Review Reviewed: The Dev Stories Livestream!

[Hex 11,520]

Hello, and welcome once again to the Specials' section. Just as Nives promised, there was a very special live stream held in October that was mainly focused on important questions from the community, interviews with the game's official representatives and a tour of the Tanki HQ.

So without further ado, let's move on the review.

 

 

As usual, video from the live stream is available on the official Tanki Online YouTube channel. So if you missed it, go ahead and watch it. For those of you who don't have that much free time at your disposal or those who are interested only in a specific part of the video, we made this summary with direct links. Let's jump right into it!

 

Questions & Answers with Nives

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- Question No.1 | What can you tell us about Halloween? What will happen, when will it happen?

A: Unfortunately, Sergei says that he can't disclose any information about upcoming events and celebrations, including the nearing Halloween event and sales. However, based on previous Halloween celebrations, it is likely that it will hit the game somewhere in the ending days of the month. If you remember the previous live stream, Sergei told us that there will be a lot of cool things going on this time, and blew the lid off by announcing that someone with God-like powers would be playing in the event!


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- Question No.2 | What can you tell us about the Repair Kit problem?

A: "I understand the problem. Look, let me clear the issue now. The Repair Kit situation-- It's all about balance, okay? I'm not a game designer, but I can speak about what I know and what I hear. The previous version of the Repair Kit was just forcing the game's environment into a very improper state - you could just run into people, press a key and continue to do damage over and over again. This issue was very bad and imbalanced, so the mechanics were changed."


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- Question No.3 | If we win the Deja Vu contest, how will we get our rewards?

A: "We will send you all the prizes - no worries! If you win, it's our problem then and we will send you all the prizes you won, no problem at all. The only problem I see with all the entries so far is that people are forgetting to add in their nicknames. You need to have your nickname or something resembling Tanki Online in your picture, be it a laptop with the game open, be it a print of the Tanki Online logo. If you don't want to put your nickname in, at least put something resembling the game so that we are sure that your picture is original and not plagiarized.


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- Question No.4 | Is there any news about the upcoming Overdrives?

A: Sergei says that the new Overdrives are definitely coming, but their release is not set in stone. The only reason their thread exists on the forum is that the developers are looking for feedback and players' opinions on them. The Overdrives are under development and will undergo numerous changes. The only things shown in the V-LOG are just a bunch of blueprints or drafts of the final results. So questions like 'Why will Dictator have the supply Overdrive only?' or 'Why are giving Mammoth the ability to kill on touch' can't be answered right now. The whole thing will be addressed at some point in the future.


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- Question No.5 | Will you remove the 'Finish first in battles' missions?

A: "No, there are no plans for that. However, I understand that when the unified battles' list update hits game, it will become much harder for you guys to go and find a relatively empty battle, grab a lot of boxes, capture flags or get an easy win. This issue will also be addressed in the future, but no, there are no plans to remove these missions.

Besides, you know what the Internet says about this... You just gotta get good!"


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- Question No.6 | Will you remove the 'Capture flags 0/X' missions when the Unified Battles' List update hits?

A: "No missions will be removed right now, but we can tweak them and make them easier. Maybe we'll just remove the three flag missions and leave the one flag one. You write on the Forum, I hear and then I pass the information onto the guys and then, they make it happen."


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- Question No.6 | What are the favorite sports of the developers, including you?

A: "Well, I got one of the developers that will be here with me in an interview, live. As for me, I work out from time to time, I'm not a huge guy but that is my sport."


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- Question No.7 | When will Alternative resume advertising Tanki Online? How soon can we expect the player counts to rise like a few years back?

A: "So, the only reason we have HTML 5 in testing is that we're trying to make a new, better Tanki. A game that will be different from what is was before, but in a good way - literally greater again! After that, we will be able to take this game, get a lot of money, put it up for advertisement and... push. So, before we push, we need to wait for a couple more implementations - not matchmaking, but other stuff."

 

 

Interview with Alexander Shafer

Lead Programmer

Alexander Shafer is one of the most important guys on the Tanki Online team. As Nives explains, he is the current lead programmer, a person who is a software engineer and is in-charge of all the software/code project or tasks given to him and then distributes the work within the programming team.

So, Alexander, why did you join Tanki Online?

"Tanki Online was the most interesting game project based in Perm, and at that time, I didn't have any good abilities to join another job. Besides, Tanki Online is an interesting project for me - and to work and develop it also intrigues my interest.

What was your first position in the game, were you a junior programme or-?

"Yes, I was a junior programmer working for Alternativa, but also a student as I was studying in a university."

Since people often ask that what do programmers actually do, and that why can't Community Managers change the game, would you expand on that?



Is this the office where all of you programmers work?

"Yes, this is our office, but some of these guys are not with Tanki Online anymore - they are now in the Tanki X team."

So, tell me, sometimes people go to Community Managers and ask that why can't you remove something from the game - let's suppose Magnum. Now, why can't I come to you and go like, "Hey man, Alexander, why don't you remove Magnum from the game?" Why can't you personally take decisions, and what do you do on a daily basis?

"Most of the time, I'm just programming and doing things my boss tells me to do - like, if he tells me to remove Magnum from the game, I will remove Magnum. But otherwise, I will never do it. So, actually, I don't make any decisions, my bosses do."

As a lead programmer, how do you manage your team? Do you personally code nowadays, or do you delegate your job to your team?

"Actually, I do have to delegate a major part of my job to my team members, but I still personally do some part of the work. So, I do some of the work and then, my teammates take over from there. But yes, I do write the code too."

A lot of people don't actually know what programming is, so whenever they see pictures like this - a screen full of colours and text, they ask questions. So, do you go into the game and move tanks and buildings around after you work on the code? Or do you just make the code on an independent engine and do the magic?



"Nah, there's no magic here. Everything you see in the game begins on a blank screen like this. Then, we write lines and fill them with codes, check everything and run the game. We try to take the output from our code - like basically seeing what happened. This also points out bugs and glitches, which we can remove after identifying the source. In a nutshell, we write the code, check the code, run the game and then give it to our testers, who check every minute detail of the new coding and send us feedback. If everything goes as planned and works correctly, we make a release!"

Consider other departments, like artists or game designers - how does your work interact with other departments?

"Actually, we have a special person on the team, a Project Manager. His/Her job is to manage the game, and especially communication between different departments, such as Community Manages, artists, programmers, support etc. So basically, our Project Manager tells us what to do and we all discuss and make it happen!

Okay, final question! What is your hobby - what do you do when you're not playing games?



"I sing and play games, no? I also do my own programming sometimes, but rarely. It is very funny to write a code and participate in contests and win them. In that picture, you can see me and two other guys who have worked with Alternativa for a long time but aren't with us anymore. We won the programming contest and were rewarded with a PS4! So yeah, I do write code when I'm not at work."

Thank you so much for joining me in this interview Alexander!

 

Interview with Irina

HR Manager

Irina's job is where it all begins! She is the Human Resources Manager of Alternative, a person who is responsible for recruiting, screening, interviewing and placing workers. They may also handle employee relations, payroll and benefits and training. They basically plan, direct and coordinate the administrative functions of an organization.

If I understand correctly Irina, is your job something like to take the hands of small kids like me, move them around the office like, 'Sit here', 'Eat here' and stuff like that?

"Yeah, but that is the final picture you see, that is the result. Previously, and before that, there used to be a lot of processes that happened. So, first of all, you start with vacancy. You need a special person, or a person with skills in that specific field to fill that vacancy. After that, you basically let the person be with his/her team or colleagues."


So, people have been asking me, "Sergei, how did you get this job?" So, can you tell me - like, imagine a scenario where a Community Manager is leaving the company and you need a person to fill their role quickly. How do you begin the whole process, how do you find the correct person?

 

"That is a very long process, I should say, very hard work! First of all, to fill that vacancy, you should know what the next person to fill that role should do. The next step is the search - where you are basically looking for this person on different websites, or resources. While you're searching, you're asking different questions - of course, you have to know all the tasks and information about that person in a detailed way.

By the way, Community Manager... This was my first experience looking for a Community Manager when I found you finally - so that was a great experience for me!"


I hope this will last.

"Yeah, I also hope so!"


So, I will just show a couple of pictures I took while roaming around the face. You can tell us about how everything goes in the office day to day, what's happening and maybe like, what was the best addition to the face for this year?

"Okay. So I think this question isn't suited for me, because we have a special person, her name is Kseniya and she is responsible for the office and the well-being of the employees, our colleagues, our team. I am basically responsible for hiring and finding the right people for our team and organizing the documentation process. What's more is that one of my responsibilities also include to organize learning courses and classes for our staff."


So let's say you have a Community Manager, he works a lot and needs to join an anger management class. What would he/she do? Would he request for a class in order to improve something in him/her?

"First of all, you would write to me your problem or request. You'll discuss thing like why do you want this or that course, will it be helpful along with your work or not, maybe or not it would help you in your daily life and etc. If we come to a decision that the course would be helpful and worthwhile for you, the next step is to go the Community Manager and get his/her approval. If your request is accepted, you'll succeed and get the course.



So, one final question: What is your hobby?

I have a lot of hobbies. The main ones are snowboarding - but that is for winter time only, and board games - and this is for all times except when I work. I am also a tutor in English and I teach a couple of children in order to improve my English skills.


Thank you so much for being in this interview Irina, now let's wave and smile at the camera...

 

Interview with Boris Burangulov

Lead Analyst

Boris is the lead analyst for Tanki Online. His job includes a variety of things, including setting up promotions, discounts and giveaway prizes. In a nutshell, he approves all the sales that you see throughout the year, but this isn't all what he does.


So Boris, without a long introduction, what's your job in Tanki?

Hi everyone, I’m Boris. As you know, I’m an analyst and I work with numbers. A lot of numbers. So, you guys see the game as a bunch of moving pictures, and I see the game as a lot of dashboards, matrices, and etc. Statistics. I provide the data to make the right decisions. Objective data. Because we all have our feelings about the game, and we’re thinking “Wow, we need to do this thing immediately, it’s very important!” And when we’re starting to investigate, it’s not exactly right.



So, now we know what Boris actually does. How did you end up here in the Vlogs?


Okay, that’s a kind of funny story, because the first time was at my workplace. One guy came to me and said “You. Do you want to be in Vlog?” And I said “Yes, I’m ready?” And then we’d start hopping in again and again, and that’s the story.

 

Do you actually like appearing on Vlogs, or are you actually nervous in front of them on the camera? Because as you know, we are in front of the camera. So do you like them?

Yes. Why not? It's a little part of fame.


So, how many Vlogs would you estimate you have appeared in?

Maybe five or ten. Not many.


Once again, thanks for coming!

 

 

Valuable Information with Nives

 

"Nives- Is Newspaper good or not?" By Yisroel.Rabin. Okay, uh, do you want an honest answer?

*Gestures with a thumbs up*

We have the approval, team. We have the approval!

"Which is the moment you hate the Tanki game?" I don't know about the moment; the question is very strange. I've been playing lately, a lot, since I'm close to ranking up again, and you know what I feel about Magnum and stuff like that. but I do not like two maps: Gravity and Madness. I do not like playing them, as Isida/Viking, it's a hell of a time, it's not fun, and if you see in the future Magnum, Madness, and Gravity go away....

*Gestures again with another thumbs up*

​If only something was done about Magnum; even the Community Manager sees that it's ridiculous....

"Any ideas on what to expect in November?" We're working on a special event for November. This event, I hope it will surpass what we have right now in all terms. All events; I hope this will be the best event forever.

Interesting. Thoughts? The event is confirmed as global. It has testing and playing involved, which lets us infer there is some sort of modification or addition to gameplay during the event. Feel free to comment your thoughts and theories down below!

Are you color blind? Yes, yes I am. I have trouble with some colors.

Colorblind power confirmed. That's all, folks.



We hope you enjoyed reading this review. Till next time people!

[Hex 11,520]

Hello readers! First of all, I'd like to apologize for the late publication of this review of the Dev Stories livestream. I hope you'll still be looking forward to read the secrets it unfolded. That being said, happy reading and take care everyone!

[Stratosphere 2,234]

Late. :D Not bad though.

[Best_of_thunder_2015 1,354]

3rd is'nt good ? 

[lukey0 27,543]

Nice!

[Mjro7 2,837]

i'm too late 
but nice article i liked it ^.^

[Hex 11,520]

Isn't one month late a bit too much?

This article was ready quite a while ago - let's just say it drifted away into the sea of articles... :ph34r:

[Magenta 5,165]

Nice one :D

[nishu810 0]

NICE ONE :D

[PRZ 34]

awsome !!

[Merovingian 656]

Nives has not played on the real Madness...but if we replace the bad one with the real one, I'm good with that.

[stalagmite 12]

Thank you,  Appreciate it!  

[Hex 11,520]

Welcome everyone!