TA: Excess II (Alpha 1c - October 24, 2009)



Few notes about release alpha 1c :

- There is no separate standard and noCD .exe files anymore, but just one ExcessII.exe that is noCD even if it doesn't state this through its name.

- Easy and medium AI difficulty settings work now. All basic map profiles are included but they have not been tweaked much, so expect them to really perform unreliably. AI will get cheat resources on all difficulty settings, but their metal income will be very limited on easy. Also easy AI will build less artillery and heavy units, so turtling is more viable strategy against it.

- The bug with CTRL_F idle factory cycling hack is now fixed and the feature is in game again.



Installation :

You can install Excess II into your main TA folder (usually C:\Cavedog\TotalA), but to minimize any potential issues it is recommended to install the mod into a clean, unmodified game folder. You can do this by ensuring that your game folder is an unmodified standard installation, or you can copy/paste your game folder so that you have an exclusive install for Excess II (you can have as many copies of TA installed as you like). 

This is the standard install order:

1. Install Total Annihilation.

2. After installing the game, do a Multiplayer Spawn install or manually copy the file totala2.hpi into your game folder. If you don't do this, skirmish maps will not be available unless you have the disc inserted.

3. Install the Core Contingency expansion pack. This is optional but recommended. Excess II seems to work without the expansion, but it has not been thoroughly tested and you will not have access to the expansion's maps. On some recent versions of Windows, the installer for Core Contingency does not work. You can manually install the expansion by copying the files ccdata.ccx and ccmaps.ccx from the game disc to your game folder.

4. Extract the Excess II files to your game folder. It is not necessary to install the 3.1c patch, though you may want to install the post-3.1c Cavedog maps. To play the mod, simply run the Excess II .exe file.

5. Do not place other modifications (including custom AIs meant for original TA!) in the Excess II game folder. If you have any issues, please visit our forums at www.tauniverse.com to ask for help. 



Game information :

TA: Excess II is a comprehensive mod that completely changes Total Annihilation. Arm and Core are redesigned from the ground up and a third race, the Guardians of Kadesh, is added (though they are not yet available in this alpha version... you can, however, play with the old version in the original TA: Excess version 1.31). Since this is only alpha version, only Tier 1 land and air units are available for Arm and Core. More units will be available in upcoming versions.

To learn more about this mod, visit our forum here :
http://tauniverse.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=161

To view a starter guide for Arm, go here :
http://tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40228

To view a starter guide for Core, go here :
http://tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40229



Some noteworthy gameplay features :

- All factories have directable build plates. Press the Direct button or "D" key and click on the map in the direction you want to point the build plate towards. Note that you must do this when the factory is not building anything. Since most factories have north and south exits, and the default exit direction is south, the usual use for this feature is to direct the buildplate to the north. After you do this, it is useful to set a Move waypoint towards the north to ensure units exit smoothly.

- Do not enable +shootall when playing Excess II. The game was designed in such a way that it is not necessary and even inadvisable to use it. It is, however, recommended that you enable +switchalt so that you can select your unit squads (set via CTRL+1-9) by simply pressing 1-9 instead of ALT+1-9.

- Unit design in Excess II is very different from Total Annihilation. Arm and Core are not very similar and there are much fewer units. Take note of the information provided in the starter guides linked above to ensure that you are familiar with the capabilities and features of the units. 

- Hotkeys for Excess II are different than Total Annihilation. Here is the full list (note that you can view these in-game at any time by pressing TAB and then pressing the Help button):

CTRL_A - select all units
CTRL_C - select commander
CTRL_B - cycle through idle construction units
CTRL_F - cycle through idle factories
CTRL_D - self-destruct selected units
CTRL_S - select all units currently on screen
CTRL_Z - select all units of the same type as selected unit

CTRL_G - select mobile ground units
CTRL_L - select frontline mobile ground units
CTRL_O - select supporting mobile ground units
CTRL_I - select amphibious mobile ground units
CTRL_K - select kbots
CTRL_T - select vehicles
CTRL_H - select hovercraft

CTRL_V - select mobile air units
CTRL_Y - select fighters
CTRL_M - select bombers
CTRL_P - select gunships

CTRL_W - select mobile water units
CTRL_N - select mobile surface water units
CTRL_U - select mobile underwater units

CTRL_X - select mobile experimental units

CTRL_Q - select structures with long-ranged weapons
CTRL_E - select structures that convert energy to metal

CTRL_R - select units with radar or sonar
CTRL_J - select units with radar jamming or sonar jamming



Changes after Alpha 1 :

Alpha 1c :
-Ctrl F idle factory selection hack is now back in game.
-Easy and Medium AI profiles added.
-Typos in models' object trees fixed.
-Typos in weapon damage charts fixed.
-Arm energy storage now has ShootMe=1 tag again.
-Arm Custodian build speed increased to 150 from 120.
-Arm Scorpion weapon base damage increased to 8 from 7.
-Arm Harasser weapon guidance increased to 6500 from 5000.
-Arm Settler build time reduced to 4500 from 5000.
-Arm Vigilant build time reduced to 7500 from 10000.
-Core Argus build time reduced to 7500 from 10000.
-Core mexes' max damage reduced to 400 from 500.
-Core mexes' damage modifier reduced to 0.75 from 0.66.
-Core mexes' wreckage statistics fixed.
-Hovercraft movement scripts enhanced.

Alpha 1b :
-All AI units are now included in weapon damage charts.
-Factory scripts fixed. They no longer randomly close after finishing some unit. AI factories now behave correctly as well.
-AI cheat resource buildings are now uncapturable.
-Kbot movement classes adjusted. The Desert Triad is now air first map. :p
-Mars plant features are now mostly passable. Red Planet map is now playable without issues.
-AA units now have their weapons' AA only versions changed to have 0 AoE.
-AA units now really focus fire on bombers.
-Storages now have hidden fake weapon that causes AI to consider them as turrets and thus build them.
-Arm Vigilant radar range increased to 2000 from 1600 and build time reduced to 10000 from 12500.
-Core Argus radar range increased to 2250 from 1800 and build time reduced to 10000 from 12500.
-Arm Corsair now costs 25 more metal and 200 more energy and is 2500 slower to build.
-Core Aurora now costs 100 less energy and is 2500 faster to build.
-Arm Harasser speed increased to 4.25 from 4.
-Arm Harasser weapon now has 0 AoE.
-Core Errant and Hornet weapons now have 0 AoE.
-Core Arclite weapon reload time changed to 3.5 from 3.0. Thus total time per salvo is now 3.75 seconds.
-Core Arclite weapon now does reduced damage to air units.
-Core Retributor now costs 50 more metal and 100 more energy.
-Wreckage statistics fixed.
-Sound effect added for factory buildpad directing.
-Menu refined. No Cavedog button in the middle of frontend anymore and background images are more polished.
-Missing AI unit 96x96 .pcx images added.



Thanks for playing!