Developer’s Diary #32
Hello, tankers! We’ve decided to dedicate this episode of developer’s diary to reviewing what we’ve done in the past 6 months. We’ll be sharing with you some interesting data, and showing you how XT skins are developed.
Reviewing the past half of the year
During the past six months, Tanki X has gone through quite a few changes.
- We’ve added modules and hit zones to hulls;
- We’ve added three new maps — Area-159… Moon Silence… and Ares;
- We’ve updated the daily quests system;
- And we’ve updated the interface for the garage, and the in-game graphics.
Additionally, we’ve organized five different events, released a couple of new containers, and released the game on Steam.
Between January and June, the Tanki X team released a total of 111 updates. 36 of these releases contained new content, while the rest were technical releases.
During the past six months, our tankers have played almost 2 million battles, destroying around 200 million tanks! The most popular mode was “Capture the Flag”, with TDM being the second, and DM being the least popular mode.
Here is what the popularity rating for turrets and hulls looks like right now.
“Thunder” is at the very top of the list of favorite turrets, but it was only in June that it managed to overtake “Railgun” and claim the position.”Firebird” and “Vulcan” are having their own race for the 11th place.
The favorite turret is currently “Hornet”, but it is very close to losing its place to “Viking”. At the bottom of the list is “Mammoth”, but it’s been slowly catching up for the past couple of months.
Back to Game Balance
“Over the course of the past months, different turrets and hulls ended up at the top of the popularity ratings, and it is probable that the picture will keep on changing. Frequent weaponry balance during the OBT is inevitable. This is due to new mechanics being introduced, and the constant increase in the number of players, as well as their levels. The bigger the number of tankers and the higher their mastery level, the clearer the picture becomes, making it easier for us to understand how different weapons behave in battles in terms of balance.”. – says Anna Kudryashova, Analyst at Tanki X.
By the way, this week we’ve made a few changes to the “Thunder” and “Shaft” turrets.
“Thunder” got its “Splash Damage” reduced as a result of the many complaints we’ve received from players.
“Shaft” got its firing rate increased, and due to some complex manipulation of its characteristics, it has begun to deal more damage. It’s time for Shaft to rise.
How XT skins are developed
In the near future, we’ll be releasing a new XT skin — this time it’s for Twins. So today, we’ll be telling you all about how XT skins are developed.
“It takes about one month to develop and implement a new skin, and at least 4 people are involved in the process. Everything starts with the conceptual design of the skin — should it be futuristic or should it have a resemblance to real technology. Or maybe something like the Dreadnought.”– says Anastasiya Rentsova, Game Designer at Tanki X
The basic concept of the XT skins is that of power, dynamics, and futuristic technology. This combat machine has to look cool and aggressive. But, we need to make sure we don’t take it to too far and turn it into a spaceship.
When the concept is done, the work on the model begins.
The concept artist draws a sketch, which becomes the basis of the skin. It’s important to keep in mind that a turret must fit well with every hull in the game, which is why we also plan for the animation in advance. Sometimes, the artist will draw a number of sketches to try out several ideas. In this case, the most suitable option is the one that is added to the game.
Based on the chosen sketch, a 3D prototype is created. This is a fully detailed model of the hull or turret. At this point, we can already see how the skin model is going to look in-game.
Once the final version of the model is ready, it is simplified — the number of polygons is reduced to a certain technical limit, to make sure that the model doesn’t overload the video card while still looking good.
Then, an animations expert joins the process. For turrets, there’s the “Increased Damage” animation that needs to be created, while for hulls there are the Enhanced armor and speed boost animations. Additionally, some of the turrets and hulls have unique attachments such as the cooling system on Freeze, and the scope on Shaft.
“To give the model its final look, we need to customize the materials by preparing the texture and adjusting the properties. The texture will bring the model close to its final look. But you know what they say – the devil is in the detail.” – says Pavel Gorbunov, Artist at Tanki X
By adjusting the properties of the material, we can make the surface of the skin glossy or matte, polished or rough. This helps us give the material a realistic look. The textures on XT skins simulate matte black carbon and high-grade steel.
When the model with its animations is ready, the sound designer steps into the scene. The sounds on XT skins differ from the ones used on the original turret or hull. The sound designer’s job is to emphasize the uniqueness of these legendary skins.
And here we are with a product ready to be released — a textured model with customized materials, animations and sounds. The skin is now handed over to the programmers, whose task is not just to add the skin into the game, but to also make sure that it functions and interacts with the environment in a logical manner. Of course, the final step is to run the skin through a number of tests.
“Obviously, at this stage, we still need to deal with bugs and minor flaws. But they are all fixed pretty quickly, and the skin finally goes into release. Easy! 
” – Anastasiya Rentsova
Thanks for watching, tankers! Don’t forget to like this video, follow us on social media, and join our Discord server. Until next time!