Review [Issue 21] Exploring the Unknown: Courage

[hogree 4,179]

 

The servers are jam-packed with maps displaying an incredible range of looks and sizes, packed with opportunities beyond number to discover new skills to benefit from. Unfortunately, so many of the maps in the game are yet to fully come to light – and in this new series, we'll be slowly unpacking some of the greatest hidden gems out there for us to uncover!

 
About a year ago, my brother skitee ended a series on the dead maps of the game. Called RIP Maps, as I'm sure many of you will remember, every issue it went through those maps that had slowly gone out of use and had become incredibly rare finds on the battlefield. (To have a read of one of the articles, please click this link.) It's time to revive the articles looking at the unpopular maps of the game and try to attract these under-rated maps to our screens more often!

 

My primary aim, through this series, is to get you readers up for exploring the unknown in Tanki and learning some interesting and exciting things about this blockbuster of a map!

 

 
As you've hopefully worked out by now, the particular map chosen for this article is the map Courage. Unfortunately, that name may not even ring any sort of bell for some of you A beautiful map, Courage is a symmetrical Modern-look map. Made in the same style as maps like Farm and Desert, it is sized to fix the maximum amount of 16 players with a similar size to Fort Knox. With low bases and a raised middle, as well as extra routes down the side, it offers a great sense of equal gameplay and also makes sure that all weapons and hulls are at home. It is a map that I think is one of a very small number in Tanki - somewhere that every weapon and every hull has an equally valid place in.
 
As we start looking into the different aspects of this map, I will label each point following the same letter as the name that the map begins with. Just cause, you know, aliteration is awesome. There's no reason to wait, let's get started on our expedition to explore Courage.
 
 CREATION
 
The first step to uncovering a map has to be finding out where it all began. To start considering the map Courage, we must travel back in time all the way to over three years ago, back when Tanki was still a young game, with just over 1 million registered players.
 
Let's picture it. It was New Year's Day 2011, and Flanagun, one of Tanki's most commited map-makers and forum administrators, woke up reluctantly, his head still clouded after last night's wild New Year's Eve Party. Dunking his face into the sink, his mind travelled forward to the day ahead in the Tanki Office and he sighed. He slumped down back onto his bed, groaned and fell asleep immediately, his hangover kicking in.
 
Flanagun woke again with a start, and quickly glanced up at the clock. 9:30! He rolled out of bed and crawled down the stairs to grab a Weetabix before work. He knew it would take some serious willpower to last the day. He swallowed and groaned again, searching for something that would spur him through the day. A sudden flashback brought him to something his Dad had told him when he had been a kid: "Sometimes you have those days where you don't want to do anything. But you've got to have the strength to keep going. You've got to be brave. You've got to have courage." He sat for a moment longer, then stood up, a determined look on his face. He had to move.
 
He stumbled into the office a few minutes late and watched nervously as his boss walked across the office towards him quickly. Flanagun was about to say a few words of apology, but his boss immediately spoke. “We've got a job for you. Obviously, we've been planning to release two maps to the public today. New Year's Day present, you know all that. But, well, Opex can't do it – he's been taken ill, can't come in today. Please could you knock one up by the evening? Good man.” Before waiting for a reply, his boss nodded at him and walked away down the corridoor, leaving Flanagun's mouth hanging open. A map as well? The day after the New Year's Eve party? Could it get harder? His mind flashing back to that memory he had thought of in the morning, he whispered to himself decisively: “Courage.” Flanagun gritted his teeth and got down to work.
 
I reckon you have got the picture by now. Courage was released on New Year's Day 2011 by Flanagun, accompanied by Valley – and strangely enough, both of those maps are arguably two of the least popular in the game. However, in my eyes, one of them does not deserve its ignorance – no, not at all. You can probably guess which one I'm referring to.
 
Tweaks with Courage appeared later in the year. In March, some of the walls were put away, and the platforms were made wider. Unfortunately, this change didn't particularly raise its popularity much – its name still sitting as one of those unknown maps in the list. Later, in January 2012, Courage was given a Winter Mode at the same time as the large majority of other maps.

 
Courage has never been overly popular. The only time I can remember watching this map streamed live was the 2012 World Cup Tournament, when Netherlands and Poland were playing the first of all the battles. Bruce was running about with his Rico-Hornet trying to stream it for us, since there was no Spectator Mode back then! What made it particularly interesting was that Netherlands had bet all their factories on the game confidently. And they lost. Oh well, I'm digressing. Good times.
 
The update in March 2012 when Ranks to unlock maps went sky-high didnt help Courage's situation one bit. In fact, it couldn't have been worse. After that, Courage was only able to be unlocked at the jaw-dropping rank of General – something many players at the time could only dream of. The very few people that did play Courage begun to drop in number – as if that were possible.
 
There were the advantages of it being lifted so high, as the very high ranks thought it cool to play the map that was unlocked last in the battle list and thus occasionally tried it out. But it never really kicked out. After at least a year of playing hardcore, the high ranks had settled into their favourite maps and were reluctant to try new unfamiliar ones.
 
Most recently, Courage was one of the many maps changed with the Reworking of Maps Update. Unlike most maps, the map was made smaller, as the extra routes round the edge of the map were changed. To see what it was like before, click here. I personally love the new look of Courage, and prefer it much more, as it gives a tighter closer feeling, which was slightly unbalanced by the separated bridges.
 
Now, Courage is unlocked at a pleasant low rank of First Sergeant, leaving it open for many of you readers to try out. So why don't I often see it being played? This is the question I will be trying to answer as this map review continues on to the next C... We've discovered the history – and now its time for the layout.
 
 CONSTRUCTION
 
As with every map in Tanki, the primary big deal about the map is how it is constructed. To be quite blunt, maps are rated on how they are made. If I'm guessing correctly, most of you players don't like Silence because of its name, because of its drop points, or even because of its flag positions. It's the construction, the layout of the map that makes it what it is. If its a bad, lopsided, insensible construction, then there's no hope for the map. So what about Courage? Below, we can see a picture of the birds-eye view of the map.
 

 
As you can see in the picture, Courage is near-on symmetrical. Formed at the size of a map between Zone and Massacre, it as mentioned above can hold up to 8v8 in Team Battles, and 16 players in the rare occurrence of a DeathMatch.
 
The construction of Courage is really quite simple. There are four main routes to leave each of the bases. There are two ramps into the middle, and two “side routes” down each of the far sides. These offer variety to what would otherwise be a very cramped battlefield, of the ilk of something such as Farm. They also enable snipers to have routes to pop out from, and attackers to get into the enemy base relatively unharmed and unseen.
 
In the middle, there are two obvious routes to get across the battlefield. Across one passageway lies a dark “tunnel” with a corrugated roof (what I call a garage) – whilst the other is left empty to give a tiny addition of variety. At 90 degrees to each of these are a number of coloured boxes, a little house for the keeper of the map and what I reckon looks like some sort of oil generator plant on the opposite side. You might not think that these change much to the Construction of the map, but having them in the middle makes for a gameplay much more different than it seems to let on.
 
Of course, there are another few notable props in the middle. We see a few towers, dead trees, smashed walls and three large chunks in the middle - one large one directly in the centre and two smaller ones on the side, on top of each sit the “Kings” of the map, the all-conquering Tanki Banners. These props are added to give some cover for the snipers, and also make sure us tankmen are careful as to where we are driving! If you notice, all of these props are commonly found in maps of the same “generation”, such as 2042 and Industrial Zone.
 
I love this map. Maybe not only just the way it was created, but the sheer simple beauty of it. I love the blue box behind the blue flag; the red box behind the red flag. Simplicity yet Beauty - and this is something that really makes Courage appealing to me. Its not at all confusing - and it works.
 
Now, one key thing to remember is that this map is built with different levels, and players need to take advantages of all of these things. This can mean that, of course, it is easier to jump off than climb up. This means that players attacking the enemy base may be wise not to climb down the ramps but rather jump into the base.
 
There is however one twist in Courage I only recently discovered. A hidden route! If you tried to search for it, you may not find it, because of its veild appearance to the player, and partly due to the fact walls in most maps are used as literal walls - to block off the player's movement. But the walls by the side of the middle section of the map have a useful route behind it. Maybe a picture might explain it best. You can try it for yourself - its a great surprise route for snipers to take in the map particularly. 
 

 
 COMBAT
 
So, what are we to say about Combat in Courage? Its the fighting in the end that is the nail in the hammer. Tanki is a game where players battle, not hang out drinking coffee. And, so, before finishing this map review, we must consider the battleground of Courage.
 
Courage's size, as we have seen, is not large - and nor is it small. This enables it to be one of the very few maps in the game where Combat can be appreciated by almost all sets. I would go so far as to say even a Shaft-Wasp and an Isida-Mammoth both have an effective place in this map. And that says something about its diversity. 
 
We must look at the game-modes for the map when exploring the Combat. Courage doesn't offer the Control Points Mode yet, so the options are Team Death Match, Death Match and Capture The Flag. What should we think of each of these? Do they work; and which is the best?
 
Death Match
 
Well, firstly, we take a look at the all-out all-kill mode in Courage. As with the majority of maps, the map was not designed to fit the Death Match mode. And, to be quite blunt, it just doesn't really work. The map is too cramped for Deathmatch mode, with short-range weapons being the name of the game. Not Suited; I wouldn't recommend it.
 
Team Death Match
 
The TDM Mode is next to be talked about. Though it is popular at low ranks, TDM is largely uncommon to find at the high ranks, due to the lesser effect of teamwork that it involves. It also tends to rely a lot on your team; and most of the higher-ranked players are confident that "they are good enough to do it by themselves, thank you very much".
 
Well, all the same, Courage is one of those maps that has a middle section - and this significantly increases the effectiveness of the TDM Mode in Courage. With a symmetrical map, TDM isn't unbalanced and it can be very enjoyable. If you like TDM, Courage is ideal. Personally, TDM isn't my thing, but maybe its more your gamestyle... and if so, don't be put off giving Courage a try. A great TDM Map where many combinations can thrive, though like most TDM battles the heavier hulls are probably more effective.
 
Capture the Flag
 
Courage CTF is certainly the most common to find of all the game-modes in this map - as it is with the large majority of Tanki maps of course. CTF is actually the only mode I have played here. You can probably guess by now that I enjoyed it. CTF in Courage is awesome. The different routes to the flag and the relative openness and yet defensive nature of the map means that its a brilliant CTF Map.
 
For all you who reckon that a map needs to have a very different two teams to be worth playing, like Silence - try Courage, and I hope you'll think again. The symmetry makes it a map easy and quick to learn, but something that seriously needs mastering. The different flag routes to take mean you need to be wise as to where you think you will avoid the enemy most, and give some variety to a beautiful map that is well worth playing in CTF Mode.
 
To sum it all up, Courage's gameplay doesn't let you down. There is, however, one last roll of the dice I will play. Not only is Courage good in normal CTF, but XP Battles are brilliant in it. Using the perfect amounts of Tipping Up and Down, and lots of routes to the enemy flag, this in my opinion is up there with Sandbox as one of the best XP Battle maps to play. Give it a whirl.
 
 CONCLUSION
 
And so ends the first map review in this attempt to explore the unknown. Come on, what are you waiting for? Get out there, and play Courage. Its a beautiful map. Get your friends involved. For you into XP-K battles, go start one up over there. For you still hanging about with laid-back drug wars in the lower and high ranks, go for it. Any Combo, Any Time - Courage is waiting for you!
 

 

 

Cover Picture made by Lhamster | "Courage" Picture Edited by hogree | Courage Birds-Eye Picture taken by brambo6, Edited by hogree | Picture Guide created by hogree | Avatar made by BLASTOISE-T12

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[I-Iero 823]

Nice article, i didnt know about tht sniping spot, thanks.

[Valletta 834]

Again your traditional excellently described and thoroughly analysed guide. Well done! :)

[doduobird 315]

Cool :D

[Raphael2 3,263]

A very enjoyable read!

[GoldRock 6,165]

I really like how you threw an anecdote in there, and the elements of humour in that step-by-step picture helped to provide a more light-hearted tone. This is how a map review should be written. A really great article, I've definitely been persuaded to give the map a go now.

[SpeedyShift9950 12]

I dunno why you seemed like copied our idea :ph34r:

No forget it, anyway, as usual, Good One! I like it!

~@Playep

Edited March 4, 2014 by SpeedyShift9950

[The.lukey0 24]

Nice article. ;)

[D1E 257]

Nice article, I like courage.

[MrAmazingKiller 9]

I can't wait to play a battle on it! What rank can I unlock it by the way?

[canadarules 1,938]

Very nice Keep it up

[Meliora 1,652]

Nice, but you spelt manoeuvre wrong.

[Mithrandir1 17]

Good article. "nail in the hammer" what? If you mean, "nail in the coffin" hopefully Courage isn't dead yet.

[crackgold2 399]

just suffered a takeover on courage but epic map

[MyLife_MyReign 256]

Nice article.Gotta try out the map......

[hogree 4,179]

Nice, but you spelt manoeuvre wrong.

Took your time.  :rolleyes:

 

Good article. "nail in the hammer" what? If you mean, "nail in the coffin" hopefully Courage isn't dead yet.

You know, its really just a hobby of mine to create my own random cliches. 

[ATHENA123 56]

nice job :)

[High 773]

Nice! Have been inspired to check out Courage, see what it is like.

[hummy11 5]

1st time ive fully read a long article on Tanki xD, nice article & I can also say courage is amazing. 1st experience of it was good

[canadarules 1,938]

Fort knox 3 rip

[MC_Macklemore1 0]

Great, nice article Hog, an nice enjoyable read. Now le me try it out. Can't wait for more articles like this! ^_^

Edited March 17, 2014 by MC_Macklemore1

[AkiliW 210]

Read the whole thing, and actually enjoyed it. Nice one, Hogree.

[phill4177 115]

Wow...nice!

[hogree 4,179]

The update in March 2012 when Ranks to unlock maps went sky-high didnt help Courage's situation one bit. 

Correction: The update was in December 2012 at the time of the Rebalance. Apologies for those who were mis-led by the statement.

[dandan530 0]

its quite nice.but still,where is the sniping spot :(