Tank Island
Version: GIT Web: http://bit.ly/2p01IGF
“Enemy bots will try to blow you up as soon as you are within reach.”
Although we’ll be shooting enemy tanks in a minute or so, some important introductory words should be provided first. TankIsland is a working example of a game developed using the Ruby language and described in a detailed step-bystep manner in the Developing GamesWithRuby book, both written by Tomas Varaneckas, a passionate Ruby enthusiast. It’s a top-down shooter made with Gosu, a 2D game development library for Ruby and C++, so the whole thing is not only about gaming, but programming as well. If you enjoy TankIsland, you can try to make a similar game yourself. There couldn’t be better documentation to the game than the thick manual for beginners in Ruby. Back to the game, however. You control a tank on a firing range within the island, which is covered with grass, woods and a sandy coastline. The landscape is quite basic and rough – each tile is just a square of given type, without any soft edges. But the graphics are more varied thanks to the fine details of various objects on the field, such as fuel barrels, hangars and wild bushes. The gameplay consists of driving your tank with WASD keys and aiming/shooting with your mouse at any other tanks. There are a total of eight players on the field: you and seven AI bots. At the beginning, before you gain certain survival skills, the game cycles you through endless respawns on random sites of the island, with enemy bots trying to blow you up as soon as you are within their reach. After a while you will likely develop a strategy of careful approach and shooting in advance – this is a key to scoring more points than the bots. There are also useful power-ups on the field that can replenish your health, improve speed and extend your firing distance. Surviving in tank duels is both challenging and fun.