TL:DR AT THE BOTTOM!
Here’s a crazy, yet plausible idea for those of us who aren’t happy with the default features in certain condos.
The tree and fish tank in the suite. The doors in the underwater condo. The (lack of) roof in the default condo. These are all fixtures that are built into each condo whether we like it or not, but I may have a solution to this with an explanation as to why it might be able to be implemented.
Let’s talk about permanent objects in condos. They aren’t so much objects as much as they are part of the level geometry. That’s why it’s not as simple as just letting us “remove” them. They’re hard-coded into the map.
However!
They can be removed by the devs as proven by a certain item in the default condo. In the early days, there used to be a fridge that could not, under any circumstances, be moved from its original position. There was already a fridge available for purchase, so it was pointless to buy another. The solution was to remove it and let players buy their own fridge and place it in its original, intended spot, or somewhere else entirely. The question remains: why hasn’t this been done with other objects that some of us might not be happy with, but must put up with?
Instead of having them be permanent items or permanently removed as per the devs’ decisions, I say we let the players decide what permanent fixtures to enable. To achieve this, I’d like to suggest a new class of items: Toggle-ables. They won’t be able to be picked up or moved by players, and are enabled by default in every condo. In fact, they’re identical; you won’t even notice anything was changed at first. When a toggle-able is enabled, it will have collision and be visible. When disabled, it is invisible and does not have collision. They will replace certain static items with an identical object of the same scale, as well as the positional and rotational coordinates as the original. This will ensure that any players who have built on and around said objects will not be affected.
Here’s my proposition.
A portable condo tool which I haven’t named yet. Let’s just call it the “Toggler” for now. The Toggler will look and function like any other condo tool, perhaps even more simply: just left and right click. Left for off, right for on. When holding the Toggler in-hand, the player will see translucent infill within certain objects that are intended to exist in the level by default. I’ve created a mockup below.
The doors are already able to be opened and closed, yes, but the Toggler would completely remove them, including on the next load into the condo. The silhouette would still be visible if the Toggler is in-hand and an item is disabled. Items able to be toggled may include:
- The fish tank in the suite
- Various kitchen counters for those of us who prefer a truly open floor plan
- Building supports, rafters, and pillars
- The tree in the suite (I WANT THIS THING GONE ALREADY
)
- Doors which are built into certain condos
- Any other item which protrudes from the level, but is not part of the basic floor, ceiling, or walls.
Of course, this could be built into the “C” menu, but the inconvenience in that comes when you’d have to constantly stop in place and hold C to view what items are toggle-able. With the Toggler, you could instantly see all items available to modify and run around with it in-hand, turning items on and off at will.
I am aware that this wouldn’t be easy to implement.
I’m also aware that there’s a chance it may be impossible. It requires replacing several existing assets in several different maps with visually identical versions, a new tool, and likely hundreds of hours of prototyping just so that a few very picky players can slightly alter a few odds and ends in their living spaces. There’s been a handful of times I’ve thought to myself: “Gee, I really wish that feature weren’t in the level”, but with no way to change it, and this is the solution I’ve dreamed up during my time playing Tower Unite.
Thank you for taking the time to read my giant, boring wall of text.
Thank you for considering my suggestion.
TL;DR: A new condo tool that will let you toggle permanent level objects like the tree in the suite.
