TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Getting Started
Communication Window
Players Listing
1.1 Tanarus Command Center
1.2 Arena Selection
1.3 Arena Functionality
1.4 Chat Channels
Chapter 2. Teams & League Play
2.1 Joining a Team
2.2 Forming Your Team
2.3 Team Roster and Management 5
2.4 League Play
2.5 League Rules
Chapter 3. Instrumentation
3.1 Armor, Crits, and Shields
3.2 Battery, Feed, and Speed
3.3 Chat Window
3.4 Radar
3.5 Module Display/Grid Map
3.6 Targeting Window
3.7 Kills, Deaths, and Score
Chapter 4. Recon Stations
4.1 Base Recon Station
4.2 Capturing Recon Stations
4.3 Equipping at Recon Stations
4.4 Stored Module Configurations
4.5 Repairs
Chapter 5. Tanks
5.1 Lightning
5.2 Vanguard
5.3 Devastator
5.4 Chameleon
5.5 MagRider
Chapter 6. Modules
6.1
Cannon
Armor-Piercing Shells
Fragmentation Shells
Heat Shells
6.2
Laser Weapons
Mark I
Mark II
Mark IV
Plasma Cannon
Phase Multiplier
Lancer
6.3
Missiles
Battery Drain
Deactivator
Flash
Force
Guided
Phoenix
6.4
Mines
Deactivator
Detonator
Proximity
Mine Sweeper
6.5
Defense
Shield
Shield Doubler
6.6
Power Enhancements
Power Receiver
Reserve Power
Supercharger
6.7
Special
Cloak
Controller
Doppler Radar
Flag Catcher
NanoRepair
Night Vision
Nullifier
Recon Capture
Recon Gun
Satellite Camera
Sharpshooter
Smoke
Stealth
Turbo Boost
Chapter 7. Control and Graphic Options
7.1 Optimizing Controls for Keyboard and Joystick
7.2 Adjusting the Graphic Detail
7.3 Chat Commands
Chapter 8. All Dressed Up and Ready to Kill
8.1 Power
8.2 Superiority Through Teamwork
8.3 Flag Capturing
8.4 Activating Modules
8.5 Sample Tank Configurations
Chapter 9. TroubleShooting Network
Problems
TANARUS RULES OF CONDUCT
If you are logged on to the Tanarus
server, you agree to the following rules.
IF YOU BREAK ANY OF THESE RULES,
YOUR TANARUS ACCOUNT, AND YOUR
RIGHT TO USE THE TANARUS SERVICE,
MAY BE TERMINATED
IMMEDIATELY BY SONY INTERACTIVE
STUDIOS AMERICA WITHOUT
NOTICE.
You may not harass, threaten, embarrass
or cause distress, unwanted attention
or discomfort to another player.
You may not use any offensive or sexually explicit language.
You may not use any unlawful, harmful,
threatening, abusive, harassing,
vulgar, obscene, hateful, racially,
ethnically or otherwise objectionable
language toward any other player.
You may not impersonate any Tanarus
Technical Support representative or other
employee of Sony Interactive Studios
America.
You may not market, promote or advertise
anything, or make any other form of
solicitation on the Tanarus Service.
You may not violate any local, state,
national or international law or
regulation.
You may not modify any part of the
Tanarus software that Sony Interactive
Studios America does not specifically
authorize you to modify.
You may not arrange for the exchange
or transfer of any pirated software or
other contraband while you are on
the Tanarus Service, or use the Tanarus
Service for any other illegal purpose.
You may not organize any teams or
groups that are based on, or espouse, any
racist, sexist, anti-religious,
anti-ethnic, anti-gay, or other hate-mongering philosophy.
You may not give false information
or intentionally hide any information that
is required at the time you register
with the Tanarus Service.
You agree to the Terms of Service
associated with The Station, the
interactive online service operated
by Sony Online Ventures Inc. These
Terms of Service can be found at
http://www.station.sony.com/services/register.dyn
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED
The Tanarus Chamber is divided into
three main areas: the Command Center, Arenas, and
Chat channels. While each of these
three main areas have their own specific functions, they
also share common features such
as the communication window for conversing with other
players and a players listing displaying
all other tank commanders presently located in the
given chamber. This chapter will
cover all aforementioned areas and features.
Communication Window
At the lower left of the Command
Center, Arenas, and Chat channels is the Communication
window. Talking with other players
in the chamber is as easy as typing what you want to
say and hitting the Enter key. Here
you can brag about how you kicked somebody’s
Devastator in your crippled Chameleon
(yeah, and you should see the size of the fish I
caught). You can also use the scrollbar
arrows to glance back through older messages that
have scrolled out of the window.
Players Listing
The player listing is the window
located to the right-hand side of the screen. The name of
your current location is at the
top of the screen (Command Center, Arenas, or Chat
channels). While the basic function
of the player listing window is to let you scroll through
all the players presently located
in the chamber with you, it also lets you pull up detailed
statistics on individuals. Right-clicking
on a name in the Player Listing window will display
that player’s respective kills to
deaths and other gameplay statistics. If a player belongs to a
team, a Roster button will also
appear letting you look at the respective team.
1.1 Tanarus Command Center
Before being able to strap yourself
into several tons of metallic death, you’ll always find
yourself in the main Tanarus Command
Center immediately following the initial Login
Screen. The Command Center is basically
a launching point linking you to the Arenas and
Chat channels. After gaining proficiency
and reaching a certain rank, new features allowing
you to form, manage, or join teams
will become available here.
1.2 Arena Selection
You’re ready to get your turret smoking
and your treads rolling. At the Command Center
left-click on the Arenas button.
The Arenas are classified into the following groups.
Beginner
This is where you’ll first begin
your tour of duty. Only newbies (fresh meat) through
Private First Class are allowed
in the Beginner arenas.
Intermediate
Lance Corporals through Staff Sergeants are the requisite ranks for the Intermediate arenas.
Open
Allows any rank to participate in standard four teams of five warfare.
Force Wars
The Force Wars are special arenas
in which Lightnings armed with only four force missiles
attempt to force enemy tanks off
ledges or ramps to their deaths. There are two variations of
Force Wars: standard four force
missiles configurations, and a special set that includes
stealth in addition to the four
force missiles.
Ten Versus Ten
A special set of arenas that allow
two teams of ten players each to battle for citywide
supremacy.
Team
The Team arenas serve as a scrimmage
area and uses the official League rules. Here you
can scrimmage against other teams
and hone up your tank killing skills before partaking in
League play. There are two primary
differences between League and Team play, however.
The first is that you can have smaller
scrimmages (4 vs 4, 3 vs 5, etc). The second is that it
allows different teams to mix together
on each side.
League
So you think your team has got what
it takes to be numero uno over the rabble-rousers?
Then prove it. League arenas are
reserved for team members only. Refer to Chapter 2,
sections 2.4-2.5 for a detailed
description on League Play.
Duel
That jerk keeps saying “I’d kick
your sorry butt one on one any day.” Instead of escalating
a private war among every player
in an arena, challenge the offensive player to a private
duel and clean their clock (or so
you hope). The Duel arenas are smaller arenas than the
others, ideal for undertaking mano-to-mano
fights or even two versus two. The Duel arenas
also use the League rules, except
that it doesn’t require 5 versus 5 to start a game (it can be
1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, etc).
Practice
Whether you want to try out a risky
new tank configuration or simply want to learn without
having your individual statistics
affected, the Practice arenas are open to all ranks. Within
the Practice arenas none of your
kills, deaths, or score will be recorded.
1.3 Arena Functionality
To choose the arena grouping you
want to enter, just highlight the group (such as Beginner)
and then click on the OK button.
The player listing window and communication window
will carry over from the Command
Center with the most notable new addition being the
Arenas menu located to the upper-left
of the screen. Each Arena channel has its own
respective communication window
to talk with other players in that Arena.
An individual arena can hold a maximum
of twenty players playing at once, five per team.
The Red, Green, Blue, and Gray numbers
represent the amount of players within that city
on that given color. For example,
a red five means that the red team is currently filled with
five players. However, any
number can be present in arena chat.
Left-clicking on an Arena name will
go to that Arena channel and the players listing
window will reflect the respective
players in that area. Player names listed in yellow are
currently in the chamber with you
whereas red, blue, green, and gray represent players
battling within that Arena.
When selecting what color you want
to join, look at the Red, Green, Blue, and Gray buttons
to the right of the Play button
in the Arenas window. Left-click on a color that has room to
head into battle on that color.
But if decisions make your head hurt, left-clicking on Play
will randomly place you on one of
the open teams that has space for another player. The
Exit button will return you to the
main Command Center.
1.4 Chat Channels
Whether you want to give your trigger
finger a rest or are seeking Technical Support, left-
clicking on the Chat button found
in the Command Center will let you join other
conversation channels. A new listing
showing all Chat channels will appear to the upper-left
portion of the screen. To join a
channel, simply scroll until you find the channel you want;
then click on the channel name,
and the player listing window will subsequently display the
players on that channel.
CHAPTER 2. TEAMS
So you’re becomingly increasingly
frustrated whenever you take your Devastator against
two enemy Vanguards. They keep melting
your tank into a slag pool before you can even
scratch their wax jobs! Instead
of cursing them to hell and beyond wondering why you can’t
seem to kill anyone, keep in mind
the name of the game is teamwork. You can informally
team with other players in games
(and this is highly recommended), you can also form or
join official Tanarus teams.
The benefits of joining or forming
a team aren’t just limited to making a new group of
friends and wingmen, but your kills
(and deaths) will now contribute to the team statistics.
Belonging to a team will also let
you join a team-specific chat channel accessible only to
members of that given team, and
will allow you to organize special matches.
Ultimately being a part of a team
will allow you to join in League play where teams can
engage in heavy metal combat to
prove who’s number one and who’s nothing but shrapnel.
This chapter will focus on all aspects
of teams, from joining and forming all the way to
team management.
2.1 Joining a Team
Once you’ve proven your worth in
the volatile training grounds you’ll get a chance to prove
it yet again – this time with teams.
At some point or other you’ll enter the main Command
Center and you’ll see a message
stating that you’ve been invited to join a team. It isn’t a
cult propositioning you – it’s a
team offering you a position as a member.
Three new buttons will also appear:
Join, Decline, and Roster. Clicking on Join will
automatically join you to the ranks
of the offering team. Clicking on Decline will refuse,
subsequently terminating the offer.
If you want to see whether it’s a group of hotshots
versus a squad of clowns before
making a decision, simply click on Roster. This will show
the full roster of the team including
their entire team kill/death history.
You can keep the offer to join the
team standing as long as you don’t click on Decline.
However, you won’t be able to receive
any other team invitations while you have an offer
pending.
After joining and becoming the new
waterboy a Team and Roster button will appear.
Clicking on Team will take you to
your team’s private chat channel. Choose the Roster to
go to a comprehensive screen detailing
all your fellow team members, their individual kills
and deaths, and the total kills
and deaths accumulated by the team. The Roster varies within
its features based on whether you
joined or formed the team.
One bonus feature in belonging to
a team is the private Team Chat button at the bottom
center of the Team Roster screen.
Left-clicking on this button will take you directly to a
completely private channel in which
only you and your fellow team members can access to
secretly discuss tactics or the
latest cool movie (whatever, in other words).
Should you ever become disgruntled
with the team you joined (this team sucks!) just tap the
Retire button at the lower-right
of the screen. This will display a window asking ‘Do you
really want to quit the team?” You
will have to type the word ‘yes’ and hit Enter to confirm
– anything else and you will remain
on the team.
2.2 Forming Your Team
While you can be any rank when joining
a team, you must be a Sergeant or higher before
being able to form your own team.
When you reach the rank of Sergeant a new button will
appear in the Command Center – Form.
Now you can be God to your own team (worship
me, dogs!). Left-click on Form and
you’ll prompt the following:
Congratulations on your decision
to form a new team.
Please enter your desired team name:
__________
Should you enter a team name that’s
already been taken (you thought Killers was original?),
you will be prompted with, “I’m
sorry, but that team name has already been taken. Please
create another.” After creating
a Team Name that is accepted your new team is formed. It’s
time to recruit.
Back at the main Command Center you
will now see an Invite button. Click on Invite and
you will be prompted for a name.
Type in the full name of the player then tap the Enter key
to send an Invite out. If the player
you’re inviting already has an offer pending or belongs to
another team the invite will be
canceled.
The maximum amount of team members
including yourself is thirty. To keep an eye on
your members, notice that the Form
button has now been replaced with a very handy Team
Roster button. Refer to the next
section detailing the Roster.
2.3 Team Roster and Management
Left-click on the Roster button at
the main Command Center to display your Team Roster.
The Team Roster is essentially the
same screen whether you join or form the team,
displaying all your team members,
individual kills and total kills to deaths.
One very important aspect to remember
is that when you initially form or join a team, your
individual kills and deaths will
start at zero in the Team Roster. This is because only from
the point you’re actually part of
a team do your kills, deaths, and score start contributing to
the team. Right-clicking on a teammate’s
name in the Team Roster screen will display the
respective player’s full statistics.
Another handy feature in the Team
Roster is the ability to see what teammates are currently
playing Tanarus. Any teammate names
that appear in white are presently within Tanarus.
The Team Chat button is also available
for completely private discussions with teammates.
But only a team captain can fire
someone, pass the leadership on when retiring, or disband
the team entirely.
At the lower-left portion of the
screen next to the Exit button is the Expel button. Say
Tommyboy has been dragging your
collective team statistics to hell. Expel the dummy!
Left-click on Expel, type the name
of the player you wish to expel (in this case
Tommyboy), and hit the Enter key.
This will prompt “Do you wish to expel Tommyboy
from your team?” You must type ‘yes’
to confirm the expulsion.
To the lower-right portion of the
screen are Retire and Disband. Whether it’s the headaches
of managing a team or your significant
other is threatening to kill you for neglecting him or
her, these are only options for
a captain who wants to leave management.
By left-clicking on Retire you will
prompt, “Do you really want to quit the team?” Again,
you will have to manually type ‘yes,’
which will bring up “Please select the heir to the
throne.” Type in the name of the
team member that you want to succeed you – the successor
must naturally be a Sergeant or
higher. You will now be given the option to remain on the
team as a regular teammate or to
quit entirely.
If your team is nothing without you,
left-click on the Disband button. This will display, “Do
you really want to disband the team?
This will irrevocably terminate the entire team. Type
‘yes’ to proceed.” Typing in ‘yes’
will complete the disbanding, removing any evidence of
your disbanded team.
2.4 League Play
Belonging to a team also makes you
eligible to compete in tournaments against other teams
in the Tanarus League Play. The
League Play arenas can only be accessed by players
belonging to teams and serve as
the official center for league competition.
The League Play is set up with the
Arena listing at the upper left, allowing two teams to
select a private arena. Once the
teams have selected the meeting place in League Play, they
can begin the process of setting
up the match.
Teams can choose from being either
red or blue, with five players on each team. To join a
respective color, a team member
just clicks on Join Red or Join Blue. This will move their
name into one of the two upper right
team windows. Once a team member has joined either
red or blue, only members of that
team can join the same color. If two teams are fighting
over a certain color, a player can
click on the Random button and be randomly placed on
either red or blue (akin to flipping
a quarter to see who gets the color).
Once both teams have five players
each in the team windows, they must click on the
Confirm button to get the game rolling.
When a player clicks on Confirm, the word
‘Confirmed’ appears next to their
name in the team window. To officially start the game,
each player must click on Confirm,
automatically starting the game when the player
confirms. League Play requires both
teams to have five players each before a tournament
can commence.
If a player decides to remove his/her
ready status, but wants to remain in a team window,
the player can click on the Cancel
button. Should a player wish to withdraw entirely before
a match begins (making way for another
player), the player can click on the Withdraw
button, thereby exiting the team
window.
Last, but not least, all tournaments
in League Play are automatically recorded on the
Tanarus server, letting players
focus on the game without having to keep score manually.
For the latest information on either
registering a team for League Play or looking for the
latest League updates, point your
web browser to http://www.tanarus.com.
2.5 League Rules
Unlike other arenas, the League Arenas
are set up with special conditions to accommodate
matches. When all players
have confirmed, the game begins with a 90 minute timer. In
order for a team to win the match
one of several possible victory conditions must be met.
During the match, each player is
allowed three deaths, and upon the third death the player is
automatically removed from the match
and is not allowed back in:
The following are Decisive Victory
Conditions. In effect, shutting the game down before
the time limit expires with the
following conditions:
Total Elimination – A team that can
remove all of the opposing team’s players before the
90 minute limit is granted this
decisive victory.
Flag Capture – A team that can successfully
capture the enemy’s flag before the 90 minute
limit is granted this decisive victory.
Alternative Victory Conditions are
met when the 90 minute limit has expired. These
conditions are as follows.
Elimination – After 90 minutes, the
team with the most earned kills is granted this type of
victory.
Power Play – After 90 minutes, if
both teams have an equal amount of earned kills, the
team with the most recon stations
wins.
No Recon Default – After 90 minutes,
any team that has successfully removed all of the
opposing team’s recon stations wins,
regardless of the number of earned kills credited to the
reconless team. In other words,
any team that does not own a recon station by game’s end
automatically loses. However,
if both teams have no recon stations or, conversely, have
tied in the number of recon stations
owned, and have also tied for earned kills, the game is a
Draw.
When 10 minutes are left in the match,
a countdown message will be displayed each minute
thereafter. When the game
ends (whether by Decisive Victory or Alternative), the chat
chamber will display the final score
for the game. A detailed log of the match is also
available for download from the
arena chat chamber. Type “#getlog” (without the quotes)
to write the log to your local harddrive.
You can then find the recorded log in your Tanarus
directory named as the file match#.log
(where # is the League Arena number where the
match took place). Only one
log is available per arena, and the last log for the arena is
overwritten upon the completion
of a newer match. Logs are available for anyone to
quickly download. After each
game, arenas are reset and a new game can begin right away.
CHAPTER 3. INSTRUMENTATION
You’re ready to rumble. The only
problem is that you keep getting dusted while you’re just
trying to figure out what does what
in your cockpit display. This chapter covers the
instrumentation so you can know
at a glance what the various readings represent (even
though some are fairly intuitive).
The default instrumentation and viewpoint
are what you will initially encounter when you
first enter an Arena. The action
all occurs in the 3D viewpoint at the top half of the screen –
though if you weren’t able to figure
this part out, then you might need more help than this
manual can offer.
3.1 Armor, Crits, and Shields
At the center of your console you’ll
see a tank graphic representing the your tank. Above
the tank is your ARMOR indicator
and below it the CRITS display. ARMOR shows the
remaining plates of Armor on your
tank once your shields are breached. CRITS stand for
the Criticals which are effectively
your last stand before death.
As you take damage, your ARMOR will
first start to drop. As the numbers decrease the
color of your tank icon’s body will
change colors to a lighter blue, yellow, orange, red, then
gray display. Once the body of your
tank’s icon is gray, you no longer have any armor (and
the ARMOR will have a 0 next to
it).
The CRITS will now begin taking damage,
and the color of the tank icon’s turret will
change to a lighter blue, yellow,
orange, red, and gray. Whenever your CRITS are hit, your
tank begins to smoke. This in turn
makes you a very attractive target (blood for the sharks).
Once your CRITS are blown away,
so are you.
To help extend your lifeline you’ll
want to use shields. Shields are depicted graphically
with curved bars that appear both
above and below your tank icon. The top bar is your front
shield whereas the bottom bar is
your rear shield. At full strength, both bars will appear
white. As they take damage, they
will steadily begin to change colors to yellow, orange, and
red. If there’s no bar that means
you either don’t have shields turned on or you’ve had your
shields shot out.
Fortunately you can allocate your
shield power in 25% increments. So if you’re getting
pounded on your rear shield while
running away, allocate the majority of your shield energy
to your rear shield to increase
the chance of survival.
3.2 Battery, Feed, and Speed
Under the left chat window you’ll
find both BATTERY and FEED bars. More than
anything else, Tanarus is a power
game. Keeping a well-charged battery is critical in the
usage of energy weapons. The green
bar representing your battery will decrease from right
to left as you consume energy through
driving, firing energy weapons, or using special
modules such as stealth and cloak.
Should your battery empty completely, your tank will
drive at 30% of its top speed until
you manage to get some power back into your battery.
Thirty percent of your top speed
equates to certain death in most cases if enemies are
present. You can turn your shields
off to regain a sliver of battery power.
Next to your BATTERY bar is your
FEED indicator. Your base, satellites, and captured
Recon Stations all radiate energy
that your tank can draw into its battery. The FEED meter
shows the current level of energy
your tank is receiving with a blue bar that extends from
left to right. Likewise, when near
an enemy base or Recon Station, your FEED meter will
extend from the right to left with
a red bar indicating that you’re losing power to enemy
energy leech systems. The higher
the respective bars, the more energy you’re either
receiving or losing.
Your SPEED indicator completes the
right instrumentation panel. When increasing speed,
the green bar will rise until it
reaches your tank’s maximum forward speed. Reversing will
result in the opposite with the
green bar lowering until it achieves top reverse speed.
3.3 Chat Window
The chat window is located at the
lower left-side of the cockpit. This is where you can
communicate with other teams or
privately with your own team. Deaths are also displayed
in the chat window showing who died
and to whom. You can also toggle a listing of who is
on what team and their given bounties
by pressing the F1 key.
The two modes of chat are open and
private team channel messages. Open messages can be
sent by tapping the / key followed
by your message then the Enter key. As you type your
message it will appear in the chat
bar located below the chat window. All teams including
your own will see the message displayed
in white text. Private messages to your team can
be sent by tapping the ‘ key followed
by your message then the Enter key. This time only
your teammates will see the message
and the color of the message will match your team
color (a green team private message
will be displayed in green text). Hitting the ESC key
will cancel the message.
3.4 Radar
One of your bigger friends you should
refer to often is the circular radar display located to
the upper right-hand portion of
your screen. Enemy tanks will show up as small team-
colored squares – a blue square
is a blue tank. Satellites are small circles whose color
reflects the given team as well
(red satellites are from the red team, etc). Neutral Recon
Stations appear as hollow white
squares. However, when a Recon Station is captured the
color will change to reflect the
color of the team that captured it (a red, green, blue, or gray
hollow square).
Radar also displays when a missile
is launched by showing a small white dot. By keeping
an eye on radar you can see when
a missile is fired at you and just as importantly from
where it’s launched. Stealthed tanks
will not show up on radar so don’t become overly-
reliant on radar when hunting enemies.
There are three radius levels to
your Radar which you can cycle through using the F3 key.
In general, when scouting an area
keep your Radar Long-range, if enemies are nearby
switch to Medium range, and for
close opponents go to Short-range Radar.
3.5 Module Display/Grid Map
To the lower right-hand portion of
the screen is your module display/grid map toggle.
Whatever modules you’ve equipped
in your tank are shown here. Modules shown in dark
green text are modules that are
currently turned off. When a module is activated, such as the
phase multiplier, the selected module
will turn to a bright green. This is also the best way to
monitor your ammo count for conventional
weaponry. Modules that are light blue are
modules that are always turned on.
Pressing the F2 key will toggle the
Grid Map dividing cities into sectors such as A2, C4,
etc. This is a convenient means
to communicate tactics with your team like “I need backup
at C3,” or “Someone capture the
Recon Station at D3.”
Your teammates’ tanks will show up
as small respectively colored squares (red squares for
red tanks) on the Grid Map. Likewise,
Recon Stations will be white for neutral or the color
of the team that captured them.
Enemy tanks do not, however, show up on the Grid Map,
whether they’re stealthed or not.
3.6 Targeting Window
After a while you’ll make new friends
and enemies in Tanarus. Knowing just who it is
piloting that enemy Vanguard can
mean all the difference between life and death. Between
your Module Display and Speed indicator
is your Targeting window. This can be used to
target an enemy tank or to show
the name of a teammate.
Targeting lets you assign a nearby
enemy tank into the Targeting window. Targeted tanks
will show up on radar as yellow
and will also have a yellow arrow pointing down at them
within the main action screen. Enemy
tanks equipped with stealth cannot be targeted.
3.7 Kills, Deaths, and Score
Your present score and kills to deaths
are located next above the Targeting window. Your
score is directly affected by the
bounty of whom you kill – the higher their bounty, the more
points you receive. Your kills and
deaths reflect how many times you’ve killed others and
how many times you died – unless
you enjoy losing, it’s better to have the former higher
than the latter. Whenever you earn
points, half of whatever you earn will also be added to
your bounty. For example, if you
kill an enemy tank with a 10,000 bounty, your score will
increase by 10,000 pts and your
bounty will be incremented by 5,000.
The following is a list of the required points to obtain ranks all the way through Captain.
Rank
Points Needed (total score)
====
====================
Newbie
Starting Rank
Private
250,000
Private First Class
500,000
Lance Corporal
1,000,000
Corporal
2,000,000
Sergeant
3,000,000
Staff Sergeant
5,000,000
Gunnery Sergeant
7,500,000
Master Sergeant
10,000,000
First Sergeant
15,000,000
Master Gunnery Sergeant 20,000,000
Sergeant Major
25,000,000
Second Lieutenant
32,500,000
First Lieutenant
40,000,000
Captain
50,000,000
CHAPTER 4. RECON STATIONS
A critical element in advancing your
team through a city is by capturing Recon Stations.
When you first enter an Arena all
Recon Stations except for the Base Recon Stations will
show up as being hollow white boxes
on Radar. This indicates that the Recon Stations are
presently neutral, capable of being
used by any team. A Red, Green, Blue, or Gray Recon
Station means that the respectively
colored team has captured it.
Capturing a Recon Station has several
advantages as opposed to letting it remain neutral.
The most immediately recognizable
benefit is that you’ve cut off enemies from being able
to use that Recon Station. But that’s
just the icing on the cake.
Another blow to your enemies will
be the powerful Recon Gun which fires proximity blasts
at nearby enemies. And last, but
not least, while your Recon Station feeds your tank energy,
it will actually drain power from
nearby enemy tanks.
4.1 Base Recon Station
Your Base Recon Station shares a
couple distinct differences from Recon Stations located
out in the battlefield. It cannot
ever be captured by the enemy and is the only location where
you can actually switch to a new
tank or get a Recon Capture module. Like Recon Stations
in the battlefield, to use your
Base
Recon Station slowly drive your tank under the floating
orb and hit the Enter key. This
will automatically dock your tank and repairs will
immediately proceed if your tank
is damaged.
On both sides of the Chassis Type
are arrow buttons letting you cycle through the five
available tanks (discussed in Chapter
5). Simply left-click on either arrow until you reach
the tank you want. The statistics
of the tank will be listed under it, and the Bay
Configuration will reflect the appropriate
number of bays. You now have your tank and are
ready to start the equipment phase.
To exit the Recon Station either hit the <esc> key or
left-click the Enter button and
return to the battlefield.
4.2 Capturing Recon Stations
As mentioned earlier, there are several
benefits gained from capturing a Recon Station. In
order to capture a neutral Recon
Station, a tank must equip a Recon Capture module (only
available at the Base Recon Station),
drive under a white orb and activate the Recon
Capture.
This will call a friendly satellite
over the Recon Station, beginning the capture phase,
uploading data into the neutral
Recon Station for thirty seconds. If the satellite is shot down
within this thirty second time span
the Recon Station will return to its neutral state and the
capture will be aborted.
Provided the satellite survives and
captures the Recon Station, the orb and Radar will now
reflect the color of the capturing
team. A Recon Gun will also be deployed above the Recon
Station that will fire proximity
blasts at enemies – even stealthed and cloaked enemies.
Energy will be emitted to friendly
tanks and leeched from nearby enemy tanks. The satellite
will also upload a protection system
that effectively prevents any other team from being
able to recapture that Recon Station
for two minutes.
Capturing an enemy-owned Recon Station
is basically the same method, but it’s generally
safer to shoot down the enemy Recon
Gun before driving in and activating the Recon
Capture. Naturally if an enemy team
has just captured that Recon Station, you’ll also have
to wait two minutes before being
able to capture it.
4.3 Equipping at Recon Stations
Under Equipment Selection, you can
use the mouse or keyboard to select modules. Using a
keyboard, simply tap the hot-key
letter of the Category type (C)annon, (L)aser weapons,
etc) to jump directly to that module
type, then use the Up and Down arrows to reach the
desired module. After highlighting
the given module, the player can either hit Enter or
double-click to move that module
into the tank’s Bay Configuration (provided there’s
room), or tap the I key bringing
up a picture and a brief description of the highlighted
module. Clicking on the Info button
with a highlighted module will perform the same
function.
Next to the modules is the number
of bays a module requires. Some modules take up more
than one bay, such as the cannon.
Subsequently if you equip a cannon into a Vanguard
(which has seven bays), you’ll have
five bays remaining. The cannon will appear in two of
the bays. Modules that appear in
red mean you either don’t have enough room or you don’t
have a prerequisite module. For
example, you can’t equip a phoenix missile until you have
a missile launcher.
To remove modules from bays type
the respective number of the bay a module is occupying
then press the delete or backspace
key to remove it. Right-clicking an equipped module will
remove it as well.
4.4 Stored Module Configurations
To expedite the re-arm phase one
step further you can use the Stored Configuration feature
which allows you to save three module
configurations per tank. Just fill the bays with your
ideal setup, click on the letter
you wish to save under (either A, B, or C), then click on the
Save Config button.
The saved configuration will be kept
until the player decides to change the stored
configuration. For example, if you
already have a configuration under B and select another
configuration to save under B, your
old configuration will automatically be overwritten.
Recalling a saved configuration can
be performed by left-clicking on either A, B, or C. The
stored configuration will be displayed
in the Bay Configuration. If it’s the configuration you
want, click on the Load Config button
to load the modules into your tank.
4.5 Repairs
When a badly damaged tank pulls into
a Recon Station, repairs will begin, first on CRITS
then ARMOR. Shields are automatically
turned off when a tank enters a Recon Station to
repair and/or rearm.
Recon Stations are by no means safe-houses.
If you enter a Recon Station in a badly
damaged tank with a pursuing enemy
gunning your tank, you will probably die if the rate of
damage received exceeds the repair
rate. For example, phase-multiplied Mark IV lasers will
definitely damage faster than a
Recon Station’s repair rate.
CHAPTER 5. TANKS
So now you know how to select different
tank types and how to equip modules, but you
don’t really know the inherent differences
between the tanks or the various functions of
modules. This chapter will cover
all the basics on tanks while chapter six will focus
exclusively on modules.
The five available tanks in Tanarus
are the Lightning, Vanguard, Devastator, Chameleon
and MagRider. Each of these tanks
have different strengths and weaknesses. Factors to
consider in each tank description
when choosing your tank are the individual
forward/reverse speeds, turret radius,
battery size, armor, criticals, and number of module
bays.
5.1 Lightning
The name says it all. The Lightning
gained fame as being the fastest and most
maneuverable light tank in the military.
The turret radius is a full 180 degrees left or right,
giving the Lightning the distinct
advantage of being able to shoot from its backside when
running away. The Lightning also
has a built-in missile launcher.
Speed and maneuverability aren’t
without their costs. Once a Lightning’s shields are
breached, there isn’t much in terms
of armor or criticals separating it from a fiery finish.
The number of module bays are also
a limiting factor when it comes to equipping a
Lightning. Nonetheless, the Lightning
can be a surprisingly effective tank in the hands of
veterans for scouting, firing missiles,
laying mines, stealing enemy Flags, teaming with
heavier tanks, and harassing enemies
from a distance.
5.2 Vanguard
For three decades the Lightning and
Devastator were the primary tanks seen in fierce fire
fights throughout the solar system.
While many new tanks tried to fill the void between the
light and heavy tank, they mostly
ended up filling the battlefields with their own debris. The
Vanguard was the first medium tank
to be universally accepted into the hands of battle-
hardened warriors. Second in speed
only to the Lightning with a turret radius of 90 degrees
left or right, the Vanguard can
circle an enemy tank at a high speed while unleashing a
torrent of firepower. The Vanguard’s
built-in weapon is a Mark IV.
As to weaknesses, the Vanguard doesn’t
really have anything wrong with it. While it
doesn’t have as many bays as a Devastator,
it still has enough to pack plenty of punch. The
Vanguard is a solid choice for medium-range
combat and can also be used for scouting and
capturing Recon Stations.
5.3 Devastator
The Devastator is the largest of
all tanks, layered in heavy armor with substantial criticals
topped off by a whopping ten module
bays. The price is speed; all other tanks outrun and
outmaneuver the Devastator. But
what they don’t do is outgun the Devastator. With its
abundant armor and customization
capabilities, the Devastator is the ultimate deliverer of
death, and a great tank choice for
novices to seasoned veterans. A built-in cannon
completes the Devastator.
5.4 Chameleon
One of the newest tanks to appear
(or should I say disappear) in fire fights is the
Chameleon. Like its reptilian cousin,
the Chameleon is capable of blending in with its
environment and disappearing from
radar due to its integrated Cloak and Stealth systems
which drain no extra power.
The Chameleon also has a built-in Lancer.
Secrecy’s price is that the Chameleon
is slow, has a limited turret radius, and possesses
extremely low armor and criticals.
Shields also aren’t really a good idea to engage when
cloaked, either – the shields will
negate the cloak. In other words, if the Chameleon is seen
it’s one dead lizard. The only time
a cloaked Chameleon can be seen is when it either
decloaks or fires a gun. When firing
a gun, the Chameleon will be temporarily visible for
one second. Smart Chameleon pilots
therefore attack from behind. A great tank for
ambushing and assisting teammates.
5.5 MagRider
The first tank to literally glide
into the battlefield is the MagRider. Utilizing an electro-
magnetic drive train, the MagRider
actually hovers above the ground. While the
MagRider’s turret is fixed-forward,
its ability to hover also gives it one distinct advantage
over other tanks – the ability to
strafe (hover left or right). In this fashion, a MagRider can
circle an opponent by strafing left
or right, blasting away the entire time. The MagRider has
an integrated Mark II, Phase Multiplier,
and Dampener.
CHAPTER 6. MODULES
Knowing the tanks and how to drive
them is only half the battle. Up to now all the basics of
chamber operation, recon stations,
instrumentation, and tanks have been covered. But the
most important factor in gaining
the upper-hand in combat is how you equip your tank.
Whether you select a Lightning, Vanguard,
Devastator, Chameleon, or MagRider,
essentially all you’ve got is a
working shell of a chassis. These tanks all have varying
characteristics in terms of armor,
module bays, speed and maneuverability, but it’s what
goes into the module bays that completes
your tank. Going into combat with a module bay
left empty is not a good idea.
This chapter will cover all the modules
that you can equip within your tank’s configuration
bays. The modules themselves are
divided into six different categories reflecting the Recon
Station equipping menu: Cannon,
Laser Weapons, Missiles, Mines, Defense, Power
Enhancements, and Special. Once
you’ve experimented with the following modules and
found a good configuration for yourself,
don’t stop there – keep trying out new ideas and
configurations. Separating the aces
from the novices is the ability to have several
configurations per tank, always
keeping the enemy unbalanced by never becoming
predictable.
6.1 Cannon
Tanks as early as the twentieth century
used conventional weaponry as a basis for warfare.
Since then, cannons have been improved
and optimized with new shell types, but the basics
remain the same. Conventional weaponry
has a notable advantage over energy weapons –
although shields absorb most of
the damage, some damage will still leak through from the
concussion wave to the receiving
tank’s armor. Energy weapons, on the other hand, must
breach the shields first before
ever being able to harm what’s underneath. Just be prepared
for the cannon itself to take up
two entire bays, and that’s not even counting the ammo.
There are three types of cannon
shells.
Armor-Piercing Shells
The only projectile that can completely
ignore shields and hit armor directly are armor-
piercing shells. Armor-piercing
shells are also fairly large, limiting the number of shells that
can fit into one bay.
Fragmentation Shells
One of the reasons ground troops
are never to be seen is because they all got the hell out
when the fragmentation shells started
hitting – at least the few that were still alive. When a
fragmentation shell hits, an explosive
burst of shrapnel bursts forth in all directions for a
wide proximity blast. Although these
shells don’t do much damage against shielded tanks,
they’re ideal for raining down on
clustered enemies from a distance, spreading damage that
can quickly add up through attrition.
Due to their smaller size, a good share of
fragmentation shells can be loaded
into a single module bay.
Heat Shells
Known not too affectionately as “Hell
in a shell,” the incendiary shell is guaranteed to give
receiving tanks a sunburn they won’t
ever forget. Although the blast radius is small, the
extreme heat is capable of melting
several layers of armor. Even when an incendiary shell
hits a shielded tank, an uncomfortable
amount of heat still seeps through to hit the armor.
Due to the micro-fuel canisters
within each incendiary shell, only half a dozen can be stored
in each bay.
6.2 Laser Weapons
Whereas conventional weaponry strips
armor from a tank like a peel off a banana, laser
weapons can quickly cut shields
on a tank. There are four primary types of energy weapons:
Mark I, Mark II, Mark IV, and the
Plasma cannon.
Mark I
Featuring the highest fire rate out
of any laser gun, the Mark I bursts single lasers which
don’t do much damage per blast,
but repeated rapid-fire hits will start to quickly take their
toll on a tank’s shields. The extremely
long range aspect of the Mark I also makes it one of
the most annoying weapons around
– an enemy can hit you from far away and if you have a
Mark II or Mark IV, you have to
drive a considerable distance before you can even return
fire.
Mark II
The ‘II’ in the Mark II represents
the dual laser blasts that are cut loose with each squeeze
of the trigger. While the firing
rate is nearly half that of the Mark I, the dual lasers do
almost twice as much damage. The
Mark II is also a good medium range weapon, ideal for
tanks like the Vanguard and Lightning
which can turn their turrets sideways to fire and keep
their distance from their targeted
tank.
Mark IV
Packing four searing lasers per shot,
the Mark IV is one of the most feared close-range
weapons. It even packs appreciable
damage against armor once shields are knocked down.
Due to its close-range, the Mark
IV is best used for crowded areas where enemy tanks can’t
fire too easily at you from a distance.
The energy consumption is also fairly high, second
only to the plasma cannon.
Plasma Cannon
The plasma cannon inflicts very little
damage against armor and criticals. What it does do,
however, is pack one heckuva punch
against shields. Easily the highest damaging energy
weapon against shields, the plasma
cannon is ideally used when you have another weapon
to switch to once you’ve reduced
an opponent’s shields to nothing. The only drawback is
the high amount of energy consumed
per shot.
Phase Multiplier
To get the most out of the Mark series
weaponry, the phase multiplier was engineered to
keep the Mark equipment stabilized
with over twice the amount of energy passing through.
What this means is that when a phase
multiplier is turned on, expect the Mark I, Mark II,
and Mark IV to inflict twice the
amount of their normal damage. The side-effect is that over
twice the amount of energy is spent
to fire a Mark laser bolstered by the phase multiplier.
The plasma cannon isn’t affected
by the phase multiplier.
Lancer
A prototype beam weapon, the lancer
inflicts the strongest damage against either shields or
armor versus other laser armaments.
What it delivers in damage isn’t with its price,
however, as the Lancer needs to
charge to 100% before being able to fire. The Lancer
maintains a delicate equilibrium
while charging or fully charged, meaning that any hit from
another weapon and the Lancer will
lose its entire charge.
6.3 Missiles
Missiles are arguably the best complementary
conventional weapons available. From the
extremely damaging phoenix missile
to the blinding white flash missile, these projectiles
can be used in a variety of ways.
To use a missile you need a missile launcher which is
capable of holding two missiles
(although the missiles still need their own bays). The
missile launcher is automatically
loaded when you select a missile type.
Battery Drain
There’s not much worse than rolling
out into battle in your tank souped up with energy
weapons, a power booster, and reserve
powers than to watch all your energy suddenly
disappear – well, aside from your
following death. The battery drain missile is the largest of
all missiles, requiring three bays,
but it’s capable of draining an enemy tank of all energy,
including any reserve powers. The
only protection from battery drain missiles are shields
which effectively block its effects.
Deactivator
Like the battery drain missile, the
deactivator missile doesn’t do any physical damage, but
knocks a tank out of commission
for a duration of four seconds. That may not sound like
much until one hits you and you’re
forced to helplessly watch the other tank blow your
immobilized tank away. Shields are
the only way to stop a deactivator missile.
Flash
The flash missile blinds a tank temporarily
upon impact, regardless of whether the targeted
tank’s shields are active. Hitting
a non-shielded tank will blind it for five seconds, whereas
a shielded tank will only incur
two seconds of blinding.
Force Missile
The force missile may not inflict
any physical damage, but when push comes to shove, no
other weapon shoves nearly as hard.
An ideal tool for pushing enemy tanks to their deaths
off high buildings.
Guided
As the name implies, guided missiles
are just that – guided, specifically by you. When you
launch a guided missile, your main
view switches to that of the guided missile, letting you
fly it into your target. While not
extremely damaging, it still hits hard, especially against
unshielded tanks. The duration before
it self-detonates is ten seconds.
Phoenix
Like a bird of prey, the dumb-fire
phoenix missile swoops in to pack the most physical
damage of any missile – it even
hits hard against shields, passing damage through to your
armor. Without shields expect
to see your armor and possibly your tank just disappear in a
violent explosion. The only drawbacks
are that the phoenix missile requires two bays and
has no built-in guidance systems.
6.4 Mines
In general, if you see a small object
lying on the ground that isn’t your team color, avoid it.
Curiosity kills the tank. Mines
can be lain pretty much wherever and have different
respective damage attributes. The
three main mine types are the deactivator, detonator, and
proximity.
Deactivator
Similar to the deactivator missile,
any unshielded enemy tank driving over a deactivator
mine will find itself immobile for
five seconds. More than enough time to blast the
defenseless tank to bits. Shields
will set off an enemy deactivator mine before it can affect
your tank.
Detonator
You drive over the mine with your
shields on, waiting for the mine to blow. The next thing
you know you’re directly over the
mine with no shield protection and it detonates right
beneath you, tearing your tank to
bits. Welcome to the detonator mine. Basically a remote-
activated explosion, a tank can
drop a detonator mine then set it off when it wants. A
detonator mine will not explode
unless detonated by the player who laid it or when an
enemy uses a minesweeper.
Proximity
A standard IFF (Identify Friend or
Foe) mine, the proximity mine detonates when a tank or
shield touches it. From there, the
rest is a skyward blast of extreme damage for the
unfortunate tank that drove over
the mine. Shields will reduce the damage, but a fair
amount will still pass through to
the tank.
Mine Sweeper
You know there’s a mine at the top
of that ramp, but you don’t want to use your tank to set
it off. The answer is the mine sweeper,
which will set off any enemy mine within a nearby
radius. Just get ready to have half
your battery drained when you use the mine sweeper, and
obviously try not to park right
next to the mines you’re detonating. The mine sweeper will
not detonate friendly mines.
6.5 Defense
Unless you want to die fast and often,
shields are the only physical means to extend the
lifeline of your tank. Aside from
incurring all damage from energy weapons until they’re
breached and substantially reducing
the amount of damage from conventional weaponry
against armor, shields also have
the capability to recharge after receiving damage. Armor,
on the other hand, is gone until
repaired.
Shield
The shield module is a basic shield
which can charge up to fifty points for both the front
and rear shields. To get the most
out of shields, remember that they need to charge up to
their potential and also draw power
from your battery to sustain their charge. So don’t go
into a heavy fight then turn your
shields on. Turn them on beforehand, let them charge up,
then drive in. If your front side
is only exposed to a fire fight, you can allocate all your
shield energy forward, giving your
forward shield 100 points, or vice versa when running
away.
While a shield is activated, it will
greatly reduce damage against almost all energy and
conventional weaponry, and also
negate or lessen the effects of battery drain, deactivator,
or flash types of weapons. Once
a shield is damaged to zero, any further damage will hit the
tank’s armor. A period of three
seconds will elapse before the shield is recalibrated and
begins recharging.
A final factor that affects your
shield recharge rate is your POWER meter. The more energy
you’re receiving from your Base,
Recon Stations, or Satellites, the faster your shields will
recharge.
Shield Boost
Capable of increasing both your front
and rear shields to 100 points each, the shield doubler
is aptly named. You can also channel
all energy to the forward or back shield based on your
combat situation. Using a shield
booster does require more energy; so it shouldn’t be used
unless you have a good power intake
or reserve powers.
6.6 Power Enhancements
Energy weapons and shields can take
a lot out of your battery, reducing your staying power
in actual combat. With this in mind,
three modules were developed to specifically enhance
power within tanks: the power booster,
reserve power, and supercharger.
Power Receiver
All tanks have a limited capacity
to draw power into their batteries from their base, friendly
(team-owned) Recon Stations, and
Satellites. The Power Receiver lengthens the reach,
allowing you to draw power from
more distant power sources.
Reserve Power
Whether you’re going after an enemy
team’s flag or scouting, reserve powers are vital
backup power supplies should your
tank’s battery deplete entirely. An equipped reserve
power will automatically activate
when a tank’s battery is completely drained, refilling the
battery entirely.
Supercharger
A limiting factor on many tanks are
the sizes of their batteries. The supercharger will
increase a tank’s battery size by
80%, allowing the tank to fire energy weapons more freely,
use shields, and enhance scouting
capabilities into areas without any power intake.
6.7 Special
The final assortment of modules available
to customize your tank are designated in the
Special category. While none of
these modules are actually weapons, they can offer
invaluable assistance in hiding
and finding enemies, capturing Recon Stations and flags,
manipulating satellites, or even
precariously catapulting your tank through the sky.
Cloak
Imagine being able to make your tank
completely invisible to enemy eyes. With cloak you
can, but be prepared to pay the
price as this module draws heavy energy to mask your tank
and match its surroundings. Also,
you can’t use shields when cloaked as they will appear
visually (hmm, shields but no tank,
what could that mean?) and basically undo the entire
reason for using cloak in the first
place – secrecy. The Chameleon tank already has a
special cloak system integrated
into its system. Just remember that the Cloak module
doesn’t make you invisible on radar.
Controller
All satellites at your base except
two are capable of being moved throughout the city. You
have one personal satellite you
can position wherever you want by using a controller
module. Whether you want your satellite
as a backup power source, an extra gun, or for
detecting cloaked enemies, the controller
module is the only way to have the satellite do
your bidding.
Doppler Radar
Since stealthed tanks are a common
occurrence within Tanarus, the best way to detect them
is through Doppler Radar. Doppler
Radar is the best way to hunt chameleons. While you
can’t see them visually, you can
at least see them on radar.
Flag Catcher
Only a few brave, resourceful players
will be able to infiltrate an enemy base, take their
flag, and return it to their base
for the ultimate insult against the stolen flag’s team. But to
even try this you need a flag catcher
module. A tank equipped with the flag catcher will
automatically scoop up an enemy
flag when your tank drives directly over the flag.
NanoRepair
A sophisticated technological breakthrough,
nanorepair allows a tank to convert energy into
restoring lost Armor and Criticals.
The repair process itself is fairly slow, with each
restored plate of armor consuming
one unit of battery power.
Night Vision
The other method of seeing through
darkness is Night Vision. Equipping a Night Vision
module will map your viewing screen
in red, allowing you to clearly see buildings and
tanks.
Nullifier
Highly effective against blocking
enemy Recon Stations from draining your tank’s battery,
the nullifier is ideal for combat
when the enemy has the upper-hand in power. The nullifier
also reduces an enemy base drain
by almost 50%.
Recon Capture
The full advantages of owning a Recon
Station are detailed in chapter 4. But in order to
capture a Recon Station you need
to have a Recon Capture module. Drive into a defenseless
Recon Station, activate the Recon
Capture, and cover your satellite for thirty seconds once
it arrives over the Recon Station.
If you’re successful, the Recon Station will belong to your
team.
Recon Gun
The only way to replace a recon gun
that has been shot down is with the recon gun module.
A player must equip the recon gun
module, drive over the Recon Station that has lost its
gun, and tap the same key as the
Recon Capture (default 7 key) to replace the recon gun.
Note that a recon gun can only be
replaced after five minutes have been elapsed. If a player
attempts to replace a recon gun
before five minutes has passed, a message will appear
showing how much time remains before
the recon gun can be launched. You also can’t
equip a recon capture while carrying
a recon gun module.
Satellite Camera
A satellite camera allows you to
look through the ‘eyes’ of a Satellite. You have a total of
five Satellites on your team, with
each teammate being able to control one. Placing these
satellites throughout the city not
only gives power to any friendly tanks near them, but also
lets you use the Satellite Camera
to spy down from above. You will even discover cloaked
tanks. You can toggle through all
your team Satellite views by hitting the ~ key.
Sharpshooter
The sharpshooter module is a telescopic
enhancement that lets you not only zoom in on
distant enemies, but doubles the
range of your Mark I, Mark II, and Mark IV series lasers.
The sharpshooter module is ideal
for spying and sniping from a distance.
Smoke
Smoking may be bad for your health,
but smoking in Tanarus can be bad for your
opponent’s health if used wisely.
The smoke module allows you to emit either gray or black
smoke, giving off the false impression
that your tank is damaged. Great for luring enemies
into ambushes.
Stealth
Tank commanders that prefer ambushing
and sneaking throughout the city won’t want to
leave base without picking up a
stealth module first. When activated, a stealth module will
make the tank completely invisible
to enemy radar. Fortunately the cost of power is
minimal, too. Chameleons already
have an integrated stealth system.
Turbo Boost
Imagine the look on your opponent’s
face when you’re right in his gunsights and all of a
sudden you’ve blasted behind him
at a blaring speed. The turbo boost module allows you to
do just that or even quickly accelerate
out of a losing fight. The disadvantages are that it
only has one use, your tank steering
is locked when engaged, and that the weight of your
tank will drastically reduce the
turbo distance.
CHAPTER 7. GRAPHIC AND CONTROL OPTIONS
If you were to read only one chapter
before jumping right into an Arena (which really isn’t
advisable), this is the most important
chapter in terms of actual gameplay control. This
chapter covers both how to optimize
keyboard and joystick control as well as illustrating
the default keyboard control layout.
7.1 Optimizing Controls for the Keyboard and Joystick
Different gamers have different control
tastes, so while we’ve included a default set of
controls, we’ve also given you the
ability to customize control completely for the keyboard
and joystick. At the initial login
menu, left-click on Options. You can completely customize
the keyboard and joystick as well
as tune the force effects to your tastes if you have a Force
Feedback joystick.
Once you’ve selected either Keyboard
or Joystick you can map the keys to your liking.
Above the controls listing is text
that instructs you how to properly customize the
keyoard/joystick layout. Remember
to left-click on the Save button to save any changes you
make.
7.2 Adjusting the Graphic Detail
Tanarus has extensive support for
graphic accelerator cards under Direct 3D. If you have a
graphic accelerator card, you’ll
definitely want to go to Options then Graphics.
Under the Graphics menu you’ll be able to do the following:
? Select the graphics accelerator
card you want to use
? Select Display Resolution
? Select 3D Options
? Adjust 3D Particle Density
If under Select 3D Hardware it only
reads No 3D Acceleration that means you don’t have a
graphics accelerator card. You’ll
only be able to turn on the 3D sprites option under Select
3D Options.
Select Display Resolution lets you
save a cockpit view or full-screen. These can also be
turned on and off from within the
game (F5 for cockpit, F6 for full-screen).
Last, but not least, for those with
graphic accelerator cards, the Select 3D Options allows
you to balance graphics and gameplay.
Some cards handle certain special effects better than
others, and some cards simply don’t
support all the types of special effects that Tanarus
provides. If you’re having low frame
rates under your graphic accelerator card, be sure to
try turning off some of the special
effects until you find a good compromise between
graphic quality and gameplay.
Whether you’re shopping for a graphic
accelerator card or just want to see if we directly
support your graphic accelerator
card, a comprehensive listing of graphic accelerator cards
that Tanarus officially supports
can be found at http://www.tanarus.com. This also provides
links to the latest drivers that
we’ve tested with Tanarus.
7.3 Chat Commands
Squelch
The squelch command temporarily blocks
incoming messages from the squelched player.
To squelch a player from within
the chamber, type #squelch handle. To squelch a player
from within a game, type %squelch
handle. For example, to block out messages from
Frank, you would type #squelch Frank
(in the chamber), or %squelch Frank (in the game).
Upon leaving the chamber or game
the squelch is negated. You can also use #unsquelch
handle (in the chamber) or %unsquelch
handle (in the game) to unsquelch a player.
Ignore
When a player is repeatedly annoying,
the squelch command may not be enough. This is
where the ignore command comes in
handy. The ignore command permanently ignores the
targeted player. To ignore a player
in the chamber, simply type #ignore handle; to ignore a
player in a game, type %ignore handle.
Ignoring a player will block all messages from that
player. A small .TXT file in your
Tanarus directory called IGNORE.TXT contains the
names of the ignored players. The
only way to undo an ignore is to type #unignore handle
(from the chamber) or %unignore
handle (from the game).
Universal Send System
The universal send system lets you
send a message to anyone anywhere in Tanarus. All you
need to do is type /handle [message].
For example, if someone wanted to send Frank a
private message, they would just
type /Frank Hi, how’s it going? You can send messages to
players in games from the chamber,
or vice versa. Naturally if someone is ignoring you the
message won’t get through.
Profanity Filter
The default for the profanity filter
is on. The filter uses a .TXT file called FILTER.TXT in
your Tanarus directory. This contains
common swear words that will automatically be
filtered out when another player
types them. If you wish to add some words, simply type
#filter <word> (in chamber) or
%filter <word> (in game). Or you can directly edit the
FILTER.TXT and add the words you
want. Note that you can only have 25 words total to
be filtered.
Resetting Your Handle
Each handle can have its stats reset
twice. To do so, you simply type #ZERO in the
chamber. This will keep your handle,
but reset your stats (ratio, etc). Again, this can only be
done twice per handle (so a total
of four times ever), so use it wisely.
Renaming Your Handle
You can rename a handle once a week
(every seven days). To do so, simply type
#RENAME followed by the handle you
want. Note that renaming a handle does not give
you more #ZEROs.
a
CHAPTER 8: ALL DRESSED UP AND READY
TO KILL
Each Arena in Tanarus can hold up
to twenty players with five players per team. Unless you
think you’re a solo hotshot, the
best idea is to join a team that already has a couple players
on it so you don’t end up taking
on the world by yourself (which is often suicidal to say the
least).
The goal of Tanarus? First and foremost
to enjoy yourself. Whether you like getting down
and dirty in close combat, providing
artillery for long-range support, capturing Recon
Stations, stealing enemy flags,
or managing a team, Tanarus offers numerous possibilities to
match your playing style.
Before jumping into the heat of battle
for the first time be sure to check out the training
missions. At the initial Tanarus
menu, select Training and perform each of the first three
training exercises. These exercises
will give you a much better understanding of how the
tanks operate and the basic gameplay
fundamentals. This chapter will serve as an initial
walk-thru to help you grasp an understanding
of what goes in each Arena followed by
suggestions to improving your gaming
experience.
8.1 Power
The first thing a trigger-happy pilot
will learn is that bigger guns don’t necessarily mean
victory. From the main Command Center,
choose Arenas and find a low-populated or
preferably empty Arena and join
it. At the initial Equipment Selection menu, select a
Vanguard and equip it with a Mark
IV, Phase Multiplier, and Controller. Don’t worry about
the rest of the configuration just
yet. What we’re going to cover is the most crucial element
of the game: Power.
Enter the Arena now and practice
driving around near your base speeding up, slowing,
reversing, and turning. After you’ve
got a feel for your tank, drive away from the base
keeping an eye on your POWER bar.
Notice how it’s decreasing the further you move away
from base? That’s because both your
home base and Base Recon Station emit power over a
certain decreasing radius – the
farther your distance the less power you receive.
Drive further away so that your FEED
meter decreases to neutral then call in a Satellite.
When the Satellite arrives, keep
an eye on your FEED meter again. Friendly satellites emit
power as well.
A final form of power is possible
through the acquisition of Recon Stations throughout the
map. As covered earlier, your Radar
will show neutral Recon Stations as white. These emit
no power for any team but can be
used to repair and re-arm your tank. Try to find a Recon
Station that hasn’t been taken over
and doesn’t have any enemy activity near it. Grab a
Recon Capture module at your Base
Recon Station then drive into a neutral Recon Station
and onto the colored tile under
the white orb then activate the Recon Capture. You’ll see
the Recon Capture disappear from
your module inventory. Look at Radar and you’ll see a
satellite arrive.
Back up and watch the Satellite as
it takes over the Recon Station. During this time you
cannot use the Recon Station. Glance
at your FEED meter, too. After the Satellite captures
the Recon Station and flies away,
look at your FEED meter again. You’re now receiving
much more power than before, and
any enemy that drives near your Recon Station will find
its power being leeched. Likewise,
if you drive near an enemy Recon Station, watch your
FEED meter. As you near the enemy
Recon Station your FEED meter will start increasing
to the left – except this time it’s
red, meaning you’re losing power.
8.2 Superiority through Teamwork
Don’t try to take on the world alone.
Work with your teammates using the private chat to
try and maximize your advantage
against enemy teams. It’s no exaggeration to say that two
players teaming up together can
successfully hold off and even push back five enemy
teammates who are not coordinating
with each other at all.
8.3 Flag Capturing
The ultimate humiliation to an enemy
team isn’t by smoking their tanks on the battlefield,
but by sneaking into their base,
grabbing their flag, then returning to home base to capture
the flag. To pull off a successful
flag capture you need a flag capture module equipped in
your tank and good team support.
Packing in some reserve powers and turbo boosts as well
as setting up a relay tank (another
friendly tank with a flag capture module and turbos
waiting for you to bring the flag
out and hand off) is a good strategy. But before you try a
flag capture, it’s important to
understand the flag capture system.
A flag will only be able to be taken
if there is at least one member on that given team. This
prevents a player from logging in
and scooping up all the flags, then waiting for enemies to
log in and killing them instantly
with their flag.
There is also a ten minute limited
time factor in which a seized flag has to be captured, or it
will return automatically to the
respective team's base. Also, for whichever team has their
flag seized, if they log off during
those ten minutes the team that currently has the flag will
be credited with the kill (the flag
will have to be in an enemy tank, though). In other words,
don't log if your flag has been
seized -- you won't escape death that way.
And for a final measure, players
that happen to log into a game when their flag is being
captured will be given a grace time
equal to the maximum time given for flag capturing.
Basically a player that logs in
has ten minutes grace from his/her flag being captured. This
will primarily prevent players from
logging in right when their flag is being captured and
dying -- they weren't in the game
when their flag was seized, so they shouldn't be penalized
for it. A quick summary follows:
? Flags can only be taken if the
respective opponent’s team has one or more players.
? If a flag isn’t captured within
10 minutes of being taken, the flag will automatically
return to its original base.
? Players logging into a game are
given a 10 minute grace period when logging in – this
is to protect players logging in
from dying when a flag capture is already underway.
? Any player that is on a team when
their flag is taken and tries to log will automatically
die if the flag is within an enemy
tank’s possession, giving the capturing team a kill,
followed by logging out.
For the capturing team, each individual
team member receives the total kills. For example,
a team captures blue’s flag and
there are five blues playing, each member of the capturing
team receives five kills.
The bounty, on the other hand, sums
up the total bounty of the team that’s being captured
(lets say the combined bounty of
five players is 100,000 pts), then divides it equally among
the capturing team (which for this
example has four players). Subsequently each player
receives 25,000 pts.
8.4 Activating Modules
Remember that equipping your tank
with a module doesn’t necessarily mean that the given
module is automatically activated.
Keep an eye on your module inventory – modules that
aren’t activated will be shown in
dark green text, whereas modules that are turned on will
be displayed as bright green. Automatic
modules are light blue.
8.5 Sample Tank Configurations
Although part of the enjoyment in
Tanarus is learning the various configurations possible
with each tank (and you’ll most
likely never even use a quarter of all possibilities), it’s not
fun getting your butt kicked all
over the place while you try to learn your first useful
configuration. The following list
details three configurations per tank type.
Lightning
1. Shield, Mark IV, Phase Multiplier,
Reserve Power, Phoenix Missile
2. Shield, Mark II, Phase Multiplier,
Reserve Power, Two Phoenix Missiles
3. Shield, Shield Boost, Mark II,
Phase Multiplier, Reserve Power
Vanguard
1. Shield, Shield Boost, Phase Multiplier,
Reserve Power, Supercharger, Stealth
2. Shield, Shield Boost, Phase Multiplier,
Plasma Cannon, Reserve Power
3. Shield, Shield Boost, Phase Multiplier,
Reserve Power, Stealth, Nullifier
Devastator
1. Shield, Shield Boost, 6 Bays
of AP Shells, and Stealth
2. Shield, Shield Boost, Plasma
Cannon, Mark IV, Phase Multiplier, Two Reserve
Powers, Stealth
3. Shield, Shield Boost, 5 Bays
of Heat Shells, Doppler Radar
MagRider
1. Shield, Shield Boost, Reserve
Power, Stealth
2. Shield, Mark IV, Reserve Power,
Stealth
3. Shield, Plasma Cannon, Reserve
Power, Supercharger
Chameleon
1. Missile Launcher, Two Phoenix
Missiles, Turbo
2. Five Proximity Mines
3. Mark IV, Phase Multiplier, Reserve
Power, Supercharger
CHAPTER 9. TROUBLE-SHOOTING NETWORK
PROBLEMS
Troubleshooting Your Connection
You must be familiar with some basic
internet terms before you read this section. Refer to
“Internet Crash Course” for some
of the basics.
If you are playing Tanarus from work
or a connection provided by your work, your
connection may be blocked by your
employer’s firewall. To play Tanarus from behind a
firewall, your network administrator
must add the following settings to your firewall:
Allow outbound TCP connections to
c04.station.sony.com, port 80
Allow outbound TCP connections to
c04.station.sony.com, port 8080
Allow UDP datagrams from the Tanarus
player’s PC, all ports over 1024
to c05.station.sony.com, all ports
over 1024
Allow UDP datagrams from c05.station.sony.com,
all ports over 102
to the Tanarus player’s PC, all
ports over 1024
If there is no firewall interference,
you must contact your network administrator or the
customer support hotline of your
ISP. Give them the error message exactly as Tanarus
displays it. If they cannot
resolve your problem, e-mail [email protected] with
the error message.
Internet Crash Course
computer network - A group of two or more computers communicating with each other.
internet - A group of two or more
computer networks communicating with each other. “the
internet” is the best known
internet in the world. Thousands of computer networks
participate in the internet.
ISP (internet service provider) -
A company that will provide a connection to the internet
for money.
If you have access to the internet
at work, your company pays an internet service provider
for this connection. If you
have access to the internet at home, you are paying an internet
service provider for your connection.
firewall – A computer configured to protect a network from unauthorize outside access.
Most businesses with internet connections have a firewall.
Measuring Internet Quality of Service
This section will help you understand
how to measure the quality of service your internet
service provider is delivering.
packet - A message sent from one computer to another on a network
packet loss - Failure of a packet
arrive at it’s intended destination. Packets are lost on the
network for a variety of reasons.
Typical causes of packet loss include heavy network
traffic, faulty hardware or software,
and corruption during transmission.
latency - Packets sent from one computer
to another do not arrive instantaneously. Latency
is the time a packet spends travelling
from the sender to the receiver. Under normal
circumstances, latency is only a
fraction of a second, so it measured in milliseconds (ms)
(1000 milliseconds = 1 second ).
If there is a lot of network traffic, latency increases.
Lower latency is better.
round trip delay (ping time) - this
the time it takes a packet to travel to another computer
and back. It is the sum of
the latency to the computer plus the latency back from the
computer. Like latency, If
there is a lot of network traffic, round trip delay increases.
The Network Status Indicator
In the bottom right-hand corner of
the Tanarus cockpit, there is a network status indicator.
This is a graphical representation
of your connection to the Tanarus server. The first
number is your round trip time.
The second number is the percentage of packets sent to
your computer that never arrived.
The third number is the percentage of packets sent to the
Tanarus server that never arrived.
Immediately below these numbers are
two connected bars. The bar on the left represents
the flow of data coming from the
server. The bar on the right represents the flow of data to
the server. If you are well
connected to the Tanarus server, these bars will be solid green.
Two solid green bars means that
all recent packets that were sent actually arrived at the
destination. If you see a
gap in either bar, that indicates that a packet that was sent never
arrived at its intended destination
because it was lost on the network.