Post by zellsf on Jan 5, 2008 16:03:38 GMT
Huge changelog
What's Spring?
A freeware RTS engine that started out as a freeware 3D Total Annihilation engine legally requiring you to own Total Annihilation.
How high is the learning curve?
Very high, 15-30 hours to get a good grip of all the basics, 30-100 hours to get somewhat good at a mod of your choice, and 100+ hours to get really good.
Will having played Total Annihilation previously help me?
Not much.
Will being good at micromanagement help me?
Not at all, Spring's advanced UI makes micromanagement anything but the main skill in the game.
Download
So, now that we've established that you'll totally suck at the game and everyone will call you a moron, you probably really want the download link, so here it is: download.
So how do I start playing games?
It's very important that you pay attention to the choose components installer as it allows you to download map packs and mods, you need the default maps and download the rest if you have the bandwith.
As for mods, read the descriptions and find out which ones you want to play the most, notice that anything but BA games being hosted in the multiplayer lobby is very rare. Still, all the other mods are awesome, BA's strength is that it sticks to the outdated gameplay everyone is used to, it rarely takes use of new features in the Spring engine.
Note that installing a Total Annihilation based mod requires that you legally owns Total Annihilation (hint: no one really cares about this).
After the installation you should download the new settings.exe set a graphic quality and go to the UI options tab and enable LuaUI. Do not use the settings.exe included with 0.76b1 as it sets an option wrong resulting in a massive performance drain.
Right after that you should find the TASClient shortcut in the start menu which'll open TASClient and join the #newbies channel where you should ask someone for help on learning the game. Alternatively, the installer allows you to install AIs which won't be as much a challenge as humans, but will still help you learn some of the basics, just launch the Spring test shortcut and select globalai test and you'll start a 1vs1 with the chosen AI.
Is there anything else I need?
Anything I do NOT need?
Stay the hell away from Greenfields and SpeedMetal, worst maps ever.
This is a major new feature release, are there many bugs?
Well, other than the settings.exe bug these are the bugs the developers want fixed for a bugfix release:
None of them are really that major.
So how does it look?
Yeah, I know that screenshot lacks an UI, but the official screenshots hasn't had a screenshot with the UI enabled since the 0.73 release for some shitty reason. Also see the offical screenshot page for a full size screenshot and other screenshots. The UI's a bit too customizable to take a default screenshot of anyway, here's how mine looks for example:
Note that I pretty much set graphic quality to lowest in every area and nothing at all is happening in that screenshot. Also, Matt's GUI another screenshot, showing the only thing dual screens can be used for in Spring.
So why would the Tyrian forum be remotely interested in a relatively new RTS game?
I've no clue, figured I'd just copy paste this to all forums I visit frequently to see if that would get more players
What's Spring?
A freeware RTS engine that started out as a freeware 3D Total Annihilation engine legally requiring you to own Total Annihilation.
How high is the learning curve?
Very high, 15-30 hours to get a good grip of all the basics, 30-100 hours to get somewhat good at a mod of your choice, and 100+ hours to get really good.
Will having played Total Annihilation previously help me?
Not much.
Will being good at micromanagement help me?
Not at all, Spring's advanced UI makes micromanagement anything but the main skill in the game.
Download
So, now that we've established that you'll totally suck at the game and everyone will call you a moron, you probably really want the download link, so here it is: download.
So how do I start playing games?
It's very important that you pay attention to the choose components installer as it allows you to download map packs and mods, you need the default maps and download the rest if you have the bandwith.
As for mods, read the descriptions and find out which ones you want to play the most, notice that anything but BA games being hosted in the multiplayer lobby is very rare. Still, all the other mods are awesome, BA's strength is that it sticks to the outdated gameplay everyone is used to, it rarely takes use of new features in the Spring engine.
Note that installing a Total Annihilation based mod requires that you legally owns Total Annihilation (hint: no one really cares about this).
After the installation you should download the new settings.exe set a graphic quality and go to the UI options tab and enable LuaUI. Do not use the settings.exe included with 0.76b1 as it sets an option wrong resulting in a massive performance drain.
Right after that you should find the TASClient shortcut in the start menu which'll open TASClient and join the #newbies channel where you should ask someone for help on learning the game. Alternatively, the installer allows you to install AIs which won't be as much a challenge as humans, but will still help you learn some of the basics, just launch the Spring test shortcut and select globalai test and you'll start a 1vs1 with the chosen AI.
Is there anything else I need?
- CA Upater CA's a constant in development mod that didn't want to stop being constantly in development for the installer release. It needs an autoupdater to run constantly to keep up to date. Probably one of the first mods to implement new features.
- DeltaSiegeDry the most played teamplay map, not really that good, but still if you want to play lots of games, you'll need it.
- IceUI much more customizable UI than the default. Be sure to run the updater frequently. Known to be a bit of a performance drain.
- Tabula somewhat frequently played team (4vs4+) map.
- Tangerine somewhat frequently played team (4vs4+) map. Not too popular anymore, but an awesome map anyway.
Anything I do NOT need?
Stay the hell away from Greenfields and SpeedMetal, worst maps ever.
This is a major new feature release, are there many bugs?
Well, other than the settings.exe bug these are the bugs the developers want fixed for a bugfix release:
#757 (spec timeout causes host crash) (mostly fixed before b1 but apparently it can still happen in certain circumstances)
#739 (hosted replays have a bug)
#759 (players joined under wrong names/identities)
#770 (Pings are high until you change the speed of the game)
#739 (hosted replays have a bug)
#759 (players joined under wrong names/identities)
#770 (Pings are high until you change the speed of the game)
None of them are really that major.
So how does it look?
Yeah, I know that screenshot lacks an UI, but the official screenshots hasn't had a screenshot with the UI enabled since the 0.73 release for some shitty reason. Also see the offical screenshot page for a full size screenshot and other screenshots. The UI's a bit too customizable to take a default screenshot of anyway, here's how mine looks for example:
Note that I pretty much set graphic quality to lowest in every area and nothing at all is happening in that screenshot. Also, Matt's GUI another screenshot, showing the only thing dual screens can be used for in Spring.
So why would the Tyrian forum be remotely interested in a relatively new RTS game?
I've no clue, figured I'd just copy paste this to all forums I visit frequently to see if that would get more players
