Total Anihilation

[Drusky]

Darnit discovered Total Annihilation Spring and sent it my way.

Ever wondered what it would be like to see the world from the Peewee bot's eyes and fire off those twin plasma cannons.
My remarks:
Gee that Core Commander is big.... uh oh

They've 3D-erized the whole game. If you loved the first one then this is worth downloading free, yes free. And then you can go play against some unfamiliar nationalities on their servers no LAAAAG :)

[Brawler]

from where?

[Drusky]

Darnit? Where was it?... damn gonna have to google.
Edit: You'll probably find it here.
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/
Give it some getting used to. They reversed the mouse buttons, very frustrating ;)

[Darnit696]

from where?
http://www.planetannihilation.com . You might want to check the spelling of annilihation, I struggle with it, kind of comes out different everytime. Also when you get there it is a bit confusing. Basically what appears to have happened is that guys have written mods for the original TA and then also for TASpring. I thought that I needed a whole bunch of files that they have there, but no all you need is TASpring v1.25. All the rest is source code, AI mods, Map mods, Game mods add on bots etc. Its quite cool actually. It looks like the have written a 3D Version using TA as a base. Then anyone (who can program) comes along and makes a mod. Gamers like you and me pitch up, get to play the game, get bored, play a mod. This changes the whole game... new units, build hierarchies and some guys even change the graphics slightly, so on some mods all the units are "shiny", its lighting effects I think. Anyways its server based. You have to log on to this server in some obscure eastern european country. Bit of a minus really... what happens if they have another genocide... I wont be able to play my free game... :( .There is an option for a local host, I haven't been able to get it to work, but this shouldnt stop any resonably intelligent individual from figuring it out... :D . Its acutally a surprisingly small download, if I remember correctly about 60 mb. I like the fact that you can download maps, guys are adding maps all the time so you dont really run out of options there. You can also download different AI to control the computer players, to be honest I have'nt managed to download one that offers a proper challenge and does'nt bomb out (in other words you build stuff like crazy sweating it out expecting imminent onslaught, finally after 3 hours of gameplay you get the guts to wander over the hill only to find the Core commander standing there on his own.) I've only tried two or three different AIs though and there are dozens. Things I like. The 3d environment. The new units. The way the game changes with different mods. The flexability of the game, if you're on the main server and you see a map other guys are playing that you dont hve, click on map button takes you straight to a screen where all the maps are, find the map 'click' download the map, easy peasy, no wandering around look for mods and maps they got them all there.

Things I dont like. The lag. Because of where we are the lag is significant which means that you lag the game for the other players. This means that I have only tried to play with other players twice and twice I left the game due to lag. Drusky and I are the only SA players so far... but that could change ;) .

Because its free, there are bugs, not in the main programme but in some of the mods and like mentioned above some of the AI.

Give it a bash like America's Army its free. Unlike AA they don't track you. No nasties at you front door :D

If you find a kickass AI or play against good players I reckon that old adrenalin will pump. To quote someone it'll get that sphincter quivering.

PS. Check out the Vulcan Rapid fire long range Cannon. Turn up the sound on your system. Good Surround with Active base hopefully. Fire at something, the ground is the only thing that lasts long enough.Scare the living daylights out of anyone residing in your home. (I almost had to sleep on the couch for that one. :D )

Edit: Fixed that link, definitely will work.

[Darnit696]

Actually follow the link Drusky posted. Better than chancing my spelling. Also its them clan-sy fellows what made the thing as I recall. :)

[SaintMg]

damm link wont work from work i'll give it a bash later

but it sound wicked stuff how long have you'll been playing

[Darnit696]

Not Long and BF2 keeps interfering. :D

[Brawler]

ok i downloaded it but now what do i do with it

[TG]

Err... "run it" comes to mind...

:)

[Brawler]

ye but there is no single player, TA battleroom is the only app

[Darnit696]

LOL TG.
RB the mainbattle room is where you set up your game. Top left hand corner is a small square button with what is supposed be a plug icon. It's not the greatest looking icon but it connects you to the server. If you read the multivolume library (ML) I posted just above you'll see that the game has to be connected to a server in order to be played. There is an option to change the server to a local server but I aint got that to work. I'm slightly mentally challenged so thats to be expected. They've just released a patch today that fixes AI not loading properly so the issue I raised in the ML will hopefully be fixed. Just keep presssing buttons till you get it right. There are only four so its not to tuff. Remember not to forget the insignicant looking one in the corner... looks like a plug... It starts the whole thing . :D

[Drusky]

rB you can play single play. you have to add a BOT though. They all seem rather puny. Although the patch Darnit mentioned may fix this. I'm keen to play someone. Not now tho. Must run off and punish myself at Gym first. And then I want to run around the BF2 servers with my shiny new prefix :D So not tonight either. Mebe Sunday arvy.

[Brawler]

ok im in but it wont connect,always says dont have right mod bla bla bal

[Brawler]

ok i had a game, i hosted a server called nooB and some other dude from belgium joined, after about a hour we figured everythin out again(havent played TA in about 8yrs) quite fun

[Drusky]

Great. i must try and organize a game.

[Brawler]

Who wants to have a game now? I played and got my ass handed to me by some intl's even though i stipulated that they must leave me on my lonesum because i am nooB. I tweak the GFx a bit its lookin much better

[Darnit696]

Yup those international blokes are good. In the one laggy game I played, I was still trying to place my first solar collector and tis other guy already had a stream of unfriendly bots headed in my direction. A good incentive to blame the lag and leave. :)

[Ruslan74]

wow... wasnt aware that TA had such a devoted fan base still around... great underrated game for its time, RA took the honours while TA survived till today.