elements such as editing Notebooks, Floating Text, etc.
  

Condo IO Changes

• Added Shape types to Volumes, allowing for Cylinder and Sphere volume shapes (excluding Water Volume)
  
• Added new "Relay To All" module. This module will call inputs to all items connected to it at once, allowing you to set properties on multiple items with just 1 input
  
• Logic gates (AND, NOT, OR, XOR, Boolean Switch) now function. Works with specific items such as: Toggle Module, Switches, Physics Slots, Doors, Lights, and Laser Receiver
  
• Added "Hidden Player Launcher Volume" which works just like the player launcher only without any visual model. Sound can also be muted
  
• Added "Logic Compare" module. This module will compare a counter value if it is equal to the value you wish to compare. Also supports >, =,
• Floating Text now supports special keywords such as %name%, %time%, %date%, %health%
  
• Counters can now be connected to Floating Text, which floating text can display their values by using the keyword %c0%, %c1%, etc. for each counter connected to it
  
• Keypad now supports 0
  
• Sound Emitter: Added "SetSound" and "FadeToPitch" IO inputs
  
• Sound Emitter: Added "OnSoundEnded" IO output
  
• Sound Emitter: Added duration to "FadeOut" and "FadeIn" IO events
  
• Sound Emitter: Added "SetPlaylistID" IO input to Sound Emitter
  

Level SDK Changes

• Added Game World Music Manager module that lets you override game world music through sound packs for your custom level. Has overrides for Waiting Music, Round/Level Music, Intermission Music, Post Game Music, and Bonus/Boss/Last Survivor/Intro Music
  
• SDNL: Added "Health Amount" and "Armor Amount" to armor and health pickups
  

Item Changes

• Sound Emitter: Added Playlist Mode. While enabled, you can add multiple sounds that will play one after another and can be used for Workshop Sound Emitters
  
• Sound Emitter: Added 2D setting (default 3D) which plays the sound in 2D audio space (i.e. not spatialized)
  
• Sound Emitter: Added Infinite Range setting which will allow the sound to emit across the entire map (compatible with Sound Volumes)
  
• Added new Party Decorations, Particles FX, and Party Pals categories to the Celebrations store, which will display previously hidden items such as: Balloon, Confetti, Cupid Catsack, Festival Booth, Foil Balloon, Loose Balloon, Paper Lantern Catsack, Sparkle Fountain, Sparkle Fountain Extravaganza, Sparkles, Starfield, Starfield Flowing
  
• Added new "Fans", "Clocks", "Outdoor", and "Laboratory" categories to Central Circuit, which will display previously hidden items such as: Ceiling Fan, Clock, Jacob’s Ladder, Modern Tesla Coil, Satellite Dish, Small Air Conditioner
  
• Moved Toilet and Wood Toilet items from Central Circuit to Sweet Suites store
  
• Added new "Snacks & Drinks", "Cooking Ingredients" categories to Fresh store, which will display previously hidden items such as: Binary Bytes Cereal Box, Butter, Flour Bag, Marshmallow, Peanut Butter Jar, Soy Sauce, Sugar Bag
  
• Updated tags for Cinderblock (Physics), Eye Wash Station, Hospital Gurney, IV Stand so they show up in the proper categories at Rob's Imports
  
• Added new "Studio Equipment" category to Songbirds, which will display previously hidden items such as: Headphone Stand and separate effect making machines better
  
• Added new "Outdoor" category to Sweet Suite Furnishings, which will display previously hidden items such as: Open Outdoor Trashbin, Outdoor Floor Light, Outdoor Light, Outdoor Trashbin, Outdoor Wood Lamp, Tall Outdoor Light
  
• Updated Coffee Mug tags to display it in the Kitchen category in Sweet Suite Furnishings
  
• Added new "Drinks" category to Tower Theater Concessions store
  
• Updated tags on Theater items, which will display previously hidden items such as: COLD Slushy, Holdable Aesthetic Chips, Holdable COLD Slushy
  
• Updated name of "Popcorn" to "Holdable Popcorn"
  
• Updated "Instruments" category of Asteroid Belt to include the Drum Machine, a previously hidden item
  
• Updated Barcode Scanner to show up in the "Weapons" category of Asteroid Belt
  
• New Keypad model, with 0 support
  

Accessibility Changes

• New Accessibility Settings Menu added to easily access all accessibility options at once
  
• Graphics Setting: Added Colorblind Mode (Heavily WIP, will be added to over time)
  
• Colorblind Mode: Minigolf Arrow Power Indicator Color Changes
  
• Colorblind Mode: Minigolf Flag Color Changes
  
• Candy Cane, Crossbow, Ghost Blaster, and Snowball can now be fired by holding the mouse button rather than having to spam
  
• Plaza - Minigames: Balloons are now emissive for better night time play
  
• Plaza - Minigames: Gold Balloon blinks less
  
• Plaza - Drunk System: Requires more drinks to start movement
  
• Plaza - Drunk System: Added cap for movement shake and FOV rotation
  
• Plaza - Drunk System: Decreased maximum FOV zoom in
  
• Gore Setting: Beating Heart will now hide when gore setting is turned on
  
• Gore Setting: Basic ZM zombies now hide their blood textures when gore setting is turned on
  
• Vomit now turns off entirely when setting is off
  
• Plaza - Dark Voyage: Changed Dark Voyage Gun reticle to be easier to see
  
• Casino - Bingo: Raised volume of Bingo calls
  
• Reduced shine on Metal Detector
  
• Arcade - Bug Bytes: Made Hammer Location easier to see
  
• Little Crusaders: Increased the color saturation of players ranks on the scoreboard, as well as added a letter representing their rank name
  
• Typing Derby now uses the OpenDyslexic font
  
• UI Scaling can now go up to 130%, previously 120% (Higher chance of overlapping UI, however)
  
• Controls Accessibility: Sprint Toggle Option
  
• Controls Accessibility: Walk Toggle Option
  
• Controls Accessibility: Crouch Toggle Option
  
• Controls Accessibility: Scoreboard Toggle Option
  
• Volume Settings: Added setting to adjust volume of weapons
  
• Volume Settings: Added Toggle for Achievement Unlock Sound (Sunshine Day)
  
• Volume Settings: Added setting to adjust volume of the achievement unlock sound
  

Libretro Changes

• Libretro: Added fullscreen mode (F6 key or through the menu)
  
• Libretro: Added new hot keys: F3 - Save State, F4 - Load State
  
• Libretro: Added lightgun/touchscreen support to fullscreen mode (F6 key or through the menu)
  
• Libretro: Added setting to disable automatic save states (in Game/HUD Settings)
  
• Libretro - Arcades: Camera now will reorient towards the cabinet's screen
  
• Libretro - Arcades: Updated some settings to be clearer. Joystick mode is now labeled "Set Joystick To Keys" or "Set DPad to Keys", Keyboard Mode is now labeled "Full Keyboard Input"
  

Optimizations

• Inventory optimizations
  
• Inventory UI optimizations
  
• Improved item stashing (much faster)
  
• Improved reset condo (much faster)
  
• Improved condo snapshot load time (much faster)
  
• Optimized Arcade server side physics to lessen strain on Plaza
  

Bug Fixes

• Workshop: Fixed workshop player models & models not installing on Linux & Steam Deck
  
• Potential fix for AMD cards crashing in Hell on Dark Voyage
  
• Fixed inventory UI (pause menu) showing duplicate item tags
  
• Fixed translucent items/materials/player models becoming opaque when sitting in seats
  
• Store UI - Moved Version Added down a line to prevent store pages unnecessarily resizing when scrolling
  
• Ball Race: Fixed glow effects being missing on melon pickups
  
• Virus: Fixed infected model shoulders getting crushed when crouching
  
• Casino - Bingo: Fixed not being able to leave mid-game or before a game has started (will warn players they will forfeit their cards)
  
• Casino - Bingo: Fixed leaving the seat not actually leaving you out of the game properly
  
• Fixed toggle third person button (T) not working
  
• Media Player: Fixed fullscreen mode not fitting/scaling media well with ultra wide resolutions or square resolutions
  
• Cat pets no longer say "Arf!"
  
• Fixed Slimy variant plushes being louder than other plushies
  
• Fixed food items being really small while using a workshop player model
  

Bug Fixes - Condo

• Canvas: Fixed canvas textures not loading their saved tiling settings on map load
  
• Editor: Fixed highlighted items sometimes not de-highlighting
  
• Editor: Advanced edit mode - Fixed placeable inventory closing when a gizmo is shown
  
• Editor: Fixed drag snapping info HUD element not showing sometimes or when the placeable inventory is closed
  
• Editor: Fixed Sound Emitters being completely hidden when "Show Sound Emitter Ranges" is disabled, now will properly hide just the radius, not the sound emitter itself
  
• Editor: Fixed drag copy with IO items not continuing grab of the translation gizmo (like normal items do) (for both normal and co-op condos)
  
• Editor: Fixed drag copy with IO items not restoring their grouping
  
• Editor: Fixed grid snap size changing when toggling grid snap with gizmos
  
• Editor: Fixed drag copy with IO items not continuing grab of the translation gizmo (like normal items do) (for both normal and co-op condos)
  
• Editor: Fixed drag copy with IO items not restoring their grouping
  
• Co-op Condo: Fixed Copycat not allowing copy from an item you already have copied from after holstering the tool
  
• Co-op Condo: Fixed Connection Tool oftentimes already being in wiring mode after holstering and unholstering the tool
  
• Co-op Condo: Fixed Notebook editing not working for clients
  
• Fixed Hidden Seats not letting you use buttons/interact with items while in the hidden seat
  
• Fixed Copycat not copying surface tile size or offset to other surfaces
  
• Fixed Toy Train item desyncing for clients
  
• Fixed Water Volume flickering when above them or on the edges of the volume
  

Bug Fixes - Condo IO

• Fixed Random module not passing through activator causing things like Global Message to not print out player names
  
• Damage Heal Volume now properly applies damage/heal effects to players who are currently inside of it, if deactivated and activated again
  
• Fixed Weapon Strip Volume not stripping newly created weapons while a player is inside it
  
• Fixed Sound Emitter's SetVolume and SetPitch IO events not actually changing volume or pitch if the sound is currently playing
  
• Fixed Damage Heal Volume not working with delayed IO outputs
  

Bug Fixes - Libretro

• Libretro - Arcades: Fixed error screen saying on forever and not returning back to idle screen
  
• Libretro - Arcades: Fixed players who are in third person while entering machines staying in third person, now it will first person your camera for you
  
• Libretro - Arcades: Fixed entering game while crouch not un-crouching you
  
• Libretro - Arcades: Fixed gamepad users accidentally entering keyboard mode in settings (keyboard mode and other key only settings will no longer show up on settings)
  
• Libretro - Arcades: Fixed leaving machine with gamepad causing you to jump as well
  
• Fixed workshop models fading out when using libretro based items
  

Known Issues

• Arcade - Pluck-A-Pal is still very unstable/not in a place where we want it to be. We will be reworking it for a future update.
  
• Items that have been moved to IO will be refunded in the future, we recommend players to NOT sell these items (sound emitters for example) and await for further instructions on how refunds will be handled.
  
• Billiards still has issues after playing one game. We are working to resolve this. In the meantime, if a game gets broken, leave the billiards table and re-enter it to help resolve the issue.
  
• Bingo sometimes has known screen issues, but if that occurs, you can now leave it and re-enter.
  
• There may be some odd animation related bugs under very specific circumstances, we will be addressing these issues as they come up.
  

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

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 June 11th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since June 3rd, 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 - RESULTS ARE IN[/h2]

Hey everyone, voting is over and the results are in. There were 222 responses this time!

The winners are:

1st Place (2,000,000 Units) - Castle Garden by @GateTheCat
2nd Place (1,000,000 Units) - King Xanthos' Tourney by @Baby_In_A_Pipe
3rd Place (750,000 Units) - Prometheus by @mexxorz
4th Place (500,000 Units) - MedievaLand! by @TheGreenKing
5th place (300,000 Units) - Sketch Caverns by @ThurDoDinok

Everyone else will get 150,000 Units for their participation this time! Thanks again so much for participating in the contest and the vote.

You can see all the submissions to this contest here, and stay tuned for future contests!

[h2]Improved Emotes Menu[/h2]

We are hoping this will help give emotes more life and make them easier to use. The menu now has icons for each emote and bindable hot keys. To assign a hot key just hover over the emote and press the number key you want to bind it to. You can remove a keybind with delete key. To perform an emote shortcut use Context + the number key you bound (ie. C+1, C+3, etc.)

[h3]Improved Emotes Menu[/h3]



[h2]Condo I/O[/h2]

[h3]Relay to All[/h3]

Tired of connecting 8 things and having to setup 8 different events to set their property (such as color)? With the new "Relay To All Module", you can wire multiple items to the module and the module will replicate all inputs to it to all the items it is connected to. It'll automatically populate the IO inputs available based on the items connected to it. Basically, tell the module to SetColor and it'll SetColor on all 8 buttons at once in one go.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Logic Gates[/h3]

Finishing up logic gates, got them stringing together now.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Misc Improvements[/h3]

Floating Text now supports special key words just like Global Messages does.



You can also now connect Counters to Floating Text.



Logic Comparison for Counters.



[h2]Minigolf SDK: Spline Tubes[/h2]

Not that pretty looking yet, but Minigolf SDK now has spline tubes you can setup for your custom maps. Spline meshes for ball race platforms coming next.

[h3]Minigolf SDK: Spline Tubes[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna continued working on the subway station overhaul, while also finishing up the Minigolf SDK.

Joshua continued working on animations for the new rig.

Lifeless continued working on the Ball Race map, Eruption, while also working on other quality of life features.

macdguy worked on getting the update ready for release. Retooled some boardwalk games, specifically Balloon Pop so it doesn't use physics anymore. Worked on I/O Logic gates, pipes for the Minigolf SDK, and other misc SDK related tasks.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on a new Minigolf map.

Sketchman worked on various optimizations and bug fixes, along with getting the update ready for release.

Wheezwer worked on an art pass of the arcade cabinets, along with other art related tasks.

Will continued working on music.

[h3]Zombie Massacre: HUD Changes[/h3]

Small but really helpful change in ZM. Weapon pickup info now follows the physical location of the weapon so you can actually tell what you are about to pickup through all the chaos.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Improved Aiming Animations[/h3]

Thanks to all the hard work on the new player model rig, animations are smoother and we now have better full range movement for players aiming.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since June 3rd, 2024 at PixelTail Games.

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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

Hey everyone, we’re here again for our Monthly Dev Update! This is a big one!


In the last dev update, we were wrapping up the Bumper Cars update, and we gave an overview of what we were working on, such as Minigolf & Ball Race SDK and other projects. Since then, our plans were to release an update with the new Workshop rig, Workshop sound packs, some Arcade optimizations, and accessibility changes.

However, this update’s been having some technical challenges that are both complicated to resolve and to complete. And, as you all probably know, we’re a small team, so it’s taken a lot of work to resolve these issues.

Basically, we’ve been having a very busy month, and this update is jam-packed with stuff, so let’s just get into what we have going on!


So, sometimes when you fix something, something else breaks, or you find another issue or a flaw in the system. With many interconnected parts and a long development history, it’s easy for this to happen with Tower development. This has been happening a lot with this update. We’ve had to reorganize and refactor a lot this month. The issues have not been ones we can just let slide, either.

So, as you read through all of the following tasks we’ve been working on, know that it was probably juggled with fixing a frustrating regression. But we’ve been getting it done and working on ways to not cause these issues in the future.


Workshop sound packs are a highlight of this update, adding the ability for players to upload custom sounds! We’ve also introduced new options for playlists, sound volumes, Game World Music override Manager, and “SetSound”, “Fade”, and general improvements to the sound emitter. You’ll be able to upload sound packs to Workshop, and we’ve made an easy to use editor in the Workshop editor for these. These tie into other I/O changes that will be explained more later on.


A major issue we’ve been trying to resolve is a bug with Workshop models not appearing on Linux machines. This is notable as it affects Steam Deck users as well as any PC Linux users. Since work is being done on various areas of the Workshop, and this is a big issue, we have been tackling this and have resolved this issue after weeks of work. The change needed required us to rework how Workshop models are installed, and, with the added sound packs, the pipeline had to be gutted and refitted. We’re very happy that Workshop will be working again for Linux.


Implementing the new Workshop rig has been an arduous task, but it’s been having great payoff. This new rig has allowed for more fluid animation of player models, IKs, and easier options for modifying proportions of a model, and massive improvements to the process of rigging player models. We’ve retargeted the old rig to work with the new rig (and existing player models) without any changes needed. That means that legacy Workshop player models will be compatible immediately. The animations have all be overhauled and improved in many ways.

We’ll have more information on the new SDK 3.0 very soon. But first, we’ll be releasing the updated animations and new rig support next update.


We’ve been hard at work implementing accessibility suggestions requested by players.

These include various changes to improve general visual and audio experience, changes to reduce eye strain and nausea, changes to controls for easier interactions, and improvements to existing accessibility settings, among other changes.

Plaza Minigames, Arcade, Minigolf, Drunk Effects, Condos, Stores, Controls, and other parts of the game all had accessibility changes, and you’ll get a full overview of the changes in the update change log (or on Trello).


Arcade physics server optimizations have been in progress for a few months now, and we’ve been working hard at getting the Arcade into a better state. These optimizations involve arcade physics which are a very finicky thing to work with due to the amount of machines that have unique physics to each game.

We had to refactor our code so the physics simulations would run as a system instead of independently on each machine. This required us to take the existing code and port the majority of it to C++. Server-side optimizations were made and a massive cleanup of the code was done. We improved the networking and reduced the amount of work the simulation has to do so it’ll execute it faster.


We’ve made some updates to how items are categorized in the inventory. This has allowed for some previously hidden items to come out of the woodwork, as well as improving the search experience.

Speaking of searching, you can now see quick results as you type in the inventory search bar. This will allow you to get to your intended items quicker and to have a better view of your inventory as a whole.

Some items have been moved around to the appropriate stores or categories, and some items have had their names adjusted to better reflect their purpose.

Internally, we also optimized how items are queried in the system to make improvements to the inventory UI and you’ll see an FPS boost for large inventories.

Lastly, our item editor was bogging down development time and making it harder for us to continue to add new items. So, we improved our own item creation tools, which has already immensely helped us create items faster than before.


Big features in this update have had a connection to Condos, so other work has been done on our building tools as well. There are some accessibility additions such as a 3D grid visual and more editor options such as Noclip Speed Adjustment.

There’s also a new Replace Canvas URL tool and Find Canvas tool that will help out with quickly fixing dead image links in a Condo, as well as updating URLs quickly.

Changes have been made to the inventory system, grid snapping, organization, I/O options, and much more.

And that’s not all! We also massively improved the time it takes to reset your Condo and load Condo snapshots. For builders, you’ll see immediate improvements to these systems.


There’ve been quite a few updates to Condo I/O, but some of the highlights are that we’ve added Cylinder and Sphere shape types for Volumes!

We also moved some items to be I/O items; Sound Emitter, Floating Text, Floating Dialogue, Hidden Seat, Aquarium Volume, and Sound Emitter are now I/O items (no unit cost).


We’ve also implemented some fixes for bugs with co-op Condo building. These include fixes for Copycat, Connection Tool, and editing Notebooks. We also fixed drag-copy for I/O and grouped items.


We’ve made some improvements to Libretro support, too. These improvements include automatically positioning the camera for Arcade cabinets (allowing for easier play with controllers) and Fullscreen support. Fullscreen also comes with lightgun and touchscreen support!

You can also disable automatic save states and we’ve added hot keys for save states (F3, F4 keys).

[h2]God, this update is inconceivable! When’s it coming out?![/h2]
We are in the late stages of testing the update! We are resolving more issues with the Arcade physics rewrite but the majority of the other features mentioned are ready to go! So, as soon as possible. We’re really working as hard as we can to get this out to you all.


In any downtime we’ve had while working on the next update, we’ve been making progress on various features that will be implemented in future updates.

These include:


A lot of exciting progress has been made on the Minigolf Map editor. We’ve set up the settings menu and customization options for course pieces. We’ve finished up work on the loop size setting, base settings, wall variation and height settings, corner shape and magnitude settings, fill settings, the corner tool, path-curve tool, ramp settings, the half-pipe tool, and intersection tool.

Additionally, there have been some updates to I/O for Minigolf. These include the course pieces being considered I/O items, an Out of Bounds Volume, In Bounds Volume, a Friction Override Volume, Boost Volume, and a Putt Zone Override Volume.

We also have made progress on Pipes, Cannons, Launchers, and Camera Volumes.

The testing tools have also been completed and you can quickly test Minigolf courses by interacting with the start pad and it’ll automatically put you into a golfball.


For Ball Race SDK, progress has been made on Finish Goals, Finish Volume, Attractors/Repulsors, Bumpers, Boost Volume, and of course Melon pickups.

The testing tools have also been completed and the editor now can run custom Ball Race maps.

We plan to roll out both the Minigolf SDK and Ball Race SDK out at the same time after the 0.17.12.0 update.


Along with Arcade Server Side Optimization, we’ve been working on optimizing the Plaza Train Station area as we found through profiling that it was impacting performance across the entire Plaza. Doing this required aggressive modeling work, which led to… a complete overhaul of the artwork of the transit station! Fans of Lobby 2 will be happy to know that the overhaul takes notes of the best parts of the transit station and the escalators actually work this time!

If you want to follow along with the update, check out the “Next Releases” section on our Trello.



Here is the Tower Unite calendar for June! If you’d like to give feedback on bonus events, please do so here!
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/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