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| [[category:Mods]][[category:Balanced Annihilation]] | | [[category:Games]][[category:Balanced Annihilation]] |
| '''[[Games|<--Back to Games]]''' | | '''[[Games|<--Back to Games]]''' |
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| Note: this wiki page sucks. Please help update it if you know what you're talking about. In the meantime please check the [http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=44 forums].
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| ===Overview=== | | ===Overview=== |
| BA has three basic principles:
| | Balanced Annihilation is a TA mod remastered with improved graphics and balance. The philosophy of Balanced Annihilation follows three principles: |
| * '''Refined Original Total Annihilation:''' BA's lineage traces back to fan mods of the original Total Annihilation. It feels similar, and play is ''more balanced'' for diverse multiplayer strategies.
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| * '''Stable gameplay:''' BA has <i>matured</i> through several years of playtesting. New versions don't drastically alter gameplay. | | * '''Refined TA mod:''' BA's lineage traces back to TA and the mods that refined its classic graphics and gameplay across decades. |
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| * '''Balance:''' Every unit has a role, and no unit has every role. Very few units get truly obsolete as a game progresses. The ideal state is to have no obsolete units at all. | | * '''Competitive Gameplay:''' BA has matured through over 15 years of playtesting by veteran players in both casual and tournament settings. Faction and unit choices offer many unique tactical possibilities. |
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| ===Legal===
| | * '''Stable Balance:''' BA is balanced to favour strategic play. Every unit has a role and few units get truly obsolete as the game progresses. |
| Parts of this mod originate from non-free sources. However there is an ongoing attempt to find and replace units with free models.
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| See the forum discussion as: [http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=22234 BA Reloaded]
| | ===Tournaments=== |
| | Balanced Annihilation runs competitive 1v1 tournaments that attract many dedicated players. Players battle for a place in the Balance Committee and the BA crown, a unique in-game item for the commander that can only be aquired by winning the event. |
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| === Controls ===
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP Crown Cup 1] '''1st Cartouche, 2nd PRO_rANDY, 3rd Teddy''' |
| Very useful for every BA beginner:
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_2 Crown Cup 2] '''1st Cartouche, 2nd Teddy, 3rd PtaQ''' |
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_3 Crown Cup 3] '''1st Cartouche, 2nd PtaQ, 3rd Teddy''' |
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_4 Crown Cup 4] '''1st Cartouche, 2nd Teddy, 3rd PRO_rANDY''' |
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_5 Crown Cup 5] '''1st PRO_rANDY, 2nd MasterBel, 3rd Teddy''' |
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_6 Crown Cup 6] '''1st Goopy, 2nd Cartouche, 3rd MasterBel''' |
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_7 Crown Cup 7] '''1st PRO_rANDY, 2nd Teddy, 3rd Goopy''' |
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_8 Crown Cup 8] '''1st Goopy, 2nd ZLO, 3rd Yudi''' |
| | * [https://challonge.com/CROWN_CUP_9 Crown Cup 9] '''1st Goopy, 2nd Godde, 3rd ZLO''' |
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| '''[[Balanced_Annihilation:Using_Selections|Selections/Groups/Group Commands/Group AI]]'''
| | ===History=== |
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| '''[[Balanced_Annihilation:Giving_Orders|Giving Units Orders]]'''
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| '''[[Balanced_Annihilation:Command_Reference|Command Quick Reference]]'''
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| '''[http://sparcman.net/Documents/Spring_Control_Reference.pdf Printable Command Reference PDF download]
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| '''[[Balanced_Annihilation:Camera_Control | Using the Cameras]]'''
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| '''[[Balanced_Annihilation:Chat|Chat, Cheats, and Text Commands]]'''
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| '''[[Balanced_Annihilation:Doodles|Map drawing/doodles]]'''
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| '''[[Balanced_Annihilation:Custom_Keys| Customized key shortcuts/bindings and the key/selection editor]]'''
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| ===Cooperative play=== | |
| BA includes a cooperative play mode for players to work as an even closer team. When the cooperative mod option is enabled, players who take the same team id will form a co-op. Players who are part of the same co-op completely share everything - all resources are pooled, and any unit within the co-op can be commanded by anyone within the co-op.
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| Each player within the co-op starts with their own commander, and must select their own start point before clicking ready - if the co-op readies before a player has selected a start location, then two commanders will spawn on the same spot.
| | Balanced Annihilation is a TA remake built using the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Engine Spring engine] whose history traces back to the mod [[Absolute_Annihilation|Absolute Annihilation]] by Caydr (2002-2006). AA was based on [http://bsr.tauniverse.com/faq.html ÜberHack] by Brave Sir Robin (1998-2002). The [https://www.clan-sy.com/ Swedish Yankspankers] work on the TA Demo Recorder (1999-2004) made it possible for AA to be ported to 3D and these efforts led to the creation of Balanced Annihilation in 2006. Zero-K and BAR were both forked from Balanced Annihilation in the past. |
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| Once the game has started, it is especially important for co-oping players to communicate their overall strategy so that units don't receive conflicting orders. It's also somewhat easier to overspend - in a co-op of three, players might feel like they have triple the normal amount of resources.
| | ===Development=== |
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| In practice, co-op mode tends to work best when done with friends, clanmates, or other (willing) strangers. However, even among voluntary participants experience has shown that large co-ops of 5 or more players tend to have at least one person getting upset due to their orders being canceled or similar (often unintentional) issues. Unless communication can be improved through [[mumble]], it is recommended to split large co-oping teams into multiple, smaller co-ops.
| | The current developer is [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=10773 Ares] The previous maintainers, who shouldn't be forgotten, were: |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2568 Shox] |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=10555 Floris] |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9073 Decay] (2016) |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=7229 Silentwings] (2012-16) |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5958 Beherith] (2011-12) |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=7403 Niobium] (2011) |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=4460 TheFatController] (2010-11) |
| | * [https://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=326 NOiZE]. (2006-11) |
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| If cooperative mode is disabled, then players who share the same team id will instead share control of the same commander. This is called "comm-sharing" and is available in every mod.
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| ===Chicken Defense===
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| Balanced Annihilation features a chicken defense subversion, designed as a BA version of tower defense.
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| ===Strategy===
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| (sections to be filled in)
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| ====Starting out====
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| Try to pick a start position near a good amount of metal patches. If you can't properly locate the metal patches just hit F4 to see the metalmap. F4 again to return back to the classic view. Most maps are designed to have 3 patches near designated starting points.
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| You should take all metal patches located near your start position (most commonly 3). Build metal extractors (referred as "mexes") at the patches and some energy (2 or 3 solar plants) before starting anything else. Then it's time to build a factory - a vehicle one for flat maps or a K-bot one at rugged maps. Afterwards, most players build a light laser tower (LLT) or two to prevent enemy early scouts from running behind your base and destroying the economy.
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| ====Tier 1====
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| =====Vehicle lab=====
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| =====K-bot lab=====
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| =====Aircraft Plant=====
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| =====Shipyard=====
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| ====Com Pushing====
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| Com pushing is the strategy of moving your commander towards the front lines after building your initial base. The advantage is that you can claim territory and metal patches early (by building light laser towers). Small groups of enemies can also be destroyed with the commander's D-gun. The commander also functions as an excellent repairman for damaged units and reclaimer of wrecks.
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| ====Teching ("Going T2")====
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| ====Managing units ("Micro")====
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| While BA is a largely strategic game, there is considerable value to managing your units tactics. Some things to consider:
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| *'''Repair damaged units''': Repairing is virtually free compared with building a new unit from scratch, so if you can keep a unit alive by moving it off the front line a bit once it becomes damaged you can get far more on the field.
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| *'''Surround the enemy''': Units in BA suffer extra damage if they are being attacked from multiple directions at once. At the extreme, two units standing opposite a tank will do 50% more damage than two units standing next to eachother.
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| *'''Use your range ("kiting")''': If you outrange the enemy and have some territory to maneuver in, you can gain a significant advantage by moving away while shooting.
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| *'''Cross the T''': One of the best positions to be in is where your units are all firing and only one of the enemies is. If you're enemy has lined up their units, for instance, you can attack one edge of the line at a time rather than hitting them all at once.
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| *'''Attack in waves''': One of the worst positions to be in is where the enemy is crossing your T. Implicitly, this can happen when you order units that are far apart into enemy territory and they arrive at different times. Similarly, setting a rally point of a factory into the enemy's defensive line will often result in your units dying one at a time. Instead, set a rally point a safe distance away, and once you have sufficient units attack in mass.
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| ====Economy====
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| If you have more economy than the enemy, you can get more or better units. This is how, ultimately, you win. Some essential points which you should definitely use:
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| *'''Take advantage of metal patches and geothermal vents''': Metal extractors are much, much cheaper than powering metal makers. This remains true at tier 2, where moho mines become vastly cheaper than fusion plants and moho metal makers. Geothermal spots are similarly the cheapest source of energy in the game - a moho geo, for instance, produces energy at less than half the cost of a fusion plant. This means that, in most cases, it's worth walking a considerable distance to take advantage of metal/geo spots you control rather than building economy in your base.
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| *'''Reclaim wreckage and map features''': Unit wrecks are an excellent source of metal, and map-provided rocks and trees are free resources. In many cases it can be worth sacrificing a builder to claim wreckage in hostile territory - usually they pay for their own cost as well as deny the wreck to the enemy.
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| *'''Use (or share) your resources''': Resources kept in storage are essentially being wasted. They are a symptom of not having enough ''build-power'', or construction units. If you're not building more units, extra resources can instead be invested into even more economy. Many times your allies will have extra buildpower that you don't - in such cases it is often very efficient to simply give your resources away by lowering the share threshold (click somewhere into your metal or energy bar to change the threshold).
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| *'''Use nano-turrets sparingly''': Nano-turrets can provide extra build power, however they themselves cost a considerable amount of metal and energy, especially in the early game. If you are already metal or energy stalling there is no point to building more of them - doing so will only slow down production of the units or economy you're ultimately trying to make with them.
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| ===Main differences from Original Total Annihilation===
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| BA is similar to the Original Total Annihilation, and if you've played the original you should feel quite at home, however there are some important differences for OTA players to note:
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| * The guardian (tier 1 plasma turret) isn't a very useful defense unit for its cost; it's more of a forward artillery piece. It also has a high trajectory mode.
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| * Most of the AA units in the game shoot ''only'' at planes rather than both planes and ground.
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| ===Links===
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| *[http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=44 Balanced Annihilation Forum]
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| *(todo): latest download
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| *(todo): latest chicken download
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| *(todo): latest experimental download
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| ===History===
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| Balanced Annihilation started as a fork of [[Absolute Annihilation]]. It is currently maintained by [http://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=4460 TheFatController] and was previously maintained by [http://springrts.com/phpbb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=326 Noize].
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| (This is a very incomplete history!)
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| '''[[Games|<--Back to Games]]''' | | '''[[Games|<--Back to Games]]''' |
<--Back to Games
Overview
Balanced Annihilation is a TA mod remastered with improved graphics and balance. The philosophy of Balanced Annihilation follows three principles:
- Refined TA mod: BA's lineage traces back to TA and the mods that refined its classic graphics and gameplay across decades.
- Competitive Gameplay: BA has matured through over 15 years of playtesting by veteran players in both casual and tournament settings. Faction and unit choices offer many unique tactical possibilities.
- Stable Balance: BA is balanced to favour strategic play. Every unit has a role and few units get truly obsolete as the game progresses.
Tournaments
Balanced Annihilation runs competitive 1v1 tournaments that attract many dedicated players. Players battle for a place in the Balance Committee and the BA crown, a unique in-game item for the commander that can only be aquired by winning the event.
- Crown Cup 1 1st Cartouche, 2nd PRO_rANDY, 3rd Teddy
- Crown Cup 2 1st Cartouche, 2nd Teddy, 3rd PtaQ
- Crown Cup 3 1st Cartouche, 2nd PtaQ, 3rd Teddy
- Crown Cup 4 1st Cartouche, 2nd Teddy, 3rd PRO_rANDY
- Crown Cup 5 1st PRO_rANDY, 2nd MasterBel, 3rd Teddy
- Crown Cup 6 1st Goopy, 2nd Cartouche, 3rd MasterBel
- Crown Cup 7 1st PRO_rANDY, 2nd Teddy, 3rd Goopy
- Crown Cup 8 1st Goopy, 2nd ZLO, 3rd Yudi
- Crown Cup 9 1st Goopy, 2nd Godde, 3rd ZLO
History
Balanced Annihilation is a TA remake built using the Spring engine whose history traces back to the mod Absolute Annihilation by Caydr (2002-2006). AA was based on ÜberHack by Brave Sir Robin (1998-2002). The Swedish Yankspankers work on the TA Demo Recorder (1999-2004) made it possible for AA to be ported to 3D and these efforts led to the creation of Balanced Annihilation in 2006. Zero-K and BAR were both forked from Balanced Annihilation in the past.
Development
The current developer is Ares The previous maintainers, who shouldn't be forgotten, were:
<--Back to Games
