Why you should install ESC

[fn198]

When Cavedog was updating Total Annihilation in the late 90's they were updating it incrementally and adding new units and features as they went. Unfortunately for us now in the present, they went defunct almost 16 years ago. This means that v3.1, the TA available through Steam, is the same version from the year 2000. The meta game discovered by the competitive community back then made 90% of the game's units and an entire side (CORE) competitively worthless. Flash > Samson > Hawks > GG became the flow of every - game.

Fortunately a mod community with developers, model makers, game design experts and dedicated players caught up from where Cavedog left off. They integrated advanced UX features into the game, added new game mechanics and balanced CORE against ARM. They gave each unit a purpose and made each unit worth building. They gave us all this while staying true to the spirit of Total Annihilation. This mod is called Total Annihilation: Escalation.

Here's a short clip of me reviewing an epic game of 'esc' on the map Greatest Divide.
https://youtu.be/SZyOxcO5wOo

These are just a few of the awesome features only in esc.
- multi unit loading and unloading transports
- shields
- overchargers
- building hotkeys
- building upgrades
- surfacing nuclear submarines

Download 8.1.3 at http://taesc.tauniverse.com

[Bigheaded]

Originally posted by Sean Mirrsen:

I'm personally not a big fan of modifications that seek to "tighten up the balance" in TA, and add various eSports-inspired interface improvements. I like TA because it's a fun game to play in whatever style you prefer, it has its charm in its various quirks, and its primary failings lie on the technical side.

I've yet to find a good Steam-version-compatible set of mods that would bump the unit cap, improve pathing and AI, and change nothing else, most of all the music selector since it actually works very well for me by default. :\

i know the unit cap exists and took me 10 seconds to google:
http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40905

also, not sure if this still works, but ages back you could insert into notepad:
[preferences]
unitlimit = 500
save in ta directory as totala.ini

apparently works for 1000 also, i remember using 500 as using more than that sometimes crashed.



pathing can be fixed by ta:mutation slightly be removing corpses, but it's more about the AI, again, plenty available to download.
Also note, it depends which map you play. i recommend maps without water as that really adds to freezing up.

Lastly, if you fancy adding units for fun rather than for balance, i made a post here:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/298030/discussions/0/451848855000883780/

they are mostly fairly balanced units anyway which are just there to make it more fun to play.


in terms of getting escalation to work, restarting computer didn't work. not sure what else to try and pretty much out of patience, patch didn't help :(

[fn198]

I understand where you are coming from but consider that OTA is not as playable as you may think... CORE is not feasible to play and flash/Samson/hawk spam is the extent of the metagame.

I recommend playing OTA as CORE for a few games to get an idea of how severe the problems are with pre-esc TA.


@bigheaded
The fix for your crash is to set compatibility mode for the esc TotalA.exe to Windows XP or 7 and check the run as administrator checkbox. Either that or run the Windows Compatibility Troubleshooting Wizard. Tell me what you get!

[Bigheaded]

Originally posted by TAESC_FN202:

I understand where you are coming from but consider that OTA is not as playable as you may think... CORE is not feasible to play and flash/Samson/hawk spam is the extent of the metagame.

I recommend playing OTA as CORE for a few games to get an idea of how severe the problems are with pre-esc TA.


@bigheaded
The fix for your crash is to set compatibility mode for the esc TotalA.exe to Windows XP or 7 and check the run as administrator checkbox. Either that or run the Windows Compatibility Troubleshooting Wizard. Tell me what you get!

Ugh, i'm so stupid. I presumed that i had sorted the setting out for TA Escalation, but as you mentioned, you have to use the one in the folder. It crashed on loading and i already saw the "hotfix download" for this, which was successful!
Seems to be working fine!

Will update/delete posts to clean it up in here if it allows me to.
Thank you very much for your assistance though, really good to see people who try to help!


In terms of playing against AI (sean hirrsens post), it doesn't matter what units you use, it's more about having fun, which is why i had posted a topic about downloaded units, but sadly not a lot of interest there. PVP is obviously entirely different.

Anyway, thanks again, will update after giving it a good trial!

[Underscorecow]

Glad to hear its working

Don`t forget to overcharge your doomsday machines kids

[Sean Mirrsen]

Originally posted by TAESC_FN202:

I understand where you are coming from but consider that OTA is not as playable as you may think... CORE is not feasible to play and flash/Samson/hawk spam is the extent of the metagame.

I recommend playing OTA as CORE for a few games to get an idea of how severe the problems are with pre-esc TA.

CORE is actually pretty much my favorite faction to play as. I like the visual design of most of their units more than the ARM equivalents, with the exceptions of some T2 KBots and resource structures.

I also play singleplayer mostly, using TA Bugfix with the Queller AI that actually kicks a lot more butt as CORE than as ARM. I counter flash/samson attacks with Thuds and base creep, and hawks are only an issue if you don't have AA covering most of your territory, or somehow have a centralized economy or a vulnerable commander. Yes, I know, even custom AI is not nearly as vicious as proper players, but for most people playing TA, dumping Escalation into the game first thing is not going to do nearly as much good as you imagine. OTA, as-is or especially with (comparatively) minor fixes, is still a greatly enjoyable game to play.

[fn198]

I'm glad you're enjoying the game but a lot of people quickly get bored playing that way. The AI can't fight back and gives no sense of accomplishment. I would just air start then using a bomber to kill it and it would work every time.

One thing that I will say though is that I don't want to tell you what to play against AI. What you do on your computer when no one is watching is of no concern to me... OTA multiplayer is almost totally different that what your game looks like. Likewise, Esc is on a totally different level.

Play some matches online!

[Sean Mirrsen]

I tend to avoid multiplayer TA for the same reason I tend to avoid Starcraft in general - people playing to win tend to forgo having fun in order to do so, and a game exists primarily to let its players have fun.

"Playing to win" creates these strategies such killing the default AI with a single bomber out of the gate, and of course you can do so, but where's the fun in it? Same thing with Hawk spam and such. I prefer two sides that are thematically fun rather than perfectly balanced, especially here because ARM and CORE are already very similar, and bridging the differences between them just misses the whole point. It makes sense to have a weaker faction because it allows an additional challenge that is emergent instead of just a matter of your opponent having X% more resources or being Y% more efficient.

Do recall, canonically the CORE lose. ;)

[Underscorecow]

Originally posted by Sean Mirrsen:

I tend to avoid multiplayer TA for the same reason I tend to avoid Starcraft in general - people playing to win tend to forgo having fun in order to do so, and a game exists primarily to let its players have fun.

"Playing to win" creates these strategies such killing the default AI with a single bomber out of the gate, and of course you can do so, but where's the fun in it? Same thing with Hawk spam and such. I prefer two sides that are thematically fun rather than perfectly balanced, especially here because ARM and CORE are already very similar, and bridging the differences between them just misses the whole point. It makes sense to have a weaker faction because it allows an additional challenge that is emergent instead of just a matter of your opponent having X% more resources or being Y% more efficient.

Do recall, canonically the CORE lose. ;)

Trust me, you will come into alot of matches where people don`t want to rush a win, they want to tech up.

Gameranger taught the Ta player community patience.

Also technically core never really lost, they did lose their homeworld to "stratedgy" but the narration never spoke of superior units.

While you are right playing core does add an additional challenge because the only game changers that core has require top micro in ota *such as shadow stacking*

[Chainsaw Charlie]

I used to play TA:ESC a few years ago with my CD TA, but this new version didn't work for some reason on Steam.

[Crene]

Originally posted by jacovanderschaaf1988:

how do you install this ? steam said core contingency and batlle tactis are in game, yet i'm missing building and units, so were do i get from steam version into ESC?

your not missing anything from core contingency and batlle tactis play MP/Skm if you want to use them right away

[Les White]

Originally posted by TAESC_FN202:

I'm glad you're enjoying the game but a lot of people quickly get bored playing that way.

The game is 20 years old dude. There's a reason people are bored playing with it, and that's because other games come out.

I'm happy there's still a hardcore community for the game, but you'll find that with just about ANY game online. You're not going to garner mass appeal for high end balance when 99.99% of people playing the game aren't going to be playing it with the same vigor and intentions as you are.

As such, those of us that played in '99 didn't have any problems with Core because we weren't playing it to win online. We were playing it to mess around with our buddies and have a good time, and the entire game didn't revolve around peewee rushes. Since you are VERY unlikely to gain any new players to the hardcore community just because it got released on Steam, I'd probably drop the superiority complex. I like the passion you have for the game, but the odds of getting new people into a game that looks this old where strategies have been refined for 15+ years is pretty abysmal.

Also, when I load a game like this, I want to play the game I used to play, not someone's idea of a "better" version of it. That's why games like Everquest ruined themselves.

[fn198]

Wow Dickhorn sorry to step on your nostalgia! If you don't play multiplayer then Escalation doesn't concern you.

Also just because the game came out a while ago doesn't mean it's not better than the crap that "AAA" studios put out these days. I play a lot of games and honestly believe that Escalation is worth playing much more than the othe stuff.

[Underscorecow]

^ I honestly agree with FN202 , there are many titles that claim to be ta`s "spiritual successor"

Games with larger battles, better graphics, macro over micro controls *like telling a unit to build metal extractors over an area* , better campaign, ai, gamemodes, multiplayer lobbys, easier installation, the list goes on...

Yet we have people literally coming from the newer games to play ta esc for different reasons,

One would be because of the clearly defined use of micro, you could even say your playing as the units rather then commanding them half the time.

You also work for your massive army rather then being able to build one off the bat, the stratedgies are nearly endless.

[Darkside99x]

I can not get this to work at all, I followed every step and it wont launch at all even after the hot fix, trying the 2nd exe in the folder gives me a missing smackw32.dll.

[Underscorecow]

Originally posted by Darkside99x:

I can not get this to work at all, I followed every step and it wont launch at all even after the hot fix, trying the 2nd exe in the folder gives me a missing smackw32.dll.

EASY FIX

Go into your total annihilation folder and find the smack32.dll file and copy it into your escalation folder.

I dont think its really a content file it just permits startup of ta. *I had this issue before lol*