Tower Unite News

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for October 31st, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since October 24th, 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]October 2022 Condo Contest OVER[/h2]
Thanks again to everyone who participated in the vote.

There were 130 responses this time, and votes were very spread out between participants!

The winners of the community vote are:

1st Place - @medai, Lolo-Chan, Nykane Mundoe, CorpseCutieDana
2nd Place - @Baby_In_A_Pipe
3rd Place - @Tut.exe
4th Place - @Assault

Because the vote was so spread out this time, and there were so many amazing entries, we wanted to highlight some of the exceptional Condos that didn't place in the community vote.

These highlighted condo builders will receive 400,000 Units in addition to the 100,000 Unit participation prize.

The staff highlights include:

For Theming:
@CalculatorSpoon - Abducted

For Storytelling:
@Frasler - Fyrstaden

For Unique Gameplay:
@fruzstrated - The Midnight Faire

Honorable Mentions:
@TheGreenKing - Horror Towers
@GoopGoop - Castle Pixelwick

You can read all of the entries submitted for this contest here.

[h2]Halloween[/h2]
We're working hard on getting "Dark Voyage", the shooting interactive dark ride, ready for release.

Johanna continued working on getting the Plaza setup and ready for "Dark Voyage".

macdguy continued working on "Dark Voyage". He finished adding targets and events to the Western and Hell sections, while continuing to work on the Mansion section. He also worked on finishing the gameplay logic, the game coordinator, along with designing sound ambience / musical events in the ride.

Madmijk continued working on "Dark Voyage", finishing the cart logic and other related tasks.

Nuclearxpotato worked on adding more Halloween items.

Wheezwer continued working on signage for "Dark Voyage".

Will worked on music and sounds for "Dark Voyage".

[h3]Halloween: Spikeboard Item[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Halloween: More Items WIP[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

JJosh continued working on the new Plaza Store NPCs, working on the Electronics Store NPC.

Lifeless continued working on game world maps.

macdguy fixed some bugs and continued working on VR support.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on the Virus map, Altar.

Sketchman worked on backend improvements and fixes.

Wheezwer worked on UI icons for the emotes.

Will continued working on music and sounds for SDNL.

[h3]Emote UI Icons WIP[/h3]



[h3]Electronics Store NPC WIP[/h3]



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since October 24th, 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

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for October 24th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since October 17th, 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]October 2022 Condo Contest ENDING SOON[/h2]
It's Halloween month, so it's time to open up the submission period for the Halloween Condo Contest!

As usual, feel free to interpret that however you like! Whether you make a secret lab, grave yard, haunted mansion, or a fun Halloween party, anything goes as long as its related to the Halloween spirit! First prize is 2,000,000 units!

Learn how to participate here!

CONTEST ENDS OCTOBER 26th!!!

[h2]Halloween[/h2]
With the Halloween events out, we're now entirely focused on getting the Shooting Gallery ride ready for release.

Johanna continued working on the Halloween plaza and working on the shooting gallery ride.

macdguy continued working on the shooting gallery ride, working on targets and getting a name figured out. He also worked on planning the queue system.

Madmijk continued working on the shooting gallery ride, working on targets among other things.

Will worked on music and sounds for the shooting gallery ride.

[h3]Shooting Gallery Ride Logo WIP[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna continued working on Plaza optimizations.

Lifeless continued working on game world maps.

macdguy fixed some bugs and continued working on VR support.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on the Virus map, Altar.

Sketchman worked on backend improvements and fixes.

Wheezwer worked on UI icons for the emotes.

[h3]Emote UI Icons WIP[/h3]



[h3]Updated Barrel Model[/h3]



[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since October 17th, 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

Halloween Plaza 2022
The plaza is decked out for another spooky Halloween event!
Enjoy the haunted festivities by collecting remains, finding pumpkins, and unlocking various Halloween exclusive items. Be sure to check out the Ghoulcery, because it is back again with new items for you to spend your Ghoul Coins on. And, if you search the coast line, you’ll see that a maze has once again surfaced to be explored!



New Additions!
The unknown can be one of the scariest concepts in existence, so we’ve once again added several new additions to the Halloween Plaza for you to explore this Halloween!

Halloween Achievements, EXP & Milestones are back
Last year we added various Halloween-exclusive achievements, EXP, and milestones, and they're back again this year. Participate in quests and scavenger hunts throughout the plaza to earn them, and be sure to check them out in your collection book, too! You can earn Halloween EXP for participating in Halloween events such as Halloween minigames, collecting candy or remains, completing Halloween achievements, and completing Halloween quests!

As you increase your Halloween EXP, you can unlock Halloween milestones such as throwable blood wine and a drivable Minecart!

Return of the Ghoul Coins
While playing games in Tower Unite during this year's Halloween event, you'll earn exclusive Ghoul Coins. These coins can be redeemed in the Plaza for Halloween items. You can earn them by playing Plaza minigames or Game Worlds, as well as in the Arcade and through Fishing!



Halloween Minigames
The Plaza minigames have not been left out of the Halloween fun. Participate in the Ghost Hunting and Pumpkin Smash minigames on the Event platform, and you will uncover a lot of pumpkins along the way!



Changes

• Autumn 2022 Plaza Update
  
• Added new items to the Ghoulcery store: Black Cat Pet, Werewolf Pet, Sacrificial Stone, Skelethrone, Scarecrow, Mindreader, Plague Doctor Mask, Crypt Tomb, Casket, Bull Skull, Machete, Hatchet, Potion Pet, Iron Maiden, Wrist Shackle
  
• Added new items to the Halloween characters: Paper Jack o'lantern, Paper Lantern Vampire, Paper Lantern Werewolf
  
• Added new items to Sweet Suites: Basic Curtains, Parting Curtains, Bowl
  
• Added new items to Rob's Imports: Fruit Crate, Dirty Mattress, Saloon Bar Backing, Saloon Bar Counter, Saloon Swing Doors, Wagon Wheel, Covered Wagon, Wind Tower, Water Tower, Ragged Planks
  
• Added new items to Celebrations: Paper Lantern Catsack, Paper Lantern Pumpkin
  
• Added new items to Tower Threads clothing store: Bicycle Helmet
  
• Added new items to Franky's: Squeeze Bottle, Ketchup Bottle, Hot Sauce Bottle
  
• Added new items to Fresh: Lemon, Lime
  
• Added new items to Central Circuit: Media Remote Control (turn on/off media players from a distance)
  
• Added new items to Seasons nature store: Hay Bale, Pumpkin
  
• Added new items to The Stray: Potion Bottle
  
• Added new items to the D.I.Y. store: Saloon Swing Doors
  
• Throwable Cleaver and Knife now have view models. Throwable Cleaver is now very accurate when throwing
  
• Increased golf ball firing speed of Golf Club milestone item and reduced screen shake
  
• Improved Dissector milestone to actually slice through players slowly
  
• Condo: Added a directional arrow to the Placeable Spotlight in editing mode
  
• Condo: Haunted TV no longer shows prompt or lets you use it if there are no canvases set on it
  
• Condo: You can now toggle off visibility of teleporter items
  
• Condo: You can now interact with the wall a media Projector is projecting on to access media controls and toggle the Projector on/off
  
• Condo: Enhanced media player controls on the HUD. You can now see what you are currently watching and stop the media without having to drag your butt back to the media player and stopping it manually
  
• Added new Media Remote Control weapon that allows you to toggle media players from a distance
  
• Condo: Added clean variants of Victorian Chair, Victorian Couch, and Victorian Couch Chair
  
• Condo: Improved Pumpkin Cluster/Tower items materials
  
• Hotbar clean up: Moved Barcode Scanner to the tools hotbar category. Moved Golf Ball morph into Toy and RC hotbar categories. Moved Ball Race Orb into the Vehicle hotbar category. Moved Infected morph into the the Weapon hotbar category

Bug Fixes

• Virus: Fixed ragdoll camera clipping issues (mostly when gibbed)
  
• Virus: Fixed gibbing torsos spawning 2 torsos
  
• Virus - Corrosion: Players can no longer climb over the pile of canisters and get stuck
  
• Virus - Corrosion: Players can no longer get over the railings into the out-of-bounds pits
  
• Virus - Corrosion: Fixed a bad UV map on one of the pipe models used in Corrosion and the plaza's appearance store
  
• Virus - Subway: Fixed one of the hidden items being inaccessible after an area was blocked off
  
• Accelerate - Sunrise Isles: Fixed the missing material on the fences (this was supposed to be in the last update but a commit was missed)
  
• Condo: Fixed Canvas Decal not networking inner scales properly
  
• Condo: Fixed Coffin and Gravestone Sign text affecting other colorable parts
  
• Condo: Fixed Canvas Hanging Sign not being colorable
  
• Condo: Fixed Teleporter copy/paste not copying teleporter rotation
  
• Condo: Fixed Hula Doll not copying color properly
  
• Condo: Fixed Haunted Piano having stretched material effects
  
• Condo: Improved performance of media players overall. Improved performance when you are not looking at the screens by taking into account if the media player is in your view (and then not rendering frames). Improved performance of dynamic media lights
  
• Condo: Fixed materials on Victorian Fence
  
• Condo: Fixed Gravestone Sign font size not always loading properly on condo load
  
• Fixed Dissector milestone blades not angling properly after bouncing off a surface, and not fading out properly when it's about to be removed

Optimizations

• Reduced draw-call count in Arcade
  
• Reduced draw-call count in Casino
  
• Reduced draw-call count in plaza: celebrations store exterior, smoothie store exterior, monorail station platform, and misc. others
  
• Reduced draw-call count in various condo items
  
• Reduced draw-call count in Virus: Corrosion
  
• Virus: Optimized game tick to help with servers that have more than 10 players at a time
  
• Optimized movables in arcade: rotating flying saucer, rotating dizzy sign, rotating salmon says sign, moving sunlight roller sign, avalanche catsack targets
  
• Optimized movables in plaza: rotating gears on dark ride building, rotating flying saucer on top of arcade building
  
• Optimized startup speed a bit by handling loading references a little better
  
• Condo: Optimized colorable items
  
• Optimized materials/draw calls for: Bedside Table, Book, Bookcase, Bookshelf Rings, Bubble Chair, Cafe Chair, Casino Stool, Cheap Wood Table, Chrome Trashbin, Classic Computer Desk, Coffee Table, Computer Desk, Corduroy Couch Corner, Corduroy Couch Left End, Corduroy Couch Right End, Corduroy Couch Straight, Dining Table, Modern Couch, Modern Entertainment Cabinet, Modern Reception Desk, Office Shelf, Office Table, Tall Modern Lamp, Tall Round Table, TV Stand, Victorian Table, Waiting Room Chair, Wood Bookshelf, Wood Coffee Table, Wood Dresser, Wood Panel Bench, Wood Stool

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 October 17th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since October 11th, 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]October 2022 Condo Contest NOW OPEN[/h2]
It's Halloween month, so it's time to open up the submission period for the Halloween Condo Contest!

As usual, feel free to interpret that however you like! Whether you make a secret lab, grave yard, haunted mansion, or a fun Halloween party, anything goes as long as its related to the Halloween spirit! First prize is 2,000,000 units!

Learn how to participate here!

[h2]Halloween[/h2]
Now that the second phase of the Casino has been released, our next focus is on Halloween. A bunch of work is happening behind the scenes getting the game ready for the Halloween events, the Halloween themed Plaza, the new shooting gallery ride, and of course new items!

Johanna continued working on the Halloween plaza and working on the shooting gallery ride.

macdguy continued working on the shooting gallery ride, setting up various systems. Also worked on event related work, such as getting the new remains ready.

Madmijk continued working on the shooting gallery ride.

Nuclearxpotato worked on integrating the new Halloween items.

Sketchman continued working on programming for the shooting gallery ride.

Wheezwer worked on paintings and artwork for the shooting gallery ride.

Will worked on music and sounds for the shooting gallery ride.

[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Johanna continued working on Plaza optimizations.

Lifeless continued working on gameworld maps.

macdguy fixed some bugs and continued working on VR support.

Nuclearxpotato continued working on the Virus map, Altar.

Sketchman worked on backend improvements and fixes.

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

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for October 11th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since October 3rd, 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]October 2022 Condo Contest NOW OPEN[/h2]
Halloween is next month, so it's time to open up the submission period for the Halloween Condo Contest!

As usual, feel free to interpret that however you like! Whether you make a secret lab, grave yard, haunted mansion, or a fun Halloween party, anything goes as long as its related to the Halloween spirit! First prize is 2,000,000 units!

Learn how to participate here!

[h2]Halloween[/h2]
Now that the second phase of the Casino has been released, our next focus is on Halloween. A bunch of work is happening behind the scenes getting the game ready for the Halloween events, the Halloween themed Plaza, the new shooting gallery ride, and of course new items!

Johanna continued working on updating the loading platform for the shooting gallery ride. She also worked on getting the Plaza ready for Halloween.

JJosh continued working on new Halloween items.

macdguy continued working on the shooting gallery ride, finishing the timing and continuing to work on the targeting system.

Madmijk continued worked on optimizing the trajectory-following trains. This includes the monorail and the rollercoaster, and also extends to the shooting gallery ride.

Nuclearxpotato worked on integrating the new Halloween items.

Sketchman continued working on programming for the shooting gallery ride.

Wheezwer worked on paintings and artwork for the shooting gallery ride.

Will worked on music and sounds for the shooting gallery ride.

[h3]Halloween: Upcoming Items (Props from the Shooting Gallery)[/h3]



[h3]Halloween: Victorian Items now have a Clean variant[/h3]





[h2]Media Player Improvements[/h2]

macdguy worked on improvements to the Media Player system.

You can now interact with the wall that the Media Projector is projecting onto to access media controls and toggle the projector on/off.

The Media Player controls on the HUD have been enhanced. You can now see what you are currently watching and stop the media without having to go all the way back to the media player.

In addition, there's a new Media Remote Control item that allows you to toggle media players from a distance.

Media Players also got have also got some optimizations. The Media Player now takes into account if the player is looking at it, and will stop rendering if it is not in view. In addition, the performance of the dynamic media lights have been improved.

[h3]Condo: Media Projector Control Improvements[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo: Remote Control Item WIP[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Condo: Improved Media Player Controls HUD[/h3]



[h2]Miscellany[/h2]

Lifeless continued working on gameworld maps.

macdguy working on Workshop Sound Packs that let you create sound packs for custom sound effects using Ogg format and custom music using Mp3 format. He also improved the Dissector milestone to slowly cut through players instead of just passing through.

Sketchman worked on backend improvements and fixes.

[h3]Dissector Milestone Item Improvement[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Wrap It Up[/h2]
That about covers everything that happened since October 3rd, 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