bit-tech.net

brumgrunt · 11th Feb 2013, 06:22

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/gaming/...renaline-rush/

Harlequin · 11th Feb 2013, 06:28

Now - go get Planetary Annihilation when its released and that 4 hours turn into 10 hour galatic war!

Xir · 11th Feb 2013, 08:11

I had similar experiences with AoE and some of the C&C's.
Similar playstyles seem to emerge in every RTS game though.
Those Starcraft guys are just too quick for me though, I hardly manaeged to get through the single player campaign.

Most RTS have this quirk, where the units do very well when micromanaged, but very poorly if left alone. You need one guy to watch the base and one to micromanage the assault really.
(but I don't think any game offers this)

Oh, if you like the surroundings to affect the outcome, you might give this ancient game a do "Ground Control".
Line of sight, line of fire, hiding in grass, different hitzones on vehicle's, friendly fire, all in a game from 2000 (and it's free, too!)
Graphics are good if you set the visuals accordingly.

Never got into the second part, something is wrong with the controls.

Phalanx · 11th Feb 2013, 08:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xir

Most RTS have this quirk, where the units do very well when micromanaged, but very poorly if left alone. You need one guy to watch the base and one to micromanage the assault really.
(but I don't think any game offers this)

Total Annihilation does.

So does Dawn of War.

impar · 11th Feb 2013, 08:34

Greetings!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xir

Oh, if you like the surroundings to affect the outcome, you might give this ancient game a do "Ground Control".

Yep, Ground Control, that was a terrific game!

Skill3d · 11th Feb 2013, 10:32

Nice to see some golden oldies. Still running TA along with some friends at the uni. I believe they're bringing out a new patch (3rd party) for it as well.

blinkieleblind · 11th Feb 2013, 16:52

OMG I loved this game sooo much. Probably my favourite RTS from way back when..... ahh good times.

Eiffie · 11th Feb 2013, 17:48

Sinking a full five or six hours over a weekend into one sins of a solar empire game is one of the best feelings ever and the pace of the game never goes too fast for me. It really lets me play how I want to play and not just rush units from one base to the next.

dolphie · 11th Feb 2013, 21:34

I have TA installed at the moment, and SupCom, and Forged Alliance. I like them all. There is even a mod that adds TA units to SupCom! You should check it out, I'll link it below. It's not 100% complete but it's worth a try.

Personally I mostly like playing single player campaigns in RTS's. I find that with multiplayer I run in to the same problem you had with Starcraft 2. It's like mudflation and it happens in a lot of games unfortunately. What happens is that 'noobs get pwned' by elites, and they then go on the web and study other peoples build orders and strategies so that they too can be elite. And then you end up where noobs get beaten by elites AND other former noobs. Then it becomes like an arms race where even to just about get by, you need to at least have spent SOME time studying guides and whatnot. And of course, in an attempt to foster community or whatever B.S, they started adding clans to games which in fact just makes everything worse because it territorialises (is that word?) the community. New players immediately look for some elite guild to help them get a leg up in the world, elite guilds look for fresh blood to bolster their ranks, everyone on the whole gets more and more elite, and look for fights with other elite guilds. Etc..etc.

I don't really like that. I miss the casual old days of playing with a few mates who were all the same kind of level as me, and we got so hooked on the game, we developed our own tactics and didn't need online guides. But this is an issue not just limited to RTS's.

It's partly for this reason that overall, I would say my favourite RTS of all time is Tiberium Sun. (Which is now free by the way). It's possible to be elite and pwn newbies, but the game is a bit more brain based and a bit less based on spamming out massive tons of crap and copying someone elses build order. People can do that and can sometimes win, but against a good player you can just respond with a big EMP which disables their huge army, and then quickly send out a few rocket men and stuff and wipe it all out. Or if someone turtles they will run out of money because the tiberium is in fields that you have to go out and devour. Or if someone sends massive amounts of little units to swamp you, one good Cyborg Commando or something can take care of them all.

In the end, it just seems a lot more evenly matched and more balanced to me. I miss Westwood

Down with EA.

Anyway, here's that link:

http://supremecommander.filefront.co...Released;37375

Parge · 11th Feb 2013, 22:27

TA was the best RTS ever made in my mind. I'm quietly confident its about to be bettered by Planetary Annihilation.

Time will tell!

Skiddywinks · 12th Feb 2013, 01:04

I also have a problem with watching SC2 more than playing it, but play it I do. The magnitudes of difference in play style from my old SC and TA days is absurd, and I had that hit home when I started playing the beta. That said, once I got in to it I was hooked. Nothing is quite like it.

I think between SC2 and FA, I have both possible kinds of RTS game I am interested in covered; one feels more about scale and huge armies, the other about crisp builds and micro. I loved the DoW2 campaigns, but found the multiplayer incredibly boring, and Last Stand was a massive, shallow pile of turd imo.

I would also like to wholeheartedly recommend Ground Control to any RTS fans who have not played it. That game was magical.

And lastly, wtf is Planetary Annihilation and WHY AM I ONLY HEARING ABOUT IT NOW

dolphie · 12th Feb 2013, 04:15

It's on Kickstarter mate, join the revolution!

blacko · 12th Feb 2013, 14:25

TA was/is my favorite RTS. i remember getting the disc/floppy free with a compaq pc i bought back in the 90's.

Can anyone remember the semi sequel TA:Kingdoms?

Phalanx · 12th Feb 2013, 14:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by blacko

Can anyone remember the semi sequel TA:Kingdoms?

Wash your mouth out right now! DO IT! And don't mention that word again! Ever.

Harlequin · 12th Feb 2013, 15:07

http://planetaryannihilation.com/

the TRUE sequel!

Xir · 12th Feb 2013, 19:19

Hmmm, the free version of Ground Control seems to have vanished from the net.
Anyone have a link?

lilgoth89 · 12th Feb 2013, 19:52

man i still love Sup Com, me and a few other folks still have large battles agasint the AI ( running a few mods as well ) and games can last a good few hours if your not carefull, and with a few specific unit bans a few of my friends and i had a game on a custom map that took an entire weekend ( all praise to the god who invented pausing multiplayer games ) it was just a sea of artillery, sheilds, and dead experimentals

impar · 12th Feb 2013, 20:03

Greetings!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xir

Hmmm, the free version of Ground Control seems to have vanished from the net.
Anyone have a link?

http://www.fileplanet.com/156136/150...5BFree-Game%5D
Didnt try it.

okenobi · 13th Feb 2013, 14:48

When I was in college studying computing A-level, we used to play Starcraft over the college LAN after lectures on Friday evenings. There were usually 6 of us and we had a FANTASTIC time.

Then one day, a mate of mine introduced us to TA. It completely took over and I totally agree with the four hour adrenaline rush. The number of times the cleaners/caretaker would kick us out was unbelievable! We were virtually always last to leave. A great game.

Maybe I got old, or maybe games just haven't been as good since. I don't know which it is. But the article is spot on!

Xir · 13th Feb 2013, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by impar

Greetings!

http://www.fileplanet.com/156136/150...5BFree-Game%5D
Didnt try it.

Thx, I got it on disk, but can't get it patched, and it has audio glitches. I'll try this version.

Anyway, I installed from the disk, and lost 3 hours

Magick still works

11th Feb 2013, 06:22	#1
brumgrunt Administrator bit-tech Staff Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 1,009	Total Annihilation and the four hour adrenaline rush http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/gaming/...renaline-rush/

11th Feb 2013, 06:28	#2
Harlequin Mod Master Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Eastbourne ,East Sussex ,UK Posts: 2,971	Now - go get Planetary Annihilation when its released and that 4 hours turn into 10 hour galatic war! __________________ i have a 3dfx voodoo5 6000

11th Feb 2013, 08:11	#3
Xir I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Saxony / Germany Posts: 3,520	I had similar experiences with AoE and some of the C&C's. Similar playstyles seem to emerge in every RTS game though. Those Starcraft guys are just too quick for me though, I hardly manaeged to get through the single player campaign. Most RTS have this quirk, where the units do very well when micromanaged, but very poorly if left alone. You need one guy to watch the base and one to micromanage the assault really. (but I don't think any game offers this) Oh, if you like the surroundings to affect the outcome, you might give this ancient game a do "Ground Control". Line of sight, line of fire, hiding in grass, different hitzones on vehicle's, friendly fire, all in a game from 2000 (and it's free, too!) Graphics are good if you set the visuals accordingly. Never got into the second part, something is wrong with the controls. __________________ SN25P A64 3700+ (San Diego) 2 GB DDR400 OCZ Platinum EL 2-3-2-5 1T X1800XT 512mb Sapphire 200GB Samsung SP2004C 24" Asus something 1920x1080

11th Feb 2013, 16:52	#7
blinkieleblind Tings and such Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: London, UK Posts: 133	OMG I loved this game sooo much. Probably my favourite RTS from way back when..... ahh good times. __________________ i5-2500k @4.5Ghz \| MSI P67A-GD53 \| GTX 570 OC \| 64G M4 SSD (OS drive) \| 128G vertex 4 SSD \| 1TB Seagate Barracuda \| 8GB 1600mhz Corsair \| XFX 850W PSU \| Fractal Define R3 Titanium

11th Feb 2013, 17:48	#8
Eiffie Supermodder Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Syosset, NY Posts: 282	Sinking a full five or six hours over a weekend into one sins of a solar empire game is one of the best feelings ever and the pace of the game never goes too fast for me. It really lets me play how I want to play and not just rush units from one base to the next. __________________ I5-750 @ 4GHz - MSI P55-GD65 - 8GB Crucial DDR3 1600 - EVGA GTX 680 2GB - 1 Western Digital Black 1TB - 2 Western Digital Green 2TB - 700W Silverstone PSU - H50 Water Cooling Unit - Win7 64-Bit - Logitech G400 - Cooler Master QuickFire Pro MX Brown - Steelseries Icemat V2 - Blue Microphone Snowball - Logitech C920 Webcam

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11th Feb 2013, 10:32	#6
Skill3d Multimodder Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 200	Nice to see some golden oldies. Still running TA along with some friends at the uni. I believe they're bringing out a new patch (3rd party) for it as well.

11th Feb 2013, 21:34	#9
dolphie ken sent me Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 456	I have TA installed at the moment, and SupCom, and Forged Alliance. I like them all. There is even a mod that adds TA units to SupCom! You should check it out, I'll link it below. It's not 100% complete but it's worth a try. Personally I mostly like playing single player campaigns in RTS's. I find that with multiplayer I run in to the same problem you had with Starcraft 2. It's like mudflation and it happens in a lot of games unfortunately. What happens is that 'noobs get pwned' by elites, and they then go on the web and study other peoples build orders and strategies so that they too can be elite. And then you end up where noobs get beaten by elites AND other former noobs. Then it becomes like an arms race where even to just about get by, you need to at least have spent SOME time studying guides and whatnot. And of course, in an attempt to foster community or whatever B.S, they started adding clans to games which in fact just makes everything worse because it territorialises (is that word?) the community. New players immediately look for some elite guild to help them get a leg up in the world, elite guilds look for fresh blood to bolster their ranks, everyone on the whole gets more and more elite, and look for fights with other elite guilds. Etc..etc. I don't really like that. I miss the casual old days of playing with a few mates who were all the same kind of level as me, and we got so hooked on the game, we developed our own tactics and didn't need online guides. But this is an issue not just limited to RTS's. It's partly for this reason that overall, I would say my favourite RTS of all time is Tiberium Sun. (Which is now free by the way). It's possible to be elite and pwn newbies, but the game is a bit more brain based and a bit less based on spamming out massive tons of crap and copying someone elses build order. People can do that and can sometimes win, but against a good player you can just respond with a big EMP which disables their huge army, and then quickly send out a few rocket men and stuff and wipe it all out. Or if someone turtles they will run out of money because the tiberium is in fields that you have to go out and devour. Or if someone sends massive amounts of little units to swamp you, one good Cyborg Commando or something can take care of them all. In the end, it just seems a lot more evenly matched and more balanced to me. I miss Westwood Down with EA. Anyway, here's that link: http://supremecommander.filefront.co...Released;37375

11th Feb 2013, 22:27	#10
Parge Do you even mod, bro? Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: London, UK Posts: 6,965	TA was the best RTS ever made in my mind. I'm quietly confident its about to be bettered by Planetary Annihilation. Time will tell! __________________ Deep Silence 1 - 2500K @4.5Ghz - Gigabyte UD7 - GTX 670 - 16GB 1866mhz Tactical Tracer - 240GB Vertex 3 - Xonar DX - U3011 Pump/MCP 355 - CPU/EK Supreme HF Nickel Plexi - GPU/EK Nickel Acetal Full Cover - Rads/2x EK 240 XTX - Fans/6x Gentle Typhoon 1850s - Controller/BigNG

12th Feb 2013, 01:04	#11
Skiddywinks Hypermodder Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Caerwys, North Wales Posts: 884	I also have a problem with watching SC2 more than playing it, but play it I do. The magnitudes of difference in play style from my old SC and TA days is absurd, and I had that hit home when I started playing the beta. That said, once I got in to it I was hooked. Nothing is quite like it. I think between SC2 and FA, I have both possible kinds of RTS game I am interested in covered; one feels more about scale and huge armies, the other about crisp builds and micro. I loved the DoW2 campaigns, but found the multiplayer incredibly boring, and Last Stand was a massive, shallow pile of turd imo. I would also like to wholeheartedly recommend Ground Control to any RTS fans who have not played it. That game was magical. And lastly, wtf is Planetary Annihilation and WHY AM I ONLY HEARING ABOUT IT NOW __________________ I’m an Aquatuning product tester

12th Feb 2013, 04:15	#12
dolphie ken sent me Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 456	It's on Kickstarter mate, join the revolution!

12th Feb 2013, 14:25	#13
blacko Multimodder Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 84	TA was/is my favorite RTS. i remember getting the disc/floppy free with a compaq pc i bought back in the 90's. Can anyone remember the semi sequel TA:Kingdoms?

12th Feb 2013, 15:07	#15
Harlequin Mod Master Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Eastbourne ,East Sussex ,UK Posts: 2,971	http://planetaryannihilation.com/ the TRUE sequel! __________________ i have a 3dfx voodoo5 6000

12th Feb 2013, 19:19	#16
Xir I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Saxony / Germany Posts: 3,520	Hmmm, the free version of Ground Control seems to have vanished from the net. Anyone have a link? __________________ SN25P A64 3700+ (San Diego) 2 GB DDR400 OCZ Platinum EL 2-3-2-5 1T X1800XT 512mb Sapphire 200GB Samsung SP2004C 24" Asus something 1920x1080

12th Feb 2013, 19:52	#17
lilgoth89 Captin Calliope Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Lichfield UK Posts: 927	man i still love Sup Com, me and a few other folks still have large battles agasint the AI ( running a few mods as well ) and games can last a good few hours if your not carefull, and with a few specific unit bans a few of my friends and i had a game on a custom map that took an entire weekend ( all praise to the god who invented pausing multiplayer games ) it was just a sea of artillery, sheilds, and dead experimentals __________________ I7 3770 @ 4.5Ghz \| Asrock z77 extreme 6 \| 16gb hyper X Ram 1600 \| SfX7870 oc \|Crucial 512 gb M4 \| Samsung Spin point 2tb x2 \| SiverStone Raven02 \| Corsair Hx 850

13th Feb 2013, 14:48	#19
okenobi Ultramodder Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Cornwall Posts: 1,204	When I was in college studying computing A-level, we used to play Starcraft over the college LAN after lectures on Friday evenings. There were usually 6 of us and we had a FANTASTIC time. Then one day, a mate of mine introduced us to TA. It completely took over and I totally agree with the four hour adrenaline rush. The number of times the cleaners/caretaker would kick us out was unbelievable! We were virtually always last to leave. A great game. Maybe I got old, or maybe games just haven't been as good since. I don't know which it is. But the article is spot on!