Unless news is going to be updated more often, I really really really wouldn’t want it in that menu. It seems out of place. It doesnt look like server names would fit nicely within that space, either.
Where we already see the news:
forced viewing of change logs are shown after the update
steam news subscription
discord server/discourse forum
main menu link
The news is not an everyday thing. Therefore, in my humble opinion, it doesn’t need quick access.
side note: Map looks great. Would be nice if it was club-penguin style where you could click and go to certain areas. I know that isn’t the plan.
CHAT/SERVER RULES. People (maybe) read them once, and legitimately don’t know to press the (i) to see them.
FAQ (seriously, AND this needs to be updated. stat)
Forum
Steam Community
Discord
Trello
List of staff/bios
Tutorial videos when (if) they become available
How to gift TU to friends
Rate tower unite on steam
Knowledge base - how to report someone, parental controls, how to block, how to start a game, where to get basic starting items, how to decorate your condo. BASIC/CONTROLS. This is critical.
the main menu will be going in the future of TU and it will be mostly plaza based and the tab menu / thing in the plaza itself will be working like the main menu does kind of,
and i think that in the news tab it can be renamed to something like “Info” but a better name, and have the latest change log and such, and then like you said a bunch of buttons/links to the other platforms related to TU, like the forums and such.
I don’t think I’ve seen the devs officially say the menu is going to be changed much, if at all. They do have plans to rework the way matchmaking/game ports work, and have things like linking the condos to the lobby on their to-do list, but even if they do have plans to change/limit the menu, I’m not sure if I’d be in agreement.
I don’t mean to say the obvious thing that plenty of other people have said many times before, but the continued integration and connection of Tower Unite’s various gameplay options shouldn’t come at the cost of convenience. Taking away the menu/its abilities forces players down a railroaded path to play games or do whatever, instead of them being able to pop in quickly and easily.
The additional options for play should be smoothly integrated, and equal to any other way of playing. If somebody just wants to hop on and get in their condo, or play a game, they should be able to do that, the plaza should just be a natural extension of gameplay, seamlessly connected to both condos and game worlds.
Obviously we aren’t there yet, but the scoreboard looks promising, and the devs have clear intent to pursue this integration. I’ve seen a few people taking it this way, but this doesn’t (And shouldn’t) mean the removal/stripping of the main menu.
ahh, i got the idea of that from when i talking to mac about TU, here is a dm from where i got the idea from so it may not be official and just an idea or a initial plan for TU that may or may not be viable now (i blacked out a part that isnt reliant to this topic) NOTE THIS ISNT OFFICIAL
only use this as where i got the idea from, but not official for TU unless the devs confirm it.
imo the plaza is meant to be the hub of everything and not an extra part of TU, that why they have so many things connected to it. i imagine they want TU to load into a plaza server of your choosing, and it will load so quick that i will be like loading up TU normally and not take time, and then lets say someone dosn’t want to play in the plaza they can press tab after loading up TU and click condos and load in from there, or play a game, press tab and go to games and load from there, but then the plaza is the main piece everything connects to, and it should load so fast that you can easily pop in and use the tab menu like the current main menu.
The main menu was there since load times of the plaza and such were too slow for TU to feel fun to quickly play and get into, i feel that there should still be an option for some people to use the main menu if they dont want to load in the plaza at all, but i personally would want to have the option to load into a plaza when i open TU.
Thanks for the context, now my memory has been jogged of them saying something similar. I guess the key word is “as it stands”, so what they do with the menu is sort of undetermined. Even if the menu actually does disappear, its functionality will likely just transfer to the tab or pause menu. I’m the #1 advocate for making this game feel more cohesive (I think we’re on the same page), but even if the menu changes form, instant access to condos and games is a good thing to preserve.
Thank you for the kind and well thought out response.
