FAG
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
What are the minimum requirements to run
TA?
Total Annihilation requires a Pentium 100
running Windows95 with 16 Mb of RAM. You can probably get away with playing the missions
on a P75, but huge multiplayer games will bog your machine. We do have a feature where you
can tell a multiplayer game to limit the number of units that can be built, which should
make it playable on some slower machines. This feature also adds a very interesting
strategy to the game. Try playing with a limit of 20 units/side! The game becomes much
more strategic and you really have to think!!! We would not suggest playing with less than
a P90. Also included with the game are some very large multiplayer maps that require 32 Mb
of RAM.
You will also need:
a Double Speed CD-ROM,
Windows 95,
DirectX compatible machine with the drivers (included on our disk) installed,
SVGA Video card,
Mouse and Sound card.
SUPPORTS
Are you going to be supporting
3D cards?
Not right away. If a game has huge polygons
filling most of the screen, then these cards can make the game run faster. With a few (and
very expensive) exceptions, 3D cards do not do all of the 3D-related work that needs to be
done, especially the geometry. Most of the processor time in Total Annihilation is spent
calculating the 3D geometry and doing the unit AI. A 3D card won’t help buy more than
meager increase in speed and some of the cheaper cards will actually slow the game down.
Since it’s too early to make a game that runs only on 3D cards, we had to optimize
the 3D routines to run as fast as they could. Our 3D programmers are the best around, and
the code flies! Cavedog Entertainment is committed to ongoing support for Total
Annihilation and in addition to new units, maps and missions, we will be posting new
executables that may include 3D hardware support.
Does TA support on-line gaming services such as TEN,
Kali or MPlayer?
Yes.
If I have a slower Pentium, but extra RAM, can I
still play?
Extra RAM is always a welcome addition, but if
you want a great game experience you should play on a P100 or better.
Will TA run on NT 4.0 and up?
We are not currently supporting NT but
don’t expect it to stay this way.
Will TA take advantage of MMX?
No, but it will likely be a feature in future
updates.
Will TA run on 686 computers?
Yes.
NETWORK AND MULTIPLAYER
GAMES
How many people can play TA at once?
TA currently has a limit of 10 players on a
Local Area Network or four on the Internet with a minimum 28.8 modem.
Do you have an Internet interface like Westwood chat?
Cavedog are working on making the game as easy
to use as possible.
Can I ally with my friends?
Absolutely -- and you can break that alliance
anytime in the game.
Can you share resources, units and information with
your allies?
Yes, yes and yes. You can give metal and/or
energy to any player in the game. You can also give other players your units and mapping
information. And best of all, it’s not limited to players on your side -- you can
give your stuff to the enemy. It’s a great way to help out a beginning player or can
even be used as the ultimate insult (Hey, take all my stuff, you still can’t win!).
One hundred and fifty units are a lot. Do we have to
play with all of them in multiplayer games or can we disable some?
The player who sets up the game can exclude any
units that they don’t want to play with, even the ones that are included in the game.
We also have an advanced option which sets a maximum number of a particular unit that can
be constructed. You can also specify the total number of units that each side can have at
one time.
How is the multiplayer be handled? Two CD’s,
like C&C, spawning like Warcraft or must evey player purchase their own copy of TA?
Cavedog allow up to three people to play off of
one purchase of TA on a LAN, six with a second copy and 10 with a third copy.