Disclaimer: I’m not trashing or disparaging any of the developers for their hard work. I know game dev isn’t as easy as it seems, and things won’t always be perfect, we won’t always get want we want, and I’m grateful that the Pixeltail team has been so transparent and open to the community about their work.
I will be scoring every new condo item added in this update by 4 criteria:
(Click each for details)
Necessity
How much a condo builder might need an item like this to complete their project. An item that would only be used in very specific circumstances would score lower than an item that would be used for more general circumstances.
Fidelity
The visual quality of the item’s model(s).
Generally, a higher fidelity item will have:
- No harsh polygonal edges. (Proportional to the default size of the model.)
- High resolution textures. (Proportional to the default size of the model.)
- Realistic/believable shading and materials (e.g, a pillow should not look like it’s made of metal, a toaster should not look like it’s made of wood. Rounded edges should be rounded.)
- No bugs or glitches (Z-Fighting, lighting inconsistencies, customization not saving, scaling offset issues, etc.)
Customizability
How customizable the item is. An item with high customizablity might have:
- Coloring options. Ideally, every part of the item should be colorable, including particles and emitted lights, and the color of the item should not be tinted with the original color of the item. (i.e an item that is green by default should not have that green tint influence the player selected colors.)
- Object Variation. Item should have multiple variations available in the edit menu. If necessary. For Example, a Jar item might have an option to remove the lid, and options to fill the jar with either a solid substance or liquid. A new canvas primitive should have half, quarter, and eighth divisions if necessary.
- Canvasable: Any item which could have a generic, labelless version of itself should have one. This is mainly for food items. Jars, bottles, cans, sealed bags, should all have their own respective canvas item for personalization.
Interactivity
How interactable the item is through the game and through I/O. An item with good interactivity might have:
- Item should have believable and expected function within reason. Any Item with similar functions to previously existing items should have similar interactivity. (e.g, a lamp should be able to be turned on and off, and have all light functions. An item with a door or hatch should have all door functions.) Items that are purely decorative, and expected to be decorative will always score a 3 out of 5.
- Any interactivity provided by the item should have some way to be removed for decorative purposes. (A door should be lockable, a machine should have an option to not be useable.) Some objects, like the “Basic Shape Button” allow deactivation of interactivity through I/O.
- I/O functionality: Any interactable item should have inputs and outputs for each interaction. These should be consistent with other items of it’s kind. Chairs should have the same I/O functionality as every other chair.
Each category will have it’s own respective scoring out of 5, which will then be used to determine the overall score of the item.
Item Review: 0.18.5.0 “Dino Drive!”
There were 22 purchasable condo items added in this update. Another pretty sizable amount, much like last update.
Item 1: Electric Enclosure Fence
Necessity: 2/5
A pretty niche item, but important for what it is for.
Fidelity: 5/5
Although the item is somewhat simple, what it does have is very well modeled. The model has a variety of materials, which makes the item a treat to look at closely. The metal has a good trim, with a good amount of grime appropriate for the item. There are smaller metal pieces of a lighter color, which look good as well. A ribbed copper wire material connects the small metal pieces to the large frame. The electric cables on the fence have a nice coiled material on them, though there is a very minor seam on one side of the texture. The red and green lights also have their own unique material, which fits well.
Customizability: 3/5
Only the primary metal part is colorable. This also colors the electric cables that go across the fence. The item has 7 different variants, of varying lengths, including a version that’s torn open! There is no way to turn off the glow on the red and green lights.
Interactivity: 3/5
Purely Decorative. It’s somewhat expected, though maybe it could have had it’s own damage feature when touched.
Total score: 13/20
Grade: C
This item is very nice, but it’s so niche that it probably never would have been added if the map it was from didn’t exist. It also lacks a lot of color customization.
Item 2: Thematic Entry Gate
Necessity: 4/5
Normally, this item would be rated very low on the necessity scale, because of how niche it is. However, the ability to use just the door of the item makes it a lot more viable and versatile.
Fidelity: 4/5
The stone gate looks pretty fake, which I assume is intentional, since it fits with the original map it came from. The bump map on it is pretty low resolution, and looks pretty strange up close. The “Dino Drive” sign has a reasonable amount of grime and the bright paint has subtle wear on the edges. The wooden door has detailed trimming, with a semi-realistic plank material. It also has proper hinges. I think the door would have been better with a different sound though. The default door sound feels a little modern and anticlimactic for such a big and rustic door.
Customizability: 4/5
Only stone and door are colorable, sign is not colorable. Sign and frame can be removed, to leave just the door.
Interactivity: 5/5
Has all expected Door I/O features.
Total score: 17/20
Grade: A
This item would have scored much lower if not for the option of just the door. I think a lot of people will be using the item because of that.
Item 3 & 4: Skeleton (T-Rex), Spare Bone (T-Rex)
Necessity: 4/5
The T. Rex skeleton is another somewhat niche prop, but at least it’s interesting enough to be used as a set-piece or decor. The spare bones can be really useful for generic animal remains. (Since we only had human ones before.)
Fidelity: 5/5
The T. Rex skeleton appears to be plaster-cast (as the description says) with a slight shine to give it that plaster look. The bones have a rough, stained appearance which is perfect for this item. The bones themselves are very accurate to a real T. Rex skeleton, an achievement on it’s own, for sure.
Customizability: 4/5
Both skeleton and spare bones are colorable. Default Color is a slightly off-white brownish color. Skeleton has various dynamic and powerful action poses to choose from. Spare bones have 23 variants, which gives the player every major group of bones on the skeleton. It does not have mirrored variants, but there is a trick you can do to mirror objects! Set the scale on the x axis to a negative value, then copy that object with the Copycat tool. You will now have a mirrored version of the required bone!
Interactivity: 3/5
Items are purely decorative, as expected. (Though a part of me wishes I could break it apart with a gun like in GTA IV)
Total score: 17/20
Grade: A
Very good item. Not much to say other than good job for making it more biologically accurate than most.
Item 5: Pizza Box
Necessity: 4/5
While we already had a pizza box, there was no way to close it without using some trickery.
Fidelity: 2/5
Uses the same model as the “Pizza” item, except closed. The model itself is very simple, with a flat looking texture for the carboard, and the same text and labels as the regular pizza item.
Customizability: 3/5
Cardboard can be colored. Labels cannot be colored. It would have been nice to have an option to remove the labels. I also would have liked a grimy “trash” version to put near dumpsters and such.
Interactivity: 2/5
Purely Decorative. I think an item like this might be expected to be openable, having an empty, blank box inside. (The pizza item has a grease stain in the middle. This could have been a way to add a clean version.)
Total score: 13/20
Grade: C
I think this item could be improved in many ways. Make the box look a bit more “cardboard-y”, add an option to remove the label, and make it openable.
Item 6: Metal Utility Cabinet
Necessity: 4/5
A good filler prop for any industrial build. Can be used in a lot of places.
Fidelity: 4/5
Model has a painted metal look, with wear on the edges. The interior has several shelves and hooks inside, with small ridges in the frame for the shelves to hang on. The metal has a worn look, with lots of scratches and marks.
I don’t know why, but something about the model feels… off. I think it has to do with how dark the metal is compared to the body, and a lack of baked shadows.
The model also feels a little too wide, and the handles look a bit too fat. Squishing the model a bit looks a lot better to me.
Customizability: 4/5
Painted metal body is colorable, metal parts are not. The shelves can be removed, but not the hooks. For some reason, it has an opacity slider? I assume it’s grouped with a cabinet item that has glass or something.
Interactivity: 5/5
Has all expected door I/O features.
Total score: 17/20
Grade: A
A great item. It does look a bit weird to me in some ways, but overall really nice.
Item 7: Vintage Filing Cabinet
Necessity: 5/5
The pre-existing filing cabinet was a bit strange looking. This feels a lot more emblematic of a “filing cabinet”. Good clutter for industrial builds and offices.
Fidelity: 5/5
Model has an overall worn look. The painted metal body has marks and wear along the ridges of it. The handles also have considerable wear. Has the proper parts of a filing cabinet, such as the label holder,
Customizability: 3/5
Body and files are colorable. Metal and label slot is not colorable. There is also no way to make the filing cabinet clean and new, which is strange to me. Has several variants of different sizes and cabinet positions.
Interactivity: 2/5
Purely Decorative. I would expect a filing cabinet to be openable. I understand that you wouldn’t really be able to fill them with anything, since objects inside wouldn’t move, but it still seems strange to me that you can’t open them.
Total score: 15/20
Grade: B
Good item, but it’s weird that there is no clean version, and no openable version.
Item 8, 9, 10, & 11: Wrench, Screwdriver, Needlenose Plier, Power Drill
Necessity: 5/5
Very good clutter for garages and construction sites!
Fidelity: 5/5
Very details models for their size. Metals have subtle trims and subtle engravings. Wrench and drill have labels, which is nice.
Customizability: 4/5
Every item except the Drill have a variant option. The wrench turns into a combination wrench, the screwdriver changes its head, and the pliers open. Metal is not colorable on any of them. Black parts of models cannot be colored either.
Interactivity: 3/5
Purely decorative, as expected.
Total score: 17/20
Grade: A
I quite like these. Always was a pain to make garages, until now.
Item 12: Meteorite Ball
Necessity: 2/5
A strange, niche item. Could be used as a cute toy, or even a prop for a space diorama.
Fidelity: 5/5
While the item is very cartoony, it has a beautiful engraving on it which makes it very enjoyable to look at. The craters also curve very smoothly. The glowing parts look a bit pixelated up close.
Customizability: 5/5
Both body, and glowing part can be colored. You can even change the brightness, and remove the glow entirely by changing the lightness of the glow color.
Interactivity: 5/5
Is a physics item, and has expected physics item functionality. I want to see it be destroyable though.
Total score: 17/20
Grade: A
A weird item, but very nice looking nonetheless.
Item 13, 14, 15: Wooden Post Bed, Wooden Post Bed Queen, Wooden Post Bed Frame
Necessity: 5/5
More bedframes are very nice. The options for beds weren’t great before, now we have more pleasant looking ones.
Fidelity: 5/5
The wooden frame looks properly constructed. The wood iitself looks like it has been precisely sculpted by a machine. It has very smooth bevels, with proper wood grain. The material has a suitable shine which fits the style of wood used. The mattress + comforters are reused from the “Sheeted Mattress” item.
Customizability: 4/5
Every part can be colored except for the underside at the pillow-end of the blanket.
The empty frame has a variant that turns it into a queen-size frame.
Interactivity: 5/5
Can be slept on. Has expected I/O functions consistent with other beds.
Total score: 19/20
Grade: A+
This item is very high quality. Personally I would have preferred a wooden bed with solid pieces for the headboard and footboard.
Item 16, 17, & 18: Brass Frame Bed, Brass Frame Bed Queen, Brass Frame Bed Frame
Necessity: 5/5
As stated before, more bedframes are something we needed.
Fidelity: 4/5
The metal frame looks properly constructed. The white frame looks painted, with subtle scratch marks in it. The brass tops look hammered, and gives a rustic, but elegant feel to the object. Mattress is same as wooden post beds.
Personally, I think the frame looks a bit weird, since most would have a few more bars on the headboard/footboard. This is specifically an issue I have with the smaller frame variant, the queen looks fine. The smaller one just needs two or so more bars.
Customizability: 4/5
has similar customization to the wooden post beds, and the same issue with the blanket underside not being colorable.
Interactivity: 5/5
Same as the wooden post beds.
Total score: 18/20
Grade: A+
Very pretty.
Item 19, 20, 21, & 22:
Necessity: 4/5
While we already had a booth item, this new version has more variants, which makes it more usable in different contexts.
Fidelity: 5/5
Has a simple booth frame, nothing much to say about it. The back cushions have an interesting, silky look, which looks very beautiful, especially with darker colors. The seat cushions also look very nice, with creases expected of that sort of thing.
Customizability: 5/5
Fully colorable. Though I find it kind of weird that these are separate items. I think it has to do with the fact that they have a different amount of seats?
Interactivity: 5/5
Functions as a chair and has the expected features of chairs.
Total score: 19/20
Grade: A+
While we already had a booth item, this one is much, much better!
Conclusion
This update was not as large as the last one. Doesn’t mean that we didn’t get a lot of great items this update! Great job on these ones!
I’ve noticed a sudden increase to the average quality of items added. I wonder if my Item Reviews are helping that happen?
