Spring - User contributions [en]

Building Spring on Windows

2009-06-04T02:45:04Z

Det:

== Get the Source Code ==
{{Obtaining_The_Source_Code}}

== Compiling on Windows ==
For other platforms see [[Building spring]].

===Install MinGW===
Code::Blocks and Dev C++ use MinGW too, so if you are using one of these IDEs, you'll want to follow these instructions too.

====Getting MinGW====
Compiling in MinGW requires GCC 4.x which is only available in experimental builds. [http://www.tdragon.net/recentgcc/ TDM's experimental MinGW]

Get at least the following packages:
* mingw-runtime
* core
* c++
* binutils
* win32api
Use [http://jobjol.nl/2043 v18 of the MinGW library package] if you have MinGW .

====MinGW Setup====
There are two ways to setup the MinGL libraries:

''1.'' Make sure you install the package in the checkout directory, so the path is: /spring/mingwlibs. If done right, it will look like:
*/spring/
*/spring/installer
*/spring/rts
*/spring/... other dirs
*/spring/mingwlibs

''2.'' Install the package somewhere else (preferably outside of the source tree), and pass its location with the ''MINGWDIR'' option to CMake in the configure step (see further down, in the quick instructions).

These programs are a must have if you want to compile Spring with MinGW, so install them now, if you don't have them already.
*[http://www.cmake.org/files/v2.6/cmake-2.6.2-win32-x86.exe CMake 2.6 installer]

=== Compiling with cmake ===
Currently the CMake scripts are not capable of generating Visual Studio project files, so CMake can only be used for gcc compiling.

* run the cmake-gui and select a source and a build directory
* configure and follow the instructions, and adjust variables to your needs (defaults are OK)
* press generate
*open a console, cd into your build directory, run "mingw32-make"

===Compiling with scons===
Install the following programs (you don'T need cmake in this case):
*[http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.5.2/python-2.5.2.msi Python 2.5 installer]
*[http://downloads.sourceforge.net/pywin32/pywin32-212.win32-py2.5.exe Python 2.5 win32 extensions installer]
*[http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/scons/scons-1.1.0.win32.exe Scons 1.1.0 installer]

====Quick instructions====

* Grab and install the above programs.
* Make sure C:\Python25, C:\Python25\Scripts and C:\Dev-Cpp\bin are in your PATH environment variable. Set environment variables by: Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment variables (for Windows XP).
* Make sure a MINGDIR environment variable with value C:\Dev-Cpp exists. (change paths where appropriate.)
* Checkout the Spring SVN repository, following the instructions above in obtaining source. (TODO:link)
* Open a console (Start -> Run -> cmd.exe -> Run), cd \where you checked it out in the previous step, if you checked it out on a different drive make sure to change drives with DriveLetter:<enter> first.
* Type scons configure<enter>. Refer to scons --help for options which can be passed to scons configure. Gotchas:
** If you get an error message starting with "EOFError: : env = Environment...", try deleting the file build/scons_signatures.dblite
** If you get an error message stating "ImportError: No module named win32file:", you have probably not installed the python-win32-extensions.
** If all proceeds as intended you will see a message similar to: "Everything seems OK. Run `scons' now to build."
* Type scons<enter> to start the compilation.
** If you have Delphi installed and get an error message that the commandline params "--no-print-directory" & "-C" aren't supported, then you should remove the Delphi dirs from your PATH variable, because scons tried to run the delphi's make.exe instead of using mingw32-make. (this will cause that streflop can't be build!)
* Wait for the compilation to finish, this may take a while.
* Copy datafiles and stuff from official Spring installation to the /spring/game directory (where spring.exe is located, after the compilation finished.)
* Copy missing DLLs from mingwlibs/dll.
* Start developing.

===Visual Studio 8 (2005)===
(possibly the free Express Edition)

* Install the [http://spring.clan-sy.com/dl/spring-vc8libs.exe vclibs library package]. You need to install this in the /spring directory from the SVN checkout or the zipped source. If done right, it will look like:
**/spring/
**/spring/installer
**/spring/rts
**/spring/... other dirs
**/spring/vclibs
* Install the [http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/sdk/ DirectX SDK]
* Install the PlatformSDK. I got away with unchecking the parts of the PlatformSDK that were obviously not related (IIS, web stuff). Makes for a smaller download. Make '''sure''' the Platform SDK and DirectX SDK are in the VS search/include directories:
* After installing them, open Visual C++. Click Tools >> Options >> Projects and Solutions >> VC++ Directories. Add these entries to the corresponding sections (paths just a reference, yours may be different):
**Include files:
***$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft DirectX SDK (August 2007)\Include
***$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft Platform SDK\include
**Library files:
***$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft DirectX SDK (August 2007)\Lib\x86 (Might need \x64 on a 64-bit platform, I don't know.)
***$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft Platform SDK\lib
* Open the solution. /spring/rts/build/vstudio8/rts.sln
* Start building (usually you want to select the release/no debug build, debug is really too slow and is used only when you really know what you want to test)
* Select the working directory in the project properties, otherwise spring will not work correctly

===Visual Studio 9 (2008)===
(possibly the free Express Edition)

Not yet fully working as far as I know; you need at least this hotfix from Microsoft though:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946040

For the rest the Visual Studio 8 instructions should apply, mostly.

[[Category:Compiling]]

Finalizing linux install

2008-10-04T22:26:34Z

Det:

= Finalizing installation =

Now you have Spring installed along with SpringLobby. You are now ready to start springlobby for the first time.

=== Maps & Mods ===

Since Spring is only an engine, you need to download games/mods for it, and the maps that go with those games.

Springlobby will automatically do this for you using bittorrent when you attempt to join a game with a map or mod that you don't currently have.

If you want to download it manually or browse existing maps, there are several easy to use websites - here are some:
*[http://spring.jobjol.nl/subcategory.php?id=1 SpringFiles]
*[http://spring-portal.com/ Spring-Portal]
*[http://www.darkstars.co.uk/downloads/index.php?dir=spring Darkstars]

Pick any of those sites, download a map or mod, and save it under ~/spring/maps/ or /usr/share/games/spring/mods/ (if the folder doesn't exist - create it). Don't unpack the file in any way though, just download and save it. Reload your maps/mods in Springlobby, (Tools -> Reload maps/mods) and they will be ready to use.

These sites also may provide other neat things like lua widgets, epic replays, AI bots (for playing offline or to team up on with a freind). Generally the installation requires you to download the file and place it in the appropriate folder in your /usr/share/games/spring/ directory. (you may have to create the folder)

Hint: If you know the map name you want, there is a Search function provided in those websites. Just write a part of the name, like one word, and you'll easily find the map you were looking for - this is helpful later on.

==== BA (Balanced Annihilation) ====

A popular mod to get started with is Balanced Annihilation (BA) 6.21. Please note that before you can run it though, you'll need to download the OTA content - read the section below on how to get that.

==== CA (Complete Annihilation) ====

A new mod with better models, graphical effects, and a different take on gameplay is the CA mod - get it [http://trac.caspring.org/wiki/CAInstaller here].

==== OTA Content ====

If you want to play mods based on Total Annihilation, for example XTA, AA, BA, or CA then you have to do the following:

<code><pre>
wget http://ipxserver.dyndns.org/games/spring/mods/xta/base-ota-content.zip -P ~/spring/base
unzip ~/spring/base/base-ota-content.zip -d ~/spring/base/
</pre></code>

Note that you need to own a copy of Total Annihilation, to download this file legally.
Mods that do not require this file are at least NanoBlobs, Kernel Panic and Expand & Exterminate

Finalizing linux install

2008-10-04T22:25:56Z

Det:

= Finalizing installation =

Now you have Spring installed along with SpringLobby. You are now ready to start springlobby for the first time.

=== Maps & Mods ===

Since Spring is only an engine, you need to download games/mods for it, and the maps that go with those games.

Springlobby will automatically do this for you using bittorrent when you attempt to join a game with a map or mod that you don't currently have.

If you want to download it manually or browse existing maps, there are several easy to use websites - here are some:
*[http://spring.jobjol.nl/subcategory.php?id=1 SpringFiles]
*[http://spring-portal.com/ Spring-Portal]
*[http://www.darkstars.co.uk/downloads/index.php?dir=spring Darkstars]

Pick any of those sites, download a map or mod, and save it under ~/spring/maps/ or /usr/share/games/spring/mods/ (if the folder doesn't exist - create it). Don't unpack the file in any way though, just download and save it. Reload your maps/mods in Springlobby, (Tools -> Reload maps/mods) and they will be ready to use.

These sites also may provide other neat things like lua widgets, epic replays, AI bots (for playing offline or to team up on with a freind). Generally the installation requires you to download the file and place it in the appropriate folder in your /usr/share/games/spring/ directory. (you may have to create the folder)

Hint: If you know the map name you want, there is a Search function provided in those websites. Just write a part of the name, like one word, and you'll easily find the map you were looking for - this is helpful later on.

==== BA (Balanced Annihilation) ====

A popular mod to get started with is Balanced Annihilation (BA) 6.21. Please note that before you can run it though, you'll need to download the OTA content - read the section below on how to get that.

==== CA (Complete Annihilation) ====

A new mod with better models, graphical effects, and a different take on gameplay is the CA mod - get it [http://trac.caspring.org/wiki/SpringInstaller here].

==== OTA Content ====

If you want to play mods based on Total Annihilation, for example XTA, AA, BA, or CA then you have to do the following:

<code><pre>
wget http://ipxserver.dyndns.org/games/spring/mods/xta/base-ota-content.zip -P ~/spring/base
unzip ~/spring/base/base-ota-content.zip -d ~/spring/base/
</pre></code>

Note that you need to own a copy of Total Annihilation, to download this file legally.
Mods that do not require this file are at least NanoBlobs, Kernel Panic and Expand & Exterminate

Complete Annihilation

2008-10-04T22:21:23Z

Det:

=Introduction=
[http://trac.caspring.org/wiki/ Complete Annihilation] is generally the second most played mod in Spring. It has an active playerbase and while it is still under development, it is kept fully playable. It traces its heritage to Total Annihilation, however, ''CA is not OTA''. It is gradually moving away from OTA, replacing the copyrighted models and textures with open-source ones while shifting change the gameplay dramatically. CA aims to be a dynamic, action-packed, hassle-free game, full of clever strategies and constantly moving combat.

[http://trac.caspring.org/wiki/CaIntro Click here for a more detailed introduction]

== Design goals ==
*A large range of viable tactics.
*Larger emphasis on unit decisions/selections and their micromanagement.
*Less emphasis on economy micromanagement (mex overdrive replaces moho metal extractors and metal makers).
*All units situationally useful throughout the game (there is no unit redundancy, heavy and light units work together on the battlefield).
*Superior graphics and appearance.
*Powerfull LUA GUI enhancements to free your hands and allow players to focus on tactical decisions (air transports automatically ferry units from factories, units can be set to autoretreat when damaged etc.).
*Faster and more demanding gameplay (units move faster and unit selection is more important).
*Unit differences achieved using game dynamics and not using special hidden damages/armor classes.

=Features=

==Gameplay==
*No effective single unit spam (hopefully).
*Kbots and Vehicles are both viable on most maps.
*Arm and Core have a different play style.
*Windmill output increases with altitude.

==Graphics==
*New models and textures.
*New explosions, weapon and unit effects.
*Play in cartoon mode with the outline widget.
*Higher resolution 3do textures.

=Mutators=

==Deployment Mutator==
Place your units and give orders to them before the game starts: you don't have to wait to use the big guns.

==Tactics Mutator==
Place your units on the battlefield before the game starts then wipe out your enemy. With no economic management, you are free to exercise your tactics.

=Links=

'''Homepage:'''
'''[http://www.caspring.org www.caspring.org]'''

'''Download it here:'''

''[http://trac.caspring.org/wiki/sd SpringDownloader (the easiest & fastest to get CA and Spring maps)]''

Back to [[Mods]]

[[Category:Mods]]
{{Category:Mods}}

MapsBalance

2007-07-06T02:19:16Z

Det: Reverted Spam

== Making properly balanced maps ==
So, you're making a map. But how much resources should it have?

Don't regard this as of little relevance! This is very important!

All units in unit sets are balanced assuming that, for example, metal is x harder to get than energy. If your map has, for example, too much metal, units that cost more onto the metal side than energy side become unbalancedly cheap.

== Resource Standards ==
When making maps, these are the standards for resources:

'''Metal:'''
*The amount per normal metal extractor is between 0.7 and 2.5
*The amount of total metal in all patches, when beeing extracted by normal metal extractors, is about 5~15 per player, assuming each player is controlling about a quarter of the map. It should be noted, though, that this metal should be SPREAD OUT, not all located at the start position.

'''Energy:'''
*The amount of tidal energy is almost always 20
*The amount of solar energy is almost always 20
*The amount of wind, is usually 1(min)~25(max) or some other min~max values that average between 7 and 13
*The amount of geothermals available to each player generally varies widely depending on the map. A good guideline is to usually have 1 geothermal for every 2 players as a minimum, or 2 geothermals per player as a maximum.

Standards are just that, standards, and you don't HAVE to follow them. But it's better not to go too overboard with resources or use diferent standards very frequently. For example an interesting variation may be to increase the amount of metal generated per extractor, but reduce the number of extractors, so that the total metal available is not changed significantly.

In all cases, less metal = more strategy. Too little metal is always better than too much. This point cannot be stressed too much.

== Gravity ==
When making maps, the standard gravity is '''140''', or so some assume. No clear "default" value has actually be given by the developers, but it most likely lies somewhere between 100 and 150. If you decide to use a value much higher value, units that fire balistic projectiles (cannons) may not be able to fire their projectiles at the intended range. Be sure to test your map alot before releasing it if you are going to change the gravity drastically.

== Resource Dynamics ==
This section is dedicated to a more throughout explanation of the workings of the resources in Spring so you can balance your map accordingly.

'''Metal:'''

Additional info needed.

'''Energy:'''

A somewhat edited quote from the map forum (thus not a true quote);

"On the wind issue I belive somewhere around 0-20 or 0-30 is pretty reasonable for a map where you want wind to be the "best" option, which it wasn't on all TA maps. Although wind was viable on most maps with the expection of the moon maps.
Relying on wind for your energy needs has always been a risky move though, even on maps where it has proven to be useful, because you might just get stuck with all of your generators giving an output of 1, thus ruining your economy for the moment. I hope it stays this way in TA, and personally I find the suggestion that you'd need 30-40 as an average output for wind to be viable quite odd, as online play in TA has shown that's not true.
Just for reference, two maps where almost only wind was used in TA are GoW and PD. In GoW I belive the wind varied between 3 to 27, while on PD it was between 1 (or 0, not sure) to 24.

From what I've discussed so far though (with old TA players), most seems to agree that once the average income goes to 7 or above, wind quickly becomes the better option. Some do favor having a few solars just as a backup, but overall wind quickly becomes the better option for your main source of energy income, the solars will at most get the postion of a small backup. It can lead to the added investment of energy storages though.

From this you can easily come to your own conclusions, there are however some minor points that I would want to add. First of, you have to take into account that solars in XTA doesn't cost any energy at all, this is however something that mostly comes into play if your current source of energy is getting destroyed, so you lack energy.
The other thing I want to add is a short overview of the advantages of the two different sources of energy, ordered by (from my point of view and without taking into account the lack of energy cost for the XTA solar) importance;
1) The wind generator costs less, only 1/3 of a solar. An average income of 7 will thus already put it as the better choice theoretically.
2) The wind generator builds quicker, this means you will start to get your energy income faster too which might matter quite a bit.
3) The solar gives you a constant supply of energy that does not vary.
4) The solar is better armored than the wind generator. I'm not sure if 3 wind generators have more health than a single solar though (you also have to take into account that they are often built next to each other, so when one goes it will damage the ones next to it).
5) A single solar takes less space than 3 wind generators. Once the average wind income from a single generator is 20 or above this points becomes moot though, but before that it can potentially be important on certain maps.
6) A solar usually leaves a "better" wreckage, thus yielding you more metal when you reclaim it. This of course means it was destroyed in the first place, which never is that good.

This is all disregarding the tidal of course, but that's another matter entirely as it needs water to be built. It works by the same principle as the solar however, the difference being that the wind generator is only Ã‚Â½ the cost of the tidal. There are also some other differences compared to the solar of course (size, armor etc), but generally it should be pretty straightforward to decide if its worth the cost or not if you already understand the relation between solars and wind generators.

One more note about wind, if I remember correctly. In OTA the wind was highest on the barren worlds (ice/desert etc), while it wasn't a real option on moon maps."

'''A short summary of this "quote" reads as follows;'''

Wind generators starts to become the best choice as soon as the average energy income from a single generator goes above 7. As the average gets higher the wind generators quickly become the only real choice if you want to win.
If your map does have an average income of 7 or above, the only real benifits of a solar is more armor, constant supply, less space and finally it usually leaves wreckage behind.
A single solar costs 3 times that of a wind generator, a single tidal costs 2 times the amount of a wind generator.

[[Category:Map making]]

Help:Editing

2007-07-05T00:58:48Z

Det: Reverted Spam

This page contains tips on editing wiki pages, for full details of editing the Wiki see [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User's_Guide User's Guide]

==Basic Editing==

*Choose what you want to do:
*# '''Make a new page''' Type the URL of the page you want to create into the address bar. EG: <nowiki>http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Page_that_doesnt_exist</nowiki>
*# '''Edit an existing page''' Goto the page you want to edit, either through Links, or a URL.
*Then, click the 'Edit this page' link at the bottom.
*A page with a text box in the middle of it will appear.
*Enter text into this box.
*To insert formatting, click the formatting buttons above the text box.
*For a full list of formatting tags, and their effects, see below
*Click the 'Preview Page' button below the text box to preview the page.
*Fix any errors you spot.
*Click 'Save page' next to the Preview button.
*Your Done!

Dont worry if you stuff things up. It is very easy to fix. Any changes that are made are automatically logged, and we can easily revert to an old version if you totally screw a page up.
And if your still worried of messing something up, you can always play around in the [[sandbox]] first.

==Markup==
The following [[w:HTML element|HTML element]]s are currently permitted, however most of the useful ones have a convenient shorthand (see table below):

{| border="0" cellpadding="5"
| valign="top"|
* [[Wikipedia:HTML_element#Presentational_markup|

Spring on a LAN

2007-07-05T00:49:45Z

Det: Reverted spam

=Playing Spring on a LAN=

==Introduction==
Hosting a LAN game of Spring is very simple.

First, you must have a working LAN. Obviously this is not within the scope of this article, so you are on your own there.

Once you have your network working, you can proceed. You must first install the following items:

'''Server Machine'''
*[http://spring.clan-sy.com/download.php Latest version of Spring]
*[http://spring.clan-sy.com/download.php Latest version of the Lobby server] or [http://www.darkstars.co.uk AF Lan Server]
*[http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp Java Runtime Environment]

'''Client Machine(s)'''
*[http://spring.clan-sy.com/download.php Latest version of Spring]
That's it!

We will now discuss startup and configuration.

==Running the Server==

Hosting the server is actually very easy. First, the host computer must install the [http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp Java Runtime Environment].

Once that is installed, you need to setup the server. Currently there are 2 methods of doing this, the easy way and the slightly longer way.

The easy way is to goto [http://www.darkstars.co.uk darkstars.co.uk] and get AFLan Server, which will give you an executable jar package that for most people is a simple extract and double click process to run, and comes complete with GUI and traffic window for easy admin, aswell as a version with LAN mode turned fof should you wish to host a new server online rather than on a LAN.

[http://www.darkstars.co.uk http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/659/lanserver7cf.jpg]

If using the longer method, the host then downloads the
[http://spring.clan-sy.com/download.php Lobby server] and extracts the ZIP file anywhere on his hard drive. For this article, we will assume the server software has been extracted to a sub-directory of the Spring folder named "server"; however, in practice, it does not matter where the server software is located.

[[Image:lanserver.gif]]

The host then opens the directory the server files are in and finds the file "LanServer.bat". Double click this file. A command prompt window should come up and not go away. This is a good thing, that means it is working.

==Configuring the Server==

After the server has successfully been started, the host then opens TASClient.exe, which is in the main Spring directory. The host should then open the Options dialog in the client, and set the "Server address" field to "localhost".

[[Image:lan_host.gif]]

Make sure you also have a nickname set in the "Account" section of the options menu. You do not need a password for LAN play.

Click apply and close, then hit the red connect button. If you have started up the LanServer correctly, it should connect regularly and put you in the #main chat room.

Now that we have that configured and working, you need to find your network IP address for the client machines. If you already know how to get this or what it is, you can skip down to the next section on configuring client machines.

To get your network IP is a very simple process. Click the "Start" button in Windows, then go to "Run". Type in "cmd" there. This will open up another command prompt.

In this command prompt, type "ipconfig". It will dump out information for every connection your computer has; don't worry, we only need one line of information here. Look for the section of the output that reads something like "Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:". This is the adapter we want. However, it will be called whatever your LAN connection is called. For example, if you have called your network connection "Home Network", the prompt would read "Ethernet adapter Home Network:".

Under that category, find the line that says "IP Address". Write down the number it gives you on the right. This is the IP the client machines will connect to.

[[Image:lan_hostip.gif]]

You're done with the host machine now. It's time to go set up the client machines.

==Configuring the Clients==

Configuring the client machines is far easier. First make sure the clients are all running the same version of Spring as the host. Then start up "TASClient.exe" on each client's machine, and go to the Options menu. Instead of typing in "localhost" here, however, you must type in the host machine's IP address we just retrieved. Again, make sure to go to the "Account" tab and enter a nickname for each client while you're at it.

[[Image:lan_client.gif]]

Once you have entered the information on the client machines, click Apply and close and hit the red connect button. The clients should connect to the host and go to the same #main chat room as the host machine.

That's it! Once all the client machines are connected with TASClient, '''anyone''' can click Battle Screen and host the game itself. The other players just need to join the game and agree on the settings and rules ;)

[[Category:Playing]]