Project Questions

Last Updated 11/10/08

Do you fine fellows have a release date planned?

I can’t stress this answer enough it seems. No. There’s no planned release date due to the ever changing designs and ideas.  Don’t worry though, it shouldn’t be too long before we get something out.

What exactly is GMod Tower?

GMod Tower is a server that hosts many different unique gamemodes hoping to build a diverse community.

I’ve noticed a lot of textures and models.  Do I need to download these before connecting to the server?

No, but downloading our addon pack (containing the latest updates) helps decrease your wait.

Do I need to pay to play GMod Tower?

No.  GMod Tower is free, every aspect of it.  We do accept donations, but these are purely to pay for keeping the servers online.

Can I be a beta tester?

All pre-beta testing positions have been filled.  The first full beta will be public.

So this is like Habbo Hotel, Second Life, etc.?

No, it’s not.  Unlike the mentioned games we do not have strict standards nor furries.  We also want you to have fun without dealing with the troubles of the real life.

This sounds like a huge project, are you sure you can complete it all?

I won’t lie, we probably will not get everything done.  As updates continue, we’ll add more gamemodes and updates for current ones.

Is this all on one map?

Not anymore.  We’ve decided to redesign GMod Tower from the ground up.  There’s one central server hosting all the suites and stores.  The other servers each host a single gamemode (or multiple gamemodes) depending on gamemode requirements.

How will all this work?

You’ll be able to join gamemodes from the central server.  All of your player data is automatically saved and loaded from a central database based on your SteamID, so your stats, awards and inventory will be instantly available on any GMod Tower server.  We plan to implement a system that allows our servers to communicate with each other. Once this is done, you’ll be able to chat with players on a different server than yours.

Will this be released as a gamemode for other servers to host?

No. For three reasons:

- This project is always going to be under construction. We’re constantly refining, changing and just generally changing it. It’s never going to be finished to the point where we would feel comfortable releasing it as a finished product.

- Hosting this thing is pain. You’ll need a multitude of game servers, and MySQL DB somewhere they can all access it. Later on you’ll also need to host a communications server so the game servers can talk to each other. The code is not at all user friendly, either. There’s no documentation, minimal commenting, and it’ll take you ages to work out how to configure it for your own setup.

- We’re kinda attached to our work. We’re making it for people to visit, not to own.

Will the project source ever be released to the public?

No. Obviously, you’ll be able to harvest our clientside code if you’re so inclined, but that will provide very little insight on the Tower’s inner workings. There will never be a public release of the full source code.  Some code for individual features/entities may be released separately, if we think they’d be of benefit to a lot of people.

Will the servers always be full?

I can only hope so.

Gameplay Questions

How do these personal hotel suites work?

The hotel contains 15 identical suites.  When you join the server, you will need to talk to the NPC lady to obtain your room.  The lady will inform you of your room number and your possessions and upgrades will be loaded into the mentioned suite.  To checkout you can either talk to the NPC lady or leave for 6 minutes and we’ll check out for you.  When checked out, your possessions are automatically saved in their exact location in your suite, ready to be loaded into another room when you want.

How do I stop people from invading my suite?

Only you, the owner, can open or close your suite’s door.  No one can get in unless you let them in.  We’ll have a ‘privacy mode’ for even more protection.  When a suite has privacy mode activated, anyone who enters that suite (other than the owner) will be instantly teleported outside into the hallway.  These systems are 99% foolproof, but it’s up to you to remember to turn them on.  If someone manages to steal your stuff despite these security measures, then you can either report them to an admin or attempt to exact vengeance in your own fashion.  You can also buy a Hula turret to shoot down everyone who enters.  Don’t mess with the Hula girl, she’s got big guns and not afraid to use them.

What can we do in the suites?

The suite is, first and foremost, a place to store your junk. You can only carry a few essential items in your inventory, so this is where you dump the rest of it. You’ll be able to purchase upgrades for your suite. There will also be some interactive features. Various items will do different things - sleeping in your bed will heal you, for example. The ‘centerpiece’ of the suites is an interactive TV. You’ll be able to check out Tower news messages and updates, look at your stats, and pull video feeds from around the tower. The TV is, however, a work in progress - it will possess limited features in the early builds, but be unlikely to appear in it’s final form for quite some time.  We also feature a Shoutcast enabled radio, where you and others in your suite can listen to various internet radio feeds in-game.  We’re quite proud of it.

What is outside of the tower? Cities, another tower, or/and houses?

In later builds we plan to add an outside plaza with access to the pool on the side.  It won’t be in the first release, however.

Will the shops be controlled by Lua or humans?

Lua.  We can’t allow humans to handle our economy, just look at how US’s economy is declining.  Silly humans.

How does the chat system work?

You talk to other players using the chat button, same as always.  The difference is you can set a filter to decide who will receive the message.  You have a choice of sending the message to everyone on the server (server chat), to everyone in any GMod Tower server (global chat), to everyone in your group (group chat), or to a specific player (private messaging).

What kind of items can we buy/find?

Depends on the store.  Each gamemode will have a little shop next to it that controls its own upgrades (like new weapons for PVP Battle).  As for the Entertainment Plaza, we’ll have two stores.  One for suite upgrades and one for basically anything we can imagine.

What kinds of upgrades are going to be featured?

Well, if we’re talking about suites, we’ll have furniture and appliance upgrades.  However you can’t change your wallpaper due to the limits of Source.  If we talk about player models, maybe in the future we’ll have upgrades, but not for awhile.

Sounds like this tower is pretty large. How do we move around? What about changing servers?

There will be two elevators to travel around in.  They will be pretty fast as they are controlled in Lua.  To join a gamemode you press on the queue panel to enter yourself in the current waiting queue.  You can go anywhere in the tower while you wait for the gamemode to open up.  When it’s time for you to join the gamemode, you’ll recieve a message confirming your connection.  Everything will be saved, don’t worry.

When server swapping, what happens if the other server is full?

As stated above, you’ll be entered into a waiting queue until a slot opens up.

Miscellaneous Questions

Do the suites have windows? Rooms without windows are ugly. Please add windows to the rooms if they dont have it.

Yes.  We’re working on a new version of the suite that has a large window.  Screw realism.

I’ve been wondering, would there be day and night at the Tower?

Eh?  Probably not.

My laptop lags on cs_office! Will it lag in GMod Tower?

Oh hell yes.  We’re trying to optimize the tower as much as possible, but there is no doubt at this stage that you will need a decent computer and connection to play reliably. You won’t need crazy hardware - my 3 year old Pentium 4 with a Radeon x850 has proved itself more than adequate. But if your rig can’t handle cs_office then it hasn’t got a hope with this.

Are all the floors the same size?

Nope.  They can be huge or really small.  Just to screw with your mind.