declined Realistic in-game Graphics

[CaptainKiller 67]

Overview:

One thing that I really miss in this game (and has been one of the reasons why I decided not to play it for a long time) is the outdated graphics. I mean seriously, even Minecraft can get realistic graphics with the help of a Texture pack. A similar mechanism can also be implemented in Tanki where there should be an optional setting for realistic graphics.

 

Working:

Here's my version of how it should work: When the players opt for realistic graphics - Its textures will be downloaded (Once only)  from the game servers (saved on preferably %appdata% by default). This should entirely work on the client side, so therefore no effect on the performance of the game's servers (Just changes the player's POV of the game). It should only work on the Tanki clients to avoid other issues.

Because most of the assets used in the game's maps (i.e. Houses, Roads, Grass, Bushes, Ad Boards etc) are repeating, therefore its size may not be that much trouble. This seems simple though, but then again - Cuz I am not a game developer  - I don't know how game development works, so there may be more complications than just replacing textures of the assets

 

Pros:

• The game feels closer to reality
• Could bring back old players
• Graphics up to date, and competitive for a FREE multiplayer game.

Cons:

• Works only on newer systems
• A lot of effort is required by devs and designers (therefore may not be economical for them to implement this idea on a FREE game)

 

Additionally, you devs can just cash in some bucks by selling these REALISTIC graphics.

 

To Conclude: This is just a raw idea, so feel free to give feedback. I am not an active player currently, but I am sure that these graphics can become one of the reasons to bring me back (And others as well). 

 

[Maf 32,326]

Under review

So what's your opinion on HD skins and "Remastered" versions of maps? Still not realistic enough?

[CaptainKiller 67]

On 4/24/2023 at 12:32 PM, Maf said:

Under review

So what's your opinion on HD skins and "Remastered" versions of maps? Still not realistic enough?

To be fair, HD Skins is an improvement when compared to the Original Textures, but do you think it is competitive when compared to other games in the market? I mean the graphics and mechanics are really great for a browser game, but seriously - they don't seem competitive when compared to i.e. WoT.

[curseuAARON 15]

On 4/24/2023 at 8:49 AM, CaptainKiller said:

To be fair, HD Skins is an improvement when compared to the Original Textures, but do you think it is competitive when compared to other games in the market? I mean the graphics and mechanics are really great for a browser game, but seriously - they don't seem competitive when compared to i.e. WoT.

The problem is first of all, WoT is like 30 - 80 GBs in size, and the second thing, Tanki Online was the game that anyone could play regardless of how bad their computer was. With the new HD retextures, the game runs very poorly half the time on maps with a lot of people per team, and there are a lot of those maps. I think there should be an option to revert to old models/textures so that people who can't run the game on higher graphics can still play effectively, and so that people who want the game to look nice still can.

Example.

I can't run WoT on this computer, because it'd probably catch fire. I can run tanki alright, but it's really slow at times.

[Maf 32,326]

On 4/24/2023 at 6:49 PM, CaptainKiller said:

do you think it is competitive when compared to other games in the market?

I think they look fairly decent. Tanki Online isn't going for hyper-realism, but a specific art style. Something that looks catroonish, but at the same time very detailed and highly polished. I'd say the art design approach is similar to Team Fortress 2 in terms of style.

You also need to realise that adding hyper-realistic and highly detailed graphics not only increases the download size to an extent that's not suitable for a browser game, but it also requires the textures to be drawn in the first place, an that will require a huge amount of man-hours, for a feature that can't even be monetized. It's just not worth the effort.

[DefkwargX 152]

Tanki online, as described on google play store, is a futuristic game, and making it 100% realistic goes against this description.

[curseuAARON 15]

On 4/24/2023 at 11:12 PM, Maf said:

I think they look fairly decent. Tanki Online isn't going for hyper-realism, but a specific art style. Something that looks catroonish, but at the same time very detailed and highly polished. I'd say the art design approach is similar to Team Fortress 2 in terms of style.

You also need to realise that adding hyper-realistic and highly detailed graphics not only increases the download size to an extent that's not suitable for a browser game, but it also requires the textures to be drawn in the first place, an that will require a huge amount of man-hours, for a feature that can't even be monetized. It's just not worth the effort.

I've never seen anyone compare the aesthetic of Tanki to TF2, but I do see the resemblance.

[Maf 32,326]

On 4/25/2023 at 6:23 PM, curseuAARON said:

I've never seen anyone compare the aesthetic of Tanki to TF2, but I do see the resemblance.

There's even similarity in the sense that TF originally had basic low-res graphics that tried to be realistic, while TF2 changed them to be more stylistic. This is similar to what Tanki devs did in 2013, but 6 years earlier.

[CaptainKiller 67]

On 4/24/2023 at 11:09 PM, curseuAARON said:

The problem is first of all, WoT is like 30 - 80 GBs in size, and the second thing, Tanki Online was the game that anyone could play regardless of how bad their computer was. With the new HD retextures, the game runs very poorly half the time on maps with a lot of people per team, and there are a lot of those maps. I think there should be an option to revert to old models/textures so that people who can't run the game on higher graphics can still play effectively, and so that people who want the game to look nice still can.

Example.

I can't run WoT on this computer, because it'd probably catch fire. I can run tanki alright, but it's really slow at times.

Didn't expect hardware issues in 2023 tbh.

 

On 4/25/2023 at 10:12 AM, Maf said:

I think they look fairly decent.

For a browser game - Extremely Good.

 

On 4/25/2023 at 10:12 AM, Maf said:

 Tanki Online isn't going for hyper-realism, but a specific art style. Something that looks catroonish, but at the same time very detailed and highly polished. 

TankiX?

 

On 4/25/2023 at 10:12 AM, Maf said:

You also need to realise that adding hyper-realistic and highly detailed graphics not only increases the download size to an extent that's not suitable for a browser game, but it also requires the textures to be drawn in the first place, and that will require a huge amount of man-hours, for a feature that can't even be monetized. It's just not worth the effort.

There must be a way through; I agree that the game is not at its peak at the moment, and it might not be economical to work hard on hyper-realism.

Honestly, I thought that hyper-realism might be a way for people to come back to Tanki. I remember - back in 2013 when I first played TankiOnline - it had comparatively great graphics and game mechanics for its time, especially for a browser game (probably the reason for its huge player base back then). Now - no one really plays browser games, so I think devs might need to re-think their strategy.

 

[Maf 32,326]

On 4/26/2023 at 1:17 PM, CaptainKiller said:

TankiX?

Yeah, it's well-known that after Tanki X failed, devs have been working to migrate features from there into Tanki Online.

[cybernite 93]

Well if they could improve the graphics more without affecting general population computer systems, then I would like to see it.

Tanki is quite an improvement over that old BZFLAG MMO 3d tank game; like a not bad 3d arcade tank game. This isn't world of tanks....

When I enter remastered maps my laptop starts to heat up and concerns me over time playing might wear it out.

This game so far seems to work with Opera GX (tested today, just go it), and google chrome; but firefox/edge don't run it well.

I guess this game is optimized for google chrome since it is connected to google play.

If they offer more advanced graphics then they would have to have native clients for mac, pc (windows, or linux).

Cause I think this game is made with html5 (javascript) and unity/opengl.; perhaps a client made in C/C++ would boost performance a bit.

It would be neat if they added more little things like mud, water streams, oil slicks, different mines, temporary barriers/obstacles.