TA:Excess v1.30 Final (31.12.2008)



Installing :


For a new install, you should have TA with CC ready. TA:Excess is installed just by placing 
these files into your TA folder. Old TA will be untouched and Excess played via its own .exe files.
Only some of the OTA and CC content is needed. There is a no-CD version of the exe for those of us
who want to preserve their precious TA CD.

Many other mods can be installed along Excess into same TA folder, but having various mods in 
separate folders is recommended.


If you're installing over previous Excess version, please follow these instructions...

Remove "Excess.ufo" and "114_Patch1.ccx" when installing over any version older than V1.30 Beta 1!!!
"Excess.ufo" file is no more! Its content has been moved into GoK31.gp3!
As always with old patches, "114_Patch1.ccx" is as well included in new files.

Note that Super Commanders patches that came along Betas do not work properly with final v1.30.


Replace old .exe files, even if you already have updated to 1500 unit limit;
I actually did hex edit them this time to show correct version number in main menu.



Generic babling :

Everything except most dramatic changes I had in my mind have been done and version 1.30 is thus finished. 
Buildpics done, menus reworked, bugs fixed and balancing atleast one step to the better direction;
perhaps finally GoK players can make a stand against proficient and rushy Arm and Core players.

This is likely to be last unitpack-like TA Excess version and next one will introduce something that is 
thought to the end, less messy, more balanced, extremely polished and above all, more unconventional than 
anything so far.



Important changes in v1.30 Final :


-Bugs and issues fixed.

-GoK Build pics are now done.

-GoK sounds refined further and again some new sounds added.

-Some minor texture improvements with GoK models once again.

-Brand new main menu and loading screen images.

-Costs and build speed of many higher tier factories changed and balanced. Basic GoK factories now cost less.

-Scouts are now generally cheaper.

-Some GoK units are now slightly cheaper, most notably Tantrum (combat scout) and Protector (support builder/minelayer).

-Basic metal makers now produce less metal and with worse cost efficiency.



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Important changes in previous v1.30 Beta 4 :


-Arm and Core build pics are now done.

-Commanders now have flashy gate in animation upon arrival. Unfortunately I couldn't get any sound to it.

-Lots of new explosion animations.

-Many GoK sounds improved and some new sounds and soundsets added.

-All Arm and Core artillery units got more or less reworked. Basic artillery tanks are now bulky and fire large AOE 
 fragmentation shells that are effective against MT forests and hordes of light assault units. Artillery kbots have more 
 powerful plasma cannons and more armor to effectively give fire support during assaults on enemy frontlines.

-Arm and Core Fighters' weapon power against ground units is now much higher, but still reasonably low.

-All pop-up turrets now have stealth. Affects GoK significantly since many of their fixed turrets are pop-ups.

-All level 1 radar towers and sonar stations are now more costly and slower to build.

-All scout units now have cloaking.

-Many big level 2 or 3 buildings that had cloaking ability no longer have it.

-Many units had their resource storage/production capabilities reduced or removed.
 Building some of those actual storage buildings instantly becomes much better idea.

-Changes in GoK units...

 Last few model and script improvements before making final buildpics. Glow animations on energy generators and such.

 Radar was replaced by similar unit with better model, script and more reasonable statistics.
 Similar model and script changes were applied to all mobile radar systems as well.

 Tantrum Recon Buggy was replaced by Combat Scout droid (name recycled as it fits very well to this design).
 Original Tantrum was anyway used more as raiding/assault unit than scout, so this change aims to truly make it GoK's
 light assault bate unit. It has significant hitting power compared to its small size, light armor and high speed.
 Also since all land scouts now have cloaking, this one can also perform some sneaky operations.
 High energy costs keep this unit from being spammed at beginning and Arm and Core will still have their advantage
 on this field.

 Scourge's disruptor guns were replaced with light ion blasters. Previously they could bring down super heavy targets 
 with their disruptors while being inefficient against lightest units, so this change kind of reverses that.

 Pillar of Light now has shielding. It's generally better now than before, so building them might just be reasonable.
 Even if direct assaults were mostly futile, it was all too easy to destroy with artillery and bombers.

-Changes in Core units...

 Howitzer now has better model and script in addition to the general changes into all artillery units.

 Morty also got better model and script. Along boosted plasma cannon, it now has additional light autocannon arm turret.

 Immolator is now pop-up and more powerful. Model and script redone nearly completely.

 Tormentor was totally reworked to be a true mobile Intimidator cannon.

-Changes in Arm units...

 Arm Phobos was reworked. Concept remains, but model and script got almost totally reworked, weapon changed to fire
 special shells designed to destroy heavy targets and along other changes to statistics it is now slower, more armored
 and more costly.

 Flea is now more combat capable that previously, but not as durable, fast or capable of scouting as Jeffy or Weasel.



Important changes in v1.30 Beta 3 :


-Discounting lacking buildpics, still slightly off unit balance and need of some final polish, v1.30 is now ready.

-Lots of minor mistakes that propably noone else ever noticed fixed since beta 2.

-Balancing should be now better than previously. Not going to explain too many details here and now though.

-Few units went through more or less dramatic changes...

 Core Leveler changed to have massacre cannon instead of ballistic plasma cannon. Short range, high firepower,
 high rate of fire and limited guidance ensure destruction of Peewees. As a side note, there already was several
 Core tanks with ballistic weapons but not a single with rapid firing gun, so this increases unit diversity. :)

 Core Scrambler was rather useless as it was and Core lacked depth charge hover, so easiest solution was to 
 change Scrambler to fit that need. Apparently quite a lazy solution, but who cares? :D

 Arm Mirage model and script redone. Simplified the unit a bit and removed that useless shapechanging thing.

 GoK Keeper redone. Along changed model, it's now lighter, more manouverable, lacks photon torpedo launcher,
 but has shield protecting the main weapon when it is opened and has optional "guarding" mode that activates 
 radar and keeps main weapon prepared until turned off.

-All shielded units now start with their shield at full charge. Shield anyhow won't block fire while the unit 
 is being built. Some minor improvements in shield animation also.

-Some changes to weapon/unit specific damages such as level 1 assault units dealing slightly less damage to 
 basic defences while level 1 artillery and rockets are more powerful. Note that even short ranged ballistic 
 sliver cannons count as artillery now.

 Fixed lightest lasers to not to do less damage against medium armored targets.

 GoK Godhammer and Immortal now count as medium armor targets and are thus more resilient to EMGs, flamers and such,
 while taking more damage from lasers, lightning guns and disruptors.

 Arm Marine guns now totally suck against medium and heavy armored targets.

-All gunship guns now have limited guidance. Makes them lot more useful. :)

-Giblet wreckage models redone and unit wreck statistics checked through and all issues fixed.
 Giblets are now more durable so that landscape will be littered by wreckage after a battle.
 Smallest wrecks changed to be passable. (Core AK wrecks and such)

-Lots of reworking and improvements in GoK models. Guess I'm happy with them now and not going to touch them anymore.



Important changes in v1.30 Beta 2 :


-Nearly all of whatever defunct or otherwise crappy content has been kicked out or reworked completely.

-Weapon/unit specific damages implemented for ground unit weaponry. (AA and GA type weapons had these already)
 These changes make higher level units generally more effective and some specialized (and so far rarely needed) 
 units more important than previously! Game became much more tactical now when Peewees can barely punch 
 any holes into Goliath's hull while Annihilator blows it up with a single shot. ^^

 Lasers are now more powerful against targets with high relative health value compared to their size, 
 but many are less effective against gaunt units. Only BLoD lasers get significant bonuses against most 
 heaviest targets, while lighter lasers lose some of their bonuses after certain armor thickness.

 Gauss cannons get similar bonuses up to certain limit but won't lose effectiveness against lightest units.
 Flamer, EMG and whatever other light rapid fire weapons get significant bonus against lightest units 
 while logically being ineffective against heavier targets (starting from Stumpy).

 Siege weapons (battleship cannons, LRPC, heavy bombs and so on) get bonuses against largest and heaviest 
 units and also some bonus against medium and heavy units. Heavy weapons (Guardian and Goliath cannons and such) 
 do heavy damage to medium and heavy units, but won't do as much against whatever super heavy stuff there is. 
 All these large blast weapons do slightly reduced damage to lightest of units. 

 Lightning guns, disruptors and other such weapons that mostly ignore whatever armor naturally do heavy damage 
 to any targets with thick armor or large vulnerable subsystems (Penetrator and fusion power plants for instance). 
 Disruptors are ineffective against lightest units, but lightning guns anyhow won't lose their power.

-Changes in aircraft! Fighters can now again fire at ground targets, but their power is very limited against 
 other than aerial units. Condor and Scythe are now antiair only interceptors, but do that with fearsome 
 efficiency; gave them longer sight ranges than other fighters and also some radar range in order to make 
 them good for patrolling. Gunships (and also bombers to lesser extent) got a bit more armor and weapon power 
 so that people would still keep using other air units than just fighters.

-Nukes (and other strategic missiles) are now more powerful, but slow and costly to build.
 Antinukes also cost more and are built as slow as nukes. Note that EMP, neutron and cruise missile salvos 
 are built slightly faster than antinukes.

-Many units have been reworked and functionality of some has changed significantly...

 Nearly all of the originally amphibious tanks and kbots now have weaponry to fight under water; mostly 
 depth charge launchers, but some do have light torpedos. Tanks are now also lot faster but less 
 manouverable.

 Arm Liche is now is more clearly SRBM bomber and one will have to order it to build it's missiles. 
 It can fire only single missile during flight and must land in order to fire again.

 Arm Elite can use only one of it's two weapons at a time; heavy railgun at long ranges (or when force 
 attacking) and pulse blaster when enemies are close.

 Arm Orcone and Core Karganeth are now so huge and clumsy that they are nearly useless against hordes of 
 light units (most notably Karganeth with its ballistic type weapons that cannot aim down :p) but will 
 devastate fortifications and other heavy units in matter of seconds, smiting down almost any target 
 with a single shot.

-Some balancing changes like commanders of all factions producing equal amount of resources and 
 otherwise having more similar statistics.

-Few units have been scaled to more reasonable size. Lvl 1 bombers, fighters and gunships for instance 
 are now smaller.

-Some visual polish like refined missile models and better texturing for few units.



Important changes in v1.30 Beta 1 :


-Cleaned up the files and thus increased stability and reduced size significantly!

-Patched TA:E custom exe files to support 1500 units.

-Most of whatever defunct or otherwise crappy content has been kicked out or reworked completely.
 Basically this means that total amount of units has been reduced and many old units have been 
 replaced by new and shiny ones.

-Sweetspots of naval turrets, pelicans and such moved so that they'll get properly aimed at!

-GoK saw major all around reworking, mostly evident in added shield systems and improved models. 
 Though not that visible, atleast as much progress has happened in scripting.
 Whole lot of new units as well... Perhaps most important being this new support builder/minelayer 
 lev that is available from all lvl1 factories. This unit solves whatever trouble GoK so far 
 experienced in early game, not being capable of pumping out expendable builders at higher rate 
 for contesting area and resources.

-Arm and Core build menus remade from scratch; tech tree changes a little...
 There is now clearly three tech levels for Arm and Core while GoK still has its two leveled tree.
 Hovercraft are now available in Commander build lists so no need to whine about GoK getting 
 some advantage on this part.
 There is only one type of lvl 3 con unit for Arm and Core and those are available at both 
 lvl 3 vehicle and kbot factories. All lvl 2 cons can build one of these factories.

-Higher level cons are now amphibious and have water based structures on their build lists.
 Nanolathe ranges have been increased so that cons have no trouble assisting factories 
 and that even lvl 1 ground cons can build to water. Same applies to con subs and coasts.

-All con units move faster now, kbot and sub ones were just painfully slow.
 Also all Commanders are faster (especially Arm and Core ones that are also bigger now).

-Lots of changes in air units and whatever closely related ground units and structures!
 Missiles now continue to track their target beyond initial max range, flak shots and such 
 now have limited guidance.
 All antiair weapons now have unit specific damages; bombers are vulnerable to fighter weapons 
 but resilient against ground missile turrets, fighters can now only fire at air targets, 
 long range heavy missiles deal lots of damage to super heavy air units, Jethro and Crasher 
 missiles are now more powerful against heavier air targets and ground units while Samson and 
 Slasher can hit fastest of fighters...

-Long range cannons are finally reasonable units (well... Berthas always were) now that 
 Their power has been limited, range increased and costs reduced.
 Vulcan and Buzzsaw are bigger, fire at slower pace and most importantly at longer range than 
 Berthas and Intimidators; now they actually are offensive units and thus reasonable to build.
 Core Oppressor was completely remade; sufficient to say that it is an orgastic experience.
 GoK Liquidator got kicked out and replaced by Searing Amaryllis siege cannon; basically it is 
 kind of a lite version of Core Oppressor.

-Some balancing changes like all basic mexes of all factions producing equal amount of metal, 
 smallest of units being more expensive and less powerful, changing units so that their roles 
 are clearer.

-Scout units now actually work like scout units should. Cut down firepower, size and durability 
 while increasing speed and sensor ranges.

-Air transports now come with some gunshipping capability, armor and are more manouverable.
 Arm Atlas didn't get that much armor but speed, stealth and stunner weapon.
