Archived News For March 2002

21st Of March 2002 - Sneak Preview

As i have exceeded my 60 hours of broadband usage (some "missing" hours from Dec 2001 were added to this month's usage), i am unable to release TAUCP within this month, but will most likely release it early April. But it's not a bad thing really, i'll have plenty of time to polish up TAUCP 1.2 and especially the AI. And now, a sneak preview of the new units that will be included in TAUCP along with the units that HAVE been removed from 1.2 :

New Units In TAUCP 1.2

  • Removed Arm Sparkle (Lvl 1 Lightning Tank)
  • Removed Arm & Core Whale (Air Carrier)
  • Removed Arm & Core Falcor (Heavy Air Carrier)
  • Removed Air Repair Pad NS (Arm & Core)
  • Removed Arm & Core Oasis (Level 1 Carrier)
  • Removed Arm Blitz from Adv. Vehicle Plant (Unit is similar to Arm Dark)
  • Replaced Arm Thunderstorm with Arm Hypokonder (Same Functionality)
    Hypokonder is a lot larger than Thunderstorm but looks better and
    is slightly stronger.
There are other new units that have been added to TAUCP 1.2 as well that were not mentioned above. VeZoZ from Ultimate-Strategy says that his site will try to have the latest version of TAUCP (as a mirror) on his site. You can get the latest version of TAUCP (currently 1.1) here.

So if for some reason FilePlanet goes down, or if it's slow, you now have an alternative location to download TAUCP. But do note that the site only contains the FULL version of TAUCP, not the upgrades or any of the miscellaneous files such as the VB6 Runtimes, 3do Files, etc.

Stay Tuned - Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

16th Of March 2002 - Next Version

The next version of TAUCP will see some improvements in the AI department where the AI will know how to use the Heavy Construction Vehicles and Overseers to build structures instead of going around in circles patrolling the area. Besides that, as some of you may have known, there will be two new "boosted" versions of BOTH Mostly Harmless AI and Banzai.

The first will be the Easy Boost where the AI doesn't build nukes, cheats a little bit and basically is a scaled down version of the Standard Boost that exists in TAUCP 1.1. On the other hand, the Hard Boost will probably kill you if you're not careful enough. The Hard Boost will build nukes and cheats a lot (in terms of metal extraction and energy production).

Not only that, the Hard Boost will also have access to improved versions of the level 3 gantries (Arm High Tech Lab and Core Krogoth Gantry). The same goes for the Standard Boost except the speed of the unit construction for both gantries are scaled down. The Standard Boost will build nukes as well, but the Hard Boost will have a much quicker reload time on each nuke fired !

Besides all the AI tweaks, there's the usual Gameplay Tweaks, Unit Additions, Removals, Replacements and such. So stay tuned.

Hope You Enjoy TAUCP - Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

11th Of March 2002 - TAUCP 1.1 For PC & MAC Released !

TAUCP 1.1 is finally here after much testing and tweaking ! This new release is a HUGE update over the original and you should check out the version history on what is new at the end of the readme file. Here are the files for PC Owners :

AND here are the files for Mac Owners :

So from now on, Mac. Owners can enjoy Total Annihilation Units Compilation Pack as much as PC Owners ! However, Mac owners MUST get MacUTATOR 5.3.3 mentioned above to install TAUCP 1.1 Mac Edition and will NOT get the TAUCP frontend since MacUTATOR serves as a substitute.

This new release should fix the crash bug that many non-ta:cc users are facing with sea maps. Besides that, when TAUCP is disabled using the new frontend, all the 6 downloadable cavedog units (Necro, FARK, etc) will be enabled. This was a neat suggestion made by Charlie.

PC Owners :

For those who already own TAUCP 1.0 and have it installed, you may download the TAUCP 1.0 To TAUCP 1.1 Patch above, which is much smaller than the full version which is 15.6 MB. In order for the patch to work, you must NOT modify any of the TAUCP related files, if you did please reinstall TAUCP 1.0 and then install the new patch.

To New Users Of TAUCP (PC) : You do NOT need to download the Supplementary VB6 Files as this new version incorporates the necessary files to ensure that the frontend works. However, you may still need the VB6 SP5 Runtime Files.

You may have also noticed that there is a new unit descriptions list. This list contains the descriptions of ALL the 3rd party units in TAUCP. Most of the descriptions are very simple, so don't expect much but they will serve as a guide to you on the capabilities of a particular unit or structure.

Have fun everyone, and don't forget to show your support - Vote For TAUCP Central !

Vote for TAUCP Central - Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

9th Of March 2002 - To Non-TA:CC Users of TAUCP

To those who do NOT own TA:CC and are playing TAUCP, the game WILL 100% crash if the AI attempts to build the hovercraft platform (naval series) and build the transport hovercraft. The same thing will happen if you try to build that unit. This bug has been reported by numerous non-ta:cc users. However, if you play on a land map with no water, this bug should not occur.

This is due to the missing transport hovercraft script which is actually part of TA:CC and since non-TA:CC owners don't have TA:CC...it'll crash. Nevertheless, this bug will only be fixed in the next release of TAUCP which is due out on the Week of 11th March 2002.

Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

8th Of March 2002 - TAUCP + TA:BT = Crash?

Several users have notified me that TAUCP is incompatible with TA:Battle Tactics. One such user is Crusader, who had strange problems with TAUCP & TA:BT installed together. But once TA:BT was removed, TAUCP runs fine without any crashes.

I know that there are some of you who managed to get TAUCP running with TA:Battle Tactics, but just in case there are those who were unable to get TAUCP running, try NOT to install TA:BT and see if TAUCP works fine. As i do NOT have TA: Battle Tactics, i am unable to trace the root to the problem.

The next release of TAUCP is due out on the week of 11th March 2002. So stay tuned !

Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

6th Of March 2002 - Supplementary VB 6 Files Re-Released

I've made a blunder - i forgot to set one of the Supplementary VB6 Files to "self-register". Sorry about this. I have re-uploaded a newer version of it. Get it here. It's basically the same file, same location, but slightly larger. Thanks to Dritzz for letting me know.

Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

5th Of March 2002 - 3dofiles for Non-TA:CC Users!

I've just created a small patch to allow those who do NOT have the TA:Core Contingency expansion pack to play TAUCP. Please read the text file included in the zip for instructions. Get it here. The next release of TAUCP will see a couple of bug fixes, tweaks and additions.

Have Fun - Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

3rd Of March 2002 - Supplementary VB 6 Files

I have just uploaded the Supplementary VB 6 Files for those who have problems running the TAUCP Frontend. If you were NOT able to run the frontend, then try downloading and installing the Supplementary VB 6 Files. Get it here. Thanks to Randy Murray for notifying me about this problem.

I would also like to thank everyone for voting for TAUCP Central. I'd never expect the site to be at the Top position so quickly, thanks again.

If you have any comments, suggestions or problems with TAUCP, don't hesitate to let me know through the discussion forums.

Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

1st Of March 2002 - TAUCP Version 1.0 Released!

Welcome to TAUCP Central's Official Launch ! Today, the very first version of Total Annihilation Units Compilation Pack have been released to the public after much testing and preparation.

This unit pack contains over 230 3rd Party Units that has been thoroughly checked and balanced to ensure a smooth gameplay. For a complete list of features, please proceed to the features section.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank DarkYouth for providing me with a site to begin TAUCP with, here at PlanetAnnihilation and all the help that i needed. With all that said, here are the links to the files :

Notice : The VB6 SP5 Runtime Files are needed in order to use the TAUCP frontend. If you are unsure which version of VB6 Runtimes files you currently have, i suggest that you download it.

I strongly recommend that you download TAUCP using a download manager such as Getright, Netants or Reget.

Before attempting to install TAUCP 1.0, please ensure that :
  • You have installed Total Annihilation with the TA:CC expansion pack OR the Special 3do Files for non TA:CC users and the latest TA 3.1 Patch.
  • You have NO other 3rd party units installed or even downloadable cavedog units such as the Necro, FARK,etc
There is no TA:M Version of TAUCP as the frontend included in the Unit Pack works the same way as TA:M does. You can select an A.I with the frontend, disable/enable the unitpack and even select the Starting Metal & Energy amount for all players (Skirmish Only).

If you have any questions, problems, bugs, comments or suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know through the forums. Please make sure that you have read the FAQ completely before attempting to ask a question.

Enjoy - Malcolm Lim A.k.a CyberKewl

PS : I'm looking for sites that can mirror the TAUCP files. If anyone would like to mirror the files on their site, please let me know.

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