Tower Unite News

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for April 13th, 2020, detailing all the changes that have happened since April 6th, 2020. 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.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Last week, we released the long awaited Arcade update, which brought 22 brand new games and 180+ unlockable items to the Tower Unite Plaza. You can read about all features of the update here.

Since we released, we've experienced a great boom in player count, almost 4 times as many players as we are used to seeing. The launch was complicated by one of our server providers dropping out from underneath us when the load got to high, so we had to scramble to search for a solution. Luckily, this only affected serving up the Server Browser, but did impact players for the first few days.

In addition, we noted an issue affecting some plaza servers where the server process would hang and stop processing, effectively making the server useless for players to join. We believe we have found the cause of this issue, and we believe the situation should be resolved now, but we'll be putting more fixes in the upcoming hotfix to help prevent this from occurring again. We also deployed 3 new additional servers, each of those machines can host 4 individual 64 player Plazas, for a total of 12 new Plaza servers to meet the demand. We'll continue to monitor and add more servers if needed.

Finally, our Global Chat system has been disabled due to the high load, as the process was causing issues on the server and preventing other applications from running properly.



Just recently we launched additional ways to help support the game and its development. Please take a moment to read over these new platforms: https://forums.pixeltailgames.com/t/ways-to-support-pixeltail-games/36910

We appreciate all the help we can get!


We're working on a hotfix to fix some bugs that were identified during the initial release of the Arcade. We're hoping to release the hotfix within the next couple of days. You can read more about the hotfix here.

Johanna worked on several improvements to the Plaza over the last week. She's been working on a system to remove the stores from the overall plaza level when the player is not around them, and by creating a cubemap effect that makes this entire process invisible to the player. She's also been working on adding more LODs to items and objects in the game, and been working on themed item previews for each of the stores in the plaza (instead of the weird grid void we have now).

[h3]Unique Store Previews WIP[/h3]


Lifeless and Johanna have been working on their various tracks for Accelerate. Lifeless has been working on "Bedzoom" while Johanna has been working on "NightCity".

[h3]EARLY WIP PROOF OF CONCEPT for Bedzoom[/h3]



@Wheezwer has been working on Tower Unite Steam Trading Cards.

[h3]WIP Steam Trading Cards[/h3]


Caboose700 worked on adding more Plaza Servers, and administering the various servers that keep Tower Unite operating.

Johanna has been going through older furniture items, updating them models to bring them up to our standard of quality and make the textures and materials more consistent.

macdguy worked on various fixes for the Arcade.

Madmijk worked on some fixes for the Disco Ball item and various fixes in the Arcade.

Sketchman created an tick rate limiter for player model animations to help improve performance, fixed the lighting issue with the workshop player models, looked into crash issues and other bugs with the Arcade, helped look into server issues, and continued working on the SDNL prototype.

Will continued working on music for Accelerate.


That about covers everything that happened since April 6th, 2020 at PixelTail Games. See you all next week!

This update addresses several issues that were recently reported. Thank you all for your support and patience while we get more servers up and running!


We have moved to a new host to provide better server listing! We have set up 4 more US servers and 4 more France servers. We are in the process of getting 4 more US servers.

To get real time updates, hop on our Discord: https://discord.gg/pixeltail and check out the #status channel.

Changes

• Adjustment to some arcade machine token cost
  
• Token machine is now more reliable and gives 25 tokens at a time instead of 5
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed workshop player models having weird lighting / shader issues!
  
• Migrated server listing to new host
  
• Migrated patch notes to new host
  
• Fixed the missing hole in hole #3 of Altitude
  
• Fixed honeycomb shelf not having its colors be editable
  
• Fixed chrome trashcan not having proper collision
  
• Fixed disco balls resetting their light function materials upon condo reload
  

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

IT’S HERE!!!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The time has come! The WarpZone Arcade is now officially opening its doors inside the Plaza!

We've put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this update to bring you the best possible arcade experience video games can offer. Each game has tons of painstakingly crafted detail and authentic arcade gameplay!

A couple of cool facts about this arcade:

• There are 22 brand new games!
  
• There are over 180 unlockable arcade prizes, including:
  
• plushies
  
• toy weapons
  
• vehicles
  
• ...and more!
  
• The WarpZone is filled with authentic gameplay, sound effects, and music!
  
• Each arcade machine is a unique game with its own set of achievements, leaderboards, sound effects, art, music, and animations.
  
• Every arcade machine is also networked and spectatable. This is an incredible feat and was extremely difficult to make!

We're extremely proud of the Arcade, and we can’t wait for you to enjoy it as well.






This update also includes updates to the appearance of the Lobby of the Tower! We have changed the style of the lobby’s architecture and design to make it more welcoming to players.



Changes

• Arcade is now open!
  
• Arcade games ready to play:
  • Dizzy
    
  • Wheely Rigged
    
  • Whack-a-mole
    
  • Stack 'em
    
  • Super Hoopers
    
  • Salmon Says
    
  • Skee ball
    
  • Wheel of Fire
    
  • Whirl-a-fish
    
  • Mind Tester
    
  • Ring God
    
  • Little Birde Feeders
    
  • The Offering
    
  • Bug Bytes
    
  • Pluck-a-pal
    
  • Newton's Apples
    
  • Planetary Piano
    
  • Meteoroid Mania
    
  • Avalanche
    
  • Tornado
    
  • The Ice Cave
    
  • Lonely Gun 30XX
    
• Minigolf: Forest Art Pass
  
• Added a new category to the Collection Book: "Arcade Prizes" section displays all the available arcade plushies (and how many you've unlocked) along with all the arcade toys/prizes you can unlock as a checklist for completionists.
  
• In Plaza/Condo: If a player is near you and you are in first person, they will now visually hide to prevent people from blocking your vision while playing games
  
• You can now drink and eat any holdable item (such as the hot dogs or beer) in any location even if the location disables weapons. You can get drunk in the casino, arcade, or even the theater
  
• Optimized Plaza interiors
  
• Plaza art pass
  
• HUD now updates quicker when moving from location to location
  
• Added 4 new unit HUD styles: TU Alpha, Minimalistic, Cute, and Cursive
  
• Poker now displays ante in amount before you play (on use prompt)
  

Bug Fixes

• Lots of optimizations!
  
• Workshop NPC crash fix
  
• Fixed instruments being able to be used while someone else is already in it
  
• Fixed text hat displaying in first person for yourself
  
• Fixed pool tubes not keeping you buoyant as they should
  
• Fixed inventory titles breaking mouse hover events
  
• Fixed flashlight being offset in third person
  
• Fixed flashlight rotating while viewing yourself
  
• Fixed footstep sounds not working in first person (which also fixes long walk achievement)
  
• Fixed not being able to drag and drop fish into aquariums due to changes to inventory in previous update
  
• Fixed inventory tooltip sometimes disappearing
  
• Fixed poker HUD not showing your current unit amount
  
• Fixed poker HUD drawing under name tags
  
• Fixed various collision issues and holes in the Plaza
  

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 April 6th, 2020, detailing all the changes that have happened since March 30th, 2020. 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.


Last Friday and Saturday we conducted two public beta tests of the Arcade to help us identify any critical bugs, smaller bugs, and to allow us to conduct a full performance profile to see how the servers and game would cope with a full servers playing all the arcade games. We are happy to report that other than some small issues (and a performance issue we're looking into not related to the arcade specifically) the tests were very successful, and we would like to thank everyone who participated on such short notice for helping us identify these issues. We're hoping to have this released to you all within the next couple of weeks!

Caboose700 updated the achievement icons created by Sketchman on Steam.

Johanna fixed some bugs in the Arcade, fixing the Arcade location volume not including the entirety of the Arcade, fixed the trivia hallway location volume extending too high into the lonely gun area, and moved a Pluck-a-pal machine upstairs.

macdguy made various improvements and changes to Arcade machines, working on stomping out bugs and preparing them for release. He changed Pluck-a-pal to use a capsule like system as the prior method was too buggy and didn't function correctly. He also created a system for smaller playermodels to have the correct eye height for all the Arcade machines, adding stools for visualization. Additional sounds for the Wowozela were added as well.

Madmijk worked on fixing issues with Planetary Piano.

ThisIsntNath finished the Arcade trailer.

Sketchman finished the achievement icons for Phase 1 of Arcade, and helped work on optimizations.

Wheezwer finished the mural for the Arcade.

Will helped conduct performance profiling on the Arcade, while also fixing any sound bugs identified during the beta tests.

[h3]Pluck-a-pal Capsules[/h3]

[h3]Stools for Short Playermodels[/h3]

[h3]Arcade Mural[/h3]

[h3]New Wowozala UI & Sounds[/h3]



While work on Phase 1 of Arcade is wrapping up and getting closer and closer to release, our artists have started working on maps for Accelerate, our next mission after Arcade Phase 1.

Johanna continued working on the NightCity map.

JJosh continued working on the Taxi cart.

Lifeless continued working on the Pine Valley and Sunrise Isles maps, while planning a third unnamed map.

Will started working on music for Accelerate.

[h3]Very Early WIP for NightCity[/h3]

[h3]Very Early WIP for Sunrise Isles[/h3]


Sketchman worked on improving some previous Achievement Art.

[h3]Cleaned Up Achievement Icons (New vs Old)[/h3]

[h3]Redone Alpine Achievement Icons (Completed & Mastered)[/h3]


macdguy added a couple new Unit HUD options.

Sketchman started working on a prototype for Slaughterday Night Live.

Wheezwer started working on Steam Trading Cards.

[h3]New Unit HUD Options[/h3]



That about covers everything that happened since March 30th, 2020 at PixelTail Games. See you all next week!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for March 30th, 2020, detailing all the changes that have happened since March 23rd, 2020. 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.


Arcade development races on as our Number 1 priority, and we're hoping to get this out to you all within the next couple weeks.

Caboose700 added achievements and leaderboards to various machines, helped price Arcade items, and added the plushies to the "Pluck-a-pal" manifest.

JJosh started working on modeling the new Arcade NPCs designed by @wheezwer.

Johanna updated the Arcade exterior, updated the Arcade Prize desk, and implemented the new "Asteroid Belt" NPC.

macdguy worked on various gameplay improvements across all of the machines. While all the machines were tweaked, the ones that changed the most were "The Offering", "Lonely Gun 30XX", "Pluck-a-pal", and "Skee Ball".

"Skee Ball" now has better physics, making it easier to get into the top corner.

"Pluck-a-pal" gameplay was completed, so you can actually get plushies and have them rewarded to you, along with improvements to how the crane behaves.

"The Offering" now has LED effects, and players now have a indicator of their status towards the bonus rewards.

"Lonely Gun 30XX" is now fully replicated, and has holster and un-holster animations.

"Ice Cave" now has a bonus round with 50 additional bonus points.

"Little Birde Feeders" now has LED indicators for the bird feed bonus.

"Whack-a-mole" now has bonus ticket support, "Bug Bytes" was completely fixed to be playable, and "Wheel of Fire" gameplay was finished.

All of the machines now have proper scoring systems, along with proper ticket values associated with said scores. He also finished the backend systems required for tokens and tickets. Tickets no longer take an eternity to redeem. Additionally, he implemented leaderboards and achievements to various machines, implemented the Arcade EXP system, and updated several HUD elements. An absolute bunch of optimizations were made to the Arcade over the last week as well.

Madmijk continued working on "Captain Calypso's Planetary Piano", finishing the gameplay and hammering out some bugs.

ThisIsntNath continued working on the trailer for the Arcade.

Sketchman worked on icons for the Arcade achievements.

wheezwer worked on the design for the new "Asteroid Belt" NPC, helped price Arcade items, updated the Arcade logo, and finished up the art for the Pizza and Ice Cream stores, and the "Destroy" cabinet.

Will finished the music for the Arcade trailer, along with the sounds for the "Wheel of Fire" machine. He also completed sounds and effects for "Pluck-a-pal".

[h3]Updated Arcade Exterior[/h3]


[h3]New Asteroid Belt NPC[/h3]


[h3]Lonely Gun 30XX Holster Animations and Updated Gameplay[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Skee Ball Updated Gameplay[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Skee Ball Score Indicators[/h3]


[h3]The Offering Bonus Indicators[/h3]


[h3]Arcade Achievement Icons WIP[/h3]


[h3]Arcade NPC Concept Designs WIP[/h3]


[h3]Pluck-a-pal Behind the Scenes (Plush Scaling)[/h3]


JJosh continued working on karts for Accelerate, this week working on the Taxi design.

[h3]Accelerate Taxi WIP[/h3]


Lifeless began working on some Accelerate maps again.

Johanna continued working on some Plaza changes, finishing the new Tower Lobby interior and adding some benches and trash cans to the plaza.


That about covers everything that happened since March 23rd, 2020 at PixelTail Games. See you all next week!