Tanki Online
| Tanki Online | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | АlternativaPlatform |
| Publisher(s) | AlternativaPlatform |
| Engine | Alternativa3D 7 |
| Platform(s) | Adobe Flash |
| Release | 2008-09 |
| Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online game, Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Tanki Online is a free massively multiplayer online game based on Adobe Flash technology that was created in mid-2008 by AlternativaPlatform. It is a browser-based game in the third-person shooter genre. As of June, 2013, it has 28,000,000+ registered players.[1]
At the beginning of 2009, the game received prestigious Russian КRI Awards 2009 in nominations "Best game without a publisher" and "Best technology". Another award won was Russian Flash Awards 2009 in the category: "Technical achievement".[2]
Gameplay
Gameplay is organised into matches called battles, in which players each command their tank to accomplish a set goal. Battles can be played in one of four game modes - Deathmatch, Team deathmatch, Capture the flag, or Control points[disambiguation needed]. Players may enter or leave a battle at any time, via the main lobby. However, entering a battle late usually results in a lower score and fewer reward crystals. Battles begin immediately when they are created, irrespective of whether or not the teams are balanced and/or the battle has the maximum allocation of players (however, the countdown in a timed match does not begin until at least one tank joins the battle).
Battles take place across a variety of "maps", most of which are user-created. Each map is distinct and creates a different style of gameplay. Different maps also favor different weapons e.g. the smaller maps favoring the close-range weapons, and vice versa. Most maps come in both a "summer" and a "winter" mode, each mode using different buildings and landscapes. One map also has a "space" mode, which features vastly reduced gravity in the entirety of the map. Each battle also has other features, such as "Friendly Fire", or auto-balance, or no-supply battles (which lets players play battles without supplies bought from the garage or, optionally, from falling boxes).
As with many shooter MMOs, the game features frags, with players respawning only a few seconds after they get destroyed. In team matches, players cannot destroy their own team members unless "Friendly Fire" is enabled. Each battle has a certain limit - either kills, flags, control points score, or time - and the battle ends when the allocated limit is reached. At that point, the Battle Fund, which has been increasing throughout the action of the battle, is given out to the players, with the players in the higher positions in the standings getting more crystals. Any players who have been in the battle during its duration but left before the end of the battle does not receive any of the battle fund, encouraging players to stay for the duration of the game. Scoring in the game is allocated thusly: 10 points for every frag, and 10 * (x number of players on opposing team) points for every flag captured.
Garage and Currency
Between battles, players can buy upgrades and bonuses in the "Garage", with an in-game currency called crystals.
Tank Features
In a battle, every player must be equipped with a turret, hull, and a paint. Every new player is given the standard combination of hull and turret as well as the standard green paint, and they may choose between three other guns and hulls. As the player gains experience, they will unlock new parts for their tank, as well as more powerful modifications to the ones they have already bought. They will also unlock paints, which offer extra damage protection against various weaponry.
Players can customize their tank hull and weapon. Each piece of equipment has numerous features that make it different from each of the others. All weapons and hulls of equivalent modifications are equal, but some are more equal than others. For example, one of the turrets, "Freeze" has the ability to slow down other tanks' movements, and another turret, "Smoky", has a small chance to deal massive damage to an opposing tank. Other weapons have other features, such as splash damage, a sniper's scope, the ability to heal teammates, and the ability to bounce off of walls. Each weapon also has different limits of range. Some weapons have the ability to inflict equal damage at any range; these weapons tend to take a longer time to reload.
Ranks
Another feature is a rank system, which determines the upgrades and paints that are available, how much the player gets from the daily login reward, and allows players to organize evenly-matched battles based on skill level. The ranks are based on a compilation of military ranks from around the world. New ranks can be reached by gaining experience in battles with other players.
Community
The game has a number of ways in which players can communicate with each other in the game. Each battle has an built-in game chat, as well as there being a general chat for the whole of each server for every player in that server not in a battle to communicate.
The game also has an official forum, which includes a clans feature where players can interact and organize times to play battles together with members of their own clan.
Contests
Every so often, the administrators of Tanki Online create official contests and competitions, where players could fight in epic battles, make awesome videos, or create the best fan art, all for fabulous prizes to the first, second, third, and sometimes fourth and fifth places.
Development
Tanki Online was created in mid-2008 by AlternativaPlatform, located in Perm, Russia.[3] The game was used to showcase Alternativa's Flash 3D engine for the web, which was considered cutting-edge technology at the time.[4]
Early in development, the gameplay was much more strict and simplistic, and was limited only to a few turrets and hulls, being heavily biased towards a certain combination. Later on, more new weapons and hulls were introduced into a "second tier" of equipment, which were much stronger and were available for a higher price. Promises of a "Tanki Online 2.0" were made heavily in 2010-11, although the project was later scrapped in favor of a slower addition of new features into the first version.
In mid-2012, the game was drastically improved in the graphical sense, with the "update 1.100.0" bringing deeper and brighter graphics to initiate a friendlier and more realistic atmosphere. Control Points were also introduced. Over the next few months, testing of the "version 114" was complete, and all equipment in the garage were rebalanced so that all equal modifications were similar in strength. A new paint was also added. This rebalance remains in effect to the present, although tweaking to exact specifications of equipment is still being done.
The continuing development of Tanki Online has caught the attention of Adobe Systems, and the companies have jointly used the game to promote the 3D capabilities of Flash.[5]
References
- ^ http://tankionline.com
- ^ http://flashflex.com/alternativa-company-announces-new-licensing-terms-for-its-innovative-technology-alternativa3d-7/
- ^ http://www.appappeal.com/app/tanki-online/
- ^ http://www.flashmagazine.com/news/detail/alternativa_3d_will_blow_you_away/
- ^ http://blog.alternativaplatform.com/en/2011/10/04/alternativaplatform-demonstrated-its-technologies-in-the-adobe-max-2011/