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-------- Absolute Annihilation Setup and Readme v4.4 --------
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November 10, 2004
Read this at least once, or I'll get you.
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Minimum System Specifications:
400~ Mhz Intel
64 MB of system memory
4-meg video card
Windows 95
DirectX 5
Total Annihilation Retail 3.1c
No 3rd party units
Recommended System Specifications:
1+ Ghz Intel
512 MB of system memory
32-meg video card
Windows 98
DirectX 9
Total Annihilation Retail 3.1c
Core Contingency
No 3rd party units
My System Specifications: (you want to be cool like me, don't you?)
2.8 Ghz Intel
512 MB system memory
128 MB Radeon 9800P
WinXP Pro
DX9.1c
Total Annihilation Retal 3.1c
Core Contingency
Battle Tactics
Absolute Annihilation
Big speakers
AA's sytem requirements are higher than regular TA. To improve performance, make
sure to play with TRUE or CIRCULAR line of sight enabled. Also, clear out your
Temporary Internet Files, Temp, Cookies, Recent, and History directories. Defrag,
virus scan, and AdAware regularly.
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Mod Summary:
Absolute Annihilation is the product of hundreds of hours of exhaustive testing and
very hard work. It has, in my opinion and that of many others, turned out extremely
well. This mod doesn't have as many units as packs such as TAUIP or UTASP, but I
think that mine is of a higher quality overall. I played with those mods for over a
year, and in that time I can still remember a lot of units which were not merely
unbalanced, but often times either completely game-dominating or completely useless.
The most satisfying, long-lasting mod experience I've ever had is with Uberhack by
Brave Sir Robin. The key to Uberhack was that the game was added to, without taking
anything away from the original game in the process. This is what I hope to
accomplish with AA, but on a larger scale. It's like what the game WOULD be if units
were still being released weekly from Cavedog.
I've added about 175 units in all. AA is, first and foremost, a mod about balance,
not about ridiculous numbers of units. Shipyards, aircraft plants and the like have
only got two menus worth of units. The Core K-Bot Lab doesn't have even a single
new one, and the arm version has only one extra! This is because I felt that what
was already in place didn't need anything else. This IS Total Annihilation we're
talking about - the game with more stock units than any other RTS to date!
My goal with AA is to make it so that for every form of attack or defense, there
is a countermeasure available. There are no defenses too strong, and no attack too
potent to find a way to beat it.
Hovercraft are now worth building, so give them a try. Scout hover weapons have
been tweaked to give a sort of "Flash-on-water" feel to them, and there are now
heavy hovercraft available to each side which are comparable to a destroyer in
firepower. In addition, there are also radar and radar jamming hovers available,
allowing land stealth tactics to be adapted to water battles.
If you've been watching the "unit IDs used" bit steadily decreasing, it's not a
typo. I've actually been removing units - but only ones which I felt were beyond
salvaging. These removed units have had their roles given to lesser units which
you probably didn't regularly build before.
Also, I'd like to mention that many units, including some Cavedog ones, have been
seriously altered and do completely different things, and that 9 out of 10 units have
been changed in some way from how they were origninally designed. It'll take a while
to learn all these differences, I know, but in the end it's worth it. The point is,
you should build every unit at least once, if only just to see what it does. Many
units that were largely useless or not worth building are now very important. For
example, the EMP and Neutron launchers now fire medium-range cruise missiles which
are extremely effective for destroying rushes of small units or doing that last bit
of damage necessary to take down a retreating 'mech.
Next, I've changed the movement abilities of construction units around a bit.
Construction vehicles' turning speed has been reduced slightly, while kbots have
been given a slight boost to their top speed and building range. While
vehicles are significantly better builders for large projects such as RFLRPCs,
kbots are by far superior in guarding construction facilities and boosting their
production rate. You can fit four construction kbots in the same space as one
vehicle would normally occupy.
All of the units I've included can be found at at least one of the following:
Unit Evaluation Center - http://www.planetannihilation.com/tauec
Core Prime - http://www.planetannihilation.com/coreprime
Unit Review Central - http://www.tauniverse.com/urc
Here's a nifty addition to the mod since 1.0 - when the intro movie pops up,
just push the spacebar and hold it down to immediately jump into a skirmish game
with your most recent settings! Cool, eh? Not exactly a marvel of engineering,
but it makes it a bit quicker to get into a game. That's what's important, right?
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Compatibility:
Don't use any other 3rd party material in the same install as AA, unless it is
known to have been made specially compatible. Do not use TA Conflict Crusher or
Unit Manager with AA. I warned you. Do not install the latest TAMEC HPI files,
as they are already included. (2004F)
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Main Features:
- 100% conflict-free
- 100% stable
- Sexy new "glowy" textures
- 494 Units
- 250 Weapons (all listed with ID in addon dev readme)
- Includes improved and customized Banzai 3.0 AI
- Includes latest TAMEC 2004 "Final" HPI sets
- Includes Dark Rain's map selection GUI
- Includes Gnome's MP lounge GUI
- Mac-compatible audio (should be)
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Installation:
1) Delete your current TA directory.
2) Install TA again.
3) Download and install 3.1 patch.
4) Run AA Installer.
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Uninstallation:
1) Run the Uninstaller. Duh.
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Maps:
These are the maps which are included in the AAMaps file, and my personal rating:
Barriers 7/10
Caydroni 9/10
Duel 9/10
Fractured Island 10/10
Fractured Island II 7/10
Fragged 8/10
Great Divide II 9/10
Long Division 7/10
Quad Rivers 8/10
Scorched Oythe 9/10
Sea Battle 10/10
Sea Battle FFA 10/10
The High Ground 8/10
Void (remake) 10/10
Void V 7/10
These are honest ratings, I've made about 3 dozen or so good maps but these are my
very best. I'd appreciate feedback on them if you have the time. You can recognize
my maps by the "Free Drinks!" in the lower right corner of the map description. :)
Most of AA's maps are intended to be played against a human opponent. Even though
the AI has been improved greatly by Banzai and my own relatively minor tweaks, it
still doesn't have the sense to adapt to certain things. Features which block
pathfinding (trees, rocks, lava spires, etc) bother it. You've not lived until you
play one of your friends on Sea Battle or Duel!
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Stability:
I have tested the game in multiplayer on dozens of occasions with no difficulties
whatsoever, even with lenthly battles (about 4 hours gametime) on large maps.
AA 4.3 has been tested on 3 Windows XP-based systems and 2 Win98 systems with NO
crashes or error messages.
Use "Epic" maps (anything over 40x40 in size) at your own risk. Don't blame me
when your AI can't pathfind - this happens with any configuration.
If you have any problems, be sure to email me with when the crash takes place and
any other information you can provide, and I'll see if I can figure out what's going
wrong. My email's at the bottom of this doc. Please do not use MSN to send bug
reports - use either the forum, or my email.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: I get this crash during the loading screen... what's up?
A: You have 3rd party stuff installed.
Q: I don't have any 3rd party units installed!
A: Well, then, uninstall TA, delete its directory, and install the stuff again in the
following order:
Total Annihilation
Core Contingency (if applicable)
Battle Tactics (if applicable)
TA 1.x -> 3.1c patch
Absolute Annihilation
If, after doing this you still get crashes, email me.
Q: X unit is WAY too powerful! I keep getting thrashed! Not even Y unit can stop it!
A: Well, try building units on your side that you don't build very often. Sometimes,
they will hold the key to destroying X unit.
Q: Core is WAAAY too strong!
A: Core's strength lies in its superior firepower, while Arm's lay in its superior
tactical units. Use these special units to your advantage and you'll be fine.
Q: Arm's rushing ability is just too powerful. When I play as Core, they're all over
me before I get a chance to start building my superior level 2 units.
A: LLTs, HLLTs, and later Doomsday Machines are the most effective deterrent against
rush-style attacks. Use them in large numbers, and spread them throughout your
base.
Q: I have an unexplained crash... it happens at X time, or when I build Y.
A: Refer to question one. If this doesn't solve your problem, email me. Please
describe the crash in as much detail as you can.
Q: Gah!!! Pathfinding by the large units is AWFUL!
A: Somewhere along the path you've given your unit, the trees, rocks or terrain is
too thick for it to maneuver through. Either blow up the offending trees, or
use a heavy transport (Seahook, Dragonfly) to lift your unit past the area.
Q: A bunch of the AI constructors are nanolathing into... nothing.
A: Whatever they're building is cloaked. Sneaky, sneaky.
Q: Mexxes and Mohos don't spin at the regular speed, what's wrong?
A: Actually, this was purely intentional. I've merely decreased the speed at which
they rotate by about 40%. They still give the same metal output, they just look
a bit less idiotic on metal maps and full (2.0) metal patches.
Q: What happened to all the spinning dudes when guys were getting built? Now it's
all lame and non-spinnical...
A: Yes, yes, you're right - I'm sorry. The benefits of this change outweigh the
problems, though. Units no longer spin in place like idiots when they're done
being built.
Q: I've tried rushing him with peewees _AND_ rushing him with flashes, but I get no
results. Any ideas?
A: Artillery and heavy weapons are necessary for any serious mid- to late-game
attack.
Q: Alright, I've made a little headway with artillery, but now I need to clear a way
through his plasma cannons.
A: Merls, Diplomats, Dominators, Tremors, Orions, Penetrators... There's more. Take
your pick.
Q: What do I do about fortress walls? I can't crack em.
A: Vulcans, Buzzsaws, Krogoths, and Orcones are the most obvious choice. You can
also try just walking a constructor up and reclaming them, but you won't make any
friends this way.
Q: The game gets stuck at "synching" in multiplayer.
A: Just have your friends all leave and re-enter the room. This is a bug in TA's
netcode and occasionally affects ALL Total Annihilation multiplayer games -
modded or not.
Q: Minefields don't seem to have very much effect. My enemy just clears a narrow
path and then keeps on using it.
A: I recommend building obstacle fields instead - build an equal mix of mines,
dragons teeth, and LLTs. Your enemy WILL eventually clear the same path, but it
will take much longer. The mines kill stuff, the dragons teeth will make units
have to maneuver all over the place (and into mines), and the LLTs will ensure
that they don't just send a bunch of light units through to make a path through
the mines. Minefields, like any other defense, need maintenance.
Q: My heavy flakkers AREN'T SHOOTING!
A: Every shot a heavy flakker takes requires a small amount of metal and energy...
So if you run out of either one, there goes your air cover. Hee hee.
Q: But what about the core atomic bomber?
A: The reason I decided to remove this unit is because it's an unfair ability to
give to Core. Core already has the incredibly-powerful Krow.
Each side now has a superweapon in each category:
for the kbot line, core has the Krogoth, arm has the Orcone.
for the vehicle line, core has the Tremor, arm has the Penetrator.
for the air line, core has the Krow, arm has the Liche.
for the sea line, core has the Shaolin, arm has the Abel.
Q: No matter what I do, I can't crack my opponent's base... This is getting boring.
A: When I was making AA, I took a lot of inspiration from the Mechwarrior universe.
Think of kbots as soldiers, vehicles as tanks, and so on. Alone, they are
easily brought down. But with a mech or two to back them up, they are effective.
Use the same tactic here. Some people complain that the only thing that really
puts a dent in an opponent's base is a Krogoth or Orcone. Well... yeah. That's
the point. This is a game of epic proportions. Think of it this way: whether
you have 1 soldier or 100, if they're armed with rifles, you're not taking down
a tank. You need equivalent firepower - another tank. If your opponent has 30
plasma batteries spewing fiery death, you just aren't getting through if you are
only using peewees! You need some serious firepower if you want to take down a
heavily entrenched enemy.
Another point to make is that, despite how they might seem, a Krogoth/Orcone
IS vulnerable. All it takes is a dozen far-off snipers, a minefield, 20-30
goliaths or a potshot from a d-gun, and you're back to square one. It is
necessary to give even a superweapon escort, sometimes.
Q: Does the AI cheat? Cos cheating AIs are lame... it's like a stacked deck.
A: Yes. It cheats. There, I said it. Core cheats a little more than Arm,
because of its relatively high focus on economy and structure.
Banzai, while being for all intents an purposes the best AI ever designed, is
still flawed in that the computer will still build a vehicle lab up next to a
cliff or tree, blocking the exit. This has been improved significantly, since
before, the computer would build things which were blocked by its own buildings!
No matter how much time was put into an AI setup, you will still have buildings
being blocked occasionally.
Now, take into account the fact that when the AI builds these structures in such
a position where they are virtually useless, that puts it out about 1500+ units
of metal - And it will sometimes do this multiple times! And if this happens
in the early game, where those units are needed most do defend from early raids,
it will most likely be out of the game within the first half hour.
In addition to this, the AI will often build units which are unnecessary on the
map you've chosen to play. For example, it'll build amphibious units on Great
Divide, a map totally devoid of water. This also puts it out a significant
amount of metal, since amphibious units are about 20% more expensive and around
30% less powerful than their equivalent non-amphibious units.
Also, it should be mentioned that no matter how good an TA AI setup is, it still
isn't going to be prepared for a human's intellect. It won't think to prepare
for crawling bombs coming off the shoreline right into its fusion reactors. It
can't be prepared for half a dozen Krogoths. When it gets a powerful unit,
it'll USE it, not think to hold it back in case player 3 does a sneak attack.
When it attacks you, it'll often have units stretched clear back to its base,
rather than attack en-masse so as to overwhelm you with numbers.
As one final note, you should also know that on easy, the AI only gets about 25%
of the resources it's harvesting, 50% on medium, and 100% on hard. I... uh...
read that somewhere. Err.... don't ask.
Do you understand now why it's fair for the AI to cheat? BTW, the cheating
isn't something like "fusion provides 1000000000000 energy+metal/tick". The only
time the AI cheats is in the early game, with metal extractors. Both sides also
get a small production bonus in their advanced factories - but they still have to
pay just as much.
Q: What the UNHOLY CRAP happened to EMP and Neutron silos?
A: They have now become short-range tactical nuke launchers - build one secretly near
your opponent's base or build them as a defensive unit, either way they're a great
addition IMO. Besides, nobody ever used EMPs anyway...
Q: I love your easily-built minefields, but my enemy just built a whole bunch of them
and... well... they're just too much to get past. I need a quick solution to take
them out.
A: In AA, Podgers and Spoilers gain the minesweeping ability - they are now able to
take about 20 direct mine explosions before being killed. Just tell them to roll
right through the area in question.
Q: What happened to all my beautiful walls?? Now there's just dragons teeth,
fortification walls, and fortress walls!
A: The long wall segments which were in the menus next to fortress walls have been
removed. I deemed them as irrelivant, especially when I want more people using
fortification walls. If you look closely, there are actually 6 build buttons on
the fortification wall button - a single post, a triple post in both directions,
very cool self-healing gates (in both directions), and an HLT post. All of these
units are much stronger than they were in original TA, by about 6 times. In
addition, triple post segments are about 12 times stronger, because they occupy a
larger area. Also, fortification walls _cannot_ be reclaimed.
Q: What happened to all the translated unit names and descriptions? Now how will I
find my schlachtschiff???
A: Well, because I've changed the purpose of so many units in AA, I've decided that
it's for the best to remove all translations from the mod. Basically, I had to
choose between wildly inaccurate descriptions or english ones. Besides, you
wouldn't have been able to download AA if you can't read the site, right?
Q: Bigot!
A: I know you are, but what am I?
Q: Despite what your readme says, your mod SUCKS! (quote)
A: Despite what... uh... er... I stole your lunch. (also a quote)
Q: The installer you made is GREAT! Can I use it for my mod? How? Will you do all
the work for me? Thanks.
A: The installer software I used was Inno Setup 4.1.3. Without a doubt the best
wizard-installer-thingie I've ever tried... You can find it at:
http://www.jrsoftware.org/
And, no.
Q: Any advice for a new player?
A: Be careful with energy buildings. Encircle your base with radar stations to
provide a LoS for your defense. When playing against many enemies, always
attack the strongest. Don't ever, ever think you've won.
Q: Fusion reactors don't give me as much energy anymore!
A: Just an experiment. They cost a little less now, too. The idea is, to make
players more willing to build dangerous energy production buildings like moho
geothermals and that sort of thing. Makes the game all a little more
interesting when you've gotta build potentially nuke-explosive buildings
in the middle of your base, doesn't it? Maybe, maybe I'm just crazy. Based
on the feedback I get about this change, I'll keep it or change it back...
Q: Bershe? Darxi? Caydr? Altor?
A: Pseudonyms for "mister Absolute Annihilation creator-dude". Alright, ALIASES!
Too many death threats, beautiful ladies harassing me... you know.
Q: MY CORE FORTRESS WALLS!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
A: Yeah, they were nice, weren't they? *sniff* Oh well. I needed to give Arm
another advantage, and I had a few other reasons...
Q: How come Vulcans/Buzzsaws start off so inaccurate?
A: As units gain experience by getting kills, they become more accurate. The
same is true of structures. Because of the extremely large range of RFLRPCs,
the effect is much more noticable. As they gain experience, they become far
more accurate.
Q: What happened to the Vulcan, Buzzsaw, Bertha, and Intimidator range rings?
A: They were more grief than they were worth.
Q: Why are there so few AI profiles?
A: It's easier for me to do. Meh. And, for instance, I have yet to see the
benefit of the urban AI over the default one. It's a pain in the neck to
have to change 6 values in each of 12 or more files just to modify the AI's
behaviour slightly.
AA has only 5 AI profiles:
Air - For maps with no water or land connections, like some slate maps. AI
should build a very minimum of ground units.
Default - For general purpose land slug-matches. Will perform well on most
maps.
Hover - For maps with a lot of lakes and hills, where neither land nor water
is in enough quantity to be useful. AI should build a combination
of land, air, and hover units.
SeaBattle - For maps with a lot of water, such as Void. AI will build a
minimum of ground units and a lot of water units.
Waterwrld - For all-water maps. Very similar to seabattle, if I remember.
If these are used properly, the AI should perform well on almost any map.
Q: so, wehn i m bilding the guyss and their like j00 teh bo0m goya devron loaf¿
A: I will respond to ENGLISH enquiries only, crazy foreign-person!!!
Q: I'm the head of Atari Uninteractive, and I want to sue your pants off!
A: I no spaek engish.
Q: (Anything else)
A: Email me.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Legal Junk and Disclaimer:
(1) I claim no ownership of the units included in this pack and acknoledge
their authors. I claim ownership only of how this pack is assembled,
which particular units were included and/or modified and ALL of the maps
which came with it. I claim no ownership either, of the TAMEC features.
(2) I am not responsible in any way for any damages incurred while using this
pack or using any suggestions found in this readme file.
(3) You agree with all of the terms, conditions, and other stuff in the GNU
Public License file accompanying AA.
(4) If you disagree with any of these terms, delete the mod and don't use it.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
--- C R E D I T S ---
Absolute Annihilation's community
BSR for Uberhack
Swedish Yankspankers' XTA modification
(though I've never actually played it, heh)
TAUIP's team over the years
MAD TA's GMTA
UTASP
Andrey Scherbakov
Tamec.org for the included 2004F HPI map feature files
--- U N I T G R O U P S ---
Aftermath Design
Bethany Brand Units
C.A.N.A.D.A.
Cavedog
Central Consciousness
Core Prime
Immer
Killer TA Units
M.A.D. TA
Marcosoft
Merciless Creations
P-We Division
Rat
Skunk Works
StoneAge Creations
TAAN/TAAN Upgrades
TA Bio Hazard
TA-Power
Total Annihlation Generation
Total Annihilation R&D
Total Annihilation Units Creation Center
Total Annihilation War Factory
Taskforce
The Dojo
Tonic Rangers
UberHack
Upstart Design Group
Unlimited Units
Water World Wars
--- M I R R O R S ---
PlanetAnnihilation.com
www.nucleo.co.uk
Phill Kapchenko
Sourceforge.net
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Long live Total Annihilation, the greatest RTS of all time!
Pack Assembeled and all units modified by Altor and/or his partners in crime
and/or his dummy corporations in the middle-east.
Email: altor@rogers.ca
MSN: whydoblackhelicopterskeepcirclingmyhouse@hotmail.com
Net: http://www.planetannihilation.com/aa
Forum: http://www.forumplanet.com/planetannihilation/forum.asp?fid=6924
Forge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ta-aa/
<end>
Download Latest Version
AASpring223.zip (6.3 MB)
