Wish list from an avid player, my feedback.

#1 Teamplay #2

I wouldn't like to see the server host being able to set that humans spawn on the same team. I choose to go on the other side if humans are only on the one side. Much more fun to kill a real person when they've just nicked the flag at the last moment.

you can always preview who's on what team and then choose the team where the humans are.

but yes to team skins and tank changes.

#2 This is great stuff. Keep it coming.

#3 One thing that ticks me off from time to time. I'll be going head to head with Hum |Bot| and he'll be taking all my health. I'll be ahead of him though, 3-4 more shots and he's history! then some demo re-joins the game and *poof* hum vaporizes right in front of me. I get no kill, and my health has been pulverized by hum so i'm easy prey for other people. It would be nice if bot's being replaced by players was the same as bots going off the cliff. Last person to hit them get's the kill

#4 It massive MP games of scrum it basically becomes bumper tanks at the goal, BORING. One time i had a clear shot at the goal, no tanks withen decent fireing range, and as i jump off a hill to get into the goal on of the players re-spwans right in the goal. BANG i lose the ball and he gets the score.

If you self kill, you should lose a point. Not re-spawn in the goal with a new tank.

Also, if someone leaves the game, the bot, or the human player's tank should stay around for about 10 seconds so you can finish off a kill and not end up with nothing and a badly damaged tank.

#5 someone sounds rather bitter :).

some games, the flow just sort of sucks, and it is hard to break things up. this is happening lately i think because more people are registering and getting access to the speeders, so more people are getting to "the spot" quicker.

that's one reason why you may very well want to cliff dive (and not be penalized for it).

your final point: those are the breaks :) it will annoy you less when here are fewer demo players. dropping in and out maybe.

#6 Since when has bumper tanks at the goal ever been boring?
The closest I have ever come to falling out of my chair laughing was during a goal battle.
If you have a drop of adrenaline in your body it is pumping in a good goal battle.
I find myself leaning in my chair to try and turn faster.. I am sure I will have to replace my keyboard soon from playing this game.. the w,a,d,s keys will be shot.. not to mention the left mouse button... (was my warranty for 1,000,000 clicks... hmm almost there..)

I have come to the conclusion that alot of players are looking at this game in the wrong light. (not directed at you Kimball, but on alot of in game complaints I see) If I read the premise behind Think Tanks correctly we are basically gladiators for an alien race. Joe can correct me if I am wrong.
As a gladiator I am going to win at all costs. This is a no holds barred game to the death. I expect everyone else to do the same.
I don't get mad when someone pops my brain off when I am racing for the scrum.. if they get in front of me during a loose scrum scramble I am sure going to try and pop theirs.. thats why we have turrets!
I do not goal sit but others do. Are they wrong? No, not under my above logic. They are scoring the only way they can. I prefer racing for the scrum.. what can I say.. I love driving the light tank, the physics are set perfect for a fun dune buggy feel.
Although I have never driven my tank off the course on purpose I refuse to get mad at those that do.. if the aliens will put us back in the game, possibly with an advantage.. I guess to some that might warrant a strategy.

My point in this long semi-rant is this.
Think Tanks is not Soccer, American Football, or even Rugby.. those have refs.

Tip: Play scrum against nothing but bots for practice... you will get lots of practice stagger dancing.. expecially when they get that darned area effect powerup!

See you in the field!
Chris
Tank Dork

#7 Would it be possible for the turrent to move 360 degrees? Don't know if it would make play more difficult, but maybe would be nice...

Way

#8 Way is clearly trying to make me vomit.

It's good to see team games catching on, but they are also illuminating (for my blind self) the need for team-colored tanks.

errr....comments?

#9 Suggestions:

*HotKeys where we can assign chat messages. Especially for Battlemode because then I can quickly say, "Look out! Dan McDonald is right behind you!"

*The ability to change tank types in-between games without exiting from the server.

*Team-colored tanks for Skrumball, definitely.

*No respawns inside goals. It's definitely frustrating to be heading straight for an empty goal, only to slam into someone and hand over the Skrum.

*Maybe a Skrum icon that shows up beside a player's name on the scoreboard when they have the ball. It's nice to know if your team or their team has the ball because you can miss the messages that appear at the bottom of the screen.

Other than these suggestions, I don't think any other changes to the gameplay should be made. Goaltending is part of the game and I find it fun to try to outsmart players camping inside the goal.

I think BraveTree has made a really fun and addictive game. I'm glad I registered my copy. Keep up the great work guys!

#10 Talley Ho - I guess 360 degree turrent movement could give the player air sickness, but it would be great to not have to swing the entire tank around to shoot someone behind you. Just like a real tank? I think it would give the player a lot of freedom. Maybe have an option to enable/disable 360 degree turrrent movement.

Way

#11 Besides making Tally Ho sick.. and making us all disoriented.. 360 degree turrets wouldn't benefit the current game.. Later if they add different tanks or ones with customizable options it might be nice to see what one would do but not with the current three.. In my opinion.

Team play is a riot. We definately need team indicators which are easier to see than the names... makes ya feel bad when you crash a teammate as he tries to goal just because you missed his name. =)

I was involved in a string of primarily 4 on 4 human player team matchs the other night.. the scores over a 3 game period were
9 to 9
11 to 11
and 12 to 10 (I think.. I know we lost by 2)
We lost the last game but damn it was fun!
Sorry Tally I was getting tired =)

#12 OK - I'll pass on the 360 degree feature, but I'll be looking forward to having team indicators. Thanks for an already great game!

#13 Just a quick suggestion, but in team games, could the target cursors be green or blue depending upon which team you are on - instead of always being green - the opposite colour to whichever team you are on.

-Z-

#14 Keep the comments coming guys. Just to let you know, our strategy will be to let enough good ideas accumulate until it makes a good bundle of features to add. We don't want to force people to do a bunch of minor upgrades just to keep up to date.

#15 When playing scrum ball I think it would be fair if shooting 4 tanks meant a point. As it is now the scrum ball is basically only for the light tanks, and I think it would be cool with a bit of other tactics for that game type

Another cool thing would be if two tanks standing close together could connect together where one person is driving the tank and the other is maneuvering the new extra powerful gun. So two small tanks transform into one big tank.

#16 Scoring by killing in scrum is a bad idea.. the game is about scoring, not killing. I know.. I know.. anyone who plays me knows that one of my stratagies is killing opponents.. No offense, I want to be the one to score.. and bless the maker.. they gave me a turret!

Leave scoring in scrum to the ones who score the goals.

"How did I get on top of this pile of rock?"
Tank Dork

#17 I've been playing the demo since it was released for Macintosh and recently just got a new job so I rewarded myself by buying a copy of Think Tanks.

First, let me add my name to the list of people saying, "Great Game!" It's nice to find a game that balances strategy with silliness!

My craxy ideas to make the game even better. Some might be great, some might stink.

- In Solo play, put the player on the field first and then add the bots in the first seconds of the game. Having the bots spawn on top of you in a pile stinks.

- I don't like the power-up announcements. Hearing the words "... power up!" after every pick up gets really annoying! Keep them simple and just annouce the ability, without the added "... power up!" So, just "Bounce Back!" instead of "Bounce Back Power Up!" (Actually, just "Bounce!" would be even better.)

- "Area Of Effect Power Up!" Yikes! You can come up with a better name than that! How about "Burst!" or "Explosive!" or "Bomb!"

- In all games, drop players & bots from the sky when they spawn. Let the camera follow the player's falling tank as they plummet to the ground and land solidly, immediately ready to go and undamaged. It would be a neat visual trick - both watching yourself enter the field and seeing re-spawns coming from the sky. Plus it would give comfort to the thought going through every Think Tank player when they first appear - "Where'd I come from?" (From the sky, silly!)

- Maybe allow weapon power-ups to not be limited to a number of shots but instead be lost due to damage? The power-up stays with you until you receive enough damage to lose it.

- Defensive power-ups? Shields - enemy shots bounce off you, possibly back at your opponent? Invisibility - you're on the radar, but can't be seen or only appear as a ghost? Speed - extra quick and maneuverable?

#18 Well, maybe Cris is right about the scrum ball thing, but at least when one manage to destroy an opponent I really think that he/she should respawn further away from the action. Sometimes one you've just shot respawns very close to you.

#19 Here's my personal list of things that I would like to see added and/or changed in TT. I only play scrum and prefer team scrum, so my comments are slanted towards those two play types.

===Game play===


Rear Shot : Instead of the 360 degree turret I'd like to have the ability to lob power up shots out the back of my tank (not regular shots, just special power ups). The heavies could lob anything and the lights could only lob one or two items.

Ammo Hud : A gauge for my regular ammo as well as power up.

Health Huds : My own health and that of the people that I am looking at. As a light scrum runner; it would be very ice to know if I can take one more shot before dying or not. Not seeing my health and instead relying on the smoke and the prompt doesn't add any suspense to the game for me.

Spawn Farthest : After the game when you restart; you spawn as far away from the goal and the scrum as is possible.

Ammo Reload : I'd like to have the ammo reload also reload my power up (not eliminate it). So if I grab an area effect and I keep driving through the reload; I could keep my area affect much longer. (Would be offset by the inconvenience of driving over to the reload station constantly)

Terrain in the compass : I often end up driving backwards and it would be much more fun to have terrain in the compass so that I could actually navigate obstacles in reverse.

Power up indicators in compass : Not necessarily a separate dot for all different power ups; but just a single purple dot that represents where a power up exists.

Confused scrum : Often the scrum will spawn right on the edge of a cliff and then fall off 4 or more times in a row. We waste at least a minute of game play driving around in circles waiting for the scrum to land somewhere and actually stay in that spot. It can become very frustrating at times. I would like to see the scrum drop and stick in it's place (no auto-jumping) and then refer to the next item to make the scrum jump.

Shooting the scrum: I'd like to be able to shoot a scrum that is sitting on the ground and force it to jump. This way if someone is ahead of everyone else; the people in the back can lob shots at the scrum in an attempt to keep it away from the leader. I think this would help balance out the supreme rule of the lights in scrum play. Once a player is carrying the scrum though; don't let someone shoot it off of their tank.

Feature Voting: (ala Tribes): I always end up playing on a HomeLAN dedicated server. Many times there is a consensus from the players that we want to eliminate all bots; or change the map. It would be very nice to be able to vote on actions that the server would execute.

Client side bad word filter: I would like to build a list of words on my side that I want filtered; and then have those words replaced with **asterisks** in all elements of the game. (IE: Server Names, player names, all chat). This could be in the parental control options.

Quick Start Favorite: I would like to define a server as my "Favorite" and then setup TT so that when I launch it; it bypasses all pre-game elements and just immediately connects to my favorite server using the player that I was last connected as. Ability to save a favorite based on the player (not global to the client). To get out of this mode I would have to quick start; then "Leave Game" which would jump be back to the normal UI.

In-Game Tank Change: Like the others I would like to have the ability to change my tank w/o leaving the server; and suggest that this be possible only when one is dead.

Destroyable Trees and Rocks: Shoot a tree, it falls down towards to the last shot that made it fall. Shoot the fallen tree more and it blows up into pieces. Shoot rocks and they crumble into pieces. It would make it interesting for a heavy on D to try to block a goal by shooting down a tree; while the scrum carrier could be shooting the down tree to go through it. Ram the tree and/or rock enough times (like 10 times) and it will have the same effect as shooting it. Trees and rocks could respawn.

Human player balancing : Auto-balance the human players in team mode. (Administrator option)

Has the scrum notification : When someone picks up the scrum; throw a message in the chat HUD stating %team%:%player% has the scrum. I also like the idea that someone posted of putting a flag next to the holder's name in the player list.

Dedicated Server: Official support for dedicated servers including in-game admin controls with multi levels of admins (to give friends ability to change map and such); ability to rotate all maps; not just those in a color set.


===Out of Game Functionality===

Post-Game Chat: After a game ends I almost always want to say something like: "That was close" or, "Good Game" or something. I'd like to see an interface that pauses for one minute after the game; but have a button where players can indicate that they are ready to play the next round; so if the majority of players are ready to go then it just launches to the next round instead of pausing for a minute.

Search Chat: People that are sitting in the search gui would have a chat window. This would make it much easier to organize a game. (Hey, anyone want to play team scrum? OK!, I'll host)

High Scores: A list on bravetree.com of multiplayer high scores of deaths , flag caps, kills, and team wins.

Email Notifications: Instead of only receiving notifications through the UI; I'd like to be able to subscribe to a notification email distribution list.


===Weaponry===

Automatic Power Up: Automatic and fast firing. X2 rate increase.

Oil Slick Projectile: Area effect that makes the effected vehicles slide all over the place for the same duration as a "zoom" pad.

Gas Bomb Projectile: Fills a very large radius with smoke for 10 seconds, which is impossible to see through.

Zoom Boost Projectile: Small area effect that causes the target to accelerate in their current heading as though they hit an accelerator pad. (Target hears the old "zoooommmm" as they are flung) Would be fun to use for goal defense.

Brain Freeze Projectile: Ices over the brain and causes the outer edges of the players view to appear "iced over". So that the affected can only see clearly through the center 50% of their screen. Timed effect. Essentially popup a window that fits the players screen that that has an "ice" texture on it, that takes up an inch or two all the way around the screen.

Firebomb Projectile: Very explosive and noisy napalm explosion. Not only does it deal some extra damage, but when it explodes right in front of you the player temporarily loses all visibility.

Magnetic Mine Projectile: Fires a charcoal colored ball that does not bounce at all. When it lands, it sits in place for a few seconds. If anyone drives within a radius of that mine, the magnetic mine will be drawn into the metal tanks and explode.

Static Shock Projectile: When you launch it, it sits in place and shocks everything within it's radius for a few seconds. (Zapping noises within the radius.)

Clone Power Up: When you roll over this, a bot is spawned on the map that has your exact name and tank size. The bot will play until it dies and hopefully mislead people away from you when you're running with the scrum; at least for a moment. If the bot kills anyone, you get to keep its kill in you score.

Supercharger Power Up: When you roll over it, the strength of your tank/shot increases by 25% and you roll 25% faster for a defined time frame.

Teleport Projectile: You would only get a couple of shots with this. When you launch it, it explodes with an area effect, and everyone within that area is teleported to a randomly chosen spawn point. This would be especially useful in a scrum map since very often there are tons of people "camping" at the "cap point" waiting for the scrum carrier to arrive.

Vortex Projectile: When it explodes, it pulls everyone within it's radius towards it: Like hitting an accelerator pad while heading in the wrong direction. "Zoom sideways")

Spastic Spike Projectile: A spiky ball that, when it hits the ground, rolls around within a radius in a random pattern until it hits something and causes damage.

Force Field Power Up: When you roll over it, you have a force field orb around you. Direct hit projectiles can't hurt you but area effects can (zap, napalm, freeze.

Heal Shot Projectile: Fire a red/white-cross bullet at someone and they receive healing. Useful in team situations.

Fragment Projectile: Fires like a shotgun, multiple smaller shots that expand into a cloud as the shot travels.

#20 Oh and I'd also like to add my vote to Team Chat and the ability to type custom messages and add them to hotkeys.

I would also like to have the ability to customize all key assignments.