Action guide
Tank Battle Tips: Idle, Firing in Place and Moving Compared
Key takeaways
- On level 1, one player, the base fell in all three runs where we pressed no keys, at about 82, 106 and 104 seconds.
- Firing in place lost the base in one of three runs and scored 0, 420 and 570.
- Moving and firing scored 1240, 420 and 210, but lost the base in two of three runs and up to five lives in one.
- Two idle runs still scored 220 and 210 points without a single shot.
The first tank battle tip is not to wait: in Treadstorm level 1 the base fell in all three runs where we pressed no keys, after about 82, 106 and 104 seconds. Moving and firing scored the most, but it also cost lives, so aim before you rush.
How the game works
Treadstorm is a tank battle seen from above. Your base sits at the bottom of a brick maze and enemy tanks drive in from the upper edge. You drive with the arrow keys and fire with Space. A counter on the right shows the enemy tanks still to come, a counter on the left shows your lives, and the game ends when the base is destroyed. Enemy tanks marked with a star leave a bonus behind, and the Game Info screen lists what each bonus does, including one that adds a life and one that destroys all enemy tanks on screen.
What we measured
We played level 1 on Normal with one player, in a test browser at 1280 by 800 pixels with software rendering. We tried three methods, three runs each, for about 100 seconds per run. With no keys we pressed nothing. With fire in place we tapped Space about every 0.4 seconds without driving. With move and fire we held arrow keys in a repeating pattern, about 0.7 seconds each, and tapped Space. We read the game state every 10 seconds, so the times below are rough.
| Method | Base fell | Score | Lives lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| No keys (3 runs) | 3 of 3 (about 82, 106, 104 s) | 0, 220, 210 | 0, 1, 2 |
| Fire in place (3 runs) | 1 of 3 (about 75 s) | 420, 570, 0 | 1, 0, 0 |
| Move and fire (3 runs) | 2 of 3 (about 47, 57 s) | 1240, 420, 210 | 5, 2, 2 |
Small samples from one test browser, with a blind script that did not aim, so the numbers are rough and a human player would do very differently. Time is game time counted from the start of the level.
Why idle runs still scored
Two of the three idle runs scored points, 220 and 210, and lost a life or two. Nobody fired. The Game Info screen has a page on collisions saying that a crash destroys both the player tank and the enemy tank, which fits the points we saw, though we did not watch each crash. It is not a plan, since the base still fell every time.
4 tips that follow from the numbers
- Do not wait. With no keys, the base fell in all three runs within about 110 seconds.
- Fire while you move. The highest score, 1240, came from a run that did both.
- Do not only fire in place. One run scored 0 and another reached 570, so the shots depend on where the enemy walks.
- Watch your lives. The most active run lost five lives in 100 seconds.
Where to try it
Try it yourself in Treadstorm, alone or with a friend on one keyboard. For a different kind of shooting game, Rustwalker is a first-person robot shooter.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the base last with no input?
In our three runs it fell at about 82, 106 and 104 seconds on level 1.
Does firing in place work?
Partly: the base fell in one of three runs, and one run scored 0.
What scored highest?
A run that moved and fired reached 1240 points.
Can you score without firing?
In two idle runs we got 220 and 210 points without pressing a key, most likely from enemy tanks crashing into ours.
How do I start a level?
Click a level, then tap the screen while the level name shows.
Can two people play?
Yes, on one keyboard: W A S D with Space and the arrow keys with Num 0.