Tower Unite News

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for March 22nd, 2021, detailing all the changes that have happened since March 15th, 2021. 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]Update 0.14.0.0 (Upgrades)[/h2]
Work continues on getting Update 0.14.0.0 released. This update will include the introduction of Upgrades, customizable gameplay elements such as different Minigolf balls and trails, different Ball Race balls, and more. You can read about our progress on this update here.

[h2]March 2021 Condo Contest[/h2]
This month's contest is about architecture, more specifically building a house. This contest will end on March 31st, 2021. First place winner will take home at least 1,000,000 units, and all participants may be rewarded 75,000 units! You can read the details 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]Upgrades[/h2]

Johanna worked on adding various new Minigolf balls.

macdguy worked on finishing the Upgrades store previewer. He also worked on hooking up a few upgrades such as the dragon roars for Little Crusaders, along with finishing the new Minigolf customization screen.

Madmijk worked on various Minigolf upgrades.

Will worked on various sounds for Minigolf upgrades.

[h3]Upgrades: Minigolf Upgrades Store WIP[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Upgrades: Little Crusaders Upgrades Store WIP[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Upgrades: Minigolf Balls WIP[/h3]



[h3]Upgrades: Minigolf Customization Screen WIP[/h3]



[h2]Laser Tag Arena Overhaul[/h2]

Johanna continued working on the overhauled Laser Tag arena.

[h3]Laser Tag: Arena Overhaul WIP[/h3]



[h2]Store NPCs[/h2]

macdguy added a feature where NPC dialogue will now appear above a NPCs head before approaching them.

Wheezwer worked on new store dialogue, and new icons for the NPCs to convey different emotions.

[h3]New NPC Dialogue Popup System[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]New NPC Icons[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Lifeless continued working on the new condo.

Sketchman continued working on backend improvements.

Wheezwer started working on a new Palm tree bark texture, and worked on pixel art animations for the Arcade machine, Galaxy Time.

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since March 15th, 2021 at PixelTail Games. We'll see you all next week!

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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

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day this weekend, starting this Friday and ending on this Sunday. This Casino-based event features better rewards, less "nothings", and slightly increased jackpot odds. This event applies to all slot based machines (sorry Double or Nothing fans).

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day today, don't forget to decorate with a bunch of St. Patrick Day themed items in the Celebrations store!

Keep your eye out for future events that multiply your rewards for playing the game! Have fun at the slots!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for March 15th, 2021, detailing all the changes that have happened since March 1st, 2021. 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]Update 0.13.5.0 & Hotfixes 0.13.5.1/0.13.5.2[/h2]
On March 5th, we released Update 0.13.5.0, which contained the new remastered Sweet Tooth art pass, as well as tons of fixes and improvements for Condo Building.

Last week, we released two hotfixes to fix issues that came up during the initial 0.13.5.0 release.

Hotfix 0.13.5.1 fixed various issues. This hotfix contained improvements to the physics simulation to make it more stable and to reduce the amount of erroneous physics simulation. It also introduced Frame Rate Smoothing, an engine feature which analyzes average frame rate to determine the best frame rate to target for smooth gameplay.

Hotfix 0.13.5.2 contained a bunch of fixes and improvements to Sweet Tooth, as well as optimizations to condo loading, helping to reduce load time in larger condos.

Update 0.13.5.0 Changelog Hotfix 0.13.5.1 Changelog Hotfix 0.13.5.2 Changelog

[h2]March 2021 Condo Contest[/h2]
This month's contest is about architecture, more specifically building a house. This contest will end on March 31st, 2021. First place winner will take home at least 1,000,000 units, and all participants may be rewarded 75,000 units! You can read the details 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]Laser Tag Arena Overhaul[/h2]
Johanna started working on a overhauled Laser Tag arena. This new arena contains a brand new layout, designed to replicate the feeling of a real world Laser Tag arena, along with being more visually appealing.

Wheezwer worked on the flags for the new arena.

Disclaimer: The following images show the Laser Tag arena currently under construction. Note that obstacles, walls, and other obstructions have not yet been added.

[h3]Laser Tag Arena Overhaul WIP[/h3]



[h2]Upgrades[/h2]
Our next major feature is the Upgrades Store and Items.

Johanna optimized some of the Ball Race item materials, as well updating the color masks on some of the unique balls, such as the soccer ball. She also created Ice and Fire flames for the Little Crusaders dragon skins.

macdguy worked on several systems required for Upgrades.

Madmijk worked on the Tennis Ball, Cosmic Ball, and Spooky Trail upgrades for Minigolf.

will worked on sounds for the Minigolf Upgrades.

[h3]Upgrades: Little Crusaders Fire and Ice Dragon[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

JJosh continued working on the new Virus infected model.

Lifeless continued working the new condo map.

macdguy worked on the two hotfixes, improving condo load in times and optimizing canvas code. He also worked on gameplay tweaks and bug fixes for Minigolf.

Madmijk helped improve Ball Race collision detection.

Wheezwer worked on the "Coin River" arcade machine cabinet art, as well as pixel art for the "Destroy" cabinet and cabinet artwork for "Candy Slam".

Will continued working on various pieces of music.

[h3]Arcade: Coin River Art WIP[/h3]



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since March 1st, 2021 at PixelTail Games. We'll see you all next week!

---

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 hot fix addresses several issues that have been reported, along with a lot of gameplay changes to Sweet Tooth.

Minigolf - Sweet Tooth Changes

• Sweet Tooth: Reduced contrast of Sweet Tooth's boost tracks to be less visually intense
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 3: Made the back area less punishing by adding a small area behind it, rather than players going out of bounds. This area will be connected to pipes that travel to the other areas
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 5: Failing the jump with the swinging candy cane at the end will no longer lead to an out-of-bounds. Instead, you drop down into another area
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 6: Made the moving wall less punishing by adding a small area behind it, rather than players going out of bounds.
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 6: Added a fade wall to the pit so players will be able to see properly
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 7: Made the "roulette wheel" fail holes less punishing by sending players back to the starting area instead of dumping them in the chocolate
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 9: Adjusted the zig-zag section so it's easier for people who go down that path to get a birdie
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 9: The curve right after the moving wall has been moved back a little bit so that players will no longer stop halfway when they hit the block sticking out
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 13: Improved the pipe cameras
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 13: In the large circular area, the side routes are easier and less frustrating to cross by moving them backwards slightly. This ensures that even players who are traveling "with" the wall will no longer fall out-of-bounds at the gap
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 13: For the back area, an extra barrier was added to add an additional way of getting into the hole
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 18: Removed the new spline at the end and brought back the original booster movement

Changes

• Improved condo load in (large condos load in duration from 40 seconds to about 5-10 seconds)
  
• Improved canvas image download & load in
  
• Added daily server restart countdown notices (30 minutes before, 15 minutes before, 5 minutes before, and 1 minute before)
  
• Increased FPS smoothing cap from 120 to unlimited
  
• Updated main menu backgrounds
  
• Little Crusaders - Knightsend-by-Sea: Optimized CPU usage
  
• Little Crusaders - Knightsend-by-Sea: Removed lightmass AO to make the map visually consistent with other LC maps
  
• Zombie Massacre - Gasoline: The truck now can be blown up
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed vote map random select not working Plaza or Game World Ports
  
• Fixed fireplace scaling wrong
  
• Fixed condo scoreboard not hiding automatically when taking screenshots for workshop condo uploading
  
• Ball Race: Fixed the ball phasing through kill volumes and finish volumes
  
• Ball Race - Woodlands: Fixed a spot in level 1 where players could get stuck
  
• Ball Race - Woodlands: Fixed a missing polygon on the back of the course start chute
  
• Little Crusaders - Knightsend-by-Sea: Fixed a broken AO map on the docks
  
• Little Crusaders - Knightsend-by-Sea: Plugged some holes in the buildings
  
• Zombie Massacre - Nightyard: Fixed zombies getting stuck behind trains
  
• Zombie Massacre - Gasoline: Fixed a map exploit
  
• Zombie Massacre - Gasoline: Fixed a spot where a zombie could get stuck between the truck and the gas pump
  
• Zombie Massacre - Gasoline: Fixed cars that are blown up being invisible
  
• Accelerate: Fixed spectator camera clipping for clients
  
• Sweet Tooth: Fixed some lollipops turning white at a distance
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 1: Fixed an out-of-bounds issue
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 3: Made the end boosters more stable
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 13: Fixed ball bouncy behavior when going across the boost area
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 14: Fixed an issue where a moving platform blocked the entrance to one of the pipes, causing players to get stuck
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 17: Fixed a bug where players could phase through the ramp at the beginning of the hole
  
• Sweet Tooth - Hole 18: Fixed ending ramp launching players into the sky

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

Fish and earn double EXP during this weekend event starting this Friday and ending on this Sunday. There's also a bunch of more rare fish swimming around for you to catch this weekend as well!

From now on, Tower Unite will occasionally feature events that multiply your rewards for playing the game! Have fun fishing and stay tuned for further events!