Tower Unite News

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for March 14th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since March 7th, 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]March / April 2022 Condo Contest (IN PROGRESS)[/h2]

Hey everyone!

This month's contest is another structure building contest!

As always, feel free to interpret that how you see fit. There is no theme, so you can build any kind of building you want and have fun with it!

Also, feel free to expand on preexisting Condos! Want to add another floor to the default Condo, build a shed in the backyard of the House Condo, or have other additions in mind? Go for it!

The deadline to submit entries is April 10th, 2022 at 11:59 PM CT.

You can read the rules here.

[h2]Steam Deck Support[/h2]
Last week, we got our Steam Deck development kit.

Preliminary testing on our Steam Deck has shown 50-60 FPS in a full Plaza (60 FPS in a less full Plaza).

We are currently working to release an optimization update that should help with performance in that regard in the next update.

Every Game World runs 60 FPS on Steam Deck with low settings (and high texture setting).

Workshop and Canvases work as well without any issue.

Other than controller support, Steam Deck is compatible with Tower Unite and we'll be working towards adding controller support.

[h3]Steam Deck[/h3]



[h3]Tower Unite on Steam Deck[/h3]



[h2]Update 0.15.1.0[/h2]
We're currently working on Update 0.15.1.0, which will bring numerous optimizations and the new Zombie Massacre map, Acrophobia.

You can view the planned fixes and changes here.

[h2]Update 0.15.0.1[/h2]
Last week, we released Update 0.15.0.1, which fixed various issues that came up with the original 0.15.0.0. update.

You can view the patch notes here.

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna worked on optimizing several aspects of the game. She also continued working on fixes for Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia, and continued working on Virus: Corrosion.

JJosh continued working on the third party plushes.

Lifeless continued working on Minigolf: Dark and SDNL: Meadows.

macdguy worked on the hotfix, fixed a bunch of bugs. He primarily worked on improving Controller Support. He also worked on getting Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia ready for release.

Madmijk continued working on the Condo instruments, finishing the electronic keyboard sounds.

Sketchman continued working on backend improvements and optimizations, while also fixing some crashes.

Wheezwer continued working on Steam trading cards.

Will continued working on music, and helped with sounds for the Condo instruments.

[h3]Condo Instruments: Electronic Keyboard Sounds[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since March 7th, 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

This update addresses several bugs from the new update.

Changes

• Tower Glove: Optimized Copycat duplication mode preview
  
• Tower Glove: Added keybind (defaults to mouse wheel up and down) for switching tools while C is being held
  
• Tower Glove: Pressing 1-8 while C is being held will switch between modes
  
• Condo Hub: When a player enters a Condo, instead of saying "player has left", it'll say which condo they went into
  
• Condo Hub: When a player checks into their Condo, it will no longer show the "player has left"
  
• Improved Condo Hub connection establishment when traveling to the Hub
  
• Accelerate: Adjusted turning & drifting

Bug Fixes

• Tower Glove: Fixed Tower Glove blocking third person zoom at the wrong times (should only do it if you are using a tool and selecting an item)
  
• Tower Glove: Fixed duplication mode key prompt not showing up for Copycat
  
• Fixed a few movement desyncs
  
• Fixed Plaza map being available while in Condo Hub/Game World Ports
  
• Fixed fast travel to Condos not taking you to the Condo Hub doorway
  
• Fixed number sign item being the wrong model
  
• Fixed collection book opening to the wrong map on second map Accelerate tracks
  
• Fixed Huge Fireplace not replicating to clients
  
• Fixed canvas "Friends Only" setting hiding your own canvases
  
• Fixed Game World Ports return to Plaza teleporter not taking you back to a Plaza or showing "Unknown"
  
• Fixed client desync regarding condo surfaces in condos causing players to stutter around on certain surfaces
  
• Courtyard: Fixed weird lighting on some walls
  
• Courtyard: Fixed certain lights not working in some rooms
  
• Fixed a few workshop related crashes
  
• Accelerate: Fixed a spot in Riptide Retreat that would get you stuck after the first ramp
  
• Fixed collision issues with heart icon
  
• Trainyard/Nightyard: Fixed some collision issues
  
• Accelerate: Fixed Bedroom Mastered, Sunrise Isles Mastered, and Pine Valley Mastered achievements not incrementing properly
  
• Accelerate: Fixed homing items going under the map if you use them while in air
  
• Accelerate - Criss-Cross Rapids: Fixed homing bowling balls/sun traveling over the bridge wrongly
  
• Accelerate - Criss-Cross Rapids: Fixed homing bowling balls/sun not traveling properly on the off-road section near the end of the track
  
• Accelerate: Fixed finish ding sound not adjusting to sound volume settings
  
• Fixed Balloon and Lights (with string lengths) not letting you adjust string length
  
• Fixed adjusting length of the Huge Fireplace causing a UI bug while changing the length
  
• Fixed setting values such as length or radius on items having really large floats (0.150125 will now become 0.15)
  
• Fixed light radius setting using the old slider input UI

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

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for March 7th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since February 22nd, 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]February 2022 Condo Contest (OVER)[/h2]
The February 2022 Condo Contest has concluded.

Congratulations to the following participants:

1st Place - @Baby_In_A_Pipe 2nd Place - @CalculatorSpoon 3rd Place - @netforce10 4th Place - @fruzstrated 5th Place - @DozedTigers

Thank you again to everyone who participated, and we can't wait to see you all next time.

You can view all of the condo contest entries here!

[h2]Update 0.15.0.1[/h2]
We're currently working on Update 0.15.0.1, which will fix various issues that came up during the original 0.15.0.0 update, as well as fixing various older crashes.

You can view the planned fixes and changes here.

[h2]Update 0.15.0.0 (Condo Hub and Riptide Retreat)[/h2]
Last week, we released Update 0.15.0.0 which included in the new Condo Hub and a new Accelerate map, Riptide Retreat.

The update also came with a Plaza Update, and the combination of all of the condo tools into the new Tower Glove.

You can read all about the update here.

[h2]Virus: Corrosion[/h2]
Johanna continued working on a new virus map based off a block out design by Lifeless.

[h3]Virus: Corrosion EARLY WIP[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna worked on optimizing several aspects of the game.

JJosh continued working on the third party plushes.

Lifeless continued working on Minigolf: Dark and Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia. He also fixed some bugs with Zombie Massacre: Nightyard and Trainyard, as well as Condo: Courtyard Villa.

macdguy re-worked a bit with the Tower Glove, and fixed various bugs. He also worked on Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia.

Madmijk continued working on the condo instruments.

Sketchman continued working on backend improvements and optimizations, while also fixing some crashes.

Wheezwer started working on posters for the Condo Video Rental store. She also made a mural for the Bowling store.

Will continued working on music, and helped with sounds for the condo instruments.

[h3]Plaza: Bowling Store Mural[/h3]



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since February 22nd, 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

Condo browsing now has a physical location! Join friends’ and public players’ Condos through the Condo Hub, located in the Tower. There are 68 doorways that display all currently open Condos, options to enter your own Condo, and a directory list to easily find your friends or active Condos.





You can connect to the Condo Hub through any Plaza or through the menu!

The Condo Hub features different styled doorways based on the Condo map that is being hosted.

Friends-only Condos also show up in the Condo Hub, making it much easier to find your friend's Condos!

Don't worry, you can also adjust your Canvas settings in the hub as well.

We put a lot of effort into making this Condo Hub immersive and fun! When Condos are busy, you'll notice different sounds and visuals to represent that! This is part of our goal to connect more areas of the game together, rather than keeping them separated into menus.




A new Accelerate map is now available to play! Get ready for exciting hillside turns, long stretches of relaxing sandy beaches, and dangerous jumps across the docks!




Sweet Suites got a fresh new coat of paint and was remodeled.


The theater now has a more visible sign!




Condo Tools have been packed into the all new Tower Glove!



Now you’ll have more space in your hotbar, and easier access to each tool. The Tower Glove displays the features of selected items conveniently on its screen!



The Tower Glove also comes with improvements to all the tools. Tower Glove is the next step for us to add more building tools that are easier for everyone to use.


As with all our major updates, there's also a bunch of optimizations and general bug fixes throughout the game.

Changes

• Condo Hub!
  
• New Map - Accelerate: Riptide Retreat
  
• January/February 2022 Plaza Update
  
• Tower Glove!
  
• Plaza: Added Hearts Hat, Small Heart Backpack, Heart Bearpack, Heart Halo, Heart Icon, and Chocolate Fountain Backpack to Tower Threads
  
• Plaza: Added Cupid Catsack to Celebrations
  
• Plaza: Added Throwable Beating Heart and Beating Heart to Toy Stop
  
• Plaza: Added Rope Ladder, Climbable Rope, and Woodend Ladder to D.I.Y.
  
• Plaza: Added Huge Fireplace to Sweet Suites
  
• Plaza: "The Pinhead - Custom Bowling" store NPC inside the bowling alley now has its own unique character model.
  
• Game Worlds: Votemap no longer does roulette animation unless there is a tie vote
  
• Game Worlds: Votemap now more clearly shows the count of players voting for a specific map
  
• Game World Ports: If the host closes the game world server, you will now automatically be taken back to the Game World Ports server
  
• Game World Ports: Moved the teleport back to Plaza from the center of the Game World Ports to the doorway where the Plaza would be (more work to be done on this aspect later)
  
• Game World Ports: Added location information for each port
  
• Game World Ports: Moved spawn points of Game World Ports to the center of the ports building
  
• UI: Added an option to return to the Game World Ports in the pause menu while you are in a Game World
  
• UI: Moved the Settings button below the Collection Book button (and updated it slightly to match the menu style more)
  
• Condo: Advanced edit mode now automatically opens the item finder and the inventory UI
  
• Condo: Targeter tool now sets the starting position of a rope item, then the ending position of a rope item instead of just the ending position
  
• Condo: Targeter Tool now shows a teleporter location visualizer when setting a teleporter location and allows you to adjust the angle with mouse wheel
  
• Condo: Improved the target positioning preview for string items (now shows indicators on both the start and end positions while having a tool or inventory open)
  
• Condo: Reduced color saturation for C_House's grass
  
• Ball Race: Reduced bonus HUD effects
  
• Minigolf: Reduced color saturation on a variety of minigolf maps for the course greens

Bug Fixes

• Condo: Item scale rounding desync issue should be a thing of the past. Now scale for items adjusted by Condo owners is better rounded
  
• Condo: Fixed undo not working properly if you stashed a canvas primitive
  
• Condo: Fixed undo not applying the correct scale to canvas primitives
  
• Condo: Fixed the Copycat tool always copying the last color of an item when copying from an item that has multiple colors to an item that only has one color
  
• Condo: Fixed Set Target option for targeter item editing (teleporters, ropes, etc.) keeping the mouse cursor on when it shouldn't
  
• Condo: Fixed reset transform button not resetting transform setting properly on the Transformer tool
  
• Condo: Fixed collisions being incorrect for the fridge
  
• Ball Race: Fixed some gaps in the kill bounds for Event Horizon
  
• Ball Race: Fixed Paradise bonus level not counting pickups properly
  
• Ball Race: Fixed bonus melon counts for Khromidro, Memories, and Oasis
  
• Virus: Fixed weapon slot UI showing 1/0 for TNT, Adrenaline, etc. (now it shows the total ammo)
  
• Virus: Fixed up crossbow materials
  
• Virus: Fixed crossbow model displaying for a frame when you zoom in
  
• Virus: Fixed infected missing footstep sounds
  
• Game World Ports: Fixed panel UI cutting off the "press to join queue" prompt
  
• Game World Ports: Fixed Plaza map showing up in the Game World Ports scoreboard
  
• General: Fixed a couple of naming inconsistencies
  
• General: Fixed sounds not playing while underwater
  
• Plaza: Fixed being able to sit in a seat that is already occupied by another player
  
• UI: Fixed health bar showing up while using tool weapons or in an instrument
  
• UI: Fixed Workshop prompt (on C menu) not allowing you to vote or favorite items if you have already favorited or voted on an previous item
  
• UI: Fixed help UI on pause menu having a back button when it didn't need one
  
• Workshop: Improved Workshop favoriting system, now properly keeps track of items you have favorited throughout the game session (still working on retrieving previously favorited items from Steam)

Accelerate Changes

• Accelerate: Tracks are now split up, they are their own level now. There are no longer 2 tracks per level
  
• Accelerate: Bedzoom Track 2 is now called Hallway Raceway
  
• Accelerate: Pine Valley Track 2 is now called Criss-Cross Rapids
  
• Accelerate: Sunrise Isles Track 2 is now called Riptide Retreat
  
• Accelerate: Reduced hard turn amount a bit
  
• Accelerate: Reduced speed decrease when going over dirt
  
• Accelerate: Item adjustments and balancing
  • Beer is no longer given to the middle players (only top and first place), Bowling Ball is no longer given to players in behind, Triple Melons is now given to players in middle (and not players in lead), Magic Melon is now given to players in middle (and not players in lead), Bumper is no longer given to players in behind, All Powerful Sun is no longer given to the player in last place, Birb Shield is no longer given to players in behind, Flux is more common for players in last place. Moon Power and Dragon is given to players in last place a lot more commonly now
    
• Accelerate: Improved item drops for 2 player games
  
• Accelerate: Dragon, Moon Power, Flux, and All Powerful Sun items do not show up until 30 seconds into the race
  
• Accelerate: Added new achievements for each track (as they are considered their own level now)
  
• Accelerate: Homing bowling balls that you use will no longer ever hit you
  
• Accelerate: Flux no longer changes your speed when you are boosting on ramps
  
• Accelerate: Flux is now less commonly available after it was just used by another player
  
• Accelerate: Beer and Bumper now blocks item hits (not powerup hits) if you are holding them behind you (except for the All Powerful Sun, it will always hit regardless of beer and bumper being behind you)
  
• Accelerate: Adjusted Flux sounds
  
• Accelerate: New engine sounds
  
• Accelerate: Added sound when using the Birb powerup
  
• Accelerate: Added sound when hitting beer
  
• Accelerate: Added water sounds when driving over water

Accelerate Bug Fixes

• Accelerate: Fixed bowling ball colliding with the player who just launched it
  
• Accelerate: Improved bounce collision detection for bowling balls
  
• Accelerate: Bowling balls now properly handle ramps (as in, they ramp on ramps now)
  
• Accelerate: Fixed Wishy Washy Waterfall not having achievement icons
  
• Accelerate: Fixed “waiting for players” camera flickering
  
• Accelerate: Fixed "you are going backwards" HUD element showing up for a split second even if you are going forwards
  
• Accelerate: Fixed Flux sound not always playing for everyone
  
• Accelerate: Fixed Flux sounds playing even after the powerup is over
  
• Accelerate: Fixed a bug where if you change your workshop player model, it would clear your kart workshop model
  
• Accelerate: Fixed homing bowling balls/sun showing up on the minimap very far away from the minimap
  
• Accelerate: Fixed homing bowling balls/sun sometimes not animating or moving for clients
  
• Accelerate: Fixed track 2 camera intros not playing for clients
  
• Accelerate: Fixed homing bowling balls hitting debris of broken bowling balls
  
• Accelerate: Fixed homing bowling balls hitting items that are held behind players
  
• Accelerate: Fixed Bedzoom coin ramp path near the finish line not counting a lap
  
• Accelerate: Various map fixes

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

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for February 22nd, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since February 14th, 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]February 2022 Condo Contest (Forest Theme) - IN PROGRESS![/h2]
Hey everyone!

We're back with another Condo Contest for you all! This month's theme is "Forest"!

The deadline to submit entries is February 28th, 2022 at 11:59 PM CT.

You can read more about the rules, prizes, and how to submit your condo here.

[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]Developer Stream: Connectivity Plans + Condo Hub[/h2]
Last week, we showed off our future plans for more connectivity in Tower Unite on a developer livestream. As part of these plans, we showed off the new Condo Hub, which will be in the next update.

The Condo Hub is connected to all Plaza servers, and can be accessed from the Main Menu and Pause Menu.

[h3]Developer Stream VOD[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo Hub[/h3]



[h2]Workshop Condo Video Rental[/h2]
A future addition to the Condo Hub will be a Workshop Condo Video Rental Store (name pending). This rental store will serve a similar purpose to the Condo Hub, but will instead be focused around Workshop Condos.

Players and their friends can browse among the different cassettes, each of which is a Workshop Condo, organized in different isles by "New Releases", "Popular", and a "Random" selection.

Once you and your friends have made a selection, bring the cassette to a terminal which will feature a teleporter pad, which will bring you and your friends to that selected workshop condo.

We'll have more to show as development progresses.

Johanna started working on the Workshop Condo Video Rental store.

[h3]Workshop Condo Video Rental Store Early WIP[/h3]



[h2]Tower Glove[/h2]
In the Developer Livestream, we also showed off the upcoming Tower Glove, which will combine all of the previous and future Condo tools into one convenient item. No more having to juggle around your inventory for the Copycat, Scaler, and Locker tools.

macdguy worked on integrating all of the condo tools into the Tower Glove, as well as creating the different UI screens.

[h3]Tower Glove: Tools[/h3]



[h3]Tower Glove: Settings[/h3]



[h3]Tower Glove: World Model[/h3]



[h3]Tower Glove: Icon[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna finished working on the Condo Hub map.

JJosh continued working on the Bowling NPC, as well as the Valentine's Day items.

Lifeless continued working on Minigolf: Dark and Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia.

macdguy continued working on the Condo Hub, as well as fixing various bugs with Accelerate.

Madmijk continued working on the condo instruments.

Sketchman continued working on backend improvements and optimizations.

Wheezwer finished the animations for the Condo Hub condo doors.

[h3]Plaza: Bowling NPC[/h3]



[h3]Valentine's Day Items[/h3]



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since February 14th, 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