Tread Marks
Encyclopedia
Tread Marks is a 3D
, third-person perspective, multiplayer-focused tank
combat and racing
computer game developed by Longbow Digital Arts. The game won the 2000 Independent Games Festival
grand prize, later renamed to the Seumas McNally
award in honor of the game's lead programmer
who died on 21 March, 2000, after receiving the award.
Tread Marks has three gameplay
modes:
The race and battle modes can be played in either team or single-player mode.
tanks, has decided to abandon its human masters and just go have some fun.
The tanks come in two varieties: steel and liquid. The steel
tanks resemble real-life tanks, while the liquid
types are whimsical fantasy tanks. Weapon
s and power-up
s are scattered around the map
s, and range in destructive power from light machine gun
s to tactical nuclear missiles.
Many modifications can be found online, including new maps, tanks, and weapons.
to render its 3D graphics and uses the Miles Sound System
for positional sound. The in-game terrain
is deformable (e.g. the nuclear missile explosions create a huge black crater in the terrain, while its "opposite", the Matterbomb, creates a huge mountain
on the terrain), though this feature doesn't harm performance. It utilizes a Binary-Triangle Tree-based dynamic view dependent level of detail
height field renderer, programmed by Seumas McNally, for the in-game deformable terrain. Tread Marks can be played over a LAN
, or over the Internet
and includes a program for running a dedicated game server
, which lists the computer it runs from on the master server. The master server in turn is operated by Longbow Digital Arts from a location in Toronto, Canada, and is currently found at IP address 38.112.120.110.
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
, third-person perspective, multiplayer-focused tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
combat and racing
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
computer game developed by Longbow Digital Arts. The game won the 2000 Independent Games Festival
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
grand prize, later renamed to the Seumas McNally
Seumas McNally
Computer game programmer Seumas McNally , was the founder, president and lead programmer of independent game development company, Longbow Digital Arts...
award in honor of the game's lead programmer
Lead programmer
A lead programmer is a software engineer in charge of one or more software projects. Alternative titles include Development Lead, Technical Lead, Senior Software Engineer, Software Design Engineer Lead , Software Manager, or Senior Applications Developer...
who died on 21 March, 2000, after receiving the award.
Tread Marks has three gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
modes:
- Race mode, in which tanks must race around an off-road course while attempting to stop other tanks from completing the course. Common techniques include using the in-game weapons to attack opponents and using physical tank contact to temporarily 'push' opponents off the course.
- Battle mode (deathmatchDeathmatch (gaming)Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
, or DM), in which the tank or team with the most fragFrag (video gaming)Frag is a computer and video game term originating from the word fragging, a term indicating to kill an unpopular superior officer with a fragmentation grenade. A frag is roughly equivalent to "kill", with the typical main difference that the player being "fragged" can instantly respawn in most...
s win as soon as the global frag or time limit is reached. - Capture the Flag mode (CTFCapture the flagCapture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
) in which there are two or more teams of tanks that compete by trying to capture one of the other team's flags.
The race and battle modes can be played in either team or single-player mode.
About the game
You are in control of an artificially intelligent tank, that along with its fellow AIAi
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
tanks, has decided to abandon its human masters and just go have some fun.
The tanks come in two varieties: steel and liquid. The steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
tanks resemble real-life tanks, while the liquid
Liquid
Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...
types are whimsical fantasy tanks. Weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s and power-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s are scattered around the map
Map
A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
s, and range in destructive power from light machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s to tactical nuclear missiles.
Many modifications can be found online, including new maps, tanks, and weapons.
Technical aspects
The game uses OpenGLOpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
to render its 3D graphics and uses the Miles Sound System
Miles Sound System
Miles Sound System , formerly known as Audio Interface Library , is a sound software system primarily for video games and used mostly as an alternative for low-end audio chipsets. It uses little CPU time while providing adequate audio output. It was originally a middleware driver library for...
for positional sound. The in-game terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
is deformable (e.g. the nuclear missile explosions create a huge black crater in the terrain, while its "opposite", the Matterbomb, creates a huge mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
on the terrain), though this feature doesn't harm performance. It utilizes a Binary-Triangle Tree-based dynamic view dependent level of detail
Level of detail
In computer graphics, accounting for level of detail involves decreasing the complexity of a 3D object representation as it moves away from the viewer or according other metrics such as object importance, eye-space speed or position....
height field renderer, programmed by Seumas McNally, for the in-game deformable terrain. Tread Marks can be played over a LAN
Län
Län and lääni refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010....
, or over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and includes a program for running a dedicated game server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
, which lists the computer it runs from on the master server. The master server in turn is operated by Longbow Digital Arts from a location in Toronto, Canada, and is currently found at IP address 38.112.120.110.