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[[FAQ:general|General FAQ]] | [[FAQ:general|General FAQ]] | ||
[[FAQ:requirements| System Requirements FAQ]] | |||
[[FAQ:technical|Technical FAQ]] | [[FAQ:technical|Technical FAQ]] | ||
Revision as of 16:31, 8 October 2008
Playing
What is with this weird right-click mode? I'm 'bout to break my keyboard.
Sorry, you'll just have to get used to it. As of now it can't be changed.
Why is somebody else also controlling my units?
In the 'game lobby' there are two sets of teams. There are the 'Ids' and the 'Teams'. If you are on the same 'Id', then you both get the same commander, and can control the same units. If you are on the same 'Team', then you both get different commanders and can't control each others units.
Is there a way that I can play music directly through TA-Spring, with alternating tracks for building/attacking like in the original Total Annihilation?
Yes, there is. It is an addon (GroupAI) you have to download separately: http://jobjol.nl/1188
There is also an ingame sound-volume-slider you might find usefull (lua-script): http://jobjol.nl/1218
Then why would I want to be on the same 'Team' as somebody?
Because it's fun to just drive around units and not have to worry about commanding. (Assuming that one of the people on the team is commanding.) Most importantly, however, you can split tasks, such as base building, and troops management.
Sometimes I can't write anything but numbers and some other symbols. Why is that?
This is most likely because of the Windows language bar change from which
Spring doesn't recognize the characters written.
Note: That Default hotkeys in Windows XP for changing the language is
Shift+Alt, which is similar to square build hotkeys in Spring!
How do I talk to my allies only?
You must type 'a:' before you speak, or press "Alt Enter" at the same time. Here's an example: a: Now I am talking to my allies only.
Help! After I'm finished driving a unit, the camera is all insane! This is nuts! How do I fix it?
Whoa now. Calm down. Just press ctrl + mouse button 3 to change camera modes. If your unit is destroyed in FPS mode, you will stay in FPS mode until you change camera modes. Also, the camera will stay in "free look" when FPS mode is disengaged, press middle-mouse or J to switch to normal scrolling.
After I'm finished driving a unit, where what used to be my mouse pointer is now a crosshair. Why?
-This is a special 'view mode' that allows you to move around the screen much faster. It's good for viewing the battle or getting screenshots. Simply press on your third mouse button or 'delete' to revert back to your mouse pointer.
But I don't have a third mouse button!
The key 'J' works in the same way as the 'middle mouse button' does. So where you would use ctrl + middle mouse button to change camera modes, ctrl + j does the same thing. Pressing J once will also switch you from 'crosshair mode' to 'pointer mode' and vice versa.
I´ve managed to get stuck in this weird camera mode and my perspective is all messed up. How do I switch to the overhead (OTA style) camera?
Shift+Backspace (or Shift+J or Shift+MiddleMouseClick) switches between the fps style, total war style and OTA style cameras. Use it to get your camera back to normal in this situation.
People are cheating! How do I stop it?!
Well currently, you can't.
Only the host can "activate" the cheat codes. After that, any player can do almost all cheats.
The best thing to do is just not play with the cheaters anymore. But with new spring version cheats are disabled in multiplayer, so that paragraph is hopefully now irrelevant.
Well how do you cheat?
| Cheat Command | Effect |
|---|---|
| .cheat | enable cheats - Cheats don't work in multiplayer until the host types this |
| .nocost | instabuild (doesn't work on things already under construction, only on new ones) |
| .setmaxspeed 50 | Changes the maximum speed multiplier (default is 3.0) |
| .setminspeed 0 | Changes the minimum speed multiplier (default is 0.3) |
| .spectator | Allows you to see the entire map... but you lose control of your units |
| .team 0, .team 1, etc. | Change player |
| .give ARMCOM, .give 10 CORKROG, etc. | Place 1 or specified number of specified unit. Valid units are the internal names of units as specified in the unit definition. |
You can use auto-completion in the spring console if you don't remember the internal unit name. To do that type:
".give arm" and then press your TAB key
A list of all matching units will be shown.
In Game Commands
The following non-cheating commands are also available in game:
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
| /info | Shows you what colour each player is and their ping delay in the bottom right corner of the screen. |
| /clock | Shows you the elapsed game time in minutes and seconds in the upper right corner of the screen |
| .take | Pulls all allied units, that are owned by players who have lost connection to the server, to your team. |
How do I ally or unally in game?
I'm pretty sure you can't. Yet.
How do I give somebody units or metal or energy?
Press the 'H' key. Then select the amount of metal and/or energy to share. Then select the receiving player and press OK.
When sharing units, you must first select the units to share, then press 'H' key. Tick share units checkbox and choose a receiving player.
You'll notice that on your metal and energy bars (top of screen), there are two red bars. You have to put them wherever you want your metal and energy to be shared after.
This game is different than TA, the units HP and damage are not the same
There were several third party "balance" mods for the original TA game.
One of those mods were xTA, and was developed by the same clan (SY) that has brought life back to TA, making Spring.
This balance mod is what is bundled by default with the spring engine, and is the mod that was ready to play when Spring was released.
Now are several mods available, install the mod of your choice.
XTA? OTA? AA? OMFGLAMO? WTF do those abbreviations mean?
zwzsg maintains a handy dandy FAQ about TA, and the abbreviations that relate to Spring too, of course. click here. See also the Spring Glossary, which contains brief explanations for all non-standard words and phrases.
Why am I destroyed so easily by long range assaults?
This is a realistic feature of Spring. Units will automatically attack 'radar blips' (units that they can not actually see, but that are indicated on radar). However, the accuracy is very bad while shooting at radar blips until:
- Your unit kills a lot of units and gets experience
- You get a targeting facility.
Can I kick people from my 'game lobby' or my game?
First of all, you have to be the host to kick. Use the good old ".kick playernamehere" command. Works in-game too, use it wisely.
When I'm 'driving' my commander, why can't I use my laser?
The Spring team will most likely add a way for you to use your commander's laser soon.
I hate driving around with the 'arrow keys'. Is there any way I can use the 'W-A-S-D' controls (the controls most First Person Shooters use) anymore?
Go into your Spring directory and edit the uikeys file. Keep in mind that 'S' is originally a 'hot-key' that will stop your units and that 'D' is a 'hot-key' for your commander's D-Gun. You might want to change those too.
I turned the shadows feature on; I still don't see shadows. What gives?
Your graphics card can't handle shadows, so Spring automatically turns them off.
I can't go backwards when I am 'driving' a unit. Why not?
Because TA units were never intended to go backwards. Sorry, but you just cant.
I'm in an Unreal Tournament kind of mood. How do I strafe?
You can only strafe in 'brawler type' ships, such as the brawler, rapier, and light gunships.
How can I record and watch demos/replays?
From version 0.62 onwards recordings of all the games you play are easily available for replay via the Replays button in the TASclient.
You can use the Speed up/Slow down game keys while watching the replay, along with other in-game commands like .team
From version 0.60b1 onwards, demos are automatically recorded in the "demos" folder, underneath your Spring folder (default is C:\Program Files\Spring\demos), named for the date and map they were played on. If you play multiple games in the same day on the same map, the games will also be numbered to prevent them from overwriting each other.
From version 0.62 onwards, to view a demo from the Windows file manager you can just double click the file name.
Sometimes when I play get "not sync" "delayed synch" errors
Thats caused because of lag. One of the players in the game is having some lag issues. Ask him/her to free up its bandwidth for the game to use.
Alternatively you can use the pause key and wait till the connection gets more stable.
Lag is the seccond number showed when you use the .info command ingame, numbers bigger than 40 are not usual in a normal game and are a signal of lag.
Content
Do Spring maps need a "ground"?
Spring maps do require a ground. We have had many requests to have space maps, however, a "true" (ala Homeworld) space setting is not likely. It would have to wait until a much later stage. This does not mean that TA's style of "space" maps won't be possible, (see the Final Frontier TC for examples of this).
You stated that Spring uses the TA unit format.
Spring does use the Total Annihilation unit format. However, there is also a new format dubbed '.s3o' which uses a UV mapped texture instead of 3do's per face texturing system, as well as other improvements.
How powerful will Spring's custom format be?
Total Annihilation's unit format was extremely limited. Most of these limitations will either be expanded or non-existent in Spring's custom unit format. One of the most exciting improvements is the introduction of an entirely new method of scripting, with nearly complete control over every aspect of a unit's actions and behaviors.
Does Spring have a limited number of weapons?
No. Unlike Total Annihilation, Spring's weapon IDs will be unlimited. Meaning it will be possible to add as many third-party units as you want. However, the current model format limits 16 weapons to each unit.
Does Spring have a limited number of unique units?
No. Unit IDs, like weapon IDs, will be unlimited.
Will units have a maximum of 3 unique weapons?
Total Annihilation had a limitation that permitted a maximum of 3 unique weapons per unit. Spring currently has a way to have 16 weapons per unit. (Replace Primary, Secondary, Tertiary by 1 2 3 ...16). More can be made possible by modifying the source if there's a sufficient demand by mod makers.
I'm curious as to the per-unit polygon limit.
The engine itself does not have a polygon count limit. The limit is that of the processing power of today's computers. Since Spring requires a 3D card, the maximum polygon count per unit will be several times higher than Total Annihilation's. That means for your average mod, 300 polygons for common units and 700 for the more expensive ones is quite reasonable. (But don't waste polies unnecessarily!)
Will units be able to perform basic terraforming?
Total Annihilation units probably won't have any terrain editable functionality. Future units may be endowed with such functionality, but it's more of a gameplay issue and has not been decided upon yet. However construction units can restore ground, and certain weapons (especially explosive ones) can be used to deform the ground.
Will tunnel building be possible?
Subterranean areas of any sort is impossible. However, it is possible to heavily deform the ground with explosives.. Which is great fun!
Will the ground's water retention be editable?
No. Water will always collect when a piece of land has a height below sea level.
Does Spring have a limit on the number of races?
Spring has no limit on the total number of sides/races.
What are the sizes of the biggest and smallest units?
Static units (buildings, defenses, etc.) have no size limitations in the engine. Technically, neither do mobile units, but units with a footprint larger than 4x4 "squares" (an arbitrary size standard created by Cavedog) might have problems pathfinding.
What is going to be the maximum possible sea depth?
For all practical purposes, it will be unlimited. The depth values are stored as "float variables", so it is doubtful that maps would ever be made which even come close to approaching the limit.
Will Spring support campaigns?
Basic Map scripting has been implemented, using a Lua scripting engine. From that, it would be possible to make a basic campaign, but for ease of use a better way of selecting scripts and an improved Single player menu is needed.
See Mission development for more details.
How big are the Spring files?
Spring will be as small as however much content is included with it. The "essential" files are only be several megabytes large. Content (such as maps and units) will add considerable size to the Spring download. Currently, the file size is roughly 30 MB.
How will Spring render sound effects?
Sound is rendered 3D, meaning that the volume and direction (assuming a multi-speaker setup) vary with the location of the camera from the sound "emitter". What this translates into gameplay terms means that the closer you are to a unit making a sound or motion, the louder the sound will be. Additionally, the sound will be heard differently depending on which way the camera is facing relative to units making sound.
Will Spring have ambient sound?
There is no ambient sound, and we haven't planned on adding it thus far.
Will there be an AI or a "skirmish" mode?
We have created an interface for artificial intelligences (AIs), and several are currently under development. Information on these can be found at the AIs wiki page.
Will a "possess" or a FPS option be present?
Yes, it is possible to fully control a unit from the first person view. It is more of a gimmick, but it still allows for a nice diversion once in a while. Instructions on its use are in the Using Spring article.
How do I create maps?
See the Map development page for all the map info.
How do I create units/mods?
See the Mod and Unit development page on creating units/ mods.
