Total Annihilation Zero

[TaShadan]

Total Annihilation Zero by Vohvelieläin

Introduction

Total Annihilation Zero is a full-fledged modification of the classic strategy game Total Annihilation and aims to recreate the entire game to the maximum extent and quality that is currently possible. In addition to completely redesigned versions of the two factions from the original game, the Arm and the Core, TA Zero introduces a third faction, the Guardians of Kadesh. All three factions are stylistically and strategically unique and crafted to the highest standards that can be achieved within the Total Annihilation engine. The game is a work-in-progress with preview versions regularly released to the public as development milestones are reached. There's no telling what the final version will hold in store, but you can continue on to the Features section to learn more about what is currently available in TA Zero.

Compared to the original Total Annihilation the gameplay shifted from "macro" oriented gameplay to "micro" oriented one (do not be afraid, there still is a lot of macro involved). Every unit has to be microed differently and the terrain plays a prominent role. For example most units benefit from a high ground advantage. The game in general is more tactical and positional but still fast paced. Soft counters play a major role, while still having some hard counter units. Therefore it has a lot of aspect from other RTS games like Starcraft Broodwar or C&C mixed with the streaming-resource system, which allows you to queue production. In addition the TA engine allows you to dodge projectiles, which leads to very interesting and satisfying encounters. Although being based on a outdated engine, the visual aspects were increased (new very detailed models and handmade textures with a distinctive theme for each faction) and the controls/gui are on par with modern RTS games. A more detailed feature list can be found here: http://zero.tauniverse.com/features/. The map design is unique and beautiful. Most maps feature ground, air and naval battles and therefore lead to a very varied game with lots of different units and play styles.

You can check out some of the maps here:
Implemented Maps
Community maps

One example from the community mappack:

Spoiler

To get an impression of the gameplay you can check out my youtube channel:

TaShadan Total Annihilation Youtube Channel

One example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfoJnzt2DQ8&list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w

You can download the standalone test version here:

TA Zero Standalone Test Version

Compared to the released version on the homepage this version features a lot of new units, bug fixes and balance changes.
Just download, extract and enjoy!

To pay tribute to the original Total Annihilation you can bug the game on gog.com:

Total Annihilation Commander Pack

You like what you see?

Come and play on Gameranger!

Official Gameranger Site

You tried to play but you are having trouble learning the basics? Check out this Beginners guide!

Total Annihilation Zero Beginners Guide

I hope i play you soon on Gameranger!

Greetings

ash.TaShadan

 

[TaShadan]

New version available for download.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

where can i download it.

 

[TaShadan]

http://zero.tauniverse.com/

 

[TaShadan]

Redstones TA Zero channel

A 2on2 played on River of Flames. Unfortunately the guy recording the game had low resolution settings (on higher resolution you can see much more of the battlefield and there are no minimap problems).

 

[TaShadan]

New work in progress screenshots:

ARM T2 Radar Jammer: Blocks enemy Radar in a certain AOE.



ARM T2 Stealthed Sniper/Saboteur Kbot: Able to cloak, armed with a sniper rifle and able to self destruct (with an AOE explosion able to destroy T1 factories).

CORE T2 Electronic Warfare Hovercraft Artillery: Does extra damage to stealthed/jammed/cloaked units and has an extra (dgun) attack that deactives enemy shields for a certain time.







If someone is interested in testing the WIP builds send me a pm.

 

[TaShadan]

There is a new test build version again. Some minor changes and a new Unit for CORE are included.
The amphibious CORE Marauder:



Still searching for people to help me testing. If you do not have Total Annihilation but still interested in testing the new build send me a PM.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i could test it but i might have to search for the game first because i havent played it for a while so where i have it i dont really know but i should find it. i got it several times both separately and in the commander pack. could be fun to try it out again. where do i need to go to download zero.

 

[Heinvers]

I must say this looks quite good. Great job

 

[Solu9]

Damn I remember player TA back in the day. I have no idea where my CD is though. Is this freeware?

 

[TaShadan]

Check your PM!

 

[noob]

They does not look as much cute as the TA units they looks weird and overcomplicated.
Their tanks looks less realistic than TA ones they does not looks like if they were made for being mass produced the more easily possible.
Probably it is better on others points than TA as there was no balance inside and at the end it was airships, krogs, multicannon big bertha and nukes and it ended weirdly by the total exploration of the map (or massive nukage of anything) for killing the cloaked radar and sonar protected underwater commander

 

[TaShadan]

They does not look as much cute as the TA units they looks weird and overcomplicated.
Their tanks looks less realistic than TA ones they does not looks like if they were made for being mass produced the more easily possible.
Probably it is better on others points than TA as there was no balance inside and at the end it was airships, krogs, multicannon big bertha and nukes and it ended weirdly by the total exploration of the map (or massive nukage of anything) for killing the cloaked radar and sonar protected underwater commander

It might be a matter of preference but the OTA units do not look more realistic. In fact they look like toy tanks too and the textures are really low quality.

 

[noob]

Look the tanks looks simple like in realty opposite to the tanks of Total Annihilation Zero who have an ridiculously complicated form and so would be harder to produce in factories and you never see so much complicated tanks in realty.
For example the ArmT2RGTanks are too much over-elevated and theirs wheels exceed very few from the protective layer of metal preventing them to roll well on irregular terrain.
And the CoreT2BTank have eight sets of wheels with tracks which is evidently more costly and is probably not needed and it makes him an huger target and more large restraining his movements.
The CoreT2ArtTank looks like if he have the same error.

 

[TaShadan]

Lol... you compare this to real tanks. How do you compare the badly designed Mechs and Kbots of OTA? Their legs and their proportions make no sense most of the OTA bots would just fall when taking a step.
I agree that the some of the Zero units make no real sense physic wise. But its a scifi game and OTA also ignores physic stuff. You consider this a good tank design? In the game this unit has ballistic weapons... but such a small turret...

or this...

This is how modern tanks look like:

Abrams

or this from WW2:

Panther

In fact the Abrams has alot of complex stuff too.

 

[Solu9]

Garh!
While you argue (which is fine reading by the way) can you please put your pictures in hidden tags?

 

[TaShadan]

Sorry... changed it.

 

[noob]

Do not forget you are from far and so that all those small stuff is not visible and so TA tank is not make for being put in full screen and from far they can be a little comparable to real tanks while those TA0 tanks does not looks realistic even from far and even looks non functional also the small turret is explainable easily as the current plasma technology allows to concentrate extraordinary amounts of energy in very small energy pellet who explodes on hitting something and so the limitating factor of the attack could be the generator of the tank and not the cannon look at some others plasma cannons often they are not huge and when they are it is often because they use higher amounts of energy.
TA0 does not seems to feature an magical technology allowing weird tanks to move better than others.
Leveler is indeed an weird looking tank but it is mainly an cannon with an way of locomotion there is no cabin because there is no driver(it is an core unit) and there is few shielding for economizing metal but as the cannon needs correct stability and to be able to rotate fast in all directions there is two axes of freedom and he have large excentred trails and wheels for not having the tank falling each time it shoots.
But it probably does not have an miniaturized engine but an electric motor(what take up most the space in current electric motors is battery and in TA producing many energy is not hard and can be done in very few space) so I would opt for the Miniaturized electricity generator answer which is not more logical(the unit produce energy when static and consume when moving)

 

[TaShadan]

I guess its useless to argue with you. You always have a "clever" solution.
Where is the engine of the Leveler btw? OH WAIT it has a miniaturized pocket engine!

 

[noob]

No I always have an dumber one read my name for knowing me.
I recognize all those tanks from OTA and TA0 looks unrealistic.
It is just an personal opinion if I think it is better to have simple tanks but anyone can think other-ways.
And they look more futuristic in TA0 which is good for games of this kind.
Also I were comparing the cuteness and not the beauty and for that second one TA0 is probably better(I did not yet see any of those units moving so I do not have an complete opinion yet)
I will perhaps install this mod as I did already heard of it before and I already installed loads of TA variations.

 

[TaShadan]

To be honest i prefer simpler and more realistic looking units too. I still love Zero. Just msg me if you want to play Zero in multiplayer.

 

[noob]

Why is there is so few units in TA0?
The AI may have been improved but it does not understand when it is attacked by air and so do not build AA defenses when I attack with those OP bombers who can one-shot most of the ground units with high precision(in TA the AI is just randomly choosing which units it builds which is probably not even half as good as the one of TA0 but the TA0 AI is cheating by using special T1 extractors who are better than T2 ones).
TA bombers were better balanced as they did not had an never failing one target heavy damage LASER they had instead multiple bombs each one unable to kill any unit alone and also those new bombers shoot fast allowing me to defeat the AI without any problem in 1V1

 

[TaShadan]

Yes there are less units than in OTA but in Zero most units are useful. In OTA there are the usual early game units (massing flash and samson) and the late game units (hawks and sometimes mavericks+ on maps with water some pelicans). Also clustering the map with rocket turrets.
Ah sry there is a new balance patch with Bombers being nerfed. They are still strong though. I recommend playing vs real opponents in any case. If you want to play, its played on gameranger.
BTW Bombers in OTA are not used to destroy units. You 1 hit Metal Extrators or Energy buildings. In Zero the Bombers need 2 hits for Metal Ex.


Developmentpatch:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/migt9gwyzzd89h9/TA Zero Devpatch 29062014.zip

 

[noob]

With the old TA core you used an mix of crashers(AA) morty(main masses killer) dominators(main building killer when you go Kbots) with some Fast attack Kbots(for seeing better the ennemy army and main buildings they also have an vaguely correct attack) if you used also vehicles you also had some goliaths and some other stuff it is sure there was more than half of the units who were useless one quarter who were very situational(like the sumo or the can who can be good if you have an factory near because they move too much slow) and the last quarter was the often used units in masses or not (Like that fighter airship or the morty or the thuds or the scout airship who is never used in masses but was useful)
So probably there is an higher proportion of useful units in TA0
but another thing who give the impression of low number of units is the fact most of the main units have similar versions in other races. in TA some of the power-fullest units were different in the two camps like the morty and the fido or the two brawler airship who had two different weapons(they were also many of them who looked like copies)
but here there is three camps so the difficulty to have one role filled by three very different units is very hard.

 

[TaShadan]

Noone plays CORE anymore in OTA. ARM >>> CORE

 

[noob]

Why did players stopped playing core?
I did never heard of that before as I am not someone at the actuality.

 

[TaShadan]

Why did players stopped playing core?
I did never heard of that before as I am not someone at the actuality.

You can not compete with a good ARM player. Flash + Samsons are really strong (in most cases the flash samson spam will just overwhelm you or your eco is crippled compared to the ARM player and he steamrolls you in late game) and Hawks are better than Vamps. Only on naval maps CORE is an option but i have not seen people play it anymore for a while (about 2 years). OTA is just sadly balanced.

I agree though that the factions in Zero are not that different too (OTA is much worse though). But because of a fairly good balance the factions and different matchups require different strats and units.

 

[noob]

But in huge maps flash and samsons rush are harder no?
For air domination it is true it is an horror to loose it.

 

[TaShadan]

It depends on how big the map is but most/all good players are building towards the opponent. With factories near your opponent its fairly easy to attack with flashs and samsons for a while aswell.

 

[noob]

And in an map with irregular terrain?
And with the six last units cave-dog created who were essentially giving boosts to core like the necro and the immolator(an defense who is supposed to counter to the flash)(this is why they hang around in most TA looking spring mods)?
Still thinking that the aerial domination is the most important thing in end game.

 

[TaShadan]

Immolators are easy to avoid. Just run around. Immolators do not work properly on flat maps, it might only work on maps with narrow spots. Necros are kinda useless. They cost alot and they do not revive automatically... you have to select every unit you want to revive (the tauniverse modders are working on a patrol revive command though which might buff the necro alot). Its kinda useless if the only ground units that are used will be flashs and samsons. The best the CORE could revive is mavericks all other T2 ARM ground units are kinda useless.

 

[noob]

This is really sad that at high level making something balanced is incredibly hard.
You need for having something balanced to often make patches but often the balanced TA and things of this kind ends up not looking like TA anymore because they change too many and one day decide that T2 economy is an lame idea or that metal makers and energy generators are lame and remove them and then remove more stuff like nuclear bombs and krogoths and big bertha and in the end anything funny go away

 

[TaShadan]

If it would be easy, there would be more good rts games on the market.
If you want to play Zero or TA just msg me.

 

[Healashammy]

I remember playing Total Annihilation when i was just a kid, had the big box that it came in, now i only have the jewel case and the original cd's

definitely gonna try this out!

 

[TaShadan]

Did you try it?

 

[Dr Super Good]

In the future form complexity is not an issue as complicated forms can easily be mass produced via printing techniques. As is this is starting to occur in industry where engines such as for aircraft have major workings printed.

You would want the tanks to look strong and effective in combat, not look cheap and mass produce able.

My biggest complaint is that some of the art looks "clunky". Like the people coming up with the designs did not attend any mechanical engineering courses. I would imagine a lot more curves on the things or at least stuff being a lot less top heavy or lower to the ground.

 

[TaShadan]

In the future form complexity is not an issue as complicated forms can easily be mass produced via printing techniques. As is this is starting to occur in industry where engines such as for aircraft have major workings printed.

You would want the tanks to look strong and effective in combat, not look cheap and mass produce able.

My biggest complaint is that some of the art looks "clunky". Like the people coming up with the designs did not attend any mechanical engineering courses. I would imagine a lot more curves on the things or at least stuff being a lot less top heavy or lower to the ground.

I agree in general. On the other hand most modern tanks still do not have too many curves. They use reactive armor instead.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I agree in general. On the other hand most modern tanks still do not have too many curves. They use reactive armor instead.

If a modern tank gets hit by anything other than some light weaponry it is destroyed anyway.

 

[TaShadan]

Again a new version available:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxf040f7guedgtt/TA Zero Devpatch 31072014.zip

and a small Beginners Guide:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ap5qxr3y4zelkqh/TA Zero Beginners Strategy Guide.pdf

I also uploaded 2 VoDs:

http://youtu.be/ooX9FukSJhI?list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w
http://youtu.be/liIhL-6Ftqg?list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w

 

[TaShadan]

2on2 this time. Unfortunately i still have problem with rendering the video... i always lose some minutes at the end of the recording...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRM2Sh2gQ34&list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w

 

[TaShadan]

Uploaded 3 new vods on youtube and still work on more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMB1...7W0MU5RHn2h10w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQj...7W0MU5RHn2h10w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkrk...7W0MU5RHn2h10w

I am lacking music, so if someone has ideas just tell me. I need royalty free music though.

 

[TaShadan]

3 new vods:

2 2on2s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQnK1_9xcGQ&list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z03mSpkcK2w&list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w

and a 1on1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIh_f1Kq6XM&list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w

 

[Eagle XI]

Ive got the TA:Commander Pack from GOG and Escalation mod. Well, most of the maps are freaking huge and the game is on such a macro scale im struggling to do something else than spam tanks as if playing Soviets in RA with infinite resource cheat.
Now that i must find out some micro-worthy units and their tactics to employ in this chaotic environment and if somebody knows a 'small maps' pack.

 

[TaShadan]

Ive got the TA:Commander Pack from GOG and Escalation mod. Well, most of the maps are freaking huge and the game is on such a macro scale im struggling to do something else than spam tanks as if playing Soviets in RA with infinite resource cheat.
Now that i must find out some micro-worthy units and their tactics to employ in this chaotic environment and if somebody knows a 'small maps' pack.

Zero is not Escalation. Zero is more micro oriented and fast paced. And most maps are smaller.

Mappack i created for Zero: http://www.tauniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43725

 

[Eagle XI]

Well i was just answering your "does anybody play TA here ?" q at the OP.
I may look into it next now that you mention manageabler scale.

 

[TaShadan]

This is the most recent standalone version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2njnzpp8yky3fcr/TA Zero Standalone.zip

Some unit pictures are still missing though (it is a development version)

 

[Idaero Ace]

will try it

 

[TaShadan]

You guys tried it already? If you want to play online just msg me.

 

[Eagle XI]

Not yet, been distracted by C&C.

 

[TaShadan]

New ARM vs GoK match on 4P River of Flames uploaded (1080p):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUwZSt2g8Vc&list=UUIGJ_Jt1C7W0MU5RHn2h10w