Other [Issue 33] Editorials

[Remaine 4,687]

 

Greetings, tankers! Do you want to make your sentiments known? Enlighten people on a particular subject? Or even just to promote something? Well, look no further since the Editorials are back in business!

 

Simply send in a private message to Editorials (you MUST send it to that account, NOT this one) with your piece. In order for it to be published, it will need the following qualities:

 

- To be appropriate

- To be well-written

- To not contain any profanity or obscene content of any sort

 

Your private message MUST be titled "Editorials"

 

You can send me up to two articles per month.

 

Happy writing!

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by Hexed

[Remaine 4,687]

RAMPS - GAME CHANGERS

 

by @TriNitroToIuene

 

 A Freeze comes round the corner. You look around, furtively glancing at anything that may give you temporary safe haven. A bush? Too small to accommodate your Dictator. The building? Too narrow for your hull. You're stumped. You're going to be killed. And then you glimpse what is soon going to be your salvation - a ramp.

 

Scaling it with the agility (figuratively speaking) of a rally car, you lie in wait, smug with the knowledge that you have the 'upper hand'. Your assailant comes into view. You lean over and start showering him with pellets from your Hammer. He tries to shoot, but is hampered by the obvious fact that Freeze can't shoot at angles like Isida. Also, your turret's impact force keeps his Hornet from coming at attacking you from close quarters. At last, when your clip runs out, he seizes his opportunity and starts his climb.

 

However, he fails to notice the mine you planted along the way and with a boooom! he becomes yet another poor soul to add to your repertoire of kills.

 

Conclusively, a ramp can alter the course of the game, for better, or for worse, though only if used properly.

 

What exactly is a ramp?

 

A ramp is a passage which, unlike normal pathways, takes you to a different altitude, either higher or lower. In the case of Tanki Online, a ramp is merely a sloping surface, albeit one which can take both the teams by storm. Mostly neutral, a ramp can serve both teams extremely well except for the cases where one team has gained dominance either by placing drug addicts at the top, or by planting mines.

 

Types of ramps

 

Ramps come in various guises - From the straight, no-nonsense ramps in Silence to the long, winding ones in Madness; from the narrow, barely driveable ones in Factory to the wiiiiiiiiide ones in 2042, there's a vast range of them. One can even go further to classify ramps as 'artificially surfaced' and 'naturally surfaced,' suitable examples being the ramps in Future, Atra and Chernobyl for the former ; and the slopes in Hill, Combe and Highland for the latter, or as 'in-map ramps' and 'tank-formed ramps'. Yes, they're abundant in the game. Some going upwards, and some going downwards, but they all essentially serve the same purpose - ferrying tankers to different altitudes.

 

However, it's not the type of ramp that matters ; both of them produce the same results. It's the way they're used which matters.

 

How to use a ramp

 

There are various strategies to use a ramp. ranging from flag capturing, shortcuts, gold box catching and of course, parkour. Following are the various methods involving ramps through which one can improve his or her gameplay.

 

1. Adjacent platforms - using Firebird and Freeze

 

This trick isn't very difficult to master - it just needs a light hull, either Firebird or Freeze and a map in which a platform is directly adjacent to the ramp, for example, Silence, Fort Knox or Wolfenstein. What you have to do - in case there is a sniper or some other tanker placed on the platform atop the ramp, one simply needs to go around three-fourths of the way up the ramp, and turn his turret so that the enemy is in the line of fire. Do not consider any wall or blockage in your path. The Firebird or Freeze shot will simply pass through any obstacle. However, one must note that this won't work with Isida.

 

2. Gaining a better angle - Any turret

 

If someone is below you or above you, tantalisingly above or below your turret's range of fire, and even swinging your hull, doesn't help, the best solution will be to find the nearest ramp and blast the living daylights out of him. Sounds easy, right? Well, it's not. It takes days, sometimes weeks, to master. However, mastery means complete domination of the map you're playing in. Even the miniscule ramps in Sandbox can be deployed under this tactic.

 

3. See-saw : Even better angles

 

Well, the trick is to balance your tank so it can swing freely. the middle of your tank must be on the middle corner of the ramp, and moving your arrow keys gives you even better angles. The concept is similar to that of a see-saw. You're free to balance anywhere you want, and turning your turret gets you the desired angle. It's a hard concept to familiarize yourself with, but the reward - lots of kills. It's especially useful when someone has taken your flag in Silence and is at a different altitude.

 

4. Chasing Mines

 

This trick relies fully on your intuition and timing. Say someone is chasing you on a ramp going upwards while you're on a flag, wait till you exit the ramp and place a mine. You see, placing it on the ramp itself will hardly work as your opponent can see it and will move out of the way, but when people exit a ramp, they have a tendency to jump into the air. It's not often you'll see people braking ; they'll just fly out and have no control over their tank's movement, making them ideal mine targets. Simple, yet effective. Even if they don't die, you'll still be buying yourself valuable time.

 

5. Gold boxes

 

Ah, the gold boxes. What to say? One can either launch himself onto another tank by going down halfway and abruptly going in the opposite direction, which will propel the front of your tank upwards. Also, the most basic tactic. Find the ramp nearest to the spot, and then jump like a Hollywood stunt artiste. But mostly, I'd recommend you find your own ways and means of getting it, because these tactics are not so reliable, and leave you exposed to damage.

 

6. Parkour

 

Basically the same ideology as gold boxes - stand on another tanker, drive up the ramp, shoot backwards at the same time as the one underneath you hits your tank, and then reach the place you want. Honestly, I'm in no position to comment about this  - I basically restrict myself to One-man parkour, and you'd be better suited if you asked the leader of some parkour club about it. But still, this is a basic trick everyone should know.

 

Caution while driving on ramps

 

Avoid shooting whenever possible. There's a high chance that you'll flip over and die in the chasm or just lie there, a sitting duck to your enemy's shots. Also, don't turn your turret more than ten degrees. There's a high chance you'll lose awareness of your surroundings and........ heroically fall off the ramp. And? Oh yes, be careful while ascending, descending and exiting. Always brake and then exit the ramp, and don't try too many stunts on them. You don't want to be labeled a mult, do you?

 

***

 

That's it for this guide, folks, I hope you learned some good tactics as well as enjoyed this article. See you next time!

Edited March 27, 2015 by Remaine

[Remaine 4,687]

SECRETS OF THE NANOBOTS

PART ONE

 

by @TriNitroToIuene

 

All my life, I've been dreading this moment.

 

One moment. One second. One impulse. Albeit a moment that could alter the course of my life.

 

I'm cornered in the alley, gasping for breath after that long chase. Four mean Railguns, mounted on aerodynamic Hornets are thrust into my face. 

 

I slump down against the wall. There's no escape route. I'm done for.

 

Their leader cackles wickedly, a sound which sends shivers down my spine.

 

He demands the scroll. A scroll which is in my possession at the moment. A scroll containing the secrets of the nanobots. A secret, which, in good hands, can spell development and prosperity. A secret, which in wrong hands, can cause an apocalypse - a civil war, causing massive loss of life.

 

I muster my courage and spit into his face, telling him that I'd sooner die than giving him the scroll

 

***

 

They had accosted me the moment I'd left my house, planning to go over to the government to hand over the fruits of my research - hidden properties of the nanobots, which are used to boost the parameters of our country's brave sentinels, who risk their lives to ensure our protection. A property, which could make them almost invincible.

 

I should have known they wanted to get their hands on it. They always do. The bowels of the human race. They think everything is theirs. Don't give a damn for the nation. My Hunter was no match for their Hornets. And here I was, cowering in the streets.

 

***

 

I might have felt brave, spitting into the leader's face, but the moment I do, my knees start quaking. It was my duty to get the scroll to the government, if not myself, at least through someone else.

 

Their faces are inscrutinable, I just hear murmurs and laughs. At last, the leader turns to me and tells me to suit myself.

 

In desperation, I do something no government intelligence employee is supposed to do - applying their secrets before they're tested. I implemented some of the nanobots into my tank, rationalizing myself saying that it is a test to see if the nanobots work. I brace myself, wishing I'd not told the leader of the thugs that I'd rather die before giving him the scroll.

 

His Railgun lights up.

 

***

Edited March 27, 2015 by Remaine

[Remaine 4,687]

TANKI ONLINE SPY COMMITTEE BOOK I
PART I: The Attack by @Rodhlann

My name is Gordon Reese, and I am a Third Lieutenant for the Tanki Online Spy Committee, or as we like to call it the TOSC. In the TOSC we work very hard to make sure there are no bugs and glitches in the online world of Tanki Online. Nobody on Tanki knows about us, and that's the way we keep it. Now why do they call us the Spy Committee? That is something that only our Captain knows.

In our organization there are 12 positions, including Third Lieutenant. The Captain is the largest of them all, followed by the Lieutenants. The First Lieutenant is always the one who lost in the election the previous time there was one. In this organization there are elections to become Captain every time one retires. The last one was last year in May, and the current Captain George A. Hasavall won that election. That left us a grouchy Lieutenant to deal with to lead us. We only have one of them, while for some reason we have four Second Lieutenants and five Third Lieutenants, including me. The First Lieutenant comes to work every day, grouchy and dressed in a suit and tie. Every time he walks by my friend Bill and I in the morning on his way to his desk he grunts at us and glances briefly in our direction. Though forced to salute to him, Bill and I think he is a total jerk and shouldn't even be in that position in the first place if all he does is whine about how he didn't win last year.

After his morning grunt, he goes to his desk, Bill goes to his and I go to mine. There, we get e-mails on how Tanki is doing and if we need to go in. You may think that by go in, we go onto a computer and type in some code stuff. Well you're absolutely wrong with that one. Each day two of us are shipped off to a certain map and destroy all of the little bugs that appear in the game. By destroy I mean with our railguns, shafts, and smokies. Personally I absolutely hate smokies, and I don't know why the little Recruits (the lowest rank in the TOSC) put them on my tank sometimes anyway. I don't report it, because then they'd get put into combat, which would destroy them in one second.

It was 26 May, 2007 on the day Bill and I were selected to be the "attackers" today for the Lieutenant committee. I was incredibly exhausted and when I saw my name on that email I really didn't want to go. Supposedly there were twelve smokies with no micro upgrades that we had to destroy. You may think this would be hard, but considering that all of them were Privates and none of them had the slightest idea on how to destroy somebody like us, it was a piece of cake.

We were told we had to get our equipment on, which consisted of a helmet and a bullet proof vest. Bill and I then went down to our garages. As I was getting in my tank the last of the Recruits scampered off. I checked my turret, and once again saw the Recruits gave me a smoky turret again.

Great, just great, I thought to myself. Though I did not know it, the was going to be the start to one of the longest days of my life.

Bill and I have radios in our helmets to communicate with each other. After I was in my tank and strapped in by some more Recruits, we tested our audio to make sure we were good to go. Our First Lieutenant, Joseph Backtoral, appeared on our visual screens, looking grouchy as ever.

"Alright guys," he said. "You're going to be set up in Monte Carlo today for your first mission. The garage is elevating to the Monte Carlo map now, kill the twelve smokies, blah blah blah."

"Enthusiastic as ever today, aren't you?" I heard Bill whisper sarcastically into the audio piece. I chuckled a little bit at that, then Joseph realized he hadn't put on his headphones.

"You know what happens when the garage opens by now I assume," said Joseph. "Screen turns off, audio is disconnected between us, emergency button turns on, and you know the rest, so I don't need to tell you."

"Yes sir!" we both said really loudly. This was enough to make Joseph mad at us, but who cares? He turn his volume down on his computer, glared at us, and put his headsets back on.

"Just do your job," he said, and the garage opened at the bottom of the hill of Monte Carlo. Our 197th mission had started.

Bill laughed when he saw that all of the bugs were smokies. Of course they had no protection, only having red paint on their automatic tanks controlled by nobody but themselves. Usually, though, there were twins too. All of them were the rank of Private, and none of them knew they had joined. A group of six was congregated on the lowest part of the map under the bridge, and Bill destroyed them with his railgun (lucky for him) in the amount of time it takes one to say, "Destroy."

"Go to the top, there are four up there," Bill instructed me. That's exactly what I did. I destroyed all of them in four shots, one for each.

"Now what?" I said in my audio piece.

"There are some under-" Bill started, then it was cut off. All I heard was static.

"Hello?" I said in the microphone. At first I assumed it was another audio problem that Joseph was too lazy to fix, then I heard a ringing sound. I didn't know what was happening.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps that were getting louder and louder. Had Bill's tank been destroyed? Of course, I thought Bill used the safety precaution and activated his eject button. I heard someone climbing the tank and picking up the audio receiver.

"Bill, are you-"

"We have destroyed the tank," said a deep voice into the audio receiver. "And we are coming for you next."

Edited March 26, 2015 by Remaine

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

nice!

[liverpoolaum 811]

nice

[sirogo 3,624]

Are screens allowed? I mean, "many" screens.

[Remaine 4,687]

Yes.

[jazz20 1,181]

Nice :)

[Rodhlann 20]

Mine was fictional, and I hope you all liked it!

 

Part II is coming out next month!!!

[saad455 70]

cool

[Superlative 500]

@TriNitroToIuene a.k.a pratyuspadmanabhan. 

Edited March 29, 2015 by Superlative

[Rodhlann 20]

@blackopspaul can you tell me what you disliked about my story?

Edited March 29, 2015 by Rodhlann

[Rodhlann 20]

I submitted Part II: The Enemy. Hoping it will be accepted and published for Issue 34's Editorials!

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Hoping to complete my entry before the 1st of April (Part 2 of Secrets of the Nanobots)

 

a.k.a pratyuspadmanabhan. 

:P it's i not L

[Superlative 500]

Hoping to complete my entry before the 1st of April (Part 2 of Secrets of the Nanobots)

 

:P it's i not L

Haha, nice. 

[Penguin40 1,714]

I'll send my entry in a few days. It's very exciting because it's close to it's end (there are 5 parts). And I'll be starting two more story series, named "Twin Vulcan" and "The TWD" (the TWD's origin and first adventure).

And here's a hint: five new characters, a big clue and combat against a bit of the enemy's army.

 

 

 

Ok, that was incredibly nub. What about a story on war between the US and the UK? Go for Part 1 tho

 

Edited October 9, 2015 by Penguin40

[LeIouch_Vi_Britannia 6,163]

Great job on your article!pratyush :)

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Great job on your article!pratyush :)

Thanks :)

[Tomorrows_Legend 1]

Does it have to be related to Tanki?

[Remaine 4,687]

It does not.

[tony990_Superstar 68]

 

SECRETS OF THE NANOBOTS

PART ONE

 

by @TriNitroToIuene

 

All my life, I've been dreading this moment.

 

One moment. One second. One impulse. Albeit a moment that could alter the course of my life.

 

I'm cornered in the alley, gasping for breath after that long chase. Four mean Railguns, mounted on aerodynamic Hornets are thrust into my face. 

 

I slump down against the wall. There's no escape route. I'm done for.

 

Their leader cackles wickedly, a sound which sends shivers down my spine.

 

He demands the scroll. A scroll which is in my possession at the moment. A scroll containing the secrets of the nanobots. A secret, which, in good hands, can spell development and prosperity. A secret, which in wrong hands, can cause an apocalypse - a civil war, causing massive loss of life.

 

I muster my courage and spit into his face, telling him that I'd sooner die than giving him the scroll

 

***

 

They had accosted me the moment I'd left my house, planning to go over to the government to hand over the fruits of my research - hidden properties of the nanobots, which are used to boost the parameters of our country's brave sentinels, who risk their lives to ensure our protection. A property, which could make them almost invincible.

 

I should have known they wanted to get their hands on it. They always do. The bowels of the human race. They think everything is theirs. Don't give a damn for the nation. My Hunter was no match for their Hornets. And here I was, cowering in the streets.

 

***

 

I might have felt brave, spitting into the leader's face, but the moment I do, my knees start quaking. It was my duty to get the scroll to the government, if not myself, at least through someone else.

 

Their faces are inscrutinable, I just hear murmurs and laughs. At last, the leader turns to me and tells me to suit myself.

 

In desperation, I do something no government intelligence employee is supposed to do - applying their secrets before they're tested. I implemented some of the nanobots into my tank, rationalizing myself saying that it is a test to see if the nanobots work. I brace myself, wishing I'd not told the leader of the thugs that I'd rather die before giving him the scroll.

 

His Railgun lights up.

 

***

 

Very well written. Probably one of the best pieces I have ever seen written in my lifetime, and I have read a lot of books. Way to go  ;)

[1stsuperwhitedragon 408]

I've already pmed editorials