Awesome missions

The building creaks. Motors idle. Slowly, our turrets turn toward SaadKhan7. In the quiet moment that follows a difficult trick, the mistake is as loud as a wrong answer in a silent class. A long pause, “I suppose everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” SaadKhan7 rumbles, “but I like the sunset in Desert better.” “You…” “we…” “the work…” “the time…” “the drugs...” “Wasted!” We finish in unison. “The sunset-” Protests SaadKhan7. Roaring in anger, I explain to sunset boy, “You. Are. Wearing. The. Wrong. Paint!” Silence. SaadKhan7 offers, “Well, on the bright side, I spotted a Blackburnian Warbler. Very rare.” 100 words. Note: This is not intended to slander SaadKhan7, who I'm sure is a perfectly decent fellow. I made him play the fool for the purposes of the story, no other reason. Again, I'm sure he is no fool and a fine person. -Grit27

Still? Wow. 54

While I, along with many others apparently, saw this coming sooner or later, I can't say I'm happy. In the..what, two weeks, month since Daily Missions have gone live my "treasure chest" increased from about 145k to 225k. Normally, I earn crystals at about half that rate. But, if one calculates the value of the reward one gets, usually it is larger than the value of the old Daily Gift. For example, I am a major general, so my Daily Gift was worth 2,650. Take a look at the rewards for my missions today. (I changed the middle one because I have enough mines and nitros, but the number of supplies stayed the same.) A total of 65 supplies, all worth 50 crystals for a total value of 3,250 - a near 23% increase from the old Daily Gifts. Whether this change is for better or worse, I haven't the experience to say. I will say this, though: thank you, developers, for not only keeping Daily Missions worth more than the Daily Gift, but also watching out for the game in the long term. Though we grumble, we appreciate your "wise and benevolent dictatorship." (Sometimes :P)

After taking a hiatus from TO for about a month, daily missions have gotten me back into the game. I enjoy each and every mission. Bravo on an excellent update.

hard to believe this has gone on so long... 163

Much, much too sensitive. I'm not all that fond of the encouraging, friendly messages informing us of the change in status either.

Whether rashly rushing with the flag through enemy fire or desperately dashing for the control point, I love living my life. But, best of all is grabbing glittering Golds from outraged opponents and angry allies. Today, I am wildly wrecking all who come across my path in Polygon. My horrible Hammer and villainous Viking are best of the best. Suddenly, a wonderful warbling fills the air, cutting through the barrage of boom’s and bang’s. It is time. I seriously scour the gravelly ground for the momentus mark. There, floating from the cerulean skybox like a fraction of a feather is the gilded cube. Alas! I am unable to penetrate the peripheral pandemonium. My mischievous machinations have come to naught! The treasured trophy goes to... 124 words -Grit27

After having tried Firebird in the fullscreen mode, here is what I have to say summed up in one word: vague. Have you ever messed around with the flight simulator on Google Earth? One of my favorite 3D "games" until I found TO. Controlling the plane with the mouse was easy as pie, simply because there was a visual reference. It was nothing more than a green arrow in the center of the screen, yet you always knew where the mouse was and how it related to center. A simple, green Cartesian plane with a small dot or something for the mouse would help the fullscreen mode immensely. -Grit27

"Start with the positive." Okay, I love the ability to control the view with the mouse wheel. It is easy and intuitive as well as quick. Thumbs up! Aiming is...difficult to say the least. The plane in which the mouse controls the turret doesn't tilt with the tank. Because the screen is 2D in the up/down and left/right directions and the turret turns in fore/aft and left/right this creates some problems. Take a look at this picture. (There is a white Ricochet/Hornet in front of me, you can just see the barrel) Notice how despite the fact that my mouse is actually on the enemy, my turret is pointing to the side. I believe I could get my turret to point at my opponent, but to do so I would have to point my mouse more toward the top, middle of the picture and not at the enemy. Not intuitive at all. Getting back on one's tracks is also difficult. The antagonizing feature of this update is the inability to see where the turret is pointing, not only do I have a hard time hitting enemies anywhere that is not directly in front of me, but driving backwards is impossible. Notice how I cannot see an enemy down there to save my tank. Also, because the camera does not rotate I am finding myself wandering around the map like a drunken sailor. Apparently I relied on the direction of the tank for my sense of direction and not the camera view. When my turret turns and my camera doesn't it messes me up. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with practice though. Another skill requiring lots of practice will be driving with my left hand. When it came time for a Gold Box, (the second of three in a row, actually) I returned to my comfortable keyboard controls. Again, nothing that couldn't be fixed with practice. (No, I didn't catch the Gold Box) I plan on playing with Firebird later, more impressions coming then. -Grit27

Deleted. Math error. Personal Opinion: Having tried both Viking M4 and Dictator M4 on the test server, I prefer Dictator. Speed loss is not noticeable (to me, at any rate) and I love the nimbleness of Dictator.

I was only hoping for a consolation, but hey, cool! GoldRock's has to be my favorite. Truly epic.

Well, um... Awesome! There were some extremely good guides out there. Picking three must have excruciatingly hard. -Grit27

Like most, I believe impact force and recoil are entirely too large. Getting a Dictator to wheelstand was hilariously easy, even for an amateur such as myself. In addition, my Dictator was once rolled over in a battle, I was not firing at the time. Once a wasp is on its side one may roll it over and over and over again. I would like it if there was some momentum added to the gun barrel with regards to spinning. Instead of stopping instantly after the spacebar is released the barrel the retain some circular speed so that if the spacebar is pressed again after a short while the time Vulcan takes to "spin-up" is shorter. Like hammer, I also have a bit of trouble determining exactly where the Vulcan is aimed. Close range is no trouble, but beyond medium range, it becomes rather difficult to tell. The gyroscope effect is a unique idea, and it is representative of everything that keeps this game new and exciting for me. Unfortunately, I don't like it. I believe this effect would be excellent on a one-shot-at-a-time weapon, such as thunder or railgun. Because Vulcan is a "spraying" weapon, there is a need to adjust aim quickly, on the fly. First thoughts, there'll be more when servers aren't so crowded.

Yes! That would be awesome! I would totally buy and @boppyeric and @mdit108 and @WarMonkey51Austin and @dude75 (as well as many more) paints. Those would make some rad designs. -Grit27

I had nothin' to worry 'bout. Leisurely shootin' enemies from our Kungur base, I glanced at the scoreboard; we had a comfy lead and ten minutes left. My emerald-equipped viking was invincible, and life was good. “Flag-carrier coming! Guard the base! Repeat, guard the base!” Ahh, someone’s runnin’ scared with the enemy flag. Calm down, young’un, we got this. Four shots and there goes an enemy hunter. Three more, buh-bye incoming hornet. “Enemy wasp rail attacking! Get him you incompetents!” Hold it right there, whippersnapper. I ain’t incompetent. In fact, I…Oh, that wasp. Blast! Railgun is warming up. Cannot...turn...fast enough... So_and_so has captured enemy flag “Yeah! Nice job guys! You’re the best!” So.. we ain't incompetent? Kids these days. (121 words) -Grit27

I had that problem too. Apparently the forum won't allow pictures unless they are input through a photo hosting site. I used PhotoBucket. If you use PhotoBucket, copy the link next to the photo that says "direct". Click the small green photo on the top of the thing you type in to reply to a forum. Paste the link from PhotoBucket there. I figured this out through trial and error. Hope this helps!

Guide to Firebird Who doesn't love a good flame-thrower? Fortunately, Tanki Online has its very own - Firebird. Basic Idea Firebird is a flame-thrower, no more, no less. As you spray napalm at an enemy, he takes damage. When you stop, the enemy continues to take damage because he is on fire. This effect is called ‘afterburn’ and it is what makes Firebird special. Properly Pairing Firebird Hulls One may see Firebird on everything from the fastest to the slowest of hulls, but like most turrets, there are a select few that maximize its characteristics. Firebird works wonderfully with Wasp and Hunter. Some might include Hornet in that list, saying it combines the best points of both hulls while other disagree, saying it combines the worst points of both. You can’t go wrong using Hornet with Firebird but there may be better choices for you. Viking and Dictator may be used, but don’t allow most players to fully utilize the potential of Firebird except on some smaller maps. Titan and Mammoth only work well with Firebird on the smallest of maps, such as Island. Battle Types This turret works well for Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Control Points. It may be used for Deathmatch but opponents will steal your kills a frustratingly large amount of the time. Playing Style Playing with Firebird results in very fluid combat. The short range compels you to continue moving and seek out enemies. When you do, you burn them on the run, and then speed off to find more enemies, capture a point or defend the flag. Staying in one place almost never works with this turret. Continuous motion and the ability to fire on the run are the hallmarks of a Firebird player Bottom Line: If you own a fast hull and enjoy team games Firebird will work well for you. Buying Strategy Firebird is available from the earliest rank, Recruit, and is fairly inexpensive at 150 crystals. The M1 modification is available at first sergeant. Unfortunately, you pay for this early unlock by having to wait through 11 ranks and 370,000 experience points before the M2 modification is liberated at Major. Then you have to wait 8 ranks and earn 865,000 experience points before M3 becomes available when you rank-up to Commander. Because of the large rank difference between unlocking M1 and M2 as well as M2 and M3 it is advisable to purchase and use an alternate turret. Not only does this keep you as dangerous and up-to-date as your rank allows but it diversifies your gameplay and allows you to participate in a larger number of battles. Ideally you should choose a turret with unlock ranks staggered with those of Firebird. Isida, Freeze, Thunder, Hammer and Railgun are good examples of this. Freeze and Isida are short range weapons, so they would not diversify your gameplay as much as Thunder, Hammer or Railgun. By choosing a long or medium range weapon you also have the option of operating effectively in larger, more open maps such as Lost Temple and Kungur. That isn’t to say that a Firebirder couldn’t have fun in such maps, but long-range weapons dominate these arenas. Tactics and Strategy Using Firebird is very simple: point the turret in the general direction of your opponent and hold down the spacebar. When you let go of the spacebar or run out of charge, the turret will immediately start reloading. However, reloading takes a very long time. Firebird has a very limited range which means you must be fairly close to your opponent before firing or he will not be harmed. There are many more nuances to using this flame-thrower than may first appear. To begin with, Firebird only has five seconds of charge. This may seem like a lot if you only have one opponent, but when it disappears soon enough when you have many. To get around this handicap one may take advantage of the afterburn effect of firebird in several different ways. Peek-a-Boo Style A The first method is the peek-a-boo tactic: pop out from cover and spray your adversary. Caution! If you don’t burn your opponent long enough he will either not be set alight or will only burn for a short while. Now, avoid him for as long as reasonably possible. Make sure you begin fleeing as soon as possible. In doing so, you are safe and your Firebird is reloading while your opponent takes damage. Fast hulls are ideal for this tactic. Peek-a-Boo Style B Style B is identical to Style A in the first stages; peek around a corner and set your opponent on fire. Now, instead of running, you must hustle back around the corner and intimidate your opponent through a show of force to keep him from coming around the corner and attacking you. A series of short “puffs” will usually do the trick. This is a sort of bluff. Use this strategy only if you are slower than your opponent and one or more of the following apply: 1) You are nearly out of fuel 2) opponent has a Freeze (this turret slows you down) and is close enough to use it 3) you do not believe you can kill your opponent with your remaining charge because he is well protected. This tactic has several drawbacks, namely: you use some of your precious charge, and it will not scare off all opponents. Use it sparingly. The peek-a-boo tactic also works well on ramps. Drive By The second method of utilizing Firebird’s afterburn is only useful with a fast hull, such as Wasp or Hornet. Speed along spraying everyone nearby. Try to spray them just long enough to set them on fire, then move on to the next opponent. It is imperative that you are gone by the time they realize what just happened. Often times varying combinations of the Drive By and the Peek-a-Boo tactics work the best. Strategy is very much dependent on the situation. Dealing With Multi-Leveled Maps When you are a level above or below an opponent, rock your tank back or forth to aim your turret slightly up or down. Rock your tank by driving in one direction then suddenly change direction. This will tilt your hull allowing you to vertically aim your turret for a short period of time. Much practice is required before this technique becomes effective. Spraying an opponent in this way may not destroy him, but it often will set them alight; giving you a slight advantage when you meet them face to face. Another way to vertically aim your turret is to make use of inclined surfaces. If your foe is above you, drive the front of your hull onto the bottom of the ramp. Vary how far you drive up the ramp to adjust the vertical aim of Firebird. Opponents catch on to this trick very quickly and will back away, so you must be able to aim quickly before this tactic becomes effective. At certain points in certain maps you may attack enemies below you by placing your tank completely on a ramp. Places this work are few and specific so if you find one, remember it! Dealing With Multiple Enemies A handy characteristic of Firebird is its 5 degree firing angle. Also useful is Firebird’s ability to damage opponents through other tanks. Advanced Tactics When you have mastered the previous tactics try adding some of these to your skillset: Circle strafing - circle opponent to avoid his turret while burning him; works best with wasp or hornet Corpse shield - use the corpse of a destroyed tank as a temporary shield Surprise! - use the bright flame of your Firebird to surprise railguns and shafts lying in wait, often they will shoot, giving you plenty of time to attack them You will never be a great Firebirder if you don’t enjoy burning opponents to a crisp. So whatever you do, make sure you follow this one, final tactic: Have fun! -Grit27

I took a screenshot of myself destroying 2 other tanks. I did not have time to ask their permission to take the picture as it was spur-of-the-moment. I want to use it in my submission for this contest. I could not find them in the forum to ask their permission to use it. What are the rules in this circumstance? May I just use the picture as is? Or should I blank out their names? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

First off, thank you for naming the new turret "Hammer". That was my favorite name and I, for one, am very happy you decided on it. My suggestions for the machine-gun turret are: Skypunch, Earthquake, Gear, Blade, Axel, and Axe. The commonly suggested "Vulcan" is pretty good too IMO. -Grit27

Some guns' names are fairly plain and describe the turret. Eg. Railgun, Freeze, Twins, Ricochet, even Firebird to some extent. Then there are guns whose names are unique and yet somehow fit very well. Eg. Shaft, Isida, Thunder, Smoky. Given that none of the other guns are named after animals I ruled out Bulldog and Pitbull. I didn't like Doom due to its negative connotations. Magnum reminds one of a handgun so that name was out. This left Hammer and Shotgun. I ended up voting for Hammer mainly because Shotgun sounds so plain and simple. Why this long explanation? I have no idea...

Just take crystal boxes out of the game...now why didn't I think of that? In my opinion this is brilliant. I just got 700 crystals in a 15 minute game. Amazing! (Maybe not for some of you, but I enjoyed it :D ) Not only does it make games more profitable but it removes crystal mults and it ensures that those who join a game are in it for the long haul. If you asked us to vote on this update, I would vote keep it, no doubt about that. Thank you Tanki Team! -Grit27

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy... Where shall I begin? Predictable Drops For Supplies: I like it. It does make the game more tactical (a favorite word around TO nowadays) and there is less luck involved when driving to and from an enemy base or camping in DM. Overall, thumbs up on this part of the update. Predictable Drops For Crystal Boxes: I always enjoyed seeing large groups of crystal boxes scattering Stadium or the Rio road. Driving along the "crystal-field" and vacuuming them up was fun too. I don't have a specific beef with the appointed spots for crystal boxes save the way it looks. The supplies can stay in the same spot but make the crystal boxes random again, please. Increasing Crystal Boxes With Battle Fund: Oh boy, the elephant in the room. My opinion on this update is this: it was a good idea, poorly executed. Increasing crystal boxes with the battle fund was a good idea. Sometimes crystal boxes fall so thick and fast they can be an annoyance. As mentioned above, I like the look of "crystal-fields" but too much is too much. Decreasing the rate of dropping makes each crystal box drop an "event" in and of itself. This severely disrupts gameplay. I won't go into crystal box hunters as those have been extensively covered by others. I agree with most of what they have said. I have a tentative solution to the problems mentioned by others. Use the same principle as before but reduce the number of crystals per box. Make the maximum, say, 50. Increase the number of gradations. Instead of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 make it 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50. Change the formula responsible for changing the amount of crystals per box so that the most valuable box doesn't fall until the battle fund reaches 8,000 or so, and distribute the rest of the values between 0 and 8,000. For example, the crystal boxes are 1 crystal until the battle fund reaches 800, 5 crystals until 1600, 10 until 2400, etcetera. Finally, increase how often crystal boxes drop to somewhere between where it is now and where is was before. I hope that the novelty of 100 crystal boxes will soon wear off and gameplay will go to almost normal. While I am not a fan of 1/2 of this update I am glad the developers are constantly inventing and brainstorming and keeping the game fresh. -Grit27

After having played against isida and railgun and with isida, here are my thoughts: I am a big fan of the isida update, or I was until someone pointed out it looked like toothpaste. Now, I am slightly less enthusiastic but still in favor of the update. Also, maybe it was just a Freudian effect of the new effects, but I seemed to think isida maintained contact more easily than before. As for the railgun update, I don't mind it, as I don't use railgun, but I think it looks less like the surgically-precise, professional's gun it was intended to be. Identifying railgun's grade from its effect was rather easy. Identifying isida's grade from its effect was more difficult, but only because the colors have been changed. When I get used to it I'm sure it will be easier because of the larger beam. Railgun's new effect makes it look slightly less powerful on the battlefield. As stated above, I think it detracts from clean, definite hits of the previous effect. Isida's new effect does make it look more powerful on the battlefield, but only when I don't see the stream of nanobots as toothpaste (I hope this will pass soon). The larger, more solid beam makes it appear like isida has a strong, definite lock on the tank thus giving it the impression that one cannot escape. All in all, I am glad of the change. Changes like this keep the game fresh and interesting. Terrific job! -Grit27

I've only played once, but here are my thoughts: The idea is great. No complaints with the overall theme of this update. Nitpicks: Using a mine shouldn't affect anything else. The Speed Boost Box looks too much like a gold box. I'm sure we'll get used to it but I did label this section nitpicks for a reason. ;) Having the supplies in the bottom middle is a bit annoying. I would like them moved back to the bottom left like a lot of others. Finally, the Double Armor icon atop the tanks is rather boring, it needs to be blue or something similar. Overall, thank you for completing this update. It makes the game much more enjoyable. Kudos! -Grit27