Tower Unite News

Weekly Dev Log for January 17th, 2023

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for January 17th, 2023, detailing all the changes that have happened since December 19th, 2022. 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]Accessibility Suggestions[/h2]
We've created a forum post asking the community for suggestions on how we can improve gameplay for players with certain conditions such as colorblindness, dyslexia, or anything else that might affect a players ability to use the standard presentation and controls of the game.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, and possible solutions on how to solve a particular issue, please check out the forum post here.

[h2]Virus: Altar[/h2]

Johanna continued working on art for Altar.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on Altar, working on torch models as well as sculpting some rocks and adjusting the lighting.

[h3]Virus: Altar WIP[/h3]

[h2]Condo and Condo I/O[/h2]

macdguy continued working on Condo I/O, adding support for variables and a bunch of new features, which you can read about here.

Madmijk worked on adding logic gates.

[h3]Condo: Color Palette Saving[/h3]

You can now have up to 3 saved color palettes. These palettes are saved to your save data, so when you close your condo or game, these values are saved.

[h3]Condo: Item Box Select[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Timers and Counters[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Drag and Drop Connections on Events[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Security Camera Input Demo[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Variable Inputs[/h3]

Light color can be set with Condo I/O inputs.

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Lifeless continued working on maps for Game Worlds.

Sketchman continued working on backend improvements and optimizations.

Wheezwer continued working on the minigame medallions.

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since December 19th, 2022 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!

We're also active on Twitter! https://twitter.com/PixelTailGames

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

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

Winter Holidays 2022 & Condo IO (0.16.4.0)

Winter Holidays are here!

Wintertime has come to the Tower Unite Plaza! We’ve decked out the island with holiday cheer and brought back all of the classic holiday events. Be sure to drop by Santa Claws’ Workshop for new Condo and Appearance items, and enjoy the festive atmosphere!

Holiday Coins are also back and can be earned by playing any of the games in Tower!

We've added several new Holiday themed items in this update, including the first phase of Condo IO.

New Items!

Added new items To Santa Claw's Workshop: Frozen Shades, Holiday Scarf, Reindeer Bells, Snow Chair, Snow Shelf, Snow Table, Pet: Snowfella, Festival Lights - Holiday Tree, Festival Lights - Santa Claus, Festival Lights - Jack Frost, Festival Lights - Leaping Reindeer, Festival Lights - Candy Archway, Shrunken Reindeer Flying Pet, Candy Cane Cigar, Santa Claws Scarf, and Snowflake Glasses
Added new items to Celebrations: Menorah, Kinara, Dreidel, Festival Lights - Snowman, Festival Lights - Reindeer, Festival Lights - Candle, Festival Lights - Circle Archway, Festival Lights - Tunnel Archway, Festival Lights - Candy Canes, Festival Lights - Lollipops, Festival Lights - Moose, Light Bramble Deer, Festivus Pole, Festive Garden Light
Added new items to Seasons (nature store): Firewood Pile, Ice Chunk, Ice Outcropping, Ice Spire, Ice Spikes
Added new item to Tower Threads clothing store: Penguin Scarf
Added new item to Fresh: Gingerbread House
Added new items to D.I.Y: Lightbeam FX, Keypad
Added new items to Toy Stop: 20-Sided Die
Added new item to Asteroid Belt (Arcade): 20-Sided Deluxe Die
Added new item to Rob's Imports: Reinforced Wooden Gear
Added new Condo IO items: Trigger Volume, Push Volume, Damage / Heal Volume, Size Volume, Gravity Volume, Blocking Volume, Teleport Volume, Player Movement Volume, Relay Module, World Control Module, Basic Shape Button, Basic Lever, Physics Slot, Canvas Button

Condo IO: Phase 1 - Adding Interactivity To Condos

This update includes the first phase of Condo IO. This will kick start the Condo IO system that will continuously have new features added to in future updates.

Condo IO stands for Condo Input and Output. It’s a powerful set of tools and integration with items that allow items to connect with each other and perform actions based on gameplay events.

Using the new Connector Tool (added to the Tower Glove), you'll be able to wire items together and have them interact with each other!

Connect a Button to open a Door, use the new Keypad item and have a locked Door open with a password, or have hidden Trigger Volumes that turn on lights or hide or unhide items! You can even connect Security Cameras to Media Players to have camera feeds.

Condo IO does not require any programming knowledge, it's all built into the Condo tools for you and available immediately. Condo IO is in alpha stage, so expect some issues.

Lots of existing items now have inputs and outputs that you can hook into, such as Doors, Buttons, Lights, Food, Fireworks, Balloons, Bells, Media layers, Physics items, Beds, Dice, and Keypads!

You can read more about Condo IO here and our future plans for the feature: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/t/condo-io/46511

Changes

Condo IO: Phase 1
Winter Plaza 2022
Plaza: Condo Hub elevator entrance was completely remodeled
Plaza: Improved minigames archways
Plaza: New Tower Lobby ceiling and artpass
Plaza: Improved ocean water
Plaza: Improved background islands
Gingerbread Smash now has 2x more gingerbread
Snowball Battle points are now 3x more
Vehicle items rotation camera (right click) is now a toggle instead of requiring you to hold right click down
Accelerate: Improved camera position, so you can see turns a lot easier
Accelerate: When drifting, the camera will rotate a bit more so you can see what you're drifting into
Condo - Media Player: Added WebM syncing, pausing, and volume support (note: duration is currently set to 3 hours always, we will have a setting to adjust WebM duration later on)
Condo: Spikeboard now has a damage setting to adjust how much damage it deals to players
Condo: Spikeboard now pops Ball Race orbs
Condo: You can now connect Security Cameras to media players. Please keep in mind that they are pretty resource intensive if you use a lot of them

Bug Fixes

Plaza: Fixed theater screens being overly bright
Fixed media players in general being overly bright
Plaza: Fixed treasure chests sometimes spawning in the ice
Fixed many networking issues with the Pogostick (and added new sounds and upped its jump height by 2x)
Fixed players not being able to leave the Motor Scooter seats after entering them as a passenger. This fix also fixes all other vehicles with seats as well
Fixed Motor Scooter and Minecart items not having options to toggle passenger mode
Fixed Dolphin passenger's camera bobbing up and down and smoothed turning for passengers as well
Arcade: Fixed Salmon Says button sounds not playing
Condo: Fixed Bell Wall item not playing animations for other players, and now can be shot to activate
Plaza: Fixed Plaza popping out after using a store for a couple frames
Condo - Theatre: Fixed Theatre condo surfaces not networking for other clients
Plaza/Condo: Fixed Health Bar HUD element not showing up properly (show by either taking damage or holding C)
Condo: Fixed variations not copying past 10
Condo: Fixed Canvas Poly collisions
Condo: Fixed Boulder Cliff collisions
Condo: Fixed Discoball items not saving their speeds anymore
Plaza: Fixed planters around fountain area being off-centered
Plaza: Fixed imposter LODs for palm trees

Optimizations

Plaza: Optimized rendering of the nightclub exterior building, reducing drawcalls by around 250
Plaza: Optimized rendering of the bumper cars exterior building, reducing drawcalls by around 120

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

We're also active on Twitter! https://twitter.com/PixelTailGames

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

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

Weekly Dev Log for December 19th, 2022

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for December 19th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since December 13th, 2022. 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]Accessibility Suggestions[/h2]
We've created a forum post asking the community for suggestions on how we can improve gameplay for players with certain conditions such as colorblindness, dyslexia, or anything else that might affect a players ability to use the standard presentation and controls of the game.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, and possible solutions on how to solve a particular issue, please check out the forum post here.

[h2]Holiday Update[/h2]
We're currently wrapping up work on the upcoming Holiday Update, which will bring with it the initial release of Condo I/O, along with a yet to be announced Condo feature. You can read everything slated for this update here.

Johanna finished up the Holiday Plaza, as well as fixing various bugs.

JJosh continued working on Holiday items and furniture.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on Holiday items.

[h3]Holiday Items[/h3]

[h2]Condo I/O[/h2]
The Holiday Update brings with it the initial release of Condo I/O.

macdguy worked on finishing up the initial release of Condo I/O, fixing internal bugs and making a bunch of volumes.

[h3]Condo I/O: Player Damage/Heal Volume[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Player Size Volume[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Player Push Volume[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo I/O: Player Movement Volume[/h3]

[h3]Condo I/O: Trigger Volume Settings[/h3]

[h3]Condo I/O: Relay Node[/h3]

[h3]Condo I/O: Buttons in Shapes[/h3]

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Lifeless continued working on game world maps.

Madmijk worked on the Playable Guitar, along with the Condo I/O keypad and the dreidel Holiday item.

Sketchman worked on backend improvements and fixes.

Wheezwer started working on a mural for Typing Derby.

Will continued working on music and sounds for SDNL.

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since December 13th, 2022 at PixelTail Games. See you all in 2023!

---

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

We're also active on Twitter! https://twitter.com/PixelTailGames

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

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

Weekly Dev Log for December 13th, 2022

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for December 13th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since December 5th, 2022. 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]Accessibility Suggestions[/h2]
We've created a forum post asking the community for suggestions on how we can improve gameplay for players with certain conditions such as colorblindness, dyslexia, or anything else that might affect a players ability to use the standard presentation and controls of the game.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, and possible solutions on how to solve a particular issue, please check out the forum post here.

[h2]December 2022 Player Survey[/h2]
It's time for another player survey! We'd love to hear from you and gather your thoughts on the game so far. These surveys help us plan for the future of Tower Unite!

Survey closes on December 18th.

You can find the survey here.

[h2]Holiday Update[/h2]
We're currently wrapping up work on the upcoming Holiday Update, which will bring with it the initial release of Condo I/O, along with a yet to be announced Condo feature. You can read everything slated for this update here.

Johanna worked on getting the Plaza ready for the Holidays.

JJosh continued working on Holiday items and furniture.

macdguy continued working on getting Condo I/O ready for it's initial release. He added events to a bunch of items, so that they can be interacted with using the Condo I/O system. He also fixed various bugs and tweaked some Holiday events. In addition, he worked on adding .webm and .ogv support to the Media Players in the Condo.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on Holiday items.

Wheezwer worked on holiday scarf designs and concept art for the Gingerbread House item.

[h3]Holiday Items WIP[/h3]

[h2]Ball Race: New Map[/h2]

Lifeless started working on a new Ball Race map, yet to be named.

[h3]Ball Race: New Map EARLY WIP[/h3]

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Lifeless continued working on game world maps.

Madmijk worked on bugs and smoothing out the Monorail animations.

Sketchman worked on backend improvements and fixes.

Wheezwer worked on Minigame Medallions.

Will continued working on music and sounds for SDNL.

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since December 5th, 2022 at PixelTail Games.

---

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

We're also active on Twitter! https://twitter.com/PixelTailGames

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

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

Tower Unite Steam Trading Cards Now Available!

Steam Trading Cards, emotes, and backgrounds are now available!

We've got 6 badges, 6 trading cards (with original artwork), 3 profile backgrounds, and 5 emoticons.

Cards drop every 45 minutes, so hop onto the game to start earning the rewards!

December 2022 Survey

Also, if you haven't already, please participate in our yearly survey: https://forms.gle/QvhKTi5gQuNs3whH6