TagPro

Last updated
TagPro
TagPro logo.png
Tagpro gameplay screenshot.png
Type of site
Browser game
Available inEnglish
No. of locations
Founder(s) Nick Riggs (a.k.a. LuckySpammer)
Revenue
URL tagpro.koalabeast.com
Advertising Yes
RegistrationOptional
Current statusOnline
Written in

TagPro is a free-to-play online multiplayer capture the flag video game originally designed and programmed by Nick Riggs. The first version was released in February 2013, after Riggs began experimenting with software platform Node.js. The game is named after one of its three obtainable power-ups.[ citation needed ] [1] It follows the basic rules of capture the flag, along with some modifications, including power-ups, spikes, and other map elements.

Contents

Gameplay

Players spawn on opposing sides of a map after being assigned to a team. Each team consists of up to four players, for a maximum total of eight players per game. [2] [3] [4] The player controls a ball using the WASD keys or the arrow keys. Players may obtain power-ups and interact with the various game elements, using them to their team's advantage or to hinder the opposing team. [3] In the traditional game type, players must transport the enemy's flag from the enemy's spawn area to their own spawn area, avoiding enemy players and hazards. In an alternate game type, neutral flag, there is only one flag that both teams compete over to bring to their respective-colored end zones, typically located on the opposite side of the map from the teams' respective spawn area.

Other players can "pop" the flag carrier by coming in contact with their ball. Popping a flag carrier restores the flag to its original base, causes an invisible explosion at the location of the popped ball, and forces the popped ball to respawn. However, if both flag carriers touch each other, both players will pop and both flags will be reset unless one of them has a rolling bomb power up (see below). In the neutral flag game type, the flag carrier transfers the flag to the opponent that pops them. If the flag carrier is popped by an element, the flag is reset to its starting point, typically at the center of the map. The flag is also reset if the flag carrier has a TagPro and is touched by an enemy player (both players pop).

A team scores a point when it successfully returns the enemy's flag to the home location of the team's own flag. [5] A team cannot score while their home flag is in enemy possession; the team must pop the enemy flag carrier before it can capture the enemy's flag. TagPro games last for up to 6 minutes, and end either when a team earns a 3 points differential to win the game. If the game time elapses and both teams are tied, a sudden death overtime starts, where a single cap wins the game, and where all flag carriers are automatically awarded juke juice powerups, and all players receive accumulating and increasing death penalties in the form of increased spawn times. [6]

Elements

Games of TagPro take place in arenas called maps. A map is randomly chosen for each game from a selection that is changed approximately once a month. [6]

Walls: These stationary blocks come in multiple shapes, and blocks all balls from going through. They bounce just a little bit, to make juking off of walls a possibility.

Speed pads (colloquially Boosts): Speed pads are stationary elements that increase a player's speed to three times their normal speed when the player's ball rolls over them. Yellow-colored speed pads can be used by either team, and red and blue-colored boosts can only be used by balls of the same color. Speed pads become inactive for ten seconds after use.

Spikes: Spikes are fixed, round elements. When a player touches a spike, the player immediately pops.

Team tiles: Team tiles grant additional acceleration and increase a player's maximum speed when on their respective team's color. Being on the other team's color has no effect on a player. The effects of the team tiles can stack with the grip power-up (see below) and any boosts. Team tiles have no effect on a player carrying the flag.

Gates: Gates selectively obstruct balls based on the color of the gate and the color of the ball. Red and blue gates allow players of the same color to pass through them. If a player touches a gate of the opposite color, they pop. The green gate pops players of both teams. The gray gate has no effect on either team, and acts as a regular tile. Each gate has a default color that it exists in at the beginning of each game. Gates can change color when activated by a switch, usually to the color of the player who steps on the switch. However, if one or more players from each team simultaneously activates a gate, the gate will revert to its original state.

Switches: Commonly called buttons, switches can be used to control the colors of a gate, as well as set off bombs. There is no limit to the number of switches that can be linked to a single gate or bomb, nor is there a limit to the number of gates and/or bombs a switch can activate.

Bombs: When a player touches a bomb, or a switch that is connected to a bomb (see above), the bomb detonates and pushes the player (and any other players caught in the blast radius) away from it with a high velocity, similar to a speed pad. They respawn 30 seconds after each use. A bomb's blast radius is not obstructed by walls.

Portals: A portal is an element that allows for instantaneous teleportation from one tile to another. They can be configured by the map author to operate in one or two directions. Map authors can also configure portals' respawn times ("cooldowns").

End Zones: In the neutral flag game mode, there are red and blue checkered tiles in each of the two bases, opposite of each team (blue end zones in red team's spawns, and vice versa). Players must take the flag to the end zone of their own color to score.

Mars ball: The Mars ball is a large ball that is not controlled by a user, but can be moved by in-game physics (bombs, switches, etc.) and by players pushing it. If a team manages to push the Mars Ball to the other team's flag, the team is awarded three points.

Potato: Potatoes replace flags in a specialized game mode. In this game mode, carrying the potato for too long will cause it to explode, popping the player and resetting the potato. The explosion doesn't occur if the potato is captured, or the player holding it dies by other causes. The potato's explosion timer can be configured before the game.

Gravity Wells: Gravity Wells draw players toward them within a fixed radius. If a player touches a gravity well, the player pops.

Power-ups

TagPro has three main power-ups, all of which spawn 1 minute after the beginning of every match, then 1 minute after being picked up. The effects of power-ups last for 20 seconds, and although multiple power-ups can be used simultaneously, power-ups are not stackable (attaining 2 of the same type of power-up will not increase the duration to 40 seconds). The time a player spends dying and respawning counts towards the power-up's time limit.

Rolling bomb: When a player is equipped with this power-up and contacts an enemy, the enemy (and all other nearby players, friend or foe) are pushed away from the player, with no effect on the player. After a player with a rolling bomb is touched, the rolling bomb goes away, making it the only power-up in the game to be potentially one-use. Thus, the rolling bomb acts as a sort of second life for the player. If a player is carrying the enemy's flag, has rolling bomb, and is touched by an enemy player, the player will still hold the flag, and must be touched by an enemy player again to get popped. However, players can still die with a rolling bomb if they hit a spike or a gate.[ citation needed ] In 2021, some tweaks were made to the powerup, including the ability to save players from spikes and gates. Additionally, it only detonates when saving the player from death, and thus it is no longer possible to remove the rolling bomb by making contact with the player who has it. The player with Rolling Bomb can also activate it at any time by pressing space.[ citation needed ]

Grip (colloquially Juke Juice): When a player equips the Grip power-up, it increases the maximum acceleration of their ball, which gives the player greater control over their movements as well as allowing the player to reach their maximum velocity faster.[ citation needed ]

TagPro: When a player has TagPro, they have the ability to pop any enemy player they collide with, regardless of whether or not the opponent is carrying the flag. Unlike the rolling bomb, however, if the player is holding a flag while they have TagPro, and are touched by an enemy player, they will pop (as will the enemy who touched them) and lose the flag.[ citation needed ]

Top speed: Top speed was a power-up that allows the player to have a higher maximum velocity once they reach that point. Because a player had to accelerate first in order to reap the effects of this powerup, it was retired, as it was deemed to be too weak and the effects not noticeable (i.e. a weaker and earlier version of the Grip power-up).

Other aspects

Leveling up and flair

In TagPro, players' levels are expressed in degrees (°). Players begin the game at 0° and gain degrees by winning games. When a user reaches certain degrees or completes a miscellaneous achievement, they unlock a "flair".[ citation needed ] Their flair and degrees shows up next to their name while in-game.[ citation needed ] Degrees are earned by winning games, with each successive degree requiring more wins than the last.

Event Flairs are awarded for specific performance during special events such as on holidays like Christmas and St. Patrick's Day. Often the game developers will create a brand new alternate gametype for the special event.

Communication

Players can communicate using an in-game chat feature. Players can send messages to all players, to their team only or if they are in a group they can send chat to their group. Team messages are often used to discuss strategy or to alert teammates to the location of the other team's players. [7] Many players also use VoIP applications such as Mumble and Discord to communicate verbally during organized games.

Modding

Mods in TagPro are supported by the developers through the use of texture packs. There are many pre-made texture packs that can be changed from the profile page, and many more custom texture packs have been made and shared by community members.

TagPro also has an unorganized community of modders that make all sorts of visual, auditory or mechanics changing additions to the game. These are mainly in the form of userscripts, but there are also a few browser extensions available. A list of most of them can be found on the official TagPro wiki on their reddit community. [8]

Competitive TagPro

The North American-based Major League TagPro (MLTP), which is based on the traditional capture-the-flag game style, is the most well-known and longest-running TagPro league, with its first season dating back to June 2013. Competitive TagPro leagues begin with a draft pick when club franchises can submit bids for players; draft picks are typically streamed live on Twitch. Minor League TagPro (mLTP) is MLTP's second division, while Novice League TagPro is its third and lowest tier (NLTP). The player bases for the organized TagPro leagues in Europe (ELTP) and Oceania (OLTP) are equally devoted.

Community

TagPro has been recognized for its particularly active community, especially on Reddit. [6] [7] The community often hosts tournaments, including several world championships and charity fundraising tournaments. The TagPro community has developed many organized competitive environments based around the many game type variations, including standard capture the flag, neutral flag, TagPro Racing, Eggball, and special event speedrunning challenges.

Reception

TagPro has received positive reviews. Peter Cilento of The Richest gave a mostly positive review, as he listed ten "reasons you need to start playing TagPro", two of which were "You can play with friends or strangers" and "it's addicting".[ citation needed ] Max Mallory of Indie Game Insider said TagPro "Is an amazing game" and complimented the fact that "Your basic TagPro arsenal isn’t in-game weapons or player boosts, but your ability to predict the positions of your opponents." [7] Tom Sykes of PC Gamer listed TagPro as one of the games in his "free webgame round-up". He wrote, "TagPro doesn't look like much, and it's a little too ad-heavy for my liking, but there's a tactical, seemingly well balanced online multiplayer game waiting for you behind all that." [4]

Related Research Articles

Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill the other players' characters as many times as possible. The deathmatch may end on a frag limit or a time limit, and the winner is the player that accumulated the greatest number of frags.

In video gaming, camping is a tactic where a player obtains an advantageous static position, which may be a discreet place which is unlikely to be searched. The tactic is employed both in single-player games and online multiplayer games, but is usually more effective in an online multiplayer game, as AI opponents in single-player games may be aware of the player's position, even if they are visually hidden. The tactic varies depending on the type of game. In first-person shooters, it generally involves a player waiting in one location for other players to approach, then killing them before being noticed, or before the other players can react to their presence. By camping, a player is able to learn and adapt to the limited environment they are playing in, noting specific points to check repetitively. By following this method with little fault, a lower number of deaths can be achieved. In other cases, players may wait in an area to gain access to items or perform actions before other players who are not camping have the chance to do so.

<i>Unreal Tournament 2003</i> 2002 video game

Unreal Tournament 2003 is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes, and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The game is part of the Unreal franchise, and is a sequel to 1999's Unreal Tournament. Like its predecessor, the game is designed mainly for multiplayer gaming.

<i>Unreal Tournament 2004</i> 2004 first-person shooter video game

Unreal Tournament 2004 is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. Part of the Unreal franchise, it is the third game in the Unreal Tournament series and the sequel to Unreal Tournament 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capture the flag</span> Traditional outdoor sport

Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more 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. Enemy players can be "tagged" by players when out of their home territory and, depending on the rules, they may be out of the game, become members of the opposite team, be sent back to their own territory, be frozen in place, or be sent to "jail" until freed by a member of their own team.

<i>Tribes: Vengeance</i> 2004 video game

Tribes: Vengeance is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and released by Vivendi Universal Games in October 2004. It was built on an enhanced version of the Unreal Engine 2/2.5, which Irrational Games called the Vengeance engine. Part of the Tribes series, in addition to its multiplayer network maps, Vengeance includes a complete single-player campaign.

Firearms is a first-person shooter mod for Half-Life which originated from a Quake modification. Initially developed in 1998, Firearms was created as a quasi-realistic team-based FPS. The mod's main feature is the large amount of usable weapons in the game.

<i>Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix</i> 2002 video game

Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software, the sequel to Soldier of Fortune. It was developed using the id Tech 3 engine as opposed to the original's id Tech 2, and published in 2002. Once again, Raven hired John Mullins to act as a consultant on the game. Based on criticisms of the original game, Raven Software developed Soldier of Fortune II to be a more "realistic" game, with more modern tactical shooters like Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (2001) and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (1998) serving as inspirations, rather than Quake (1996).

In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of an entity from the game world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touch rugby</span> Derivatives of rugby involving touching instead of tackling

Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby football in which players do not tackle each other but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball.

GoldenEye: Source is a total conversion mod developed using Valve's Source engine. GoldenEye: Source is a multiplayer remake of the 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007, itself based on the James Bond film GoldenEye. The mod's development began in 2005, and remains in active development as of 2019.

<i>Gore: Ultimate Soldier</i> 2002 video game

Gore: Ultimate Soldier, also known as simply Gore, is a first-person shooter video game for Microsoft Windows, released on June 5, 2002. It was published by DreamCatcher Interactive and developed by 4D Rulers.

<i>Super Glove Ball</i> 1990 video game

Super Glove Ball is a game made by Rare in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, specifically designed to be played with the Power Glove controller. However, it can also be played with a standard NES controller. It was sold separately from the Power Glove.

Quake Live is a first-person arena shooter video game by id Software. It is an updated version of Quake III Arena that was originally designed as a free-to-play game launched via a web browser plug-in. On September 17, 2014, the game was re-launched as a standalone title on Steam.

<i>Challenge ProMode Arena</i> 2000 video game

Challenge ProMode Arena is a freeware modification for id Software's first-person shooter computer game Quake III Arena (Q3A). CPMA includes modified gameplays that feature air-control, rebalanced weapons, instant weapon switching and additional jumping techniques. It also supports the unmodified vanilla Quake III (VQ3) physics, multi-view GameTV and demos, enhanced bots artificial intelligence, new maps, highly customisable HUD and many other features.

<i>Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad</i> 2011 video game

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad and Rising Storm GOTY, now known as Rising Storm/Red Orchestra 2 GOTY on Steam, is a tactical multiplayer first-person shooter video game set during World War II, developed and published by Tripwire Interactive. It is a sequel to Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. The title focuses heavily on the Battle of Stalingrad and the Pacific Theater. The game was released in September 2011. The game is currently a Windows exclusive and contains many new features compared to the original, including a new first-person cover system, which can also be combined with blind firing, first person collision detection, Commander role and abilities as well as an entirely new system of statistics tracking and player levelling. Maps are much bigger and had immediate 64-player support.

<i>Grid Runner</i> 1996 video game

Grid Runner is an action game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Microsoft Windows in 1996. It is frequently described as a cross between tag and capture the flag, but the playing field is a maze-like grid which the players can manipulate to an extent. Players can either compete against each other in one-on-one matches or take on a series of AI opponents in the game's story mode. Grid Runner was first announced under the title "Eurit".

<i>Zumas Revenge!</i> 2009 video game

Zuma's Revenge! is a 2009 tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, as a sequel to the earlier 2003 video game, Zuma, and was later ported to Windows Phone.

Unreal Tournament was a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games. It is the ninth game in the Unreal franchise, the fifth game in the Unreal Tournament series, and the first entry to be released since 2007's Unreal Tournament 3. The game utilizes Epic's Unreal Engine 4 and was released for free on Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. The game was released as an alpha in 2014, but was never completed due to Epic Games' focus on Fortnite Battle Royale.

<i>Ninja Tag Team: Slash n Dash</i> 2019 video game

Ninja Tag Team: Slash n' Dash is an endless running video game created by Greek indie developer Konstantinos Apostolakis under the name of "Gortyn Code". The game was released for Android on 12 May 2019.

References

  1. "How to Play TagPro in 60 Seconds". YouTube . Google. May 23, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  2. Gomez, David (July 4, 2014). "Review: TagPro". The Metropolist. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Marner, Aaron (February 19, 2014). "Tagpro: Capture the Flag on steroids". The WEB. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Sykes, Tom (June 27, 2013). "The Free Webgame Round-Up". PC Gamer . Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  5. Brye, Ethelyn (May 6, 2014). "Tagpro With Friends: Capture The Flag On Speed". CYANOSAUR. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Freirich, August (June 25, 2014). "TagPro – Capture the Flag has never been so much fun". Gameverse. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Mallory, Max (May 8, 2014). "Multiplayer Mixdown: What Indie Developers Can Learn from TagPro". Indie Game Insider. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  8. "modding - TagPro". reddit.com. Retrieved 2017-11-08.