Tanki's Future: Inclusion of Utility?

[OneeSama 86]

The gameplay of Tanki revolves around one keyword: damage. A player's skill in Tanki is largely presented by how much damage they can do and how much damage they can dodge within a specific situation. While this is a healthy and natural way to distinguish the good from the great, the game is limited in depth especially if a player is playing alone. The fact that battles can go up to 10+ players per team for CTF and 20+ players for DM limits how much agency a player has on the battlefield since his damage will only be a small portion of total damage dealt during the whole match. In addition, this game has little game knowledge requirement (general damage range of weapons, weapon cooldown, HP, etc.) for one to consistently do well. Even with a large selection of maps, Tanki has a lower learning curve than most PvP games.

 

So how can we fix this problem of limited gameplay depth? Here are a couple ideas:

• The inclusion of more hulls/turrets. Most other popular PvP games have an abundance (some goes up to 100+) of playable characters and specific mechanics for each character. Tanki can simply enlarge the selection of equipment. 
• Encourage more team play. If Tanki becomes a more team oriented game, then elements such as weapon composition and teamwork will be more important for players to master.
• A strict competitive game balance. The recent change to unify the rank to obtain M3 equipment is a step in this direction to make this game truly competitive by making all M3s the same power level. While it is understandable that this is not happening in lower ranks (to encourage more purchases of equipment. Ex: Freeze M2 at the lowest possible rank is fantastic against the players with only M1s, but the player will have to buy other M2s or micro-upgrades after reaching higher ranks as Freeze M2 is worse than most other M2s), this is letting some players get an innate advantage before the game even begins.
• The addition of more utility.

Obviously, I left the fourth point unexplained for a reason. This is the way I believe this game can make its next push without a complete overhaul of the current system. The other three points require massive changes in the game's current features or the developers' visions.

 

What is Utility?

 

Utility in game design is an element of gameplay that is not based on damage but other effects that impact how damage is dealt. An example of utility in the game right now is the slow on Freeze, allowing the player to minimize enemy retaliation if utilized currently. The slowing effect does not add extra damage onto the turret, but it significantly reduces the opposition's chances in fighting back.

 

With this definition in mind, there are a few other sources of "utility" in the game such as Shaft's scope, Isida's healing and status removal; and Vulcan's "gyroscope". All these features do not add extra damage numbers to the turret but instead allows the player to have an easier time dealing damage. Imagine playing Shaft without the scope with the damage unchanged; it's a much more difficult endeavor to hit targets far away. This is just a simple example of how something that is not "damage" can significantly impact gameplay.

 

Why More Utility?

 

Tanki doesn't have ubiquitous utility across the board for all equipment. While all turrets have something special about them, most of them just "deal more damage" instead of some actual interesting effects. Hulls are just a mess right now with the M3 changes to the point that the developers in their own V-LOG don't even have a satisfying answer to the question of "why would anyone get Hornet if Wasp has the same HP and is faster". (To reply to the specific answer giving in the V-LOG, maneuverability is something that can be mastered through experience, but there is no way to make your tank go faster at top speed no matter how good you are.) Adding utility would help to answer this problem and introduce interesting mechanics for the otherwise boring hulls.

 

Another reason to add more utility is to force more macro-level decision making and teamwork. For example, if there is an effect that allows Freeze to intensifies its slow for a short time and completely stop a tank, skilled players will utilize this when there are teammates around to take advantage of the effect instead of us whenever-ever. Also, players will also have the opportunity to count the cooldown of some of those utility effects, encouraging more effective communication in the team chat by telling your whole team to take advantage of your opponents' cooldowns when possible. In addition, some of those effects can be chained by activating them one after the other, so the team that can setup the utility combo will perform better.

 

How Can We Add Utility?

 

So here is when we can get really creative. Utility effects can be as bizarre as possible as long as it yields healthy gameplay and balance. Here is some utility ability ideas for hulls that can hopefully make each hull more unique rather than the current iteration of hulls that puts them into pointless "classifications" based on the max HP.

• Hornet: Strength in Numbers - Creates a shield for self that lasts for 1-5 seconds depending on the number of nearby allies. While the shield holds, 30% of damage taken by you is dealt to the healthiest ally nearby and you are immune to projectile knock back. (CD: 90 sec)
• Wasp: Blur  - For the next 3 seconds, increase max speed by 50% and damage taken by 20%. (CD: 20 sec)
• Viking: Last Stand - For 5 seconds, your tank cannot be moved by any means (recoil, projectile knock back, tank collision) other than physics/gravity. Lasts even if destroyed. (CD: 45 sec)
• Dictator: Dire Command - For 10 seconds, 50% of damage sustained by nearby allies (including self) and enemies are delayed until the end of the effect's duration. (CD: 120 sec)
• Hunter: Hunt - The next tank you damage will have its HP bar revealed to you (but not your allies) for 30 seconds or until it's destroyed. (CD: 30 sec)
• Mammoth: Stampede - For 8 seconds, you and your nearby allies gain speed based on the number of HP left, gaining 1m/s speed per 50 HP. (CD: 180 sec)
• Titan: Colossal Strength - For 5 seconds gain 30% increase in hitbox and increased damage output based on your current health percentage (40% increase max.) (CD: 75 sec)

All the numbers here are off the top of my head and will need play test to determine balance, but this is the general idea of what can be done in the game. Each ability supports the unique identity of the hull while presenting new opportunities. Mammoth can help the front line engage the enemy easier. Titan can draw more aggro from enemies to protect fragile allies. Wasp goes even faster and harder to hit. Hunter can actually hunt more effectively and allows team to also take advantage with proper communication. Ideally all hulls will have multiple utility abilities to choose from so that people can pick the one that fits their style. Abilities can be added to turrets and give them more depth than "press space to fire".

 

The problem I am worried about is how Tanki will have this implemented. If Tanki implement this similar to alterations, then those abilities will come with a high cost, but this completely ruins the whole purpose. The purpose to add more utility is to make every hull and turret have more agency in the game without the need to spend large amount of crystals in a system similar to the current micro-upgrades, thus making the game more skill reliant and less "Pay to Win". If implemented correctly this will also allow more interesting eSport matches and help Tanki pick back up its dream of becoming a spectator eSport game. The best way I can see to implement this is to have them unlocked as you earn exp points with a hull/turret, so there is still a sense of progression for the players but not more burdens on their crystal budget.

 

No matter whether any similar changes will be brought into the game, I hope this game will only get more interesting and skill reliant as time progresses. Not seeing progress in this direction makes me worry about the longevity of the Tanki project.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Quarks

[Quarks 2,255]

Edits: 

1-2 grammar fixes

whenever instead of when-ever

 

Nice article idea, I really enjoyed it.

[Crip 4,735]

I thought you quit Tanki? :huh:

 

Ah well, welcome back :)

 

Interesting article also.

[Spit_Fyre 334]

Wow. This was a breath of fresh air! Rarely do we get to see pieces like this offering such an exalted level of design perspective.

 

Well articulated! I enjoyed that menagerie kaleidoscope. Great imagination!

 

The developers have some key take aways right here. My constant gripe as a smoky player is the lack of "utility" right (not trashing it, it's a nice weapon). It's impossible to caliberate a numerical value based system off this. I guess my thoughts on the matter align with yours when you say the hull categorizations are incomplete/not meaningful and that "damage" is a one dimensional concept. I'll leave some room open and say that you've showcased ONE creative way of doing it though. Nevertheless, a fantastic start!

Edited January 16, 2017 by Spit_Fyre

[NERF836 202]

Wow! You put a lot of thought into that! This could also go into the ideas and suggestions section.

[Heles 9,220]

How Can We Add Utility?

 

So here is when we can get really creative. Utility effects can be as bizarre as possible as long as it yields healthy gameplay and balance. Here is some utility ability ideas for hulls that can hopefully make each hull more unique rather than the current iteration of hulls that puts them into pointless "classifications" based on the max HP.

• Hornet: Strength in Numbers - Creates a shield for self that lasts for 1-5 seconds depending on the number of nearby allies. While the shield holds, 30% of damage taken by you is dealt to the healthiest ally nearby and you are immune to projectile knock back. (CD: 90 sec)
• Wasp: Blur  - For the next 3 seconds, increase max speed by 50% and damage taken by 20%. (CD: 20 sec)
• Viking: Last Stand - For 5 seconds, your tank cannot be moved by any means (recoil, projectile knock back, tank collision) other than physics/gravity. Lasts even if destroyed. (CD: 45 sec)
• Dictator: Dire Command - For 10 seconds, 50% of damage sustained by nearby allies (including self) and enemies are delayed until the end of the effect's duration. (CD: 120 sec)
• Hunter: Hunt - The next tank you damage will have its HP bar revealed to you (but not your allies) for 30 seconds or until it's destroyed. (CD: 30 sec)
• Mammoth: Stampede - For 8 seconds, you and your nearby allies gain speed based on the number of HP left, gaining 1m/s speed per 50 HP. (CD: 180 sec)
• Titan: Colossal Strength - For 5 seconds gain 30% increase in hitbox and increased damage output based on your current health percentage (40% increase max.) (CD: 75 sec)

Interesting Idea 

Its like Special abilities or alteration for a hull 

[OneeSama 86]

Wow! You put a lot of thought into that! This could also go into the ideas and suggestions section.

Posted a much condensed version of this quite a while ago, didn't get noticed by many people.

[VaudeVille 1,428]

You should post this on ideas and suggestions sections. I enjoyed reading

[TheZigzagoonThatCan 678]

I particularly like reading these articles in particular, always a number of interesting points to be made. I'm personally for a bit more utility with hulls myself, but considering that an M4 Mammoth has about 4000 HP maximum... 1 m/s for each 50 HP is about 80 extra m/s. That means you will likely have Mammoths moving at near a fourth the speed of sound. Fairly terrifying. 

[getwreckedcjs 0]

Does anybody know when Artillery is coming out?

[Crip 4,735]

Does anybody know when Artillery is coming out?

Check out this article, here.

 

It compiles everything that is currently known about this upcoming turret.

 

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In the future, don't ask questions that aren't related to the topic and/or article.