Tank Universal - Again!

Earlier I have written (several times) about this fantastic little indy game.

This is simply a small update to mention some of new things:

1) The game is now updated to version 1.22

2) From the 21:st of August the game can be purchased at Valves ”Steam”

3) I’ve now playtested Tank Universal in Boot Camp on my nice new iMac, and
the game runs just fine. So good news all Mac users - now you have no
reason not to buy this game, especially since you also can use Steam in Boot Camp.

All good news Laugh

Keep the ball rolling Phil!

Atomic Cannon...

On the Amiga platform there once was a super fun game called "Scorched Earth".
It was an artillery tank game you could play with multiple human and computer
players. It was very well made and had fantastic weapons effects and it gave a
sense of wonder when you blew up your opponents. Laugh
During the years I've seen many try to redo this. Some good, others less so.

However, now I think the wait is over.

Atomic Cannon offers ALL of the fun and function of from the Amiga version.
But with nicer graphics and sound. Even a bunch of innovations too.
All in all it is a good carrier of the flag and gives great entertainment to both
old and new gamers.
You can get this excellent game in two flavours: Windows and Mac.

So go out there and get it while it's fresh!

History...

Very, very few game titles stand the test of time. What I mean by this is this:
When you look back on your previous years of gaming. It may be on computer
or console, it does not really matters. What games stands out? What titles do
you actually remember and most important what games do your remember
with warmth - still?
Not many right? Any? Happy

I my case it is only a handful. A few specs of gold that I will probably carry with
me the rest of my life. They have become a part of me in a sense.

This is why the indie scene invented "remakes" of classic games. And
emulation, not to be forgotten.

One such title, and an odd one at that, I would like to see in modern
daylight again is a small gem called "Wicked".
It's a cool little game made for Amiga 500 by Binary Vision and Electric Dreams.
At it's core you find a simple struggle between light and dark; good and evil.
But you will soon realize that there is also quite a bit of action and tactics involved.
It soon gets really hard.
If I had the skill this is one of the first games I would like to remake into modern
hardware (both mac and Windows).

Testing...

I have been testing a new version of earlier mentioned game "Tank Universal".
This time it's version 1.2 that is waiting to be released.
It took med many hours spread over two days (and sessions) to complete all
levels. And this time it is three more compared to earlier version. But there are
many more tweaks and add-ins this time around. Skirmish mode, better and faster
graphics and much, much more. Around 26 new and improved items according
to my test log. My impression very positive!
If this tickles your imagination then read my earlier post about the game and
hop over to it's website and download the demo of version 1.0.
Do NOT forget to register it if you like it, it deserves it !

Fate...

Now and again you find true jewel. The indie scene containing it's many shareware and
freeware titles is a fantastic source of these gaming gems.
A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a game called "Fate". At it's core it is a smaller
more colorful fantasy version of Diablo. Random generated levels, monsters which gives
a huge replay value. You can basically run around in these dungeons killing monsters
forever. It looks and sounds fantastic. The controls are simple without taking away choice of
tactics from the player.
Since I discovered this game both me and others have played it constantly. The thing is that
despite the fact that it's quite repetitive after the ten or twenty levels, it still manages to serve
you new cool weapons, spells, monsters and a nice increase of difficulty levels.
So for some reason you come back again and again. Like any good game should aspire to
offer.
As long as you do not install it on a windows vista system and keep away from the many mods
the stability of the software is very good.
So at a price of 1/4 of a full commercial game, you get a almost never ending fun and mayhem
until the end of time. THAT is the true wonder of indie shareware games in my book!

Home site

Wikipedia - about the game



Tank Universal

Since many years back I have been checking out Blits Basic forums around the net.
Most notably their own developer showcase forum. Now and again you see cool stuff
at that place.
Late last year I found the title "Tank Universal", which is what it sounds like.
You play a tank driver in a 3D "Tron Esque" world. The perspective is in third person
and the turret is controlled independently from the tank it self. This takes some practice
to get used to. It can be turned off so stop screaming Happy
At the game web page you can download a demo. It's a BIG download so you better have
nice connection.

It does however not stop here. The game has not only one A-story but also a very clear
B-story. Both interlinked at special points in the game. This is also the first of several
parts, so the stories does not rely end at the end of the game.

The game it self is broken up in several levels. Some with tank, other on foot.
The goal is also different depending on the stories.
Also the physics absolutely rules! You can very much take potshots at enemies from
very long distances. And objects move when hit and from the weapons recoil. Yummy!

One thing that is VERY obvious is the beautiful environment you as a gamer take
part in. I mentioned the old classic movie "Tron" earlier. The colors are bright neon and
both particle effects as well as general 3D is brilliant. Some of the levels are so nice that
I actually forgot to defend my self.

The levels themselves are nicely made. The game balance is quite good.
Some are harder than others (much so to some). Others you transport your self from A to B.
But personally I enjoy the different types of pace you experience in the levels.

When taken in to account that this is a game title made by only ONE person,
and also created in Blitz Basic 3D (which only supports DirectX 8.1) you can
understand my excitement!
The only sad part is that it's windows only. I would have loved to run this
on my new macbook Happy

To put it simply: this is THEE best blitz basic game I've seen so far. :-O
And it is one great indie game full stop! Worth to register no question!

So jump to the game web page (link below and in the portal link section)
and look at the terrific pictures. Download the demo, read the forum and enjoy!

Just a quick end note:
The author of the game is presently improving the game in many ways.
So hopefully a better and cooler version of this first parter comes out later this year.

Link