I would have to agree, the dev's choice to stick so strictly to a retro style, namely the high score system, almost cripples the game's longevity. I wouldn't want Openfeint or another network thing implemented, but just bringing it into this century would be nice; like being able to view the scores in-game without having to wait for them to flash up, 1 entry per player on each board, and eventually I'm sure the scoring system will need to be more secure in some way. Still don't quite understand why this game isn't more popular with TA members though, guess the wire-frame graphics turn a lot of people away instantly?
The graphics look better on the actual iphone/itouch screen than they do in screenshots and youtube videos. Moreover, everything begins to look better the more you play and start processing the various events in ways that make the action seem more coherent and less overwhelming.
Ok, so this flew under my radar upon initial release, even though I saw the TA front page review of it. Anyway, someone mentioned it in the "games that need more attention" thread and it got me to go back and look at it and pick it up. So bearing in mind that I only just played one game of it, still I've got to say...it's REALLY GOOD. I LOVE the graphics. They look fantastic in motion. Gameplay is smooth as heck. Controls are perfect and natural. Not sure what will keep me coming back because there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of depth to the game other than simply high scoring, but...the game is damn fun... Playing it, I actually remember seeing it in the arcades now. In motion and on my iPod it is just so much different than screenshots or even watching gameplay videos. If this had global online multiplayer it would be the game to beat compared to all other arcade shooters out there.
This game is beyond really good (although I'm not disagreeing with you ). It is really amazing and great fun. Kudos to the player above who is scoring in the 100K range and choosing to not fill the high score board. I do like the one score player idea although I remember many and Arcade game's Zhigh Score screen (which you had to wait for) filled with all or mostly all of one person's initials!!! But you could go to the Arcade down the street or in the next town and see different initials - not so here UNLESS he implemented Regional (city? State?) high score boards in addition to the Global board.
It's at the least "REALLY GOOD" (note the all caps), although after I play it maybe another 2, 3 times or more I might say it's "FRIGGIN' AMAZING!!!" But yeah, I was pretty much grinning the entire time I was playing. Some of the most fun I've had in some time.
That sums it up. In principal, I need to share the following, since the score was not posted for some reason, and the game was epic (didn't notice any dev account here, or I would have pm'd him instead).
Wow, I need some tips. Right now my high score in combat mode is 26,800...of course I've only played 3 times so far.
Thanks. I should have searched TA instead of just browsing through this one thread, and concluding that he wasn't here. Back when around 75k-80k was my absolute max (with most games begun in insane mode ending before 40k), usually the game would end be ended by one of the following events: -hitting a mine either while navigating through a big mess of just demolished tank (especially in the center of the playfield), hitting a mine while turning in the clearing- -accidentally grabbing nukes, and then being unable to safely discharge them, or expending excessive energy avoiding the nuke item worrying what to do with it. -cutting directly across a focused line of enemy scatter fire, forgetting that their scatter ammo is quickly exhausted, or expending excessive energy avoiding fire that is aimed at other tanks. Generally, with those earlier mistakes in mind, I'm going from rocket to shield, to rocket, to scatter, to scatter, to scatter, to rocket, to shield, to unneeded shield, to unneeded shield, (if one or more unneeded shields were just dropped near an obstacle - i encircle it, expecting to take a little bit of damage and draw enemies to that point, and then quickly grab that shield and move radially outwards at full-throttle to relatively clear area, always being sure to zig-zag a bit here-and there, again distract enemy tanks until a safe distance away), to unneeded rail gun (unload those quickly), back to rocket - do S-curves like crazy on the outskirts while targeting copters and running over jeeps - then S-curving (with plenty of fake-outs, sudden full-throttle straightaways to an item to make other tanks commit to certain trajectories, and then fake again - back to the rough center of the arena, start travelling in a small circle around that center. I'll try to list some actual tips. I posted a 75k combat video, back when my best score was around 100k, but my strategy has changed, so I'll probably do another one soon. It may not be 150k, but getting over 100k should be doable, and someone seeing that might improve enough to find my score relatively credible.
Your score is credible with me . What you described sounds dead on. I tried a few times NOT shooting anything and just waiting for jeeps to spawn then running them over. John must have thought of that or it's handled automatically as the game levels up whether you kill tanks or not. So much for my grind strategy :-/ Interesting how some weapons are a liability. And once things begin to get crazy I have a hard time seeing what is nearby to pick up let alone being able to choose to drive towards shields etc.
Right now as I type, imovie is exporting a ~6 min video of a 103k game begun in Insane mode. The top half of the screen moves out of view often, and said vid is by no means intended to be definitive of sound VTE strategy in general, but it's a start. It also helps that the score made was also submitted to the top 10, unlike the previous 75k video that I posted over a week ago. As you described, it's taxing to visually resolve all the PPP's (Plentiful Purple Powerups) in the midst of chaos, but thankfully repetition brings familiarity. Often the shields seem to get picked up accidentally anyway, such as when mowing down several distracted tanks in a row and picking whatever items they drop. The key to making it through the mess to the next shield is to zig-zag a little bit, even in the middle of what averages out to be a straightaway to that item. That way, by the time the shield is gotten, enemy tank fire has already begun to focus on other points, or it could be the case that they're targeting each other more often as a result of being confused by all the erratic driving, giving up a poor target (me) in favor of the others. What's odd is that I often lose very quickly when beginning a game in Expert mode, so it's quite possible that my strategy (and occasional lack thereof) depends on the presence of many enemy tanks, and hence shield pickups, from the get-go. Edit: Here's the link to a 103k game in Insane mode. I'd embed it, but the quality is poor enough that the dev probably wouldn't appreciate having everyone see the game the way I present it (low-res, top of screen moving out of view, etc.). The first life is lost at 67K (right around the 3:14 mark in the video), and you can see a shield powerup centered right behind the shattered glass, about to be grabbed right before I succumbed to enemy fire. In the vid I'm pretty much just staying alive, and and not taking too many risks like chasing jeeps. Points from choppers add up pretty quickly, btw, and it's not difficult to down them with several rockets fired at once from a medium distance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbUDGXWWaR8
Thanks for the tips and video Grubjelly. Will check that out shortly. By the way, as much as I enjoy this, does what do you all think about getting Vector Tanks Classic? Is it worth having if I already have Extreme?
Haven't tried the classic version. I can't see why anyone would want that one over VTE, except to get smoother performance on a 1st gen device.
I guess it's just the same thing sans voices and some weapons, maybe slowed down somewhat, huh? That's what I was thinking, anyway.
Classic is the same game as the original Vector Tanks released last year under Chillingo (with minor upgrades). IIRC, no helicopters, shields, rail guns or rapid fire, and (the big thing), only one tank to combat at a time. It feels downright mundane compared to Extreme. It was a great game in its own right when it came out, but Extreme is on another level altogether and, at least for me, there's no turning back. Maybe if you're looking for a nice, relaxing game of tank combat after a frantic bout of Extreme, Classic would be good to keep on hand...
Wow, only one tank at a time? Can the enemy tanks take multiple hits in that? If so, it could be more of a strategic game by comparison.
Nope - still one hit. I don't know if it's the same in Classic, but in the original, you got more points the longer range your shot was. This meant a majority of my time was spent backing up from the enemy until they were out of sight, then literally shooting in the dark until I hit them (backing up and turning occasionally to avoid their shots). One thing I love about Extreme is that enemies drop powerups when you kill them, which gives you incentive to go straight into the battle, not back up from it. I don't mean to bad mouth the game, because it was truly one of my favorite games when it came out. A lot of great stuff was in there including the major nuke shockwaves, great feel and atmosphere. I was always looking forward, though, to the upgrades Peter Hirschberg talked about early on that never came under the Chillingo banner.
