TU1's been out for a year now and there's some interest in the sequel Tank Universal 2, so it would be best if updates were a little more forthcoming ay?
And there's a lot of good reasons for doing this as being an indie production, there's no budget for 'focus groups' or an extensive beta testing programme.
So it's more useful than ever to have player and spectator input early on.
With this in mind, here's a screenshot of an early design of a Gorgon basenode. Note - very early.
Players of the first game might be familiar with 'hubs' - rotating columns that held a 'key' that the player could 'cajole' from the enemy and then 'derezz' at their own hub. Good stuff.
Since TU2 will have a strategic map, all permutuations will need to be covered. One of those permutations is that an area can be held by the enemy, but contain no hubs.
What to do? Certainly on lower levels the player can simply be tasked with removing any enemy tanks from the area. But this will need more development in later levels.
Enter basenodes.
Basenodes appear in hubless enemy areas and the player's aim is simply to destroy the basenode.
However a basenode is supported by powerstacks that are spread throughout a level and which are usually fortified.
Once all the powerstacks are taken down, the central basenode can be approached - although it won't be without defences (not shown here).
The stripey blocks are destructible (in fact a stripey texture on any building means that building is destructible. Some buildings will hide powerups (fear not - hub fortresses will still require sappers).
The player will need to bombard the basenode from each direction to destroy all the stripey blocks.
Once all the blocks are gone, the upper rack will begin to fall and a plunger will drop causing a massive, expanding blast (think nukes in the first game).
Hopefully the player will have left the area by that time. Given the basenode is surrounded by structures, it's likely to be quite spectacular.
