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: 18.0.2.0 “Halloween 2024”
There were 8 purchasable condo items, 6 of which are purchased with ghoul coins, and 1 I/O item added in this update. I will only be reviewing items which can be reasonably used in condo as a prop, and not items like volumes. The one I/O item is a volume so I’m not going to review it.
Item 1: Pineapple
Necessity: 5/5
More food items are always welcome, and a pineapple is a great addition to our selection of fruits.
Fidelity: 4/5
The pineapple’s leaves look vibrant and detailed. The pineapple itself, however, is only a yellow lump with a texture on it. It would have been better if there was at least a normal map to add some extra depth and texture.
Customizability: 0/5
Item has NO customizability other than scaling. This has been a problem in the past with previous food items lacking any sort of colorability.
Interactivity: 2/5
For now, this item is purely decorative, but shouldn’t we be able to eat it?
Total score: 11/20
Grade: D
An item that’s decorative, without any customization. That’s no fun!
Item 2: Necronomicon
Necessity: 4/5
More book models are always nice, this one is good for any cult-y horror map.
Fidelity: 3/5
The model itself is serviceable. I feel that the (presumably leather/flesh) cover feels a bit too flat in it’s material choice. It should look a bit more leathery and rough, this almost looks like it’s made of felt. The opening animation is nice, though I wish the paper in the book was rougher and nastier looking. It looks too clean and neat.
Customizability: 5/5
Both the cover and paper can be colored. The dark part of the cover (The mouth and eyes) cannot be independently colored. Other than that, there is no color tint to either the cover or paper. It is a very bright white when colored 255,255,255.
Also has a force open option, as expected.
Interactivity: 4/5
Has the expected options for books, which is good. Has same I/O as other books, though I’d like to be able to activate the animation for opening and closing the book.
Total score: 17/20
Grade: A
A groovy item, with some texture and material flaws.
Item 3: Canvas Necronomicon
Necessity: 3/5
This item is pretty interesting in it’s intended use case. It’s pretty niche but I like the idea of an openable canvas. I hope we can get non-spooky versions of stuff like this.
Fidelity: 2/5
The model is very similar to the non-canvas version, but larger. I have the same issues with this model as I do the previous one. This one lacks the animation from the non-canvas version (most likely due to how the canvases work, it’d be difficult to have a transforming animation with a custom texture)
Customizability: 2/5
The cover of the book has the same colorability as the non-canvas version. The pages/canvas CANNOT be colored, which is very disappointing, and very limiting. You can also only use custom textures and not in game materials.
Interactivity: 3/5
Book can be toggled open and closed. Has standard Canvas I/O settings.
Total score: 10/20
Grade: D
A pretty niche and disappointing item for what it is.
Item 4: Plush Hatcrab
Necessity: 3/5
A cute headcrab like plush, more plushes are nice, but this is pretty niche and another crab for the TU crab pile.
Fidelity: 5/5
The model for the plush is pretty detailed. There is a good differentiation between the top shell and the bottom half. The limbs have good detail and shape to them. The soft material is to be expected for a plush. There’s even a hole to put your head in!
Customizability: 0/5
Plush has a color wheel, but no colorability! Thus it has no customization!
Interactivity: 4/5
Plush can be squeezed as expected. Has standard I/O for plushes. (Though plushes need a squeeze output for remote squeezing!)
Total score: 12/20
Grade: C
An nice looking plush that needs to be colorable.
Item 5: Plush Exoplanetary Hatcrab
Necessity: 3/5
A similar situation to the Hatcrab Plush. I like this one more because it’s very freaky looking.
Fidelity: 5/5
Similar to the other Hatcrab, this model is very detailed and well modeled.
Customizability: 2/5
Body can be colored, but not the eyes. Interestingly, the default color is not the same color as in the inventory icon.
Interactivity: 4/5
Same as the other plush.
Total score: 14/20
Grade: B
Another great looking plush.
Item 6: Victorian Pipe Organ
Necessity: 5/5
More instruments are a must, especially ones like this with a unique sound! Organs are also great for churches, vampire castles, and the sewers of opera houses.
Fidelity: 5/5
This model is absolutely beautiful. Extreme amount of detail with a variety of material and detail. The wood is glossy, and the brass is metal, as it should. Even the cushion is detailed.
Customizability: 3/5
There are colorability options for the wood, brass, and cushion. However, you cannot color the stool, pedals, stops, or keys.
Interactivity: 5/5
The instrument feature functions as intended, and has all expected I/O functions.
Total score: 18/20
Grade: A+
Absolutely beautiful model, but really needs the colorability issues fixed!
Item 7: Spooky Pipe Organ
Necessity: 3/5
More instruments are always nice, though this one only really has use in halloween type condos.
Fidelity: 5/5
This model is also impeccably detailed and high fidelity. Certain parts of the organ have been replaced with bats, cobwebs, bones, ghosts and demon skulls.
Customizability: 2/5
Similar to the Victorian Organ, the same pieces are colorable and not colorable. However, the bright purple trim CANNOT be changed on this model, severely limiting it’s use cases.
Interactivity: 5/5
Same as the other organ.
Total score: 15/20
Grade: B
An interesting item, but my god, that purple is horrible.
Item 8: Potted Carnivorous Plant
Necessity: 3/5
A good halloween prop/decoration, but not much necessity outside of it’s radio capabilities.
Fidelity: 4/5
Looks like how I’d expect a carnivorous plant to look. Has good idle, biting, and singing animations. The plant pot is reused from the plant pot condo item.
Customizability: 1/5
Cannot be colored! Not even the pot. Sad! At least has a sound range setting. Has no other sound emitter options.
Interactivity: 3/5
Can play custom sounds and radio streams. Has Play, stop, and SetSound I/O, but no pitch or fade options. No way to trigger the bite animation with I/O
Total score: 11/20
Grade: D
A cool item idea, but no customizability and limited I/O capabilities!
Overall, not a very noteworthy update for condo items specifically, most items this update were accessories and equippables. My personal favorite item is the Victorian Pipe Organ
