My first experience

[fulano]

So I got a chance to try the game out and I'm very impressed with what you guys have done here!!
I like the project and hope you keep working on it. I like it much better than Spring.
I used v5.4 and it looks like a lot more has been done, I didn't see the later version when I downloaded it. Sorry if most of these bugs are known about, I just wanted to report my first experience. I use Windows XP sp3 and played on the 7 Islands map.

Here's my experience compared to old TA:
-I love the new camera, though I'd like to be able rotate with the middle button in fixed view so I can still scroll with the arrow keys.
-I loved how fast it ran, even with higher graphics settings! The graphics looked great too!
-I also glad to see a multiplayer save feature! That's a big deal for me, but I haven't had the chance to test it yet.

-Every time I scrolled over enemy units it would briefly lag, no matter how many units.
-I had minor path-finding issues but it appears that has been worked on.
-Construction units (except aircraft and the commander) had a hard time building 4x4 groups of buildings. They'd only build about the first third of the queue.
-The skirmish AI didn't work 2/3s of the time. Only one or two of them would work.
-Many times I couldn't add units to a group with shift. It might be because the group was off screen or because the group was a saved group, I didn't find out what was causing the bug exactly.
-I got a constant error about an overlapping yardmap.
-After a while of playing I started having problems with the patrol command. I'd select my group of ships, tell them to move to a point then patrol to another and I couldn't get the patrol command to go away. I'd tried to select units and it would just tell the group to patrol over to that unit. I had to use the alt-# command to get it to go away.
-Soon after I started having the patrol bug the game crashed while trying to set up some units to patrol to three points.

-I'd love to see +switchalts in the options. I hate having to press alt-# to select saved groups.
-+showranges would be handy too, I like the feature a lot and it doesn't make sense to me that it wasn't enabled by default in Old TA.
-Unit HP bars would be sweet. (like the ~ key used to bring up)

Now it's time to go download v0.6 and see if I can find time to test it!

[zuzuf]

I am glad you like it .
TA3D 0.5 is 2 years old now, a lot of things have been improved in TA3D 0.6, I hope you'll enjoy it

[fulano]

Any advice on which version of 0.6 to download? I can't get the latest one to run and don't really have time to test all of them

If I could help by sending crash logs or something I can too, I just don't know which files would be useful to you.

[Balthazar]

Any advice on which version of 0.6 to download? I can't get the latest one to run and don't really have time to test all of them

If I could help by sending crash logs or something I can too, I just don't know which files would be useful to you.

Grab the one that have higher number. r2827 up to date now.
ftp://downloads.ta3d.org/binaries/windows/dev/0.6/

Logs are stdout and stderr files in /ta3d/ folder

[fulano]

Yup, doesn't run but I've only done minor tinkering trying to get it to work. I'd love if you could give me some tips on getting it to go.

When I try to play the campaign I get the critical error message that says the errors could not be logged.
When I try to play skirmish I get the windows crash dialogue box
I've attached the stderr and stdout files for you. (why can't I attach txt files? Seems to be a phpBB default setting, or everybody just uses that setting)

I just tried again and the skirmish worked (4th try). 2 of the 3 AIs still aren't working though. When I quit the game crashed and I sent a report to your server.

I have an AMD processor, Geforce 210 video card, and I'm running XP SP3.


Also a pause feature would be really handy...

I also was just also wondering about the mac port. Does it work as well? Also any hope of getting a version for power PC processors? I'd just like to run this on my in-law's G4 one day if it were possible. Keep up the good work!

[zuzuf]

Press ESC it'll pause the game .

Regarding the campaign, according to the logs you're missing the mission files (totala4.hpi, ccmiss.ccx, ...).

You may want to try the new beta (r2849) which should be more stable.

[fulano]

Ahh, so you need the expansion data to play the old missions? Or is totala4 part of the original game?

I will download the latest and greatest then and give it a try.

I want to try some multiplayer over LAN with my brother soon using programs like Hamachi and Remobo. I'll let you know how it goes.

[zuzuf]

totala4.hpi is part of OTA, it's on CD 2

[fulano]

Thanks,

and this latest version wont even load for me or my brother.

I attached the error files. Is there somewhere better than this thread for me to upload these files when I try each new version?

EDIT: Looks like there's another new version to test out.

EDIT 2: Crashed when I load the skirmish again, like the previous versions (after 5.4 that is).

[zuzuf]

Keep posting here, it's easier for me to follow

I've just been through all the code replacing what might be the origin of the bug, hopefully it'll be fixed in next package

[fulano]

Just noticed the new version and plan to test it out

But just want to say I had to go back to R2720 to find one that ran.
Also I tried the load feature in that version in the campaign and when I reloaded a level it would say I was defeated and end the level.


I'll test out the new one later and tell you what I find.

[fulano]

Tried the new version, it ran great the first try but then I saved my game and exited and it crashed. Now it won't load when I open it. I just see the dos window for a second then it quits. I've attached the error files and the config file just in case a setting is breaking it.

EDIT
I can delete the config file and it loads again. It seems that anything I change in the settings results in the game crashing next time I load the game. Even the volume settings.

loading saved games from the campaign still end in defeat.
I couldn't get a skirmish or multiplayer game to start. Each time I'd get the windows crash dialogue.
The shift click feature doesn't work at all.

The campaigns do work but the game crashes when I go to leave a game. It at least lets me submit an error report when it crashes when I try to leave a game.

EDIT2
It appears that the older version (r2720) won't play in multiplayer or skirmish either. Just the campaign. I couldn't even get the other versions to load.


EDIT v. r2887
Another question, would it be better for me to edit posts or make new posts as I update this. I know double posting is highly discouraged in some forums.

Here's what I found so far:
Skirmish mode didn't crash!! Yay!
The save feature also worked in skirmish mode. But not in the campaign.

The AI commander just stared at the nearest metal spot and didn't move the entire game. I also noticed that when my commander finished a task he would be ordered to attack the enemy commander. Maybe that's why the AI commanders don't work half the time at the beginning of the game?

I use the right click interface and generally the right click cancels an order (like build or patrol or repair) but it doesn't do anything now, I thought it did in earlier versions but maybe not. Also the shift click to select or deselect from a group doesn't work still.

[fulano]

Just tested r2918 and so far it's been a happy experience. No crashes yet and saving and reloading works. Also the AI worked so far so good work! I'll let you if I run into any bugs and I'll check for new versions on occasion.

My only wish is that the game interface could be streamlined like modern RTS games. I mean features like having units move automatically when you place a building on them or not needing to press alt to select a unit group. There are more changes but I don't want to think of them all right now unless you want me to make a longer list. I know little features like that take time to implement.

Keep up the good work! I'm excited to have a working version of this game!

[zuzuf]

Thanks, I like that kind of post