Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for January 31st, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since January 25th, 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.
Accessibility Suggestions
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.
Next Update
We're working hard on the next update, which includes numerous fixes and changes to Accelerate, Sunrise Isles - Track 2 (renamed to Riptide Retreat), and a "connectivity surprise" that was mentioned in the last dev log.
You can follow along with the progress of this next update, including a list of everything planned to be in this next update here.
Miscellany
Johanna continued working on the "connectivity surprise", and worked on finishing Riptide Retreat (Sunrise Isles - Track 2).
JJosh continued working on the Bowling NPCs and Guitar Animations.
Lifeless continued working on Minigolf: Dark and Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia.
macdguy worked on adding controller support to the Main Menu. He also fixed various issues and bugs with Virus, along with working a bit on SDNL weapons and concepts for Horror Hill. He continued working on the "connectivity surprise".
Madmijk continued working on the condo instruments, working on a system to switch sound types.
Sketchman continued working on backend improvements and optimizations. He continued working on fixing the desync issues in condos, such as clamping transform values. He also continued working on the "connectivity surprise".
Wheezwer worked with macdguy on Horror Hill concepts. She also helped work on the "connectivity surprise".
Will continued working on a Virus sound pass, going through each of the maps and adding ambient sounds and footsteps. He also started working on monster growling.
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since January 25th, 2022 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 25th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since January 18th, 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.
Accessibility Suggestions
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.
Next Update
We're working hard on the next update, which includes numerous fixes and changes to Accelerate, Sunrise Isles - Track 2, and a "connectivity surprise" that was mentioned in the last dev log.
You can follow along with the progress of this next update, including a list of everything planned to be in this next update here.
Miscellany
Johanna worked on finishing up work for Sunrise Isles - Track 2. She also continued working on the "connectivity surprise" mentioned last week, while also starting work on a new Virus map level designed originally by Lifeless.
JJosh continued working on the Bowling NPCs and Guitar Animations.
Lifeless continued working on Minigolf: Dark and Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia. He also helped Johanna on the "connectivity surprise".
macdguy worked on splitting the Accelerate tracks into separate maps. He also improved the Votemap end screen, such as removing the roulette animations if there isn't a tie. In addition, he worked on the "connectivity surprise" along with design work for Horror Hill and controller support for Tower Unite's UI.
Madmijk continued working on the condo instruments.
Sketchman continued working on backend improvements and optimizations. He also worked on fixing the desync issues between what condo owners see in their condo, and what players who are visiting the condo see (in relation to item scale and position).
Wheezwer worked on Steam trading cards, and looked into making Steam profile backgrounds. She also worked with macdguy on Horror Hill concepts.
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since January 18th, 2022 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 18th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since January 10th, 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.
Accessibility Suggestions
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.
2022 Tower Connectivity Survey RESULTS!
A few weeks ago, we asked you guys, the community, on your opinions about connectivity in Tower Unite to help us guide future decisions. A whopping 1,564 of you answered the survey, to which we are very grateful!
Tower Connectivity Survey Results
Plaza
Johanna worked on additions to the Theatre building.
Plaza: Theatre Building Additions
Miscellany
macdguy worked on the 2D map for Track 2 of Sunrise Isles.
There is no major dev updates this week, because we are currently working on a very special update that we're not ready to announce yet. This update will be related to connectivity. Rest assured, you all will be playing this update sooner than you might imagine, and we hope you will love it as much as we do.
Sunrise Isles - Track 2 Map
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since January 10th, 2022 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!
One of Tower’s original Early Access launch maps, Midori, has gotten a refreshed look! The fuTUre is here! Rush around a lush forest valley overseen by the robot in the sky. Don't tell us why. There have been some adjustments to gameplay, but it's still the same brutally difficult map you love to hate.
Ball Race Improvements
We’ve also improved parts of Ball Race, including bonus round improvements, HUD improvements, bug fixes, and new finish cameras.
Optimizations
This update focused on various optimizations to the Plaza, including many optimizations to the players in Plaza to help ensure improved FPS with populated servers.
Changes
Ball Race: Midori Remastered
Optimized Plaza characters (reducing CPU usage overall)
Optimized Monorail
Optimized Plaza draw calls
Optimized Minigolf: Treasure Cove
Optimized button sounds overall
Ball Race: Added a crown to the HUD that stays lit until you pop, so you can more easily track your King achievement status
Ball Race: Improved finished camera
Ball Race: Improved finish goal effects
Ball Race: Bonus round now shows how many melons are left to pickup
Ball Race: Bonus round now ends when you have picked up all the melons
Ball Race: Updated bonus round graphics
Ball Race: Improved HUD look/fonts
Ball Race: Improved pickup effects
Ball Race: Optimized various network events
Ball Race: Optimized finish goals
Reduced loudness of the slot machine button press sounds
Improved RC plane/minigame plane camera
Bug Fixes
Fixed tool weapons not being able to interact with Floating Text item
Fixed several reported exploits
Ball Race: Fixed finished graphic overlapping with the ball
Ball Race - GLXY: Fixed level 4 boost having an angle to it
Ball Race - Nimbus: Fixed several level starts being angled when you spawn
Ball Race: Fixed bonus round displaying after the round is over
Ball Race: Fixed "failed" showing up after a bonus round is over
Ball Race: Fixed bonus music just abruptly cutting off if you finish bonus sooner than the timer
Ball Race: Fixed pickup effects not playing if the host picked up a melon
Ball Race: Fixed picking up a mega melon (5 melon points) not counting correctly towards the melon pickup achievements properly (it would only count as 1 melon before)
Ball Race: Improved player respawning to prevent having to reload the player models each respawn
Minigolf - Cove: Fixed out of bounds issue on hole 16
Optimized Candlestick items
Fixed Miniature Ferris Wheel having massive lights
Fixed Grill light intensity being way too much
Fixed jump crouching causing the camera to clip through ceilings
Fixed jump crouching causing the camera to snap down instead of ease back to crouch when landing from a jump crouch
Fixed snowball drawing a shadow in the snowball minigame
Fixed snowball launcher awarding way too many points in snowball minigame
Fixed plane not turning hard when holding down sprint key in plane minigame
Fixed fridge doors not working when you scale the fridge (also improved the lights on the fridge as well)
Post Update Hot Fix
Ball Race: Fixed finish camera tilting on some levels
Ball Race: Fixed bonus round in Memories not having the correct amount of melons being counted
Ball Race: Fixed the goal position for Event Horizon on the last level
Ball Race: Fixed golden melons being picked up by only one player
Ball Race: Fixed players rolling on their own before the timer starts
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 10th, 2022, detailing all the changes that have happened since December 13th, 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.
December 2021 Condo Contest Ended!
The contest has ended, and the winners are @FrasierFan666, @Niz, @cayla, @jamlee11, and @Lady!
The first prize winner @FrasierFan666 won 2,000,000 units!
You can view the condos which won and all of the other wonderful entries here.
Accessibility Suggestions
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.
Plaza
Johanna worked on an overhaul of the furniture store.
Wheezwer continued working on the new Plaza signage.
Will continued working on music and sound fixes for the Plaza (fixing holes in the map where there weren't footstep sounds).
Plaza: Updated Furniture Store Interior WIP
Condo
Johanna started converting props from the Minigolf map, Sweet Tooth into Condo items.
Madmijk continued working on improving the instruments and adding MIDI support. He improved the listening experience for other players with instrument items, as demonstrated in the video below. The notes are now played more neatly in the rhythm that the playing user played them.
Condo: "Circus Galop" demo on the Grand Piano (MIDI input is not yet available and will be released in a future update)
[previewyoutube="6lNzHEy08Jg;full"]
Condo: Sweet Tooth prop items
Ball Race
Johanna started a Ball Race, Paradise art pass, updating the course art, rock work, and color palette.
macdguy fixed a bunch of long standing bugs. He added a little crown on the top left HUD to indicate if the player has died or not (useful for No Death Achievements). The HUD was upgraded and optimized. The pickup system was recoded to fix issues with replication. The bonus stage now indicates how many melons are left to be collected and will end when all of the melons have been collected.
Ball Race: Paradise Art Pass WIP
Miscellany
Caboose700 worked with Sketchman on stabilizing the backend systems.
Lifeless continued working on the Zombie Massacre map, Acrophobia.
macdguy worked on various bug fixes and UI tweaks.
Sketchman worked on stabilizing the backend systems.
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since December 13th, 2021 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!
Wintertime has come to the Tower Unite Plaza! We’ve decked out the island with holiday cheer and brought back all of the classic holiday events. Be sure to drop by Santa Claws’ Workshop for new Condo and Appearance items, and enjoy the festive atmosphere!
Holiday Coins are also back and can be earned by playing any of the games in Tower!
Monorail!
The new and improved Monorail system is ready to take you to all of your favorite destinations around the Plaza. Hop on at one of the four stops and see the island from a new perspective while you ride in style to the stores and games.
New Appearance Store
Appearance items can now be bought at the new store: Tower Threads! There you can preview appearance items before you purchase them. You can also activate the appearance menu using the store’s high tech equipment! All appearance items that were previously on the appearance menu have now been moved to the new store.
Changes
Plaza: Holiday 2021 Events Begin
Plaza: New Store: Tower Threads, for all your apparel needs
Plaza: Plaza audio pass. Added sounds to the Bowling Exterior, Casino Exterior, DIY, Franky's Grill, Rob's Imports, Fresh, Songbirds, various room tones, ocean, dock sounds
Plaza: Added new holiday items to Santa's Workshop and Celebrations stores
Plaza: Added Floating Text item to the D.I.Y. store
Plaza: Subtly improved quality of Plaza lighting
Plaza: Tower Lobby small art pass
Plaza: Pool bypass bridge added
Plaza: Updated palm trees
Minigolf - Sweet Tooth: Hole 10 hole-in-one has been adjusted
Condo - Suite: You can now toggle off the upstairs railing
Condo - Suite: Add another light manager for the upstairs area
Condo: Spin to Win Home Edition probabilities changed to completely random instead of favoring "nothing"
Appearance Editor: You can now adjust the camera zoom with mouse wheel
Appearance Editor: Improved lighting and background visuals for the main menu
Appearance Editor: Improved background on the in-game UI
Appearance items are now only located in the new Appearance store: Tower Threads, instead of being available in the appearance editor
Plaza: Tower Threads now has a way to visually preview Appearance items before you buy them
Plaza: Store UI improvements and animations
Condo: Added Canvas materials: Simple Color
Accelerate: First drift boost stage now requires 1.0 seconds to engage instead of just 0.5 seconds
Accelerate: Turn rate increased to allow for sharper turns without the need to drift (sharp turn engages after 0.35 seconds of holding turn down)
Accelerate: Increased ground turn friction to keep the kart from sliding all around, resulting in much tighter controls
Condo: Added five different types of light animations to the Christmas Lights Twinkle
Condo: Added canvas comment support for Canvas Statue and Canvas Theater Frame
Inventory: Improved item edit popup, added separators to make the edit button stand out more from the other options
Inventory: Locking or Disabling Collision on items now automatically closes the edit popup
Inventory: Hot bar inventory now hides while editing items
UI: Renamed C context button prompt from "Actions" to "Character"
UI: Renamed "Set Workshop Player Model" to "Find Player Model"
UI Renamed "Remove Workshop Player Model" to "Take Off Player Model"
UI: Updated font on latest news UI to make it more legible
Items: Improved RC car handling
Items: Reduced Launch Pad sound volume
UI: Some unit HUDs now change for the holidays
Bug Fixes
Fixed gizmos not working when intersecting with a locked item
Appearance Editor: Fixed the character often times not facing the camera when entering appearance editing mode
Appearance Editor: Fixed the character not facing the camera after manually rotating the character and switching to a new accessories tab
Appearance Editor: Improved the camera overall, adding easing and ironing out edge cases
Appearance Editor: Fixed networking lag that would cause the character head to snap down when entering the appearance editor
Appearance Editor: Fixed large or small characters not fitting within the camera's views (basically appearance editor would completely break with tiny or large player models as the cameras would be mega offset). Now the camera will adjust smoothly to match the size of the character
Appearance Editor: Fixed back camera offsets
Appearance Editor: Fixed right click tool tips for appearance items not showing up properly on the main menu
Appearance Editor: Fixed sell tooltips not closing when you click off them or scroll wheel off
Plaza: Fixed not being able to checkout items while on the store main page category list
Condo - Suite: Fixed seats in couch not letting you get back up out of them after entering them
Workshop: Fixed normal maps clearing when using translucent or masked materials in workshop models
Fixed footstep sounds not playing most of the time while in first person due to previous optimizations
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed missing collision on Shower Base in upstairs bathroom
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed upside down wall in Pantry room
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed wrongly placed gravel texture on the landscape
Condo - Courtyard Villa: You can now edit the baseboards in the hallway again
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed incorrect material on some paving stones
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed shadows appearing in the bathrooms when items are hidden, but the light is turned off
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Removed collision on distant mountains
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed a bunch of item/placeable lights not working in some rooms
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed flashlight not working in some rooms
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed missing support piece
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Optimised lighting a little bit
Condo - Courtyard Villa: Fixed several light managers being stuck in the origin of the map
Little Crusaders - Knightsend: Fixed various camping spots
Little Crusaders - Knightsend: Fixed out-of-line flags
Little Crusaders - Knightsend: Fixed a dragon spawn point that was being blocked
Little Crusaders - Knightsend: Fixed various holes in the world
Condo: Fixed hidden edit item icons (such as placeable lights) not displaying for players who have Edit All Items permission but not Surface Edit permissions.
Condo: Fixed locked doors showing an E prompt in some cases (should just show the words "locked")
Condo: Fixed condo built in lights not having the new light functions
Items: Fixed workshop NPC having loading icons that draw through the world
Items: Fixed Stealthbox not animating the local player when in hidden mode (crouched). Also fixed the local player hiding and added a vignette effect to show the hidden state to the local player
Items: Fixed christmas lights not generating lights properly
Items: Fixed canvas frame color being applied to non canvas frames causing canvases to be tinted upon duplication or load in sometimes
Plaza: Fixed DIY store floor missing footstep sounds and causing vehicles to slow down
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Weekly Dev Log for December 13th, 2021, detailing all the changes that have happened since December 6th, 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.
Last Dev Log of 2021
Next week begins our holiday break at PixelTail Games, and we'll be back in full development on January 3rd, 2022.
As such, the next Weekly Dev Log will be January 10th, 2022!
December 2021 Condo Contest IN PROGRESS!
The theme this time, just like last year, is Winter and/or Winter Festivity!
As always, feel free to interpret that how you see fit, as long as the connection to the theme is clear. Desolate snowy landscapes, snowed-in cabins, winter wonderlands, Christmas villages- anything wintery can work, so have fun with it!
The deadline to submit your entries is January 2nd, 2022 at 11:59PM CT.
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.
Plaza
Johanna continued working on future Plaza updates, getting the new store interior finished and working on signage.
Wheezwer continued working on concept art for the Celebrations NPC, as well as working on concept art for signage.
Will continued working on the audio pass for the Plaza.
Condo
JJosh continued working on new holiday items, as well as a "Floating Text Sign" item.
macdguy added commenting to more Canvas items, and fixed some issues with the holiday lights.
Condo: New Holiday Light Animations
[previewyoutube="xfLD8AJUSY8;full"]
Condo: Fixed a bug where holiday light strands wouldn't create light
Condo: Floating Text Sign Item
Miscellany
Caboose700 worked with Sketchman on stabilizing the backend systems.
Lifeless continued working on the Zombie Massacre map, Acrophobia.
macdguy worked on various bug fixes and UI tweaks.
madmijk continued working on the new saving and loading system.
Sketchman worked on stabilizing the backend systems.
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since December 6th, 2021 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 December 6th, 2021, detailing all the changes that have happened since November 23rd, 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.
December 2021 Condo Contest IN PROGRESS!
The theme this time, just like last year, is Winter and/or Winter Festivity!
As always, feel free to interpret that how you see fit, as long as the connection to the theme is clear. Desolate snowy landscapes, snowed-in cabins, winter wonderlands, Christmas villages- anything wintery can work, so have fun with it!
The deadline to submit your entries is January 2nd, 2022 at 11:59PM CT.
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.
Plaza
Johanna finished working on the Winter Plaza, as well as all of the updates that will be in the next update.
macdguy worked on the Monorail, finishing the setup and creating a screen to show where the Monorail currently is on the track. He also created the Appearance Store UI.
Wheezwer finished working on concept art for Suite Suites, as well as some concept art for various small changes in the main lobby. She also worked on dialogue for the Appearance Store and continued working on the Horse Betting Casino game.
Will continued working on the audio pass for the Plaza.
Plaza: Appearance Store UI (with Previewing)
[previewyoutube="SiZZvxQT8N8;full"]
Plaza: Monorail Demo
[previewyoutube="s-g5znjtfP0;full"]
Plaza: Monorail Interior
Plaza: Monorail Stations
Plaza: Entrances to Monorail
Condo
JJosh continued working on new holiday items.
Madmijk worked on the Playable Guitar, allowing players to save and load chords.
Condo: Playable Guitar Saving/Loading Chords
[previewyoutube="5yGoUT_hufs;full"]
Miscellany
Caboose700 worked with Sketchman on stabilizing the backend systems.
Lifeless continued working on the Zombie Massacre map, Acrophobia.
macdguy re-made the appearance editor, so it's no longer a void, as well as upgraded the camera system to allow for zooming and handling bigger models. He also made some tweaks to Accelerate controls to improve turning and handling.
Sketchman worked on stabilizing the backend systems.
New Appearance Editor
[previewyoutube="B4gwEc7Nrdc;full"]
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since November 23rd, 2021 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 November 23rd, 2021, detailing all the changes that have happened since November 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.
November Quality of Life and Cove Update (0.14.6.0)
Yesterday, we released Update 0.14.6.0 which brought an end to the Halloween Events. This update also included numerous bug fixes and quality of life changes.
We're continuing to work on stabilizing the backend systems and fix issues that cropped up with the initial migration. You can follow our status updates here.
December's almost here, so it's time for the next contest!
The theme this time, just like last year, is Winter and/or Winter Festivity!
As always, feel free to interpret that how you see fit, as long as the connection to the theme is clear. Desolate snowy landscapes, snowed-in cabins, winter wonderlands, Christmas villages- anything wintery can work, so have fun with it!
The deadline to submit your entries is January 2nd, 2022 at 11:59PM CT.
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.
Condo
macdguy worked on adding a masked mode to canvases. This mode clips out the transparent parts of the image, and only the opaque area is rendered. He also added a stroke count to the Minigolf milestone, added comment support to Canvases, and created a Workshop download progress bar UI.
Lifeless began working again on the Zombie Massacre map, Acrophobia.
Zombie Massacre: Acrophobia
Miscellany
Caboose700 continued working on migrating user information (exp, achievements, items) off of Steam.
Johanna worked on finishing touches for the Plaza. She also worked on finishing up the Accelerate map, Sunrise Isles: Track 2. Her current project is preparing the Winter Plaza for release.
Lifeless continued working on the Ball Race map, Midori remaster.
macdguy converted the dropdown for sorting on the Workshop Browser to individual buttons.
Sketchman continued working on migrating user information (exp, achievements, items) off of Steam.
Wheezwer worked on concepts for store redesigns, and worked on signs for the Monorail.
UI: Workshop Browser Sort Buttons
Wrap It Up
That about covers everything that happened since November 15th, 2021 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!
