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            --------      Absolute Annihilation Setup and Readme      --------
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                                       Version 2.11

                        "Read this at least once or I'll get you."

                              http://ta-aa.sourceforge.net


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  Table of Contents:

   [1] Installation
   [2] Variants
   [3] Mod Summary
   [4] Troubleshooting and FAQ
   [5] Credits
   [6] Unit Groups
   [7] Mirrors
   [8] Legal Junk and Disclaimer
   [9] Contact Information

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   [1] Installation:

To install the mod, drop all the AA SDZ files into your Spring\Mods directory.

To upgrade from Absolute Annihilation 2.1 or later, just drop the update SDZ files
into your Spring\Mods directory.  Do not delete AAS_Base.sdz unless you intend to
completely uninstall the mod - all versions of AA from 2.1 onward require this file
in order to function.

To play, start up the Spring Multiplayer Client and either:
a) Join an existing Absolute Annihilation game OR
b) Click "Host", then choose a version of Absolute Annihilation as your dataset.

Future versions of AA:Spring will be found at the AA Homepage at:
  http://ta-aa.sourceforge.net

  If you encounter a bug, *please* don't bother the Swedish Yankspankers (developer
of the Spring RTS Engine) about it.  This mod package has no affiliation to them.
Please report bugs here: http://ta-aa.sourceforge.net/forum.htm (no registration is
necessary to post in the bug reporting forum!)

  Please don't clog up the official Spring forums with bug reports for AA - use
ONLY the official AA thread there, in the Mods forum, for discussion relating to
Absolute Annihilation.

  If you are having trouble installing Spring or just can't get things to work in
general, read this article I wrote: http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Read_Me_First

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   [2] Variants:

  In addition to the Absolute Annihilation you're used to, the Spring version also
comes with the following variants or "mutators".  You can choose which one you want
to play when starting a TA Spring game.  Here's a summary of what each variant does:

  A - Action - In this variant, there are no resource creating/extracting units, but
      your Commander produces a fixed +25 metal and +500 energy.

  B - Barebones - This variant basically includes only the units you'd find in OTA.
      As such, Core has a superweapn, the Krogoth, while Arm does not.

  F - Forged -  This variant has kbots and vehicles combined into a single factory.
      There is an extra tech level since level 2 units are spread out through two
      techs to help make it more fair.

  H - Hover Commanders - This variant replaces the standard walking Commanders with
      hovercraft ones.  They have no d-gun but can build very fast and also don't
      explode huge like normal commanders.

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   [3] Mod Summary:

  Absolute Annihilation is the product of hundreds of hours of exhaustive testing and
hard work.  It has arguably turned out to be the highest quality Total Annihilation-
themed mod released to date.

Instead of simply adding whatever units are shiniest or look coolest, with AA I have
carefully added units one at a time over a long period, picking and choosing very
selectively, taking only the best units, basing my assessment of them not on how
good-looking they are, but by their ability to perform a specific function.

  The jobs others have done in this field were impressive at the time and necessary,
but fundamentally flawed.  Other mods are built upon a foundation of poor stability,
half-baked units, mediocre balance, a lack of diversity between units, and
outrageous leaps in logic.  The end user doesn't build things because they look cool,
at least not in any kind of competitive environment.  They build things because they
get the job done.  Why build anything in the early game besides flashes?  There's no
reason; flashes own all.  And this is how it remains in all the mods I've tried:
except in very rare cases, every menu has one unit, or two at the most, that is ever
built.

  This is what Absolute Annihilation addresses.  I've made every unit have a reason
to be built.  I guarantee that in your first online game with a skilled player, you
will see more units used in more situations for more reasons and with more strategy
than you've seen with any mod or configuration.  The purpose of AA can be summed up
with one sentence:

  For every form of attack or defense, there must be a countermeasure; there are no
defenses too strong, and no attack too potent to route entirely.

  As you play and gain experience, you will see the depth of forethought that has
gone into making this mod what it is.  I played with other mods for years, and in
I can still remember a lot of units which were not merely unbalanced, but often
times either completely game-dominating or completely useless. The most satisfying,
long-lasting mod experience I've ever had is with Uberhack by Brave Sir Robin.  The
key to Uberhack was that the new content was added to TA, without taking anything
away from the original game in the process.  This is what I hope to accomplish with
AA, but on a larger scale.  It's like what the game WOULD be if units were still
being released weekly from Cavedog.

  AA is, first and foremost, a mod about balance, not about ridiculous numbers of
units.  Most factories only have very conservative numbers of new units.  This is
because I felt that what was already in place didn't need anything else.  This IS
Total Annihilation we're talking about, after all - the game with more stock units
than any other RTS to date!

  When I began working on AA, I actually began removing units before I added any
new ones - but only ones which I felt were beyond salvaging.  These removed units
have had their roles given to lesser units which you probably didn't regularly
build before.

  Also, all units, including many Cavedog ones, have been changed in some way and
may do completely different things.  It'll take a while to learn all these
differences, I know, but in the end it's worth it.  Point is, you should build
every unit at least once, if only just to see what it does.  Many units that were
largely useless or not worth building are now very important.  For example, the
EMP and Neutron launchers now fire medium-range cruise missiles, and LLTs are
a good defense to have around at almost any point in a game.

  All of the units I've included can be found at at least one of the following:

 Unit Evaluation Center  - http://www.planetannihilation.com/tauec
 Core Prime              - http://www.planetannihilation.com/coreprime
 Unit Review Central     - http://www.tauniverse.com/urc

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   [4] Troubleshooting and FAQ:

Q: Uh, why are nuke explosions and stuff BLUE?
A: Certain video chipsets and system configurations have been known to cause
   explosions to turn blue for some reason.  If you have this problem, please
   report it in the Spring Bug Reporting forum and include a detailed list of
   your system specifications.

Q: Spring crashes and it's all your fault.
A: Absolute Annihilation (henceforth just "AA") has no bugs in OTA.  If Spring
   crashes as a result of loading AA, it is Spring's fault.  Spring is still in
   heavy development; once some of the more serious bugs get ironed out,
   stability will improve considerably.  Once again, AA has no bugs of its own,
   certainly not ones that could cause the game to crash.

Q: AIs don't work.
A: AIs are still in heavy development as well.  I'm not going to develop an AI
   profile for AA only to have it be made obsolete the next day when a new AI
   version comes out.  There are several AI development projects in progress,
   and some of them ideally won't even require an AI profile when they're done.

Q: How do I play AA:Spring?
A: You must play AA through the Spring Multiplayer Client.  For details on how
   to do this, check section 1.

Q: Where should I install Spring?
A: Anywhere except your TA folder.  Spring is NOT an addon for TA, it is a
   seperate standalone program.

Q: The balance is terrible. (from XTA players)
A: No it's not, you're just used to XTA.  All will become clear once you've
   played AA a few times and have become hopelessly addicted.

Q: AA has too many units.
A: Nope.  Every unit in AA has a purpose.  Unlike unit packs like UTASP,
   none of AA's units are just thrown in for the sake of looking pretty.
   And unless you build a variety of units, you will lose.  And if you still
   want fewer units to pick from, play the B variant.  It has the same units
   as OTA.

Q: Krogoths/Orcones/Black Hydras/Epochs/Krows/Liches are WAY too powerful.
A: Nah.  If you buld their cost in equivalent but lesser units (ie, bulldogs
   instead of krogoths), you'll win the fight.  The difference is, a Krogoth
   is more likely to survive a battle, will gain more and more XP, will
   continue to have the same firepower up until the moment it dies, and can
   be repaired to fight another day.  Which option seems better to you?  It
   really just depends on your play style.  If you simply can't stand these
   units, try playing the B variant, where all of the above units aren't
   buildable.

Q: Nano towers suck now.  They were better before they got their range
   halved.
A: I disagree.  I don't like seeing massive 10x10 bricks of them built and
   then used to power your entire economy.  Furthermore, they were commonly
   used to reclaim enemy units before, which was stupid.

Q: Why did X unit get cut during the conversion from Total Annihilation to
   Spring?
A: Either it didn't work properly due to an engine bug, or will be returned
   at a later date but currently couldn't be made to work.  Or it just really
   sucks and officially never existed.

Q: The entire game becomes a rush to level 3 in AA.  This sucks.
A: Play a decent map.  9/10 maps for Spring are horrible and have far too
   much metal.  I don't know why map makers have suddenly decided that in
   Spring you should have +30 metal income in the first 5 minutes rather
   than +7 in the first 15 minutes... but for some reason they have.  I
   theorize that they are all Starcraft players who have come to Spring to
   ruin it.  I hope they come to their senses soon, because as you say, it
   makes the game unfun.

   And for the love of whatever deity(ies) and/or object(s) you worship,
   stop playing metal maps.  They are garbage.

Q: A lot of units are SUPER slow and get slaughtered when I try to attack
   with them.
A: Not all of AA's mobile units are meant strictly for attack.  Try using
   slower units as mobile base perimeters, or a way to soak up punishment
   while your other units dish out the damage.  For instance, if you have
   a couple of sumos walking towards your enemy's base, and he knows it,
   he has the following options: attack the sumos and allow the other units
   to unload their firepower on his base, or ignore the sumos and pay the
   price when they come into firing range and destroy everything.  Not a
   pretty picture either way.

Q: Penetrators (mobile annihlators) won't shoot!
A: As of 1.2, they have a very narrow field of fire.  Their target must be
   within a 90-degree cone directly in front of them.  In 1.49 this was
   increased to 135 degrees.

Q: Storage buildings are useless!
A: Only in comparison with XTA, wherein they are outragously large.  Also
   in AA, not just the storage buildings have a certain amount of storage
   capacity.  Moho extractors, fusions, geothermals, and other resource
   buildings also have storage relative to their output.

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   [5] Credits:

 Absolute Annihilation's Community
 Brave Sir Robin (Uberhack)
 Andrey Scherbakov (contributor)
 StonedWolf (contributor)
 Twilight (contributor)
 Archangel (contributor, barbed marshmallow, berscripter of teh doom)
 Forboding Angel (contributor)

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   [6] Unit Groups:

 Aftermath Design
 Bethany Brand Units
 C.A.N.A.D.A.
 Cavedog
 Central Consciousness
 Core Prime
 Immer
 Killer TA Units
 M.A.D. TA
 Marcosoft
 Mayhem Inc
 Merciless Creations
 P-We Division
 Rat
 Skunk Works
 StoneAge Creations
 TAAN/TAAN Upgrades
 TA Bio Hazard
 TA-Power
 Taskforce
 The Lost Legacy
 Total Annihilation Generation
 Total Annihilation R&D
 Total Annihilation Units Creation Center
 Total Annihilation War Factory
 The Dojo
 Tonic Rangers
 Uberhack
 Upstart Design Group
 Unlimited Units
 Water World Wars

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   [7] Mirrors:

   Sourceforge - www.sourceforge.net
 File Universe - www.fileuniverse.com

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   [8] Legal Junk and Disclaimer:

(1) I claim no ownership of the units included in this pack and acknoledge
    their authors.  I claim ownership only of how this pack is assembled,
    which particular units were included and/or modified.

(2) I am not responsible in any way for any damages incurred while using this
    pack or any suggestions found in this readme file.

(3) You agree with all of the terms, conditions, and other stuff in the GNU
    Public License file accompanying AA.

(4) If you disagree with any of these terms, delete the mod and don't use it.

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   [9] Contact Information:

           Email: altor@rogers.ca
             MSN: whydoblackhelicopterskeepcirclingmyhouse@hotmail.com
             Net: http://ta-aa.sourceforge.net
           Forum: http://ta-aa.sourceforge.net/forum.htm
           Forge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ta-aa/

  Pack Assembeled and all units modified by Caydr and/or his partners in crime
and/or his dummy corporations in the Middle-East.  Long live Total Annihilation,
the greatest RTS of all time!  (until SupCom.  Hey Chris, how about a job?)


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