Spring - User contributions [en]

AI:Links

2005-10-28T11:07:22Z

81.205.94.3: /* Golbal AI Interface */

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is what the Computer Opponents in games are called. Developing a good AI is a major undertaking, and requires quite a bit of know how. As the SY's have more important things to do than develop an AI, they have left this job up to the community. The community has risen to the occasion remarkably well, releasing quite a few AI's, most of which are in working condition.

There are currently a few AI's in development. The more notable of these include JCAI, which is shipped with Spring, and NTAI, which is not stable enough for release yet.

== Current AI's ==
=== [[AI:JCAI|JCAI]] ===
[[AI:JCAI|JCAI]] is an AI currently being developed by [[User:Zaphod|Zaphod]]. It is currently being shipped with Spring, and is a good starting point for new players to train against. Is very stable........................

=== [[AI:NTAI|NTAI]] ===
[[AI:NTAI|NTAI]] is an AI currently being developed by [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=73 Alantai Firestar]. It performs better than [[User:Zaphod|Zaphod's]] [[AI:JCAI|JCAI]], but is not quite as stable. Because of this, it was not shipped with the current version of Spring, but will quite possibly make it into a future version....................

=== ZcAIn ===
[[AI:ZcAIn|ZcAIn]] is an AI currently being developed by [[User:Cain|Cain]]. It is probably the least developed of the lot, but is coming along nicley. It is a new addition to the AI scene..................

=== [[Random enemies|Random Enemy's]] ===
There is a also the [[Random enemies|Random Enemy's]] script, which can be used for some basic testing. It is not an AI as such, but a spawn script that can be either used to test an AI, or to train against..............

== Documentation ==

=== Global AI Interface ===
Jouninkomiko has a topic on the [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=923 Global AI Interface] running here.

=== Metal Handler Class ===
Cain has developed and released a Metal Handler Class that succesfully finds metal spots on maps, which can be a major stumbling block for many AI developers. Information about it can be found in [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2408 this thread]

=== Theory ===
Useful existing documentation on the Spring unit AI can be found in
[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/SAI/ K-man's Spring AI documentation], however this is not related to the Global AI.

Alantai Firestar has a lot of theory on the topic on [http://www.darkstars.co.uk his site], including details on his NTAI project.

Triaxx had a topic about the '[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=539 5 Matrix AI 1,2,3]', and also some information at Alantai Firestar's site.

[[Category:Development]]

AI:JCAI

2005-10-26T23:04:32Z

81.205.94.3:

JCAI is an [[AI]] that is being developed by [[User:Zaphod|Zaphod]]. It is quite good so far, and is being shipped with Spring. It reads mod information from a text file, so additional mods can be supported.

=== Links ===
* [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2465 JCAI Forum Thread]
* [http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/springrts/taspring/JCAI/ JCAI on CVS]

FAQ

2005-10-18T00:38:27Z

81.205.94.3: /* What language is TA Spring written in? */

==General information==

===What is TA Spring?===
TA Spring is a project to create the best RTS ever (no joke). There are three principle goals which we hope to achieve.

# Reach a stage where TA Spring can flawlessly execute most of Total Annihilation's original gameplay, with its original units in their original format.
# Add new features as we see fit, fix bugs, and release new versions when we feel it is appropriate to do so.
# Support the mod community as we see fit.

===When will TA Spring be ready?===
Now! You can get the latest beta from the [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/download.php download page].

===Will TA Spring be free?===
The core game is released under GPL License. However, some parts of the game are still under copyright by their owners. Therefore, today, you need to own the original TA game if you want to play. However the community is working hard in order to offer completely free alternatives.

===Why can I edit this page?===
This page, and several others, are located in the TA Spring [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Wiki]. The link gives a full explanation of what it is, but in short it is a way of letting anyone who wants to contribute to the page content. This can of course be abused, but even while it is easy for someone to vandalise the page, it is just as easy for someone to restore it, since the wiki saves all previous versions of a page.

===I want to help, what can I do?===
Please look at the Messageboard. There are lots of things you can do according to your skills. Particularly important is to create viable and pleasing free alternatives to copyrighted material, mainly sounds and units.

===I want to donate.===
People have made clear their desire to donate to the project, and so far, we have been fairly reluctant about accepting donations. Our main concern? While we certainly hope to have something on the level of a commercial release in the near future, there is no guarantee that it will ever happen. Unforeseen events arise, and it would be most unfortunate if everyone who donated felt swindled because the project did not turn out as they had hoped.

We do not plan to be more or less productive solely based upon the quantity and frequency of donations received. The TA Spring project is here only because we view this as an enjoyable hobby.

Also, because we're such nice people, we'll let you view the Source, available [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/dl/taspring_0.63b1_src.zip here], so you can help in making this game better than it already is (as though that were possible).

===I read all that and I still want to donate.===
Very well then! You can find the required details [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/donate.php here]. It will be much appreciated. :)

----

==Technical==

===What port numbers does TA Spring use?===
Game uses port 8452 UDP by default, which can be changed in the lobby. If you are behind a router, make sure you forward the correct port first and also make sure firewall is not blocking it, or else you won't be able to host games (you will still be able to join others games though).

===What APIs does TA Spring use?===
The Windows version of the program (which one might call the official version, or at this point, simply the working version :) ) uses: OpenGL for rendering, DirectSound for sound, and Winsock for networking.

The Linux port (more info below) will use SDL/OpenGL for rendering, OpenAL for sound (which will connect to DirectSound on Windows and OSS or ALSA on Linux), BSD sockets for networking.

===What language is TA Spring written in?===
The spring game engine is written in C and C++. The Windows lobby client is written in Delphi, the lobby server is java. Another portable lobby is being made in Python.

===Is TA Spring open source?===
Yes, it is. Go to the downloads section of the site to download the source code.

==Requirements==

===What platforms will TA Spring run on?===
At the moment, it only runs on Windows.
Members of the community are working on porting the game to the Linux platform.
This will make the code more portable so if someone wants to port it to another platform please contact us.
We (the Sy) will not, however, port it ourselves at any time (in the foreseeable future). There is simply no compelling reason for us to do so. Additionally, we would like to focus on getting it to work well.

===What sort of a system will I need to run TA Spring?===
You will most certainly need a 3D graphics card to run TA Spring, which will probably require at least a GeForce3 (note that a GeForce4 MX is not better than a GeForce3) and the latest driver supported. Minimum CPU requirements are a little more complex. A more powerful CPU will have the capability to support larger maps and a greater maximum unit limit. A 1 GHz CPU should be able to support an estimated 500 units. The needed memory will also vary with unit count and map size, but 512 MB should be enough. However, 1024MB you should already have, so it'll run fine

REQUEST - please provide a small checkconfig.exe to check if hardware is enough to run TA Spring. do you want thousands of useless downloads ? Yes.

===Spring says I need the GL_ARB_texture_env_combine extension, what can I do?===
If you encounter the error "Needed extension GL_ARB_texture_env_combine not found", this means that your video card driver does not support GL_ARB_texture_env_combine. You can try downloading a new video driver from the manufacturers website ([www.ati.com], [www.nvidia.com], ...) If this doesn't solve the problem then your video hardware is too old to support the extension. Buy a new video card.

EDIT: I am also having this problem with the geoforce 6800 ultra and I have the latest drivers.

REQUEST : please name some working and non-working 3D video cards. please give a value for minimum video memory : 32 Mo ? 64 Mo ?

List of video cards supposingly supporting GL_ARB_texture_env_combine :

http://www.delphi3d.net/hardware/extsupport.php?extension=GL_ARB_texture_env_combine

----

==Content==

===Do TA Spring maps need a "ground"?===
TA Spring maps do require a ground. We have had many requests to have space maps, however, a "true" (ala Homeworld) space setting is not likely. It would have to wait until a much later stage. This does not mean that TA's style of "space" maps won't be possible, (see the Final Frontier TC for examples of this).

===You stated that TA Spring uses the TA unit format.===
TA Spring does use the Total Annihilation unit format. However, we do plan to make TA Spring compatible with a custom unit format of our own design.

===How powerful will TA Spring's custom format be?===
Total Annihilation's unit format was extremely limited. Most of these limitations will either be expanded or non-existent in TA Spring's custom unit format. One of the most exciting improvements is the introduction of an entirely new method of scripting, with nearly complete control over every aspect of a unit's actions and behaviors.

===Does TA Spring have a limited number of weapons?===
No. Unlike Total Annihilation, TA Spring's weapon IDs will be unlimited. Meaning it will be possible to add as many third-party units as you want. However, the current model format limits 16 weapons to each unit.

===Does TA Spring have a limited number of unique units?===
No. Unit IDs, like weapon IDs, will be unlimited.

===Will units have a maximum of 3 unique weapons?===
Total Annihilation had a limitation that permitted a maximum of 3 unique weapons per unit. Spring currently has a way to have 16 weapons per unit. (Replace Primary, Secondary, Tertiary by 1 2 3 ...16). More can be made possible by modifying the source if there's a sufficient demand by mod makers.

===I'm curious as to the per-unit polygon limit.===
The engine itself does not have a polygon count limit. The limit is that of the processing power of today's computers. Since TA Spring requires a 3D card, the maximum polygon count per unit will be several times higher than Total Annihilation's. No real numbers yet though. We're gonna leave it up to the mod community to figure that one out.

===Will units be able to perform basic terraforming?===
Total Annihilation units probably won't have any terrain editable functionality. Future units may be endowed with such functionality, but it's more of a gameplay issue and has not been decided upon yet. However construction units can restore ground.

===Will tunnel building be possible?===
Subterranean areas of any sort is impossible. However, it is possible to heavily deform the ground with explosives.. Which is great fun!

===Will the ground's water retention be editable?===
No. Water will always collect when a piece of land has a height below sea level.

===Does TA Spring have a limit on the number of races?===
TA Spring has no limit on the total number of sides/races.

===What are the sizes of the biggest and smallest units?===
Static units (buildings, defenses, etc.) have no size limitations in the engine. Technically, neither do mobile units, but units with a footprint larger than 4x4 "squares" (an arbitrary size standard created by Cavedog) might have problems pathfinding.

===What is going to be the maximum possible sea depth?===
For all practical purposes, it will be unlimited. The depth values are stored as "float variables", so it is doubtful that maps would ever be made which even come close to approaching the limit.

===Will TA Spring support campaigns?===
Basic Map scripting has been implemented, using a Lua scripting engine. From that, it would be possible to make a basic campain, but for ease of use a better way of selecting scripts and an improved Single player menu is needed.

===How big will the TA Spring files be?===
TA Spring will be as small as however much content is included with it. The "essential" files (engine files mostly) will only be several megabytes large. Content (such as maps and units) will add considerable size to the TA Spring download. However, it is not known at this point just how much "content" will be included with the first release.

Currently, the file size is roughly 40 MB.

===How will TA Spring render sound effects?===
Sound is rendered 3D, meaning that the volume and direction (assuming a multi-speaker setup) vary with the location of the camera from the sound "emitter". What this translates into gameplay terms means that the closer you are to a unit making a sound or motion, the louder the sound will be. Additionally, the sound will be heard differently depending on which way the camera is facing relative to units making sound.

===Will TA Spring have ambient sound?===
There is no ambient sound, and we haven't planned on adding it thus far.

===Will there be an AI or a "skirmish" mode?===
We have created an interface for AI's, and two are currently under development. In the meantime, the spawn script included in the latest version exists as a text file in the TASpring folder, and can be modified by any text editor such as MS Notepad, for your particular play style, or mod.

===Will a "possess" or a FPS option be present?===
Yes, it is possible to fully control a unit from the first person view. It is more of a gimmick, but it still allows for a nice diversion once in a while.

----

==Getting into a game==

===People talk about 'Single Player'. How do I start a single player game?===
Go into your TA Spring folder and find the 'Spring.exe' file. Double click on it and say 'yes' to host.

===When I try to make a single player game, it gives me an error.===
Your graphics card probably can't support Spring. If you read the requirements it did say GeForce 3 or better. Go to the settings file in your TA Spring directory and lower some of the options. Sometimes that works.

===Does TA Spring support AI Players?===
Not yet. Fortunately for you they are currently working on it :) In the mean time you can use the [[random_enemies]] script, which spawns units out of thin air and sends them to attack you.

===When I try to connect to the lobby it gives me an error.===
There could be 3 problems. Either you don't have an account, the server is down, or you have not configured your router/firewall correctly. If you don't have an account, make one. If the server is down, you'll just have to wait (this doesn't happen often, though). If you have a router/firewall read below. Have a look at this website's News page and/or the Messageboard, it is likely that you will get some information there in the eventuality that the server is down.

Also make sure that you don't have any spaces in your username.

===I have a router and I don't seem to be able to get a game===

If you are using a router you may have other problems. Explanations of [http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm how to forward ports] has instructions for every router.

===Where can I download more maps?===
As for most Spring downloads [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&ID=90 FileUniverse] is the place to be! A collection of maps can be downloaded [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&ID=91 here].

===I used the small installer where can I get the missing maps?===
Unfortunately the maps included in the regular installer (0.51b1) aren't available on File Universe. However, since many of the scripts included in the game rely on map4, this can be downloaded [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/dl/map4.7z here].

===How do I install downloaded maps?===
Most maps are released as .sdz or .sd7 files. These can be put directly into the "maps" folder inside the Spring folder. If they are compressed into another type of archive you will have to unpack them first. Just unzip them into your spring maps folder. Some map files use newer (smaller) file formats such as .rar or .7z, to unzip these newer formats, you'll need to download 7-Zip [http://www.7-zip.org/ http://www.7-zip.org/] or Zip-genius [http://downloads.zipgenius.it/ http://downloads.zipgenius.it/]. They both handle almost all formats and are totally free. There is also now a map browser in the TASClient lobby software, click the more maps button in a battle screen to access it.

===Sometimes when I try to join games it gives me an error.===
The host is behind a firewall that has not opened the correct ports for Spring.

===When I make games nobody joins.===
You are probably behind a firewall. See question above.

===When a multiplayer game starts I never make it past the loading screen.===
This indicates a problem with your video card. Once again the best way to deal with this situation is to make sure your video card has the latest driver updates and that all Spring video features are on the lowest settings.

===When a multiplayer game starts, I make it past the loading screen, but when I get into the game it says, "Waiting for Host", and does a 10 second countdown. It always reaches zero and boots me out, what gives?===
This is a firewall issue. There are three things you can do to fix this. First, make sure your windows firewall is either off, or is not blocking the TA: Spring application. Secondly, if you are behind a router, you can forward the ports that the host is using (especially if you are the host), and it usually fixes the problem. To do this you must go to your router configuration page. You can see what port 'you' are using (as the host), by hosting a multiplayer game in the Spring Lobby. You must make this your trigger port, and make sure that it is open for both TCP and UDP. Thirdly, if none of the aforementioned worked. The easiest thing to do (assuming you are behind a router) is to set the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). This means your computer will be completely exposed to the internet, which will make you vulnerable to any unknown or unpatched exploits in windows. All you have to do is find the personal IP if the computer you are using and add it to your router's DMZ list. Please only try this last option if you can't get the others to work.
Good Luck

===I got into the game, but some people didn't.===
The host may have reached the number of players it has set.
Or the players may be experiencing firewall or video card difficulty. That is not your fault. Please ask them too leave if they are still there when you get into the 'game lobby'.

===I got into a game but my name is red, nobody can hear me speak, and eventually I get disconnected===
This is to do with how long it takes the game to start up (the "load time"). If it takes too long you will see this problem. The load time can be reduced by changing the game graphics settings to lower quality. In particular try setting texture quality to lowest.

----

==Playing==

===What is with this weird right-click mode? I'm 'bout to break my keyboard.===
Sorry, you'll just have to get used to it. As of now it can't be changed.

===Why is somebody else also controlling my units?===
In the 'game lobby' there are two sets of teams. There are the 'Teams' and the 'Ally Teams'. If you are on the same 'Team', then you both get the same commander, and can control the same units. If you are on 'Ally Teams', then you both get different commanders and can't control each others units.

===Then why would I want to be on the same 'Team' as somebody?===
Because it's fun to just drive around units and not have to worry about commanding. (Assuming that one of the people on the team is commanding.)

===How do I talk to my allies only?===
You must type 'a:' before you speak. Here's an example: a: Now I am talking to my allies only. 
And most important, you can split tasks, as base building, troops managment.

===Help! After I'm finished driving a unit, the camera is all insane! This is nuts! How do I fix it?===
Whoa now. Calm down. Just press ctrl + mouse button 3 to change camera modes. If your unit is destroyed in FPS mode, you will stay in FPS mode until you change camera modes. Also, the camera will stay in "free look" when FPS mode is disengaged, press middle-mouse or J to switch to normal scrolling.

===After I'm finished driving a unit, where what used to be my mouse pointer is now a crosshair. Why?===
-This is a special 'view mode' that allows you to move around the screen much faster. It's good for viewing the battle or getting screenshots. Simply press on your third mouse button to revert back to your mouse pointer.

===But I don't have a third mouse button!===
The key 'J' works in the same way as the 'middle mouse button' does. So where you would use ctrl + middle mouse button to change camera modes, ctrl + j does the same thing. Pressing J once will also switch you from 'crosshair mode' to 'pointer mode' and vice versa.

===When I start a game, I am stuck in this weird camera mode and my perspective is all messed up. How do I switch to the overhead (OTA style) camera?===
This happens when you start a single player game or when the host uses force start. Shift+Backspace (or Shift+J or Shift+MiddleMouseClick) switches between the fps style, total war style and OTA style cameras. Use it to get your camera back to normal in this situation.

===People are cheating! How do I stop it?!===
Well currently, you can't.

Only the host can "activate" the cheat codes. After that, any player can do almost all cheats.

The best thing to do is just not play with the cheaters anymore. But with new spring version cheats are disabled in multiplayer, so that paragraph is hopefully now irrelevant.

===Well how do you cheat?===

<table border="3" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">

<tr><th>Cheat Command</th><th>Effect</th></tr>

<tr>
<td>'''.cheat'''</td><td>'''enable cheats - Cheats don't work in multiplayer until the host types this'''</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.nocost</td><td>instabuild (doesn't work on things already under construction, only on new ones)</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.setmaxspeed 50</td><td>Changes the maximum speed multiplier (default is 3.0)</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.setminspeed 0</td><td>Changes the minimum speed multiplier (default is 0.3)</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.spectator</td><td>Allows you to see the entire map... but you lose control of your units</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.team 0, .team 1, etc.</td><td>Change player</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.give ARMCOM, .give 10 CORKROG, etc.</td><td>Place 1 or specified number of specified unit. Valid units are the internal names of units as specified in the unit definition.</td>
</tr>

</table>

===In Game Commands===
The following ''non-cheating'' commands are also available in game:

<table border="3" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">

<tr>
<th>Command</th><th>Effect</th>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.info</td><td>Shows you what colour each player is and their ping delay in the bottom left corner of the screen</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.clock</td><td>Shows you the elapsed game time in minutes and seconds in the bottom left corner of the screen</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.take</td><td>Pulls all allied units, that are owned by players who have lost connection to the server, to your team.</td>
</tr>

</table>

===How do I ally or unally in game?===
I'm pretty sure you can't. Yet.

===How do I give somebody units or metal or energy?===
Press the 'H' key. Then select the amount of metal and/or energy to share. Then select the receiving player and press OK.

When sharing units, you must first select the units to share, then press 'H' key. Tick share units checkbox and choose a receiving player.

===How do I continually give somebody metal and/or energy after a certain point (i.e. Original TA commands +setshare..., +shareall)?===
You'll notice that on your metal and energy bars (top of screen), there are two red bars. You have to put them wherever you want your metal and energy to be shared after.

===This game is different than TA, the units HP and damage are not the same===

There were several third party "balance" mods for the original TA game.

One of those mods were xTA, and was developed by the same clan (SY) that has brought life back to TA, making Spring.

This balance mod is what is bundled by default with the spring engine, and is the mod that was ready to play when spring was released.

Now are several mods available, install the mod of your choice.

[http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=listing&ID=92 get mods here]

===XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? What those all the abbreviations mean?===
zwzsg maintains a handy dandy FAQ about TA, and the abbreviations that relate to Spring too, of course.
[http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27309 click here]. See also the Spring [[Glossary]], which contains brief explanations for all non-standard words and phrases.

===Why am I destroyed so easily by long range assaults?===
This is a realistic feature of TA Spring. Units will automatically attack 'radar blips' (units that they can not actually see, but that are indicated on radar). However, the accuracy is very bad while shooting at radar blips until:
* Your unit kills a lot of units and gets experience
* You get a targeting facility.

===Can I kick people from my 'game lobby' or my game?===
First of all, you have to be the host to kick. Use the good old ".kick playernamehere" command. Works in-game too, use it wisely.

===When I'm 'driving' my commander, why can't I use my laser?===
The TA: Spring team will most likely add a way for you to use your commander's laser soon.

===I hate driving around with the 'arrow keys'. Is there any way I can use the 'W-A-S-D' controls (the controls most First Person Shooters use) anymore?===
Go into your Spring directory and edit the uikeys file. Keep in mind that 'S' is originally a 'hot-key' that will stop your units and that 'D' is a 'hot-key' for your commander's D-Gun. You might want to change those too.

===I turned the shadows feature on; I still don't see shadows. What gives?===
Your graphics card can't handle shadows, so Spring automatically turns them off.

===I can't go backwards when I am 'driving' a unit. Why not?===
Because TA units were never intended to go backwards. Sorry.

===I'm in an Unreal Tournament kind of mood. How do I strafe?===
You can only strafe in 'brawler type' ships, such as the brawler, rapier, and light gunships.

===How can I record and watch demos/replays?===
From version 0.62 onwards recordings of all the games you play are easily available for replay via the Replays button in the TASclient.

You can use the Speed up/Slow down game keys while watching the replay, along with other in-game commands like .team

From version 0.60b1 onwards, demos are automatically recorded in the "demos" folder, underneath your Spring folder (default is C:\Program Files\TASpring\demos), named for the date and map they were played on. If you play multiple games in the same day on the same map, the games will also be numbered to prevent them from overwriting each other.

From version 0.62 onwards, to view a demo from the Windows file manager you can just double click the file name. For versions 0,60 and 0.61, to view a demo start spring.exe as non server and enter the full demo name as server address ("050803-Ashpen-0.60b1.sdf" for example). Note that you don't need to enter the "demos" folder name. Due to the large font, you will find that the name is too big to fit on the screen. If you're confident typing blind from memory, that's OK. Otherwise go into windows explorer, select the demo file you want, press F2, Ctrl-C, and do Ctrl-V to paste it into the server address.

For versions prior to 0.60b1, the game was always recorded to test.sdf which is overwritten by each new game, so the name had to be changed by hand if you wanted to save it. You had to use a name other than test.sdf to view a demo.

===Sometimes when I play get "not sync" "delayed synch" errors===

Thats caused because of lag. One of the players in the game is having some lag issues. Ask him/her to free up its bandwidth for the game to use.

Alternatively you can use the pause key and wait till the connection gets more stable.

Lag is the seccond number showed when you use the .info command ingame, numbers biguer than 40 are not usual in a normal game and are a signal of lag.

==Creating Content for Spring==
===How do I create maps===
See this page: [[Create maps]]

----

==Troubleshooting==

Readme

2005-10-12T11:00:58Z

81.205.94.3: /* System requirements */

__NOTOC__
For up-to-date information about this project, visit the project home page at http://taspring.clan-sy.com.

==About==
TA Spring is a project aiming to create a new RTS.

==System requirements==
About 1ghz cpu and a GeForce3 or better graphics card. For larger battles the requirements increases. Some graphics effects require a graphics card which supports ARB_vertex_program/ARB_fragment_program. This is the same as having a graphics card that supports DX9.

==Quick start==
===Multiplayer===
Run the TA Spring battleroom and create an account

Login to the master server and find a game to join

===Singleplayer===
Spring does not include any AI for singleplayer yet. If you start the spring.exe application directly, you will get to choose between a few different scripts that show off some different parts of Spring.

==Multiplayer lobby==
===Name registration===
Before you can log into the master server, you must register a handle. Click File->Register to open up the registration dialog. Names must be no more than 16 alphanumeric characters, and is not case sensitive. However, you may format your name with capitalization.

===Options===
If you are behind a proxy server, or you are having trouble hosting, you might want to consider overriding the IP the server sees you as having so that people joining your battle room know where to find you

===Chat===
The lobby supports basic chat functions. There is a permanent chatroom called Main, which you can join by double clicking it from the list, as well as any others that may have been created. You can create a chatroom from the menu, but this room is deleted when it becomes empty.

===Battle room===
You can host a battle by selecting it from the menu. To choose a map, simply click the minimap and pick one from the popup window. Once in the battle room, the host may boot anyone by right clicking and selecting boot. The alliance system is a little complicated and needs a little explaining... Any number of players can join a Team, which is the equivalent of one player in OTA. Everyone on a Team shares resources, units, and LOS. The first player to join a team is the team leader, and can pick an Ally Team to join. An Ally Team is a permanent alliance. You'll notice a strange shape with two triangles to the right of the Ally Team combo box. This functions the same way as it did in OTA. If you click it, you create a one-way alliance with another ally team moving the triangle on the left to the middle. If the other Ally Team reciprocates, the triangle on the right will move to the middle. The host can then start Spring once all non-spectators have clicked ready.

===Features to come===
* Clan support
* Map sharing
* Unit sharing
* Private messaging
* Private chatrooms
* New, slicker looking battle room

==Game controls==
===Camera controls===
Move the camera with the arrow keys or by placing the mouse curser at the screen borders. Holding shift makes the camera move faster, and holding ctrl makes it slower. Turn on mouselook with mouse button 3 (or backspace). Use ctrl+mouse3 to toggle between the camera modes available.

===Key assignments===
You can configure the assignment of keys by editing the file uikeys.txt, and by running the Selectionkeys editor. These are the default key bindings:

{|
|Camera controls || Function
|-
| colspan="2" | <hr>
|-
| valign="top" | Mouse 1|| Selects units. Drag to select a group, double click to select units of the same type. Gives order if a specific order has been selected.
|-
|Mouse 2 || Gives the default order for the unit
|-
|Mouse 3 || Toggles mouse look
|-
| Ctrl + Mouse 3|| Toggles camera mode
|-
|Arrow keys || Moves the camera
|-
|Ctrl/shift|| Increases/decreases camera movement speed
|-
|Mousewheel|| Moves the camera up/down
|-
|T || Track a selected unit
|-
|C|| Take direct control of a selected unit
|-
|F3|| Jump to last message location
|-
|  
|-
| General || Function
|-
| colspan="2" | <hr>
|-
| F1 || Toggles color coding of the map according to terrain elevation
|-
| F4 || Toggles color coding of the map according to the metal density
|-
| F12 || Screenshot
|-
| +/- || Increases/decreases game speed
|-
| Pause || Pauses the game
|-
| Enter || Used to send chat messages
|-
| B || Toggles the display of debug information
|-
| Ã‚Â§/` || Draw stuff in map that you and allies can see (mouse1=lines, mouse2=erase, mouse3=marker, doubleclick=named marker)
|-
| H || Share Interface
|-
| L|| Show los and radar info in map
|-
|  
|-
| Unit groups || Function
|-
| colspan="2" | <hr>
|-
| 0-9 || Select AI group 0-9
|-
| Ctrl + 0-9 || Add current units to AI group 0-9
|-
| Q || Selects an unnamed group from which at least one unit is selected
|-
| Ctrl + Q || Creates an unnamed AI group or selects an AI for an existing one
|-
| Shift + Q || Deletes the current AI group
|-
|  
|-
| Building buildings || Function
|-
| colspan="2" | <hr>
|-
| Shift+Drag mouse || Create a line of buildings
|-
| Shift+Ctrl+Drag || Create an axis aligned line of buildings
|-
| Shift+Ctrl+Click unit || Build a ring of buildings around existing unit
|-
| Shift+Alt+Drag || Build a box of buildings
|-
| Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Drag || Build a hollow box of buildings
|-
|  
|-
| Unit commands || Function
|-
| colspan="2" | <hr>
|-
| M || Move (Ctrl=keep relative distances among selected)
|-
| P || Patrol
|-
| A || Attack
|-
| S || Stop
|-
| X || Toggle on/off
|-
| Ctrl-D || Self destruct
|-
| G || Guard
|-
| K || Cloak
|-
| D || DGun
|-
| E|| Reclaim (Can take an area)
|-
| R || Repair (Can take an area)
|-
| L || Load (Can take an area)
|-
| U || Unload (Can take an area)
|}

==Tips==
The repeat order option can be very usefull. For example if you want to make a factory output an unlimited amount of units or if you want transport units to ferry units from one area to another indefinitly.

Ballistic weapons(maybe also other later on) can now be set to fire in a high trajectory which can be usefull to shot over mountains etc but they will lose some accuracy. (we are not entirely sure if we will keep this option or not)

==External code/programs used by Spring==
{|
| Nehe tutorial
| nehe.gamedev.net
| Window creation and main message pump. Spring is really only an overgrown lesson 02. (Lesson 200 "Your first RTS" perhaps ?)
|-
| GLEW
| glew.sourceforge.net
| OpenGL extension loading
|-
|HPIUtil
| www.tauniverse.com/joed/
| Opening HPI files
|-
|JPEGLib
| www.ijg.org
| Loading JPEG files
|-
|TCLAP
| tclap.sourceforge.net
| Command line parsing in mapconv
|-
|FreeType
| www.freetype.org
| Font handling in the new GUI
|-
|CrashRpt
| www3.sympatico.ca/grant.mcdorman/
| Generating and sending crashdumps
|-
|Rice Video
| www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=26229
| Creating higher resolution unit textures from the standard TA ones
|}
==Legal==
This program is released under the GNU General Public License.

The download may also have included content from the game Total Annihilation which is Copyright Ã‚Â© 1997 Humongous Entertainment. To use this, you would have to own a copy of the game Total Annihilation. However, since it (the TA mod XTA) has been available for download from www.clan-sy.com for many years, and since TA itself can be freely downloaded from abandonware sites, we have decided to include this content in some of the TA Spring packages as a convenience. It is possible that this will change in the future though.

Community news

2005-10-11T09:50:51Z

81.205.94.3: /* 2005-10-11 - JCAI 0.20 Released */

On this page, you can post news items that will be seen in the top right section of the frontpage. You can use this to post if you have created or found something of interest to the Spring community, such as a new map, a useful tool or perhaps a new useful page in the wiki. Details on how to update this page can be found [[Community_news_editing | here]].

----

===2005-10-11 - JCAI 0.20 Released===
[http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=33275#33275 JCAI 0.20 skirmish AI] is released with a modified spring exe, it is much more stable now.

===2005-09-28 - UberHack, SpringVersion1.2 Released===
This port of the famous balance mod for TA, done by NOiZE, has been made as good as bug free now. This mod would not have been possible without help from: zwzsg, Gnome and Kuroneko. For more info at [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2364 read this thread]. And it can be downloaded from [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1552 FileUniverse].

===2005-08-20 - wiki Button Added===
As you probably already have noticed, the SY's have added a wiki button (Made by aGorm) to the Navigation bar. Hopefully, this will make people more aware of the wiki, as some have never even heard of it! More info on [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1917 this thread]. If you don't see the wiki button, empty the cache of your browser and refresh.

===2005-08-16 - JCAI Released===
Zaphod has released alpha 1 of his skirmish AI JCAI for spring,[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1920 see forum post]
TAI code has been released but doesnt work. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1322 Get it here]

===2005-08-03 - Mods and Maps===
zwzsg made a 3.6MB mod package with: OTA balance, Evolva models, UTASP Buildpics. Install and use easy thanks to the new mod switcher introduced in Spring 0.60b1.
 - [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1843 More info and discussion]
 - [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Download link]

[http://zwzsg.hosted.luckz.de/img/spring/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.png http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg-thumb.png]

Spring 0.60b1 made all previous maps obsolete, but as the pictures above show, there's a steadily increasing [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=listing&ID=121 choice of new maps], either old ones converted to the new format or brand new.

===2005-07-08 - Buggi's Beta Update===
Buggi released a new version of his modified version of the game; This release added, among other things, custom models for weapons! [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Get it here]

===2005-07-05 - Map Editing Guide Updated===
You know you wanted to make that map? Well now you can! Check it out in the Wiki, or click on the link.
[[Create_maps]]

===2005-07-03 - New strategy guide===
A new strategy guide to help out new players has been added to the wiki.
Here's the link: [[Spring guide!]]

===2005-07-03 - Community news section===
A new site feature has been added, that allows users to contribute news that will be seen in this section.

This might be useful to expose new maps for example to those that don't visit the map forum regularly... We'll see how it turns out.

Community news

2005-10-11T09:49:51Z

81.205.94.3: /* 2005-10-11 - JCAI 0.20 Released */

On this page, you can post news items that will be seen in the top right section of the frontpage. You can use this to post if you have created or found something of interest to the Spring community, such as a new map, a useful tool or perhaps a new useful page in the wiki. Details on how to update this page can be found [[Community_news_editing | here]].

----

===2005-10-11 - JCAI 0.20 Released===
JCAI 0.20 skirmish AI is released with a modified spring exe, it is much more stable now. [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=33275#33275 Link]

===2005-09-28 - UberHack, SpringVersion1.2 Released===
This port of the famous balance mod for TA, done by NOiZE, has been made as good as bug free now. This mod would not have been possible without help from: zwzsg, Gnome and Kuroneko. For more info at [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2364 read this thread]. And it can be downloaded from [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1552 FileUniverse].

===2005-08-20 - wiki Button Added===
As you probably already have noticed, the SY's have added a wiki button (Made by aGorm) to the Navigation bar. Hopefully, this will make people more aware of the wiki, as some have never even heard of it! More info on [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1917 this thread]. If you don't see the wiki button, empty the cache of your browser and refresh.

===2005-08-16 - JCAI Released===
Zaphod has released alpha 1 of his skirmish AI JCAI for spring,[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1920 see forum post]
TAI code has been released but doesnt work. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1322 Get it here]

===2005-08-03 - Mods and Maps===
zwzsg made a 3.6MB mod package with: OTA balance, Evolva models, UTASP Buildpics. Install and use easy thanks to the new mod switcher introduced in Spring 0.60b1.
 - [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1843 More info and discussion]
 - [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Download link]

[http://zwzsg.hosted.luckz.de/img/spring/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.png http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg-thumb.png]

Spring 0.60b1 made all previous maps obsolete, but as the pictures above show, there's a steadily increasing [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=listing&ID=121 choice of new maps], either old ones converted to the new format or brand new.

===2005-07-08 - Buggi's Beta Update===
Buggi released a new version of his modified version of the game; This release added, among other things, custom models for weapons! [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Get it here]

===2005-07-05 - Map Editing Guide Updated===
You know you wanted to make that map? Well now you can! Check it out in the Wiki, or click on the link.
[[Create_maps]]

===2005-07-03 - New strategy guide===
A new strategy guide to help out new players has been added to the wiki.
Here's the link: [[Spring guide!]]

===2005-07-03 - Community news section===
A new site feature has been added, that allows users to contribute news that will be seen in this section.

This might be useful to expose new maps for example to those that don't visit the map forum regularly... We'll see how it turns out.

Community news

2005-10-11T09:46:51Z

81.205.94.3:

On this page, you can post news items that will be seen in the top right section of the frontpage. You can use this to post if you have created or found something of interest to the Spring community, such as a new map, a useful tool or perhaps a new useful page in the wiki. Details on how to update this page can be found [[Community_news_editing | here]].

----

===2005-10-11 - JCAI 0.20 Released===
JCAI 0.20 skirmish AI is released with a modified spring exe, it is much more stable now.
http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=33275#33275

===2005-09-28 - UberHack, SpringVersion1.2 Released===
This port of the famous balance mod for TA, done by NOiZE, has been made as good as bug free now. This mod would not have been possible without help from: zwzsg, Gnome and Kuroneko. For more info at [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2364 read this thread]. And it can be downloaded from [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1552 FileUniverse].

===2005-08-20 - wiki Button Added===
As you probably already have noticed, the SY's have added a wiki button (Made by aGorm) to the Navigation bar. Hopefully, this will make people more aware of the wiki, as some have never even heard of it! More info on [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1917 this thread]. If you don't see the wiki button, empty the cache of your browser and refresh.

===2005-08-16 - JCAI Released===
Zaphod has released alpha 1 of his skirmish AI JCAI for spring,[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1920 see forum post]
TAI code has been released but doesnt work. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1322 Get it here]

===2005-08-03 - Mods and Maps===
zwzsg made a 3.6MB mod package with: OTA balance, Evolva models, UTASP Buildpics. Install and use easy thanks to the new mod switcher introduced in Spring 0.60b1.
 - [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1843 More info and discussion]
 - [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Download link]

[http://zwzsg.hosted.luckz.de/img/spring/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.png http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg-thumb.png]

Spring 0.60b1 made all previous maps obsolete, but as the pictures above show, there's a steadily increasing [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=listing&ID=121 choice of new maps], either old ones converted to the new format or brand new.

===2005-07-08 - Buggi's Beta Update===
Buggi released a new version of his modified version of the game; This release added, among other things, custom models for weapons! [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Get it here]

===2005-07-05 - Map Editing Guide Updated===
You know you wanted to make that map? Well now you can! Check it out in the Wiki, or click on the link.
[[Create_maps]]

===2005-07-03 - New strategy guide===
A new strategy guide to help out new players has been added to the wiki.
Here's the link: [[Spring guide!]]

===2005-07-03 - Community news section===
A new site feature has been added, that allows users to contribute news that will be seen in this section.

This might be useful to expose new maps for example to those that don't visit the map forum regularly... We'll see how it turns out.

AI:Links

2005-10-09T01:42:56Z

81.205.94.3:

At present (Spring version 0.64b1) the only working AI is JCAI, which is included in the Spring sourceforge CVS repository. It works but it's still very weak. Other AI's are in development
There is a also [[Random_enemies]] script - which can be used for some basic testing.

Useful existing documentation on the Spring unit AI can be found here
[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/SAI/ K-mans Spring AI documentation], however this is not related to global AI.

Jouninkomiko has a topic on the [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=923 Global AI Interface] running here.

[[Alantai Firestar]] has a lot of theory on the topic [http://www.darkstars.co.uk at his site], and has working code in progress.

Triaxx had a topic about it [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=539 5 Matrix AI 1,2,3] and some stuff at AF's site.

[[Category:Development]]

Features

2005-10-08T01:19:09Z

81.205.94.3:

Spring is a project aiming to create a new RTS.
Until it gets there we are using content such as units from Total Annihilation to get something to play with.
You officialy need to own a copy of the game.

TA Spring reads the TA formats directly without conversions needed, so 3rd party units should work just as well as the original ones. Maps from TA are not supported though. They are not (that) suited for 3D view, as they are not drawn from above but at an angle. This means that the far side of hills for example lose a lot of detail.

Here is an (incomplete) list of some of the currently implemented stuff in TA Spring, and also some of the ones that we have planned.

Current features:
* High resolution maps, viewable from all angles and ranges
* Dynamic map with craters from weapon and unit explosions
* Work with unit files from Total annihilation
* Realistic 3D trajectories for weapons
* Fully 3D aircombat
* Several camera modes to suit different tastes
* [[Mod switcher]]

Currently in development:
* New GUI
* [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1773 New unit format]
* [https://opensvn.csie.org/traccgi/taspring_linux/trac.cgi/wiki/PortOfSpringClient New Platform-Independent Lobby Client]
* [https://opensvn.csie.org/traccgi/taspring_linux/trac.cgi/ TA Spring Linux Port]
* [http://spring.clan-sy.com/wiki/AI A skirmish AI to play offline]

Planned features:
* New ways to handle unit energy for more strategic gameplay
* New improved unit model and script formats

AI:Links

2005-10-08T01:17:13Z

81.205.94.3:

At present (Spring version 0.64b1) there is no AI player, however there is a [[Random_enemies]] script - which can be used for some basic testing.

There is a backend that allows people to script a AI.

Useful existing documentation on the Spring AI can be found here:
[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/SAI/ K-mans Spring AI documentation]

Jouninkomiko has a topic on the [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=923 Global AI Interface] running here.

Zaphod has some [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1920 code running], it is a full skirmish AI but it is unstable and is being re-written.

[[Alantai Firestar]] has a lot of theory on the topic [http://www.darkstars.co.uk at his site], and has working code in progress.

Triaxx had a topic about it [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=539 5 Matrix AI 1,2,3] and some stuff at AF's site.

[[Category:Development]]

Main Page

2005-10-08T01:13:55Z

81.205.94.3:

== The Spring WIKI ==

'''''FEED THE WIKI!'''''

''"A wiki is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content."''

Quoted From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Wikipedia.org]

=New to Spring:=

'''[[Getting Started]]''' 
'''[[Using Spring]]''' 
'''[[Lan]]''' 
'''[[Strategy and Tactics]]''' 
'''[[FAQ]]''' 
'''[[Features]]''' 
'''[[Maps]]''' 
'''[[Units]]''' 
'''[[Mods]]''' 

=Development:=
'''[[Development]]''' 
'''[[Mod Development]]''' 
'''[[Create units]]''' 
'''[[Create maps]]''' 
'''[[Linux]]''' 
'''[[AI]]''' 

=Navigation:=
'''[[Special:Allpages|All the pages in this wiki]]''' 
'''[[Special:Categories|List of Categories]]''' 
'''[[Special:Recentchanges|Recent Changes to pages]]''' 

See also, "Browse" links below.

If you find words or phrases which you don't understand, the [[Glossary]] may be of help.

For tips on editing wiki pages, usage and configuration help, see [[Help:Editing]]

Also of use: [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_i18n documentation on customizing the wiki interface]

This site is put together by the community, which could (read as SHOULD) mean YOU! If you see information missing, or find out new information you think would be helpful, put it in. If you find a spelling mistake or phrase that could be clearer, fix it. If you find yourself doing repeated searches or going back to the [[Special:Allpages|Topic Index]] repeatedly when trying to find out about a particular feature, consider combining articles or linking them to one another.

__NOTOC__

Main Page

2005-10-08T01:13:55Z

81.205.94.3:

AI:Links

2005-10-05T10:32:17Z

81.205.94.3:

Features

2005-10-05T10:30:42Z

81.205.94.3:

Features

2005-10-05T10:29:35Z

81.205.94.3:

Spring is a project aiming to create a new RTS.
Until it gets there we are using content such as units from Total Annihilation to get something to play with.
You officialy need to own a copy of the game.

TA Spring reads the TA formats directly without conversions needed, so 3rd party units should work just as well as the original ones. Maps from TA are not supported though. They are not (that) suited for 3D view, as they are not drawn from above but at an angle. This means that the far side of hills for example lose a lot of detail.

Here is an (incomplete) list of some of the currently implemented stuff in TA Spring, and also some of the ones that we have planned.

Current features:
* High resolution maps, viewable from all angles and ranges
* Dynamic map with craters from weapon and unit explosions
* Work with unit files from Total annihilation
* Realistic 3D trajectories for weapons
* Fully 3D aircombat
* Several camera modes to suit different tastes
* [[Mod switcher]]

Currently in development:
* New GUI
* [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1773 New unit format]
* [https://opensvn.csie.org/traccgi/taspring_linux/trac.cgi/wiki/PortOfSpringClient New Platform-Independent Lobby Client]
* [https://opensvn.csie.org/traccgi/taspring_linux/trac.cgi/ TA Spring Linux Port]
* [[AI] A skirmish AI to play offline]

Planned features:
* New ways to handle unit energy for more strategic gameplay
* New improved unit model and script formats

Getting Started

2005-09-05T18:58:58Z

81.205.94.3:

When it's done this page will help you get into the game, the community and the wiki. Right now it's what exploded out of my head at 1:00am.

Spring is a project theoretically run by the [[SY|Swedish Yankspankers]] that aims to create a Fully Customizable 3D Real Time Strategy Game Engine.

TA Spring is the current project focus, which is supposed to port the orriginal Cavedog game "Total Annihilation" to the still developing Spring engine. It uses formats and gameplay elements from the original game and, at this point, can display most [[Mods]] and [[Units]] designed for the orriginal game to different levels of playability.

The most important thing to note however is, '''YOU CAN ACTUALLY DOWNLOAD AND PLAY A WORKING VERSION OF THIS GAME RIGHT NOW AND PLAY ONLINE WITH OTHER PEOPLE'''.

=Getting To Your First Game=

===STEP 1: Is your computer ready?===
Currently Spring is only compatible with Windows Operating systems, there is a [[Linux|Linux Port]] in the works, but they seem to keep to themselves. In theory it's compatible with all 9x or later OSes, but since we're still beta, we'll call it "hit and miss".

You will need some kind of 3D hardware acceleration, it needs to have the latest OpenGL drivers (which means, providing the card is recent enough, the latest drivers from your cards manufacturer).

You will need some kind of DirectX installed because the game uses DirectSound for that part of it.

===STEP 2: Download the Current Installer===

[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/download.php Click Here] to go to the downloads page. Download the '''Regular installer''' option. Run it and install it somewhere on your computer. In theory if, at this point, you read the stuff in the "docs" folder, then you will know what to do next.

===STEP 3(Optional): Make Sure the Engine Works on Your Computer===

Browse to the installation folder and double-click "spring.exe". Choose "yes" on the "do you want to be a server" dialog, choose the "Commanders" script with the arrow keys and enter, choose a map with the arrow keys and enter, press enter to force start the game.

Shift-Middle Click to change views, middle click activates free-look, arrows keys, moving your cursor to the edge and the scroll wheel controls your camera. If you've ever played Total Annihilation before in it's default control mode, you will know what to do next. Otherwise visit the Exaustive [[Engine:Controls]] Page (which doesn't exist yet).

Don't bother going online until you figure out how to make your Commander build buildings and your buildings build units, and manage to find and kill the other Commander on the map and get the "You Win" message.

===STEP 4: Playing Online - TASClient.exe===

I have to go to bed now... read the docs for now... hey! maybe you would finish this article!

Community news

2005-08-16T20:45:02Z

81.205.94.3: /* 2005-08-16 - JCAI Released */

On this page, you can post news items that will be seen in the top right section of the frontpage. You can use this to post if you have created or found something of interest to the Spring community, such as a new map, a useful tool or perhaps a new useful page in the wiki. Details on how to update this page can be found [[Community_news_editing | here]].

----

===2005-08-16 - JCAI Released===
Zaphod has released alpha 1 of his skirmish AI JCAI for spring,[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1920 see forum post]
TAI code has been released but doesnt work. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1322 Get it here]

===2005-08-03 - Mods and Maps===
zwzsg made a 3.6MB mod package with: OTA balance, Evolva models, UTASP Buildpics. Install and use easy thanks to the new mod switcher introduced in Spring 0.60b1.
 - [http://spring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1843 More info and discussion]
 - [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Download link]

[http://zwzsg.hosted.luckz.de/img/spring/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.png http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Azure%20Rampart%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Bomber.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/Ahspen%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Tanks%20Tracks.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/RedHaven%20-%20evnbp%20-%20Core.jpg-thumb.png][http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg http://www.fileuniverse.com/images/causticscreenshot.jpg-thumb.png]

Spring 0.60b1 made all previous maps obsolete, but as the pictures above show, there's a steadily increasing [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=listing&ID=121 choice of new maps], either old ones converted to the new format or brand new.

===2005-07-08 - Buggi's Beta Update===
Buggi released a new version of his modified version of the game; This release added, among other things, custom models for weapons! [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?p=showitem&ID=1257 Get it here]

===2005-07-05 - Map Editing Guide Updated===
You know you wanted to make that map? Well now you can! Check it out in the Wiki, or click on the link.
[[Create_maps]]

===2005-07-03 - New strategy guide===
A new strategy guide to help out new players has been added to the wiki.
Here's the link: [[Spring guide!]]

===2005-07-03 - Community news section===
A new site feature has been added, that allows users to contribute news that will be seen in this section.

This might be useful to expose new maps for example to those that don't visit the map forum regularly... We'll see how it turns out.

FAQ

2005-07-10T22:34:47Z

81.205.94.3:

==General information==

===What is TA Spring?===
TA Spring is a project to create the best RTS ever (no joke). There are three principle goals which we hope to achieve.

. . . . . .A) Reach a stage where TA Spring can flawlessly execute most of Total Annihilation's original gameplay, with its original units in their original format.

. . . . . .B) Add new features as we see fit, fix bugs, and release new versions when we feel it is appropriate to do so.

. . . . . .C) Support the mod community as we see fit.

===When will TA Spring be ready?===
Now! You can get the latest beta from the download page.

===Will TA Spring be free?===
The core game is released under GPL License. However, some parts of the game are still under copyright by their owners. Therefore, today, you need to own the original TA game if you want to play. However the community is working hard in order to offer completely free alternatives.

===I want to help, what can I do?===
Please look at the Messageboard. There are lots of things you can do according to your skills. Particularly important is to create viable and pleasing free alternatives to copyrighted material, mainly sounds and units.

===I want to donate.===
People have made clear their desire to donate to the project, and so far, we have been fairly reluctant about accepting donations. Our main concern? While we certainly hope to have something playable released in the near future, there is no guarantee that it will ever happen. Unforseen events arise, and it would be most unfortunate if everyone who donated felt swindled because the project did not turn out as they had hoped, or was not released at all.

We do not plan to be more or less productive solely based upon the quantity and frequency of donations received. The TA Spring project is here only because we view this as an enjoyable hobby.

===I read all that and I still want to donate.===
Very well then! You can find the required details [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/donate.php here]. It will be much appreciated. :)

----
==Technical==

===What port numbers does TA Spring use?===
The lobby room uses 4897 TCP to communicate with the server. Then when you create a battleroom you can choose what ports it should use. 8452 is the default. The battleroom itself will use TCP on this port while the game will use UDP on this port.

===What APIs does TA Spring use?===
The Windows version of the program (which one might call the official version, or at this point, simply the working version :) ) uses: OpenGL for rendering, DirectSound for sound, and Winsock for networking.

The Linux port (more info below) will use SDL/OpenGL for rendering, OpenAL for sound (which will connect to DirectSound on Windows and OSS or ALSA on Linux), BSD sockets for networking.

===What language is TA Spring written in?===
C and C++.

===Is TA Spring open source?===
Yes, it is. Go to the downloads section of the site to download the source code.

===Will there be a linux port?===
There is an effort being made by some in the community to create a port. For more information see the separate wiki [https://opensvn.csie.org/traccgi/taspring_linux/trac.cgi/ here] and see the Messageboard, where most discussion is focused in this [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=743&highlight= thread].

----
==Requirements==

===What platforms will TA Spring run on?===
At the moment, it only runs on Windows.
Members of the community are working on porting the game on Linux platform (please refer to the Messageboard).
If someone wants to port it to another platform, please contact us once we have an initial release ready. We will not, however, port it ourselves at any time (in the forseeable future). There is simply no compelling reason for us to do so. Additionally, we would like to focus on getting it working well on just one platform.

===What sort of a system will I need to run TA Spring?===
You will most certainly need a 3D graphics card to run TA Spring, which will probably require at least a GeForce3 (note that a GeForce4 MX is not better than a GeForce3) and the latest driver supported. Minimum CPU requirements are a little more complex. A more powerful CPU will have the capability to support larger maps and a greater maximum unit limit. A 1ghz CPU should be able to support an estimated 500 units. The needed memory will also vary with unit count and mapsize, but 512mb should be enough.

===Spring says I need the GL_ARB_texture_env_combine extension, what can I do?===
If you encounter the error "Needed extension GL_ARB_texture_env_combine not found", this means that your video card driver does not support GL_ARB_texture_env_combine. You can try downloading a new video driver from the manufacturers website ([www.ati.com], [www.nvidia.com], ...) If this doesn't solve the problem then your video hardware is too old to support the extension. Buy a new video card.

----

==Content==

===Do TA Spring maps need a "ground"?===
TA Spring maps do require a ground. We have had many requests to have space maps, however, a "true" (ala Homeworld) space setting is not likely. It would have to wait until a much later stage. This does not mean that TA's style of "space" maps won't be possible, (see the Final Frontier TC for examples of this).

===You stated that TA Spring uses the TA unit format.===
TA Spring does use the Total Annihilation unit format. However, we do plan to make TA Spring compatible with a custom unit format of our own design.

===How powerful will TA Spring's custom format be?===
Total Annihilation's unit format was extremely limited. Most of these limitations will either be expanded or non-existent in TA Spring's custom unit format. One of the most exciting improvements is the introduction of an entirely new method of scripting, with nearly complete control over every aspect of a unit's actions and behaviors.

===Does TA Spring have a limited number of weapons?===
No. Unlike Total Annihilation, TA Spring's weapon IDs will be unlimited.

===Does TA Spring have a limited number of unique units?===
No. Unit IDs, like weapon IDs, will be unlimited.

===Will units have a maximum of 3 unique weapons?===
Total Annihilation had a limitation that permitted a maximum of 3 unique weapons per unit. This limit will exist in TA Spring only if a unit is made in the original Total Annihilation format. To bypass this limit, a unit would have to be created entirely within the limits of our own format.

===I'm curious as to the per-unit polygon limit.===
The engine itself does not have a polygon count limit. The limit is that of the processing power of today's computers. Since TA Spring requires a 3D card, the maximum polygon count per unit will be several times higher than Total Annihilation's. No real numbers yet though. We're gonna leave it up to the mod community to figure that one out.

===Will units be able to perform basic terraforming?===
Total Annihilation units probably won't have any terrain editable functionality. Future units may be endowed with such functionality, but it's more of a gameplay issue and has not been decided upon yet. However construction units can restore ground.

===Will tunnel building be possible?===
Subterranean areas of any sort is impossible. However, it is possible to heavily deform the ground with explosives.

===Will the ground's water retention be editable?===
No. Water will always collect when a piece of land has a height below sea level.

===Does TA Spring have a limit on the number of races?===
TA Spring has no limit on the total number of sides/races.

===What are the sizes of the biggest and smallest units?===
Static units (buildings, defenses, etc.) have no size limitations in the engine. Technically, neither do mobile units, but units with a footprint larger than 4x4 "squares" (an arbitrary size standard created by Cavedog) might have problems pathfinding.

===What is going to be the maximum possible sea depth?===
For all practical purposes, it will be unlimited. The depth values are stored as "float variables", so it is doubtful that maps would ever be made which even come close to approaching the limit.

===Will TA Spring support campaigns?===
No such support is planned at the moment but it is possible using the GroupAI interface.

===How big will the TA Spring files be?===
TA Spring will be as big as however much content is included with it. The "essential" files (engine files mostly) will only be several megabytes large. Content (such as maps and units) will add considerable size to the TA Spring download. However, it is not known at this point just how much "content" will be included with the first release.

===How will TA Spring render sound effects?===
Sound is rendered 3D, meaning that the volume and direction (assuming a multi-speaker setup) vary with the location of the camera from the sound "emitter". What this translates into gameplay terms means that the closer you are to a unit making a sound or motion, the louder the sound will be. Additionally, the sound will be heard differently depending on which way the camera is facing relative to units making sound.

===Will TA Spring have ambient sound?===
There is no ambient sound, and we haven't planned on adding it so far.

===Will there be an AI or a "skirmish" mode?===
We will create an interface that people can use to create there own skirmish AIs later.

===Will a "possess" or a FPS option be present?===
Yes, it is possible to fully control a unit from the first person view. It is more of a gimmick, but it still allows for a nice diversion once in a while.

----
==Getting into a game==

===People talk about 'Single Player'. How do I start a single player game?===
Go into your TA Spring folder and find the 'Spring.exe' file. Double click on it and say 'yes' to host.

===When I try to make a single player game, it gives me an error.===
Your graphics card probably can't support Spring. If you read the requirements it did say GeForce 3 or better. Go to the settings file in your TA Spring directory and lower some of the options. Sometimes that works.

===Does TA Spring support AI Players?===
Not yet. Fortunately for you they are currently working on it :) In the mean time you can use the [[random_enemies]] script, which spawns units out of thin air and sends them to attack you.

===When I try to connect to the lobby it gives me an error.===
There could be 2 problems. Either you don't have an account, or the server is down. If you don't have an account, make one. If the server is down, you'll just have to wait (this doesn't happen often, though).
Have a look at this website's News page and/or the Messageboard, it is likely that you will get some information there in the eventuality that the server is down.

===Sometimes when I join games the minimap is blank===
This is because you don't have the map they're using. At present (0.51b1) the regular installer comes with the following maps: Small Divide, map4, mars and Flooded Desert. The small installer only comes with Small Divide. If you want to play games with other maps you need to download them.

===Where can I download more maps?===
As for most Spring downloads [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&ID=90 FileUniverse] is the place to be! A collection of maps can be downloaded [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&ID=91 here].

===I used the small installer where can I get the missing maps?===
Unfortunately the maps included in the regular installer (0.51b1) aren't available on File Universe. However, since many of the scripts included in the game rely on map4, this can be downloaded [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/dl/map4.7z here].

===How do I install downloaded maps?===
Just unzip them into your spring maps folder. Some map files use newer (smaller) file formats such as .rar or .7z, to unzip these newer formats, you'll need to download 7-Zip from [http://www.7-zip.org/ http://www.7-zip.org/] - it's free and allows you to compress and uncompress 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB files - which covers pretty much everything!

===Sometimes when I try to join games it gives me an error.===
The host is behind a firewall that has not opened the correct ports for Spring.

Dixit SJ: "The lobby room uses 4897 tcp to communicate with the server. Then when you create a battleroom you can choose what ports it should use. 8452 is the default. The battleroom itself will use tcp on this port while the game will use udp on this port."

===When I make games nobody joins.===
You are probably behind a firewall. See question above.

===When a multiplayer game starts I never make it past the loading screen.===
This indicates a problem with your video card. Once again the best way to deal with this situation is to make sure your video card has the latest driver updates and that all Spring video features are on the lowest settings.

===When a multiplayer game starts, I make it past the loading screen, but when I get into the game it says, "Waiting for Host", and does a 10 second countdown. It always reaches zero and boots me out, what gives?===
This is a firewall issue. There are three things you can do to fix this. First, make sure your windows firewall is either off, or is not blocking the TA: Spring application. Secondly, if you are behind a router, you can forward the ports that the host is using (especially if you are the host), and it usually fixes the problem. To do this you must go to your router configuration page. You can see what port 'you' are using (as the host), by hosting a multiplayer game in the Spring Lobby. You must make this your trigger port, and make sure that it is open for both TCP and UDP. Thirdly, if none of the aforementioned worked. The easiest thing to do (assuming you are behind a router) is to set the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). This means your computer will be completely exposed to the internet, which will make you vulnerable to any unknown or unpatched exploits in windows. All you have to do is find the personal IP if the computer you are using and add it to your router's DMZ list. Please only try this last option if you can't get the others to work.
Good Luck

===Sometimes when I chat in the 'game lobby', people can't hear me.===
I would recommend closing and restarting the whole Spring application after each successful game. Weird things tend too happen. (By successful I mean all the players loaded and the game started.)

===I got into the game, but some people didn't.===
The host may have reached the number of players it has set.
Or the players may be experiencing firewall or video card difficulty. That is not your fault. Please ask them too leave if they are still there when you get into the 'game lobby'.

----
==Playing==

===What is with this weird right-click mode? I'm bout to break my keyboard.===
Sorry, you'll just have to get used to it. As of now it can't be changed.

===Why is somebody else also controlling my units?===
In the 'game lobby' there are two sets of teams. There are the 'Teams' and the 'Ally Teams'. If you are on the same 'Team', then you both get the same commander, and can control the same units. If you are on 'Ally Teams', then you both get different commanders and can't control each others units.

===Then why would I want to be on the same 'Team' as somebody?===
Because it's fun to just drive around units and not have to worry about commanding. (Assuming that one of the people on the team is commanding.)

===How do I talk to my allies only?===
You must type 'a:' before you speak. Here's an example: a: Now I am talking to my allies only.

===Help! After I'm finished driving a unit, the camera is all insane! This is nuts! How do I fix it?===
Whoa now. Calm down. Just press ctrl + mouse button 3 to change camera modes.

===After I'm finished driving a unit, where what used too be my mouse pointer is now a crosshair. Why?===
-This is a special 'view mode' that allows you to move around the screen much faster. It's good for viewing the battle or getting screenshots. Simply press on your third mouse button too revert back to your mouse pointer.

===But I don't have a third mouse button!===
The key 'J' works in the same way as the 'middle mouse button' does. So where you would use ctrl + middle mouse button to change camera modes, ctrl + j does the same thing. Pressing J once will also switch you from 'crosshair mode' to 'pointer mode' and vice versa.

===Sometimes my units just get deleted. Why?===
For some reason units get deleted when they go into the wrong places. Like out of the map edge.

This is already fixed in recent versions.

===People are cheating! How do I stop it?!===
Well currently, you can't.

Only the host can "activate" the cheat codes. After that, any player can do almost all cheats.

The best thing to do is just not play with the cheaters anymore. But with new spring version cheats are disabled in multiplayer, so that paragraph is hopefully now irrelevant.

===Well how do you cheat?===

<table border="3" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">

<tr><th>Cheat Command</th><th>Effect</th></tr>

<tr>
<td>'''.cheat'''</td><td>'''enable cheats - Cheats don't work in multiplayer until the host types this'''</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.nocost</td><td>instabuild (doesn't work on things already under construction, only on new ones)</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.setmaxspeed 50</td><td>Changes the maximum speed multiplier (default is 3.0)</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.setminspeed 0</td><td>Changes the minimum speed multiplier (default is 0.3)</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.spectator</td><td>Allows you to see the entire map... but you lose control of your units</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.team 0, .team 1, etc.</td><td>Change player</td>
</tr>

</table>

===In Game Commands===
The following ''non-cheating'' commands are also available in game:

<table border="3" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">

<tr>
<th>Command</th><th>Effect</th>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.info</td><td>Shows you what colour each player is and their ping delay in the bottom left corner of the screen</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>.clock</td><td>Shows you the elapsed game time in minutes and seconds in the bottom left corner of the screen</td>
</tr>

</table>

===How do I ally or unally in game?===
I'm pretty sure you can't. Yet.

===How do I give somebody units or metal or energy?===
Press the 'H' key.
Then select the amount of metal and/or energy to share.

Then select the recieving player an press ok.

When sharing units, you must first select the units to share, then press 'H' key.

Tick share units checkbox and choose recieving player.

===How do I continually give somebody metal and/or energy after a certain point (i.e. Original TA commands +setshare..., +shareall)?===
You'll notice that on your metal and energy bars (top of screen), there are two red bars. You have to put them wherever you want your metal and energy to be shared after.

===Man I am soooo sick of XTA. How do I play AA or OTA instead?===
Well. Somebody has made a patch to turn TA Spring into OTA: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&ID=679 click here]. But really, why would you want to go back to OTA? There are also patches available for various mods other than XTA (which is installed as default): [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&ID=92 click here]. A switcher is available which makes it easier to switch between the different mods: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&ID=805 click here]

===XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? What those all the abbreviations mean?===
zwzsg main a handy dandy Faq about TA, and the abbreviations that relate to Spring too, of course.
[http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27309 click here]. See also the Spring [[Glossary]], which contains brief explanations for all non-standard words and phrases.

===Why am I destroyed so easily by long range assaults?===
This is a realistic feature of TA Spring. Units will automatically attack 'radar blips' (units that they can not actually see, but that are indicated on radar). However, the accuracy is very bad while shooting at radar blips until:
* Your unit kills a lot of units and gets experience
* You get a targetting facility.

===Can I kick people from my 'game lobby' or my game?===
First of all, you have to be the host to kick. In theory, you would right click on someone's name in the 'game lobby' and that would give you the option to kick them. This feature is not currently supported, however, but it will be fixed soon.

===When I'm 'driving' my commander, why can't I use my laser?===
The TA: Spring team will most likely add a way for you to use your commander's laser soon.

===I hate driving around with the 'arrow keys'. Is there any way I can use the 'W-A-S-D' controls (the controls most First Person Shooters use) anymore?===
Go into your Spring directory and edit the uikeys file. Keep in mind that 'S' is originally a 'hot-key' that will stop your units and that 'D' is a 'hot-key' for your commander's D-Gun. You might want to change those too.

===I turned the shadows feature on; I still don't see shadows. What gives?===
Your graphics card can't handle shadows, so Spring automatically turns them off.

===I can't go backwards when I am 'driving' a unit. Why not?===
Because TA units were never intended to go backwards. Sorry.

===I'm in the Unreal Tournament 2004 kind of mood. How do I strafe?===
You can only strafe in 'brawler type' ships, such as the brawler, rapier, and light gunships.

===How can I record and watch demos/replays?===
The game is always recorded to test.sdf which is overwritten by each new game. Change the name if you want to save it. To view a demo start spring.exe as non server and enter the full demo name (coolgame.sdf for example) as server address. You must change the name to something else than test.sdf to view a demo.

You can use the Speed up/Slow down game keys while watching the replay. +

===Sometimes when I play with certain people I get HUGE sync errors that continue throughout the game.===
It used to be because they have a differen't mod installed than you. If, for example, you had not installed a mod, and somebody was in the game with you that had the OTA mod installed, it would cause the 'sync' error. However, now those errors should show up as disabled units in the battleroom.

Check the list at the right hand in the game battleroom for disabled units.

If there are tons of them (not just 1, as this is known bug [naval flakker bug]), some players has a different mod installed.

===My aircraft repairing platforms don't work!===
This feature is not implemented yet. I'm afraid you'll have to wait.

===What features from the original TA game have not been implemented yet?===
In addition to aircraft repair platforms (above), enemy capturing and resurrection have not been implemented yet.

----
==Creating Content for Spring==
===How do I create maps===
See this page: http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_maps
===How do I create units===
Go here: http://spring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_units

Tutorial:CreateMaps(Fnordia et al)

2005-07-06T10:16:00Z

81.205.94.3: /* Atmosphere, Water Colours */

'''Original by aGorm, with help from LathanStanley'''



== The Idea ==

First of all you need an idea. There is no point (OK, there is some point for test purposes) in making a map just like another one that already exists. You need to think of certain things before you make your map.
# Is this map idea different, not just a copy of someone else's?
# Does my map idea give each player a fair share of the cover and high ground?
# Is my map idea possible to make?
# Is it possible with the amount of time I'm willing to spend?

If you answered yes to the above, then you are 25% of the way towards making your map!

You should probably doodle it on a piece of paper to act as a guide later.

== The Tools ==

With your idea hopefully sketched out, it's time to get the tools to make the map! (You can skip this if you already have them.)

I'm going to suggest (nay, insist!) you use the [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&ID=861 Buggi SHARP MAP] program, because it does everything the command-line version does and more. And it's easy for people to understand.
Please note that you must put SHARP MAP in a folder with no spaces... so not in "...program files/mapcon" as it wont work.

You will also need some image editing software. Favorites are Photoshop, the [http://www.gimp.org/ GIMP], And Paintshop Pro.
The GIMP, however, is the only one that's free!
(I'm going to have to assume you know how to use the program you choose. If you can't there are loads of tutorials on the net.)

You may also want to check out [http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/ Terragen] for rendering terrain. But as you have to pay to render anything of a good size, I won't mention it other than here.

Another tool for rendering terrain is the freeware tool [http://www.delphigl.de/projects/terrtexgen/eng_index.html TerrTexGen]. "It generates a terraintexture on the base of a grayscale heightmap und uses five surfacetextures that are distributed over the heightmap."

== Preparing your map ==

This is the fun part! And also, often, the longest part.

For a Map you will need several different things:
# a texture map
# a height map
# a metal map

They all have certain needs! Read this bit carfully!

===Texture Map===
All maps are based on a texture image. This image's width and height must be an exact multiple of 1024 pixels. So, for instance, you can have a "4096 by 8192" image, but not a "4096 by 4608" image, as 4608 does not divide by 1024. It, like all three maps, must be saved as a 24 bit BMP.

It may look like whatever you want! Find a texture (preferably one that you can tile seamlessly) and fill your texture map with it. You could, for instance, fill the whole image with a sand texture. This would make your whole world look like sand. You could then decide to add a few patches of grass to it by finding a suitable grass texture and adding it on in patches. So you'd have a map that was mostly sand with a few patches of green.

===Height Map===
Next is the height map. This must be exactly one eighth (1/8) of the size of the texture map '''+ 1 pixel!''' For instance, if the dimensions of your texture map are "4096 by 8192", divide 4096 and 8192 each by 8 and add one to the result of each. The result for this example would be "513 by 1025". The height map is a black and white BMP. Only use black and white, no colour! (well its better to work it as a greyscale image, and when saving to process, convert to rgb and save as bmp, that way you get a 24 bit bmp)

White ares are the tops of mountains; black areas are the sea floor or the bottom of valleys. The shades of grey between are the different heights between! When you draw your heightmap, make sure the white blends into the black with greys. I suggest you use the blur tool. If you have a white splodge in a patch of black you will have a very tall pillar that won't look natural at all!

===Metal Map===
Finally, you need a metal map. This is the same size as the height map, one eighth (1/8) of the size of the texture map '''+ 1 pixel.''' On this one you paint down red (in verying degrees) to represent metal. So a red spot that is RGB(50,0,0) will provide about a 5th of the metal patch of red RGB(255,0,0) will give.

On this map you can also place green pixels. Each green pixel will create 1 geothermal vent. If you put down a green splodge you will get a cluster of geo vents! Only place 1 pixel.

Ensure you have all three saved as 24 bit BMPs and you're ready to convert it all to a map!

== Sharp Map ==

Here's a easy run down of what to do.
First, (you guessed it) open Sharp Map.
This brings you a window with several fields that need filling, a few option boxes and two sliders. Fill in the top fields as required. (Click browse, locate the texture map, and click OK. Repeat for the height map and metal map.)

Type in a figure for MAX HEIGHT and MIN HEIGHT. The MAX HEIGHT should not exceed 500. Higher numbers can cause errors. If your minimum height is a negative number then you will have water on your map. Sea level is, naturally enough, at 0. To the right of these boxes is a grey level calculator. This will tell you aproximatly the level of grey on your height map that is under water and above water. The grey is described by it's RGB values.

Then adjust the tree and grass sliders. If you have a green map then I suggest you lower the tree slider, otherwise the map will be covered!

(Edit:)
EXAMPLE: the starting locations of the sliders are approx. 75% trees 80% grass... on a green portion of any map with any hue (>200 green <75 red <75 blue) it will end up completely FULL of trees on the default settings, reducing the sliders to around 20% or less (20% is still kinda dense) will make the green areas MUCH more playable, and still have a good quantity of trees in the deep green parts. However, you will lose almost all your trees in brown/green areas, and any area without any green. It would seem the most suitable, for a green map, to be green everywhere, except for cliffsides, rocky patches, water, sand, and mud, if you want the trees to look pretty. Another idea would be to have the dirt brown, and have very thick green splotches of grass (30x30 pixels) where you want a few trees to be.
(Edit by: LathanStanley)

Finally, you need to decide if you need to tick the inverse height map box or not. If you drew the height map by hand so that if you overlayed your height map over the texture the hills would line up with the hills, etc. then you will need to tick the box.
This is because the image is read ''backwards'', so its expecting the image to be upside-down. Ticking the check box makes it flip the image the way it wants it before conversion.
If you exported your texture and height maps from Terragen, then you do not need to tick this box, as Terragen exports it upside-down already.
If you were crazy and drew it upside-down, then you don't need to tick it either.

When you have completed all this click Create Map!
This can take some time for a larger map, so start off with a small one.

An Error message similar to this one: 
"System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file "C:\Program Files\TASpring\convert\strips\mini.dds".

Means that there is a space caracter (as in "C:\Program Files\") in one of the paths to the files used by Sharpmap. Put all the files in a path that doesnt contain a space caracter like "C:\map1set3\".

 If that doesn't work, contakt buggi or post it in the forum, somebody will allways help.

== Making your map work ==

This is the final push. Once Sharp map has finshed it will spit out a .sm2 file. This needs to be copyed to the MAPS folder in Spring. But you still need one more thing: an .smd file. Basically, this file tells the game things like the maximum metal, the light colours, the clouds, etc. (All the bits you were thinking that you hadn't done yet!)

I would suggest you copy the .smd of another map and fiddle with the settings until you get what you want. smd's can be opened in notepade or similar. Look at all the .smd's so you can get a jist of what each option does. Make sure both the .sm2 and .smd have the same file name then start up Spring (not the client!) in [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/FAQ#People_talk_about_.27Single_Player.27._How_do_I_start_a_single_player_game.3F single-player mode] and run the commanders script. Choose your map and away you go!

== SMD Rundown==

What follows is all that we (aGorm and LathanStanley) have figured out in the SMD's. Its by no means the be all and end all, but its the next best thing.

===General Map Information===
#Description is just a short description of your map, keep it simple.
#TidalStrength is a valuse that determins how much energy tidal generators will produce, a normal figure is around 20.
#Gravity, as youd expect, effects balisitcs and how much units will go flying when near an explosion.
#MaxMetal is the maximum amount of metal you will gain from one game square in 1 second from an area of metal that had a red value of 255 in your metal map. If making an old style metal deposit map, then this will be quite high, maybe 2 or 3, if making a new style metal all over the place map then it will be low, perhaps 0.2, also for old style maps you'll have to fiddel with the...
#ExtractorRadius, which is the area that is harvested by 1 metal extractor. For old style maps make this very small so as they only take from one deposit...

===Atmosphere, Water Colours===
Each value (it would appear this bit is by no means gospel) is a representation of the RGB values for that parameter. It would appear to be relative, IE you can put in what ever numbers you like and the game will work out what you want... However the best way to go about it is to look at it as percentages.
The numbers 1,0.5,0.2 refer to 100% red, 50% green and 20% blue. However you can use 2,1,0.4, and get the same result. However using numbers below one for all the numbers will result in the colour being less bright.
This is all a bit confusing so an example will be given:

SkyColor=0.2 0.1 0.5;
In this example the sky is coloured with 20% red, 10% green, and 50% blue, approximatly RGB(51,25,127), resulting in a very deep night-time blue.

Other colours are added to the initial sky colour, so if you set your sun as being a pale yellow and it came out rather green this is why. One helpful tip is NEGATIVE Colour. Thats right, you can type in a negative number for a colour and it will remove it from the base sky colour. Just be careful not to go below the original values or you may get a surprise.

===The Sun System/Shadow System===
The Sun System/Shadow System is quite a useful tool as well in making your maps look WELL DONE.
Within the .smd file there is a line: "SunDir=-1 1 -.5; //direction of sun (...comment)"
The numbers "-1", "1", ".5" determine the angle and elevation of the sunlight system. The first number is its X angle (East/West) (from -1 to 1) where any -# means the sun is on the West therefore shadows will be cast East, any +# means the sun is on the East therefore shadows will be cast West, and if the #=0 there is no East or West shadows, the sun is directly above you, or North/South of you. The second is its elevation, (0 to 1), this number is how far from the horizion the sun is, ignoring its angle. Thus, 1 puts the sun directly overhead (still casting angular shadows...) and 0 putting it directly on the horizion. The final number is the Z angle (North/South) (I know I know, they wrote the engine with y as elevation and z as vertical don't blame me) where its just like the East West positioning, where -#'s put them on the North, and +#'s put them on the South.

EXAMPLE USEAGE:
if you want the shadows IN one of the boxes (your shadow casting surface is in the middle), use the numbers provided, or start from them and tweak the angle and sun height as seen fit.

N
----------------------------------------------
| ( 1 .5 -1) | ( 0 .5 -1) | (-1 .5 -1) |
----------------------------------------------
W | ( 1 .5 0) | ( 0 1 0) | (-1 .5 0) | E
----------------------------------------------
| ( 1 .5 1) | ( 0 .5 1) | (-1 .5 1) |
----------------------------------------------
S

NOTE! on the current build however, though it WILL cast the shadows in the proper direction etc. Negative direction numbers tend to make some maps unstable and cause crashes. The best solution would be to rotate or flip your map to where the shadows point up or right (North or West). I do believe these bugs are being worked on and will be fixed soon.

We can only hope this has been helpful! Any questions, or things you think we have missed, please ask us in the maps section.

Yours... '''aGorm'''

Spring guide

2005-07-03T22:30:55Z

81.205.94.3: /* Army vs Base */

'''

Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) havenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t got everything fixed out yet.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢

Before we start, letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s have some background info.

== TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==
[warning, boring info that doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t really mean anything]

TA was created by Cavedog (R.I.P) in 1997, about half a year before Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3D graphics (but a fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned etc.), 3D terrain and many units (150 in the original game). But in my not so humble opinion, the 3 greatest things that set TA apart were...

* Its physics ! Every shot trajectory was calculated ! An artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit an aircraft, which exploded into bits, damaging other troops nearby, which could also explode and set forests in fire. Yeah, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.

(Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)
[http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]

* The order system ! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol an area and attack anyone in it. Order queues were limitless. You could build your whole base and drink tea while it was getting built. Construction units on patrol would repair damaged units, help build things and reclaim (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses.) stuff.

* The resources system ! Contrarily to other RTS games, the resources in TA are infinite. What limits resource consumption is the rate at which they can be gathered. This sole fact would make for longer and more epic games, with hundreds or thousands of units fighting in the endgame.

Pretty cool game. If you want, check out their old website for more info. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/Total_Annihilation_Mirror/totala/index.html Click here]

[/warning, boring info that doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t really mean anything]

Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!

Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new thingsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ check out Spring features page for more info.
[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]

----

==Resources==

There are two types of resources in spring, namely '''metal''' and '''energy'''. Both are gathered continually. In the upper corner of the screen, there is a bar and some numbers showing how much you are gathering/consuming. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building require energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.

Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers (MM) that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though.
A faster way to produce resources is to reclaim stuff by sucking it in and transforming it (corpses is the most common source of metal, but you can also reclaim trees to gather energy).

Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.

In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, your building rate will stall, and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)

----

==A Normal Spring Game==

Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it.
Every Spring game starts with all players only havingÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

'''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)

The Commander is the unit you start with and the most important one in game. He is unique and cannot be rebuilt. In fact, there is a mode where the game ends when the commander dies, so never leave him alone.

The fastest builder, he can walk and build under water, he makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, he has a laser and the privilege of a Disintegrator gun (alias D-Gun).
The D-gun is the single most powerful weapon in the whole game, which kills ANY (ANY, I mean it!) unit in one hit (friend or foe no difference, be careful!). Even if that sounds a little overkill, keep in mind that the Commander has a very limited range, is defenceless against any aircraft and long range artillery and when he is immerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)

The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun kills should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the gameÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion that may destroy half (all?) of your base.

AnywayÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ if you're seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander (Ctrl+c if you can't find him) with left mouse button to select him.

(If you have a crosshair as a mouse, press j. If your camera is ZOOMED out or all jerky, press ctrl+j until you find OTA camera.)

Okay, letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.

Like any normal RTS, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s choose and click location. But there is more with Spring. Hold shift and click on different locations to make the unit build the same building there. Hold shift and drag and you will make a line of the building. Hold ctrl and shift to make boxes/rectangular shapes of buildings. Use these ! Make a line of DT (Dragon Teeth, small piece of wall/cover) instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.
This is called queuing up stuff. You can use almost every single command in a queue. Buildings can be queue to build lots of different units, and then the other orders in the behaviour of the unit. You can make them walk to something, or guard/follow a unit by pressing G and selecting the unit to guard. Try it.
Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.

Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and that some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all ! (The level of wind in the map is indicated in the Map Selector in the Lobby).

Now select the metal extractors and the whole screen turns black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)

----

==The TA bestiary==

Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)

(Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t mean artillery of course.)

On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories areÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

===Vehicles===

These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, with more armour than their K-bot counterparts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour than their K-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.
Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t climb mountainsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, units survive but can get stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill. But sooner or later, you'll learn what kind of destruction a rush of 30 Goliaths can do !

===K-Bots===

K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.
So why build them in the first place?
Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t work out that good in game though, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip through DT and such alike easier than tanks.
And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains with ease! Climb by defences, up on mountains, through holes, these are all-purpose units.

===Aircrafts===

Planes are planes. In Spring, thereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not affected by terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA with your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop them, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA) units.

On the downside, planes are quite expensive to build and are relatively fragile. They are also the only units that have an anti unit against them (Except subs). When someone finds out you're building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army with mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes than their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. A combined ground and air attack can be very destructive. Good luck!

===Ships===

Ships are good on a map with water. (DUH!) Ships come in many different kinds, but mostly for taking out other ships or bombing the crap out of land units some way or another. The ships strength is their powerful weaponry and their long range. All ships made to take out land, have long range. Ships also have lots of armour. Another thing thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop them. Once you see that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have many AA ships. Their weaknesses are slowness (especially when turning), they can be taken out by submarines, they are confined to water, and therefore they are often stuck with units just outside of their reach.

And they are expensive.

===Hovercrafts===

(These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the perfect map for them)

Hovercrafts are a tank and a plane (some say ship, but I find planes to be more accurate for some reason O.o) mixed. Sure itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. YouÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re playing a swampy map with many transitions from water to land... Since your enemy knows that the only good thing to do is to go air, since the water way is very hard to take and land is impossible, he crams his base full with AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.
Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t since there is too much water.

Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)

===Laser and Plasma Towers===

These cannons will undoubtly be essential parts of your offensive as well as defensive strategies. There are 4 different kinds, differing essentially on their range.

'''Pop-up'''
Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢offÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not a direct hit) In XTA you can build them with level 1 construction K-bot or whatever. Sometimes individual wars between 2 or 4 pop-ups break out, where both sides try to kill the other's ones. Just remember to repair them, as with all PCÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

'''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''
Guardians and such alike. These arenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t for attacking, but they have a pretty long range, and are not too expensive. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence and very lethal. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MTÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

'''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''
We are talking Big berthas, Intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps.The Big Bertha, yeah. An amazing unit. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate than a Buzz Saw/Vulcan, and its accuracy will improve with every kill. Not good at defending, since its slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on a small maps, or just build one close to the enemy and your Bertha will start pounding his base mercilessly. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s possible) and you'll see your enemy's morale quickly fall to the ground. A LRPC expansion can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.

'''Very long range Plasma Cannons (VLRCP)'''
Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those ÃƒÂ¼ber porckers.
Defend these well, with lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing'em is easy if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have AAÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are sooo cheap and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life.

The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.

===The first steps===

Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?
Well, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.

1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.

2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢line defenceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ guide lines.
Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.
This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.
There are disadvantages with this. You canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t use many metal extractors or Geos, so you have slim to no resources to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.

3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t to kill him, but to do as much damage as possible to his resources and hinder his economy. Mexxes are the most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.
Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.

Anyway, use your construction units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geothermal gases. Yeah the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.

When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.

When itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use it for your first mini Fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if you're Arm)
Build level 2 units in the meantime.
Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).
You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)
Okay, if you made this far, you must really start thinking about how to defeat the enemy. Look for his weak spot. Maybe a K-bot assault from the mountains ? Maybe planes. Maybe using amphibious units. That part is for you to figure out.

----

==STRATEGY==

I read this guide through, and suddenly realisedÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

''where is the strategy?''

So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.

===Defence===

AhÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.

''Compact defence!''

The most common type of defence is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth (DT) in front. Inside your base is some AA, and thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s about it. The good thing about this is that itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pretty easy and fast to set up, and you know where your territory ends, which can make the game much easier. Problem is, if something makes it past the line of defence, then youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re screwed. Unless youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.

''Spread out defence!''

I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with a large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a Heavy Laser Tower (HLT) here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and thereÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Basically, you expand every time you build a defence building, so in the end you have ENORMOUS space to move in. Since the defence is spread out, you can have some units hide behind mountains and attack. He used merls who he trapped in fortification walls. I tried to run past the defence with an army of 30 bulldogs. His HLT and missile and plasma batteries stopped me before I even reached his final defence line.
Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are comingÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

''No defenceÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ at all?''

Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop them from running right through the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?
with units. The whole concept is that you put all your effort on making units. This works pretty well, since you can look where the enemy is going to attack, you can MOVE your whole defence to that location.
The problem with this defence, is that when you are attacking, you lose most of your defence. Sure you can leave units behind, but I find it hard mentally to leave half the army at home when i am attacking.
If you manage to pull this off, and make enough units to both attack and defend, then you have not wasted any money on defence, and you have a strong army!

ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s all I know of.

Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.

Okay, you built a good defence
You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.
Take a 4 seconds look through the enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?
*"Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountainsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦"
Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.

===Moving===
Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack cÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Nope.
First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a little for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t know how much of that is true. A way of having your units stick together is to take a pretty slow unit, like a Can and have others guard it.
Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (Walkyrie /Atlas) smartly and protect them. The other transportation units are harder to use, since they take more time to load/unload.

===Attacking===

When attacking, remember what the unit role in the fight is. Fark are used to heal your wounded important units or. Bulldogs are meant to take damage and give damage back. Merls are used to shot missiles from distance, and doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t require a clear path. The question is what to heal. Merls die quickly, so one shot= dead can mean that the healing could be used on a bulldog instead. Therefore try to heal the middle mans. Not the giant hp monsters, not the weak defence strong/useful attack. Mobile artillery has enough hp to survive one or two attacks. Heal them so they stay alive.

===Army vs Army===

Many units attacking one unit is the best thing you can do, as if you kill one of theirs, they lose one source of fire power. Focus fire is the important. Using focus fire in a group of easy killed units is very effective. Using em all on the HP power houses is less effective.
When youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re facing an army, always try to attack from behind or the side. Keep your units a little spread out when attacking. Not to far, but just so that area weapons donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close though but not too much. On the one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack; on the other hand you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.

This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement tooÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
In this, you run one third of your HP powerhouses go to the left, one third to the right and have thze last third stay where they are.
This gives you 3 advantages:
*it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base,
*you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape
*it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.

===Army vs Base===

Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unitÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s to defend, and didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have any backup ones)
Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he hasÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

Line defence

Gather your army and set up for battle a bit away from his base, and get ready to move in. Have the FARKS guard your main HP power houses, so they are in the front but still can hide behind em. Everything else behind that. When attacking, have several units attacking the HLT and plasma batteries, and use the FARKS to reclaim his DT. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Spilt your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and the let the other go lose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion plants with your second group of tanks, and try to move the other big group to a place that is easy to defend while hitting the fusions. Behind buildings is perfect! Kill as much as you can in short, or kill all^^
If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢once a hole in the defenceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢.

Spread out defence

AghÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t run past his defences unless you like suicide. (And if you do, Ctrl+a and then ctrl+d will do the trick. A slice over the wrist works to.)
This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step by step, defence structure by defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports with repeat command and make em drop the units a lithe bit away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his Last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.

Units defence

Think army vs army. DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.

===Naval Battles===

Naval battles are hard to predict if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t play island maps a lot, since there many factors to take into play. Since land units are removed, you have to think in a WHOLE new perspective. No land means that only Sea, Air and Hover units can fight (and LRCP off course).
Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy has. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, with a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hovercrafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).

====Ships====
When using ships, have scout ships or planes scout the area in front, then subs and sub killers front. Use Long range ships at the sides to protect anything of value you might have with you (a sea transport or an aircraft carrier). When in battle, try to have the subs run away from sub killers, while your sub killers kill the enemy subs. Your subs should try to attack the most important ship they have, and then just go crazy.
When facing land, youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRPC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.

====Hovercrafts====
Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.

===Planes===
Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.
First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA with gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, with is pretty wrong. Bombers with gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking with em. Scouts, so you can fast see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out off his fusion or whatever youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.
When facing units, do the same.
When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.

===Using Terrain===

Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.
First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.
Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re building something high on top of something, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up.
The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and can't go up climb mountains. But a foe think he has sealed up all exits, K-bots can climb mountains where he hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t put any DTÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, with 3 land bridges here and there, he probably wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have any ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like flooded desert) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?

===Energy and all the problems with it===

As I said before, most level 2 units require energy to move, shoot and operate in general. Meaning that if you have no energy to support your army, you can't do anything ! You can use this in your favor, by attacking his Fusions, or
by ''giving'' Metal makers to your enemy when you are attacking him, or he is attacking you! Things that drain a lot of energy include LRPC, Goliaths, HLT, and most level 2 units.

===Paper-rock-scissor ?===

Try to look at all units as individuals. Even if I didn't write much about each single unit, know your favorite ones and how to use them effectively in conjunction with the others. You'll find that some units are very complementary. The only real paper-rock relationships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...

I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, etc, etc. The possibilities are huge, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.

'''Have fun !!!'''

----

===Strategy Tips===

-Resource tree- is pretty important doing smooth transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.

-SCOUT! Know your enemy! Check what he has, and what he is building. Look for weakness in defence and such alike. If your or your ally is scouting, donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t look away. Gather as much information as possible.
ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings

-Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. Radar makes a big different when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks, or attacks that are a lithe surprising. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.

-WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t care what the other persons saying. DONÃ¢â‚¬â„¢TÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ DOÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m going land, can you make air?Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s 2 alliesÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.
h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies

-Queue (yeah, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game by pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good whilst clicking (queues 5 units at once)

-Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, and subs to guard your transports so on. Then they will choose to attack whatever is hurting their guard object first. You can even do this to structures, for units who are built to move to a unitÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ectÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier.

-Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re out on energy in the beginning...

-The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^
Also as you have wayloads more MC than your opponent you can easily afford 2 nukes. a anti nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^

-Experiment! I suggest you go into single player and try every unit. Use commanders for arm, and small battle (watch that Krogoth!) for core. Try every approach to a problem. Remember, just because a unit is good, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not invincible.

-Several types of factories. Yea, even if it cost money. A advanced building cost as much as a bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money. Build it.

-Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.

-Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about youÃ¯?Å ) If you know heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s building aircrafts, do something about it.

-Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mexxes. Having trouble finding em? Use f4 to see where the ground is drained^^. A tip is to stay away from the commander, or use buildings as hostages. Hide behind stuff and kill it off, then move on. If your sure your going to die, move close to a building a self-destruct.

-Just because pewees are better then AKÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t meant that AKÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s are useless. (And so onÃ¢â‚¬Â¦)

-In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.

-Mixed armies. O boy, if you havenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t heard this one a thousand times before your only been playing half-life for the last 7 years or something. Even if goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make em much more effective.

-Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*

-Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a ass and shouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢how do I play?Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢

-Learn! If you lost, Always think why you died. What did the enemy do better then you? What was the key to winning? And so on

-The readme has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.

-Develop! Are you a programmer, a 3d design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making spring better! Remember, spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AKÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.

-Try having some good music on when playing. It can give you a good kick. I recommend the WAR OF THE WORLD (the strategy game, yes it exists) Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢eve of the warÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&ID=54
Or anything you like.

-Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...

-DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t get to serious. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a game.

This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly

Spring guide

2005-07-03T22:30:35Z

81.205.94.3: /* Army vs Base */

'''

Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) havenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t got everything fixed out yet.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢

Before we start, letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s have some background info.

== TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==
[warning, boring info that doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t really mean anything]

TA was created by Cavedog (R.I.P) in 1997, about half a year before Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3D graphics (but a fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned etc.), 3D terrain and many units (150 in the original game). But in my not so humble opinion, the 3 greatest things that set TA apart were...

* Its physics ! Every shot trajectory was calculated ! An artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit an aircraft, which exploded into bits, damaging other troops nearby, which could also explode and set forests in fire. Yeah, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.

(Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)
[http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]

* The order system ! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol an area and attack anyone in it. Order queues were limitless. You could build your whole base and drink tea while it was getting built. Construction units on patrol would repair damaged units, help build things and reclaim (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses.) stuff.

* The resources system ! Contrarily to other RTS games, the resources in TA are infinite. What limits resource consumption is the rate at which they can be gathered. This sole fact would make for longer and more epic games, with hundreds or thousands of units fighting in the endgame.

Pretty cool game. If you want, check out their old website for more info. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/Total_Annihilation_Mirror/totala/index.html Click here]

[/warning, boring info that doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t really mean anything]

Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!

Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new thingsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ check out Spring features page for more info.
[http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]

----

==Resources==

There are two types of resources in spring, namely '''metal''' and '''energy'''. Both are gathered continually. In the upper corner of the screen, there is a bar and some numbers showing how much you are gathering/consuming. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building require energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.

Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers (MM) that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though.
A faster way to produce resources is to reclaim stuff by sucking it in and transforming it (corpses is the most common source of metal, but you can also reclaim trees to gather energy).

Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.

In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, your building rate will stall, and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)

----

==A Normal Spring Game==

Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it.
Every Spring game starts with all players only havingÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

'''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)

The Commander is the unit you start with and the most important one in game. He is unique and cannot be rebuilt. In fact, there is a mode where the game ends when the commander dies, so never leave him alone.

The fastest builder, he can walk and build under water, he makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, he has a laser and the privilege of a Disintegrator gun (alias D-Gun).
The D-gun is the single most powerful weapon in the whole game, which kills ANY (ANY, I mean it!) unit in one hit (friend or foe no difference, be careful!). Even if that sounds a little overkill, keep in mind that the Commander has a very limited range, is defenceless against any aircraft and long range artillery and when he is immerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)

The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun kills should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the gameÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion that may destroy half (all?) of your base.

AnywayÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ if you're seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander (Ctrl+c if you can't find him) with left mouse button to select him.

(If you have a crosshair as a mouse, press j. If your camera is ZOOMED out or all jerky, press ctrl+j until you find OTA camera.)

Okay, letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.

Like any normal RTS, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s choose and click location. But there is more with Spring. Hold shift and click on different locations to make the unit build the same building there. Hold shift and drag and you will make a line of the building. Hold ctrl and shift to make boxes/rectangular shapes of buildings. Use these ! Make a line of DT (Dragon Teeth, small piece of wall/cover) instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.
This is called queuing up stuff. You can use almost every single command in a queue. Buildings can be queue to build lots of different units, and then the other orders in the behaviour of the unit. You can make them walk to something, or guard/follow a unit by pressing G and selecting the unit to guard. Try it.
Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.

Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and that some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all ! (The level of wind in the map is indicated in the Map Selector in the Lobby).

Now select the metal extractors and the whole screen turns black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)

----

==The TA bestiary==

Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)

(Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t mean artillery of course.)

On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories areÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

===Vehicles===

These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, with more armour than their K-bot counterparts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour than their K-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.
Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t climb mountainsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, units survive but can get stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill. But sooner or later, you'll learn what kind of destruction a rush of 30 Goliaths can do !

===K-Bots===

K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.
So why build them in the first place?
Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t work out that good in game though, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip through DT and such alike easier than tanks.
And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains with ease! Climb by defences, up on mountains, through holes, these are all-purpose units.

===Aircrafts===

Planes are planes. In Spring, thereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not affected by terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA with your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop them, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA) units.

On the downside, planes are quite expensive to build and are relatively fragile. They are also the only units that have an anti unit against them (Except subs). When someone finds out you're building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army with mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes than their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. A combined ground and air attack can be very destructive. Good luck!

===Ships===

Ships are good on a map with water. (DUH!) Ships come in many different kinds, but mostly for taking out other ships or bombing the crap out of land units some way or another. The ships strength is their powerful weaponry and their long range. All ships made to take out land, have long range. Ships also have lots of armour. Another thing thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop them. Once you see that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have many AA ships. Their weaknesses are slowness (especially when turning), they can be taken out by submarines, they are confined to water, and therefore they are often stuck with units just outside of their reach.

And they are expensive.

===Hovercrafts===

(These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the perfect map for them)

Hovercrafts are a tank and a plane (some say ship, but I find planes to be more accurate for some reason O.o) mixed. Sure itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. YouÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re playing a swampy map with many transitions from water to land... Since your enemy knows that the only good thing to do is to go air, since the water way is very hard to take and land is impossible, he crams his base full with AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.
Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t since there is too much water.

Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)

===Laser and Plasma Towers===

These cannons will undoubtly be essential parts of your offensive as well as defensive strategies. There are 4 different kinds, differing essentially on their range.

'''Pop-up'''
Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢offÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not a direct hit) In XTA you can build them with level 1 construction K-bot or whatever. Sometimes individual wars between 2 or 4 pop-ups break out, where both sides try to kill the other's ones. Just remember to repair them, as with all PCÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

'''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''
Guardians and such alike. These arenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t for attacking, but they have a pretty long range, and are not too expensive. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence and very lethal. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MTÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

'''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''
We are talking Big berthas, Intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps.The Big Bertha, yeah. An amazing unit. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate than a Buzz Saw/Vulcan, and its accuracy will improve with every kill. Not good at defending, since its slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on a small maps, or just build one close to the enemy and your Bertha will start pounding his base mercilessly. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s possible) and you'll see your enemy's morale quickly fall to the ground. A LRPC expansion can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.

'''Very long range Plasma Cannons (VLRCP)'''
Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those ÃƒÂ¼ber porckers.
Defend these well, with lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing'em is easy if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have AAÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are sooo cheap and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life.

The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.

===The first steps===

Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?
Well, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.

1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.

2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢line defenceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ guide lines.
Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.
This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.
There are disadvantages with this. You canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t use many metal extractors or Geos, so you have slim to no resources to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.

3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t to kill him, but to do as much damage as possible to his resources and hinder his economy. Mexxes are the most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.
Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.

Anyway, use your construction units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geothermal gases. Yeah the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.

When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.

When itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use it for your first mini Fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if you're Arm)
Build level 2 units in the meantime.
Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).
You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)
Okay, if you made this far, you must really start thinking about how to defeat the enemy. Look for his weak spot. Maybe a K-bot assault from the mountains ? Maybe planes. Maybe using amphibious units. That part is for you to figure out.

----

==STRATEGY==

I read this guide through, and suddenly realisedÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

''where is the strategy?''

So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.

===Defence===

AhÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.

''Compact defence!''

The most common type of defence is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth (DT) in front. Inside your base is some AA, and thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s about it. The good thing about this is that itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pretty easy and fast to set up, and you know where your territory ends, which can make the game much easier. Problem is, if something makes it past the line of defence, then youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re screwed. Unless youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.

''Spread out defence!''

I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with a large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a Heavy Laser Tower (HLT) here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and thereÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Basically, you expand every time you build a defence building, so in the end you have ENORMOUS space to move in. Since the defence is spread out, you can have some units hide behind mountains and attack. He used merls who he trapped in fortification walls. I tried to run past the defence with an army of 30 bulldogs. His HLT and missile and plasma batteries stopped me before I even reached his final defence line.
Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are comingÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

''No defenceÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ at all?''

Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop them from running right through the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?
with units. The whole concept is that you put all your effort on making units. This works pretty well, since you can look where the enemy is going to attack, you can MOVE your whole defence to that location.
The problem with this defence, is that when you are attacking, you lose most of your defence. Sure you can leave units behind, but I find it hard mentally to leave half the army at home when i am attacking.
If you manage to pull this off, and make enough units to both attack and defend, then you have not wasted any money on defence, and you have a strong army!

ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s all I know of.

Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.

Okay, you built a good defence
You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.
Take a 4 seconds look through the enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?
*"Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountainsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦"
Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.

===Moving===
Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack cÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Nope.
First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a little for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t know how much of that is true. A way of having your units stick together is to take a pretty slow unit, like a Can and have others guard it.
Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (Walkyrie /Atlas) smartly and protect them. The other transportation units are harder to use, since they take more time to load/unload.

===Attacking===

When attacking, remember what the unit role in the fight is. Fark are used to heal your wounded important units or. Bulldogs are meant to take damage and give damage back. Merls are used to shot missiles from distance, and doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t require a clear path. The question is what to heal. Merls die quickly, so one shot= dead can mean that the healing could be used on a bulldog instead. Therefore try to heal the middle mans. Not the giant hp monsters, not the weak defence strong/useful attack. Mobile artillery has enough hp to survive one or two attacks. Heal them so they stay alive.

===Army vs Army===

Many units attacking one unit is the best thing you can do, as if you kill one of theirs, they lose one source of fire power. Focus fire is the important. Using focus fire in a group of easy killed units is very effective. Using em all on the HP power houses is less effective.
When youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re facing an army, always try to attack from behind or the side. Keep your units a little spread out when attacking. Not to far, but just so that area weapons donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close though but not too much. On the one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack; on the other hand you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.

This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement tooÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
In this, you run one third of your HP powerhouses go to the left, one third to the right and have thze last third stay where they are.
This gives you 3 advantages:
*it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base,
*you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape
*it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.

===Army vs Base===

Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unitÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s to defend, and didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have any backup ones)
Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he hasÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

Line defence

Gather your army and set up for battle a bit away from his base, and get ready to move in. Have the FARKS guard your main HP power houses, so they are in the front but still can hide behind em. Everything else behind that. When attacking, have several units attacking the HLT and plasma batteries, and use the FARKS to reclaim his DT. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Spilt your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and the let the other go lose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion plants with your second group of tanks, and try to move the other big group to a place that is easy to defend while hitting the fusions. Behind buildings is perfect! Kill as much as you can in short, or kill all^^
If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢once a hole in the defenceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢.

Spread out defence

AghÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t run past his defences unless you like suicide. (And if you do, Ctrl+a and then ctrl+d will do the trick. A slice over the wrist works to.)
This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step by step, defence structure by defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports with repeat command and make em drop the units a lithe bit away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his Last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.

Units defence

Think army vs army. DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go `through holes in the enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.

===Naval Battles===

Naval battles are hard to predict if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t play island maps a lot, since there many factors to take into play. Since land units are removed, you have to think in a WHOLE new perspective. No land means that only Sea, Air and Hover units can fight (and LRCP off course).
Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy has. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, with a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hovercrafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).

====Ships====
When using ships, have scout ships or planes scout the area in front, then subs and sub killers front. Use Long range ships at the sides to protect anything of value you might have with you (a sea transport or an aircraft carrier). When in battle, try to have the subs run away from sub killers, while your sub killers kill the enemy subs. Your subs should try to attack the most important ship they have, and then just go crazy.
When facing land, youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRPC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.

====Hovercrafts====
Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.

===Planes===
Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.
First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA with gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, with is pretty wrong. Bombers with gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking with em. Scouts, so you can fast see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out off his fusion or whatever youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.
When facing units, do the same.
When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.

===Using Terrain===

Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.
First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.
Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re building something high on top of something, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up.
The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and can't go up climb mountains. But a foe think he has sealed up all exits, K-bots can climb mountains where he hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t put any DTÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, with 3 land bridges here and there, he probably wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have any ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like flooded desert) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?

===Energy and all the problems with it===

As I said before, most level 2 units require energy to move, shoot and operate in general. Meaning that if you have no energy to support your army, you can't do anything ! You can use this in your favor, by attacking his Fusions, or
by ''giving'' Metal makers to your enemy when you are attacking him, or he is attacking you! Things that drain a lot of energy include LRPC, Goliaths, HLT, and most level 2 units.

===Paper-rock-scissor ?===

Try to look at all units as individuals. Even if I didn't write much about each single unit, know your favorite ones and how to use them effectively in conjunction with the others. You'll find that some units are very complementary. The only real paper-rock relationships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...

I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, etc, etc. The possibilities are huge, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.

'''Have fun !!!'''

----

===Strategy Tips===

-Resource tree- is pretty important doing smooth transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.

-SCOUT! Know your enemy! Check what he has, and what he is building. Look for weakness in defence and such alike. If your or your ally is scouting, donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t look away. Gather as much information as possible.
ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings

-Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. Radar makes a big different when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks, or attacks that are a lithe surprising. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.

-WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t care what the other persons saying. DONÃ¢â‚¬â„¢TÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ DOÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m going land, can you make air?Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s 2 alliesÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.
h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies

-Queue (yeah, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game by pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good whilst clicking (queues 5 units at once)

-Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, and subs to guard your transports so on. Then they will choose to attack whatever is hurting their guard object first. You can even do this to structures, for units who are built to move to a unitÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ectÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier.

-Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re out on energy in the beginning...

-The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^
Also as you have wayloads more MC than your opponent you can easily afford 2 nukes. a anti nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^

-Experiment! I suggest you go into single player and try every unit. Use commanders for arm, and small battle (watch that Krogoth!) for core. Try every approach to a problem. Remember, just because a unit is good, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not invincible.

-Several types of factories. Yea, even if it cost money. A advanced building cost as much as a bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money. Build it.

-Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.

-Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about youÃ¯?Å ) If you know heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s building aircrafts, do something about it.

-Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mexxes. Having trouble finding em? Use f4 to see where the ground is drained^^. A tip is to stay away from the commander, or use buildings as hostages. Hide behind stuff and kill it off, then move on. If your sure your going to die, move close to a building a self-destruct.

-Just because pewees are better then AKÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t meant that AKÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s are useless. (And so onÃ¢â‚¬Â¦)

-In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.

-Mixed armies. O boy, if you havenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t heard this one a thousand times before your only been playing half-life for the last 7 years or something. Even if goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make em much more effective.

-Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*

-Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a ass and shouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢how do I play?Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢

-Learn! If you lost, Always think why you died. What did the enemy do better then you? What was the key to winning? And so on

-The readme has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.

-Develop! Are you a programmer, a 3d design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making spring better! Remember, spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AKÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.

-Try having some good music on when playing. It can give you a good kick. I recommend the WAR OF THE WORLD (the strategy game, yes it exists) Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢eve of the warÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&ID=54
Or anything you like.

-Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...

-DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t get to serious. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a game.

This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly