Getting Started
Spring is a project that was started by the Swedish Yankspankers that aims to create a fully customizable 3D real time strategy game engine.
TA Spring is the current project focus, which is supposed to port the original Cavedog game "Total Annihilation" to the still developing Spring engine. It uses formats and gameplay elements from the original game and, at this point, can display most Mods and Units designed for the original game to different levels of playability.
The most important thing to note however is, YOU CAN ACTUALLY DOWNLOAD AND PLAY A WORKING VERSION OF THIS GAME RIGHT NOW AND PLAY ONLINE WITH OTHER PEOPLE.
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[edit] Getting To Your First Game
[edit] STEP 1: Is your computer ready?
Thanks to the Linux Port efforts, Spring now has cross-platform support, and can be played on Windows or Linux. There are, however, sync issues with Linux and Windows users playing together. In theory, it might be compatible with Windows 9x or later, but since we're still beta, we'll call it "hit and miss".
You will need some kind of 3D hardware acceleration, it needs to have the latest OpenGL drivers (which means, providing the card is recent enough, the latest drivers from your cards manufacturer). You will also need DirectX installed.
[edit] STEP 2: Download the Current Installer
Click Here to go to the downloads page. Download the Regular installer option. Run it and install it somewhere on your computer. In theory if, at this point, you read the stuff in the "docs" folder, then you will know what to do next.
[edit] STEP 3 Make Sure the Game Works on Your Computer
Browse to the installation folder and double-click "spring.exe". Choose "yes" on the "do you want to be a server" dialog, choose the "Commanders" script with the arrow keys and enter, choose a map with the arrow keys and enter, press enter to force start the game.
Don't bother going online until you figure out how to make your Commander build buildings and your buildings build units, and manage to find and kill the other Commander on the map and get the "You Win" message.
[edit] Quick Start
Shift-Middle Click to change views, middle click activates free-look, arrows keys, moving your cursor to the edge and the scroll wheel controls your camera. If you've ever played Total Annihilation before in its default control mode, you will know what to do next. For a very thorough command and control list, visit the Using_Spring Page.
[edit] STEP 4: Playing Online - TASClient.exe
Playing is quite simple. Just make sure you are connected to the internet, then double-click on the tasclient icon (it may have been put on your desktop, but it will definitely be in your start menu). Once you are in the client app, you will need to use the options button at the top of the window to set up an account. From there, just click the little button in the upper left section of the screen to connect to the server. Assuming your firewalls aren't excessively paranoid, it will make a noise and you will be put into the main discussion channel. You can then choose a game from the bottom pane, or chat in the top one.
[edit] STEP 5: Hosting Online - TASClient.exe
In order to host a game, you must open the "Battle Window" by clicking on the "Battle Screen" button. Once there, you will need to click on the "Host battle" button. The bar at the top defines the amount of players you can have (2-16), next is the game's name, followed by a dropdown box with a list of your currently installed mods, the port the server will host on, and if you wish to lock your server from outsiders - you can also add a password.
You've started your game, people joined, and you started it! Great! But, what if once you're ingame, everyone else's names stay red for several minutes? That means they were unable to connect to your game. (oh noes) This normally means you have a firewall blocking access to your computer from the outside. Consult http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm if you need to know how to open ports on your router. Choose any game in the list, it doesn't matter, just be sure to use the port 8245, instead of what the game's listing says to use.
Holy! A 3D TA game! Don't just stand/sit there, get out and play it (reporting any bugs you encounter along the way). We need testers, and it can only make the game better.
