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Take me to the game |
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| Tanarus Basic Training | |
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Here's where every new player of Tanarus
should take some time to prepare for war. This will walk you through the basics of starting the game and avoiding confusion. You'll find this guide so handy that you'll want to either memorize it or print it out so you can refer to it as you play.
This guide makes the assumption that you are playing with a four-button joystick. If you play entirely with the keyboard instead, you'll need to check Help or the downloadable manual for the keyboard equivalents.
Meet Your New Best Friend
Hey, buddy. New recruit, huh? The Sarge has probably already whipped you into shape. Yeah, I remember what that was like. Well, ya gotta leave the barracks sometime and get out into the fight. Let me give you some advice so your first day leaves you as something better than a pile of quivering jelly. Let's start with the basics. You are going to die. Well, not really die, though it'll feel like it. The medic system is amazing and even when your tank is melted to slag you'll be popped back to base 99% of the time with no more bodily damage than a bad ringing in your ears. By "die" I mean you are gonna get wrecked. It is bound to happen?and with incredible frequency in the beginning, unless you're an incredible pilot. Things will be rough at first as you strive to get a handle for Tanarus but don't get discouraged. Every new pilot in Tanarus has and will experience exactly what you are about to go through. Some learn quick and some learn slow, but given time and some training, you'll improve your skill. Second thing is, you are going to get chewed out by some hotshot jacked up on too much adrenaline. You'll read messages that will make your blood boil. My advice is, ignore the idiots. Don't take it personally, and don't return their word-fire. Grit your teeth and go to work. Before long you'll able to reply with laser fire and make your point. It feels better and raises your rank besides. Last bit of my wisdom before you launch in: keep your eyes open, stick with your teammates, and take it slow. This ain't some fragfest. Any idiot can run around with a gun shooting whatever moves. That's a game. This is war. Logging In and Suiting Up When you launch into the world of Tanarus , you'll be asked to come up with a "handle." This is the name you'll be known by. Think of a good one, Killer. By the way, I'm betting "Killer" is already taken. Everyone has a unique handle?helps sort out the bodies when the smoke clears. Write in your handle, and if it's been taken, try again. Next you'll be in a room where a lot of blowhards are chatting it up. Let's blow past these jokers -- you don't have anything to brag about anyway. Click the Arenas button. You'll see a list of arenas to choose from. Pick the one called "Shareware (and regular)." It's where everyone can get along and play nice. Next you'll see a list of cities you can dive into tank-first. You'll see columns of colored numbers. Those numbers are how many of each team are in each city. There can't be more than five members of each team in a city, so if you see a city that's all fives, they are having too much fun for you to squeeze in. Click on a city that has plenty of other pilots in it (but isn't entirely full) and then click Play. If it is just too lonely-looking, though, you can click Exit and try a different, busier arena. Configuring Your First Tank If you've got yourself a Shareware enlistment, you can skip the fun stuff below and go to the next section I call "Take the Tank for a Spin." If you've subscribed for the full tour of duty, congratulations, and read on. The home base configuration screen is where you choose and equip your tank. There are a lot of options here, buddy, but don't be dazzled. Just do what I say and you won't get hurt too bad. You see the green tank? That's a Vanguard, a real good all-around tin can. Stick with it. You see it's already got a Mark IV laser built in. To the lower right you see the numbers 1 to 7 with nothing next to them. Those are the bays into which you'll load up your toys. And to the left you see a list of goodies, like a cannon and some other lasers. Click the scroll arrow on the list of goodies (OK, Sarge calls 'em "modules") and go down the list. You need more weapons like you need a hole in your head right now, so pass up the Cannon and Missile Launcher -- save it for another day, soldier. Scroll down till you see Shield. Click it twice like your life depended on it. You'll see it appear in your list of bays to the right. It's locked and loaded. You may have seen that "Shield Boost," the next one in the list, is no longer red. Now that you have a shield, you can add on a Shield Boost. Do it. Click Shield Boost twice. You may notice that it appears twice in your list of bays. That's because a Shield Boost is a big bulky thing that looks like a refrigerator and it takes up two bays' worth of room. Believe me, buddy, it would be worth it if it took six slots. Until you learn how to tell your butt from your battery, you'll need some help of the electric kind. Click and load up on Supercharger, then Power Receiver. You've got enough juice to run a dance club. No time for dancing, though, pal; it's time to fight. You should have one bay left. Fill it with "Night Vision." The only thing scarier than your first dive into the city is the city at night. Something go wrong? Got something you don't want in your bays? Right-click anything in your bay slots to remove it. And listen up next time! Take the Tank for a Spin Suck in a deep breath and click Enter Arena. Listen up, buddy, these next couple things are real important. First thing you see is you'll be sitting on a big square of a solid color. Remember that color! Write it on the back of your hand if you have to. Any tank you see that is that color is your teammate -- and you don't want to shoot any of them. Right away you should say hi to your teammates and tell them you're a newbie. Hit the ' (apostrophe) key (next to the ENTER key, ya typing genius). The line at the bottom of the screen should clear out. Now type something like this: "Hi, I'm new at this game, so give me a break." If your teammates remember what it was like, they'll cut you some slack. Look in the chat window to the left. You should see your own words, and before long maybe some responses (in text that's the same color as your team). Now that you've covered yourself, take some time to look around. Move the stick side-to-side and take in the view. You are in your home base, about as safe as it gets. You'll probably see your teammates come in and out. Remember -- don't shoot them unless you like abuse. If it looks really dark out, push the number 4 key on your keyboard. That's your night vision. You'll want to hit that 4 key if it ever gets hard to see. OK, let's take a quick look at your indicators. Start in the middle: a picture of your tank. The white circle around it is your shields. You'll see those get darker if you're shot at (hopefully not yet). Above it you'll see an armor number. Those keep the shots that get past your shields from diggin' in too deep. Below you see a crits number. These start running out if you have no shields or armor. Once your crits hit zero, you're dead. Or at least your tank is. That'll happen and it's no big deal. You'll end up back at base with a shiny new tank. A bit to the right you see a list of your modules. This isn't too useful for you right now, so hit the F2 key so you see a map of the city instead. The flashing dot is you, in the big big world. Other dots your color are your buddies. Dots that are other colors are bad news. Stay close to your team's color and you're safer. Same goes for what you see in the upper right: your radar. You're in the center of the circle, and the V going straight up is the direction you are looking right now. Again, you want to stick by your team color. Whatever's not your team color is trouble. The yellow square is the tank you are currently targeting. Unfortunately, those bright ones in the lab didn't realize that means you can't tell if it's an enemy or a friendly. Hit the Z key to switch to a different target. When you hit the Z key, you will target the nearest enemy in front of you, so that yellow dot means trouble. The name of whomever you're targeting appears in the lower right of your screen. The color of the name shows you what team that tank belongs to. Last bit to cover. If your joystick has a "hat" control, try moving it around. You'll probably do it by accident sometime, so might as well find out now what it's like. That moves your turret back and forth and up and down. Real handy when you want to do some fancy run-and-shoot, but right now it'll just make you sick and bruised. After you've played around with it, hit the X key on your keyboard to center it again. Drive around a bit, and venture out of the base. Energy Lesson Go ahead and take a stroll through the city, being careful to watch your radar for enemies. Now don't rely too heavily on radar, since some tanks can actually configure themselves with modules that enable them to hide from radar, but be mindful of any tanks you do see. If you get attacked, fight back, but you will probably die and end up back at the base. No big deal, buddy. Just pick up where you left off. As you travel about, keep an eye on your feed meter and your battery level, both located at the lower left of your screen. Batteries power your tank. Moving and firing causes you to consume battery power, and when your energy hits empty, you're in big trouble. Should you experience an empty battery, all systems on your tank shut down, except your ability to move. But if that weren't enough punishment, your speed is severely cut, and your tank comes to a veritable crawl. If there ever was a time to be called a sitting duck, it's when you've got an empty battery. I'll let you imagine the consequences of running on empty in the middle of a heated battle. But those eggheads in Research have a solution for us grunts. To avoid a no-energy situation, you have what is called a feed meter, which allows you to track how much energy is coming into your tank. When your feed meter is in the positive (to the right of center, colored blue) your tank is receiving energy from a source or, as the case may be, from many sources. Your proximity to the source will affect your energy input. You've probably noticed that your feed meter started out very high when you were at home base, but as you traveled further out into the city, it began to drop, even to the point of being in the negative (red, and to the left of center). It doesn't matter if you're a veteran or a beginner, going into the red on your feed meter is never a good thing. You can bring back your feed to the positive by getting close to an energy source, which will always be your home base (so remember where it is!). Home base is the big square that's the color of your team, both on the map and your radar. There are other sources of energy, but if there ever was an energy source you could count on, it would be your home base. So what are these other sources of energy? Well, they take the form of Recon Stations and satellites. Take a look at your map in the lower right (press F2 if it's not there). Home base is always in the corner, but what are those hash marks located throughout the city? Those are Recon Stations, and they serve as a mini home base of sorts. These Recon Stations supply power to your tank, similarly to your home base (though as not as strong). The difference is that a Recon Station can be captured by the enemy -- thereby rendering it useless or even deadly to you until you re-capture it. Any hash marks that are colored white represent neutral Recon Stations. They don't give you any energy. The hash marks that are your color do feed you energy, and your feed meter will show it. The hash marks that are a color besides yours are an enemy team's, and they will actually suck energy out of your battery. Ain't technology grand? If you ever run out of energy and are moving real slow, look on your radar or the map for your base or for a Recon Station that's your color, and head for it. In your radar, Recon Stations will look like hollow squares. Fighting and Dying OK, buddy, time to mix it up. Once you get to feeling lucky, go ahead and take on an enemy tank. Follow your teammates around and you'll find a good fight before long. Now, before you get yourself into a whole lot of trouble, weigh out whether you have enough power in the area to fight with (remember, you consume much more energy when you begin firing) and whether the odds are in your favor. Beware following someone into their own territory, where they will be gaining energy and you'll be losing it. Avoid a two-on-one (you being the one, of course; otherwise go for it!) or any number beyond that. For now, stick with a one-on-one or, better yet, jump into a fight in progress that has good odds. With all this in mind, go ahead and get out there. You might not win, but at least you'll understand what's going on. A few things to notice, hotshot. One is that it can take a lot of hits to even wear down someone's shields. And if they manage to avoid your fire for a while, their shields will build right back up again. You can do that trick too: don't be shy about ducking around a corner when that white circle around the middle picture of your tank goes dark. And hey, maybe someone from your team will show up to help you fight. If you see a tank coughing out smoke, chances are they are close to blowing sky high, so keep at them. And if you see them run, chase them as long as your energy feed holds out. But look out for their friends! If you die, it takes a few seconds for you to realize it. It's the way the med transporter works. You'll hear a loud breaking noise, and then it'll be like your tank just doesn't respond. You may notice that your crits are at 0; that should be a clue. You're having an out-of-body experience. Soon you'll be back in the base. (Does everything look dark? Hit the 4 key to turn your night vision back on.) If you see anyone blow up (including yourself), check out the chat window. It will tell you who killed whom. If you were lucky enough to make a kill (I'm so proud) you'll see your score increase. Part of fighting is needing repairs. Shields come back if you have power, but armor and crits need special attention. It's time to learn how to use a Recon Station. Rest Stop: Using Recon Stations Remember, Recon Stations look like hollow squares in your radar and like flickering slashes in your map view. A Recon that's your color or white can serve your needs. Drive right on top of it. It may take a little lining up. Once you are really on top of it, the letter R will appear in the upper right of your screen. When you see that R, hit the ENTER key. What you see next should be a relief: the good old tank-equipping screen. You''ll see your armor and crits quickly rise. If you're not on a shareware assignment, you'll also be able to load and unload modules, if you're ready for some fun with toys. Check out the Help section on the Zone Web site for plenty of information about modules and how to use them. When you're done, click Enter Arena and get back into the fight. Stay alert, buddy! You can be attacked while sitting in a Recon. You'll hear the slams and see your armor and crits drop. If it's a weak shot, you don't have much to worry about, because your armor will heal back faster than the shots take it out of you. But if someone's really wailing on you, you can blow up right there in the Recon Station. If that's happening, get out and run for cover. Farewell, Buddy OK, hotshot, that's all the time I've got to jaw with you. This has only scratched the surface. You'll want to learn how to capture Recon Stations, steal flags, use new modules, drive different tanks, lay mines, and a bunch of other stuff. But hey, that's what Help is for on the Zone. If you need to quit and go lookin' for your mama, press ALT-Q. Check it out for a complete online manual. So watch your batteries, stick with your teammates, don't let any abuse get you down, and don't give up dying and trying. See you out in the smoking city? |
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