Tanktastic

The essence of the game is simple and unpretentious at first glance. You control the tank and, depending on the game mode, complete the tasks assigned to you. The objectives of the game are diverse, from destroying enemy tanks to capturing control points and stealing enemy flags.

After the first entry into the game, a starting tank becomes available to you. The type of tank depends on the location of registration of the game account. In accordance with the country of registration, T-54 will be available for residents of the CIS , Type59 for residents of Asia and the Far East, M26 Persing for North Americans , Centurion (tank) for residents of Great Britain and former colonies, and for residents of Poland and Czechoslovakia T-34-85 , and so on. The choice of a starting tank is historically determined, the player receives the tank that was adopted after the Second World War by the country of localization of his game account. Entrance to the battle is carried out in three possible ways: 1. Through the “Random battle” button, which sends the player to the game room randomly. The room available for the game is selected from the list of existing ones, accessibility filtering is carried out by comparing the room level and the tank level. 2. By choosing a room from the list available in the "Lobby", with the ability to independently select a game card and game mode. 3. By creating your own game room with a choice of map and type of battle. Once in the game room, you have to destroy enemy tanks, capture points and steal flags, depending on the game mode. By causing damage to the enemy, the player earns game experience, which allows upon reaching a certain rank to open access to a new tank in the game store "Research". Destroying the enemy’s tank, you earn the Silver game currency, which allows you to make equipment purchases and improve it in the Workshop section.

The game has four game modes:

• Deathmatch - a battle in the style of all against everyone, or each for himself. The winner is determined at the end of the game round. The purpose of the regime is to complete the task, namely, to destroy a given number of opponents in the allotted time period. Available time from 10 to 30 minutes. Possible targets are the destruction of 5 to 50 tanks.
• Team dethmatch - team battle. The purpose of the battle: the team performing a combat mission in the form of destroying a given number of enemy tanks in the allotted time. Available from 10 to 30 minutes and from 10 to 100 tanks destroyed.
• Capture the flag - command mode. The goal is to steal a given number of enemy flags in the allotted time. Available time from 10 to 30 minutes, target from 1 to 10 flags. The meaning of the regime is to penetrate the enemy’s base, steal his flag from the curbstone and deliver the flag to his base.
• Control points - control points, command mode. The purpose of the regime is to gain superiority over the enemy by holding control points. Capture is carried out by stopping the tank at the control point and holding it for some time, after which the system considers the point captured and starts the countdown timer. In mode, the team wins, which quickly reset the opponent’s time counter. Termination of a point capture is carried out by hitting and stopping at a point captured by the enemy. The available game time is 10-30 minutes, the goal (timer) is from 200 - to 3000 seconds.
• Special opportunity - playing in the room for team combat, the player has the opportunity to activate the air support mode. The essence of the mode is simple: on the game location, air support boxes are randomly spawned. Picking up a box, attack aircraft appears on the location to support the team of the player who picked up the box. One box - one bot.

To date, the game has 12 gaming locations, plus one location for the training mode. Each of them has its own unique landscape and climatic features. All locations have a different area and length. The first and still the most popular gaming location is Demo. This is a demo card; a small area (200x200 meters) and a balanced development of a small military town contribute to fast, dynamic and profitable battles. Also available for players is a megalopolis, oil fields of the Middle East, a huge winter map (1000x1000 meters) with a small military unit in the far north, a mountain valley, a small European town, an ocean jungle, a small factory, a military base surrounded by mountains, a world famous training ground Alabino and others.

• Demomap
• Military
• Oil field
• City
• Forest
• Winter
• Village
• Jungle
• Industrial
• Alabino
• Wild west
• Arena

Currently, new locations are being developed, including specialized ones, for holding clan battles and team competitions.

There are two types of game rooms in the game.

• Open - free access rooms, the entrance to which is limited by the player’s tank level. The game experience in these rooms is accrued directly in the battle for causing damage to enemies. The amount of earnings for game currency is calculated on the server after the end of the battle.
• Rooms with a password - creation is available to players, regardless of the gaming experience. They are used for training and friendly battles, private communication in a gaming environment, studying the features of gaming locations or for holding clan battles.

Entrance to rooms with a password is possible for tanks of all levels and is limited only by knowledge of the password. Rooms with a password have no profitability and do not bring profit for the conduct of battles.

All game units are conditionally divided into three blocks.

• NATO countries and Europe
• Warsaw Pact countries
• Asian countries

At the moment, the fleet of vehicles consists of 132 units including aircraft and premium tanks. Below are the types of vehicles available in the game and distributed across the game blocks.

NATO Technology

Warsaw Pact Machinery

Asian Technology

• I. B. E. (tank combat effectiveness index) is a comprehensive indicator of the relevance of a tank at a particular point in time. For the time period taken the life of the tank from the moment of adoption to the removal from service. In the case of prototypes, the time taken for its testing is taken for the service life. However, it is worth noting that the upper limit of the service life is not always an occasion to expose the tank to a high level of IBE.

This is easily explained by the example of the T-62, which is still in service with some countries to this day, but in terms of performance characteristics (tactical and technical characteristics) it is not comparable with modern MBTs (the main battle tank). In this case, gaming assumptions come into play, limiting the life to one year of the last official upgrade. The complexity of this indicator lies in the combination of tactical and technical characteristics of the tank to varying degrees of modernization, the logic of the game balance and, as a result, the increase in the number of IBE in the process of modernization. The IBE level determines which tanks can meet on the battlefield and which can’t.

• IBE game room - the interval that determines the lower and upper threshold values ​​of the IBE game equipment allowed to fight in this room.

Currently, the IBE room interval is 14. This means that the difference between the weakest and strongest tank in the room is fourteen IBE. Accordingly, at least sixth and no more than twentieth IBE tanks can enter room 6-20 IBE, inclusive. The game room IBE is a dynamic indicator, it varies depending on the level of tanks that are currently inside the room. An incoming or outgoing tank automatically changes the interval of the IBE room. For example, consider a tank entrance with an IBE equal to 17 in the game room with an interval of 10-24. At the moment the tank enters the room, the upper and lower boundaries increase, thereby preventing the weaker ones from entering the room and allowing stronger equipment to enter. Exiting will lower the interval and will not allow you to enter stronger. The dynamic balance of the room does not allow you to have an absolute gaming advantage in the level of the tank throughout the game, also increasing the chances of winning for players with lower-level equipment.

The game has a separate reservation system. Each tank model has its own thickness of armor. The thickness of the armor varies depending on the location of the part and generally corresponds to the real indicators (there are slight deviations and game assumptions).

To destroy the enemy’s tank, a relatively simple and understandable wide circle of players arcade damage system was chosen. It lies in the fact that every shell that enters the tank does some damage. The amount of damage depends on the thickness of the armor at the point of impact, firing distance and angle of impact. Damage reduces the survivability of the combat vehicle. Upon reaching a survivability mark of 0 or less, the tank is considered destroyed.

• For a variety of gameplay, the game contains ricochets, simulated the operation of anti-cumulative screens , dynamic protection and active protection systems for tanks . This leads to the probability of reflection hits, increasing the chances of survival. The likelihood of a rebound increases if hit at an angle of 70 degrees or less. The smaller (sharper) the angle, the higher the probability. The probability of counteraction (operation) of auxiliary tank protection systems, depending on the systems provided for it and the level of their upgrade, is in the range of 10-20% for each hit.

The module system of a tank is a critical point in its design, the defeat of which leads to a partial loss of functionality of the tank and / or causing significant damage to survivability.

• Track module - damage leads to the cessation of rotation of the affected track for a certain period of time, during which it is repaired.
• Gun module - leads to a temporary loss of ability to shoot.
• Ammunition module - strong one-time damage with the ability to shoot a charged projectile, but without the possibility of reloading before the expiration of the repair period.
• Tower engine module - loss of ability to implement horizontal guidance of the gun.
• Engine - strong one-time damage, temporary inability to continue moving and a high probability of a fire that reduces the survivability of the tank throughout the entire burning.

Despite the fact that the game is primarily a tank arcade with basic third-party control of the tank and tank battles in small confined spaces, the developer, as far as possible, tried to introduce elements of the tank simulator. One of these elements is the “sniper” sight - the first-person view from the sights from the commander or tank gunner’s place. To create an atmosphere and enhance the effect of presence, a view through a tank sight without zooming, in addition to the aiming mark, shows parts of the tank’s structures that fall into the field of view. Zooming is done by tap on the areas of the screen located to the right and left of the sight.

• Realistic tank models. All tanks integrated into the game externally correspond to the prototypes that existed in real life and released at least in a single copy in the form of a test sample (not to be confused with the layout layout).
• The performance characteristics of tanks. The balance of gaming equipment is based on the real tactical and technical characteristics of prototypes that are freely available with control and verification of data from several sources (if possible). In the absence of the necessary data, they are modeled according to the type of the closest models, components and assemblies.

Despite this, there are a number of restrictions in the game that require changes to some real performance characteristics. They are dictated by the balance of gaming comfort and complexity of the game. For example, the rate of fire of all game tanks is increased to increase the dynamics of battles, and the maximum speed is reduced, since it can lead to significant discomfort, up to the complete impossibility of aiming at targets moving at speeds above 67 km / h.

• Realistic damage and damage system. Due to the impossibility of making calculations of armor penetration and physics of penetration of one material into another in a mobile game, as well as due to the arcade bias of the gameplay, the damage system is based on the statement that any small-caliber projectile (at least 20 mm) fired from the distances available in the game can cause damage and reduce the survivability of the combat vehicle. Such damage may be penetration of side / aft armor (in some cases of frontal armor of lightly armored vehicles), as well as damage caused by the formation of fragments in the armored volume, damage and failure of external observation / aiming devices, communications, active and dynamic defenses, caterpillars, outdoor tanks and the like. The amount of such damage reduces the chances of survival and even without destruction can lead to complete or temporary loss of the tank as a combat unit on the battlefield. The basis for such a statement is the data of armor penetration of rapid-fire small-caliber guns, for example, a 30 mm 2A42 gun .

Communications play a significant role in the development of the Tanktastic project. The game implements various opportunities for free communication between players. After reaching 10,000 game experience points, the player becomes available:

• Chat lobby - for communication between players from different countries. The main language is English.
• Local chat is a chat of a national location, its own for each of the 21 languages ​​represented in the game.
• Chats of game rooms - for mixed communication in languages ​​accessible to users without restriction.
• Clan chat - chat of players united by the social clan cell and available for communication only to members of this group.
• Private messages - the possibility of private correspondence with users on the list of friends.
• Voice chat in the game rooms - available to players after installing the "radio station" module on the tank. Радиостанция имеет возможность настройки частоты и позволяет вести приватные беседы в режиме push-to-talk между одним, либо несколькими игроками, у которых присутствуют установленные радиостанции и выставлена соответствующая частота.

Поддержка общения вне игры и связь с администрацией/разработчиками происходит на двух официальных форумах — Русскоязычном и Англоязычном, в официальной группе ВКонтакте и фан-группах игры, на форуме 4pda, а также в Фейсбук. Прямая связь с разработчиком и службой поддержки осуществляется через официальный сайт игры и магазины приложений для Android и IOS .

В сентябре 2012 года состоялся дебютный релиз игры в Play Market. Первоначально игра вышла в жанре футуризм, первые танки лишь отдаленно напоминали реально существующие модели.

На форуме 4PDA создаётся тема для обсуждения проекта и связи с игроками. Первые шесть обновлений не внесли особых изменений в игру и были направлены на исправление ошибок и повышение стабильности.

Седьмая версия игры принесла первые значительные изменения. Принимается решение о смене игрового движка Stonetrip Shiva3D на Unity 3D как более перспективный. Регулярное общение с первыми пользователями игры позволило разработчику более глубоко взглянуть на потребности целевой аудитории и косвенно повлияло на принятие ещё одного важного решения. Таким решением стал уход от линии футуризма и переход к реализму. В январе 2013 года в игру вводятся первые восемь танков, имеющих реальные прототипы, что стало отправной точкой в развитии новой концепции игры. В дальнейшем плодотворное сотрудничество разработчика и потребителя выливалось в различные нововведения и новые игровые возможности. Игровое сообщество внесло немалый вклад в развитие и облик игры, принимая активное участие в тестировании обновлений и поиске скрытых проблем.

В июне 2013 года происходит обновление игрового движка до версии Unity 4 , а также замена серверной части. Все это позволило улучшить визуальные составляющие, улучшить эффекты и повысить стабильность работы приложения.

В августе того же года происходит ещё одно важное событие — изменение в системе нанесения урона, танки получают раздельное бронирование. Теперь танковая дуэль становится более непредсказуемой и её исход сложно угадать заранее. Экономика игры также претерпела значительные изменения — ввод второй валюты навсегда разделил игровой доход и внутренние покупки за реальные деньги, серебро как основная валюта зарабатывается за участие в боях и уничтожение танков, золото — вспомогательная, доступная к покупке за реальные деньги, либо выдающаяся разово при достижении нового ранга.

Так же добавляются премиум аккаунты, позволяющие ускорить процесс набора игрового опыта и увеличить доход. Премиум аккаунты работают по схеме — +50 % опыта и серебра к каждому проведенному бою в течение всего срока действия премиум аккаунта.

Ранги вводятся в этом же обновлении и представляют собой военные звания, каждое из них присваивается при наборе определённого количества игровых очков и открывает новую технику, доступную к покупке.

В январе 2014 года в игровой механике и геймплее появляются ещё одни значимые изменения — вводятся различные типы снарядов, аналогичные реально существующим, вводятся Танковые Управляемые Ракеты , РЗСО и САУ. В противовес самонаводящимся ракетам появляется важнейшая игровая деталь — Дымовые Гранаты, позволяющие скрыть танк за завесой дыма и имеющие шанс отклонения управляемых ракет.

Проводится удачный эксперимент по внедрению воды на одну из карт и как следствие — появление полноценно плавающего танка ПТ-76.

Нужно отметить, что все эти экспериментальные нововведения были одними из первых внедренных на мобильных платформах, до этого времени в танковых аркадах для Андроид устройств не было техники такого класса. Даже несмотря на весьма скромные размеры игровых локаций, разработчику удалось создать приемлемый комфорт в использовании артиллерии.

• Важным моментом развития проекта стало превышение рубежа в один миллион скачиваний из магазина приложений Google Play , достижение рейтинга 4.3 и это не учитывая скачиваний со сторонних ресурсов и магазина приложений iTunes Store

Февраль 2014 года вносит в геймплей ещё одно новшество в индустрии мобильных игр — ночные бои с динамическим изменением времени суток. Танки получают приборы ночного видения. Последующие обновления приносят новые особенности и возможности, такие как голосовая связь, система повреждаемых модулей, динамическая и активная защита современных ОБТ , рейтинги игроков, штурмовая авиация для поддержки команд и конечно же новые игровые локации, новые режимы игры и новые виды боевой техники.

С конца октября 2014 года начинается полное переосмысление проекта и закладывается основа для самых значительных изменений, что в январе 2015 года приводит к старту проекта Tanktastic 2.0. Работы по обновлению игры продолжаются по сегодняшний день и находятся в финальной стадии тестирования и доработки.

• примечание: обновления, не включённые в описания, носили сугубо отладочный характер и в основном исправляли проблемы игры, не внося каких либо существенных нововведений и изменений.

На всех стадиях развития проекта основными проблемами были небольшое количество команды разработчиков (на сегодняшний день 12 человек, включая техподдержку) и относительно невысокий начальный уровень профессионализма, значительно возросший по сравнению со стартом проекта в 2012 году, а также полное отсутствие какой либо рекламы, низкая коммерциализация проекта. Самые распространенные проблемы приложения:

• Высокий порог входа в игру — наличие регистрации аккаунта, отсутствие привязки и входа через социальные сети и отсутствие фильтра по игровому опыту снижает порог входа потенциальных игроков в игру. Самая распространенная проблема регистрации «ошибка сети» в подавляющем большинстве случаев происходит из-за неправильного ввода учётных данных. Например, электронный адрес содержит критическую ошибку в наличии дополнительных точек, либо указывается без окончаний (ru, com, ua и так далее). Пароль, содержащий менее 4 символов, также приводит к сбою регистрации.
• Низкая информативность — отсутствие полноценного обучения
• Проблемы оптимизации и производительности — связаны с поддержкой бюджетных игровых устройств и их огромного разнообразия.
• Относительно невысокий уровень графики и эффектов — следствие ограничений, накладываемых бюджетными устройствами.
• “Incorrect username / password” is the most common problem among users who often switch from one game account to another. Provided that the player is registered with correct email input, the problem is easily fixed by “resetting the password” - the server sends an email to replace the old password with a new one, thus restoring access.

Reviews and reviews

• Mail.ru article, the most interesting tank games
• game review from stopgame
• 3D game review
• Mail.ru rating, the most popular tanks in mobile games
• game review on root-nation

• Tanks mobi (unopened) (inaccessible link) . - The official website of the game. Date of treatment March 4, 2016. Archived on February 7, 2016.
• GHOR corp . - official site of GHOR corp.
• Tanktastic RU (neopr.) . - The official forum of the Russian-speaking community.
• Tanktastic ENG (English) . - The official forum of the English-speaking community.
• Tanktastic VK (Neopr.) . - The official group of the game VKontakte.
• Tanktastic Fb - official facebook page.
• Tanktastic w3bsit3-dns.com (neopr.) . - discussion of the project on the forum 4pda.