Tank Squad News

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 9th Development Status. Here is what we’ve been working on for the last two weeks.

Level Design

We are working on a new prototype level. We’ve created a scenario in which the player will follow a road with numerous obstacles, such as a blocked road or skirmishes with small troops. His goal will be to retake the small village and hold it against counterattack.

We begin the level design by preparing some concepts. We’ve prepared 9 different concepts and here we show a few of them. All maps are 5km x 5km and are done in such a way that allows players to take strategic decisions on how they want to approach the next mission objective. We’ve already done multiplayer testing of the prototype level in-game engine and we’ve decided to continue to work on it.



Soviet Tanker

Just as we did before with the German side, today we are presenting the model of the Soviet tanker. This model will be available in few different uniform styles.



T-34 Engine

We continue the work on the T-34, today we want to show you the highly detailed engine model which you will be able to repair after the battles.



Thanks and have a good one!

DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 8th Development Status. Here is progress we've made in the last two weeks.

Multiplayer Testing

Our team gathered once again to test the multiplayer level. We have implemented new features to this scene, as projectiles of infantry, their transportation on tanks, general movement together with other infantry’s animations like fighting and dying. We are doing gameplay testing once a week, where we compare different solutions with each other, analyze them, and make design decisions from there.

So far we have those conclusions from tests:

• 5km x 5km map is currently too big, we can use half of it.
  
• Driving from one checkpoint to another was taking more or less 4 minutes without fighting with any enemies. If we will have 6 checkpoints, then 10 minutes per checkpoint would be optimal for one-hour gameplay. Driving around and fighting in a larger area would take more than one hour.
  

Measurements

Designing balanced gameplay, features and levels is a challenge. That’s why we base ourselves on gathering analytical data of player’s behavior. In this way, we measure mainly difficulty and intensity in time. We’ve created some diagnostic tools in which after testing we can see player’s movement on the map, where players were shooting, where players died, how fast have been they moving etc. With such data, we can balance gameplay and standardize the creation of new levels. Gameplay has to be balanced, it can’t be too easy because it becomes boring but at the same time it can’t be too difficult because it becomes irritating.

Tank Obstacles

We’ve created few tank obstacles which player will have to face in the game:

Tank trap with wooden logs





Bridge


Tank crew inspecting a bridge



Bridge will be in several states:

• Good - won’t collapse under tank’s weight
  
• Weak - will collapse under tank’s weight
  
• With explosive trap
  

In most cases, players in such a situation will have to get out of a tank and inspect the bridge before crossing it. Getting out of the tank will expose players to be an easy target for enemy infantry.

Anti-tank ditch



A driver can’t see the ditch because just before it there is a terrain bump. Falling into a ditch won’t destroy your tank but it will expose it to enemy fire and it will take some effort to get it out.

Question

We are looking for references for gun calibration in tanks. We wonder if adding such a feature to our game would be possible and interesting to you. If you know of any books or videos on this topic, please let us know!

Thanks and have a great weekend!

DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 7th Development Status. As always, we want to show you the results of our work in the last two weeks.

VFX destroyed tank

Our VFX artist prepared the effects of a burning tank. He focused on making high quality flames, smoke, and general damage. Below you can find the results of his work.



Soviet Tanker

We also want to show you the first review model of a Soviet tanker. Their uniforms will be available in three color schemes.



Animations

We continue our work on soldier’s animations. Today, we present yet another set of movements. You can see our Animator’s work here:



T-34 Model

This time we have focused on creating the interior of the previously presented tank. Our 3D artist has modeled parts like periscopes, main gun mechanisms, and ammunition storage places.



Question
We are working on a level prototype and one fundamental question that we have to answer is: how long missions should be? Should a single mission be 30 minutes long or 1 hour long or even longer? What are your thoughts?

Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 6th Development Status. We want to share with you the results of the last two weeks of our work.

Transportation

Our AI programmer has been working on infantry behavior. He programmed the Infantry to be able to use tanks as a transport, just as in shown below Tank Desant. Crews of destroyed tanks will evacuate, and infantry under intense machine gun fire may decide to retreat.




Infantry Movement Animations

Our animator continues his work on a wide range of infantry animations. He keeps adding new positions of soldiers.

T-34/76 Tank Model

During those two weeks, our artist prepared for us a high poly tank model with suspension and tracks. You can see the results of his work in the image below.



Tank Desant

Tank desant is a military combined arms tactic, where infantry soldiers ride into an attack on tanks, then dismount to fight on foot in the final phase of the assault. Note that this differs from infantry troops merely riding on tanks as a form of ad-hoc transportation.

The tactic was used as an expedient by the Red Army during World War II. Tank desant troops (tankodesantniki) were infantry trained in the tactic in order to offer small-arms support in suppression of enemy anti-tank weapons or enemy infantry using anti-tank grenades. (Source: Wikipedia)



We are extending our team

New support programmer Patryk Kikowski and new Level Designer Denys Zosym have joined our team this week. Patryk at this moment is going to work on the implementation and configuration of VFX and on configuration of the Character Controller. Denys is going to work on a block out of a prototype level, which includes basic game mechanics that our programmers have prepared.

Thank you and have a good weekend!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 5th Development Status. Here is progress we've made in the last two weeks.

Level Design

We’re testing a new level design tool, which automatizes the process of shaping the terrain. Our new program enables us to download the image from real-life satellites and transform it directly into the ingame landscape, including the curvature, rivers and other stuff. We hope that after using those tools, our levels will become more realistic.

We are not copying the map one to one, but it’s a good base and reference to begin work on a level.

Tank Multiplayer

Currently we are working on multiplayer stage in which couple of players will be able drive their tanks and interact with each other. We were able to connect 4 people in one session, each with own tank. We are going to focus on further improvement of this system.



Blood Particles

As we’ve shown in last Development Status, in explosions characters will split in parts. Our VFX artist is working on blood particles to behave naturally. After enemy’s death, his blood will be visible around his corpse and scattered around limbs.



Character Animations

Durning those two weeks, our animator was working on frequently occuring in-game animations, like walking, running, shooting, reloading. You can see his work on the gifs below.



Anti Tank Gun

Infantry is able to get into an anti-tank gun and use it. Artificial Intelligence can recognize our tank and attack it. That’s the basic behavior for anti-tank but we will develop it further.



Question
As always, we have a question for you. We are very interested in your feedback and suggestions. Do you have any ideas for missions or scenarios that you would like to see in Tank Squad?

Thank you and have a good weekend!
DeGenerals