Felt like Susan Boyle for a sec,

It was nice while it lasted.

oh

I want that bug, sheesh. 12 extra kills for my K/D sounds awesome.

I think it's an insult, like when ethnically proper Russians used to poke fun at Slavs, Croats, and Tartars, etc.

Well, I think that also, if I had done all the trunks in exactly the same direction, I would have had more extended lines and fewer lines in general, but I just couldn't bring myself to map such a cookie cutter looking feel. Each trunk is three section, offset, and they all cast lines I assume, so yeah, I didn't do myself a lot of favors. As for game play, it would be a smokys and rails nightmare, or any long range weapon, except at angles. definitely make for some super interesting Stryker salvos too. I wonder how blast three rows over from a Magnum hit would be too, considering what the small foot prints of the trunks would afford. Anyways, thank you the comments, as always, and I was NOT aware of an index of videos, so woot, now I have something to look for next time I'm free.

Seriously? You'd think SOMEONE would want a gold box. All you gotta do is find the little secret in the map. Seriously folks.

Another note, not as easy as you'd think finding good music that woon't be too controversial too. Just a thought that I thought I'd share.

Yeah, I've worked on trees before, and that one was simple. I've made free floating ones that are "nicer", but since I had so many, I took one and rotated it. That left me with just 4 boundary box variations, and trust me, that was more than enough to practically bring it to its knees. The crates on one side replaced the trees that were there because the engine couldn't take it. As for the music, yes, Orchard, hick, hayseed, country as it comes, wanted the map to have certain feel as you watched it, as that's what I was going for. For the record, that's my favorite country band. I chose that song because it was whimsical enough and still had a sense of "fight" and aggressiveness to it that fit a tank based combat game. Driving under the canopy and listening to it just feels "right" too. Thanks again for the props.

Orchard - Video (BE GENTLE. I have NO video editing software and the TTT tank runs a little slow and a little odd, doesn't handle great.) Map of an orchard with work structures and houses. Three open paths between sides and of course the planted rows as well. Some cover on each side is available. Notes Thoughts

Orchard - Vdeo (BE GENTLE. I have NO video editing software and the TTT tank runs a little slow and a little odd, doesn't handle great.) Map of an orchard with work structures and houses. Three open paths between sides and of course the planted rows as well. Some cover on each side is available. Notes Thoughts

Sweet, thanks folks.

Oh... right, tomo is June, uh, err, yeah, I KNEW THAT. No, really, I did, I was... uh, well, TESTING YOU, yeah, YOU. "Good Job Viking. You passed the test.," ahem.

Um, where IS THE LINK?

Well, if you listen to Cedric, the V Log, and others, IT DOES IMPACT their decision making process, on a macro scale perhaps, things we don't see or care for, but it does. if we are to believe the hype of the past. We were told time after time, "we listen". "Post your thoughts, trust us, someone is watching." Might I REFRESH YOUR MEMORY: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=246957&hl= Lets make no mistake, that was YEARS of content. And they listened, but they used the information as metrics to their own purposes, and it was counter that of the posts. When buyers complained that Shafts could snipe them, they put lasers on them. Oh they listen, trust me, they do. The question now becomes, WTH does one have to say to get their attention and perhaps get what WE WANT once in a while? We got the fix for cheating buyer clubs and clan predators, but again, the cure was almost as bad as the illness, but, I'm not judging, like I said, they did what they must. They wanted to add fresh things, so they made drones. I think they're absolute poppycock in at least 50% of their iterations and insulting, as they live nearly exclusively for the use of drugs, but people wanted more, and they got it. Novelty is like Chinese proverbs, careful what you wish for, because you may end up living in interesting times. We, the ones that are so often dismissed by your likes, ask the pointed and thoughtful questions, not the complaints of whiners like "Oh, that big mean turret over there is making it hard for me to feel like I can win." I tire immensely of that sort and I tire even more for the apologists who then say "just play the game," such as yourself. You can't have it both ways. Either everyone gets their two cents or no one should. But no, EVERYTIME some of us start pointing at something more thoughtful, more involved, something about the essence and nature of the game, here comes the "glee club cavalry" to shut us up. I had given up saying anything for a while, but you really pissed me off with that. You know damn well we're right, and you keep just towing a party line like we lived in Communist Russia or China. Dude, you can say the sky is green all day long because Kim Jong Une told you to, but it's still blue. Point is, yes, people are posting hard fast numbers, and not because they want to somehow HURT THE GAME AND MAKE IT GO AWAY, no, we are the ones that actually really love and cherish the game and like the game, and want the game to go on, and exist, in it's greatest form. Cease with all your tom foolery and nay saying of people's concerns as if it always someone crying wolf. I said this would happen a long time ago, and it is, read all 374 (I had to edit this, I had posted 415 pages, not that it makes THAT MUCH difference, but, someone wioll say I "exaggerate" if I don't fix it) pages of that thread above. They did much of what we said would happen, and now someone is posting the numbers to PROVE IT, and again, like ushers in the aisle, got people coming and leaning over the rows of seats and going "sshhhhhhhh".

I have to agree with the sentiment that obviously it is still here, but there is a glaring reality in the chart above that points to a decline. There after which at a certain point, the diminished player count will affect the over all play-ability of the game now. I will give you the "rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" is applicable here, but no doubt it's getting very ill. It needs some attention, or the rumors might end up being true if things continue this way.

So like, I make maps, right? And I make videos of them, follow so far? There are about 81 map enthusiasts in the whole of Tanki, if you believe the thread subscription count. So yeah, my audience isn't exactly wide, deep, or far reaching, right? But if I offer a free gold box if you can find the secret in the map, you'd figure some folks might come looking for it, right? I mean, it is just a gold box, but hey, it's a gold box. I offer it to the map making crowd, since they're the ones that read about and watch that sort of thing, but only two people tried, and they turned down the prize, since they needed a hint, crazy, right? Shame too, if some folks kept trying and and found it, I'd still give it away, but, seems like no one seems to want a goldbox. All they gotta do is watch a video and find the secret. Maybe someone will eventually find it AND want a goldbox. Oh well, I guess it'll just sit there forever, no one claiming it, getting dusty like a lost pirate treasure. The HINTS: Hint 1: Think trice, and when you do, think of my name. Hint 2: It's before 2:33 in the video.

I assume this is Hazel you speak of. I won't go so far as to judge him THAT harshly, for him it's a job and numbers and all the difficulties of a real business. That said, I agree that too much has been made of the things they DID do. Overdrives are okay, they at least got them right, once the whole OD was matched to hulls. I have no issue with the ODs so far, they actually make sense, though the animation effects on some seem a little overt and cartoon'ish, but at least that's just cosmetic. Match Making, as I said, was a necessary evil, I get it. THEY DID respond to the players on going complaints of game play issues. There was simply no way to keep players from stacking games, rigging them, etc, without MM taking over the options they used to game the system. Unfortunate, I dislike it immensely, but, they fixed the problem. Only thing is the cure ended the cancer, but its killing the heart. They need to make match making far smarter and wider in it's ability to select maps, players, and they should vary game length and capture/score counts according to the map sizes and they should adjust the player counts accordingly. (I should also note that Alterations, at their core were also were good, simply poorly thought out and the impact of future changes to the game make these very problematic, but I won't get into the whys, either you can figure it out or just take my word for it.) Now, all that said, yes, Hazel I think is responsible for an overall push to a more brawl like game. It's his fault we have so many medium and heavies slamming each other over and over. He introduced Rugby. He introduced Juggernaut. These are all drug consuming games, and they don't lend themselves to more thoughtful and careful gameplay, ie, perhaps a little slower and less supply dependent action. He despises Shafts, that much I am aware of. He doesn't like the long game. He wants pugilists out the door and slugging it out. The wars and the events, all nice, but again, lipstick on a pig. Wars don't have new maps, new game modes, just a counter with stars and prizes. Meh, something to look forward too lightly, but nothing special after you've done two. He also championed the Magnum, which again, was not a bad idea at all, but it's final implementation was a disaster and makes the game ridiculous. Overall, I think he has done lack luster things in terms of the overall benefit for the game, and one or two that were just downright bad. Again though, hard to second guess people behind the curtain, but its also clear the person behind it is certainly not doing the best driving of the ship either. The long and the short of it, yes, something needs to give. All it would take too, like I said, is more options. I had no idea there was a time when they had over a 100,000 concurrent players.

A lot of talk of how boring it is. Fact is, that's EXACTLY the problem now. It would be an easy fix too, well, half of the fix would be easy. 1. Add maps. This is crucial. I'm am almost comatose with loathing towards the selections of maps. We need like at least 10 more added. Why? Well, since MM decides WHO WE PLAY WITH AND WHERE WE PLAY, it gets old given the cycle of play, exit, wait, enter. I'm stuck on the same map with the same players sometimes two games in a row. It's BORING now. No choices, and little variety. Now, given we NEEDED A FIX for cheating and balancing, as much as I despise the MM system, I have to say they had to do it. Now, it works, and it's there, it has partially, and I'd say majorly, resolved the cheating. Now it's time to fix what it broke, and that's the sense of options. You get none, But, at least, if there was variety and some sense of "oh yeah, this one will better, I like this map," people would lament less about MM. Right now, given the low user counts, you enter Tanki, enter MM, and you could be playing with at least half of the same people you started playing with when you leave an hour later. On the same old maps. Which takes me to part two. 2. Have to find a way to increase player counts or mix and match players so you're not playing the same folks over and over. MM has a gaping hole in it. When you cycle out of a match, the same players you were with cycle out too. If the player counts are low, and MM IS TRYING to keep you from waiting too long, you all get thrown in the same basket and hauled off to another match. I've started selecting EXIT and waiting 2 minutes before selecting battle mode again in hopes of being cycled into a fresh lot of folks out of a another wave of battles. With low user counts and MM trying its hardest to get people into battles without waiting a short eternity,this is becoming "play all day with the same folks you started your day with." One way to fix this also might be to allow players to futz around in chat, garage, etc, while making them wait for the next battle, and maybe a setting allowing them to choose speed of battle selection vs variety of players played against. You sacrifice quick entry into consecutive battle if you select variety for the opportunity to be thrown into another bunch that is fresh and different. This way, when its time to go play on the SAME OLD MAPS, at least the action is be different. That's it, all I got.

Contest Results (so far, and it's been weird) Well, I have two winners now, but both turned down the prize, so, it's stil up for grabs, but, here are the names of the two consecutive submitters of the correct answer: @TWICE First @u812ic Second I won't announce the answer, because both have quietly declined the prize. Until someone claims it, the contest is still on. Congrats to the pair and good luck to the rest of you.

Well, it's too late for that map btw. It's way too ambitious. Had to cut down on it too. I AM posting it though, and it has my trick in it, BUT, it's a novelty, it barely runs unfortunately. I got it to work by reducing the effect of what I was doing. It's still a nice map, but I think it could likely never be played, two object moving in the field of vision might bring it to it's knees. You'll see. You better hurry if you want to try to find the secret, you have two others hot on the heels of the hint.

Well, I have only two people so far that have claimed they tried to find the hidden secret in the map. I am dropping a hint. It has to do with my name. Good luck.

Hey folks, secret is still a secret. Look hard, the gold box is still not claimed.

Thanks for that. The ComBuild is my favorite, I just wish I knew how to package the old prop skins into the TARAS, I have tons of stuff from before I knew about the Tara files that I can't display because it won't compile the skins for the props. I've mad office parks and other non-such before, but shiny and knew and clean, there were SO MANY different tile texture skins before, and they were awesome. Shame. Again though, thank you very much for the kind words and I've working on another literally as I reply to this that I think you'll like too, but VERY different to anything I've, or anyone has, done before. Crossing my fingers it isn't too ambitious either.

Um, Hornet reduced by 10 seconds is quite a bit, and since the vast majority of consumers of this are shaft and rails, waiting to pack shots means it's very cool to have, but you don't get to fire shot after shot either. Considering the build up starts immediately again, I can deal with this, though as a camper, the longer duration served me better, so yeah, not that big of a deal.