Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for January 29th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since January 22nd, 2024. 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.
Supporter Pack
We've released the Supporter Pack for Tower Unite!
If you're like us and you love Tower Unite, please consider supporting us through this supporter pack!
We're a small team that relies on fan support to keep this project alive! Buying this supporter pack will directly help us cover development costs as we work to make Tower Unite the best it can be.
The supporter pack comes with a few gifts to show our appreciation! We tried to keep them similar to other rewards we've given in the past to those who have helped to fund the game!
We've released the Supporter Pack for Tower Unite!
If you're like us and you love Tower Unite, please consider supporting us through this supporter pack!
We're a small team that relies on fan support to keep this project alive! Buying this supporter pack will directly help us cover development costs as we work to make Tower Unite the best it can be.
The supporter pack comes with a few gifts to show our appreciation! We tried to keep them similar to other rewards we’ve given in the past to those who have helped to fund the game!
This update addresses several bugs from the new update.
Changes
Condo: Removed large AFK notice while in Condos, now only shows a small AFK icon at the bottom left. This should help remove the AFK status from blocking media you are actively watching
Condo: New VR Grid material
Condo: New material variants to Basic Doorframe
Updated dialogue UI. Now has better support for longer sentences (no longer resizes the text)
SDK: Added Play testing button to SDK scoreboard, allowing you to quickly play test an SDK map in the Game World it's being made for
SDK: Updated walkable angles for Virus maps
SDK: Added Game World IO module that has outputs when a Game World / Game Type is currently active on the level, along with other gameplay events
SDK: Workshop map title now displays on the waiting for players screen, instead of just "workshop map"
SDK: Added checks to prevent players from entering into seats
Condo IO/SDK: Added IO events for CTF flag (OnPickedUp), Oddball (OnPickedUp), Weapon Pickup (OnPickedUp, OnRespawned), Health/Ammo/Armor Pickup (OnPickedUp, OnRespawned)
SDK: Removed use prompt for Libretro items
SDK: Disabled media players in workshop maps
SDK: You can now eat food in Game Worlds
Condo IO/SDK: Damage/Heal Volume now can damage/heal up to 10,000 HP
Bug Fixes
SDK: Fixed certain Workshop tags not being selectable
SDK: Fixed CTF and Oddball items showing up in Virus maps
Minigolf - Nostalgia: Hole 13 fixed circling for a long time in the first tube hole
Minigolf - Nostalgia: Fixed not going out of bounds on the floor in Hole 15, 16, 17
Known Bugs Selecting a Workshop Game World map from the Game World Ports doesn’t work currently
Toy Time Weekend Event!
We're running a new Weekend event this weekend! All toy-themed maps will have a 1.5x unit boost, which includes Cardboard Castle, Toy Room, Bedzoom, Hallway Raceway, and Nostalgia!
Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail We love awesome people like you!
A new minigolf map is here! Feel the nostalgia as you putt from courses of colorful toys into a mysterious world inside of an old computer!
Workshop Game World Maps (Alpha)
Players can now create playable maps for SDNL, Virus, and Little Crusaders!
This update includes the official Alpha release of the Workshop Map SDK.
Simply open the Workshop Editor, select the Map Editor, set up the map, test it out, and share it to the world!
Once a player uploads a map, they can play it by downloading it from the User Creations menu!
You can start a Game World server by opening any maps you have downloaded from the User Creations menu or by selecting them in the end-of-match map selection screen.
SDK maps support a wide range of features that Condos support, such as Condo IO, Canvases, and Workshop models. Certain Volumes work, such as Damage Volumes which affect gameplay (in Virus it will infect a survivor or damage an infected, in Little Crusaders it'll set Knights on fire, etc.), Teleporter Volumes, and Trigger Volumes. Size Volumes are disabled.
You can also import Condo maps to the SDK directly, by using the Load button in the SDK's scoreboard menu. You'll just need to rename the CondoData file to have a .map file extension.
A guide on our SDK website is being written up and should be out by this weekend, which will give more information on how to use the SDK.
We'll be adding SDK support to additional Game Worlds over the next month, along with Custom Workshop Sounds support, and more SDK items.
User Creations Menu
All Workshop Maps (both for Condos and Game Worlds) are now available to browse and download through the User Creations menu on the Main Menu.
In addition, there were several changes to clean up the tag system and allow for tags for some specific Game World criteria.
Workshop map descriptions also now allow for more text formatting options (such as heading
</> and bold </>) and should be more visible than before!
Virus Crash Fix
We made a temporary change to Virus in an attempt to fix a crash that happens when a player dies. If this change solves or does not solve your crashing issues, please let us know!
Changes
New Minigolf Map: Nostalgia!
Workshop Map SDK for SDNL, Virus, and Little Crusaders (Alpha release)
Main Menu: Added new "Creations" menu option, which will be home to all Workshop Condos and Game World Maps
Main Menu: Updated "Condo List" option to be "Player Condos"
Main Menu: Updated Workshop browser top navigation tabs and removed the sidebar on the left. Favorites/Subscribed/Uploads is now on the top
Main Menu: Fixed Workshop browser tags being on multiple lines for most widescreen resolutions
Main Menu: Moved Workshop Condos outside of the Condos section, now in the "Creations" section
Main Menu: Condo image content warning now only displays once per game launch
Main Menu: Improved Workshop browser tags for Condo browsing
Main Menu: Improved sizing of the Workshop Condo browser thumbnails (now widescreen)
Main Menu: Workshop Condo descriptions now support bold and h1 text formatting
Main Menu: Improved how the Workshop Condo description text looks, allowing for more of it to be visible and readable
Main Menu: Fixed Workshop Condo descriptions text getting cut off - now will show the entire description
Accelerate: Melons now have more boost (single and triple, but not gold)
Accelerate: Pin Shield now shows up more often (lowered player count requirement)
Accelerate: Flux shows up less often now
Accelerate: Added boost speed lines for better boost feedback
Libretro: Adjusted standing positions for certain cabinets (moved them towards screen)
Condo: Fish can now swim in Water Volumes
Condo IO: Improved connection tool UI. It will now display the output and the input your connection is about to make
Condo IO: You can now set the output with scroll up/down while highlighting over the first actor of the connection with the connection tool
Condo IO: Optimized wires being drawn when connected actors are nearby
Condo IO: Made persistent connections more clear with the connection tool
Minigolf: Waterhole - Expanded the area on Hole 1 so players can bounce off a log without going out of bounds
Condo: Added rich text formatting to Notebooks. Examples: bold</>, underline</>, italic</>,
header 1</>,
header 2</>, highlight</>
Updated Bert Gun arcade item to be more like the SDNL version
SDNL: Increased damage dealt by the Toy Hammer (from 24 to 30)
SDNL: Increased damage dealt by the Bert Gun (from 18 to 20)
SDNL: Increased damage dealt by the Flamethrower (from 5 to 7)
SDNL: Increased damage dealt by the Crossbow (from 50 to 60)
SDNL: Increased damage dealt by the Minigun (from 9 to 15), reduced spread, reduced clip size from 150 to 100
Ball Race: Melons collected in singleplayer now award Units
Bug Fixes
Fixed individual voice volume settings not applying to Game World voice chat
Condo: Fixed Push Volume causing network desyncs with physics items when physics items are pushed by it
Minigolf: Waterhole - Attempted to fix desync for Hole 18
Condo: Fixed Floating Text glowing with volumetric fog enabled
Libretro: Fixed arcade idle screens not animating for clients
Fixed crash issue with Diamond Trophies/Diamond Jetpacks
SDNL: Fixed Gun Game not switching to the proper weapon and staying on Toy Hammer
Condo: Optimized Push Volume
Condo: Fixed Transformer Tool not working in co-op Condos
Libretro: File list selector now restores scroll position to what it was after it was closed
Libretro: Fixed bar stools being created for racing cabinets
Fixed traveling to an SDNL workshop map from the Game World ports not working
Fixed rolling pets staying attached to players after players sit down in seats
Condo: Fixed Workshop items not displaying again if they are placed down and not set and the condo is saved then reloaded
Known Bugs Selecting a Workshop Game World map from the Game World Ports doesn’t work currently There are dark shadows in small areas of the Plaza Using the underline </> rich text formatting in the Workshop description highlights it
Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail We love awesome people like you!
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for January 22nd, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since January 16th, 2024. 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.
Minigolf: Haven
Lifeless continued working on Minigolf: Haven, finishing all 18 holes, and now starting on art for the remaining holes.
Minigolf: Nostalgia
Johanna worked on setting up all of the collisions and worked on getting the map ready for release.
macdguy setup all of the cameras, added achievements, stats, and leaderboards.
Nuclearxpotato continued working on holes for the "toy room" area.
Sketchman worked on achievement icons.
Wheezwer worked on some graphics for props used in the maps.
Minigolf: Nostalgia Achievement Icons WIP
Workshop Game World Map SDK Progress
macdguy continued working on the Workshop Map SDK, creating a weapon pickup system (for spawning weapons in SDNL and Condo).
SDK: Ball Race SDK WIP
Miscellany
Johanna finished the optimizations for the Game World Ports interior.
Joshua continued working on the new Workshop Skeleton.
macdguy made a new Minigolf camera system.
Sketchman continued working on the engine upgrade and CPU optimizations for the Arcade.
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since January 16th, 2024 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!
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for January 16th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since January 8th, 2024. 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.
The Community Vote is over, and the results are in!
Thanks to everyone who participated in the vote! There were 63 responses this time!
Since there were only 7 entries, I expanded the placements and changed some of the prize amounts.
The winners of the community vote are:
1st Place - 2,000,000 Units - @Cayla 2nd Place - 1,000,000 Units - @TrashPlus 3rd Place - 800,000 Units - @OuTSMoKE 4th Place - 600,000 Units - @galaxycat 5th Place - 450,000 Units - @haze 6th Place - 300,000 Units - @Kirbyrocket 7th Place - 200,000 Units - @grandwhizbang
Thank you all so much for participating in the contest and vote!
And keep an eye out for the next contests! Another Contest will open for submissions later this month.
Minigolf: Haven
Lifeless has started working on a new Minigolf map, named Haven.
Minigolf: Haven WIP
Minigolf: Nostalgia
macdguy continued working on "Nostalgia", adding more holes to the "vaporwave" section.
Nuclearxpotato worked on adding holes to the "toy room" section.
Minigolf: Nostalgia WIP
Workshop Game World Map SDK Progress
macdguy worked on more tools for the future Workshop Map SDK, working on tools for SDNL and Ball Race. The tools will also integrate with Condo I/O.
SDK: Ball Race Tools
SDK: SDNL Tools
SDK: New IO Connection Tool UI
Miscellany
Johanna worked on the optimizations for the Game World Ports interior.
Joshua continued working on the new Workshop Skeleton.
Lifeless edited the power levels of various SDNL weapons.
macdguy worked on Dedicated Condos and VR.
Madmijk fixed a few crashes relating to the MIDI instruments.
Sketchman continued working on the engine upgrade.
Wheezwer continued working with Makeship on the Little Crusaders Dragon plush.
Will worked on music for the Ball Race map, "Eruption".
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since January 8th, 2024 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!
That being said, we have some fun stuff on the road ahead for 2024!
This year we want to hone in on some areas that will keep Tower Unite around for years to come, and we want get to work on the next long-awaited projects!
So this year, there’s a focus on some popular favorites, user generated content, and other goals we’ve been working towards.
Some of the areas of the game that are at the forefront of our minds as we start this year are:
Minigolf Maps
Workshop & Modding Tools
Bumper Cars
Arcade Games
Weekend Events
VR Support
Dedicated Condo Servers
Horror Hill Development
In-Development Projects
Note: We’ll be linking to our Trello pages which will be updated with more accurate information in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for that.
Some more information on where we are with some of these:
New Minigolf Maps!
Minigolf is a favorite of Tower Unite players and we have been wanting to get back to developing maps for it for a while. Based on the positive player responses from the survey, the 18-hole release of Mushroom Wood was an awesome start last year!
With the new year ahead, we’ve buckled down and started development on a new Minigolf map, Minigolf: Nostalgia. There’s already been substantial progress on the map, and you can follow along with development here.
Any further map ideas are still behind the scenes!
Workshop & Modding Support
This includes:
Workshop maps for Game Worlds
Workshop Custom Sounds
Custom Workshop Items (colorables, media player, Libretro support)
With SDNL’s release last year, we tested the waters for user-generated Game World Maps by giving players access to the Workshop Map SDK.
We were not surprised to see the awesome, creative content that popped up from it! Any participation helped us figure out how this feature can be feasible.
This year we are getting to work on fleshing out Workshop Game World map creation past this very early state, expanding it to more Game Worlds, and releasing it in a more proper update.
We are also planning on expanding the TU Workshop to offer other features such as custom sound packs and more complex item types!
Arcade Development
We’ve been doing some planning for the Arcade, and we’d like to get out some new games in smaller updates, rather than a full “Phase”.
We’re still ironing out the details on what games we want to jump in to, and some planned games may get scrapped, simplified, or otherwise reworked in order to accommodate our abilities as such a small team.
Some of the next Arcade games we’re thinking about developing include air hockey, the standalone Shooting Gallery, some of the 2D games, as well as unannounced games.
We’ll keep you posted in the dev logs with more info!
Dedicated Condo Servers
We’ve started development on dedicated Condo servers!
This means that Condo hosts will be able to leave their Condos up for others to join at any time, even if the host isn’t actively in the server.
If other players have permissions, they will even be able to edit and decorate the Condo as though it was a normal Co-Op Condo!
More Weekend Events
This year, expect to see some more variety in the weekend events, such as more Game World specific events, more Plaza events, and more themed map events.
We plan to start rolling these out as soon as we can. There are only a few more tasks that need to be done to make this happen.
Bumper Cars & Boardwalk Games
The 2023 Boardwalk updates have gotten us that much closer to focusing on Bumper Cars, a feature promised on the original TU Indiegogo campaign!
And development is on-going! You can check out the Trello page for it here.
We also have plans for several more Boardwalk Games to be added!
VR Support Progress
VR support has always been a hefty side project, and we won’t stop development on it!
If you’d like to see the current progress for VR, check out our Trello here.
Horror Hill Development
With SDNL finally in the game, the next game world we will work on is Horror Hill.
It’s in the planning and concept stage at this point, but, as we knock out some of these other projects, we’ll soon be at a point where it will be our main focus!
One thing we are very excited for is our plans to have Workshop SDK support for creating your own monsters!
If you want to see Horror Hill progress, here is its Trello page.
Other In-Development Projects
We know there is a lot going on in the development of Tower Unite, and we have not at all forgotten about the projects that are already in development that may not have been mentioned here.
Although we are shifting gears to certain areas of the game at the start of this year, development will still continue on other projects.
Still expect map updates, bug fixes, implementations of backlogged content, and all of the other usual stuff that comes with Tower Unite.
We have a lot of stuff that we want to get into the game and are getting our bearings as we start this year, so we appreciate your patience!
Now, let’s look back at 2023!
In 2023, Tower Unite had 28 releases, including 15 major updates and 13 hot fixes!
Below is a summary of the major releases over the past year! Full lists of changes can be found on the change logs for each update.
In February, we were able to release a feature we’d been keeping under wraps for a while: Libretro support for Tower Unite!
This release added 19 gaming console items into Tower Unite, all of which have Libretro support that allows a player to emulate games within their Condo!
The items include handheld devices, home consoles, and arcade cabinets. The arcade cabinet items have lots of Canvas capabilities so players can display images to make realistic looking arcade cabinets with custom art!
In March, lightgun, touchscreen, and keyboard support was added for items using Libretro, as well as 6 more compatible console items and other changes!
April marked the return of the Anniversary Celebrations events! New items were added along with the event festivities, and Accelerate and Little Crusaders payout increases were implemented!
April also brought the release of the the Virus map Catzek Temple! It’s the largest map so far in Virus, and offers interesting ways to strategize against your opponents, including the addition of jump pads!
In late September, SDNL: Decommission released! Decommission is a rework of the Virus map Corrosion designed for SDNL.
Among other things, this update also added Condo sounds and lasers! Over 50 new sounds were added, as well as laser beams that can be activated through Condo I/O!
In November, SDNL: Container Ship was released! On this beached freighter map, players can maneuver through (or over!) shipping containers to fight their way to the win!
There were also some changes to achievement payouts and other fixes and optimizations in this update!
December brought the Winter Holidays update for 2023! This was a huge update that expanded on the existing Winter Holiday events, added MIDI support, post processing volumes, and introduced the new boardwalk renovations, and a lot more!
The final update of the year was the Holly Jolly Highway Update! It added a new festive and snowy map to Accelerate, as well as much needed optimizations, bug fixes, and other changes.
That concludes the State of the Game post for this year!
Be sure to keep up with developments on our Trello, Steam, and Dev Logs!
Weekly Dev Log for January 8th, 2024
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for January 8th, 2024, detailing all the changes that have happened since December 18th, 2023. 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.
Winter 2023 Condo Contest (Winter/Festivity) - NOW VOTING
Voting has begun for the Winter Condo Contest.
You can see all of the submissions on the main forum thread here.
Voting ends on January 11th, 2024 at 11:59 PM CDT.
We're Back!
We're back from our winter break, we hope you all had a great time on your break, and we're excited for 2024.
While this Dev Log will be shorter than normal, we do have a few things to show you.
A new Minigolf map, named "Nostalgia" has been started.
macdguy took some time over the break to look more into the Dedicated Condos and VR support. We're actively working on getting these systems working and ready to be released.
nuclearxpotato worked on a Clipboard Note item, which is functionally equivalent to the Notebook item. Also Notebooks have had their character limit set from 999 to 4999.
Minigolf: Nostalgia EARLY EARLY EARLY WIP
Clipboard Note Item WIP
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since December 18th, 2023 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!
There’s a new winter themed Accelerate map to enjoy! Race through a festive and snowy little town and enjoy the wintertime delights!
WINTER QUESTS AND HOLIDAY EVENTS!!
Holiday events are still ongoing!
There are three exciting Holiday Quests to participate in!
Spread holiday joy and help Santa Claws deliver gifts to the hardworking Plaza staff, share the joy of hats, and find the missing reindeer!
Find the quest-givers in the Central Fountain area!
In addition, the usual Holiday cheer has swept through Tower Unite! Enjoy beautiful holiday decorations in the Plaza, earn Holiday Coins from playing games, and deck yourself out with some festive gear at Santa Claws’ store!
WINTER WONDERLAND EVENTS!!
There’s a new weekend event type this weekend! The Winter Wonderland Events give 1.5x Units & EXP on select winter and toy-themed maps: Nimbus, Memories, Summit, Alpine, Village, Bedzoom, Hallway Raceway, Toy Room, Sweet Tooth, Frostbite, and Holly Jolly Highway!
Changes
New Map: Accelerate: Holly Jolly Highway
Condo: Added "Priority" setting to Sky Volume, allowing control over which Sky Volume takes priority over the others, when there are several inside of each other
Condo: Added "Cloud Color" setting to Sky Volume
Minigolf: Improved camera easing, to reduce visual stutters at high speeds
Made it easier to interact with the Game World Port panels
Accelerate: Beer now spins you out and the visual effects last only 5 seconds (was 10 seconds)
Accelerate: Beer no longer blocks other projectile items
Accelerate: Bumpers now spin you out (they still bump you as well)
Accelerate: Beer, Bumpers, and Golf Holes no longer can be flung forwards, will always be dropped behind you
Added Ice Sculpture Franky, Ice Sculpture Kalleira, and Elf Mutilator to Santa's Workshop store
Added Winter Market Booth to Celebrations store
Bug Fixes
Plaza: Fixed various landscape collision holes in the Plaza
Fixed button issues with smaller avatars or potion users
Fixed button issues while in a seat
Fixed a camera issue when leaving an RC vehicle
Fixed Frost Dragon materials being corrupted
Condo: Fixed a crash relating to setting the Ceiling Light string length
Condo: Fixed various festive lights not saving their settings properly
Condo: Fixed Ferris Wheel milestone lights being very bright
Condo: Fixed overlapping Sky Volumes turning each other off when you leave/enter the overlapping ones
Condo: Fixed global Sky Volumes turning off after leaving a non-global Sky Volume
SDNL: Fixed workshop player models T posing on ragdoll deaths (also fixes Condos)
SDNL: Attempted Magnum Lazer explosion crash fix
Virus: Attempted to fix crash relating to infected dying
Condo: Attempted to fix crash relating to water cooler item
Optimizations
Game World Ports optimization
Join our Discord for development updates and community fun! https://discord.gg/pixeltail We love awesome people like you!
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for December 18th, 2023, detailing all the changes that have happened since December 11th, 2023. 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.
The submission period for the winter Condo Contest has begun!
The theme this year is Winter / Festivity again!
So, your build should be either: winter-related, themed after winter holidays / holiday activities (including New Years), or generally wintry and festive!
The submission period ends on January 7th, 2024 at 11:59 PM.
Be sure to look at the prizes and follow the rules on the thread here!
November 2023 Art Contest - Results
The results are in! Thanks to everyone who voted and participated! There were 111 responses this time.
The winners are:
1st Place - 1,000,000 Units - Wishbo_ne 2nd Place - 250,000 Units each - Studio_Mercy_Music, Vito Skeletino, han, The Lich, Alexer Zoderia, pissweed, HuskyInABasket 3rd Place - 500,000 Units - nephco 4th Place - 250,000 Units - Herobrine 5th Place - 150,000 Units - Mrs.Insomniac
Thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to everyone who won.
We're also working hard on a Part 2 update, with a few more items and the teased winter Accelerate map, "Holly Jolly Highway". We're aiming to release that update this week, so keep your eyes peeled.
Johanna worked on getting the Winter Plaza ready for release, and also worked on "Holly Jolly Highway".
Lifeless worked on "Holly Jolly Highway", as well as fixed some issues with SDNL maps.
macdguy worked on releasing the update, and worked on fixing issues that came up with the initial release.
Madmijk worked on getting MIDI ready for release, as well as making the MIDI announcement.
Nuclearxpotato worked on holiday items.
Sketchman worked on optimizations and bug fixes, and worked on achievement icons.
Wheezwer worked on dialouge for the holiday characters.
Holiday Achievement Icons
Miscellany
Joshua continued working on the new skeleton for the Workshop models, working on the IK system.
Wheezwer worked on getting new screenshots for the Steam store page.
Will worked on music for Eruption and Containership.
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since December 11th, 2023 at PixelTail Games. See you all next year!
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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 running a new Weekend event this weekend! All toy-themed maps will have a 1.5x unit boost, which includes Cardboard Castle, Toy Room, Bedzoom, Hallway Raceway, and Nostalgia!
