After about six months of work GMod Tower has finally gone into beta. However, we're still busy solving issues and finalizing content. The closed beta is Monday, July 6th through July 13th. If things go well, we'll release the public beta roughly a week after the closed beta.

The forums are finally up again. Everything has been cleaned - so you'll need to re-register.

We added a bunch of new arcade games. Most have yet to be skinned, however. The current list of games can be found here.

I also reskinned the Silent Hill arcade to Doom. This is because Doom is full playable, while there is no Silent Hill flash game available.

The suite TV now has an improved flash API for searching and playing YouTube videos. Things are much more streamlined now.

We also increased the size of the theater by two. The screen is very large and can be easily seen even from the back row.

The gamemode ports are finally working. You simply press use on the panel and wait for your turn to play. You'll get a notification and will be taken to the correct server. After a three rounds (PVP Battle) or one level play-through (Ball Race), you'll be taken back to the tower - even if the server is full.

Lastly, we've been coded tons of awards for you to earn.

Honestly, I can't wait to see what happens during the closed beta week.

We've been getting things prepared and settings up the servers lately. One of the biggest announcement we have is the new module AzuiSleet coded. This new module allows us to expand the experience beyond GMod.

The suite radio now draws in 3D2D. The suite TV now has the ability to play YouTube videos.

We are also able to host flash games in-game. This allows us to have fully functional arcade games. We've skinned tons of arcade cabinets to match the flash game. Each flash game is hand-picked and heavily tested by our staff.

The games run up to 30 frames per second (perfect for any flash game) and is rendered in 3D2D. Yes, every input works perfectly with no delay.

We've also decided to create a movie theater. By implementing live streaming movies, users will be able to vote for a movie to be played each Saturday night. The time slots are 6PM, 9PM, 12AM, and 3AM (EST). The list of movies is still being compiled.

You simply walk into the theater at the correct time (posted outside the theater) and the movie will begin shortly. Each user will be synced (depending on their internet connection) to the movie, once they enter the theater. The map is still a huge WIP.

Lastly, we worked a few other things such as the trunk. The trunk allows players to store up to 100 items. This is a great place to put your excess furniture and other items. We've also finished skinning the new bath tub and suite booth, created new TV and trunk models, and have pulled the map out of alpha status.

We're looking forward to these new features and cannot anticipate the results.

6/4/09 - Fixed frostbite's second link.

I researched how to make panoramic shots and found a pretty good tutorial. However, GMod does not take screenshots as quickly as I needed. So, AzuiSleet coded up a module that fixed the issue and at last - panoramic images were possible. It took around four hours total to stitch all the images together. It was well worth the effort. I went a little crazy and did a couple for each finished PVP Battle map, ball race, and some for tower locations.

Oh, for those who don't know what panoramic images are - think of them as a 360 dome. You can pan the camera around in sudo-3D, simliar to skyboxes. If you're still confused, just try one out. It requires QuickTime, though.

Just click one thumbnail and you'll be redirected to a panoramic viewing page we've setup.

GMod Tower

Lobby:

Arcade:

Route 66 Bar:

Suite:

PVP Battle

Meadow:

Construction:

Frostbite:

Ball Race

Skyworld:

I really do enjoy these. You can finally see each map as if you were in-game.

As promised, part two of the Bits and Bobs update. This will pertain to code we've finished up or improved.

Even now, Nican is working on recoding the inventory (the older inventory had tons of issues and we've changed our ideas since then). As you can see, most of the UI is done.

Nican also is working on the store NPCs and has a pretty nice conversation system we'll be using to give players information on all sorts of things. The suite lady (you talk to her to get a suite) already has simplified version of this system going. It's all animated, but the UI still needs some graphics.

The teleporter has been coded as well, but again needs some graphics. However, it's pretty stable and doesn't have many issues. You select the floor on the left and the description displays on the right. Just press use on it and you'll be taken to that floor.

AzuiSleet made us a seat system that works with every single seat in the tower. Where ever you look, the player model seating will look as well, giving it a very fluid animation. It has a pretty nice ejection system which stores the original location the player was and uses that unless something is blocking it. This allows super simple seating.

Azu also finished up the drunk system. Every drink adds 90 seconds of drunk time. While drunk you'll stumble around and sometimes throw up. If you don't want to be drunk anymore, just sleep in the bed and sober up.

Lastly the radio now has been fixed up. If the stream is full or the connection has been broken, the radio will tell you in the 3D 2D element. The chrome module doesn't leak as badly, either. There was discussion to further add to the chrome module (youtube support), but that's a large task that probably won't happen.

May has been a very productive month. I'm splitting this update into two smaller updates (one for content and one for coding).

We've been working on getting all the content finalized. Sunabouzu, Sniper, and I (MacDGuy) have been working on creating maps for PVP Battle. We have finished two new maps. Frostbite has been updated with new environment details and other small fixes. I also spent time working on getting the bar, arcade, and stores built into the tower. Everything is being touched up, it shouldn't be too long from now.

The arcade is coming along quite nicely. Sniper was able to create the circular design quite nicely and I have been texturing and lighting everything. The arcade models still need to be skinned with multiple games. I also want to place posters around the arcade to spice the place up a bit more.

I finally got around to skinning that fountain, by the way.

The old route 66 bar has been added to the tower. I'll talk about the code of this in part two of this update.

I made a quick concept of the stores. Obviously it needs to be populated with models and such.

I'll end with all the new PVP Battle media.

Frostbite

Construction Zone

OneSlip