https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Kixxe 2026-11-08T20:48:39Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.43.11 https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17514 2018-09-16T11:20:22Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>{{deprecated}}<br /> '''<br /> This page describes the gameplay of TA-based games on the Spring engine.<br /> The Spring engine can run a wide selection of [[Games]] and thus this text does not apply to every one of them.<br /> ----<br /> <br /> Keep in mind that Spring is still in beta, therefore crashes can occur (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven't got everything fixed yet.<br /> <br /> Before we start, let's have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game? ==<br /> <br /> [[OTA | TA (Total Annihilation)]] 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...<br /> <br /> * 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 on fire. Yeah, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, which defied at least a half dozen laws of physics.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle through space. Yeah, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they were 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 stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources.)<br /> <br /> * The resource system! Contrary 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough of my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring was inspired by TA and has the same features TA had. Plus a few new things, check out the Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Controls==<br /> Keyboard controls here:<br /> [http://img108.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=03721_PK06A_Compact_Keyboard_ProdImage_Black_V2_122_972lo.jpg]<br /> <br /> Don't forget: shift+ right click to queue orders.<br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> There are two types of resources in Spring, namely ''metal'' and ''energy''. Each of these two resources can be collected in a number of different ways. The amount of each resource that you currently have stockpiled is represented by a colored bar, one for each resource, along the upper edge of the screen. The rate at which you are presently collecting and consuming each of the two types is represented by a number and a + or - sign. If you are collecting at a faster rate then the rate at which you are consuming you will see your colored bar grow as resources accumulate. Your stockpiled resources are being depleted whenever the colored bar is shrinking. There are storage buildings which you can build for each type of resource and these will increase the amount of each which can be stored. Units and structures cost both metal and energy to build, while some units or structures also require energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is collected continuously from either a metal extractor, often called &quot;mexes&quot; which extract from certain areas of the map, or by using a metal maker, abbreviated as &quot;MM&quot; which convert energy into metal. Both will only operate so long as there is sufficient energy to power them. However, metal makers require a lot of energy. <br /> A faster way to gather metal is by using either your commander or a construction bot to 'reclaim' it from the remains of destroyed units and buildings! They can even reclaim buildings which have not been destroyed and they don't have to belong to your enemy to be reclaimed.<br /> <br /> Energy can be produced by a number of different buildings or it can be reclaimed (you can reclaim trees to gather energy). There are many different types of energy producers, including solar collectors and power plants, but they will be covered in another section.<br /> <br /> In a game, always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy, your building rate will stall,(metal makers and extractors will stop producing) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines). <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having:<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> The Commander is the unit you start with and the most important one in the 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.<br /> <br /> The fastest builder, he can walk and build underwater, he makes a nuke-sized explosion when he dies, he has a laser and the privilege of a Disintegrator Gun (alias D-Gun). <br /> 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 like 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-Gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your Commander in the beginning of the game, then you're dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke-sized explosion that may destroy half or all of your base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, if you're seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the Commander (type Ctrl+C if you can't find him) with left mouse button to select him.<br /> <br /> (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 the OTA(Original Total Annihilation) camera.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let's now discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it's choose a unit and click a 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 clicking each and every one. The controls are there to help you.<br /> This is called queuing up stuff. You can use almost every single command in a queue. Buildings can be queued 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators to gather energy. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and that a number of maps (like lunar ones) have no wind at all! (The level of wind and tides in the map is indicated in the Map Selector in the Lobby).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> Oh, and the minimap controls in spring are reversed. Meaning that you have to right-click to move the screen to the location. Once the new GUI is out and official, this will be fixed.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA Bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don't mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are:<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, with more armour and (build) speed and than their K-bot counterparts. Level 2 vehicles show even more of the same pattern: better armour than their K-bot counterparts. Level 2 also offers the mobile Flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly, and most of them can't climb mountains 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 steep hill. But sooner or later, you'll learn what kind of destruction a rush of 30 Goliaths can do!<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots generally have less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armored.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn'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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there'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 relief that can stop a plane. You can just swoop into a base and take out AA with your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop them, you've got to rely on Anti Air (AA) units.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 in 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 armor. Another thing that's good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop them because they are usually out of range. Once you see that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn't have too many AA ships. <br /> Their weaknesses are slowness (especially when turning), they can be taken out by submarines, and of course they are confined to water, meaning that they are often stuck with units just outside of their reach.<br /> <br /> And they are *extremely* expensive, metal-wise.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it's the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> Hovercrafts are a tank and a ship(some say plane, but I find ships to be more accurate for some reason O.o) mixed. Sure it's weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average boat. Whats their use? They are meant for swampy maps that means that both tanks and ships are a weakness, and offcourse since none can't be used, everyone just spams out AA since they think aircrafts are the only way. Great suprise for the enemy when 50 hovercrafts comes in agsint their flakkers and MT...<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can't since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and boats. (Don't build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> The impressive range of fixed towers, cannons and turrets from Total Annihilation is again at your disposal. Proper use of these structures will help you control a map and stop your opponents in their tracks.<br /> <br /> *'''Light Laser Towers (LLTs):'''<br /> These cheap and fast lasers boast pinpoint accuracy and respectable damage against level 1 units. They suffer from short range, and are vulnerable to artillery and missile units which can kill them from out of reach. Since they fire faster than their bigger brothers, LLTs have an advantage against hordes of small weak units.<br /> <br /> *'''Heavy Laser Towers (HLTs):'''<br /> With a lower rate of fire but much more power than LLTs, these upgraded lasers are ideal for those pesky level 2 units that just don't want to die. They also have a longer range, and can be quite effective against aircraft. They cost a fair amount and take a long time to build, but in the right situation they can be extremely dangerous.<br /> <br /> *'''Missile Towers (MTs):'''<br /> The cheap yet deadly missile tower is guaranteed to shred airborne attackers, and its low cost and long range also makes it a good early-game point defense against weaker level 1 units. MTs are very fragile, and tend to chain-explode if placed too close together; they work best when scattered as random surprises for invading aircraft or with natural terrain or dragon's teeth to provide some cover from ground attacks. The huge damage bonus of missiles against aircraft makes these effective against even level 2 planes, though it would be wise to back them up with a few flak towers as well.<br /> <br /> *'''Pop-up Cannons:'''<br /> Pop-ups are the smallest and wiliest fixed plasma cannons. When not firing they retreat down into the ground, where they are extremely resistant to damage; a closed pop-up in XTA 9.1 can survive two consecutive direct nuclear missile impacts! They can be installed by lowly level 1 construction units, and outclass virtually all level 1 opponents in range and firepower. Their durability and effectiveness is not without cost, however, as even a single pop-up represents a huge gamble of time and resources in the early stages of a game. Consider carefully whether rushing a pop-up will cripple the enemy forces or your own economy...<br /> <br /> *'''Medium Range Plasma Cannons (MRPCs):'''<br /> MRPCs are huge, brutal plasma turrets that really suck on your energy reserves but inflict serious pain over a wide area. Fast and accurate targeting combined with excellent damage and range make them a sound defensive investment against level 2 armies. Remember that a smart enemy will look for a way to simply bypass your expensive static emplacements, and that even if you don't leave any way around these guns still make big fat targets; they work best when used to lock down choke points with overlapping fields of fire, and deserve supporting defenses against air raids and skirmishers. Put one on a hill, cover it with a HLT and some flak or missile towers behind a wall of DT, and don't forget to occasionally send in a builder to reclaim the resulting wreckage.<br /> <br /> *'''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPCs):'''<br /> When you want to hammer an enemy installation into gravel from the comfort of your own base, an Intimidator or Big Bertha might be the tool for the job. The enormous range and hitting power of a single LRPC can dominate the whole of a small map or take an enthusiastic bite out of a large one, and a battery of them can obliterate just about anything in only a few volleys. Too slow to effectively track moving targets, the LRPC is not a defensive emplacement but an offensive weapon of mass destruction; as such, building one is a challenge that simply can't be ignored. Surround these with AA and ground troops to fend off your victim's inevitable desperate attempt to halt the rain of destruction.<br /> <br /> *'''Very Long Range Cannons (VLRCs):'''<br /> The ultimate, absurd limit of long-range artillery is the repeating Buzzsaw or Vulcan. These guns are incredibly expensive and ludicrously energy hungry (be prepared to dedicate a couple of fusion plants to powering just one such monster) but have ''double'' the range of a &quot;mere&quot; LRPC and a withering rate of fire. Just don't forget to go equally overboard defending your Uber-gun, because it doesn't have very much health compared to its build cost and it screams &quot;kick me&quot; like nothing else.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it's hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> '''1.''' Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> '''2.''' Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the line defence guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can'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.<br /> <br /> '''3.''' Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn'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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you're expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it'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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read through this guide, and suddenly realized. <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah, the overall defence. There are many different ways to make a good defence, but here are 4 oft seen approaches.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that's about it. The good thing about this is that it'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 you're screwed, unless you're building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop them.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won by 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 there.<br /> 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, no one is gonna rush past it with some Goliaths. 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/plasma batteries stopped me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even though this defence is the best of them all, it's hard to build up, and requires lots of resources and time. IF you're able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by all of it, or if you don't have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming.<br /> <br /> ''No defence at all?''<br /> <br /> 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 they're building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> With units; the whole concept is that you put all your effort into making units. This works pretty well, since when you see where the enemy is going to attack, you can MOVE your whole defence to that location.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ''The All Out Defence''<br /> <br /> ''-- addendum by Cain''<br /> <br /> The opposite of the &quot;no defence&quot; strategy, mixed with the &quot;spread out defence&quot; strategy: the main concept is to invest resources in lots of level 1 build planes, and use them to quickly gather huge amounts of territory and resources, while keeping a lot of planes building/repairing turrets all over the map. This could be very effective on maps with few choke points where your defence can be concentrated in a small area, or mostly flat maps where the overlapping range of defensive structures will create a large grid of protected territory. The concept is to expand the defence line until you can shoot straight into the enemy base. When using this strategy, it is wise to have a lot of level 2 aircraft defending the construction point, as you will need to constantly move your mobile defences around the map, protecting under-contruction defensive areas. I usually end up with a hundred builder planes and 20 to 50 Brawlers floating around... keep them away from Kroghot!<br /> <br /> These are the defensive strategies I have found effective.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you're relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you've built a good defence.<br /> The next thing you should do is attempt to get into the mindset of your enemy. Put yourself in his shoes, and determine how he would most likely proceed given your defensive strategy. Would he attempt a gunship raid, or launch an attack from a defenceless mountain position? Once you know what his most likely plan of attack will be, rethink your defences with this in mind. If there is an area that is defenceless under your current strategy, and you believe it is a prime spot for your enemy to attack, set up some sort of defence there as well.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c?<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a little for them. A way of having your units stick together is to take a pretty slow unit, like a Can, and have others guard it.<br /> Pressing control while moving units will make them keep their position in the formation, but not their speed. (they will spread out along the way, but ''try'' to get back into the position they were in when reaching the destination)<br /> The ''Simple formation'' is also a way of doing this, and the units will automatically form a couple of lines, often with the right units first, too!<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transports (Valkyrie /Atlas) intelligently and protect them. The other transportation units are harder to use, since they take more time to load/unload.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> When attacking, remember what each unit's role is in the fight. Farks are used to repair important units that have been damaged. Bulldogs are meant to take damage and give damage back. Merls are used to shoot missiles from a distance, and don't require a clear LOS (line of sight). The question is what to repair. Merls die quickly, so one shot = dead. Knowing this, your first instinct might be to repair a Bulldog instead. Bulldogs are often the first thing that the enemy targets, and thus their HP often drops too rapidly to repair. Therefore, it is often wise to repair the middle-range units; not the giant HP monsters, not the units with a weak defence and strong/useful attack, but the average units that have acceptable HP and are not an enemy's first choice when selecting targets. One exception to this is mobile artillery. While it only has enough HP to survive one or two attacks, its attacks are well worth it, and the enemy still may not target them first, giving them a chance to deal massive damage.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> Many units attacking one unit is the best thing you can do, as when you kill one of their units, they lose one source of firepower. Focusing your fire is very important. Using focus fire in a group of weak units is very effective. Focus fire is, however, less effective on HP powerhouses.<br /> When you'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 of effect weapons don't do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front and sides. Keep em pretty close together but not side by side. Having your units spread out in this manner allows the units in the back to attack, and prevents splash damage units such as Zippers and Pyros from damaging many of your units at once.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking an enemy army. There is the classical pincher movement too.<br /> In this, you run one third of your HP powerhouses to the left, one third to the right and have the last third stay where they are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base<br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape<br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (unless your enemy used up his units to defend.) Now you must face his base defence, and act depending on the type of defence he has.<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 powerhouses, so they are in the front but can still 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in the DT wall, just run into the heart of the base like a maniac. Split your tanks into 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and the other going into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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, or kill everything ^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, make a hole in each DT wall and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can't run past his defences unless you enjoy suicide. (and if you do, ctrl+a and then ctrl+d will do the trick. A slice of the wrist works well, too.)<br /> Use your army to begin killing the defence step by step, structure by structure. Keep building units, and moving them into the fray (you can use air transports with the repeat command and make them drop the units a little ways from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence and act accordingly.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don't rush past them with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy's formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go around the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don't play island maps a lot, since there are many factors to take into account. 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 LRC of course).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and determine 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 are the unit to use when assaulting land that's a little far from shore. Provide them with an escort consisting of planes and/or ships.<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> When using ships, have scout ships or planes scout the area in front, then send in subs and sub killers. 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 in the area, and then just go crazy.<br /> When facing land, you're pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> Remember if your opponent has air superiority or LRPCs use subs as they can't hit them :)<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ''-- addendum by Cain.''<br /> <br /> Hovercraft are quite expensive compared to other land units, but are very useful in maps with a bit of water, able to target enemies without worrying about those pesky Goliaths... note that they're much cheaper than ships, anyway.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, most of the strategy involving planes is simple.<br /> First, always attack the AA first, unless you are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA with gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, which is a bad idea. Bombers take a little time to master but combined with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and act as overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out of his Fusion or whatever strategic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ''-- addendum by Cain''<br /> <br /> Know where the enemy commander is! In games where the commander's death is a winning condition, a lot of bombers could just converge on him, killing him on the first run.. especially the 2nd level bombers that have a nice turreted fast targeting laser! Also, gunships could create a diversion to keep the main enemy defences away from your main attack force, or you could use them to make the defences of distracted players shoot their own base...<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as high up as possible, otherwise you may not see anything. Use the relief to your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you're building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate where just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts!<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn't put any Dragon Teeth<br /> 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, I probably won't have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> (in XTA)<br /> 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 your enemy's Fusions, or<br /> by ''giving'' Metal makers to your enemy when you are attacking him(although Metal makers are now turned off when given to an enemy), or he is attacking you! Things that drain a lot of energy include LRPC, Goliaths, HLT, and most level 2 units.<br /> (/in XTA)<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissors?===<br /> <br /> Try to look at all units as individuals. Even if I didn't write much about every 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> * Expand! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, making it bigger is not a bad thing.<br /> * Scout! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he knows about you) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he's building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defense and such. If you or your ally are scouting, don't look away. Gather as much information as possible. ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings if this option isn't turned off by the host.<br /> * Radar = GOOD ^^ Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is, overall, quite helpful. A radar with your army makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> * Work Together! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don't care what the other person's doing. DON'T DO THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it's 2 allies vs 2 allies. Not a FFA with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on your resource bars to auto share resources with allies.<br /> * Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones in succession. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> * Check your resource bar. Try to keep a fine line between having too many resources/wasting, and having a nanostall. Use your factories and such accordingly. If you have a lot of resources, try using your old level 1 factories to build some units. Also, try to find the time to build an energy/metal storage...<br /> * Spread out your buildings/units. Since every unit explodes, they damage units close to them. This is especially important with Fusions... (I once saw someone put 13 mobile fusions close to each other... blew up half his base with 2 (!!!) LRPC shots...)<br /> * Queue (yeah, easy word for it too :/) 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 putting up buildings.<br /> * Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units and so on. 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 unit's position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc... Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier.<br /> * Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy's and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you're out of energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> * The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! Also as you have way loads more metal and space to move in than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it(and if you aim the nukes at the anti-nuke...^^!<br /> * 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, it's not invincible. Also, try how much metal and energy a building uses while in operation. For instance, a level 1 factory uses about 50 energy and 5 metal. This varies depending on what you build. This could help you prevent nanostalling.<br /> * Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. An advanced building costs as much as a Bulldog or 2... You've got the time, and the money. Build it.<br /> * Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy's mexes. Having trouble finding them? Type F4 to see where the ground is drained ^^ (Edit) This doesn't apply anymore, but you can still see where a mex is by trying to build one of your own there. If you can't, there's already one on the spot... 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> * Just because Peewees are better then AK's doesn't meant that AK's are useless. (And so on). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> * Mix armies. Oh boy, if you haven't heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> * FARKs are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do: Repair -.-* (also, when I say FARKs somewhere in the guide, construction units work too...)<br /> * Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he's an ass and should be paid no mind. No question is too stupid. Just don't expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ''how do I play''?.<br /> * Learn! If you lost, use the replay to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you? What was their key to winning? And so on.<br /> * ''The Readme'' file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> * Develop! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, and make wacky suggestions! In the end you may contribute to making Spring better! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK's with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> * Try having some good music on when playing. It can give you a good kick. I recommend the War of the Worlds (the strategy game, yes it exists) Eve of the War Another great choice is, of course, [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 the original TA music]! You can choose whatever music you like, though.<br /> * Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> * LAST BUT NOT LEAST: '''Don't get too serious. It's only a game.'''<br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Playing]]</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Suggested_maps_for_1v1&diff=18049 2006-04-01T11:06:27Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> by Mongus <br /> <br /> '''FIRST SELECTION'''<br /> <br /> - Cliff Run+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Core Faf<br /> <br /> - Dueling Bases+<br /> <br /> - Icy Run<br /> <br /> - Dueling Forts<br /> <br /> - Foothill Basin (v2)<br /> <br /> - Hill Haven (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Lava and Two Hills<br /> <br /> - Small Divide+<br /> <br /> - Sparewood+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Tombstone Desert (v2)<br /> <br /> - Core Pyramid (v6) (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Rolling Hills (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Mountain Lake+ (start boxes required, borked defaults...must walk :p )<br /> <br /> - The Cold Place (remake recommended)<br /> <br /> - Omega<br /> <br /> - Island Alpha+<br /> <br /> - Gods of War<br /> <br /> - Sands of War<br /> <br /> - Green River<br /> <br /> '''ON THE METAL LIMIT'''<br /> <br /> - Blue Planet<br /> <br /> - Brazilian Battlefield<br /> <br /> - Karst<br /> <br /> - Highway to skull (Beta 1)<br /> <br /> '''SLOW (but good) GAMEPLAY'''<br /> <br /> - Grassy Paradox +<br /> <br /> '''MAYBE TOO BIG, BUT GOOD TO TRY, GOOD DEFAULT STARTS.'''<br /> <br /> - Flooded Desert<br /> <br /> - County Crossing (v3)<br /> <br /> - Pincushion Remake<br /> <br /> - Sunken Outpost<br /> <br /> - Lava HighGround<br /> <br /> '''TOO BIG. NEEDS CLOSER STARTS TO BE OK.'''<br /> <br /> - Island Hopping (windy..)<br /> <br /> - Evergreen Haven (v3)<br /> <br /> - Foothills (v6-7-8 ).<br /> <br /> - Green Haven<br /> <br /> - Island in the Sun + (maybe too much metal, but its naval..)<br /> <br /> <br /> '''THE UKNOWN MAP'''<br /> <br /> - Fortress+ (dare to play a map you know nothing bout its gameplay? Razz)<br /> <br /> '''NOT TESTED'''<br /> <br /> - Rusted Divide (water map)<br /> <br /> - Marshlands (v5), is a water vs ground map, and its fine as that.<br /> <br /> <br /> Note: Due to gameplay/balance, the smaller of the &quot;first selection&quot; maps' gameplay will range from &quot;too fast gameplay&quot; to &quot;insane&quot; in other mods than xta.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Suggested_maps_for_1v1&diff=18048 2006-04-01T09:16:05Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Suggested maps for 1v1 Challenge. */</p> <hr /> <div><br /> <br /> by Mongus <br /> <br /> '''FIRST SELECTION'''<br /> <br /> - Cliff Run+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Core Faf<br /> <br /> - Dueling Bases+<br /> <br /> - Icy Run<br /> <br /> - Dueling Forts<br /> <br /> - Foothill Basin (v2)<br /> <br /> - Hill Haven (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Lava and Two Hills<br /> <br /> - Small Divide+<br /> <br /> - Sparewood+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Tombstone Desert (v2)<br /> <br /> - Core Pyramid (v6) (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Rolling Hills (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Mountain Lake+ (start boxes required, borked defaults...must walk :p )<br /> <br /> - The Cold Place (remake recommended)<br /> <br /> - Omega<br /> <br /> - Island Alpha+<br /> <br /> - Gods of War<br /> <br /> - Sands of War<br /> <br /> - Green River<br /> <br /> '''<br /> ON THE METAL LIMIT<br /> '''<br /> - Blue Planet<br /> - Brazilian Battlefield<br /> - Karst<br /> - Highway to skull (Beta 1)<br /> <br /> '''SLOW (but good) GAMEPLAY'''<br /> <br /> - Grassy Paradox +<br /> <br /> '''MAYBE TOO BIG, BUT GOOD TO TRY, GOOD DEFAULT STARTS.'''<br /> <br /> - Flooded Desert<br /> <br /> - County Crossing (v3)<br /> <br /> - Pincushion Remake<br /> <br /> - Sunken Outpost<br /> <br /> - Lava HighGround<br /> <br /> '''TOO BIG. NEEDS CLOSER STARTS TO BE OK.'''<br /> <br /> - Island Hopping (windy..)<br /> <br /> - Evergreen Haven (v3)<br /> <br /> - Foothills (v6-7-8 ).<br /> <br /> - Green Haven<br /> <br /> - Island in the Sun + (maybe too much metal, but its naval..)<br /> <br /> <br /> '''THE UKNOWN MAP'''<br /> <br /> - Fortress+ (dare to play a map you know nothing bout its gameplay? Razz)<br /> <br /> '''NOT TESTED'''<br /> <br /> - Rusted Divide (water map)<br /> <br /> - Marshlands (v5), is a water vs ground map, and its fine as that.<br /> <br /> <br /> Note: Due to gameplay/balance, the smaller of the &quot;first selection&quot; maps' gameplay will range from &quot;too fast gameplay&quot; to &quot;insane&quot; in other mods than xta.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Suggested_maps_for_1v1&diff=18047 2006-04-01T09:15:48Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Suggested maps for 1v1 Challenge. */</p> <hr /> <div><br /> == Suggested maps for 1v1 Challenge.== <br /> <br /> by Mongus <br /> <br /> '''FIRST SELECTION'''<br /> <br /> - Cliff Run+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Core Faf<br /> <br /> - Dueling Bases+<br /> <br /> - Icy Run<br /> <br /> - Dueling Forts<br /> <br /> - Foothill Basin (v2)<br /> <br /> - Hill Haven (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Lava and Two Hills<br /> <br /> - Small Divide+<br /> <br /> - Sparewood+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Tombstone Desert (v2)<br /> <br /> - Core Pyramid (v6) (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Rolling Hills (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Mountain Lake+ (start boxes required, borked defaults...must walk :p )<br /> <br /> - The Cold Place (remake recommended)<br /> <br /> - Omega<br /> <br /> - Island Alpha+<br /> <br /> - Gods of War<br /> <br /> - Sands of War<br /> <br /> - Green River<br /> <br /> '''<br /> ON THE METAL LIMIT<br /> '''<br /> - Blue Planet<br /> - Brazilian Battlefield<br /> - Karst<br /> - Highway to skull (Beta 1)<br /> <br /> '''SLOW (but good) GAMEPLAY'''<br /> <br /> - Grassy Paradox +<br /> <br /> '''MAYBE TOO BIG, BUT GOOD TO TRY, GOOD DEFAULT STARTS.'''<br /> <br /> - Flooded Desert<br /> <br /> - County Crossing (v3)<br /> <br /> - Pincushion Remake<br /> <br /> - Sunken Outpost<br /> <br /> - Lava HighGround<br /> <br /> '''TOO BIG. NEEDS CLOSER STARTS TO BE OK.'''<br /> <br /> - Island Hopping (windy..)<br /> <br /> - Evergreen Haven (v3)<br /> <br /> - Foothills (v6-7-8 ).<br /> <br /> - Green Haven<br /> <br /> - Island in the Sun + (maybe too much metal, but its naval..)<br /> <br /> <br /> '''THE UKNOWN MAP'''<br /> <br /> - Fortress+ (dare to play a map you know nothing bout its gameplay? Razz)<br /> <br /> '''NOT TESTED'''<br /> <br /> - Rusted Divide (water map)<br /> <br /> - Marshlands (v5), is a water vs ground map, and its fine as that.<br /> <br /> <br /> Note: Due to gameplay/balance, the smaller of the &quot;first selection&quot; maps' gameplay will range from &quot;too fast gameplay&quot; to &quot;insane&quot; in other mods than xta.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Suggested_maps_for_1v1&diff=18046 2006-04-01T09:15:37Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Suggested maps for 1v1 Challenge. by Mongus */</p> <hr /> <div><br /> == Suggested maps for 1v1 Challenge.== by Mongus <br /> <br /> '''FIRST SELECTION'''<br /> <br /> - Cliff Run+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Core Faf<br /> <br /> - Dueling Bases+<br /> <br /> - Icy Run<br /> <br /> - Dueling Forts<br /> <br /> - Foothill Basin (v2)<br /> <br /> - Hill Haven (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Lava and Two Hills<br /> <br /> - Small Divide+<br /> <br /> - Sparewood+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Tombstone Desert (v2)<br /> <br /> - Core Pyramid (v6) (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Rolling Hills (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Mountain Lake+ (start boxes required, borked defaults...must walk :p )<br /> <br /> - The Cold Place (remake recommended)<br /> <br /> - Omega<br /> <br /> - Island Alpha+<br /> <br /> - Gods of War<br /> <br /> - Sands of War<br /> <br /> - Green River<br /> <br /> '''<br /> ON THE METAL LIMIT<br /> '''<br /> - Blue Planet<br /> - Brazilian Battlefield<br /> - Karst<br /> - Highway to skull (Beta 1)<br /> <br /> '''SLOW (but good) GAMEPLAY'''<br /> <br /> - Grassy Paradox +<br /> <br /> '''MAYBE TOO BIG, BUT GOOD TO TRY, GOOD DEFAULT STARTS.'''<br /> <br /> - Flooded Desert<br /> <br /> - County Crossing (v3)<br /> <br /> - Pincushion Remake<br /> <br /> - Sunken Outpost<br /> <br /> - Lava HighGround<br /> <br /> '''TOO BIG. NEEDS CLOSER STARTS TO BE OK.'''<br /> <br /> - Island Hopping (windy..)<br /> <br /> - Evergreen Haven (v3)<br /> <br /> - Foothills (v6-7-8 ).<br /> <br /> - Green Haven<br /> <br /> - Island in the Sun + (maybe too much metal, but its naval..)<br /> <br /> <br /> '''THE UKNOWN MAP'''<br /> <br /> - Fortress+ (dare to play a map you know nothing bout its gameplay? Razz)<br /> <br /> '''NOT TESTED'''<br /> <br /> - Rusted Divide (water map)<br /> <br /> - Marshlands (v5), is a water vs ground map, and its fine as that.<br /> <br /> <br /> Note: Due to gameplay/balance, the smaller of the &quot;first selection&quot; maps' gameplay will range from &quot;too fast gameplay&quot; to &quot;insane&quot; in other mods than xta.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Suggested_maps_for_1v1&diff=18045 2006-04-01T09:15:21Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> == Suggested maps for 1v1 Challenge. by Mongus ==<br /> <br /> '''FIRST SELECTION'''<br /> <br /> - Cliff Run+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Core Faf<br /> <br /> - Dueling Bases+<br /> <br /> - Icy Run<br /> <br /> - Dueling Forts<br /> <br /> - Foothill Basin (v2)<br /> <br /> - Hill Haven (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Lava and Two Hills<br /> <br /> - Small Divide+<br /> <br /> - Sparewood+ (part of River Dale pack).<br /> <br /> - Tombstone Desert (v2)<br /> <br /> - Core Pyramid (v6) (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Rolling Hills (closer starts are welcome)<br /> <br /> - Mountain Lake+ (start boxes required, borked defaults...must walk :p )<br /> <br /> - The Cold Place (remake recommended)<br /> <br /> - Omega<br /> <br /> - Island Alpha+<br /> <br /> - Gods of War<br /> <br /> - Sands of War<br /> <br /> - Green River<br /> <br /> '''<br /> ON THE METAL LIMIT<br /> '''<br /> - Blue Planet<br /> - Brazilian Battlefield<br /> - Karst<br /> - Highway to skull (Beta 1)<br /> <br /> '''SLOW (but good) GAMEPLAY'''<br /> <br /> - Grassy Paradox +<br /> <br /> '''MAYBE TOO BIG, BUT GOOD TO TRY, GOOD DEFAULT STARTS.'''<br /> <br /> - Flooded Desert<br /> <br /> - County Crossing (v3)<br /> <br /> - Pincushion Remake<br /> <br /> - Sunken Outpost<br /> <br /> - Lava HighGround<br /> <br /> '''TOO BIG. NEEDS CLOSER STARTS TO BE OK.'''<br /> <br /> - Island Hopping (windy..)<br /> <br /> - Evergreen Haven (v3)<br /> <br /> - Foothills (v6-7-8 ).<br /> <br /> - Green Haven<br /> <br /> - Island in the Sun + (maybe too much metal, but its naval..)<br /> <br /> <br /> '''THE UKNOWN MAP'''<br /> <br /> - Fortress+ (dare to play a map you know nothing bout its gameplay? Razz)<br /> <br /> '''NOT TESTED'''<br /> <br /> - Rusted Divide (water map)<br /> <br /> - Marshlands (v5), is a water vs ground map, and its fine as that.<br /> <br /> <br /> Note: Due to gameplay/balance, the smaller of the &quot;first selection&quot; maps' gameplay will range from &quot;too fast gameplay&quot; to &quot;insane&quot; in other mods than xta.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Map_Reviews&diff=13151 2006-02-22T20:09:26Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''2 Valleys:'''<br /> Deci- Mostly an air map, as not even kbots can climb the plateus, mex radius is also too small for the metal layout.<br /> <br /> '''4B Facility:'''<br /> <br /> '''4 skulls:'''<br /> Deci- Simply too much metal, otherwise a solid map. Try lowering the metal income on the hills to around 1.5 or lower.<br /> <br /> -FizWizz Interesting map, funny metal but fun to play. However, the metalmap is really bright.<br /> <br /> '''Alaska:'''<br /> AF- Needs stuff on the corner bits, preferrably custom snowy tree like features and other assortments, and a small open space, otherwise looks nice but a bit plain. <br /> <br /> '''Ancient Arena:'''<br /> Deci- I have heard that this is an excellent FFA map, though I myself do not normally play FFA<br /> <br /> '''Anglo-Saxon Starfish:'''<br /> Deci- Too much metal, otherwise a good combo of land and sea.<br /> <br /> '''Appleville Two:'''<br /> <br /> '''Ashap Plateau:'''<br /> <br /> '''Ashpen:'''<br /> Gnome- Good, not too big and not too much metal. Wouldn't mind a slightly larger one with more topography, but it's still good. <br /> <br /> '''Asteroid-Dilo:'''<br /> <br /> '''Atlantic:'''<br /> Deci- A strange map, as amphibious units are near useless due to mountainous shorelines and air and naval power rule the day. This is another map that would benefit from a larger mex radius.<br /> <br /> '''Azure Rampart:'''<br /> Deci- Probably the most played FFA map, not much to say about this one.<br /> <br /> '''BallerBurg:'''<br /> <br /> '''Battle Lines:'''<br /> <br /> '''Blue Planet:'''<br /> <br /> '''Brazilian Battlefield:'''<br /> AF- Too many trees in one corner makes AI testing on this map unfair. Make a bigger version though, it's somewhat smaller than I would have liked.<br /> <br /> '''Clear a Ditch:'''<br /> <br /> '''Caldera:'''<br /> Deci- Basically a larger version on Ashpen<br /> <br /> '''Castles:'''<br /> Deci- the ultimate seige map, I don't play this one much anymore, but it is still fun sometimes when the game doesn't slow down.<br /> <br /> '''Caustic Realm:'''<br /> <br /> '''Cliff Run:'''<br /> Deci- too small to really play on.<br /> <br /> Gnome- I disagree. It's good for a quick game, the action is quick and it really keeps you on your toes. The hills really add to the map. The trees are somewhat annoying, but area reclaim works.<br /> <br /> '''CometCatcher:'''<br /> Deci- one of the much-loved maps, it isn't my personal favorite, but it's a solid map.<br /> <br /> Min3mat:- Godlike! accept no substitutues!<br /> <br /> Forboding Angel: Too damn flat. Heightmap needs to be redone badly.<br /> <br /> '''Core Prime Industrial Area:'''<br /> -FizWizz The metal concentration on the North/South Pyramids is ridiculous. Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution throughout, but as it is now, the strategic importance of the four walled forts is greatly diminished.<br /> <br /> Min3mat:-Awful metal map which would be better with even displacement of metal<br /> <br /> '''CorrosivePits:'''<br /> Deci- apparently there is a version 4 out for this map that I haven't played yet.<br /> <br /> '''County Crossing:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crust:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crystal-Harbor:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crystal-World:'''<br /> Deci- Mex radius is far too small, it should be doubled or tripled at least.<br /> <br /> '''Death Valley:'''<br /> <br /> '''Dueling Bases:'''<br /> <br /> '''Dueling Forts:'''<br /> <br /> '''Duggans Metal Map:'''<br /> <br /> '''Duggans Metal Map Two:'''<br /> <br /> '''Egypt:'''<br /> <br /> '''EuroGreen:'''<br /> Forboding Angel: Honestly, it's ugly and a comm swapfest imo. Small maps are good if the are done correcty. Unfortunately this map does not have enough real chokepoints to be viable.<br /> <br /> '''EvergreenHaven:'''<br /> <br /> '''Fizzy Lakes:'''<br /> <br /> '''Foothill Basin:'''<br /> <br /> '''Foothills:'''<br /> <br /> '''Gods of War two remake:'''<br /> <br /> '''Grassy Paradox:'''<br /> <br /> '''Greenhaven:'''<br /> Deci- one of the popular maps of spring, somewhat rough terrain, while still allowing vehicles.<br /> <br /> '''Greenriver:'''<br /> Min3mat:- awesome. IMO the best water map out there<br /> <br /> '''Hamburger Hill:'''<br /> Deci- Open-area tank warfare, barely deserves to be called a hill<br /> <br /> '''Hell's Pass:'''<br /> <br /> '''Hill Haven:'''<br /> -FizWizz My favorite map of the River Dale set. It looks absolutely beautiful, it is simple, but it is not a plain map. It is balanced too, which is a little bit harder to say about the other maps in this series.<br /> <br /> '''Hills and Valleys:'''<br /> Deci- a good vehicle and kbot map, I really don't know why this one isn't played more.<br /> <br /> '''IceArena:'''<br /> <br /> '''Icebergs:'''<br /> <br /> '''Island in the Sun:'''<br /> -FizWizz A good naval map, the only island-hopper besides Gods of War II remake, I wish I could see more maps like this on FU.<br /> <br /> '''Island Alpha:'''<br /> Deci- decent 1v1 map<br /> <br /> '''Island Hopping:'''<br /> <br /> '''King of the Castle:'''<br /> <br /> '''Lava Highground:'''<br /> Deci- extremely focused on the center, not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing for this map<br /> <br /> '''Lava Rivers:'''<br /> Deci- Only one land route is generally bad for gameplay<br /> <br /> '''Marshlands:'''<br /> <br /> '''Martian Desert:'''<br /> Gnome- Decent for 1v1, probably a little too much metal for that a lot of the time though. Probably very good for 2v2. Not too big either. <br /> <br /> '''Metal Isles:'''<br /> FizWizz Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution, but there is zero metal in the water. Not a crimp on gameplay, but something which should have been remedied.<br /> <br /> '''MetalHeck:'''<br /> <br /> '''MicroMetalAlpha:'''<br /> <br /> '''Monolith NaAr:'''<br /> <br /> '''Mountain Seige:'''<br /> Deci- a good kbot map, probably the one that would benefit most from lvl2 kbots having good anti-air.<br /> <br /> -FizWizz I love this map, it is beautiful and it plays well too, but it really needs to have a couple of the pathways broadened and leveled some so that they can actually accept traffic.<br /> <br /> '''Mountain Range:'''<br /> <br /> '''Nightscape:'''<br /> Deci- a personal favorite of mine, this map manages to feel huge even though it isn't.<br /> <br /> '''Oki River:'''<br /> Deci- this map has only one real problem, there is too much metal in the water, on this map, the water would probably still be valuable even if there were no metal in it.<br /> <br /> '''PCB:'''<br /> <br /> '''Painted Desert Remake:'''<br /> Deci- no qualms with this one, solid map<br /> <br /> Min3mat:-Probably the prettiest map out there with good gameplay. Faithful port by NoiZe ^-^<br /> <br /> '''Pathways:'''<br /> Deci- now weighs in at only 15 meg!<br /> <br /> '''Pax Prime:'''<br /> Deci- an interesting map simply because of it's color<br /> <br /> '''PincushionRemake:'''<br /> Kixxe- This map has a great feel towards the different maps. It's low makes expanding a must, constantly fighting over more of the map and more resources. A peewee corpse can be a god's blessing. The pins can be used to place LLT's and radars, but they block much of the radar to, meaning you have to build several on different pins to get a full view. This is a wonderful map, but it can be hard to adapt to since it has &quot;no metal&quot;.<br /> <br /> '''Plains and Passes:'''<br /> Deci- this map could use a metal reduction, there are so many metal patches that the maxmetal should probably be lowered by a third or so. Also, mex radius is so small that it doesn't even cover the entire metal patch.<br /> <br /> Forboding Angel: Nice map, too much metal imo. If I don't have over 300 metal income by the end of the game on this map I've done something wrong.<br /> <br /> '''Proving Grounds:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rainbow Land:'''<br /> Deci- as far as I can tell, this is a joke map<br /> <br /> '''Redhaven:'''<br /> Deci- rarely played because Greenhaven is easier on the eyes.<br /> <br /> '''River Dale:'''<br /> Deci- excellent 3v3 map, though the host needs to be careful where the start boxes are to keep it fair.<br /> <br /> '''Road to War:'''<br /> Deci- my map, so I don't think I can comment<br /> <br /> '''Rockies:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rolling Hills:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rush Hour:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rusted Divide:'''<br /> <br /> '''Scrap Metal:'''<br /> <br /> '''Shore to Shore:'''<br /> -FizWizz I have never played an enjoyable game on this map, it just does not conduce itself to anything other than porcing, aircraft spamming, or massing battleships, that I have seen.<br /> <br /> '''Snowscape:'''<br /> <br /> '''Sparewood:'''<br /> Gnome- Excellent for 3FFAs, small and in your face like sherwood, only minus the severely annoying trees at the start points. Not bad for 1v1 either. Perhaps a little too much metal, but it plays very fairly and well. <br /> <br /> '''Speedymetal2:'''<br /> <br /> '''Splintered 4x4:'''<br /> Deci- Absolute annihilation units cannot cross the fords, and therefore it doesn't get played by a very large chunk of spring's players. The speed boost on the ford is also a bit rediculous.<br /> <br /> '''Spring-Islands:'''<br /> <br /> '''Stone Bridges:'''<br /> <br /> '''Sunken Outpost:'''<br /> Deci- an often-played ffa or team map, would be a bit linear if it weren't for the water<br /> <br /> '''Swamp Island:'''<br /> Deci- mohos cannot easily be placed on the metal, making this map a bit of a pain to play<br /> <br /> '''The Highlands:'''<br /> <br /> '''The Hunters:'''<br /> Forboding Angel: All in all it's a solid map. A little low on metal for my tastes but still quite solid. It has large lake type bodies of water running through it. Lakes are large enough to put ships in if you so desire :D<br /> <br /> I havn't played this map myself. Only spectated, but I like the layout quite a bit and the atmospheric colors are beautiful. It is rather flat which IMO kinda sucks but regardless it's a rather fun map.<br /> <br /> '''The Pass:'''<br /> <br /> '''The Abyss:'''<br /> Deci- Giant filesize makes this one a pain to download<br /> <br /> -FizWizz Absolutely destitute of metal, until you reach the crater in the middle. However, I had one of my most fun games of Spring in memory on this map.<br /> <br /> '''The Cold Place:'''<br /> Deci- works for teams or FFA<br /> <br /> Gnome- Good, faithful port of the original.<br /> <br /> '''Tidal War:'''<br /> <br /> '''Tri-Vega:'''<br /> <br /> '''Valles Marineris:'''<br /> <br /> '''Valley of Death:'''<br /> <br /> '''WideOpenCombat:'''<br /> <br /> '''Windswept Desert:'''<br /> <br /> '''XantheTerra:'''<br /> <br /> '''Acid Bridge:'''<br /> <br /> '''AcidQuadratic:'''<br /> <br /> '''Cliff Down:'''<br /> Deci- a good FFA map if the players start at the entrances to the canyon, the starts should probably be changed to reflect this<br /> <br /> Gnome- Good metal layout, but it's so big that there's too much available. Also very easy to porc out on (secure your two chokepoints, dot the rest of your base with AA). The game I played on this one became a drawn out stalemate that lasted over three hours because it's simply too damn big. <br /> <br /> '''Core Pyramid:'''<br /> Deci- a map with actual low metal, these are rare goodies<br /> <br /> '''Desert Dunes:'''<br /> Deci- too much metal, otherwise good<br /> <br /> -FizWizz This map is Ace. The metal is much higher than a typical map, but I still wuvs it =)<br /> <br /> '''Grad:'''<br /> <br /> '''Green River:'''<br /> <br /> '''Omega:'''<br /> <br /> '''Tendril Mountain:'''<br /> Deci- another of my maps, it has way too much metal and I plan on fixing it eventually<br /> <br /> '''Volcano Island:'''<br /> Deci- subs have some difficulty getting though certain areas, should be changed</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Map_Reviews&diff=13150 2006-02-04T09:13:12Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''2 Valleys:'''<br /> Deci- Mostly an air map, as not even kbots can climb the plateus, mex radius is also too small for the metal layout.<br /> <br /> '''4B Facility:'''<br /> <br /> '''4 skulls:'''<br /> Deci- Simply too much metal, otherwise a solid map. Try lowering the metal income on the hills to around 1.5 or lower.<br /> <br /> -FizWizz Interesting map, funny metal but fun to play. However, the metalmap is really bright.<br /> <br /> '''Alaska:'''<br /> AF- Needs stuff on the corner bits, preferrably custom snowy tree like features and other assortments, and a small open space, otherwise looks nice but a bit plain. <br /> <br /> '''Ancient Arena:'''<br /> Deci- I have heard that this is an excellent FFA map, though I myself do not normally play FFA<br /> <br /> '''Anglo-Saxon Starfish:'''<br /> Deci- Too much metal, otherwise a good combo of land and sea.<br /> <br /> '''Appleville Two:'''<br /> <br /> '''Ashap Plateau:'''<br /> <br /> '''Ashpen:'''<br /> Gnome- Good, not too big and not too much metal. Wouldn't mind a slightly larger one with more topography, but it's still good. <br /> <br /> '''Asteroid-Dilo:'''<br /> <br /> '''Atlantic:'''<br /> Deci- A strange map, as amphibious units are near useless due to mountainous shorelines and air and naval power rule the day. This is another map that would benefit from a larger mex radius.<br /> <br /> '''Azure Rampart:'''<br /> Deci- Probably the most played FFA map, not much to say about this one.<br /> <br /> '''BallerBurg:'''<br /> <br /> '''Battle Lines:'''<br /> <br /> '''Blue Planet:'''<br /> <br /> '''Brazilian Battlefield:'''<br /> AF- Too many trees in one corner makes AI testing on this map unfair. Make a bigger version though, it's somewhat smaller than I would have liked.<br /> <br /> '''Clear a Ditch:'''<br /> <br /> '''Caldera:'''<br /> Deci- Basically a larger version on Ashpen<br /> <br /> '''Castles:'''<br /> Deci- the ultimate seige map, I don't play this one much anymore, but it is still fun sometimes when the game doesn't slow down.<br /> <br /> '''Caustic Realm:'''<br /> <br /> '''Cliff Run:'''<br /> Deci- too small to really play on.<br /> <br /> Gnome- I disagree. It's good for a quick game, the action is quick and it really keeps you on your toes. The hills really add to the map. The trees are somewhat annoying, but area reclaim works.<br /> <br /> '''CometCatcher:'''<br /> Deci- one of the much-loved maps, it isn't my personal favorite, but it's a solid map.<br /> <br /> Min3mat:- Godlike! accept no substitutues!<br /> <br /> Forboding Angel: Too damn flat. Heightmap needs to be redone badly.<br /> <br /> '''Core Prime Industrial Area:'''<br /> -FizWizz The metal concentration on the North/South Pyramids is ridiculous. Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution throughout, but as it is now, the strategic importance of the four walled forts is greatly diminished.<br /> <br /> Min3mat:-Awful metal map which would be better with even displacement of metal<br /> <br /> '''CorrosivePits:'''<br /> Deci- apparently there is a version 4 out for this map that I haven't played yet.<br /> <br /> '''County Crossing:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crust:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crystal-Harbor:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crystal-World:'''<br /> Deci- Mex radius is far too small, it should be doubled or tripled at least.<br /> <br /> '''Death Valley:'''<br /> <br /> '''Dueling Bases:'''<br /> <br /> '''Dueling Forts:'''<br /> <br /> '''Duggans Metal Map:'''<br /> <br /> '''Duggans Metal Map Two:'''<br /> <br /> '''Egypt:'''<br /> <br /> '''EuroGreen:'''<br /> Forboding Angel: Honestly, it's ugly and a comm swapfest imo. Small maps are good if the are done correcty. Unfortunately this map does not have enough real chokepoints to be viable.<br /> <br /> '''EvergreenHaven:'''<br /> <br /> '''Fizzy Lakes:'''<br /> <br /> '''Foothill Basin:'''<br /> <br /> '''Foothills:'''<br /> <br /> '''Gods of War two remake:'''<br /> <br /> '''Grassy Paradox:'''<br /> <br /> '''Greenhaven:'''<br /> Deci- one of the popular maps of spring, somewhat rough terrain, while still allowing vehicles.<br /> <br /> '''Greenriver:'''<br /> Min3mat:- awesome. IMO the best water map out there<br /> <br /> '''Hamburger Hill:'''<br /> Deci- Open-area tank warfare, barely deserves to be called a hill<br /> <br /> '''Hell's Pass:'''<br /> <br /> '''Hill Haven:'''<br /> -FizWizz My favorite map of the River Dale set. It looks absolutely beautiful, it is simple, but it is not a plain map. It is balanced too, which is a little bit harder to say about the other maps in this series.<br /> <br /> '''Hills and Valleys:'''<br /> Deci- a good vehicle and kbot map, I really don't know why this one isn't played more.<br /> <br /> '''IceArena:'''<br /> <br /> '''Icebergs:'''<br /> <br /> '''Island in the Sun:'''<br /> -FizWizz A good naval map, the only island-hopper besides Gods of War II remake, I wish I could see more maps like this on FU.<br /> <br /> '''Island Alpha:'''<br /> Deci- decent 1v1 map<br /> <br /> '''Island Hopping:'''<br /> <br /> '''King of the Castle:'''<br /> <br /> '''Lava Highground:'''<br /> Deci- extremely focused on the center, not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing for this map<br /> <br /> '''Lava Rivers:'''<br /> Deci- Only one land route is generally bad for gameplay<br /> <br /> '''Marshlands:'''<br /> <br /> '''Martian Desert:'''<br /> Gnome- Decent for 1v1, probably a little too much metal for that a lot of the time though. Probably very good for 2v2. Not too big either. <br /> <br /> '''Metal Isles:'''<br /> FizWizz Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution, but there is zero metal in the water. Not a crimp on gameplay, but something which should have been remedied.<br /> <br /> '''MetalHeck:'''<br /> <br /> '''MicroMetalAlpha:'''<br /> <br /> '''Monolith NaAr:'''<br /> <br /> '''Mountain Seige:'''<br /> Deci- a good kbot map, probably the one that would benefit most from lvl2 kbots having good anti-air.<br /> <br /> -FizWizz I love this map, it is beautiful and it plays well too, but it really needs to have a couple of the pathways broadened and leveled some so that they can actually accept traffic.<br /> <br /> '''Mountain Range:'''<br /> <br /> '''Nightscape:'''<br /> Deci- a personal favorite of mine, this map manages to feel huge even though it isn't.<br /> <br /> '''Oki River:'''<br /> Deci- this map has only one real problem, there is too much metal in the water, on this map, the water would probably still be valuable even if there were no metal in it.<br /> <br /> '''PCB:'''<br /> <br /> '''Painted Desert Remake:'''<br /> Deci- no qualms with this one, solid map<br /> <br /> Min3mat:-Probably the prettiest map out there with good gameplay. Faithful port by NoiZe ^-^<br /> <br /> '''Pathways:'''<br /> Deci- now weighs in at only 15 meg!<br /> <br /> '''Pax Prime:'''<br /> Deci- an interesting map simply because of it's color<br /> <br /> '''PincushionRemake:'''<br /> Kixxe- This map has a great feel towards the different maps. It's low makes expanding a must, constantly fighting over more of the map and more resources. A peewee corpse can be a god blessing. The pins can be used to place LLT's and radars, but they block much of the radar to, meaning you have to build several on different pins to get a full view. This is a wonderful map, but it can be hard to adapt to since it has &quot;no metal&quot;.<br /> <br /> '''Plains and Passes:'''<br /> Deci- this map could use a metal reduction, there are so many metal patches that the maxmetal should probably be lowered by a third or so. Also, mex radius is so small that it doesn't even cover the entire metal patch.<br /> <br /> Forboding Angel: Nice map, too much metal imo. If I don't have over 300 metal income by the end of the game on this map I've done something wrong.<br /> <br /> '''Proving Grounds:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rainbow Land:'''<br /> Deci- as far as I can tell, this is a joke map<br /> <br /> '''Redhaven:'''<br /> Deci- rarely played because Greenhaven is easier on the eyes.<br /> <br /> '''River Dale:'''<br /> Deci- excellent 3v3 map, though the host needs to be careful where the start boxes are to keep it fair.<br /> <br /> '''Road to War:'''<br /> Deci- my map, so I don't think I can comment<br /> <br /> '''Rockies:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rolling Hills:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rush Hour:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rusted Divide:'''<br /> <br /> '''Scrap Metal:'''<br /> <br /> '''Shore to Shore:'''<br /> -FizWizz I have never played an enjoyable game on this map, it just does not conduce itself to anything other than porcing, aircraft spamming, or massing battleships, that I have seen.<br /> <br /> '''Snowscape:'''<br /> <br /> '''Sparewood:'''<br /> Gnome- Excellent for 3FFAs, small and in your face like sherwood, only minus the severely annoying trees at the start points. Not bad for 1v1 either. Perhaps a little too much metal, but it plays very fairly and well. <br /> <br /> '''Speedymetal2:'''<br /> <br /> '''Splintered 4x4:'''<br /> Deci- Absolute annihilation units cannot cross the fords, and therefore it doesn't get played by a very large chunk of spring's players. The speed boost on the ford is also a bit rediculous.<br /> <br /> '''Spring-Islands:'''<br /> <br /> '''Stone Bridges:'''<br /> <br /> '''Sunken Outpost:'''<br /> Deci- an often-played ffa or team map, would be a bit linear if it weren't for the water<br /> <br /> '''Swamp Island:'''<br /> Deci- mohos cannot easily be placed on the metal, making this map a bit of a pain to play<br /> <br /> '''The Highlands:'''<br /> <br /> '''The Hunters:'''<br /> Forboding Angel: All in all it's a solid map. A little low on metal for my tastes but still quite solid. It has large lake type bodies of water running through it. Lakes are large enough to put ships in if you so desire :D<br /> <br /> I havn't played this map myself. Only spectated, but I like the layout quite a bit and the atmospheric colors are beautiful. It is rather flat which IMO kinda sucks but regardless it's a rather fun map.<br /> <br /> '''The Pass:'''<br /> <br /> '''The Abyss:'''<br /> Deci- Giant filesize makes this one a pain to download<br /> <br /> -FizWizz Absolutely destitute of metal, until you reach the crater in the middle. However, I had one of my most fun games of Spring in memory on this map.<br /> <br /> '''The Cold Place:'''<br /> Deci- works for teams or FFA<br /> <br /> Gnome- Good, faithful port of the original.<br /> <br /> '''Tidal War:'''<br /> <br /> '''Tri-Vega:'''<br /> <br /> '''Valles Marineris:'''<br /> <br /> '''Valley of Death:'''<br /> <br /> '''WideOpenCombat:'''<br /> <br /> '''Windswept Desert:'''<br /> <br /> '''XantheTerra:'''<br /> <br /> '''Acid Bridge:'''<br /> <br /> '''AcidQuadratic:'''<br /> <br /> '''Cliff Down:'''<br /> Deci- a good FFA map if the players start at the entrances to the canyon, the starts should probably be changed to reflect this<br /> <br /> Gnome- Good metal layout, but it's so big that there's too much available. Also very easy to porc out on (secure your two chokepoints, dot the rest of your base with AA). The game I played on this one became a drawn out stalemate that lasted over three hours because it's simply too damn big. <br /> <br /> '''Core Pyramid:'''<br /> Deci- a map with actual low metal, these are rare goodies<br /> <br /> '''Desert Dunes:'''<br /> Deci- too much metal, otherwise good<br /> <br /> -FizWizz This map is Ace. The metal is much higher than a typical map, but I still wuvs it =)<br /> <br /> '''Grad:'''<br /> <br /> '''Green River:'''<br /> <br /> '''Omega:'''<br /> <br /> '''Tendril Mountain:'''<br /> Deci- another of my maps, it has way too much metal and I plan on fixing it eventually<br /> <br /> '''Volcano Island:'''<br /> Deci- subs have some difficulty getting though certain areas, should be changed</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Map_Reviews&diff=13149 2006-02-04T09:12:30Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''2 Valleys:'''<br /> Deci- Mostly an air map, as not even kbots can climb the plateus, mex radius is also too small for the metal layout.<br /> <br /> '''4B Facility:'''<br /> <br /> '''4 skulls:'''<br /> Deci- Simply too much metal, otherwise a solid map. Try lowering the metal income on the hills to around 1.5 or lower.<br /> <br /> -FizWizz Interesting map, funny metal but fun to play. However, the metalmap is really bright.<br /> <br /> '''Alaska:'''<br /> AF- Needs stuff on the corner bits, preferrably custom snowy tree like features and other assortments, and a small open space, otherwise looks nice but a bit plain. <br /> <br /> '''Ancient Arena:'''<br /> Deci- I have heard that this is an excellent FFA map, though I myself do not normally play FFA<br /> <br /> '''Anglo-Saxon Starfish:'''<br /> Deci- Too much metal, otherwise a good combo of land and sea.<br /> <br /> '''Appleville Two:'''<br /> <br /> '''Ashap Plateau:'''<br /> <br /> '''Ashpen:'''<br /> Gnome- Good, not too big and not too much metal. Wouldn't mind a slightly larger one with more topography, but it's still good. <br /> <br /> '''Asteroid-Dilo:'''<br /> <br /> '''Atlantic:'''<br /> Deci- A strange map, as amphibious units are near useless due to mountainous shorelines and air and naval power rule the day. This is another map that would benefit from a larger mex radius.<br /> <br /> '''Azure Rampart:'''<br /> Deci- Probably the most played FFA map, not much to say about this one.<br /> <br /> '''BallerBurg:'''<br /> <br /> '''Battle Lines:'''<br /> <br /> '''Blue Planet:'''<br /> <br /> '''Brazilian Battlefield:'''<br /> AF- Too many trees in one corner makes AI testing on this map unfair. Make a bigger version though, it's somewhat smaller than I would have liked.<br /> <br /> '''Clear a Ditch:'''<br /> <br /> '''Caldera:'''<br /> Deci- Basically a larger version on Ashpen<br /> <br /> '''Castles:'''<br /> Deci- the ultimate seige map, I don't play this one much anymore, but it is still fun sometimes when the game doesn't slow down.<br /> <br /> '''Caustic Realm:'''<br /> <br /> '''Cliff Run:'''<br /> Deci- too small to really play on.<br /> <br /> Gnome- I disagree. It's good for a quick game, the action is quick and it really keeps you on your toes. The hills really add to the map. The trees are somewhat annoying, but area reclaim works.<br /> <br /> '''CometCatcher:'''<br /> Deci- one of the much-loved maps, it isn't my personal favorite, but it's a solid map.<br /> <br /> Min3mat:- Godlike! accept no substitutues!<br /> <br /> Forboding Angel: Too damn flat. Heightmap needs to be redone badly.<br /> <br /> '''Core Prime Industrial Area:'''<br /> -FizWizz The metal concentration on the North/South Pyramids is ridiculous. Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution throughout, but as it is now, the strategic importance of the four walled forts is greatly diminished.<br /> <br /> Min3mat:-Awful metal map which would be better with even displacement of metal<br /> <br /> '''CorrosivePits:'''<br /> Deci- apparently there is a version 4 out for this map that I haven't played yet.<br /> <br /> '''County Crossing:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crust:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crystal-Harbor:'''<br /> <br /> '''Crystal-World:'''<br /> Deci- Mex radius is far too small, it should be doubled or tripled at least.<br /> <br /> '''Death Valley:'''<br /> <br /> '''Dueling Bases:'''<br /> <br /> '''Dueling Forts:'''<br /> <br /> '''Duggans Metal Map:'''<br /> <br /> '''Duggans Metal Map Two:'''<br /> <br /> '''Egypt:'''<br /> <br /> '''EuroGreen:'''<br /> Forboding Angel: Honestly, it's ugly and a comm swapfest imo. Small maps are good if the are done correcty. Unfortunately this map does not have enough real chokepoints to be viable.<br /> <br /> '''EvergreenHaven:'''<br /> <br /> '''Fizzy Lakes:'''<br /> <br /> '''Foothill Basin:'''<br /> <br /> '''Foothills:'''<br /> <br /> '''Gods of War two remake:'''<br /> <br /> '''Grassy Paradox:'''<br /> <br /> '''Greenhaven:'''<br /> Deci- one of the popular maps of spring, somewhat rough terrain, while still allowing vehicles.<br /> <br /> '''Greenriver:'''<br /> Min3mat:- awesome. IMO the best water map out there<br /> <br /> '''Hamburger Hill:'''<br /> Deci- Open-area tank warfare, barely deserves to be called a hill<br /> <br /> '''Hell's Pass:'''<br /> <br /> '''Hill Haven:'''<br /> -FizWizz My favorite map of the River Dale set. It looks absolutely beautiful, it is simple, but it is not a plain map. It is balanced too, which is a little bit harder to say about the other maps in this series.<br /> <br /> '''Hills and Valleys:'''<br /> Deci- a good vehicle and kbot map, I really don't know why this one isn't played more.<br /> <br /> '''IceArena:'''<br /> <br /> '''Icebergs:'''<br /> <br /> '''Island in the Sun:'''<br /> -FizWizz A good naval map, the only island-hopper besides Gods of War II remake, I wish I could see more maps like this on FU.<br /> <br /> '''Island Alpha:'''<br /> Deci- decent 1v1 map<br /> <br /> '''Island Hopping:'''<br /> <br /> '''King of the Castle:'''<br /> <br /> '''Lava Highground:'''<br /> Deci- extremely focused on the center, not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing for this map<br /> <br /> '''Lava Rivers:'''<br /> Deci- Only one land route is generally bad for gameplay<br /> <br /> '''Marshlands:'''<br /> <br /> '''Martian Desert:'''<br /> Gnome- Decent for 1v1, probably a little too much metal for that a lot of the time though. Probably very good for 2v2. Not too big either. <br /> <br /> '''Metal Isles:'''<br /> FizWizz Being both a metal map and a classic OTA map, it ought to have even metal distribution, but there is zero metal in the water. Not a crimp on gameplay, but something which should have been remedied.<br /> <br /> '''MetalHeck:'''<br /> <br /> '''MicroMetalAlpha:'''<br /> <br /> '''Monolith NaAr:'''<br /> <br /> '''Mountain Seige:'''<br /> Deci- a good kbot map, probably the one that would benefit most from lvl2 kbots having good anti-air.<br /> <br /> -FizWizz I love this map, it is beautiful and it plays well too, but it really needs to have a couple of the pathways broadened and leveled some so that they can actually accept traffic.<br /> <br /> '''Mountain Range:'''<br /> <br /> '''Nightscape:'''<br /> Deci- a personal favorite of mine, this map manages to feel huge even though it isn't.<br /> <br /> '''Oki River:'''<br /> Deci- this map has only one real problem, there is too much metal in the water, on this map, the water would probably still be valuable even if there were no metal in it.<br /> <br /> '''PCB:'''<br /> <br /> '''Painted Desert Remake:'''<br /> Deci- no qualms with this one, solid map<br /> <br /> Min3mat:-Probably the prettiest map out there with good gameplay. Faithful port by NoiZe ^-^<br /> <br /> '''Pathways:'''<br /> Deci- now weighs in at only 15 meg!<br /> <br /> '''Pax Prime:'''<br /> Deci- an interesting map simply because of it's color<br /> <br /> '''PincushionRemake'''<br /> Kixxe- This map has a great feel towards the different maps. It's low makes expanding a must, constantly fighting over more of the map and more resources. A peewee corpse can be a god blessing. The pins can be used to place LLT's and radars, but they block much of the radar to, meaning you have to build several on different pins to get a full view. This is a wonderful map, but it can be hard to adapt to since it has &quot;no metal&quot;.<br /> <br /> '''Plains and Passes:'''<br /> Deci- this map could use a metal reduction, there are so many metal patches that the maxmetal should probably be lowered by a third or so. Also, mex radius is so small that it doesn't even cover the entire metal patch.<br /> <br /> Forboding Angel: Nice map, too much metal imo. If I don't have over 300 metal income by the end of the game on this map I've done something wrong.<br /> <br /> '''Proving Grounds:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rainbow Land:'''<br /> Deci- as far as I can tell, this is a joke map<br /> <br /> '''Redhaven:'''<br /> Deci- rarely played because Greenhaven is easier on the eyes.<br /> <br /> '''River Dale:'''<br /> Deci- excellent 3v3 map, though the host needs to be careful where the start boxes are to keep it fair.<br /> <br /> '''Road to War:'''<br /> Deci- my map, so I don't think I can comment<br /> <br /> '''Rockies:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rolling Hills:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rush Hour:'''<br /> <br /> '''Rusted Divide:'''<br /> <br /> '''Scrap Metal:'''<br /> <br /> '''Shore to Shore:'''<br /> -FizWizz I have never played an enjoyable game on this map, it just does not conduce itself to anything other than porcing, aircraft spamming, or massing battleships, that I have seen.<br /> <br /> '''Snowscape:'''<br /> <br /> '''Sparewood:'''<br /> Gnome- Excellent for 3FFAs, small and in your face like sherwood, only minus the severely annoying trees at the start points. Not bad for 1v1 either. Perhaps a little too much metal, but it plays very fairly and well. <br /> <br /> '''Speedymetal2:'''<br /> <br /> '''Splintered 4x4:'''<br /> Deci- Absolute annihilation units cannot cross the fords, and therefore it doesn't get played by a very large chunk of spring's players. The speed boost on the ford is also a bit rediculous.<br /> <br /> '''Spring-Islands:'''<br /> <br /> '''Stone Bridges:'''<br /> <br /> '''Sunken Outpost:'''<br /> Deci- an often-played ffa or team map, would be a bit linear if it weren't for the water<br /> <br /> '''Swamp Island:'''<br /> Deci- mohos cannot easily be placed on the metal, making this map a bit of a pain to play<br /> <br /> '''The Highlands:'''<br /> <br /> '''The Hunters:'''<br /> Forboding Angel: All in all it's a solid map. A little low on metal for my tastes but still quite solid. It has large lake type bodies of water running through it. Lakes are large enough to put ships in if you so desire :D<br /> <br /> I havn't played this map myself. Only spectated, but I like the layout quite a bit and the atmospheric colors are beautiful. It is rather flat which IMO kinda sucks but regardless it's a rather fun map.<br /> <br /> '''The Pass:'''<br /> <br /> '''The Abyss:'''<br /> Deci- Giant filesize makes this one a pain to download<br /> <br /> -FizWizz Absolutely destitute of metal, until you reach the crater in the middle. However, I had one of my most fun games of Spring in memory on this map.<br /> <br /> '''The Cold Place:'''<br /> Deci- works for teams or FFA<br /> <br /> Gnome- Good, faithful port of the original.<br /> <br /> '''Tidal War:'''<br /> <br /> '''Tri-Vega:'''<br /> <br /> '''Valles Marineris:'''<br /> <br /> '''Valley of Death:'''<br /> <br /> '''WideOpenCombat:'''<br /> <br /> '''Windswept Desert:'''<br /> <br /> '''XantheTerra:'''<br /> <br /> '''Acid Bridge:'''<br /> <br /> '''AcidQuadratic:'''<br /> <br /> '''Cliff Down:'''<br /> Deci- a good FFA map if the players start at the entrances to the canyon, the starts should probably be changed to reflect this<br /> <br /> Gnome- Good metal layout, but it's so big that there's too much available. Also very easy to porc out on (secure your two chokepoints, dot the rest of your base with AA). The game I played on this one became a drawn out stalemate that lasted over three hours because it's simply too damn big. <br /> <br /> '''Core Pyramid:'''<br /> Deci- a map with actual low metal, these are rare goodies<br /> <br /> '''Desert Dunes:'''<br /> Deci- too much metal, otherwise good<br /> <br /> -FizWizz This map is Ace. The metal is much higher than a typical map, but I still wuvs it =)<br /> <br /> '''Grad:'''<br /> <br /> '''Green River:'''<br /> <br /> '''Omega:'''<br /> <br /> '''Tendril Mountain:'''<br /> Deci- another of my maps, it has way too much metal and I plan on fixing it eventually<br /> <br /> '''Volcano Island:'''<br /> Deci- subs have some difficulty getting though certain areas, should be changed</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17469 2005-10-31T12:06:25Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Hovercraft */</p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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, which defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle through space. Yeah, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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 stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources.)<br /> <br /> * The resources system ! Contrary 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring was inspired by TA and has the same features TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> There are two types of resources in spring, namely ''metal'' and ''energy''. Each of these two resources can be collected in a number of different ways. The amount of each resource that you currently have stockpiled is represented by a coloured bar, one for each resource, along the upper edge of the screen. The rate at which you are presently collecting and consuming each of the two types is represented by a number and a + or - sign. If you are collecting at a faster rate then the rate at which you are consuming you will see your coloured bar grow as resources accumulate. Your stockpiled resources are being depleted whenever the coloured bar is shrinking. There are storage buildings which you can build for each type of resource and these will increase the amount of each which can be stored. Units and structures cost both metal and energy to build, while some units or structures also require energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is collected continuously from either a metal extractor, often called ‘mexes’ which extract from certain areas of the map, or by using a metal maker, abbreviated as ‘MM’ which convert energy into metal. Both will only operate so long as there is sufficient energy to power them. However, metal makers require a lot of energy. <br /> A faster way to gather metal is by using either your commander or a construction bot to 'reclaim' it from the remains of destroyed units and buildings! They can even reclaim buildings which have not been destroyed and they don't have to belong to your enemy to be reclaimed.<br /> <br /> Energy can be produced by a number of different buildings or it can be reclaimed (you can reclaim trees to gather energy). There are many different types of energy producers, including solar collectors and power plants, but they will be covered in another section.<br /> <br /> In a game, always “keep an eye on your metal and energy bar“ because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy, your building rate will stall,(metal makers and extractors will stop producing) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines). <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your Commander in the beginning of the game… then you're dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion that may destroy half or all of your base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you're seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the Commander (type Ctrl+C if you can't find him) with left mouse button to select him.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s now discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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 clicking each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> This is called queuing up stuff. You can use almost every single command in a queue. Buildings can be queued 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing Shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators to gather energy. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and that a number of maps (like lunar ones) have no wind at all ! (The level of wind and tides in the map is indicated in the Map Selector in the Lobby).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> Oh, and the minimap controls in spring are reversed. Meaning that you have to rightclick to move the screen to the location. Once the new Gui is out and offical, this will be fixed.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, with more armour and (build) speed and than their K-bot counterparts. Level 2 vehicles show even more of the same pattern: better armour than their K-bot counterparts. Level 2 also offers the mobile Flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly, and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 steep hill. But sooner or later, you'll learn what kind of destruction a rush of 30 Goliaths can do !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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 relief 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've got to rely on Anti Air (AA) units.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 in 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 that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop them because they are usually out of range. Once you see that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have too many AA ships. <br /> Their weaknesses are slowness (especially when turning), they can be taken out by submarines, and of course they are confined to water, meaning that they are often stuck with units just outside of their reach.<br /> <br /> And they are *extremely* expensive, metal-wise.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. Whats their use? They are meant for swampy maps that means that both tanks and ships are a weakness, and offcourse since none can't be used, everyone just spams out AA since they think aircrafts are the only way. Great suprise for the enemy when 50 hovercrafts comes in agsint their flakkers and MT...<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. These cannons will undoubtly be essential parts of your offensive as well as defensive strategies.<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> A cheap and fast laser that hits almost every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups against level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(Samsons, for example). Since they fire faster than their bigger brothers, LLTs are more useful against hordes of small weak units than a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shoot slower, but with much more power than the LLT. They also have a longer range and can be quite effective against air attacks. They cost a fair amount and take a long time to build, but they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hits their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with Flack cannons.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up Cannons'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range plasma Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have SLIGHTLY LESS range than LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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, no one is gonna rush it past with some goliaths. 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> -- addendum by Cain<br /> <br /> ''The All Out Defence''<br /> <br /> The opposite from the no defence, mixed with spread defence: the main concept is to invest resource in level 1 build planes, lot of them, and use them to quickly gather huge amounts of maps and resources, while keeping a lot of plane building / repairing turrets all over the places. This could be very effective on maps with few choke points where concentrate the defence or almost flats map where the overlapping range of defence will create a huge wall of shoot. The concept is to expand the defence line until you can shoot straight into the enemy base. Best used with a lot of level 2 aircraft defending the construction point. Note that the mobility of them is essential as you're concentrating all your resource in building plasma turrets. I usually end with a hundred of building planes and 20 to 50 brawler floating around... keep them away from Kroghot!<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a little for them. Don’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.<br /> Pressing control while moving units will make them keep their position, but not their speed. (they will spread out along the way, but ''try'' to get back into the position they was in when reaching the detination)<br /> The ''Simple formation'' is also way of doing this, and will the units wiil automaticly form couple of lines. Ofen with the right units first also!<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (Valkyrie /Atlas) smartly and protect them. The other transportation units are harder to use, since they take more time to load/unload.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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. But bulldogs are ofen the first thing that the enemy targets and loses lots of HP fast. Wicht means that your healing may have slim effect on em... 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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> Remember if your opponent has air superiority or LRPCs use subs as they can't hit them :)<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> -- addendum by Cain.<br /> <br /> Howercraft are quite expensive compared to other land units, but are very useful also in the map with a bit of water, targetting enemies without worring of those pesky gholiat... Note that they're much cheaper than ship, anyway.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and act like overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out off his Fusion or whatever nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> -- addendum by Cain<br /> <br /> Know where the enemy commander is! In game where the commander death is a winning condition, a lot of bomber could just converge on him, killing on the first run.. especially the 2nd level bombers that have a nice turretted fast targetting laser! Also, gunship could distract enemy defence from your main attack force, or you can use them to make the defences of distract players shooting their own base....<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> (in xta)<br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> (/in xta)<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar with your army makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to auto share resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -Check your rescore bar. Try to keep a fine line between having too much resources and wasting, and having a nanostall. Use your factories and such accordingly. If you have a lot of resources, try using your old level 1 factories to build some units. Also, try to find the time to build an energy/metal storage...<br /> <br /> -Spread out your buildings/units. Since every unit explodes, they damage units close to them. This is especially important with Fusions... (I once saw someone put 13 mobile fusions close to each other... blew up half his base with 2 (!!!) LRPC shots...)<br /> <br /> -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 putting up buildings.<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier.<br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM!<br /> Also as you have way loads more metal and space to move in than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it(and if you aim the nukes at the antinuke...^^!<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible. Also, try how much metal and energy a building uses while in operation. For instance, a level 1 factory uses about 50 energy and 5 metal. This varies depending on what you build. This could help you prevent nanostalling.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money. Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-* (also, when i say FARKs somewhere in the guide, construction units work to...)<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you? What was the key to winning? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, and make wacky suggestions! In the end you may contribute of making Spring better! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 the original TA music] <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.<br /> <br /> <br /> Back to [[Strategy_and_Tactics]]</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:Kixxe&diff=20850 2005-10-20T18:48:39Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>IM AWESINE!</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:Screen000.jpg&diff=22042 2005-10-20T18:47:24Z

<p>Kixxe: An uploaded file for showing a bug... this is okay, right?</p> <hr /> <div>An uploaded file for showing a bug... this is okay, right?</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=FAQ&diff=6720 2005-07-21T21:37:59Z

<p>Kixxe: /* How do I install downloaded maps? */</p> <hr /> <div>==General information==<br /> <br /> ===What is TA Spring?===<br /> TA Spring is a project to create the best RTS ever (no joke). There are three principle goals which we hope to achieve. <br /> <br /> . . . . . .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.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .B) Add new features as we see fit, fix bugs, and release new versions when we feel it is appropriate to do so.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .C) Support the mod community as we see fit.<br /> <br /> ===When will TA Spring be ready?===<br /> Now! You can get the latest beta from the download page.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring be free?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to help, what can I do?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to donate.===<br /> 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. 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I read all that and I still want to donate.===<br /> Very well then! You can find the required details [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/donate.php here]. It will be much appreciated. :)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Technical==<br /> <br /> ===What port numbers does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What APIs does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What language is TA Spring written in?===<br /> C and C++.<br /> <br /> ===Is TA Spring open source?===<br /> Yes, it is. Go to the downloads section of the site to download the source code.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be a linux port?===<br /> 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&amp;highlight= thread].<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Requirements==<br /> <br /> ===What platforms will TA Spring run on?===<br /> At the moment, it only runs on Windows. <br /> Members of the community are working on porting the game on Linux platform (please refer to the Messageboard).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What sort of a system will I need to run TA Spring?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Spring says I need the GL_ARB_texture_env_combine extension, what can I do?===<br /> If you encounter the error &quot;Needed extension GL_ARB_texture_env_combine not found&quot;, 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Content==<br /> <br /> ===Do TA Spring maps need a &quot;ground&quot;?===<br /> TA Spring maps do require a ground. We have had many requests to have space maps, however, a &quot;true&quot; (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 &quot;space&quot; maps won't be possible, (see the Final Frontier TC for examples of this).<br /> <br /> ===You stated that TA Spring uses the TA unit format.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===How powerful will TA Spring's custom format be?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of weapons?===<br /> No. Unlike Total Annihilation, TA Spring's weapon IDs will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of unique units?===<br /> No. Unit IDs, like weapon IDs, will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Will units have a maximum of 3 unique weapons?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I'm curious as to the per-unit polygon limit.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will units be able to perform basic terraforming?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will tunnel building be possible?===<br /> Subterranean areas of any sort is impossible. However, it is possible to heavily deform the ground with explosives.<br /> <br /> ===Will the ground's water retention be editable?===<br /> No. Water will always collect when a piece of land has a height below sea level.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limit on the number of races?===<br /> TA Spring has no limit on the total number of sides/races.<br /> <br /> ===What are the sizes of the biggest and smallest units?===<br /> 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 &quot;squares&quot; (an arbitrary size standard created by Cavedog) might have problems pathfinding.<br /> <br /> ===What is going to be the maximum possible sea depth?===<br /> For all practical purposes, it will be unlimited. The depth values are stored as &quot;float variables&quot;, so it is doubtful that maps would ever be made which even come close to approaching the limit.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring support campaigns?===<br /> No such support is planned at the moment but it is possible using the GroupAI interface.<br /> <br /> ===How big will the TA Spring files be?===<br /> TA Spring will be as big as however much content is included with it. The &quot;essential&quot; 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 &quot;content&quot; will be included with the first release.<br /> <br /> ===How will TA Spring render sound effects?===<br /> 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 &quot;emitter&quot;. 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring have ambient sound?===<br /> There is no ambient sound, and we haven't planned on adding it so far.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be an AI or a &quot;skirmish&quot; mode?===<br /> We will create an interface that people can use to create there own skirmish AIs later.<br /> <br /> ===Will a &quot;possess&quot; or a FPS option be present?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Getting into a game==<br /> <br /> ===People talk about 'Single Player'. How do I start a single player game?=== <br /> Go into your TA Spring folder and find the 'Spring.exe' file. Double click on it and say 'yes' to host.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to make a single player game, it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring support AI Players?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to connect to the lobby it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I have a router and I don't seem to be able to get a game===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I join games the minimap is blank===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Where can I download more maps?===<br /> As for most Spring downloads [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=90 FileUniverse] is the place to be! A collection of maps can be downloaded [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=91 here].<br /> <br /> ===I used the small installer where can I get the missing maps?===<br /> 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].<br /> <br /> ===How do I install downloaded maps?===<br /> 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 totaly free.<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I try to join games it gives me an error.=== <br /> The host is behind a firewall that has not opened the correct ports for Spring.<br /> <br /> Dixit SJ: &quot;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.&quot;<br /> <br /> ===When I make games nobody joins.=== <br /> You are probably behind a firewall. See question above.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts I never make it past the loading screen.=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts, I make it past the loading screen, but when I get into the game it says, &quot;Waiting for Host&quot;, and does a 10 second countdown. It always reaches zero and boots me out, what gives?=== <br /> 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.<br /> Good Luck<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I chat in the 'game lobby', people can't hear me.=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===I got into the game, but some people didn't.=== <br /> The host may have reached the number of players it has set.<br /> 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'.<br /> <br /> ===I got into a game but my name is red, nobody can hear me speak, and eventually I get disconnected===<br /> This is to do with how long it takes the game to start up (the &quot;load time&quot;). 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Playing==<br /> <br /> ===What is with this weird right-click mode? I'm bout to break my keyboard.=== <br /> Sorry, you'll just have to get used to it. As of now it can't be changed.<br /> <br /> ===Why is somebody else also controlling my units?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Then why would I want to be on the same 'Team' as somebody?=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===How do I talk to my allies only?=== <br /> You must type 'a:' before you speak. Here's an example: a: Now I am talking to my allies only. <br /> <br /> ===Help! After I'm finished driving a unit, the camera is all insane! This is nuts! How do I fix it?=== <br /> Whoa now. Calm down. Just press ctrl + mouse button 3 to change camera modes. <br /> <br /> ===After I'm finished driving a unit, where what used too be my mouse pointer is now a crosshair. Why?=== <br /> -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. <br /> <br /> ===But I don't have a third mouse button!=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===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?===<br /> This happens when you start a single player game or when the host uses force start. Shift+Backspace switches between the fps style, total war style and ota style cameras. Use it to get your camera back to normal in this situation.<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes my units just get deleted. Why?=== <br /> For some reason units get deleted when they go into the wrong places. Like out of the map edge.<br /> <br /> This is already fixed in recent versions.<br /> <br /> ===People are cheating! How do I stop it?!=== <br /> Well currently, you can't.<br /> <br /> Only the host can &quot;activate&quot; the cheat codes. After that, any player can do almost all cheats.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Well how do you cheat?=== <br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;Cheat Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;'''.cheat'''&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;'''enable cheats - Cheats don't work in multiplayer until the host types this'''&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.nocost&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;instabuild (doesn't work on things already under construction, only on new ones)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setmaxspeed 50&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the maximum speed multiplier (default is 3.0)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setminspeed 0&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the minimum speed multiplier (default is 0.3)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.spectator&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Allows you to see the entire map... but you lose control of your units&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.team 0, .team 1, etc.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Change player&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===In Game Commands===<br /> The following ''non-cheating'' commands are also available in game:<br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;th&gt;Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.info&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you what colour each player is and their ping delay in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.clock&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you the elapsed game time in minutes and seconds in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===How do I ally or unally in game?=== <br /> I'm pretty sure you can't. Yet. <br /> <br /> ===How do I give somebody units or metal or energy?=== <br /> Press the 'H' key.<br /> Then select the amount of metal and/or energy to share.<br /> <br /> Then select the recieving player an press ok.<br /> <br /> When sharing units, you must first select the units to share, then press 'H' key.<br /> <br /> Tick share units checkbox and choose recieving player.<br /> <br /> ===How do I continually give somebody metal and/or energy after a certain point (i.e. Original TA commands +setshare..., +shareall)?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Man I am soooo sick of XTA. How do I play AA or OTA instead?=== <br /> Well. Somebody has made a patch to turn TA Spring into OTA: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;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&amp;ID=92 click here]. A switcher is available which makes it easier to switch between the different mods: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;ID=805 click here]<br /> <br /> ===XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? What those all the abbreviations mean?===<br /> zwzsg main a handy dandy Faq about TA, and the abbreviations that relate to Spring too, of course.<br /> [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.<br /> <br /> ===Why am I destroyed so easily by long range assaults?=== <br /> 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:<br /> * Your unit kills a lot of units and gets experience<br /> * You get a targetting facility.<br /> <br /> ===Can I kick people from my 'game lobby' or my game?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===When I'm 'driving' my commander, why can't I use my laser?=== <br /> The TA: Spring team will most likely add a way for you to use your commander's laser soon.<br /> <br /> ===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?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I turned the shadows feature on; I still don't see shadows. What gives?=== <br /> Your graphics card can't handle shadows, so Spring automatically turns them off.<br /> <br /> ===I can't go backwards when I am 'driving' a unit. Why not?=== <br /> Because TA units were never intended to go backwards. Sorry.<br /> <br /> ===I'm in the Unreal Tournament 2004 kind of mood. How do I strafe?=== <br /> You can only strafe in 'brawler type' ships, such as the brawler, rapier, and light gunships.<br /> <br /> ===How can I record and watch demos/replays?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> You can use the Speed up/Slow down game keys while watching the replay. + <br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I play with certain people I get HUGE sync errors that continue throughout the game.=== <br /> It used to be because they have a different 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.<br /> <br /> Check the list at the right hand in the game battleroom for disabled units.<br /> <br /> If there are tons of them (not just 1, as this is known bug [naval flakker bug]), some players has a different mod installed.<br /> <br /> ===My aircraft repairing platforms don't work!=== <br /> This feature is not implemented yet. I'm afraid you'll have to wait.<br /> <br /> ===What features from the original TA game have not been implemented yet?===<br /> In addition to aircraft repair platforms (above), enemy capturing and resurrection have not been implemented yet.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Creating Content for Spring==<br /> ===How do I create maps===<br /> See this page: http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_maps<br /> ===How do I create units===<br /> Go here: http://spring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_units</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17432 2005-07-05T06:06:13Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Strategy Tips */</p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range plasma Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> Shoots a fast laser that almost hit's every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups agsint level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(samsons, for example) Since they fire faster then their big variant, they are more useful against hordes of small weak units then a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shot slower, but with more power then their light variant. They also have longer range then a LLT, so they can handle long range weapons better. They cost a fair amount, and take a long time to build. But they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hit's their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with flack cannons.<br /> <br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and act like overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out off his Fusion or whatever nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar with your army makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to auto share resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -Check your rescore bar. Try to keep a fine line between having to much resources and wasting and having a nanostall. Use your factories and such accordingly. If you have a lot of recourses, try using your old level 1 factories to build some units. Also, try to find the time to build a energy/metal storage...<br /> <br /> -Spread out your buildings/units. Since every unit explodes, they damage units close to them. This is especially important with Fusions... (I once saw someone put 13 mobile fusions close to each other... blew up half his base with 2 (!!!) LRPC shots...)<br /> <br /> -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 putting up buildings.<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier.<br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM!<br /> Also as you have way loads more metal and space to move in than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it(and if you aim the nukes at the antinuke...^^!<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money. Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-* (also, when i say FARKs somewhere in the guide, construction units work to...)<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you? What was the key to winning? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, and make wacky suggestions! In the end you may contribute of making Spring better! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17431 2005-07-05T05:53:23Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Strategy Tips */</p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range plasma Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> Shoots a fast laser that almost hit's every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups agsint level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(samsons, for example) Since they fire faster then their big variant, they are more useful against hordes of small weak units then a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shot slower, but with more power then their light variant. They also have longer range then a LLT, so they can handle long range weapons better. They cost a fair amount, and take a long time to build. But they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hit's their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with flack cannons.<br /> <br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and act like overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out off his Fusion or whatever nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar with your army makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to auto share resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -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 putting up buildings.<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier.<br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM!<br /> Also as you have way loads more metal and space to move in than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it(and if you aim the nukes at the antinuke...^^!<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money ? Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-* (also, when i say FARKs somewhere in the guide, construction units work to...)<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you? What was the key to winning? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, and make wacky suggestions! In the end you may contribute of making Spring better! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17430 2005-07-04T20:56:45Z

<p>Kixxe: /* TA: so what&#039;s so cool about this game ? */</p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range plasma Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> Shoots a fast laser that almost hit's every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups agsint level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(samsons, for example) Since they fire faster then their big variant, they are more useful against hordes of small weak units then a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shot slower, but with more power then their light variant. They also have longer range then a LLT, so they can handle long range weapons better. They cost a fair amount, and take a long time to build. But they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hit's their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with flack cannons.<br /> <br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and act like overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out off his Fusion or whatever nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand ! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout ! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together ! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -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).<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> Also as you have way loads more MC than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money ? Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you ? What was the key to winning ? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop ! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making Spring better ! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17429 2005-07-04T19:50:09Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Planes */</p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range plasma Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> Shoots a fast laser that almost hit's every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups agsint level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(samsons, for example) Since they fire faster then their big variant, they are more useful against hordes of small weak units then a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shot slower, but with more power then their light variant. They also have longer range then a LLT, so they can handle long range weapons better. They cost a fair amount, and take a long time to build. But they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hit's their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with flack cannons.<br /> <br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly see WHAT the enemy has and WHERE he has it. Use gunships to take out AA and act like overall decoys. Have Bombers fly in and bomb the crap out off his Fusion or whatever nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand ! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout ! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together ! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -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).<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> Also as you have way loads more MC than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money ? Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you ? What was the key to winning ? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop ! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making Spring better ! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17428 2005-07-04T19:40:37Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range plasma Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> Shoots a fast laser that almost hit's every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups agsint level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(samsons, for example) Since they fire faster then their big variant, they are more useful against hordes of small weak units then a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shot slower, but with more power then their light variant. They also have longer range then a LLT, so they can handle long range weapons better. They cost a fair amount, and take a long time to build. But they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hit's their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with flack cannons.<br /> <br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly 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 nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand ! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout ! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together ! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -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).<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> Also as you have way loads more MC than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money ? Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you ? What was the key to winning ? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop ! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making Spring better ! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17427 2005-07-04T19:32:22Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Plasma Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Plasma Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range plasma Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> Shoots a fast laser that almost hit's every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups agsint level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(samsons, for example) Since they fire faster then their big variant, they are more useful against hordes of units then a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shot slower, but with more power then their light variant. They also have longer range then a LLT, so they can handle long range weapons better. They cost a fair amount, and take a long time to build. But they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hit's their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with flack cannons.<br /> <br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly 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 nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand ! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout ! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together ! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -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).<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> Also as you have way loads more MC than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money ? Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you ? What was the key to winning ? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop ! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making Spring better ! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17426 2005-07-04T19:31:05Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Cannons (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Cannons (LRPC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow on targeting. BUT, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRPC and shoot 4(!!!) shots at a time. This is the one thing to finish those über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> In OTA however Vulcans/Buzzsaws have the SAME range as LRPCs, so LRPCs are generally better because they are so cheaper and each are a seperate entity with a fair bit of life(around 2500 i think).<br /> <br /> '''Light laser tower (LLT)'''<br /> Shoots a fast laser that almost hit's every time. Mostly useful against level 1 units, but can be used in groups agsint level 2. They suffer from short range, so most long range weapons can kill them(samsons, for example) Since they fire faster then their big variant, they are more useful against hordes of units then a single strong one. <br /> <br /> '''Heavy laser tower (HLT)'''<br /> This is the only tower that works on those pesky level 2 units that just won’t die. These shot slower, but with more power then their light variant. They also have longer range then a LLT, so they can handle long range weapons better. They cost a fair amount, and take a long time to build. But they are often worth it.<br /> <br /> '''Missile Tower (MT)'''<br /> The missile tower is good for planes or weak level 1 units. They shoot a weak rocket that almost hit's their target every time. They have a fair range, but very low hp. They work on most level 2 planes as well, but should be backed up with flack cannons.<br /> <br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones). Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> ''Line defence''<br /> <br /> 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 Dragon Teeth. When you have a hole in it, just run like a maniac into the heart of the base. Split your tanks in 2 groups, 1 guarding your long range/high damage units and let the other go loose into the heart of the base. Find the Fusion reactors 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^^. <br /> If there are several lines of defence, dig the hole in each line of defence and repeat the same tactics.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence''<br /> <br /> Argh… The tough one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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 too.)<br /> This is when you have to make 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 them drop the units slightly away from the fight). Once you start getting close to his last line of defence, think of it as a line defence.<br /> <br /> ''Units defence''<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past 'em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In a word, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly 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 nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand ! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout ! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together ! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -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).<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> Also as you have way loads more MC than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money ? Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you ? What was the key to winning ? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop ! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making Spring better ! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17418 2005-07-04T19:12:05Z

<p>Kixxe: /* A Normal Spring Game */</p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> In a game, ''always keep an eye on your metal and energy bar'', because if one of them goes to zero, particularly energy your building rate will stall,(metal maker and extractor will stop) and some units will be unable to fire their energy weapons (eg. LRPCs, Annihilators, Doomsday Machines)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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 submerged, he cannot shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> The Commander is used for setting up a base, and early base defences. The D-gun should protect him against any level 1 unit that tries to kill him, so if you lose your commander in the beginning of the game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircraft===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercraft===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Towers and Turrets===<br /> <br /> Like TA, Spring boasts an impressive range of plasma and laser towers, cannons and turrets. 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range Cannons (MRC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range Cannons (LRC)'''<br /> 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 that’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.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range Cannons (VLRC)'''<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, are huge energy suckers, are VERY inaccurate and are pretty slow 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 über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and thereby increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> ''Compact defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> ''Spread out defence!''<br /> <br /> 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 there…<br /> 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.<br /> Even though this defence are the best of 'em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off resources and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 Brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> ''No defence… at all?''<br /> <br /> 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?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 seconds look through the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *&quot;Well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…&quot;<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> 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. Don’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’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 don’t want Zippers and Pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> <br /> This is the normal way of attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement too…<br /> 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. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages: <br /> *it's easier to get past the units and attack their weak units, or just run past them into the base, <br /> *you do more damage, since their units will have to change their target all the time and can't escape <br /> *it makes it MUCH harder for the enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used units to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go through holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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 LRC off course).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRC, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercraft====<br /> Use the Army vs Army or Army vs Base strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 take a little time to master but allied with gunships, they do a very good job. Scout early, so you can quickly 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 nevralgic point, and use the fighters to guard the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, but add Torpedoes to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain wisely is very important. The issue of a game can depend on a good use of terrain.<br /> First, Line of Sight (LOS) and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So build your radars as highly as possibly, otherwise you may just not see anything. Use the relief at your advantage to hide an army or your important buildings from enemy radars.<br /> Of course, one can also take advantage of altitude to increase fire range. A couple of Guardians on top of two high hills can easily devastate a small army.<br /> Terrain also helps shield your units against attacks. Therefore, when you’re building something high on top of a hill, try placing it a little behind the top. This is like crouching behind a crate when just your head and gun sticks up. But remember that terrain in Spring is deformable and can be leveled by impacts !<br /> Know the climbing ability of your units. Hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability. But if a foe thinks he has sealed up all exits, your K-bots can still climb the mountains where he hasn’t put any Dragon Tooth… <br /> 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, there probably won’t have much ground defence at a location AWAY from the bridges. Presuming the map is pretty flat (like &quot;Flooded Desert&quot;) a hovercraft assault would do A LOT of damage, right?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops behaviour facing attacks, mines, etc, etc. The possibilities are immense, but I don't want to spoil your pleasure any longer, so I'll let you discover them by yourself.<br /> <br /> '''Have fun !!!'''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Expand ! Metal is scarce. The more you get, the more you can build. Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to do is to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Scout ! Knowledge is power. You must know what your enemy is planning, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) Check what he has, and what he is building. If he’s building aircrafts, do something about it. Look for weaknesses in defence and such alike. If you or your ally are scouting, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> ALL buildings once in sight range will remain visible as 'ghost' buildings.<br /> <br /> -Radar = GOOD^^. Radar checks areas for units, increases your units LOS and is overall helpful. A radar makes a big difference when attacking. But so is Jamming. Jamming is good for sneak attacks. They are cheap, so just build one and make your units guard it.<br /> <br /> -Work Together ! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other person's doing. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. Prepare combined attacks. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners. Type h to share units. Left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Power Plants. In order to level out the building costs, it is important to make a smooth transition from the least powerful generators to the most powerful ones stepwise. First solar, then Geo, then mobile/mini Fusion then Fusion.<br /> <br /> -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).<br /> <br /> -Guard = following and protection. Use planes to guard your tanks, subs to guard your transports, construction units to automatically repair important units or and 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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the Fusion reactors, etc… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into resources). When you're starting to run low on metal, reclaim the enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning... You can reclaim a whole area by shift-clicking.<br /> <br /> -The key for porcers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTS of planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> Also as you have way loads more MC than your opponent, you can easily afford 2 nukes. An anti-nuke can't deal with 2 nukes heading towards it! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -Several types of factories. Yeah, even if it costs money. A advanced building cost as much as a Bulldog or 2... You got the time, and the money ? Build it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the Weasel or a couple of Peewees on a cruise right by the enemy’s mexxes. Having trouble finding'em ? Type 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 you're sure you're going to die, move close to a building and self-destruct.<br /> <br /> -Just because Peewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…). In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mix armies. O boy, if you haven’t heard this one a thousand times before, you've only been playing Half-Life for the last 7 years or something. Even if Goliaths rule, a couple of missile units will make them much more effective.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do : Repair -.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if someone does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t expect anyone in the heat of a battle to answer to ‘’how do I play?’’.<br /> <br /> -Learn ! If you lost, use the replay too to watch the game and try to understand why you died. What did the enemy do better than you ? What was the key to winning ? And so on.<br /> <br /> -The Readme file has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -Develop ! Are you a programmer, a 3D design artist or just some regular Joe? Come to the forum for a talk, chatter, suggestions and overall steps of making Spring better ! Remember, Spring is open source. So just dive into there and replace AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -LAST BUT NOT LEAST : '''Don’t get too serious. It’s only a game.'''<br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly.</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17384 2005-07-03T19:51:43Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> 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 start to dysfunction.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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 instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircrafts===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercrafts===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Laser and Plasma Towers===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range (LRPC)'''<br /> 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. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if that’s possible). A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range (VLRCP)'''<br /> 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 über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’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.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercrafts====<br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> 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 hasn’t put any DT… <br /> 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 won’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?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops transportation, 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.<br /> <br /> Have fun !!!<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, 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)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -The readme has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and improved!) it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17383 2005-07-03T19:51:33Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> 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 start to dysfunction.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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 instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircrafts===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercrafts===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Laser and Plasma Towers===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range (LRPC)'''<br /> 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. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if that’s possible). A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range (VLRCP)'''<br /> 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 über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’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.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercrafts====<br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> 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 hasn’t put any DT… <br /> 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 won’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?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops transportation, 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.<br /> <br /> Have fun !!!<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, 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)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -The readme has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited (and imporved!) it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17382 2005-07-03T19:50:46Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> 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 start to dysfunction.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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 instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircrafts===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercrafts===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Laser and Plasma Towers===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range (LRPC)'''<br /> 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. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if that’s possible). A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range (VLRCP)'''<br /> 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 über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’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.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercrafts====<br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> 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 hasn’t put any DT… <br /> 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 won’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?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops transportation, 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.<br /> <br /> Have fun !!!<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, 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)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -The readme has some cool keyboard shortcuts... check it out.<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17381 2005-07-03T19:47:13Z

<p>Kixxe: /* Using Terrain */</p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> 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 start to dysfunction.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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 instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircrafts===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercrafts===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===Laser and Plasma Towers===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''Pop-up'''<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> '''Middle range (MRPC)'''<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> '''Long Range (LRPC)'''<br /> 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. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if that’s possible). A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.<br /> <br /> '''Very long range (VLRCP)'''<br /> 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 über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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.<br /> When facing land, you’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.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercrafts====<br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here.<br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> 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 hasn’t put any DT… <br /> 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 won’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?<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor ?===<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> I didn't even mention cloaking, radar jamming, troops transportation, 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.<br /> <br /> Have fun !!!<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, 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)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17376 2005-07-03T19:26:26Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> 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 start to dysfunction.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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 instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircrafts===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercrafts===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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 off value you might have with you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercrafts====<br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get by line defence with DT. <br /> 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 won’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?<br /> <br /> ====LRPC====<br /> <br /> Long Range Plasma Cannon… We are talking Big berthas, Intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 4 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> 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. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if that’s possible). A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> 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 über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor===<br /> <br /> 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. The only real paper-rock relationships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, 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)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17375 2005-07-03T19:23:45Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''<br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> == TA: so what's so cool about this game ? ==<br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> 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...<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> * 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto Spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, Spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff TA had. Plus a few new things… check out Spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==Resources==<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or by using metal makers that transform energy into metal. Metal making requires a lot of energy though. <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> Energy is made by different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but i'll cover them in later.<br /> <br /> 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 start to dysfunction.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==A Normal Spring Game==<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal Spring game, as I see it. <br /> Every Spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> '''The COMMANDER'''! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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). <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… 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.<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss '''how to build stuff'''.<br /> <br /> Like any normal RTS, it’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 instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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.<br /> Selecting a unit and pressing shift key will show the orders queue.<br /> <br /> 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).<br /> <br /> 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!)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==The TA bestiary==<br /> <br /> Okay, time to describe the cool units that are at your disposal to make your enemies bleed. 8)<br /> <br /> (Disclaimer : This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> On to the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> ===Vehicles===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slowly and most of them can’t climb mountains… 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 !<br /> <br /> ===K-Bots===<br /> <br /> K-bots have genereally less powerful weapons than tanks, and are also less heavily armoured.<br /> So why build them in the first place?<br /> Because they are cheaper! And since they are cheaper, you can build more and outnumber your enemies. This doesn’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.<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Aircrafts===<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In Spring, there’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.<br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Ships===<br /> <br /> 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 that’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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> ===Hovercrafts===<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker than your average tank, and slower than your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is too much water. <br /> <br /> Their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that they're weaker than a tank and slower than a plane. (Don’t build them on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> ===The first steps===<br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths that can be taken.<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexxes and Geothermal Power Plants. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build Fusion Power Plants and Metal makers, and then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> There are disadvantages with this. You can’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.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal isn’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.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> 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 you’re expanding, use every Mex' positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’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)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your Mexxes to Moho Mexxes. They are bigger and better (but they suck up energy).<br /> You can also build a Moho Metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> ==STRATEGY==<br /> <br /> I read this guide through, and suddenly realised… <br /> <br /> ''where is the strategy?'' <br /> <br /> So I fiddled this section up. Hope you'll learn something from it and increase your Spring gaming experience.<br /> <br /> ===Defence===<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often with Dragon Teeth in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> ===Moving===<br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope.<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> ===Attacking===<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Army===<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> ===Army vs Base===<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> ===Naval Battles===<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> 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 that’s a little far from shore. Have'em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> ====Ships====<br /> 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 off value you might have with you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> ====Hovercrafts====<br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> ===Planes===<br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> ===Using Terrain===<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get by line defence with DT. <br /> 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 won’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?<br /> <br /> ====LRPC====<br /> <br /> Long Range Plasma Cannon… We are talking Big berthas, Intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’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 PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’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 MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> 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. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around'em (and ground, if that’s possible). A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes become the winning factor of a game.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> 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 über porckers. <br /> 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 don’t have AA…<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast enough to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> ===Energy and all the problems with it===<br /> <br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Paper-rock-scissor===<br /> <br /> 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. The only real paper-rock relationships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> ===Strategy Tips===<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, 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)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17356 2005-07-03T15:58:45Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> TA was created by Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3D graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned etc.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things with TA was that…<br /> <br /> It's physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes) and damage nearby troops. Yeah, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough with my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are two types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start with. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) of your base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal RTS, it’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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, with more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slow and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and with less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker with one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> 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, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected 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 em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your 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 then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water with units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps 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.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered by many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages with this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often with DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won with large margin. The trick with this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run by it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend with no defence?<br /> 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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, by reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em with all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, with a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted with planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have with you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack with. Anyway, the most stuff is basic with planes.<br /> 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked by terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, by hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get by line defence with DT. <br /> 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 won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as with all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, with a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes become the winnig factor of a game.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, with lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> 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<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all. Also, LRPC drain A LOT of energy when firing... ''hint hint''<br /> <br /> '''ENERGY AND ALL THE PROBLEMS with IT'''<br /> <br /> As i said before, most level 2 units reqwire energy to move, shoot and operate 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> Try to look at all units as induvidual. Even if i myself dint write much about the single one of the units, know your favorites. The only real paper-rock relation ships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa with neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, 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)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working with several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right by the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 with you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s with flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written by Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17355 2005-07-03T15:51:57Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is a beta , therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> TA was created by Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3D graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned etc.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things with TA was that…<br /> <br /> It's physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes) and damage nearby troops. Yeah, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough whit my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are two types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start with. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) of your base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal RTS, it’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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, whit more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slow and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and whit less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker whit one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains whit ease! Climb bye defences, up on mountains, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected bye terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA whit your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army whit mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> Ships are good on a map whit 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water whit units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps whit 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 whit AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered bye many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages whit this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often whit DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won whit large margin. The trick whit this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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 whit an army of 30 bulldogs. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run bye it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend whit no defence?<br /> Whit 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.<br /> The problem whit 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, bye reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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 whit 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step bye step, defence structure bye defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports whit 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em whit all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, whit a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted whit planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have whit you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack whit. Anyway, the most stuff is basic whit planes.<br /> First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA whit gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, whit is pretty wrong. Bombers whit gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking whit 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked bye terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, bye hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get bye line defence whit DT. <br /> Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, whit 3 land bridges here and there, he probably won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em whit 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as whit all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, whit lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> 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<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all. Also, LRPC drain A LOT of energy when firing... ''hint hint''<br /> <br /> '''ENERGY AND ALL THE PROBLEMS WHIT IT'''<br /> <br /> As i said before, most level 2 units reqwire energy to move, shoot and operate 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> Try to look at all units as induvidual. Even if i myself dint write much about the single one of the units, know your favorites. The only real paper-rock relation ships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa whit neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game bye pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good whilst clicking (queues 5 units at once)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working whit several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right bye the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 whit you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s whit flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Need more strategy and tips? Since Spring is a remake of TA, any TA strategy guide works...<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written bye Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17354 2005-07-03T15:41:10Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> TA was created by Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3D graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned etc.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things with TA was that…<br /> <br /> It's physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes) and damage nearby troops. Yeah, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough whit my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are two types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start with. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) of your base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal RTS, it’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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, whit more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are clumsy, turn slow and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and whit less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker whit one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains whit ease! Climb bye defences, up on mountains, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected bye terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA whit your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army whit mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> Ships are good on a map whit 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water whit units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps whit 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 whit AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered bye many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages whit this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often whit DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won whit large margin. The trick whit this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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 whit an army of 30 bulldogs. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run bye it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend whit no defence?<br /> Whit 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.<br /> The problem whit 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, bye reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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 whit 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step bye step, defence structure bye defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports whit 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em whit all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, whit a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted whit planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have whit you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack whit. Anyway, the most stuff is basic whit planes.<br /> First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA whit gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, whit is pretty wrong. Bombers whit gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking whit 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked bye terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, bye hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get bye line defence whit DT. <br /> Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, whit 3 land bridges here and there, he probably won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em whit 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as whit all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, whit lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> 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<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all. Also, LRPC drain A LOT of energy when firing... ''hint hint''<br /> <br /> '''ENERGY AND ALL THE PROBLEMS WHIT IT'''<br /> <br /> As i said before, most level 2 units reqwire energy to move, shoot and operate 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> Try to look at all units as induvidual. Even if i myself dint write much about the single one of the units, know your favorites. The only real paper-rock relation ships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa whit neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game bye pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good whilst clicking (queues 5 units at once)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working whit several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right bye the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 whit you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s whit flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written bye Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17353 2005-07-03T15:36:46Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> [warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> TA was created by Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3D graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned etc.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things with TA was that…<br /> <br /> It's physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes) and damage nearby troops. Yeah, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> [/warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything]<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough whit my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are two types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts with all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start with. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) of your base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal RTS, it’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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1 lab/plant to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery of course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, whit more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are generally slow, and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and whit less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker whit one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains whit ease! Climb bye defences, up on mountains, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected bye terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA whit your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army whit mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> Ships are good on a map whit 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water whit units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps whit 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 whit AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered bye many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages whit this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often whit DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won whit large margin. The trick whit this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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 whit an army of 30 bulldogs. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run bye it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend whit no defence?<br /> Whit 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.<br /> The problem whit 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, bye reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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 whit 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step bye step, defence structure bye defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports whit 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em whit all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, whit a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted whit planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have whit you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack whit. Anyway, the most stuff is basic whit planes.<br /> First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA whit gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, whit is pretty wrong. Bombers whit gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking whit 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked bye terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, bye hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get bye line defence whit DT. <br /> Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, whit 3 land bridges here and there, he probably won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em whit 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as whit all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, whit lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> 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<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all. Also, LRPC drain A LOT of energy when firing... ''hint hint''<br /> <br /> '''ENERGY AND ALL THE PROBLEMS WHIT IT'''<br /> <br /> As i said before, most level 2 units reqwire energy to move, shoot and operate 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<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> Try to look at all units as induvidual. Even if i myself dint write much about the single one of the units, know your favorites. The only real paper-rock relation ships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa whit neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game bye pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good whilst clicking (queues 5 units at once)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working whit several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right bye the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 whit you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s whit flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written bye Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17349 2005-07-03T15:24:32Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> TA was created bye Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3d graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned ect.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things whit TA was that…<br /> <br /> It physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes) and damage nearby troops. Yea, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough whit my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are to types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> So you have read the story of cavedog and wondering if this is getting off topic, and yes, it is. OMFG FRENCH ROBOTS!!!1!1<br /> <br /> *Clang*<br /> <br /> Sorry, my evil twin/clone seams to have escaped his prison on the moon where he was put in 1878. Hold on, ill just throw him down my corpse hatch. <br /> <br /> *Duns*<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts whit all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start whit. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) off you base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal rts, it’s choose and click location. But there is more whit 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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1lab/factory/warmom to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery off course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, whit more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are generally slow, and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and whit less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker whit one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains whit ease! Climb bye defences, up on mountains, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected bye terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA whit your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army whit mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> Ships are good on a map whit 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water whit units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps whit 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 whit AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered bye many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages whit this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often whit DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won whit large margin. The trick whit this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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 whit an army of 30 bulldogs. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run bye it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend whit no defence?<br /> Whit 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.<br /> The problem whit 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, bye reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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 whit 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step bye step, defence structure bye defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports whit 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em whit all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, whit a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted whit planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have whit you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack whit. Anyway, the most stuff is basic whit planes.<br /> First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA whit gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, whit is pretty wrong. Bombers whit gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking whit 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked bye terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, bye hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get bye line defence whit DT. <br /> Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, whit 3 land bridges here and there, he probably won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em whit 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as whit all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, whit lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> 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<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all. Also, LRPC drain A LOT of energy when firing... ''hint hint''<br /> <br /> '''ENERGY AND ALL THE PROBLEMS WHIT IT'''<br /> <br /> As i said before, most level 2 units reqwire energy to move, shoot and operate general. Meaning that if you have no energy to support your army, you can't do anything! You can use this in your favor, bye ''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.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> Try to look at all units as induvidual. Even if i myself dint write much about the single one of the units, know your favorites. The only real paper-rock relation ships are AA and planes... Maybe subs vs sub killers...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa whit neutral partners.<br /> h=share units. left click on the bars to autoshare resources with allies<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game bye pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good whilst clicking (queues 5 units at once)<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working whit several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right bye the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 whit you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s whit flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> This guide was written bye Kixxe aka Johan Wittrock before everyone edited it mercilessly</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17347 2005-07-03T13:46:10Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> TA was created bye Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3d graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned ect.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things whit TA was that…<br /> <br /> It physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes… YAY) and damage nearby troops. Yea, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png Click here]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> 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]<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough whit my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features Click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are to types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> So you have read the story of cavedog and wondering if this is getting off topic, and yes, it is. OMFG FRENCH ROBOTS!!!1!1<br /> <br /> *Clang*<br /> <br /> Sorry, my evil twin/clone seams to have escaped his prison on the moon where he was put in 1878. Hold on, ill just throw him down my corpse hatch. <br /> <br /> *Duns*<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts whit all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start whit. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) off you base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal rts, it’s choose and click location. But there is more whit 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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1lab/factory/warmom to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery off course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, whit more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are generally slow, and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and whit less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker whit one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains whit ease! Climb bye defences, up on mountains, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected bye terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA whit your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army whit mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> Ships are good on a map whit 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water whit units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps whit 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 whit AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered bye many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages whit this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often whit DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won whit large margin. The trick whit this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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 whit an army of 30 bulldogs. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run bye it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend whit no defence?<br /> Whit 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.<br /> The problem whit 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, bye reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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 whit 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step bye step, defence structure bye defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports whit 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em whit all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, whit a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted whit planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have whit you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack whit. Anyway, the most stuff is basic whit planes.<br /> First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA whit gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, whit is pretty wrong. Bombers whit gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking whit 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked bye terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, bye hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get bye line defence whit DT. <br /> Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, whit 3 land bridges here and there, he probably won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em whit 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as whit all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, whit lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> This section is going to be about how AA takes planes, planes take tanks ECT… When I have the time and when I have the right sprites/buildpics for the sheet.<br /> <br /> <br /> That’s, the end of strategy section (became MUCH bigger then I thought)<br /> Check out tips now! Or be sentenced to death using a cheap plastic sea shell!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa whit neutral partners.<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game bye pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good.<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working whit several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right bye the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 whit you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s whit flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''DISCALIMER: THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN BYE Johan Wittrock, AND IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE SHOWED ONhttp://taspring.clan-sy.com YOU CAN CHANGE THIS GUIDE ALL YOUR WANT, BUT TRY TO KEEP YOUR WORK SEPARATED FROM MY WORK!'''<br /> <br /> PLESE respect this, this guide took 5 days to write (more nights then days relly O.o)<br /> <br /> Version 1.0<br /> (stuff will be added^^)<br /> <br /> Contac: jowit002@hotmail.com</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17346 2005-07-03T13:42:47Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>'''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> TA was created bye Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3d graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned ect.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things whit TA was that…<br /> <br /> It physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes… YAY) and damage nearby troops. Yea, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> Pretty cool game. If you want, check out their old website for more info. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/Total_Annihilation_Mirror/totala/index.html]<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough whit my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are to types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> So you have read the story of cavedog and wondering if this is getting off topic, and yes, it is. OMFG FRENCH ROBOTS!!!1!1<br /> <br /> *Clang*<br /> <br /> Sorry, my evil twin/clone seams to have escaped his prison on the moon where he was put in 1878. Hold on, ill just throw him down my corpse hatch. <br /> <br /> *Duns*<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts whit all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start whit. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) off you base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal rts, it’s choose and click location. But there is more whit 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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1lab/factory/warmom to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery off course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, whit more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are generally slow, and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and whit less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker whit one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains whit ease! Climb bye defences, up on mountains, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected bye terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA whit your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army whit mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> Ships are good on a map whit 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water whit units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps whit 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 whit AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered bye many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages whit this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> <br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often whit DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> <br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won whit large margin. The trick whit this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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 whit an army of 30 bulldogs. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run bye it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> <br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend whit no defence?<br /> Whit 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.<br /> The problem whit 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, bye reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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 whit 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step bye step, defence structure bye defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports whit 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em whit all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, whit a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted whit planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have whit you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack whit. Anyway, the most stuff is basic whit planes.<br /> First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA whit gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, whit is pretty wrong. Bombers whit gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking whit 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked bye terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, bye hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get bye line defence whit DT. <br /> Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, whit 3 land bridges here and there, he probably won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em whit 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as whit all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, whit lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> This section is going to be about how AA takes planes, planes take tanks ECT… When I have the time and when I have the right sprites/buildpics for the sheet.<br /> <br /> <br /> That’s, the end of strategy section (became MUCH bigger then I thought)<br /> Check out tips now! Or be sentenced to death using a cheap plastic sea shell!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa whit neutral partners.<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game bye pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good.<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working whit several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right bye the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 whit you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s whit flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''DISCALIMER: THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN BYE Johan Wittrock, AND IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE SHOWED ONhttp://taspring.clan-sy.com YOU CAN CHANGE THIS GUIDE ALL YOUR WANT, BUT TRY TO KEEP YOUR WORK SEPARATED FROM MY WORK!'''<br /> <br /> PLESE respect this, this guide took 5 days to write (more nights then days relly O.o)<br /> <br /> Version 1.0<br /> <br /> Contac: jowit002@hotmail.com</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Spring_guide&diff=17345 2005-07-03T13:40:38Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div><br /> '''TA: SPRING GUIDE'''<br /> <br /> <br /> ‘’Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven’t got everything fixed out yet.’’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Before we start, let’s have some background info.<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> TA was created bye Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released. It was revolutionary in many ways, with 3d graphics (fixed camera) good animations (aircraft barrel rolled and leaned when they turned ect.) and many units (140 something I think). But the 2 greatest things whit TA was that…<br /> <br /> It physics! Every shot was calculated! A artillery shell could try to get over a hill and hit a aircraft, who explode and one bit of it’s wing could crash into a nearly dead ground troop, who would explode (every unit explodes… YAY) and damage nearby troops. Yea, might not sound that big after 7 years, but back then we had Starcraft, who defied at least a half dozen physics laws.<br /> <br /> (Example of the tentacle true space. Yea, really realistic)<br /> [http://fast.filespace.org/Kixxe/WTF.png]<br /> <br /> The order system! You could have 300 units waiting to be built, and when they are done, they could go and patrol a area and attack anyone in it. Build orders where limit less. 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.<br /> <br /> Pretty cool game. If you want, check out their old website for more info. [http://www.fileuniverse.com/Total_Annihilation_Mirror/totala/index.html]<br /> <br /> *warning, boring info that doesn’t really mean anything*<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway, enough whit my rambling, onto spring!<br /> <br /> Now, as I told you, spring is a remake of TA and has the same stuff as TA had. Plus a phew new things… check out spring features page for more info.<br /> [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Features]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''RESOURCES'''<br /> <br /> There are to types of resources in spring, its metal and energy. Both are gather continually. In the upper corner, there is a bar and some numbers showing much you are gaining/losing. Units and building cost both metal and energy, while some units/building requires energy to walk, shoot or operate in general.<br /> <br /> Metal is gained from either using metal extractors (often called mexxes) to extract from certain areas of the map or using metal maker/s. This require lots of energy thou. And you can also reclaim stuff (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses(corpses is the most obvious source)).<br /> <br /> Energy is made in different buildings, or reclaimed. There are many different types of energy producers, but ill cover them in later.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''A NORMAL SPRING GAME'''<br /> <br /> So you have read the story of cavedog and wondering if this is getting off topic, and yes, it is. OMFG FRENCH ROBOTS!!!1!1<br /> <br /> *Clang*<br /> <br /> Sorry, my evil twin/clone seams to have escaped his prison on the moon where he was put in 1878. Hold on, ill just throw him down my corpse hatch. <br /> <br /> *Duns*<br /> <br /> Anyway, now you will learn the basics of a normal spring game, as I se it. Anyway, every normal spring game starts whit all players only having…<br /> <br /> <br /> The COMMANDER! (Insert DUN DUN DUUUUUNN)<br /> <br /> Commander is the unit you start whit. The fastest builder, can walk and build under water, makes a nuke sized explosion when he dies, has a laser and a desingator gun (D-Gun). The D-gun is the 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 it’s defenceless against any aircraft, long range artillery and when it’s underwater, it can’t shoot. (Subs! Onoz!)<br /> <br /> 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 game… then your dead. You lose your best (only?) builder and attacker, plus you have a nuke size explosion maybe destroy half (all?) off you base.<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyway… if you seeing everything in a top down perspective, click the commander<br /> (Ctrl+c if you cant find him)<br /> <br /> (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.)<br /> <br /> Okay, let’s discuss how to build stuff. Like any normal rts, it’s choose and click location. But there is more whit 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 this! Make a line of DT instead of click each and everyone. The controls are there to help you.<br /> 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. Try it.<br /> <br /> Build 2 solar generators, or 4 wind generators. Keep in mind that wind is pretty unstable, and on some maps (like moon ones) have no wind at all!<br /> <br /> Now select the metal extractors and everything turn black and green. Okay, place one on the green stuff. (The greener, the better! Like broccoli!)<br /> <br /> Okay, time to choose the first level 1lab/factory/warmom to build. The categories are…<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (This will discuss the types of units, not every unit. Therefore, if I say that vehicles have large armour, I don’t mean artillery off course.)<br /> <br /> '''VEHICLES'''<br /> <br /> These babies are all about armour. The level 1 units are pretty basic, whit more armour then their k-bot counter parts. Level 2 shows even more of the same pattern, better armour then their k-bot counter part. Level 2 also has the mobile flak unit, which is the only real level 2 mobile AA.<br /> Their weakness is that they are generally slow, and can’t climb mountains… at all. Leads to trouble when an explosion makes a crater, unit survives but it gets stuck in the crater. Or just when they are trying to get up a step hill.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''K-BOTS'''<br /> <br /> K-bots are generally slower then tanks, and whit less armour. So why build them in the first place?<br /> K-bots are cheaper! Since they are cheaper, you can build more. Even if 1 K-bot maybe weaker whit one lone tank, many K-bots are stronger. This doesn’t work out that good in game thou, since tanks ARE stronger. K-bots are also smaller, and will slip true DT and such alike easier then tanks.<br /> And finally, the third advantage (which IMO is the biggest) of K-bots are that they can climb most mountains whit ease! Climb bye defences, up on mountains, true holes. Mostly no problem, but even k-bots can’t climb anything. But they are much better then the vehicles at this.<br /> <br /> '''AIRCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Planes are planes. In spring, there’s a plane for every role. Bombers, fighters, gunships, flying radar, transports, stealth fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes are fast, and are not effected bye terrain. There is no wall or alike that can stop a plane. You can just swoop in a base and take out AA whit your gunship, and then bomb the crap out of their important structures. To stop em, you got to rely on Anti Air (AA).<br /> That’s the planes weakness off course, they are the only units that have an anti unit against em. (Except subs)When someone finds out your building a large air fleet, they just cram their base full of AA and their army whit mobile AA. And the only counter is more planes then their AA can handle, or a ground troop to take the AA down. Good luck!<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> Ships are good on a map whit 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 that they have long range. All ships made to take out land, has long range. Ships have lots of armour. Another thing that’s good about ships is that there is not much you can do to stop em. Once you se that the enemy has ships, either build a dock and a navy real fast or build planes and pray that he doesn’t have many AA ships. Their weakness is that they are confined to water, therefore they often stuck in water whit units just outside their reach. And they are expensive.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> (These are counted as level 2 units, so I would not recommend them as the first to build unless it’s the perfect map for them)<br /> <br /> 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 it’s weaker then your average tank, and slower then your average plane. So why build them at all? Okay, picture this. You’re playing a swampy maps whit 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 whit AA and builds lots of planes. Then your army hovers over land and sea, and takes down his whole base.<br /> Long story short, Hovercrafts are good for those who like (or must) attack from the ground, but can’t since there is water. And their weakness is their low climbing ability, and that’s its weaker then a tank but slower then a plane. (Don’t build on a land map, tanks ARE better.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now comes the tricky part. The first minute is always the same really, so what after that?<br /> Well, it’s hard to judge. But here are some paths to take<br /> <br /> 1. Build many construction units and send them out to build mexes and Geos. Then a defence and maybe some DT.<br /> <br /> 2. Build some construction units, and then start building defences. Follow the ‘’line defence’’ guide lines.<br /> Build fusions and metal makers, then an army. After that, use the army how armies are used best.<br /> This strategy is called PORCHING, and is considered bye many as BAD.<br /> And, there are disadvantages whit this. You can’t use many metal extractors or geos, so you have slim to none recourses to build your base. A popular strategy is to kill the anti-nuke, and then blow the whole compact base to bits.<br /> <br /> 3. Build a small army of 3-6 units and attack the enemy. The goal aren’t to kill em, it’s to do as much damage and hinder there economy. Mexxes are most important, and then look for wind or solar generators.<br /> Try to keep on attacking him, but remember to still tech up and build defences.<br /> <br /> Anyway, use your construct units to build defences of SOME kind. Take advantage of Geometral gases. Yea the smoking stuff. You can place Geo plants there for good, cheap and space saving energy. If you’re expanding, use every Mex positions, and try to find a place to settle your defence line.<br /> <br /> When you can defend yourself from most level 1 units, start on your level 2 building.<br /> <br /> When it’s done, ALWAYS build a construction unit first. Use him for your first mini fusion. (Or build some mobile fusion at the vehicle plant if your arm)<br /> Build level 2 units in the meantime.<br /> Low on metal? Upgrade the finest of your mexes to Moho Mexes. They are bigger and better.<br /> You can also build a Moho metal maker if you have enough energy to support it. (MMM :p)<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''STRATEGY'''<br /> <br /> I read this guide true, and suddenly realised… where is the strategy? So I fiddled this section up. Hope you learn something from it.<br /> <br /> '''DEFENCE'''<br /> <br /> Ah… the overall defence. There are many different ways of making a good defence, but there are 3 main categories.<br /> <br /> Compact defence!<br /> The most common type of defence. Is a single line of defence, often whit DT in front. Inside your base is some AA, and that’s about it. The good thing about this is that it’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 you’re screwed. Unless you’re building line after line of defence, or have some units to stop em.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence!<br /> I saw a guy pull this off one time, and he won whit large margin. The trick whit this is to never really have a defined line of defence, just a HLT here, a radar there, some DT there, a mine here and there…<br /> 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 whit an army of 30 bulldogs. He’s HLT and missile and plasma batteries stop me before I even reached his final defence line.<br /> Even thou this defence are the best of em all, it’s hard to build up, and requires lots off recourses and time. IF you’re able to pull it off, the only problem may be if they are fast enough to run bye it all, or if you don’t have much AA and 30 brawlers are coming…<br /> <br /> No defence… at all?<br /> Yes, this is an option. Okay, you may want some mines here and there, and some DT to stop em from running right true the door and AA in your base if their building planes. But how do you defend whit no defence?<br /> Whit 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.<br /> The problem whit 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. <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> That’s all I know of.<br /> <br /> Also, one thing to remember is to eliminate the largest threat first. If you’re relying on DT, take out the FARK or construction planes first.<br /> WEAKNESS<br /> <br /> Okay, you built a good defence<br /> You must get into the mind of your enemy, and find the weakness of your defence.<br /> Take a 4 second look true the enemy’s eyes that just scouted the area. How would you attack something like this?<br /> *well, I would try a gunship raid or attack from those undefended mountains…’’<br /> Then prevent that from happening, bye reinforcing the area.<br /> <br /> '''MOVING'''<br /> <br /> Moving or attacking is pretty easy right? Just move from point a to point b and attack c…<br /> Nope, not if you like your units be<br /> First, you have to have your units move TOGETHER. . If some are trailing behind, then you just have to wait a lithe for them. I heard that if holding ctrl while telling the units to move, they try to stick together. Don’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.<br /> Transports are useful for moving units, but use the air transport (valkery /atlas). The other ones are pretty hard to use, since it takes more time to load/unload<br /> <br /> '''ATTACKING'''<br /> <br /> 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 doesn’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.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS ARMY'''<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> When you’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 don’t do as much damage. Have your HP powerhouses at the front, or at the front plus sides. Keep em pretty close thou but not to. On one hand, having them spread out makes it easier for the units behind to attack, on the other hand you don’t want zippers and pyros running past them and flaming up everything.<br /> This is the normal way off attacking the army. There is the classical pincher movement to…<br /> In this, you run one third of your Hp powerhouses go to the left, one to the right and have one stay where there are. <br /> This gives you 3 advantages. It 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 cant escape and it makes it MUCH harder for enemy to run away or try to get past you.<br /> <br /> '''ARMY VS BASE'''<br /> <br /> Okay, you may have made it past the ground troops, but the fight is not over. (Unless he used unit’s to defend, and didn’t have any backup ones)<br /> Now you must face his base defence, and depending on the type of the defence he has…<br /> <br /> Line defence<br /> <br /> 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 whit 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^^ <br /> If there are several lines of defence, do the same thing as normal but reread it from the begging when you read ‘’once a hole in the defence’’.<br /> <br /> Spread out defence<br /> <br /> Agh… The thought one. While the individual towers are easy to beat, you can’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.)<br /> This is when you have to have penitence. Use your army, and slowly start killing the defence. Step bye step, defence structure bye defence structure. Keep Building units, and moving them to the fray (you can use Air transports whit 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.<br /> <br /> Units defence<br /> <br /> Think army vs army. Don’t rush past em whit all your units. Your units will spread out and try to go true holes in the enemy’s formation. In short, they are dead meat. If you MUST get to the base, have half of the tanks go round the units.<br /> <br /> '''NAVAL BATTLES'''<br /> <br /> Naval battles are hard to predict if you don’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).<br /> Anyway, try to have air units scouting land and sea, and looking how much AA the enemy. Ships roam around assaulting other ships, whit a mix of subs, sub killers, AA ships and normal ships. Hover crafts should be the thing to use when assaulting land that’s a little far from shore. Have em escorted whit planes or ships (or both).<br /> <br /> '''SHIPS'''<br /> <br /> 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 off value you might have whit you (a sea transport or an air craft 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.<br /> When facing land, you’re pretty much in for an easy win. Just have your ships blow it all up. If you face LRCP, take them out first. The rest of it is out of your hands.<br /> <br /> '''HOVERCRAFTS'''<br /> <br /> Use the ARMY VS ARMY or ARMY VS BASE strategy here. <br /> <br /> '''PLANES'''<br /> <br /> Hohoho, planes. Fun stuff to attack whit. Anyway, the most stuff is basic whit planes.<br /> First, always attack the AA first. Unless your are going to do a suicide mission. Kill the AA whit gunships, and use bombers to kill structures. Many players use gunships only, whit is pretty wrong. Bombers whit gunships make a very good job. Okay, these are the planes and the roles off attacking whit 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 you’re targeting and fighters guarding the bombers.<br /> When facing units, do the same.<br /> When facing sea, do the same thing, just add Torpedo to bombers and gunships.<br /> <br /> '''USING TERRAIN'''<br /> <br /> Using terrain is pretty important. Many things benefit from thinking smart.<br /> First, LOS and RADAR. Both are blocked bye terrain. So put you radar as high as possibly, other wise you may just don’t see anything. Use this, bye hiding behind mountains when gathering an army or just trying to hide an important building.<br /> Terrain should also be able to shield your units. Therefore, when you’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.<br /> The best usage of terrain is the Climbing ability of some units, Units like hovercrafts and vehicles have pretty low climbing ability, and they are used pretty often. Therefore, k-bots can be used to get bye line defence whit DT. <br /> Another good thing about terrain is that it mentally makes you feel safe. If there is a water barrier between me and the enemy, whit 3 land bridges here and there, he probably won’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?<br /> <br /> '''LRPC'''<br /> <br /> Long range plasma cannon… We are talking Big berthas, intimidators and such alike. These babies got the RANGE and may be the ultimate weapon on small maps. There are 3 different kinds.<br /> <br /> Pop-up<br /> Pop-up cannons are pretty cheap middle range gun. A guardian can outshoot them, but they are still a choice to use. When ‘’off’’ they take 50% less damage! I heard that a closed popup can withstand a nuke! (If it’s not a direct hit) In xta you can build em whit 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 others one. Just remember to repair them, as whit all PC…<br /> <br /> Middle range (MRPC)<br /> Guardians and such alike. These aren’t for attacking, they have a pretty long range, and are pretty cheap. Plus their targeting is pretty fast, meaning they are practically made for defence. Perfect to have on a hill close to a HLT and some MT…<br /> <br /> LRCP<br /> The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that’s possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.<br /> <br /> Very long range (VLRCP)<br /> Buzzsaws are big, cost much, and VERY inaccurate and are pretty flow on targeting. But, they have the DOUBLE range of a normal LRCP and shoot 4(!!!) shots a time. This is the one thing to finish those uber porckers. <br /> Defend these well, whit lots of AA around and in a wide circle. They only have about 5000 hp, so killing em easy is you don’t have AA…<br /> <br /> The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all.<br /> <br /> '''PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR'''<br /> <br /> This section is going to be about how AA takes planes, planes take tanks ECT… When I have the time and when I have the right sprites/buildpics for the sheet.<br /> <br /> <br /> That’s, the end of strategy section (became MUCH bigger then I thought)<br /> Check out tips now! Or be sentenced to death using a cheap plastic sea shell!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Here is the point of this guide. <br /> <br /> '''TIPS'''<br /> <br /> -Resource ladder is pretty important… (Yes, I made ‘’ladder’’ up) Do transitions from solar generators to fusion step wise. First solar, then geo, then mobile/mini fusion then fusion.<br /> <br /> -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, don’t look away. Gather as much information as possible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -WORK TOGETHER! Often I see allies who just mind their own business and don’t care what the other persons saying. DON’T… DO… THIS!!! Listen to each other, make up a plan. A plan can be a sentence if you want. Like ‘’I’m going land, can you make air?’’ or something. Do attacks TOGETHER. If there is a 2v2, then it’s 2 allies’ vs 2 allies. Not a ffa whit neutral partners.<br /> <br /> -Queue (yea, easy word for it to:/) up orders! You can almost win the game bye pausing, queuing up some stuff, and then go eat lunch. Not really, but holding shift is good.<br /> <br /> -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 unit’s position or AA to attack whatever is shooting on the fusions ect… <br /> Overall, this makes working whit several unit types easier. <br /> <br /> -Reclaim stuff. (sucking it in and transforming it into recourses) when your starting to run low on metal, reclaim your enemy’s and your own corpses. Trees give energy, so if you’re out on energy in the beginning...<br /> <br /> -The key for porchers are to build LRPC. Or even better, build a nuke and use LOTSA planes to kill his anti-nuke. Then BOOM! ^.^<br /> <br /> -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, it’s not invincible.<br /> <br /> -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.<br /> <br /> -Expand! Even if you have a good base, not a bad thing to make it bigger.<br /> <br /> -Knowledge is power. You must know what you know about the enemy, and what the enemy knows about you. (Or thinks he know about you�) If you know he’s building aircrafts, do something about it.<br /> <br /> -Raid. Take the weasel or a couple of pewees on a cruise right bye the enemy’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.<br /> <br /> -Just because pewees are better then AK’s doesn’t meant that AK’s are useless. (And so on…)<br /> <br /> -In fact, no unit is useless. If you believe it is, try it once. On what it was meant to do.<br /> <br /> -Mixed armies. O boy, if you haven’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.<br /> <br /> -Farks are useful in combat. Always have 1-3 whit you. Reclaiming DT, or doing what they were meant to do. REPAIR-.-*<br /> <br /> -Ask questions. No one is going to laugh at you. And if he does, he’s a ass and shouldn’t even be poked a stick at. No question is too stupid. Just don’t except anyone in the heat of battle to answer: ‘’how do I play?’’<br /> <br /> -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<br /> <br /> -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 AK’s whit flying monkeys in space suits or whatever.<br /> <br /> -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) ‘’eve of the war’’ the original TA music http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=54 <br /> Or anything you like.<br /> <br /> -Don’t get to serious. It’s a game.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''DISCALIMER: THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN BYE Johan Wittrock, AND IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE SHOWED ONhttp://taspring.clan-sy.com YOU CAN CHANGE THIS GUIDE ALL YOUR WANT, BUT TRY TO KEEP YOUR WORK SEPARATED FROM MY WORK!'''<br /> <br /> PLESE respect this, this guide took 5 days to write (more nights then days relly O.o)<br /> <br /> Version 1.0<br /> <br /> Contac: jowit002@hotmail.com</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Strategy_and_Tactics&diff=17951 2005-07-03T13:36:53Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>The following pages discuss or disclose tips,strategies &amp; Tactics for Spring.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''General TA Spring'''<br /> <br /> [[Spring_guide!]]<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Base_building_tips]]</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Strategy_and_Tactics&diff=17950 2005-07-03T13:36:08Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>The following pages discuss or disclose tips,strategies &amp; Tactics for Spring.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''General TA Spring'''<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Base_building_tips]]</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=FAQ&diff=6704 2005-07-02T19:39:30Z

<p>Kixxe: /* XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? What those all the abbreviations mean? */</p> <hr /> <div>==General information==<br /> <br /> ===What is TA Spring?===<br /> TA Spring is a project to create the best RTS ever (no joke). There are three principle goals which we hope to achieve. <br /> <br /> . . . . . .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.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .B) Add new features as we see fit, fix bugs, and release new versions when we feel it is appropriate to do so.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .C) Support the mod community as we see fit.<br /> <br /> ===When will TA Spring be ready?===<br /> Now! You can get the latest beta from the download page.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring be free?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to help, what can I do?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to donate.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I read all that and I still want to donate.===<br /> Very well then! You can find the required details [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/donate.php here]. It will be much appreciated. :)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Technical==<br /> <br /> ===What port numbers does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What APIs does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What language is TA Spring written in?===<br /> C and C++.<br /> <br /> ===Is TA Spring open source?===<br /> Yes, it is. Go to the downloads section of the site to download the source code.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be a linux port?===<br /> 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&amp;highlight= thread].<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Requirements==<br /> <br /> ===What platforms will TA Spring run on?===<br /> At the moment, it only runs on Windows. <br /> Members of the community are working on porting the game on Linux platform (please refer to the Messageboard).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What sort of a system will I need to run TA Spring?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Content==<br /> <br /> ===Do TA Spring maps need a &quot;ground&quot;?===<br /> TA Spring maps do require a ground. We have had many requests to have space maps, however, a &quot;true&quot; (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 &quot;space&quot; maps won't be possible, (see the Final Frontier TC for examples of this).<br /> <br /> ===You stated that TA Spring uses the TA unit format.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===How powerful will TA Spring's custom format be?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of weapons?===<br /> No. Unlike Total Annihilation, TA Spring's weapon IDs will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of unique units?===<br /> No. Unit IDs, like weapon IDs, will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Will units have a maximum of 3 unique weapons?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I'm curious as to the per-unit polygon limit.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will units be able to perform basic terraforming?===<br /> Total Annihilation units probably won't have any terrain editable functionality. Feature 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will tunnel building be possible?===<br /> Subterranean areas of any sort is impossible. However, it is possible to heavily deform the ground with explosives.<br /> <br /> ===Will the ground's water retention be editable?===<br /> No. Water will always collect when a piece of land has a height below sea level.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limit on the number of races?===<br /> TA Spring has no limit on the total number of sides/races.<br /> <br /> ===What are the sizes of the biggest and smallest units?===<br /> 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 &quot;squares&quot; (an arbitrary size standard created by Cavedog) might have problems pathfinding.<br /> <br /> ===What is going to be the maximum possible sea depth?===<br /> For all practical purposes, it will be unlimited. The depth values are stored as &quot;float variables&quot;, so it is doubtful that maps would ever be made which even come close to approaching the limit.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring support campaigns?===<br /> No such support is planned at the moment but it is possible using the GroupAI interface.<br /> <br /> ===How big will the TA Spring files be?===<br /> TA Spring will be as big as however much content is included with it. The &quot;essential&quot; 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 &quot;content&quot; will be included with the first release.<br /> <br /> ===How will TA Spring render sound effects?===<br /> 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 &quot;emitter&quot;. 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring have ambient sound?===<br /> There is no ambient sound, and we haven't planned on adding it so far.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be an AI or a &quot;skirmish&quot; mode?===<br /> We will create an interface that people can use to create there own skirmish AIs later.<br /> <br /> ===Will a &quot;possess&quot; or a FPS option be present?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Getting into a game==<br /> <br /> ===People talk about 'Single Player'. How do I start a single player game?=== <br /> Go into your TA Spring folder and find the 'Spring.exe' file. Double click on it and say 'yes' to host.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to make a single player game, it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring support AI Players?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to connect to the lobby it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I join games the minimap is blank===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Where can I download more maps?===<br /> As for most Spring downloads [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=90 FileUniverse] is the place to be! A collection of maps can be downloaded [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=91 here].<br /> <br /> ===I used the small installer where can I get the missing maps?===<br /> 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].<br /> <br /> ===How do I install downloaded maps?===<br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I try to join games it gives me an error.=== <br /> The host is behind a firewall that has not opened the correct ports for Spring.<br /> <br /> Dixit SJ: &quot;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.&quot;<br /> <br /> ===When I make games nobody joins.=== <br /> You are probably behind a firewall. See question above.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts I never make it past the loading screen.=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts, I make it past the loading screen, but when I get into the game it says, &quot;Waiting for Host&quot;, and does a 10 second countdown. It always reaches zero and boots me out, what gives?=== <br /> 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.<br /> Good Luck<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I chat in the 'game lobby', people can't hear me.=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===I got into the game, but some people didn't.=== <br /> The host may have reached the number of players it has set.<br /> 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'.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Playing==<br /> <br /> ===What is with this weird right-click mode? I'm bout to break my keyboard.=== <br /> Sorry, you'll just have to get used to it. As of now it can't be changed.<br /> <br /> ===Why is somebody else also controlling my units?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Then why would I want to be on the same 'Team' as somebody?=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===How do I talk to my allies only?=== <br /> You must type 'a:' before you speak. Here's an example: a: Now I am talking to my allies only. <br /> <br /> ===Help! After I'm finished driving a unit, the camera is all insane! This is nuts! How do I fix it?=== <br /> Whoa now. Calm down. Just press ctrl + mouse button 3 to change camera modes. <br /> <br /> ===After I'm finished driving a unit, where what used too be my mouse pointer is now a crosshair. Why?=== <br /> -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. <br /> <br /> ===But I don't have a third mouse button!=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Sometimes my units just get deleted. Why?=== <br /> For some reason units get deleted when they go into the wrong places. Like out of the map edge.<br /> <br /> This is already fixed in recent versions.<br /> <br /> ===People are cheating! How do I stop it?!=== <br /> Well currently, you can't.<br /> <br /> Only the host can &quot;activate&quot; the cheat codes. After that, any player can do almost all cheats.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Well how do you cheat?=== <br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;Cheat Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;'''.cheat'''&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;'''enable cheats - Cheats don't work in multiplayer until the host types this'''&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.nocost&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;instabuild (doesn't work on things already under construction, only on new ones)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setmaxspeed 50&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the maximum speed multiplier (default is 3.0)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setminspeed 0&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the minimum speed multiplier (default is 0.3)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.spectator&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Allows you to see the entire map... but you lose control of your units&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.team 0, .team 1, etc.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Change player&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===In Game Commands===<br /> The following ''non-cheating'' commands are also available in game:<br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;th&gt;Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.info&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you what colour each player is and their ping delay in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.clock&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you the elapsed game time in minutes and seconds in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===How do I ally or unally in game?=== <br /> I'm pretty sure you can't. Yet. <br /> <br /> ===How do I give somebody units or metal or energy?=== <br /> Press the 'H' key.<br /> Then select the amount of metal and/or energy to share.<br /> <br /> Then select the recieving player an press ok.<br /> <br /> When sharing units, you must first select the units to share, then press 'H' key.<br /> <br /> Tick share units checkbox and choose recieving player.<br /> <br /> ===How do I continually give somebody metal and/or energy after a certain point (i.e. Original TA commands +setshare..., +shareall)?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Man I am soooo sick of XTA. How do I play AA or OTA instead?=== <br /> Well. Somebody has made a patch to turn TA Spring into OTA: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;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&amp;ID=92 click here]. A switcher is available which makes it easier to switch between the different mods: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;ID=805 click here]<br /> <br /> ===XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? What those all the abbreviations mean?===<br /> zwzsg main a handy dandy Faq about ta, and the abbreviations that relate to Spring to, offcourse.<br /> [http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27309 click here]<br /> <br /> ===Why am I destroyed so easily by long range assaults?=== <br /> 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:<br /> * Your unit kills a lot of units and gets experience<br /> * You get a targetting facility.<br /> <br /> ===Can I kick people from my 'game lobby' or my game?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===When I'm 'driving' my commander, why can't I use my laser?=== <br /> The TA: Spring team will most likely add a way for you to use your commander's laser soon.<br /> <br /> ===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?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I turned the shadows feature on; I still don't see shadows. What gives?=== <br /> Your graphics card can't handle shadows, so Spring automatically turns them off.<br /> <br /> ===I can't go backwards when I am 'driving' a unit. Why not?=== <br /> Because TA units were never intended to go backwards. Sorry.<br /> <br /> ===I'm in the Unreal Tournament 2004 kind of mood. How do I strafe?=== <br /> You can only strafe in 'brawler type' ships, such as the brawler, rapier, and light gunships.<br /> <br /> ===How can I record and watch demos/replays?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> You can use the Speed up/Slow down game keys while watching the replay. + <br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I play with certain people I get HUGE sync errors that continue throughout the game.=== <br /> It's because they have a differen't mod installed than you. If, for example, you have not installed a mod, and somebody is in the game with you that has the OTA mod installed, it will cause the 'sync' error.<br /> <br /> Check the list at the right hand in the game battleroom for disabled units.<br /> <br /> If there are tons of them (not just 1, as this is known bug [naval flakker bug]), some players has a different mod installed.<br /> <br /> ===My aircraft repairing platforms don't work!=== <br /> This feature is not implemented yet. I'm afraid you'll have to wait.<br /> <br /> ===What features from the original TA game have not been implemented yet?===<br /> In addition to aircraft repair platforms (above), enemy capturing and resurrection have not been implemented yet.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Creating Content for Spring==<br /> ===How do I create maps===<br /> See this page: http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_maps<br /> ===How do I create units===<br /> Go here: http://spring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_units</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=FAQ&diff=6703 2005-07-02T19:37:51Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>==General information==<br /> <br /> ===What is TA Spring?===<br /> TA Spring is a project to create the best RTS ever (no joke). There are three principle goals which we hope to achieve. <br /> <br /> . . . . . .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.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .B) Add new features as we see fit, fix bugs, and release new versions when we feel it is appropriate to do so.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .C) Support the mod community as we see fit.<br /> <br /> ===When will TA Spring be ready?===<br /> Now! You can get the latest beta from the download page.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring be free?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to help, what can I do?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to donate.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I read all that and I still want to donate.===<br /> Very well then! You can find the required details [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/donate.php here]. It will be much appreciated. :)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Technical==<br /> <br /> ===What port numbers does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What APIs does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What language is TA Spring written in?===<br /> C and C++.<br /> <br /> ===Is TA Spring open source?===<br /> Yes, it is. Go to the downloads section of the site to download the source code.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be a linux port?===<br /> 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&amp;highlight= thread].<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Requirements==<br /> <br /> ===What platforms will TA Spring run on?===<br /> At the moment, it only runs on Windows. <br /> Members of the community are working on porting the game on Linux platform (please refer to the Messageboard).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What sort of a system will I need to run TA Spring?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Content==<br /> <br /> ===Do TA Spring maps need a &quot;ground&quot;?===<br /> TA Spring maps do require a ground. We have had many requests to have space maps, however, a &quot;true&quot; (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 &quot;space&quot; maps won't be possible, (see the Final Frontier TC for examples of this).<br /> <br /> ===You stated that TA Spring uses the TA unit format.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===How powerful will TA Spring's custom format be?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of weapons?===<br /> No. Unlike Total Annihilation, TA Spring's weapon IDs will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of unique units?===<br /> No. Unit IDs, like weapon IDs, will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Will units have a maximum of 3 unique weapons?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I'm curious as to the per-unit polygon limit.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will units be able to perform basic terraforming?===<br /> Total Annihilation units probably won't have any terrain editable functionality. Feature 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will tunnel building be possible?===<br /> Subterranean areas of any sort is impossible. However, it is possible to heavily deform the ground with explosives.<br /> <br /> ===Will the ground's water retention be editable?===<br /> No. Water will always collect when a piece of land has a height below sea level.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limit on the number of races?===<br /> TA Spring has no limit on the total number of sides/races.<br /> <br /> ===What are the sizes of the biggest and smallest units?===<br /> 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 &quot;squares&quot; (an arbitrary size standard created by Cavedog) might have problems pathfinding.<br /> <br /> ===What is going to be the maximum possible sea depth?===<br /> For all practical purposes, it will be unlimited. The depth values are stored as &quot;float variables&quot;, so it is doubtful that maps would ever be made which even come close to approaching the limit.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring support campaigns?===<br /> No such support is planned at the moment but it is possible using the GroupAI interface.<br /> <br /> ===How big will the TA Spring files be?===<br /> TA Spring will be as big as however much content is included with it. The &quot;essential&quot; 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 &quot;content&quot; will be included with the first release.<br /> <br /> ===How will TA Spring render sound effects?===<br /> 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 &quot;emitter&quot;. 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring have ambient sound?===<br /> There is no ambient sound, and we haven't planned on adding it so far.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be an AI or a &quot;skirmish&quot; mode?===<br /> We will create an interface that people can use to create there own skirmish AIs later.<br /> <br /> ===Will a &quot;possess&quot; or a FPS option be present?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Getting into a game==<br /> <br /> ===People talk about 'Single Player'. How do I start a single player game?=== <br /> Go into your TA Spring folder and find the 'Spring.exe' file. Double click on it and say 'yes' to host.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to make a single player game, it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring support AI Players?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to connect to the lobby it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I join games the minimap is blank===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Where can I download more maps?===<br /> As for most Spring downloads [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=90 FileUniverse] is the place to be! A collection of maps can be downloaded [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=91 here].<br /> <br /> ===I used the small installer where can I get the missing maps?===<br /> 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].<br /> <br /> ===How do I install downloaded maps?===<br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I try to join games it gives me an error.=== <br /> The host is behind a firewall that has not opened the correct ports for Spring.<br /> <br /> Dixit SJ: &quot;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.&quot;<br /> <br /> ===When I make games nobody joins.=== <br /> You are probably behind a firewall. See question above.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts I never make it past the loading screen.=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts, I make it past the loading screen, but when I get into the game it says, &quot;Waiting for Host&quot;, and does a 10 second countdown. It always reaches zero and boots me out, what gives?=== <br /> 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.<br /> Good Luck<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I chat in the 'game lobby', people can't hear me.=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===I got into the game, but some people didn't.=== <br /> The host may have reached the number of players it has set.<br /> 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'.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Playing==<br /> <br /> ===What is with this weird right-click mode? I'm bout to break my keyboard.=== <br /> Sorry, you'll just have to get used to it. As of now it can't be changed.<br /> <br /> ===Why is somebody else also controlling my units?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Then why would I want to be on the same 'Team' as somebody?=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===How do I talk to my allies only?=== <br /> You must type 'a:' before you speak. Here's an example: a: Now I am talking to my allies only. <br /> <br /> ===Help! After I'm finished driving a unit, the camera is all insane! This is nuts! How do I fix it?=== <br /> Whoa now. Calm down. Just press ctrl + mouse button 3 to change camera modes. <br /> <br /> ===After I'm finished driving a unit, where what used too be my mouse pointer is now a crosshair. Why?=== <br /> -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. <br /> <br /> ===But I don't have a third mouse button!=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Sometimes my units just get deleted. Why?=== <br /> For some reason units get deleted when they go into the wrong places. Like out of the map edge.<br /> <br /> This is already fixed in recent versions.<br /> <br /> ===People are cheating! How do I stop it?!=== <br /> Well currently, you can't.<br /> <br /> Only the host can &quot;activate&quot; the cheat codes. After that, any player can do almost all cheats.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Well how do you cheat?=== <br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;Cheat Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;'''.cheat'''&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;'''enable cheats - Cheats don't work in multiplayer until the host types this'''&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.nocost&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;instabuild (doesn't work on things already under construction, only on new ones)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setmaxspeed 50&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the maximum speed multiplier (default is 3.0)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setminspeed 0&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the minimum speed multiplier (default is 0.3)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.spectator&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Allows you to see the entire map... but you lose control of your units&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.team 0, .team 1, etc.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Change player&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===In Game Commands===<br /> The following ''non-cheating'' commands are also available in game:<br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;th&gt;Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.info&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you what colour each player is and their ping delay in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.clock&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you the elapsed game time in minutes and seconds in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===How do I ally or unally in game?=== <br /> I'm pretty sure you can't. Yet. <br /> <br /> ===How do I give somebody units or metal or energy?=== <br /> Press the 'H' key.<br /> Then select the amount of metal and/or energy to share.<br /> <br /> Then select the recieving player an press ok.<br /> <br /> When sharing units, you must first select the units to share, then press 'H' key.<br /> <br /> Tick share units checkbox and choose recieving player.<br /> <br /> ===How do I continually give somebody metal and/or energy after a certain point (i.e. Original TA commands +setshare..., +shareall)?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Man I am soooo sick of XTA. How do I play AA or OTA instead?=== <br /> Well. Somebody has made a patch to turn TA Spring into OTA: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;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&amp;ID=92 click here]. A switcher is available which makes it easier to switch between the different mods: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;ID=805 click here]<br /> <br /> ===XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? What those all the abbreviations mean?===<br /> zwzsg main a handy dandy Faq about ta, and the abbreviations there relate to spring to, offcourse.<br /> [http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27309 click here]<br /> <br /> <br /> ===Why am I destroyed so easily by long range assaults?=== <br /> 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:<br /> * Your unit kills a lot of units and gets experience<br /> * You get a targetting facility.<br /> <br /> ===Can I kick people from my 'game lobby' or my game?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===When I'm 'driving' my commander, why can't I use my laser?=== <br /> The TA: Spring team will most likely add a way for you to use your commander's laser soon.<br /> <br /> ===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?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I turned the shadows feature on; I still don't see shadows. What gives?=== <br /> Your graphics card can't handle shadows, so Spring automatically turns them off.<br /> <br /> ===I can't go backwards when I am 'driving' a unit. Why not?=== <br /> Because TA units were never intended to go backwards. Sorry.<br /> <br /> ===I'm in the Unreal Tournament 2004 kind of mood. How do I strafe?=== <br /> You can only strafe in 'brawler type' ships, such as the brawler, rapier, and light gunships.<br /> <br /> ===How can I record and watch demos/replays?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> You can use the Speed up/Slow down game keys while watching the replay. + <br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I play with certain people I get HUGE sync errors that continue throughout the game.=== <br /> It's because they have a differen't mod installed than you. If, for example, you have not installed a mod, and somebody is in the game with you that has the OTA mod installed, it will cause the 'sync' error.<br /> <br /> Check the list at the right hand in the game battleroom for disabled units.<br /> <br /> If there are tons of them (not just 1, as this is known bug [naval flakker bug]), some players has a different mod installed.<br /> <br /> ===My aircraft repairing platforms don't work!=== <br /> This feature is not implemented yet. I'm afraid you'll have to wait.<br /> <br /> ===What features from the original TA game have not been implemented yet?===<br /> In addition to aircraft repair platforms (above), enemy capturing and resurrection have not been implemented yet.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Creating Content for Spring==<br /> ===How do I create maps===<br /> See this page: http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_maps<br /> ===How do I create units===<br /> Go here: http://spring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_units</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=FAQ&diff=6702 2005-07-02T19:35:58Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>==General information==<br /> <br /> ===What is TA Spring?===<br /> TA Spring is a project to create the best RTS ever (no joke). There are three principle goals which we hope to achieve. <br /> <br /> . . . . . .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.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .B) Add new features as we see fit, fix bugs, and release new versions when we feel it is appropriate to do so.<br /> <br /> . . . . . .C) Support the mod community as we see fit.<br /> <br /> ===When will TA Spring be ready?===<br /> Now! You can get the latest beta from the download page.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring be free?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to help, what can I do?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I want to donate.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I read all that and I still want to donate.===<br /> Very well then! You can find the required details [http://taspring.clan-sy.com/donate.php here]. It will be much appreciated. :)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Technical==<br /> <br /> ===What port numbers does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What APIs does TA Spring use?===<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What language is TA Spring written in?===<br /> C and C++.<br /> <br /> ===Is TA Spring open source?===<br /> Yes, it is. Go to the downloads section of the site to download the source code.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be a linux port?===<br /> 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&amp;highlight= thread].<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Requirements==<br /> <br /> ===What platforms will TA Spring run on?===<br /> At the moment, it only runs on Windows. <br /> Members of the community are working on porting the game on Linux platform (please refer to the Messageboard).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===What sort of a system will I need to run TA Spring?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Content==<br /> <br /> ===Do TA Spring maps need a &quot;ground&quot;?===<br /> TA Spring maps do require a ground. We have had many requests to have space maps, however, a &quot;true&quot; (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 &quot;space&quot; maps won't be possible, (see the Final Frontier TC for examples of this).<br /> <br /> ===You stated that TA Spring uses the TA unit format.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===How powerful will TA Spring's custom format be?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of weapons?===<br /> No. Unlike Total Annihilation, TA Spring's weapon IDs will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limited number of unique units?===<br /> No. Unit IDs, like weapon IDs, will be unlimited.<br /> <br /> ===Will units have a maximum of 3 unique weapons?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I'm curious as to the per-unit polygon limit.===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will units be able to perform basic terraforming?===<br /> Total Annihilation units probably won't have any terrain editable functionality. Feature 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will tunnel building be possible?===<br /> Subterranean areas of any sort is impossible. However, it is possible to heavily deform the ground with explosives.<br /> <br /> ===Will the ground's water retention be editable?===<br /> No. Water will always collect when a piece of land has a height below sea level.<br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring have a limit on the number of races?===<br /> TA Spring has no limit on the total number of sides/races.<br /> <br /> ===What are the sizes of the biggest and smallest units?===<br /> 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 &quot;squares&quot; (an arbitrary size standard created by Cavedog) might have problems pathfinding.<br /> <br /> ===What is going to be the maximum possible sea depth?===<br /> For all practical purposes, it will be unlimited. The depth values are stored as &quot;float variables&quot;, so it is doubtful that maps would ever be made which even come close to approaching the limit.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring support campaigns?===<br /> No such support is planned at the moment but it is possible using the GroupAI interface.<br /> <br /> ===How big will the TA Spring files be?===<br /> TA Spring will be as big as however much content is included with it. The &quot;essential&quot; 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 &quot;content&quot; will be included with the first release.<br /> <br /> ===How will TA Spring render sound effects?===<br /> 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 &quot;emitter&quot;. 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.<br /> <br /> ===Will TA Spring have ambient sound?===<br /> There is no ambient sound, and we haven't planned on adding it so far.<br /> <br /> ===Will there be an AI or a &quot;skirmish&quot; mode?===<br /> We will create an interface that people can use to create there own skirmish AIs later.<br /> <br /> ===Will a &quot;possess&quot; or a FPS option be present?===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Getting into a game==<br /> <br /> ===People talk about 'Single Player'. How do I start a single player game?=== <br /> Go into your TA Spring folder and find the 'Spring.exe' file. Double click on it and say 'yes' to host.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to make a single player game, it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Does TA Spring support AI Players?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When I try to connect to the lobby it gives me an error.=== <br /> 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).<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I join games the minimap is blank===<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Where can I download more maps?===<br /> As for most Spring downloads [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=90 FileUniverse] is the place to be! A collection of maps can be downloaded [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=listing&amp;ID=91 here].<br /> <br /> ===I used the small installer where can I get the missing maps?===<br /> 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].<br /> <br /> ===How do I install downloaded maps?===<br /> 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!<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I try to join games it gives me an error.=== <br /> The host is behind a firewall that has not opened the correct ports for Spring.<br /> <br /> Dixit SJ: &quot;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.&quot;<br /> <br /> ===When I make games nobody joins.=== <br /> You are probably behind a firewall. See question above.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts I never make it past the loading screen.=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===When a multiplayer game starts, I make it past the loading screen, but when I get into the game it says, &quot;Waiting for Host&quot;, and does a 10 second countdown. It always reaches zero and boots me out, what gives?=== <br /> 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.<br /> Good Luck<br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I chat in the 'game lobby', people can't hear me.=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===I got into the game, but some people didn't.=== <br /> The host may have reached the number of players it has set.<br /> 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'.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Playing==<br /> <br /> ===What is with this weird right-click mode? I'm bout to break my keyboard.=== <br /> Sorry, you'll just have to get used to it. As of now it can't be changed.<br /> <br /> ===Why is somebody else also controlling my units?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Then why would I want to be on the same 'Team' as somebody?=== <br /> 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.) <br /> <br /> ===How do I talk to my allies only?=== <br /> You must type 'a:' before you speak. Here's an example: a: Now I am talking to my allies only. <br /> <br /> ===Help! After I'm finished driving a unit, the camera is all insane! This is nuts! How do I fix it?=== <br /> Whoa now. Calm down. Just press ctrl + mouse button 3 to change camera modes. <br /> <br /> ===After I'm finished driving a unit, where what used too be my mouse pointer is now a crosshair. Why?=== <br /> -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. <br /> <br /> ===But I don't have a third mouse button!=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===Sometimes my units just get deleted. Why?=== <br /> For some reason units get deleted when they go into the wrong places. Like out of the map edge.<br /> <br /> This is already fixed in recent versions.<br /> <br /> ===People are cheating! How do I stop it?!=== <br /> Well currently, you can't.<br /> <br /> Only the host can &quot;activate&quot; the cheat codes. After that, any player can do almost all cheats.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Well how do you cheat?=== <br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;Cheat Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;'''.cheat'''&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;'''enable cheats - Cheats don't work in multiplayer until the host types this'''&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.nocost&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;instabuild (doesn't work on things already under construction, only on new ones)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setmaxspeed 50&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the maximum speed multiplier (default is 3.0)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.setminspeed 0&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Changes the minimum speed multiplier (default is 0.3)&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.spectator&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Allows you to see the entire map... but you lose control of your units&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.team 0, .team 1, etc.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Change player&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===In Game Commands===<br /> The following ''non-cheating'' commands are also available in game:<br /> <br /> &lt;table border=&quot;3&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;th&gt;Command&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;Effect&lt;/th&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.info&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you what colour each player is and their ping delay in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;tr&gt;<br /> &lt;td&gt;.clock&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;Shows you the elapsed game time in minutes and seconds in the bottom left corner of the screen&lt;/td&gt;<br /> &lt;/tr&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;/table&gt;<br /> <br /> ===How do I ally or unally in game?=== <br /> I'm pretty sure you can't. Yet. <br /> <br /> ===How do I give somebody units or metal or energy?=== <br /> Press the 'H' key.<br /> Then select the amount of metal and/or energy to share.<br /> <br /> Then select the recieving player an press ok.<br /> <br /> When sharing units, you must first select the units to share, then press 'H' key.<br /> <br /> Tick share units checkbox and choose recieving player.<br /> <br /> ===How do I continually give somebody metal and/or energy after a certain point (i.e. Original TA commands +setshare..., +shareall)?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===Man I am soooo sick of XTA. How do I play AA or OTA instead?=== <br /> Well. Somebody has made a patch to turn TA Spring into OTA: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;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&amp;ID=92 click here]. A switcher is available which makes it easier to switch between the different mods: [http://www.fileuniverse.com/?page=showitem&amp;ID=805 click here]<br /> <br /> ===XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? What those all the abbreviations mean?===<br /> zwzsg main a handy dandy Faq about ta, and the abbreviations there relate to spring to, offcourse.<br /> <br /> ===Why am I destroyed so easily by long range assaults?=== <br /> 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:<br /> * Your unit kills a lot of units and gets experience<br /> * You get a targetting facility.<br /> <br /> ===Can I kick people from my 'game lobby' or my game?=== <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> ===When I'm 'driving' my commander, why can't I use my laser?=== <br /> The TA: Spring team will most likely add a way for you to use your commander's laser soon.<br /> <br /> ===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?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> ===I turned the shadows feature on; I still don't see shadows. What gives?=== <br /> Your graphics card can't handle shadows, so Spring automatically turns them off.<br /> <br /> ===I can't go backwards when I am 'driving' a unit. Why not?=== <br /> Because TA units were never intended to go backwards. Sorry.<br /> <br /> ===I'm in the Unreal Tournament 2004 kind of mood. How do I strafe?=== <br /> You can only strafe in 'brawler type' ships, such as the brawler, rapier, and light gunships.<br /> <br /> ===How can I record and watch demos/replays?=== <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> You can use the Speed up/Slow down game keys while watching the replay. + <br /> <br /> ===Sometimes when I play with certain people I get HUGE sync errors that continue throughout the game.=== <br /> It's because they have a differen't mod installed than you. If, for example, you have not installed a mod, and somebody is in the game with you that has the OTA mod installed, it will cause the 'sync' error.<br /> <br /> Check the list at the right hand in the game battleroom for disabled units.<br /> <br /> If there are tons of them (not just 1, as this is known bug [naval flakker bug]), some players has a different mod installed.<br /> <br /> ===My aircraft repairing platforms don't work!=== <br /> This feature is not implemented yet. I'm afraid you'll have to wait.<br /> <br /> ===What features from the original TA game have not been implemented yet?===<br /> In addition to aircraft repair platforms (above), enemy capturing and resurrection have not been implemented yet.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> ==Creating Content for Spring==<br /> ===How do I create maps===<br /> See this page: http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_maps<br /> ===How do I create units===<br /> Go here: http://spring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Create_units</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Strategy_and_Tactics&diff=17949 2005-07-01T12:14:44Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>The following pages discuss or disclose tips,strategies &amp; Tactics for Spring.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''General TA Spring'''<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Base_building_tips]]<br /> <br /> [[Strategy/Overall_guide]]</div>

Kixxe https://springrts-wiki.p2004a.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Strategy_and_Tactics&diff=17948 2005-07-01T12:14:26Z

<p>Kixxe: </p> <hr /> <div>The following pages discuss or disclose tips,strategies &amp; Tactics for Spring.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''General TA Spring'''<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Base_building_tips]]<br /> [[Strategy/Overall_guide]]</div>

Kixxe