Our First Update in a While

As the other devs and I get back into BlockTanks (there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work, I promise!) I want to hit the ground running with new updates and features! In this update, we created, edited, and curated maps for the “public map pool,” or the maps that are available for voting in public matches. What’s really cool is that this is almost a 100% volunteer-led effort: the best BlockTanks players get to decide what maps should be in the game!

Why Change the Maps?

In addition to keeping the gameplay fresh, there are few goals we want to accomplish with this update specifically:

• Eliminate controversial, low-quality, and unmemorable maps: Some examples include “Trench” in 16v16 and “Invasion” in capture-the-flag.
• Improving existing maps: We improved the overall structure of some maps, and made maps more functional and streamlined.
• Increasing diversity of maps: Our new map pool involves more map creators than before!
• Bringing back OG maps: This includes maps like “Strange Dust,” “Foxtrot,” “Lanes,” “Chaos,” and more!

The Changes

Below is a table showing what maps were added and removed for each game mode.

Red denotes a removal, blue denotes an addition

One asterisk* denotes small changes made to a map

Two asterisks** denote significant changes made to a map

16v16	3v3
Final Stand 2.0 Vertical Fortress Rupture Castle Frontier* Smog Town of Nukes Ode to Jack* Crossfire** Fortress Ode to Val Mothership* Warzone Corridors Frozen Vale The River Trench [12 maps]	Blitz Strange Dust Foxtrot Blocky Tiny Town Shelter Labyrinth Halls 2.0 Mini Nukes Terror Onslaught** Smalls Spy 2.0 Bridge Battle Ring of Fire Dome [12 maps]

Payload	FFA	CTF
Lanes Chaos The Line Barracks Splinter Arena Chambers Breakout** Underground Corridor Battleground Conflict Spearhead Circuit Control Center Armories Compact [10 maps]	Sniper Valley* Colosseum Cloudscape Ambush 2.0** Gauntlet Four Corners* Battlefield** More Chambers** Park* Panic Canal Corridor Garden Valley Maze City Bunkers [11 maps]	Stronghold Meadows Summit Spiral Scramble** Arctic** Crates Flag Fortress 2.0 Fortified Surge Invasion Swamp Smashdown Icy Road Freeway [7 maps]

Credits

The maps in this update were created by the following BlockTanks users:

• JaSn
• Howie
• Wuzi
• your own mom
• Azarzar144
• Bob Ross
• The_Guest
• POW
• Cyclist

Want to help us in the next update? Connect with us on our Discord server!

What’s Next?

We hope you enjoy this map update! Here’s what you can look forward to in the coming weeks:

• Tuesday, November 21st: Another BlockTanks stream, this time with a special guest!
• Friday, December 1st: We will open up the community calendar so that everyone above level 20 can use it, not just VIP members!
• Friday, December 15th: Team balancing to keep public matches more fair.
• Beginning of 2024: New weapons and abilities!

Let us know what you think, and thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Kevin Champagne

Karate Fox Studios, CEO