T.A.N.K.S Manual
1. Website
Check the T.A.N.K.S website for news and updates:
http://tanks.kenjin.net/
2. Donationware
T.A.N.K.S is donationware. This means that if you like T.A.N.K.S,
feel free to send a donation to the T.A.N.K.S development team.
The donation can be money or something else you find appropriate.
Contact address:
tanksdevelopers ATT kenjin.net (replace " ATT " with @)
3. Starting T.A.N.K.S
Unpack Tanks.zip or Tanks.tgz to any destination of your
choice, then start the game using one of these methods:
Generic (platform independent)
- At a command prompt, cd to the Tanks directory.
- Type java Tanks
This requires that you have a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed.
If you don't, you can get one from one of these sites:
http://java.sun.com/
http://www.ibm.com/java/
http://www.microsoft.com/java/
Windows 95/98/2000/NT
- Go to the Tanks directory.
- Double-click Tanks.exe
This will use Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine (comes with Internet Explorer 4
and above) to start T.A.N.K.S. If it doesn't work, try the generic starting method above.
4. Settings
If all went well, the settings window will appear:
Player settings
- Enter your name or alias.
- Select a tank type. See below.
- Select a tank color or join one of the teams.
- Select a map. The players who select the same map will play together.
- Switch sound on or off.
Advanced settings
There are two networking modes to select from:
Multicasting - Doesn't require a server. Only works on
multicasting-enabled networks. TTL is the multicasting broadcast
range (you normally won't need to change the default setting).
UDP Server - Requires a running T.A.N.K.S UDP server.
IP address is the address of that UDP server, which you'll have to type in manually.
Tank types
There are three tank types, all with different size, speed (motion and rotation for both the
tank and its turret), shell damage, armour, barrel heat sink time and shell reload time.
Bafta
 |
A large and powerful tank with a high shell damage
and lots of armour, but poor speed. |
Nugget
 |
A middle-class tank with average shell damage,
armour and speed. |
Cricket
 |
The smallest and fastest tank. Quick shell reloading time
but poor armour and low shell damage. |
After making your preferred settings, push the start button to bring up the
network connection box which will try to establish a network connection. After
a successful connection, the game will start.
5. Gameplay
Game concept
T.A.N.K.S is a multiplayer-only network game where you navigate your tank in the terrain
and try to eliminate enemy tanks. You can play on your own or in a team.
The idea is to score as much points as possible for yourself or your team. The scores
are as follows:
+1 point for each enemy tank you eliminate
-1 point for each member of your own team you eliminate
There are two ways to eliminate an enemy tank, either hit it with your shells or ram it
(Kamikaze style!).
The number of shell hits you need to eliminate a tank depends on how much damage each of your
shells inflict and how many hitpoints the tank has left.
Ramming your enemy can be hazardous. For instance, a Cricket doesn't stand much chance against
a Bafta unless the Bafta is very low on hitpoints.
Gameboard
If the network connection and everything else went fine, the main game window will appear:
Game interface
Descriptions of the screen elements:
Gameboard - The main game display where the combat takes place.
Message center - Write a message with your keyboard and send it to the other
players over the newtork by pressing [enter]. Delete the last written letter with
[backspace] or [delete]. The text area above the message field displays messages sent
from other players and status messages (status messages are indicated by white color
and a '#' infront of them).
Barrel heat indicator - For each shell you fire, your cannon barrel gets a bit hotter.
When all lamps on the indicator are lit, the barrel is overheated and your firing rate
will decrease. Wait a while and the barrel will cool down.
Hit point indicator - This indicator shows the health of your tank. Your hitpoints will
decrease every time your tank is hit by a shell or is rammed by another tank. Your tank
will explode when you don't have any hitpoints left.
Scoreboard - The points for each player and team are displayed here. Also, if a
player's tank isn't alive, the color of the player's name and score will be darker. The
score for each team is the sum of the scores for each player in the team.
About button - Opens the credits window.
Back button - Leaves the current game and goes back to the settings window.
Exit button - Exits T.A.N.K.S.
Game controls
| [arrow up] |
Moves the tank forwards |
| [arrow down] |
Moves the tank backwards |
| [arrow right] |
Rotates the tank to the right |
| [arrow left] |
Rotates the tank to the left |
| [control] |
Fires a shell or deploys/resurrects your tank at a
random starting position |
| [mousebutton] |
Same as for [control] |
| mouse pointer |
Aims the turret |
< NOTICE >
To deploy your tank, you must click inside the gameboard with your mouse (or
press [control]).
6. UDP Server
T.A.N.K.S supports two networking modes - multicasting and UDP server
(see above). To use the UDP server mode, you need
a running T.A.N.K.S UDP Server to connect to. To start one yourself, do
this:
Generic (platform independent)
- At a command prompt, cd to the Tanks directory.
- Type java UDPServer [map] [-nogui]
map is a number between 0 and 9 that specifies which
game map the server will serve
-nogui starts the server in text-mode.
Both parameters are optional. By default, the server starts in GUI
mode with map 0 selected.
Windows 95/98/2000/NT
- Go to the Tanks directory.
- Double-click UDPServer.exe
This will use Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine (comes with Internet Explorer 4
and above) to start the T.A.N.K.S UDP Server. If it doesn't work, try the generic
starting method above.
Starts in GUI mode with map 0 selected by default.
< NOTICE >
For best performance, we recommend a dedicated machine with a fast internet connection for
running the server.
7. System Requirements
You need the following to run T.A.N.K.S:
- Java Runtime Environment 1.1 or later.
- Network connection with support for multicasting or atleast UDP
(ask your network service provider).
- Reasonably fast computer for best performance.
< NOTICE >
We strongly recommend you to use Java Runtime Environment version 1.1 and not
1.2 since the graphics rendering is slower in 1.2.
According to SUN this will be fixed in Java Runtime Environment version 1.3.
8. Credits
The T.A.N.K.S development team
| Kenneth Jonsson |
- graphics engine, user interface, sound, graphics, maps |
| Christer Kaivo-oja |
- network engine, maps |
| Thomas Eriksson |
- network protocol, sound, maps |
| Jonas Nordlund |
- tank behaviour and physics, collision detection |
| Urban Liljedahl |
- tank behaviour and physics, collision detection |
Guest appearance
| Mathias Bergh |
- explosion animation |
9. Known Problems
Read the BUGS.txt file found in the docs directory.
10. Legal Notice and Disclaimer
The T.A.N.K.S development team is the sole copyright owner of T.A.N.K.S.
You may
- Spread the T.A.N.K.S archive file as much as you like, as long as the
content of the archive remains unchanged.
- Distribute T.A.N.K.S on collection cdrom's and similar, but please
let us know about it first.
You may NOT
- Gain money by distributing or selling T.A.N.K.S in ANY WAY unless
you make an agreement with us first.
- Modify T.A.N.K.S without our permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS-IS. IF IT CAUSES ANY DAMAGE OR PROBLEMS,
WE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE.
|
