---Not OTA v1.52---
NOTA is a TA themed mod designed for larger maps with to-scale units, fuel for airplanes, and more.


------------ CHANGELOG ---------------------

v1.52

-Fixed transportable turrets not being transportable
-Ships and Vehicles now move as they turn
-Maverick builds 30% faster, energy cost lowered
-Raptor builds slower, energy cost increased
-Added Start radius and autotrajectory back in
-Removed aircraft fuel widget since it is no longer needed in Spring 0.77b4


v1.51

-Fixed various problems caused by Spring 0.77
-Added a quick fix widget to help aircraft return to base for fuel since that behavior is broken in 0.77. Most of the time bombers will behave as they used to, but sometimes they will still get stuck
attacking with no fuel, in which case giving a stop command will often get them to return to base.
-Added improved hitboxes for buildings and ships
-Strategic Bombers now drop much heavier bombs
-Heavy Strategic Bomber hitpoints and cost increased
-Cruiser accuracy decreased
-Minimum water depth for cruisers and larger ships increased
-start radius and autotrajectory removed since they do not work in 0.77


v1.50

-Base Constructors can now upgrade into level 2 constructors
-Hammer/Thud/Morty light plasma weapons now do 60% to medium armor and 36% to heavy; previously 50% medium and 30% heavy
-Rocket Kbot metal and energy cost decreased 5%
-Sonar Plane sonar range increased 40%
-Destroyer torpedo and sonar range increased 5%
-Necro energy cost decreased 10%; Fark energy cost decreased 5%
-Nuclear Cannon area of effect and damage increased
-RaptorIV buildtime increased 50%
-Maverick buildtime decreased 18%
-SPY kbot cloak now costs only 20 energy/second
-Core Truck can now carry 7 infantry kbots
-Added Attack AoE Widget

v1.49

-Fixed a bug that caused morties to be stuck in high trajectory mode
-Added ability to turn off mobile artillery auto-switching trajectory
-Panther tank cost reverted to pre-1.48 value
-Fido hitpoints reduced 10%
-Buildtime on stealth fighters decreased 15%
-Buildtime decreased 5% on Blade interceptors; 10% on Osprey interceptors
-Buildtime on heavy strategic bombers decreased 5%
-ScramJam stun damage increased
-Fleas cost 50% more metal, hp increased slightly

v 1.48

-Added "ScramJam" Electronic Scrambler Missile Launcher for CORE. It delivers a mild EMP blast over a wide area - useful for temporarily knocking out detection equipment on radar units
	(cloaked unit detection remains disabled until all paralyze damage has worn off)
-Flashes, Instigators, and Panthers now have medium armor
-Flash and Instigator hitpoints reduced 25%; Panther lightning gun fires 30% slower, more expensive
-Hammer/Thud/Morty light plasma weapons now do 50% to medium armor and 30% to heavy; previously 66% medium and 40% heavy
-Light laser tower range increased from 560 to 600
-Mobile Artillery automatically switches trajectories; accuracy increased in high trajectory
-Hovertanks and Samurai now strafe sideways; Hovertanks can reverse, samurai cannot
-Medium Tank accuracy when moving increased
-Hellfish fuel increased
-Added a Scatter Button to quickly spread out units
-EMP area of effect increased
-Bertha accuracy decreased a bit
-Mobile flak buildtime decreased 20%; Samson/Slasher buildtime increased 10%
-Features no longer prevent units from shooting if they're in the line of fire
-Pressing Ctrl-C now selects the Command Center

v 1.47

-Morty Speed decreased 20%, hitpoints decreased 15%
-Talwar Assault Transport cost decreased 20%
-Hovercraft Transport hitpoints increased 40%
-Increased Indian cost slightly
-re-added sniper hit sound
-Fixed a bug that caused game to freeze

v 1.46

-Added "Indian" Medium Assault Tank for CORE
-Added jumpjets for the ARM Commander
-Added refuel button for aircraft
-Hammer/Thud/Morty light plasma weapons now do 66% to medium armor and 40% to heavy; previously 100% medium and 50% heavy
-Metal Extractor Platform cost decreased 50%
-Samurai accuracy decreased
-Sniper weapon type changed to projectile laser; 75% damage to heavy armor and buildings; 700 range; 15 second reload time
-All Aircraft cost increased 2%
-Hellfish speed decreased
-Torpedo Bomber buildtime decreased 10%
-Blade firepower decreased 5%
-Maverick autoheal begins instantly; autoheal rate increased
-Sprinter and zipper range slightly decreased
-Tracker and Stealth Bomber decloak radius decreased
-Dragonfly price cut from last version rolled back from 30% to 10%
-Dragon's Teeth metal and energy cost decreased 40%
-Added Command Tower Start Radius, Improved Metal Maker, and Transport AI Widgets


v 1.45

-Snipers are always stealth again
-Hellfish drop two bombs again
-Dragonfly Transport 30% cheaper
-Vashps less effective vs. air transports
-Avenger and Freedom Fighter LOS reduced
-Toadfoot LOS slightly increased
-Core shipyard now has resource storage
-Sprinter and Marky kbots are now always upright


v 1.44

-Added "Tracker" Infiltrator Kbot for CORE
-Added Spy kbot for ARM
-Added Battle Commander for Arm
-Added Floating Metal Extractors, built by bases and hovercraft
-Added Deployment and Commander Start mod options
-Commanders are now built at a warp gate
-Units with radar can now detect cloaked units at medium-to-close range
-Pelicans much faster in water; AA improved; laser damage/sec reduced; hp slightly reduced
-Gimps can climb slopes; damage/sec significantly increased; hp slightly reduced; now medium armor
-Nuclear Missile Silo metal cost and buildtime reduced 50%
-Cruiser, Battlecruiser, and Battleship overall firepower decreased 5%
-Missile Ship range decreased from 2600 to 2400; minimum range slightly decreased
-Bulldog firepower significantly increased
-Sniper damage, reload time decreased; not stealth when moving; decloak radius decreased
-Morty death explosion size reduced
-Mobile Artillery have much more range while in high trajectory mode; fire larger plasma shells
-Rocket Box damage to heavy armor decreased to 50%
-Hellfish drop a single powerful bomb instead of two
-Arm Drone firepower decreased
-Arm Spider range, speed increased
-Moho Engineers are now all terrain
-Moho Mine metal cost decreased 30%
-Tidal Generator metal cost increased 15%
-Radar Tower cost increased 20%
-LLT laser velocity increased ~100%
-Machine Gun velocity increased 43%
-Vulcan and Buzzsaw cost decreased 30%
-Vulcan energy cost to fire decreased 50%
-Black Lilly decloak radius decreased; does not decloak to fire; buildtime increased
-Stealth Fighter decloak radius decreased
-Toadfoot damage to ships lowered 25%
-Flying Wing hitpoints increased 5%; damage to buildings and ships increased ~7%
-Torpedo Bomber cost reduced 5%
-Commanders are now stealth while cloaked
-Heavy unit death explosion less deadly to other heavies.
-Crawling Bomb and landmine cost decreased
-Viper hitpoints slightly reduced
-Maverick autoheal improved
-Greyhound flank damage reduced
-Flea weapon changed back to regular laser
-Core Truck cheaper
-Flak slightly more accurate
-Fixed build menus loading slow
-Changed aircraft buildpictures to make numbers easier to see
-Fixed solar collectors showing up as idle builders

v 1.43

-All Mobile AA damage or reload time slightly improved
-Flak accuracy improved
-Collision turned back on for fighters; they won't stack on top of each other anymore
-Heavy Bombers can now be killed by direct flak hits setting an engine on fire
-The Advanced Missile Systems on Core AA cruiser and carrier can now shoot at high altitude planes
-Core AA cruiser and carrier cost slightly increased
-Heavy Bomber AA accuracy slightly improved
-Sniper accuracy and damage to light armor increased
-Cruiser auto-heal slightly decreased
-Mobile anti-ship guns are now transportable by only heavy transports
-Flak turret turnrate reduced
-Command Centers can build floating metal makers
-Removed annoying unit halting sounds

v 1.42

-Heavy Bomber Buildtime increased, Machine gun damage reduced 50%
-Krogoth hitpoints reduced and missiles are now anti-air only, but its handcannons are more powerful
-Air Transports no longer try to land on airpads
-Crawling Bombs can't burrow underwater anymore
-Sonar planes no longer use fuel
-Mobile light laser tower cost reduced
-Pinocchio metal cost reduced 30%
-Annihilator cost slightly increased
-Arm battlecruiser speed decreased 4%
-Sub torpedo velocity slightly increased
-Fixed goliath smoking when being built
-Valkyrie II Factory doesn't spin when building

v 1.41

-Added "Angel" High Altitude Spy Plane for ARM
-Added factories at tech level 1 for the skybus and valkyrie II infantry transports
-Skybus has two machine guns to defend itself with
-Autoheal increased for all infantry kbots
-Ship-to-Hovercraft damage decreased
-Construction hovercraft, light hovercraft, and hovertank speed increased
-Artillery hovercraft hitpoints increased
-Cruiser range decreased
-Missile ship damage to ships reduced
-Advanced Aircraft Plant buildspeed lowered
-Advanced Strategic Bomber buildtime lowered
-Hellfish do a bit more damage to ships
-Black Lilly now decloaks only for a moment when dropping bombs
-Improved Blade Interceptor aiming with guns, removed missile
-Fast Attack Kbots build faster, cost slightly less energy
-EMP missiles travel faster, do more EMP damage
-Crawling bomb cost decreased
-Panther speed increased
-Annihilator hitpoints increased
-Fuel for gunships increased
-pyro slightly improved
-increased reload time on merls and diplomats
-Arm Anti-Air Cruiser turret turnrate increased
-Fixed diplomat rockets falling short of target
-Fixed factory production speed gadget

v 1.40

-Metal output increased across the board (from 75% to 85% of BA's values)
-Fusion Power Plants available at level 1; they cost about 1300 metal and produce 300 energy. Heavy Fusion Power Plants assume the role previously held by regular fusions.
-Factories can no longer be assisted; max buildspeed of most factories increased
-Added button that changes factory production rate
-All wreckages now give back only 50% of the original cost
-Added Wasp Light Carrier for ARM. It is relatively inexpensive, with six airpads and decent flak defense.
-Added Shamshir Strike Carrier for CORE. It can refuel up to nine aircraft at once, and has a single cruiser plasma gun, an advanced long range anti-air missile system, and plenty of flak.
-Added Skybus Infantry Transport for ARM. It is built by lvl 2 kbot, air, and advanced nanotowers, and can carry a full squad of infantry kbots.
-Added Valkyrie Mk II Light Infantry Transport for CORE.
-Added HAK Advanced Infantry Kbot for CORE.
-Added Razorback Anti-Air Mech for ARM. It is fast enough to keep up with Raptors, and comes equipped with two high-powered mini-guns that are extremely deadly to low-flying aircraft
-Strategic bombers have much greater hitpoints, but are more expensive and drop less accurate bombs
-Shadows and Thunders now come equipped with tailguns
-Strategic Bombers can fly on top of each other so they don't get in each other's way on bombing runs
-Flak fires slower, but does more damage per shot
-Shadows and Thunders may take critical hits resulting in an engine fire and a premature death
-Shipyard cost reduced 40%
-Destroyers scaled down in size, range, hitpoints; they now cost only about 1300 metal, and are about equal to a group of six or seven hovertanks/hoverartillery
-Attack Sub cost reduced by about 30%
-Torpedoes on anti-sub hovercraft and cruiser now kill subs in two hits
-Stealth fighters can now cloak
-Stealth bombers can also cloak, cost and buildtime increased.
-Vulcan, Buzzsaw, and Nuclear Cannon cost decreased
-Vulcan and Buzzsaw range increased
-Tanks now take more damage from rear or side hits and slightly less from frontal hits
-Nuclear missiles now launch vertically from silos
-Stunner EMP missiles have much more range, can be blocked by anti-nukes
-Nanotower metal cost reduced to 1200; energy and buildtime remain the same
-Nanotower repair rate decreased 50%
-Necro resurrection speed decreased 50%
-Command Center more resistant to bombs
-Napalm bombers do somewhat more damage to buildings and ships
-Kbot lab cost reduced
-Solar Collectors and Geothermals cost less energy
-Maximum Slope for all buildings increased
-Radar Towers now use 20 energy when on
-Fleas have a different laser with more damage but less range
-Flying Fortress buildtime increased
-Reload time on Flying Fortress bombs increased
-Heavy tank buildtime increased
-Stealth bomber buildtime increased
-Transportable turrets are now automatically set to hold position
-Toadfoot now set to loopback attack by default
-Fixed problem with certain units not firing
-Added new model for goliath
-Added LUA widgets: custom formations, buildbar, healthbars, and more


v 1.32

-Zeus, sniper, pyro, morty, fast attack kbots, and crawling bombs are all now built at the level 1 kbot 
 lab, cost and effectiveness adjusted accordingly.
-Missile ship and Rocket truck missiles have a minimum range and are no longer guided, but are more powerful 
 and are not affected by jammers
-Snipers automatically cloak when standing still.
-Crawling bombs can now burrow into the ground.
-Core freaker replaced by the Sprinteur, an armored fast attack kbot
-Arm Pods cost 40% more metal, but can now heal friendly units
-Warriors are now an advanced infantry kbot
-Mobile radar is now level 1
-stealth fighter hitpoints increased
-Removed bladewings
-Removed level 1 radar jammers
-fixed targetting problems on galacticus.

v 1.31

-spring .75 fixes
---fixed airpads
---fixed bombers
---fixed rocket trucks
-Raptor IV's can become crippled if hit by a powerful weapon
-Blade interceptor gun damage increased 30%
-Core interceptor now has a single very powerful laser weapon
-Gala's and Oddities cost less
-Rocket truck reload time decreased
-Amphibious tanks have slightly more range, but do less damage to heavy armor. 
-Sub torpedoes are now guided
-Subs no longer chase land units
-Anti-sub hovercraft doesn't kill itself on land anymore
-Cruiser anti-sub range reduced
-Mavericks no longer anti-armor, autoheal improved
-Cans put in heavy armor class
-Core supergun has a scattershot weapon
-Ship autoheal takes less time to kick in, but is slightly slower
-Nanotower reclaim speed 1/3 of default value
-Bases can't capture anymore
-Nuclear explosions changed to be less laggy
-Collision Spheres on some units adjusted
-Enemy units no longer transportable
-Gauss/railgun projectiles changed
-Some buildpics improved

v 1.30

-New weapon and explosion effects
	-many all new fx
	-animations borrowed out of CA
	-Thank you CA we love you
-Naval combat overhaul:
	-added cruisers and anti-air cruisers
	-destroyers scaled down, made cheaper
	-autoheal on all ships greatly increased
	-ship wreckage now gives only 50% of original cost
	-electronic warfare ships can jam radar
	-subs now have guided anti-sub torpedoes
	-sub torpedo velocity increased
	-Arm missile destroyer cost reduced
	-capital ship energy cost increased
	-seaplane platform 40% cheaper, workertime increased
	-seaplane torpedo turnrate increased, kills subs in one pass
	-sonar plane now built at seaplane platform
	-bertha/intimidator bonus damage to ships eliminated
	-Anti-sub hovercraft faster
- Economy
	-Metal extractor output increased - produces 75% of BA
	-Moho mines cost more, but produce more - 75% of BA
	-Metal maker output increased

-Flying Wing cost increased 35%
-Lvl 2 anti-air and missile tower firepower increased
-Zeus is much cheaper
-Warrior slower, more HP, and cheaper
-Pyro cheaper
-pelican given rockets
-Fast attack bots cost less metal, more E, and higher buildtime
-Krogoth can walk underwater
-Leveler cost increased 5%
-Mobile artillery reload time increased 6%
-anti-ship gun blast radius reduced
-Commander cost majorly reduced
-Heavy laser tower cost decreased
-fighters no longer killed by bomber death explosions
-snipers no longer shoot at air
-core crawling bomb no longer cloakable
-Stealth bomber no longer has flares

-- v1.22

--Seaplane Platforms fixed
--Added Anti-Sub Hovercraft
--Subs smaller, cheaper, and faster
--Dragons teeth smaller, can be built anywere again.
--Sonar can now be built by construction subs + hovers, and is more expensive
--Torpedo Launchers can be built by construction subs + hovers

------v1.21
-Added "Talwar" Amphibious Assault Transport for Core
-Added "Black Lily" Stealth Bomber for Core
-Added Commanders. They are a powerful late game unit that can build defenses anywhere.
-Added "Osprey" Heavy Interceptor for Core.
-Added level 1 mini radar jammers. Their primary purpose is to jam guided ballistic missiles. Regular jammers moved
 back to level 2.
-Added Core truck ground transport/mobile airpad. Built at the advanced vehicle plant.
-New weapon effects for many of the weapons, including plasma weapons, napalm, and nukes.
-Core Dominator Rocket Kbot changed back to a normal artillery role (instead of having guided ballistic missiles).
-Plasma battery cost reduced by 10%
-Rocket kbot firepower increased by 10%
-Hammer/Thud Artillery kbot firepower increased by 10%
-Construction sub repair/reclaim speed reduced
-Seaplane platforms now built on ocean floor
-new unit icons added

----v1.2

-Added seaplanes. They are faster and lighter than normal planes, ideal for hit and run attacks. They can be 
  repaired and refueled at special underwater support stations built by the construction sub.
-Heavy tank balance reworked to prevent late game spamming. They are now more vulnerable to aircraft and anti-armor 
  weapons like rockets, gauss cannons, and high energy lasers.
-Level 2 Vehicle Rocket Launchers now fire long range ballistic missiles similar to those on missile ships. These 
  units are somewhat similar to mobile anti-ship guns in terms of size, cost, and other stats, but have greater 
  range and near-perfect accuracy, making them perfect for picking apart enemy defenses. Like ship missiles, they 
  can be jammed by radar jammers and electronic warfare ships.
-Units with heavy armor (includes heavy tanks, cans, sumos, crabes, etc.) are more resistant to lighter weapons, as 
  well as high-area-of-effect, low damage weapons such as light artillery and plasma cannons.
-Most Kbots are substantially more cost-effective. Changes include:
	-infantry kbot HP increased by 15%
	-rocket kbot damage slightly increased
	-thud/hammer dps increased by 20%
	-anti-air kbot cost decreased
-Sonar ranges on most units including subs, destroyers, and airborne sonar have been decreased.
-Attack subs now have the ability to passively detect moving ships outside of their sonar range. 
-Stealth fighter flare efficiency, reload time improved; they now have a 60% chance of dodging any incoming missiles.
-Arm Spider and Drone now built at the Kbot factory
-Flash given significent firepower increase, especially against light units.
-Moho mines cost less metal, but more energy.
-Metal extractor hitpoints reduced; strategic bombers can now destroy them in one pass.
-Plasma weapons do increased damage to light units and buildings.
-Hellfish cost increased by 15%
-Flying Wing laser damage increased by 20%
-Brawler accuracy, damage to light units increased
-Gunship hitpoints reduced by about 12%
-antinuke effectiveness reduced; launching 3 nukes simultaneously is now enough to get one through.
-Core Black Hydra Battleship damage slightly increased, cost slightly decreased.
-Panther cost decreased by 5%, buildtime decreased greatly (it was much higher than it should have been)
-hovertanks no longer lose accuracy when moving
-air scout radar range reduced
-bladewing cost slightly reduced
-Seahook heavy lifter added for Core level 2 transport
-new unit icons for certain defenses like lrpc's and doomsday machines/annihilators
-planes now land directly on airpads, rather than in the air above them
-various small visual fixes

----v1.11

-added specialized level 2 construction towers- they give a player access to advanced resource 
buildings earlier in the game and one type of level 2 factory of player's choice.
-Arm Panther stealth tanks and Core Reaper heavy tanks now level 1, cost and effectiveness 
adjusted accordingly
-New unit icons for scouts and toadfoot fighter-bombers
-vehicle radar jammers now level 1
-increased toadfoot energy cost, buildtime, rocket weapon fuel usage
-Scout cars faster, better at scouting, laser damage decreased
-bulldog, reaper firepower increased by 20%
-Maverick cost increased, hp slightly lowered
-decreased Monstros Pod range to 1000
-small increase in hovertank hitpoints
-hovercraft artillery are faster
-hovercraft transports can now carry up to 15 units
-increased advanced level 2 constructor cost by 10%
-decreased pop-up cannon cost by 10%
-moho mine cost increased
-removed Core Cougar mech and Arm Pit Viper artillery mech
-core sentry mobile flak now has correct wreckage model
-core battlecruiser wreckage size corrected
-airpad collision spheres fixed
-nanotower build ranges corrected after fix in .74b2
-flying fortress will no longer try to land on repair pads
-Core moho constructor slope tolerance fixed
-some wreckage metal values fixed

-----------------


Introduction to NOTA, by Totbuae

===================================
So, you wanna give NOTA a try, huh?
===================================
This is intended to be an introductory guide to those with an OTA-like background who are willing to give NOTA a try.  Please keep in mind that the N in NOTA means "Not" and it's not just a saying.  NOTA doesn't play much like OTA or any OTA-like mod so some of the strategies/tactics you're used to will not work here.  I'll do my best to explain clearly and briefly how things are different in NOTA so that adapting to this new way of waging war doesn't end up with you becoming a casualty.

=====================================
What the... ?  Where's the commander?
=====================================
In normal NOTA game mode you don't start with a commander, you start with a command building*.  The command building, being a building, is not mobile but it has a long build radius and its build list is roughly equivalent to that of a T1 const KBOT/vehicle/VTOL from OTA plus a few waterborne structures.  Lastly, the command building is moderately armed against both ground and air units which means your early base is adequately protected against small raids (five or less early PeeWees/Flashes aren't going to accomplish much but ten or twenty might if you don't have any other defenses).

* There's a game mode under the mod options tab in the TASClient lobby which allows you to start with the command building and the commander.  Other than that, you can get a commander by building a warp gate from the T3 base expansion tower (more on those later) and warping him in.  This latter one is different from the one you can opt to start with, it has a more extensive build list (it can even build Timmy/Bertha).

===========================================
Ok, ok, so no commander... What next, then?
===========================================
Two solars and two mexes are a good start.  NOTA econ is similar to OTA econ; you've got your solars, mexes*, windgens**, metal makers, geos, floating mexes, floating metal makers, tidals, e-storage and m-storage.  Metal extraction and energy production levels are also similar to OTA (a solar will produce 20e, a geo will produce 250e, metal makers use 60e to produce 0.6m and so forth).  One notable difference from Absolute Annihilation descendants is that there aren't any advanced solars in NOTA, instead you have access to the standard fusion reactor from the start.  NOTA fusions are cheaper and quicker to build but they also produce less energy (only 350e but don't worry, you get better fusions at T2).

* NOTA mexes are a little bit more resistant to damage than OTA mexes.
** NOTA windgens don't chain explode as badly as in AA descendants.

===========================================
Fair enough but econ never won any battles.
===========================================
Or so you say. :P

==========================================================================
Ha, ha, very funny.  What I meant is, should I go KBOTs or vehicles first?
==========================================================================
That question has much deeper ramifications in NOTA than in most other mods.  The reason behind this is that KBOTs and vehicles are much more different than in OTA or any AA descendants.  Like in most other mods, KBOTs can climb steeper hills than vehicles and vehicles are in general faster and tougher than KBOTs.  Unlike most other mods, though, the differences don't stop there.

KBOTs will give you the most bang for the buck if we define bang to mean firepower.  NOTA KBOTs are smaller size-wise than OTA KBOTs which means you can concentrate a lot of firepower in a small area (four PeeWees occupy about as much space as one Stumpy).  KBOTs in general also have excellent self repair (a badly damaged Hammer, for example, can get back to top shape if it stays away from combat for about forty seconds).  The combination of easily affordable firepower and good self repair makes KBOTs very useful for holding ground.  Finally, KBOTs can afford to move around more in combat compared to vehicles (you'll see why on the paragraph about vehicles).

Why on Earth would you want to use vehicles, then?  Simple reason, NOTA KBOTs are V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W*.  Forget about running past defenses with PeeWees and blowing up stuff or using them to catch up to those Flashes that got past your front line, it ain't gonna happen.  KBOTs' slow speed makes them vulnerable to static defenses which outrange them (there are KBOTs which can safely take out statics from range).  Also, slow speed combined with small size makes KBOTs doubly vulnerable to large area of effect weapons such as artillery (what Levelers** do to KBOTs can only be described as obscene) and close air support VTOLs.  Their last drawback is that KBOTs don't have any means to attack high altitude VTOLs (I'll explain later, in the paragraph about aircraft) or ships.  Special infantry transports which can lift twenty Rocko/Hammer sized KBOTs at once were introduced to help mitigate their lack of mobility on large maps.

As stated before, vehicles are on average faster and tougher than KBOTs.  Tanks in particular will take reduced damage from the front compared to the rear and sides.  Because of this, tanks are better used to charge up to defensive lines (of either statics or mobile units) but not past them (which would expose their weaker rear armor).  The vehicle plant also grants access to mobile flak vehicles (flak is the only ground anti-air defense that can shoot at high altitude VTOLs), mobile artillery (T1 arty is mean in NOTA, it outranges statics by a fair amount and has good splash damage) and mobile anti-ship guns (just wait 'till I talk about ships, ok).  All in all, vehicles have better assault options than KBOTs and should be used when you're ready to go knocking on your opponent's door.

* There are fast assault KBOTs (Zipper for Arm and the Core counterpart, the Sprinteurs) which move at about Flash speed.
** Levelers aren't artillery, they're self propelled field guns but they do outrange most KBOTs.

========================================
And just what are "high altitude VTOLs"?
========================================
Glad you asked.  Air power is one of the aspects which most evidently sets NOTA apart from OTA or any AA descendants (another one being navy).  As expected, the VTOLs' greatest asset is their mobility, they're fast and unaffected by terrain.  NOTA VTOLs can be classified in two categories: high and low altitude.

High altitude VTOLs fly too high to be attacked by most ground anti-air defenses*.  T1 strategic bombers (Thunder/Shadow), T2 strategic bombers (Phoenix/Hurricane), T2 stealth bombers (Black Lilly, Core only), T2 high-speed spy planes (Archangel, Arm only), T2 radar planes (Eagle/Vulture) and T3 flying fortresses (Centurion, yes, you guessed it, Core only) are all high altitude.  Against these high flying menaces your best bet are fighters/interceptors and ground flak to a lesser extent.  The remaining VTOLs are low altitude and can be attacked by all ground anti-air units.

While on the subject of VTOLs, the ones in NOTA have fuel which is used up when they move or launch ordnance (the next version of spring is supposed to have separate ammo and fuel).  Due to this, VTOLs cannot remain on station indefinitely and will have to return to base to rearm/refuel.  Air repair pads are available from the start and each T1 aircraft plant has one integrated air repair pad to help get you started.

On a more tactical/strategic note, NOTA VTOLs are evil.  Ground attack aircraft are the bane of all ground units (even anti-air) and can reduce a whole contingent of tanks to scrap metal in mere seconds.  Strategic bombers will give you no-end grief as they take out your factories with near impunity.  If your opponent goes air you have to at least get some fighters up unless you have the resources to invest heavily on ground anti-air (don't forget to get some flak as well).

Now, before you start complaining, ground anti-air is not useless.  It's more of a deterrent, i.e., without it your other ground forces can be pounded by air with impunity, with it you at least make your opponent lose some aircraft for every airstrike.  Ground anti-air also helps your fighters maintain air superiority over the territory you control.

It's not, however, all fun and games in the VTOL camp.  The VOTLs' extra dose of pwnage is balanced by the fact that you don't get construction aircrafts until T2.  Yes, you read that right, there's no construction aircraft in the T1 aircraft plant build list.  The aircraft plant, however, does grant access to air transports which have an added value in NOTA because they can move transportable turrets around.

* A missile tower (Defender/Pulverizer) built on top of a tall enough hill will be able to shoot at high altitude VTOLs if the surrounding terrain is low.

====================================
What's so different about NOTA navy?
====================================
For starters, the 3D models are different.  They look a lot shipier and less like the glorified armed yachts from OTA.  Ships are also armed to the teeth (the "lowly" destroyer has 7 weapons:  two plasma cannons, two flak cannons, two torpedo launchers and an anti-air missile).  Furthermore, ship mounted plasma cannons are artillery cannons, the have very good range and area of effect.  There's also only one shipyard (there's no advanced shipyard) which builds all ships, from the destroyer to the battleship.

Unlike OTA and other mods, ships rule the seas.  While you can hold destroyers and maybe cruisers at bay for a little while through the cunning use hovers, torpedo bombers and anti-ship guns, it's just a matter of time before the bigger ships show up and wreck all your stuff.  Considering this, it's imperative that you get ships of your own if the map has any significant amount of water.  If you decide to forgo ships in such a type of map then it's vital that you find and destroy the opponent's shipyard as soon as possible.

By the way, anti-ship guns (also called coastal defense guns) are a special type of medium range plasma cannon that do extra damage to ships.  There are two versions:  a static one and a mobile one built by the T1 vehicle plant.  These guns are a little bit inaccurate and must achieve direct hits to do any damage (they have a very small area of effect) so they're not very well suited to attack anything smaller than ships.

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You mentioned something else I wanted to ask about, what was it?... Right, "transportable turrets"?
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Also unique to NOTA (for the time being) are transportable turrets.  Air transports can move these around and so can hover transports (you can also FPS a unit and push them around, but that only works for minor adjustments).  They're a convenient way to provide support for your mobile units when the front lines start to shift.  You can also try to sneak some into undefended enemy territory to cause some havoc.

There are four types of transportables.  Two are common to both Arm and Core:  transportable light laser turrets and transportable flak turrets.  The other one is exclusive to Arm forces, it's a transportable rocket launcher; the Box-o-Death (tm) spews ballistic rockets non-stop with good range.  The last one is the Core only transportable sabot tower, the Splinter, which fires anti-tank darts.

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Ah, I see.  Why would I need those, though?  Couldn't I just build regular turrets instead?
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Base expansion is another aspect where NOTA greatly differs from OTA and any OTA-like mods.  Construction KBOTs/vehicles/VTOLs only have a very basic build list.  They cannot build factories or advanced defenses, they can only build some basic economy buildings (solars, geos, windgens, mexes, metal makers), some basic defenses (transportable LLTs, anti-air machineguns/chainguns, dragon's teeth* and land mines**) and radar.  Construction hovercraft can also build some sea-based versions of those basic structures.

In order to expand, mobile constructors can also build base expansion towers (Level 1 Base constructors) which are unarmed versions of the command building with a little shorter build range and a little less build power but with the same build list.  These are a little pricey and deciding when and where to build one is a very important strategic decision.  The added step of building base expansion towers is the reason why NOTA is called "Mobility Focused Warfare" (your mobile units will see a lot more action than in other mods because your static defenses are unlikely to be in the front lines).

* DTs are smaller in NOTA, they're meant to serve as obstacles for mobile units not as protection for defenses.
** There aren't any dedicated minelayer units in NOTA, construction units double as minelayers.

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Wait, if mobile constructors cannot build factories then how do I tech up?
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The command building and the base expansion towers build two types of constructors which allow you to tech up:  Level 2 Constructors and Advanced Constructors.  Level 2 Constructors come in four varieties:  Kbot, Tank, Air and Def.

The first three (Kbot, Tank and Air) allow you to build the corresponding advanced factory (Adv KBOT Lab, Adv Vehicle Plant and Adv Aircraft Plant).  The defense one gives access to advanced defensive structures:  pop-up plasma cannons (Ambusher/Toaster), BLODs (Annihilator/Doomsday Machine), EMP missile launchers (Stunner, Arm only), nukes (Retaliator/Silencer), LRPCs (Big Bertha/Intimidator), RFLRPCs (Vulcan/Buzzsaw) and long range nuclear cannons (Tabitha/Influence).

All Level 2 Constructors also allow you to upgrade your economy by providing access to Heavy Fusion Reactors, Moho Metal Makers and Moho Engineers (Moho Engineers are really big construction KBOTs which are responsible for building Moho Mines).  To round up the package, all Level 2 Constructors also have access to a small selection of T1 defensive*, utility** and economy*** structures.

The Advanced Constructors build EVERYTHING all of the four Level 2 Constructors can plus NOTA's T3 structures.  At T3 the Core gets the warp gate (warps in the commander****), the Krogoth gantry (I wonder what this might do? :P), the Anti-gravity hangar (builds flying fortresses) and the Pinocchio (I won't ruin the surprise, just build one and see what it does).  Not to be outdone, the Arm also gets the warp gate (there's a little surprise waiting for you here, also) plus the Pod Factory (builds Montros Pods which are the Arm's answer to the Kroggies) and the orbital laser (C&C GDI's Ion Cannon, anyone?).

* LLTs, HLTs, MRPCs, coastal defense guns, missile towers, flak cannons and anti-nukes
** Radar towers and air repair pads
*** T1 fusion reactors
**** You can only have one active commander at a time (if you lose it, you can warp in another one).

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This really is nothing like OTA.
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I told you so, right from the start.

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Yeah, I guess you did.  Anything else I should know?
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Just a few things, actually.  First and foremost is that you CANNOT assist factories in NOTA*.  However, there's little need for that since NOTA factories build faster than their OTA counterparts.  In fact, NOTA factories are so efficient that there's an option to slow them down to 75%, 50% and 25% of their maximum output (you'll see a button which displays "100%" on the left panel when you select a factory, repeatedly clicking it will cycle through the four possible values) so that they don't choke your early economy.

Also gone from NOTA are starburst rockets.  These weapon systems are very limited because they cannot hit moving targets; this has been corrected in NOTA by replacing them with ballistic missiles which can more effectively engage mobile units.

Another thing you'll notice is that in NOTA weapon ranges are a little bit longer than in OTA (for example, the EMG of an OTA PeeWee has a range of ~180, the EMG of a NOTA PeeWee has a range of 255).  On a related note, there aren't any advanced radar towers in NOTA because a NOTA basic radar tower has a radar coverage much larger than a OTA ADVANCED radar tower.  NOTA radars can also detect cloaked units that get too close.

Finally, anti-nukes are T1 in NOTA and they have a rather large umbrella of protection (so now you don't have any excuse for getting nuked unprepared).

* Look at it this way, in most other mods your factory isn't really "ready" until you have around six construction units guarding and assisting it; NOTA completely eliminates this second step (and if you really, really, really need to spam then you can always build more factories).

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Is that all?
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Yep, for now at least.  Remember that this is just an introductory guide meant to explain the differences between NOTA and OTA/AA descendants.  I didn't go and wasn't planning to go into any tactics, strategies or unit analysis for NOTA (maybe later, in another document).  There's another guide made by 123v which does offer some pointers about how to play NOTA effectively; it's a good read and you might consider going over that one as well.


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Known Bugs
-Underwater Seaplane Bases have footprints too small for the model. This is so ships will not get stuck on them.
-Fighters try to attack ground units which they can't actually shoot at. This should be fixed in future spring versions.


Units from...

- Terror Maps and Units -
- TA Arsenal Network -
- Cypernetic Concept Industries -
- TA Research and Development -
- TA-Power -
- I-TAZ -
- Arm and Core unit Training -
- M3g -
- TA forever -
- Complete Annihilation -
- Mutual Assured Destruction TA -
- Creation Matrix Units -
- Core Prime -
- Shensi Design -
- TA-Designers -

Thanks to Smoth's effects package for the weapon effects used by the osprey interceptor.
Many other FX from Complete Annihilation
Warp effect modified from Evolution RTS's fusion glow effect

mod by thor and cake. loadscreens by quanto
