[Guide] Loackie's Guide to Tanki Online's Physics Engine

[Loackie 269]

Loackie's Guide to Tanki Online's Physics Engine

Introduction

This is a guide to help tankers of all experiences utilize the physics engine in the most efficient way. It's highly likely that mediocre noobs or seasoned veterans and possibly elite StarLadder players could find a way to utilize something mentioned in this guide. (There's some formatting issues, trying to fix them.)  Without further ado, let's begin!

 

Commands/Inputs

(These are essential to utilize the physics engine in Tanki Online.)

Tank Movement: As all of you know, moving the tank involves using WASD or the arrow keys. (For future reference, I'll be using WASD controls.) The reason I'm putting this here is the fact that the treads of a tank have to be directly touching the ground for any movement to occur. This is important, as movement will be utilized in most of the Basic and Advanced tactics.
W - Both treads move forward.
A -The right tread moves forwards, the left tread moves backwards.
S -Both treads move backward.
D -The left tread moves forwards, the left tread moves backwards.

Turret Rotation: Another basic control set, really. Not as vital as movement, but it does prevent some sticky situations, and has a place in some tactics. (WASD is ,./ Arrow keys are ZXC)
, - Turns turret left
. - Turns turret right
/ - centers turret to be perpendicular to the front of the tank

Fire: I really shouldn't have to explain this too much, but firing grants a source of damage. Some turrets also grant recoil and impact force, which will be used extensively in this guide.
[sPACE] - Fire.

 

Basic Tactics

(Tactics for the noobs or the noob at heart.)

Falling Safely: It's an inherently basic method: Fire your weapon are you are falling off a cliff. The recoil gives you mid-air movement, allowing you to tilt your own tank back in mid-air. There's also a full article about falling properly in Issue 17 of the Press, here's a link: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=182821&hl=%2Bfalling Another tactic for even larger heights such as Noise or Madness is to run off the ledge, but as soon as you're at the edge, reverse to frontflip off the ledge. (Falling from large heights is also very risky, but that will be covered later)

Recovering From Your Side, The Noob Way: Another inherently basic method: When on your side, fire your weapon at the ground. If your hull is light enough, you should be back on your treads. This time, recoil is used to capitalize on your current position; your base is far smaller.
Turning Your Hull and Your Turret: This is important to not only go through pressuring combat situations, but can also turn your turret more quickly than normal. Simply turn your hull and your turret in the same direction.

Pushing: It's basically pushing a tank against a wall to cease their movement. This essentially relies on the victim making a mistake and bumping into a wall, or being flipped near a wall. Personally, I feel this ruins the fight for both people involved. Whoever is being pushed is almost always at a disadvantage, and it takes almost no skill whatsoever to pull off.

 

 

Intermediate Tactics

(Oh, you mastered the Basic Tactics? I can win Tic-Tac-Toe too!)

Shooting the Corners of a Hull: Simply fire, but aim at the far left side or the far right side of where the hull is facing you. This can be used to knock an enemy's aim off, or hinder an enemy's movement.

Climbing Hulls: This tactics is usually used for getting a gold box. This can also be used for mine-bombing or force an opponent to hit you and only you.

Capitalizing on Falling: A turret with impact force is required for this tactic. Simply fire someone as they are falling from somewhere. Another way it to fire at someone's rear as they start falling, which even works on Mammoths, if done correctly.

Staying On The Ground Using A Ramp: As you are going up a ramp, go backward for a short time (tap S) before you gain enough speed to catch air while on the ramp. It's inconvenient, but it might be a life saver.

 

Advanced Tactics

(The title isn't there for show. I'm not being paid anyway.)

Flipping A Tank: This is one of the most useful tactics in the game. If you can flip someone over, you can render them useless. There's plenty of ways to do this, honestly. The most common method is tiling and firing when your turret aims above the turret of a sideways-facing tank. Due to the vertical autoaim, the shot has an elevation advantage and flips the tank over. There's also plenty of other ways to flip others, find them out!

Light Hull Capitalization: Light hulls are no longer the best in TO; their weight is piddling. Using a turret with a high-impact force, it is possible to use an opponent's light weight to your advantage. If you're on a ramp, and your turret is facing the ground, let's say a unwitting Wasp is at the bottom of the ramp. Oh no! they have Railgun! No worries, just use your Smoky and hit the front of their tank! They'll aim downwards and waste their shot! There's plenty of other ways to do this, but it's more fun finding tactics out.

Not Being in The Air: This is by far the most important thing for any tanker; avoid being in the air unless you absolutely have to. You are most vulnerable in the air, and even Mammoths are going to get punished falling from a two-tile drop.

 

Example

(This isn't your Trig class, you're actually going to use this.)

This is a hypothetical example of me duelling an XPer. The point of this is to showcase the tactics and their purposes.
This will be the situation for the example:

I'll use my current favorite combination as of now: Hunter-Hammer. It's a 1v1 in Silence and I'm up against an XP user. It's four kills to win.  Luckily, I'm on Blue team, so I gain an elevation advantage.

    The XPer decides to go up the large ramp. He gets a bit of airtime; I hit the side of his turret. Now the XPer is sent spinning into oblivion. I try to access his base quickly in hope for a spawncamp; I jump down the cliff and fire a single shot to assist in my landing. I have a single shot left, and the XPer is about to fire at me! I couldn't fire quickly enough, so one of the corners of my tank gets hit, and my shots fly somewhere in the air. He proceeds to push me to a wall: Since we agreed on no supplies, I can't do anything about this. My shots could not reload in time, so I give the XPer an easy kill.

     This time, the XPer takes the same route, which I find humorous. Strangely, he just kept trying to tilt at the bottom part of the ramp to hit me. He fires and hits me once, so I went for the initiative. He retreated back to ground level to try to hit me on the ramp while he was tilting, in an attempt to hit me. Luckily, I have the initiative, as I have three shots. I tilt on the edge of the first bump on the ramp and fire on the front of his tank. His tank face the ground as he was firing, and the rail shot hit the ground as well. He attempts to go through the tunnel to get away from me. I go back to my base and hope he comes out the exit that leads near my base. Strangely, he does! He attempts to go up on on of the three ramps. I manage to guess on which one he goes on, so I fire on the front of his tank and run over his skyward-facing tank. I shoot him another time for an easy kill, then dry-fire to prevent being manipulated.

     I decide to go for a different route and go behind that skyscraper near the dropoff.  Good thing there's a medkit between those two buildings. The XPer notices, and fires at me. I turn my turret to fire at my side, but it's not enough. I'm stuck on my side. Luckily, I have two shots left, so I simply fire at my side again to stand right-side up. As the XPer is pursuing me, I fire at his corner so he hits a wall. Hoping for refuge, I hide at the bottom of the tunnel's ramp. Unexpectedly, my opponent decides to wait at my base's exit! He's weakened, so only one shot will kill him, but that railgun's impact force is a menace. I go up the ramp as normal, but then I go in reverse for a second to stay on the ground. Instead of being flipped over, I just got knocked back to the wall. I fire at the XPer and he gets destroyed.

    I traverse to where the red flag would be in a CTF, but then I suddenly notice the XPer is right behind me! I quickly turn my turret and my hull to fire at him as soon as possible, hoping he didn't count on me noticing him. He fires, but it's too late; I hit a corner of his tank, and his shot hits a hill in the out-of-bounds zone. I trap him in a compromising position. I bait him by appearing to go in one direction, then wait for him to come over. I said "gg" two seconds later.

Extra Tidbits

(They didn't exactly fit with the physics engine, but are vital to a good playstyle.)

Mine-Bombing: A mine automatically drops down to ground level as soon as it is dropped. Therefore, it is possible to jump from a height and drop a mine as you are over somebody. To drop a mine, press 5.

Flag Bombing: A flag works a bit like a mine, as it automatically drops down to the nearest surface when dropped. This is mainly used to drop flags over a risky drop, such as in a map like Noise. To drop a flag, press F.

Firing Cone Abuse: Freeze and Firebird exclusive: Use your firing cone to attack opponents slightly above or below you.

Adaptive Range Abuse: Isida exclusive: Abuse your adaptive range, it pretty much follows the tank until it clips a wall, really.

Splash Damage Abuse: Thunder exclusive: Use your splash damage to harass hiders, and to limit and enemy's movement options.

Railgun Silencer: This is mainly for the lulz, but if you press "P" (pause) as soon as you fire, that little light that appears before you fire is gone.

Critical Hit Abuse: Smoky Exclusive: Fire off one or two shots in any direction after you have hit a critical and you are currently not under attack. This allows a critical hit to come sooner.

 

 

Credits

(For people who helped me during and after the creation of this guide)

@Thekillerpenguin - Checked the guide before its release

@greyat - suggested idea for content

@aojsd -  wrote the article about falling that I linked to

@dilsharox -  reminding me to improve visuals

- suggested information for the article

-  spotted an inconsistency with my writing

 

Thank you, the reader, for reading my guide! Comments and feedback are valued. If you have noticed any errors, feel free to say so; I will fix them as soon as I notice. If you also have any other things that you feel should fit into this guide, just message me! Nao go n merk sum XP nubs! (plz?)
 

Edited March 17, 2015 by Loackie

[jazz20 1,181]

Very nicely done. This took a lot of time and effort and I thank you for contributing and offering help to others in the community  ^_^ If you are thinking of making another article, could you make one focusing on all possible and tactical angles railgun has to shoot it's opponents? Tbh some of the angles the Youtubers can shoot at are incredible and down-right outstanding. 

[Loackie 269]

Very nicely done. This took a lot of time and effort and I thank you for contributing and offering help to others in the community  ^_^ If you are thinking of making another article, could you make one focusing on all possible and tactical angles railgun has to shoot it's opponents? Tbh some of the angles the Youtubers can shoot at are incredible and down-right outstanding. 

I could definitely make an autoaim guide, if you want. It'll definitely be shorter than this one though.

[greyat 2,972]

There was an excellent article in the newspaper on jumping off edges; you should link it.

 

I would like to challenge someone to flip another tank with Thunder. Probably close to impossible.

Edited March 7, 2015 by greyat

[dilsharox 2,395]

not bad but could u add some pics & change the font color to make it more attractive

[Maf 32,300]

This is very interesting and there's a lot more info that could be added. I might mention some of my own tactics and observations when I get the time to do it.

 

Well done for what you've done so far. :)

[Loackie 269]

not bad but could u add some pics & change the font color to make it more attractive

I'll need some assistance for the pictures, do you know anybody who can help? I actually want to make quite a bit (almost all :P) of them .gif files or gfycat videos, if possible.

[LeIouch_Vi_Britannia 6,163]

good guide loaks, although I would call those "thread"s "tracks" :p

 

and is every body writing guides to become a reporter? :/

[Loackie 269]

 

and is every body writing guides to become a reporter? :/

Not me.

[Loackie 269]

Wow, this is a REALLY underappreciated thread...Any issues people have? I'm changing the font size to 14, and making each tactic slightly clearer by adding underlined text.

[bravo30 136]

Wow, this is a REALLY underappreciated thread...Any issues people have? I'm changing the font size to 14, and making each tactic slightly clearer by adding underlined text.

look at your topics views ;)

[rothro3 50]

Good guide.  I never thought much about the basics of the physics engine.

[I.WalkAlone 548]

Nice! There is another tactic for jumping and landing on your tracks. It is very useful for non-recoil weapons. Basically, just at the moment before you jump, you turn your hull in one direction and your turret in the opposite direction. 90% of the time, you will land straight up.

[Loackie 269]

Nice! There is another tactic for jumping and landing on your tracks. It is very useful for non-recoil weapons. Basically, just at the moment before you jump, you turn your hull in one direction and your turret in the opposite direction. 90% of the time, you will land straight up.

It's mentioned in the article that someone suggested me to put there, so I'm not sure if I want to paraphrase the article. It does a better job than me, regardless of the lack of visuals. But thanks for sharing, if the link suddenly breaks I'll make sure to add.

[Maf 32,300]

Nice! There is another tactic for jumping and landing on your tracks. It is very useful for non-recoil weapons. Basically, just at the moment before you jump, you turn your hull in one direction and your turret in the opposite direction. 90% of the time, you will land straight up.

Or, when jumping off larger heights (e.g. to the bottom of Madness), you can drive off and reverse just as you tilt over the edge. This will give your tank a turning moment and you will land on your tracks after doing a flip. With enough skill you'll be able to get that motion just right so that you land on your tracks after one or two flips.

[Loackie 269]

Or, when jumping off larger heights (e.g. to the bottom of Madness), you can drive off and reverse just as you tilt over the edge. This will give your tank a turning moment and you will land on your tracks after doing a flip. With enough skill you'll be able to get that motion just right so that you land on your tracks after one or two flips.

Should I just quote these then add to the original post?

[Maf 32,300]

Should I just quote these then add to the original post?

Sure, do that. Or just copy the text and credit the player(s) on the bottom of the post.

[Loackie 269]

Sure, do that. Or just copy the text and credit the player(s) on the bottom of the post.

I have literally nothing better to do, so it would be nice if more people have any suggestions, tbh.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Loackie

[kayitsiz 621]

Ranking tactics is not a good idea but, great guide :)

[Loackie 269]

Ranking tactics is not a good idea but, great guide :)

meh, tilting and light hull capitalization takes two completely different mindsets. Thanks though!

[Cor7y 13,862]

Didn't know the smoky part..... and didn't understand the S part. Can anyone explain?

[Z3RO_DiM3NSiON4L 82]

Nice.

 

I thought physx introduction will ne something like

 

 

 

d/dx (x+a)^66 @&@^^27^# :/

 

 

Edited March 17, 2015 by Z3RO_DiM3NSiON4L

[Maf 32,300]

Nice.

 

I thought physx introduction will ne something like

 

 

 

d/dx (x+a)^66 @&@^^27^# :/

 

 

That's what it's like behind the scenes, where the physics engine actually calculates momentum, turning force, collisions, recoil, acceleration, etc.

[Z3RO_DiM3NSiON4L 82]

That's what it's like behind the scenes, where the physics engine actually calculates momentum, turning force, collisions, recoil, acceleration, etc.

Yes,ik.

I thought the topic will be about it..*

[Loackie 269]

Didn't know the smoky part..... and didn't understand the S part. Can anyone explain?

Tapping S = going backward for a short time.