Intrepid modders have long been a key part of the community here at TAU, and even 19 years after TA's first release, many are still working on mods, units, maps, map editors, and other ways of escalating Cavedog's debut RTS.

Some highlights from the last few months include:

The Secret Forces



Shelby, one of the newer modders in our community, is working on a new race, The Secret Forces. He's constantly adding new units and he is updating his progress in this forum thread, and if you haven't followed a modder before, this is a great chance to see the development of a mod in progress. Shelby is growing in leaps and bounds in his skill, and the growth of The Secret Forces is exciting to see.

S.I.G.H.T./The Mod/Eastern Front



Because everybody's working on ships but ARM is still better than those patterned CORE scum

M1Garland (not M3), another long time unit maker, is dipping his toes into the mod pool again, this time with a mod featuring some rebalance and a new race, S.I.G.H.T.! M1Garland previously worked on the Tortoise Pack and a few other unit projects, and this is looking to be just as high quality of a mod as his previous work. It might be Eastern Front or it might be The Mod, but whatever he ends up calling it, go check it out in this forum thread.


Modding Info

Finally, would you like to make a little mod, maybe make one little change to a unit or provide informed feedback to modders on how they should shape their units? There are two threads at TAU that you should take a look at. The first is the Comprehensive Weapons Guide, where you'll find what it says on the tin. Idec Sdawkminn has put all of his knowledge about weapons into one big thread, and it's a well written, great resource to understanding what is going on with weapons in TA. Idec has also put together the Comprehensive Unit FBI Guide where you'll find... do I have to spell it out? Everything you wanted to know about how units are specified in TA. If you want to give modders feedback or just understand how TA works, this is an invaluable guide.

There is always more occurring in the forums and in the larger TA community, but these are just some highlights from the last few months. For a nearly 20 year old game, the TA community is pretty strong, and lots of that is thanks to folk like you showing up here or in an online game lobby and modding, playing, discussing. Hope to see you all around here next year for TA's 20th birthday!

The download comes with TA's two expansion packs, plus the final six Cavedog units, and is already on sale through Christmas Day, at only $3.49. It would be a great stocking stuffer for anyone that doesn't already have something to binge on over the holidays.

Escalation Pro Tournament Bracket
Total Annihilation Universe Tournament Thread
Link to Live Stream of Finals Games (to start at 3PM EST Saturday November 28 (UTC-5))
Krogoth wins over Terminator in the Semi Final match 2-1 on the maps Blood Red Sky, Flats and Forests and Stigma 5. The tournament now advances to the Final match where Terminator has one last chance to make a comeback before Krogoth secures the title of Escalation Master and wins the majority of the $200 of prize money.

The Finals games will be streamed live with a cast featuring myself and Race doing the shoutcasting. Dates and stream details to follow soon but make no mistake, TAESC history will be made this weekend.

Today, a new huge TA mod is born! You can now get the first alpha version of TA:Enhanced on Moddb. If you have absolutely no idea what the mod is about, just watch the complete overview of it on TAU.

To summarize it brievly, this 165 mb mod (making it possibly the biggest project ever for TA, at least in size ) features a faster gameplay, plenty of retextured OTA/3rd party units, plenty of new high quality sounds and ingame effects, 100% unique weapons ingame, several factions giving each side the possibility to access a completely new technology (very alpha at the moment), full Ai support (currently only on classical land maps) and on the top of that it fixes few bugs that are left in the unofficial patch.

This first alpha is 98% bugfree and is mostly rated "alpha" as several units from the original game haven't been included yet (naval units, most T2 planes, hovercrafts and few couple of T2 and T3 units). It is however fully playable and (hopefully) decently balanced at the moment.

TA:Enhanced will be updated a lot in the future and this first alpha is but an overview of what it will feature for TA's twentieth anniversary!

Lots of mods have been developed ( and are being developed ) for Total Annihilation, but few quite as elevating of the tech tree and accelerating of strategies as TA:Escalation. If you were around for the glory days of Brave Sir Robin's Uberhack (thump), Escalation really is a spiritual successor in almost every way, including fundamental gameplay changes, GUI changes, new units, and the huge final changelog with new surprises which spawns hundreds of forum posts in seconds.



Wotan has released 8.1.1, but that's not all! There are actually winnings at stake in a new TA:ESC tournament. So sign up, and you could win some cash just for playing TA well! Stealthysherlock froum our forums gave me the lowdown:

The newest release of 8.1 for TA:ESC has lead to a fantastic opportunity for players new and old. Generous donations from Wotan and Race have lead to the creation of the TA:ESC Tourney. This competition is open to all, new and old. $200 dollars is on the line for the winner, as well as other monetary rewards for players in second and third. Play will begin on October 17th. So if you are interested please go sign up here!

We also have a map voting form!

We hope to see you at the tourney very soon. Now go get practicing. (GameRanger has had a lot of activity the past couple days)

My last post about TA's 18th birthday somehow attracted some longtime members back to the forum, and maybe this tournament will bring back some of the greats like the Gnugs or TAG_Rock?

Probably not, but you never know with TA boomerangs!

TA turned 18 this week, and for many of us, it's been a lot of happy memories. Interested in the past? There are some memories from Cavedog employees, like Art Director Clayton Kauzlaric sharing some of the oldest images of TA on his blog, or Lead Programmer Jon Mavor sharing some of the details of the TA Engine. Then there are TAU forum members like SnakeInTheMirror sharing old previews of TA.

But the future? Well, some work needs to be done to help ensure that gamers can continue to play TA on newer versions of Windows. The basic story is that TA relies on older Microsoft technology (DirectDraw) in such a way that newer versions of Windows (8 and beyond) can run into problems running it. Wotan, one of the modders pushing TA to the limits with Escalation, has more information in this thread on our TA Unofficial Patch forum.

So if you're new, if you're old, if you're a boomerang, or even if you're JungleJoe, come and join us in keeping the war that has gone on for four thousand years lasting just a little longer.

Whew, that's a lot of links! So I'm going to leave you with, in celebration of TA's 18th birthday, the first image of TA I ever saw, in a PCGamer magazine ad.

Let's face it, sometimes you want a new yet familiar challenge. While some players stay away from mods like Total Mayhem, TA:Zero, TA:Escalation, or even venerable ones like The Uberhack, most players are always excited to try new maps.

A few months ago, François unleashed his 21 pack of maps designed work both with OTA and his TA:Frenzy mod.

Mapper icanfly342 found TAU, registered, and has gifted us with over 10 new maps for you to play on. Lots of great work here, and I'll just leave you with a few images of the maps to whet your appetite.







Lots more map releases can be found here on the TAU Forums

Here at Total Annihilation Universe, we are lucky to have some talented and capable people still building on the Total Annihilation game. Most especially at the moment is Object Pascal developer Rime, who has added a truckload of new extensions via the Swedish Yankspankers' TA Recorder dll.

These extensions include indicators for things such as reload and reclaim progress bars, on-screen counters for anti-nukes - and transports:



Dynamically sized damage bars:



...progress is also being made on mobile factories:



...and all sorts of clever stuff!



The impossible is now possible, such as upgrading metal extractors to moho metal extractors:



...and mass air transports:


Work is being done to implement these features in mods, including Total Mayhem. An example is this moho upgrade by Idec Sdawkminn that uses unit spawning, unit detection, and units giving other units orders (as yet unreleased, but out soon):



For more info, visit Rime's TA Tavern... and the Hacking TA thread is always a good read!

UPDATE: It has been discovered that the game may not launch for some users with certain GPUs or Windows 8. Please see the note at the bottom of this post for more information.

On this week sixteen years ago, Total Annihilation was unleashed upon the world and Total Annihilation Universe was launched soon after, remaining the final bastion of TA on the internet after over fifteen years online. Today, to celebrate Total Annihilation's anniversary, TA Universe is releasing the long-awaited Total Annihilation v3.9.02 Beta Patch, complete with the groundbreaking new megamap, as well as long-awaited updates to three major mod projects, each of them based on the the patch: Total Annihilation Zero Alpha 4, finally featuring T2 units; TA: Escalation Beta 6.8, introducing advanced hovercraft; and Total Mayhem Beta 6.9, adding 35 new units since the last version.


What is the TA v3.9.02 Beta Patch? It's the latest beta version of the TA Unofficial Patch, a project that aims to be the comprehensive and definitive update to Total Annihilation, featuring must-have features like fixed pathfinding, indispensable new interface features and bug fixes, and the brand-new interactive megamap, a full-screen map that will change the way you play the game. Everything you can do in the game view or the minimap, you can do on the megamap, and you can quickly zoom back in to the exact spot you want on the game view. It's all as easy as rolling the mouse wheel.

Download the Total Annihilation v3.9.02 Beta Patch

But that's not all! The action keeps coming with three excellent mods that all contain the same features as the TA v3.9.02 patch:


Total Annihilation Zero is a complete remake of Total Annihilation featuring three factions: an all-new Arm and Core as well as a mysterious faction called the Guardians of Kadesh (GoK). Today's release is the much anticipated version Alpha 4, featuring the introduction of T2 ground units for all factions. If you're new to TA Zero, the official website is a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the mod.

Download Total Annihilation Zero Alpha 4

Total Annihilation: Escalation is currently the most popular Total Annihilation mod, adding dozens of innovative units to Total Annihilation and also rebalancing and updating the entire game, resulting in a premiere "expansion" style mod. Today's Beta 6.8 release adds the long-awaited advanced hovercraft as well as numerous gameplay adjustments.

Download Total Annihilation: Escalation Beta 6.8

Total Mayhem is one of the longest running mods in the Total Annihilation and possibly RTS world, being in development since 1999 (back then, it was known as GMTA). Part-comprehensive-balancing-mod and part-unit-pack, Total Mayhem adds over 150 units to Total Annihilation while making sure to preserve the feel of original Total Annihilation. Today's release, Beta 6.9, adds 35 new units and features many bug fixes.

Download Total Mayhem Beta 6.9

Playing any of these mods online is now easier than ever! Simply install the GameRanger client and select which mod you want to play online by setting it as the Total Annihilation location in GameRanger's options. That's it!

Of course, there's a lot more to learn about the Unofficial Patch and each of these three mods, so be sure to read the documentation in detail and visit the forum if you have any questions or comments.

UPDATE:

Please note that the game might not launch when using certain graphics cards, usually AMD/ATI, (with any OS) or when using Windows 8 (with any graphics card). Until this issue is fixed, there are two workarounds for affected users:

1) You can try this preliminary hotfix (unzip to your game folder) and post your results while we continue to work on a resolution. This fix should allow your game to launch, but you may encounter unsatisfactory frame rates or hangs on the megamap (if it hangs, just roll the mousewheel up and wait for the game to zoom back in). However, the regular game view should be fine. Please DO NOT install this fix if you are not affected by the game launch crashing issue (most Nvidia users on Windows 7 or earlier) as it may break your game.

OR

2) You can run the game in windowed mode, available via the included launcher or by setting the "-d" parameter to the game shortcut. The game will run fine but please note that running in windowed mode disables some new features such as the megamap, whiteboard, line building, and multiplayer allied resource bars. Also note that the main menu window is always 640x480, but the game itself will still run at your selected resolution.

It's been just under a year since we first posted about Planetary Annihilation, the upcoming descendent of (and a spiritual successor to) our raison d'être; Total Annihilation, and given what this game could mean to the future of RTS gaming, not posting a status update would be criminal.

The short version is, things are going well. Planetary Annihilation is in late-alpha stages at the moment, and has already been in the hands of its upper-tier Kickstarter backers for a great many weeks. A host of features have been implemented for PA in just this short amount of time, including:

• Support for Windows 32- and 64-bit, Mac OS/X and Linux operating systems,


• a current maximum of 10-person gameplay,


• an AI that is slowly but surely growing in capability,


• a match-making system that is steadily evolving,


• general gameplay/performance improvements (based on user feedback),


• and a Planet Editor (with playable custom planets).

Planetary Annihilation can lay claim to already having a respectable-sized community wrapped around it as well, with a very busy Official Forum, its own subreddit, IRC channel, Wiki library, and even a fan-made repository for PA Matches which boasts a pirate's cache-worth of recorded games! You may expect these communities to grow significantly, as Planetary Annihilation's mid-level Kickstarter backers are scheduled to receive beta access in September.

HUGE changes for Devolution 6.0. Flying buildings. Shields on every Arm building. Cloaking for all of Core's buildings. Upgrade modules. Major boosts for Captains. The Devolution Website is also updated with a new details in the Unit Guide and in the Basics section - so check it out.

If you're looking for multiplayer games, try Gameranger. I'll be doing my best to get some matches in - my player ID is 317628.

If you haven't tried it before, here are just a few of the new units!

Thanks to Total Annihilation Universe's previous leader, Nexus, we now have control over the FileUniverse.com domain once again after 4 years of it being inactive!

While files.tauniverse.com will remain the primary domain for File Universe, you can now access the site via its original and more iconic domain.

Happy downloading everyone!

P.S. You're welcome Storm.

Mac OS X users might be interested to know that the GOG.com release of the Total Annihilation Commander Pack has just been updated to support OS X version 10.6.8 and newer. The OS X version is not sold separately from the Windows version so if you already own the game on GOG.com, you now own the new OS X version as well. New purchasers will receive both the Windows and OS X versions.

We haven't tested this new release yet but it seems to be the Windows version packaged with some sort of pre-configured Wine setup. It is not yet known if there are any bugs or other issues, nor is it known if the new OS X version is compatible with mods or the TA Unofficial Patch. If you are a Mac user, give it a try and let everyone know how it goes!

TA-SECT's hard efforts are out in the open for all to see - An awesome unit pack featuring 17 brand new Core units, ready to smash the Arm to shreds! With special thanks to Flame599596, DoomBowser, PlasmoidThunder, Gamma, M1Garland and many others, what started out as a single unit, has become a Cavedog standard unit pack! We hope you have as much fun playing with these units as we have making them!