TagPro

TagPro

No. of locations	Newark New York Atlanta Chicago Dallas Fremont Seattle London Paris Melbourne
Founder(s)	Nick Riggs (a.k.a. LuckySpammer)
Revenue	Advertisements donations
Website	tagpro.gg
Written in	JavaScript Node.js Pixi.js
Type of site	Browser game
Advertising	Yes
Registration	Optional
Available in	English
Current status	Online

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.^[1][2] It follows the basic rules of capture the flag, along with some modifications, including power-ups, spikes, and other map elements.

Gameplay

Players spawn in red and blue teams on opposite sides of a map. Each team is comprised of up to four players, for a maximum total of eight players per game.^[3][4][5] 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.^[1][4] 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 the neutral flag main game type, there is a single, neutral flag that both teams attempt to bring to their respective-colored end zones, typically located on the other side of the map.

Other players can "pop" the flag carrier by coming in contact with his 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. 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.

A team scores a point when they successfully return the enemy's flag to their own flag.^[6] A team cannot score while their home flag is not in its base; they must pop the enemy flag carrier before they can capture the enemy's flag. Each game lasts for 12 minutes. The first team to capture three flags wins the game. If the game time elapses and neither team has captured three flags, the team with the most captured flags wins.^[7] The players of both teams are awarded a loss if each team has captured the same number of flags when time runs out.

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.^[7] Each map contains various elements that influence gameplay alongside the most basic elements—flags and walls.

Speed pads: Commonly called 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 boosts 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, he immediately pops.

Team tiles: Team tiles grant additional acceleration and increase a player's maximum speed when on his 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: TagPro has four differently-colored gates. 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 players can freely pass through them. 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. If a player activates a switch and the gate is of his own team's color, the gate does not change colors. If a player activates a switch and the gate is of the other team's color because an opponent is activating a linked switch, the gate returns to its default color. If a player activates a switch and the gate is of the other team's color, but no opponent is activating a linked switch, the gate changes to the player's color.

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.

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").

Splats: Purely an aesthetic feature, splats appear where players have popped on the map. Splats do not appear on or near important tiles (spikes, switches, flags, etc.) so that they don't inadvertently obstruct players' view of the other elements.

End zones: In the neutral flag game mode, there are red and blue checkered tiles that are based in each of the two bases, opposite of each team (blue end zones in red team's spawns, and vice versa).

Mars Ball: The Mars Ball is a much larger ball that only exists in a retired game mode (though still playable in a private group) named the "Mars Ball" mode. The Mars Ball is not controlled by a user, but it can be moved through the in-game physics (bombs, switches, etc.) and by players simply pushing it.

Potato: In another game mode that is currently restricted to private groups, potatoes replace flags. In this game mode, carrying the potato for too long will explode and pop the player, and the potato is reset. 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: Introduced in the April Fool's event of 2015, gravity wells suck players from a small radius. Though they spawned randomly during the event, mapmakers can place them wherever they like.

Flags: Traditional maps contain two flags for the teams to fight for, the red flag and the blue flag. In the neutral flag mode, there is a single yellow flag in the middle of the map for both teams to contest over.

Walls: Players cannot move through walls. Some walls are slanted diagonally.

Power-ups

TagPro has three main power-ups, all of which spawn at the beginning of every match and respawn 1 minute after being picked up. They all last for at most 20 seconds. The time a player spends dying and respawning counts towards the powerup's time limit. Each one grants different abilities to the player using it:

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 little to no effect on the player. After a player with a rolling bomb is touched, the rolling bomb goes away, making it the only powerup 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.^[1]

Grip (colloquially Juke Juice): When a player equips the Grip powerup, it increases the maximum acceleration of his ball, which gives the player greater control over his movements as well as allowing the player to reach their maximum velocity faster.^[1]

TagPro: When a player has a TagPro, they have the ability to pop any enemy player if they collide, 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.^[1]

Top Speed: Top Speed is a retired powerup (still present on many of the retired maps) that allows the player to have a higher maximum velocity once they reach that point. Because of the fact that 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 powerup).

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, they unlock a "flair".^[1] For example, at 6°, players unlock the "Bacon" flair, which is a picture of a pig (which is in reference to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon). At 314°, players unlock the "Pi" flair, which is the pi symbol (π). Their flair and degrees shows up next to their name while in-game.^[1] As players earn degrees, the number of wins it takes to earn an additional degree increases linearly.

There are also flairs for other miscellaneous achievements, such as winning community run contests (paint palette), being a TagPro developer or a "community contributor" (2 to 1 wrenches respectively), donating a certain amount of money (thumbs up, gold coin, diamond), and for one-time special events (jester's hat for April Fools, or bunny ears for Easter).^[1]

Communication

During a game players can type messages to their team only or to both teams. Team messages are often used to discuss strategy or to alert teammates to the location of the other team's players.^[8] Many players also use VoIP application Mumble to communicate verbally during organized games.^[1]

Community

TagPro has been recognized for its particularly active community, especially on Reddit.^[7][8]

Reception

TagPro has received mostly 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".^[1] 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."^[8] 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."^[5]

References

External links

• Official website