Ultra Tank-chan! is a space-combat-sim developed by Uguusoft in 2009. It is Uguusoft's first actual game, as well as our first venture into 3D development, and it only took two months to go from paper to launch! (And that includes all time needed to learn how OpenGL works) Ultra Tank-chan! is developed exclusively against Debian-based GNU/Linux systems, but it is fully functional under both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X 10.5.

Overview

Ultra Tank-chan! is a space-combat-sim in the vein of Volition's FreeSpace series, with some influences from Bandai-Namco's Ace Combat games.

Ultra Tank-chan! is notable for the number of players it supports (96 over 6 teams in the official release), its drop-in/drop-out multiplayer design, its low system requirements (it runs extremely well on an Asus eee 900, which is even more impressive when considering that the entire game was written in Python), and its quirky, likely unique, art style, which has been described as "an epic space battle in a lava lamp."

Look! Moving pictures!

Because it's always nice to know what you're potentially getting (or not getting, in the case of vapourware) before you commit time to it, we have prepared actual videos of complete, five-minute games of Ultra Tank-chan!, played over the Internet.

These videos were recorded at 15FPS, and were encoded using XviD at low bitrates, with a 50% reduction in resolution, to make them sub-15MB.

1.1.x videos, demonstrating interface enhancements and new balancing, as well as many players, will be added when free time permits.

1.0.0 videos, using keyboards (which involved jerky movements -- something fully overhauled in 1.0.1):

• Three players and gradient-shading; everyone's warming up
• Two players and cel-shading; Arashi's still getting the hang of it
• Two players and cel-shading; demonstrates that the keyboard is quite usable
• Two players and cel-shading; shows just how scary a missile-free ship can be

Getting the game and learning how to play it

Ultra Tank-chan! is Free software, so you can freely send it to friends and use it pretty much however you'd like without restriction.

If you arrived at this page because someone linked you to it and told you to "download the game," follow the links under the 'client' subsection. If, instead, you're interested in hosting a server so other people can play with you, follow the links under the 'server' section.

Note that UTc!, as officially released, is not a single-player game, so even if you just want to try it out locally to see how it works, you'll still need the server package.

UTc! client

• Download the client archive
• Get started
• Set up your controls
• Learn about the ships
• Find out about primary weapons
• Acknowledge the existence of secondary weapons
• Answers for which you might have questions

UTc! server

• Download the server archive
• Run a server

Information for developers

Ultra Tank-chan! is published under the GPLv3. Accordingly, its full source code and all assets are available for use by anyone who wants to learn how something was done or to create a derivative work, as long as the terms of this license are upheld, which basically just amounts to not telling others they can't do the same with anything you publish, and to not selling anything based on this project. (And if you could not claim you wrote all of the API libraries yourself, that would be a very nice gesture)

If you just want to work with the engine to, say, create a single-player campaign or use UTc! as a basis for developing a game of your own design, the downloads page has APIs for each significant client release.

• Remember to strip client.py and src/lobby/ out of anything you publish, since these are multiplayer-specific, and use game.py as the basis for your modifications, after removing the network code, which is pretty easy to spot.
• It might be well worth your time to pull client/sandbox.py and its archaic dependencies in client/src/sandbox/ out of Subversion and read the development tips so you can add or change models more easily, but the sandbox should not be used as the basis for a project, since it's filled with debug hacks.
• Contact us if you need help (UTc! is open so you can learn, after all), or if you want to let us know how our work is being re-interpreted, 'cause that's always something developers love to hear about.

If you want to get involved with mainline UTc! development, you should always use the most recent code to build patches:

• Source code is available via Subversion
• Note: development code is configured to be incompatible with release code
• Current API: online (unstable)
• To find out how to use the existing development tools, see the development tips

All code is meticulously commented, as per Puukusoft standards. If you find an under-documented section of code, please let us know.

Project information

Development plans

Version 1.2

May be released after PyOpenGL 3.1 hits, depending on the state of backwards-compatibility and user interest.

• OpenGL 3.1 compatibility
• Buffs and nerfs as appropriate, based on feedback
• Fixes for any bugs found prior to its release

Reception and opinions

Ultra Tank-chan! has been published on the following sites, so you might want to check their feedback sections if you're wondering what others think:

• pygame.org

Credits

Neil Tallim

• Programming, statistics, art design, 3D models, 2D artwork, HUD elements, model-mapping, playtesting, Debian/Ubuntu support

• Statistics lead, sound effects, model-mapping, playtesting, Microsoft Windows XP support

• Model-mapping lead, Mac OS X support

Contacts

red {dot} hamsterx {at} gmail