The Match Laid Out

In the last post, I went over what I hoped the menu system would work like, this time around I am going to hopefully go over more of the actual game. Once a game is selected from the menu or via a friend, the tank selection screen will come up. For now I will not go over details since I am still working out what I want in terms of number of available tanks and modules to customize the tanks once set. Next post will probably cover modules and give a few screen captures of some tank ideas. Once this is finished and the "Join Game" button is hit, the very basic commands for the game will be W/A/S/D (turret up, left, down, right), up, left, down, right arrow keys (increase trust, turn left, decrease thrust, turn right) and space bar (fire auxiliary weapon). All other keys will be based upon how the tank is setup. The following sections describe each type of match which will hopefully be available.

Open
This is an nonobjective based map. The main goal is to kill enemies or capture the flag which in turn earns the killer/captor points towards their rank. This is the most like the original Tanarus game. A kill or capture will earn a bounty, not sure how bounty will be calculated yet. Captures are special since each member of the capturing team gets a kill on each member of the team which lost their flag. This will be discussed in greater detail under capture the flag. Additional ways to earn points in open include taking reconnaissance points or destroying enemy satellites, neither will net that many points but will be worth something for the help it grants the team. Game is four teams of six members.

Death Match
Very similar to open, but a greater emphasis is placed on the killing of enemies. I am not sure but I may remove flags and reconnaissance points and purposely place these on very small maps. Overall goal with these is matches is to get new players more used to the controls without as much worry about other in game situations. Game is four teams of six members with a set timer to limit match.

Capture the Flag
Much like Death Match, this is a dumbed-down version of Open where the main focus is on flag captures. Reconnaissance points may or may not factor into these like Death Match. Again the main goal is to teach new players how to work as a team for flag captures in the Open maps. When a flag is captured, each player bounty on the captured team is set for each player on the capturing team, and any bonuses are added. This bounty sum is them multiplied by number of people on the captured team over the number of people on the capturing team (if teams are even the multiplier is one, more people on the capturing team means the capture is worth less then if there are more people on the captured team). Each member of the capturing team then has the bounty added to their score, a kill for each member of the captured team. Members of the captured team get a death for each member of the capturing team and once the capturing team gets their bounty, the bounties are readjusted for the multiple deaths. Unsure, game may be two or four teams of six members with a set timer to limit match.

King of the Hill
Unlike Death Match/Capture the Flag, this is a match in its own right. In addition to the ways to earn points in open, points are also awarded for spending a set amount of time in the area designated as top of the hill. Unsure, game may be two or four teams of six members with a set timer to limit match.

Duel
For those willing to go one on one, duel eliminates flags and reconnaissance points, but has a kill count, ending when one player reaches the target number of kills. The map is very small and intended to be a very quick match. Points earned based on difference of combatant ranks and overall score to be finalized after much testing.

Challenge Match
This is a special form of open match where the tank selection screen is bypassed. Each player of this has the exact same setup. Going to the base and reconnaissance points in game does not open the ability to swap equipment like the option would be in a normal open match.

Now that I have described each of the main types of matches, some more may be added, I would also like to mention how matches may be selected. Each type of match may be limited in one of three ways: rank, bracket or open. Rank means that only people of a specific rank, beginner is a very good example of this, may enter the match. A bracketed match is reserved for those of slightly higher ranks, coupling several close ranks. An open match is one in which any player may enter, without needing to reach any set rank. In bracketed and open, killing a higher rank player nets a bonus multiplier, whereas killing a lower ranked player hurts the multiplier.

In a later post I will go over the exacts of terrain, roads, fluids and other map based obstacles. This brief description of game play will focus more on team oriented objects. One a fresh map, each team has a base with a set number (I am unsure if I will make it six or ten) satellites. Outside the base are numerous neutral reconnaissance points. Above the neutral reconnaissance points are neutral satellites which can be shot down. On this now open point, if the player has added the module to call over a satellite, that team may now capture the reconnaissance point. All tanks are given an energy bar, which recharges when in home territory and decreases when in enemy territory. By adding these points, the home territory can be expanded. A similar process can be used to take an enemy reconnaissance point. If a tank runs out of energy, it is no longer able to move, leaving it stationary, but still may rotate the turret and fire weapons with a penalty to the ability to move. In the discussion about modules, this energy gains and losses will be discussed more fully but it would be remiss to not touch on the subject while discussing game play.

Besides energy, each tank is equipped with armor, which can be augmented with shields. Once all of the armor has been destroyed, ever if shields remain, the tank is destroyed, the kill is rewarded, and the destroyed tank is returned fully healed and equipped back in the base after a respawn countdown. To view the current players, kills and deaths in this match and bounties, the tab key will probably be bound. Once a player is done, they can choose to leave the map, probably an option after pressing the escape key. At this point a timer begins and once the timer hits zero the player is removed from the map, be advised while the timer is going the player is completely vulnerable.

While this post probably touched on too many subjects an dis too long, I think it give a good idea as to how match selection will work. Game play will fill in as more of the detail about different topics come to light. In no particular order the next few posts will describe: Map Terrain, Modules, Server/Client Programming, and Tank Ideas.
~gunnah