Tank Mania (abbreviated TM) was originally an experimental project created by Tomas Eriksson. Since its release on the Internet, the game has proved to be highly popular among players worldwide. Over the years, Eriksson has improved and updated the game, and is currently working on the newest fourth version.
Game-play Tank Manias gameplay involves a mixture of hand-to-eye coordination and tactical decision-making. Successful play also hinges on a good grasp of spatial awareness. Tank Mania has two main game modes: Individual and Team Play.
Individual The Individual mode (single-player), is a free-for-all mode; players earn points by eliminating opposition under a time limit. The player with the most points when the timer ends wins the match.
Team Play Team Play allows groups of players to play in teams, signified by red and blue colors. The aim of Team Play is to capture the opposition's flag and take it to the friendly respawn area, without being attacked in the process. As in the Individual Mode, players can still destroy enemy tanks and earn points for their team, and the team with the most points by the end of the time limit wins.
Of the six standard Team Play maps available, Team Play 1 and 3 have proven to be far more popular than the others. Team Play 1 ("TP1") is the oldest map, and, when Tank Mania was originally launched, was the only map available. Team Play 3 ("TP3") is currently the most popular map on Tank Mania, as it offers a good balance between offense and defense.
History
Tank Mania has been updated in installments defined by players as "versions."
*Version 1 - TM1 was hosted under tankwars.com. It had many bugs; players could teleport to the other flag instantly, respawn in the enemy base, shoot multiple times while moving, and move over buildings.
*Version 2 - Also hosted under tankwars.com, most obvious bugs were fixed and several gameplay aspects were updated (such as bomb damage changes and the addition of +20% health kits). This version saw the use of a high score feature.
*Version 3 - Tank Mania 3 is hosted under tankmania.com. Graphics were a bit more detailed than previous versions, and darker. Further gameplay changes were made, including the addition of a smoke bomb. It is full of 'wannabe hackers', including game crashers, spambotters, aimbotters, guessbotters, etc. The high score feature was dropped, making way for the Map Editor and forums (which have since dropped). This version is prone to protracted crashes where it is unavailable for play. The web site has been mostly non-functioning since 2/10/07. Pressing enter twice at the log on screen will work in some cases. *Version 4 - Tank Mania 4 is still under development. See below for more details.
Map Editor Tank Mania allows registered members to design their own maps using the built-in Map Editor. To access the tool, the player must click the "Map Editor" button located at the bottom of the window while in the lobby. Map sizes range from 400 to 3000 units in both x and y axes, which ranges from very small to exceptionally large.
Gameplay Power-ups *Bombs - These high-explosive projectiles can be used to deal extreme damage to enemies. A direct hit will inflict 60% damage. The large explosion radius also allows users to attack enemies through walls. Bombs are compulsory in bomb land games. *Ammo - Since tanks have limited ammo, this power-up restores 10 shells for the player to use. *Health Kit - This power-up restores 20% of its user's health. *Heart - This power-up restores 100% of its user's health. *Explosive Barrel - This object will detonate upon contact with a tank, bullet, bomb, or rope. When detonated, any tank within its explosion radius can inflict anywhere between 20% to 60% damage. *Rope - This power-up allows its user to collect power-ups from a distance. By shooting while holding the 'R' button on the keyboard, the player can: collect power-ups from a distance, detonate explosive barrels, capture the enemy flag, and drag bushes around. Collecting a second rope power-up increases the length of the rope. *Smoke Bomb - This bomb allows its user to create a fog around the user's tank. Unlike other power-ups, it is a free action and does not cause a delay timer to start.
Combat Tactics *Dodge - Enemy shots can be evaded by moving very short distances while under fire. By moving only short distances, the delay timer lasts for a shorter amount of time, allowing multiple, quick bursts of movement in the same space of time as a single large movement.
*Ram - Moving the tank close to an opponent limits the enemy's options; if the opponent attacks, it will receive as much damage as is inflicted upon its target. This is very useful to block an opponent (usually, from firing at a teammate carrying a flag) or to limit its capabilities if it bears a bomb or other special item.
*False Shot - Usually, when a player has a bomb and an opponent has no bomb and they are fighting each other in a close distance, the disadvantaged player will try to quick-dodge. To make the second player move, the player with the bomb will usually throw ammo at it (as if the ammo is the bomb) or "rope" it; the second player may think that whatever is coming towards him is the bomb and will attempt to dodge it (however, because the distance is close, there is not much time to investigate properly, and reaction time is instinctive). The first player then takes this chance to destroy the opponent with the real bomb. However, this strategy is not especially effective against experienced players.
*Bomb Trick - When an opponent wants to fetch a bomb nearby, a player can target the bomb in advance; when the foe is moving towards the bomb, the player can shoot the bomb so that it explodes just before the enemy reaches it, dealing severe damage of up to 60%; furthermore, hitting the side of the bomb that the enemy is at can deal 80% damage.
Custom games There have been new game modes devised by Tank Mania fans that require a good deal of cooperation among players.
*Soccer/Football - There are 2 nets on both sides of the map. Team 1 grabs the flag and either passes it to a player on the same team, or throws it in Team 2's net. The opposite team tries to prevent the flag from going into the net. Once a player has the flag, that player cannot move with it, but can move before catching it and can intercept the flag while moving. There are usually 1 goalkeeper and 4 field players, and there is no shooting. (Japanese soccer is a bit different—players can move once after taking the flag. Japanese soccer is also friendlier, since it doesn't count goals, and so it is highly recommended for players with high ping time.) As a reference, there are many variations of this game, including, but not limited to: tennis, "air hockey", hockey, basketball, and possibly volleyball. *Paintball - There are 2 teams; players start off in a base of some sort. Players lose Health Power (HP) in the base until they reach 20% HP in normal mode; once everyone has lost HP, and when the map's creator approves of it, players rush onto the playing area and attack the opposing team, playing until all team members die. Once dead, players wait in the base. If a player is left standing, the player must return to base. If a team wins 1 round, it earns 1 point. Players can also win a round by grabbing a flag and returning it to base. Survivor mode is played with players with 20% HP that may come out when ready and don't have to wait if killed, and the game ends when a team brings the opponent's flag to their base. One version of this highly popular game is called "Kings Paintball" (Kings PB). The rules are similar, except that each team has one "king", each whom have 40% health instead of the usual 20%. The goal is to destroy the opposing team's king, resulting in an automatic win. If no king is killed, then the win of a team is based on that team's score, just as in regular pb. Often invaded by players (Newbies, Noobs, Jerks), who don't want to lose their health. *Xtreme Archers Blood (XAB) - There are 2 teams and usually 8 hearts on a field, which are usually located in a base. There are 4 hearts for each team. Both teams have to try and destroy the other team's hearts and move them out of their bases. Players must lose 60% HP and therefore only have 40% HP. The first team to destroy the opponents' hearts wins the match. *Elite Archers Blood (EAB) - There are 2 teams on a field, and they both start off on one side of the field. Only 2 players can come in at a time: 1 red and 1 blue tank, who then fight each other. The winner stays on the field and the loser respawns and cannot fight again until the game is over. After the winner has beaten the loser, the next person, on the team with the loss, comes in and fights the winner. You continue this until the entire roster of one team has been eliminated. *Defend The Base (DTB) - There are 2 teams that battle for a base. The team that has the base at the end wins. If there is a close amount of players from both sides, players work it out with a rematch. The gamemode has been known to be extremely time-consuming. *Kibasen (騎馬戦) - 2 teams scurry onto the field; 1 person on each side is the flag master, or "shogun." The shogun, who is unarmed, passes the flags out to his team. Both shoguns agree on a time to begin the battle, the people holding the flags, or the "horses" run out when start is called. Players must defeat the shogun and all enemies to win. If a player loses a flag, the player is immobilized until a flag is passed. Once a player dies, the player becomes a spectator. Kibasen means "The Mounted Police Game." *Zombie - Zombies have 60% health, and the humans ("survivors") have 20%. The zombie can only fire bullets; survivors are the only ones that can shoot bombs. Players who are shot by a zombie become zombies. Survivors can't kill each other, and the same goes for zombies. Survivors who are accidentally shot by their own bombs do not turn into a zombies, but they do if the bombs were shot at a zombie. If a zombie has 20% health, it must suicide to avoid confusion. *Run Gangsta Run (RGR) - There are 2 teams. One team (normally the red team) loses 80% health from the start, and its aim is to run through a specific path using obstacles to hide behind, while dodging bullets from the opposition, who have 100%. It is important to note that the shooting team is in an isolated area, and cannot move outside of it. The running team has to make its way through the path to try to reach a flag. If one of its players successfully reaches the flag, the team wins; if they all fail to reach the flag in the allowed time limit, the shooting team wins. The winning team usually depends on the ability of the shooting team to hit moving targets. *Suicide - This is the reverse of normal gameplay; two teams start out in a map filled with explosive barrels, trying to suicide by driving into the barrels as many times as possible before time runs out. Each team can prevent the other team from suiciding by shooting and destroying barrels that enemies try to reach. The team with the most points (each time someone is killed on a team, the game adds one point to the opposite team.) loses. It is suggested to use a map with at least two walls (barriers) facing inward (to make it so shots go through the walls) next to the black part of the map, in order to prevent suiciding on the edge of the black. *Baseball - This game is played in a baseball diamond with at least 4 bases. There is a center area where the pitcher throws their team flag at the batter, who starts out in first base at the bottom. An umpire in back of the batter tries to get the flag. If the batter misses 3 times, known as "strikes", that player is out. When the batter catches and throws the flag to the outfield, the opposite team tries to stop it. After the batter throws the flag, he/she runs to 2nd base, 3rd base, and so on, trying not to get touched by any member of the opposite team. When a player from the opposite team member "tags" the runner, the runner is out. Home runs give extra points. *Race - There are no teams, but each player competes against others in either a straight course or a more complex road on which to "drive" on. The point of the game is to get the farthest ahead of the other players and to reach the finish line. Players can block others in order to get ahead. In the normal version, there is no shooting, although in some, shooting and "cheating" are required/allowed. *Rope the Bush (RTB) - Two teams start out in their own bases, each in one corner of the map. Once side of each base is blocked off by a wall to make it more difficult to score. When a time is set, the teams scurry to the ropes on the field and to a single bush in the middle of the map. The goal of the game is to work with your teammates and rope the bush to your team's base before the other team does. Prevent the other team from taking the bush by blocking. However, shooting is not allowed. The team that successfully makes it to its base with the rope wins the game. *Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) - This game involves one or two crosses made with houses with a spaced amount of health, ammo, or some other object and one or two different objects in the center. The team(s) that possess(es) the cross(es) have the job to both defend and/or try to destroy the other team's line of objects to get to the very center. Once accomplished, whichever team defends the longest or destroys the center object on either side of the cross is named victorious. *Cheat Map - Usually, the goal of this game mode is to get to the other side of the map by "cheating" your way through the obstacles. This game mode is possibly the most time consuming. Usually there are flags for each team placed at the finish point. Cheating, a form of glitch exploitation, lets the player crawl over objects and obstacles and allows for a sometimes safer area to fire. *TankBallz (TB) - A likeliness of football, except you can't throw the flag over tanks' heads. Each team must have one quarterback in the touchdown zone. The quarterback passes the flags to his teammates and the teammate who catchs it must run it down to the touchdown zone without being tagged by an opponent player. Each touchdown is worth 5 points.
Controversy
Game creator and owner Tomas Eriksson has been accused by some of stealing the code of another tank game and modifying it only slightly to create Tank Mania v1 (known as Tank Wars). The fact that the "teaser" movies of Tank Mania v4 indicate that it is not, in technical terms, dramatically different from Tank Mania v3, and yet, has been in development for well over three years has baffled some computer programmers. According to these programmers, when one writes his own code, he can modify it or update it rather quickly. The fact that it has taken this prolonged period of time for Tomas Eriksson to make relatively minor to moderate changes to the third version of the game only indicate that he is not comfortable or knowledgeable of the code, thus further indicating that the code was indeed not his own.
As of early April 2008, Tank Mania has been down for unknown reasons. Although Tomas appears to be aware of the problem, he has had trouble fixing it, despite the fact that he appears to have the intention of simply putting the third version of the game back online.
In addition, there have been allegations of political, religious, and ethnic bias toward members of the game from both moderators and Tomas Eriksson himself. While members in support of Islamic terrorists, neo-Nazis, communists, fascists, anti-Semitism, and other bigoted views and individuals are unpunished, members who have taken offense to and criticized such views, as well as members who have in any way been critical of Islam have been banned.
