Spring RTS Engine

Restoration of the old XTASE0.66 with locked stats and updated graphics? Want or do not want?

SwiftSpear wrote:Restoring an old version of XTA that was somewhere into the mid darkages in XTA's lifetime, and then tweaking it the way you like. It's not really old XTA, it's just a worse XTA balance mod than the current one.

Now if the project were to restore XTA 0.65SE, the last SJ version, and the end of a golden age, make graphical updates but otherwise lock in the balance and stats, THAT would be an awesome project! It has tonnes of timeless appeal and could really bring to life some of the history of our project, as well as making all the warm fuzzies well up in the hearts of the old timers with the nostalgia and all.

The current XTA team isn't SJ, but they are working hard and generally doing a great job. However, simply because they aren't SJ, what they do just isn't the same style, and while that's certainly not all bad, it would be nice to have the old style preserved.

See the old XTA (developed by SJ) changelog here:

http://spring.clan-sy.com/xtachanges.txt

Found this thread, first XTA version being developed by Noize.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4335&hilit=pimped

if you look down a bit further, notice the changelog for 6.0 was actually SJ's work:

NOiZE wrote:I forgot to say, the changes above are SJ's work so far for the next version, he asked me to put them in..

So I might be using 6.0pe instead of v0.66se

+1

Its worth pointing out some of the hilariously broken balance parts of oooold xta:

Maek spider GG
t1 viper/immo
lol sea balance
uber pyros
lrpc/rfpc not worth making
epic HLT
op crasher/jethro
lol fido

SJ's balancing of XTA was not perfect, and many positive (and some not so positive) changes have been made since, whilst i would definitely play this, I think some middle ground may be more playable.

Despite pintles comments i think it will be GG when sheekel makes this.

pintle wrote:Maek spider GG

I dont remember it being that op, brawlers etc were worse

pintle wrote:t1 viper/immo

was this way in OTA iirc

pintle wrote:lol sea balance

the sea balance in current xta isnt exaclty great. wtf under water labs?

pintle wrote:uber pyros

mines/dt around valuable structures?

pintle wrote:lrpc/rfpc not worth making

I cant remember the last time i saw one built in xta

pintle wrote:epic HLT

better than the current ones which barely hold their ground to lvl1

pintle wrote:op crasher/jethro

im a big fan of aa lines tbh

pintle wrote:lol fido

lol? op? underpowered? lol?

Sheekel wrote:

pintle wrote:t1 viper/immo

was this way in OTA iirc

AFAIR Viper is a third-party unit, and Immolator was a completely different thing in OTA (as in a turret that was only good against EMG-armed units, ie peewees and flashes).

I'm interested in adding the units described in this thread, it seems the SY's never got around to it though they were intended to be submitted:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3124&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=unit

Sheekel wrote:

pintle wrote:Maek spider GG

I dont remember it being that op, brawlers etc were worse

pintle wrote:t1 viper/immo

was this way in OTA iirc

pintle wrote:lol sea balance

the sea balance in current xta isnt exaclty great. wtf under water labs?

pintle wrote:uber pyros

mines/dt around valuable structures?

pintle wrote:lrpc/rfpc not worth making

I cant remember the last time i saw one built in xta

pintle wrote:epic HLT

better than the current ones which barely hold their ground to lvl1

pintle wrote:op crasher/jethro

im a big fan of aa lines tbh

pintle wrote:lol fido

lol? op? underpowered? lol?

spider hit air and paralysed everything v fast iirc

OTA viper fired hlt beam (lest cost effective than hlt) and Immo was not a mrpc with epic aoe (OTA immo wasn't really good against anything, at least, not compared to its cost in slashers or w/e)

Trust me, i hate the 9.45 amphibs more than you

Mines/DT will not stop op pyros being op

Lrpc does actually get used fairly often in games where it is viable

Current hlt balance i suppose is a matter of taste, but the old ones were epic good, also the arm one outranged the core one by a fair margin, you could fark hlt creep v easily

Im not a great fan of crasher lines, i don't necessarily detest them, but when they become the only viable t1 strat, something is wrong imo

Fido was awful in older xta versions

I rememberered a couple more: vehicles really really suck without the buffs they got (around about 9.1 iirc), snipers 2 hit kill a com (maybe op, but i loved it that way tbh), voodoo/tornado are epic powerful, but will never be used because of the crasher lines, the panther has undergone some substantial changes back and forth, im not sure if it ended up buffed or nerfed tbh. Morty got changed quite a bit too.

As i said initially, I'll definitely play this, but I'm convinced that some middle ground between the two itirations of XTA would be more balanced/playable, the older releases enforce a defninitve *right* way to play, with no real deviation/improvisation allowed, boiling a lot of the game dynamic down into who can com heal their crasher line/dt spam/focus fire more efficiently. This definitely does not reward my raiding/mellee oriented playstyle to the extent that newer releases do, imo leading to a more static, defensive (less entertaining ) game.

And under who's judgment would such a balance be created?
Make classic and gg IMO.

pintle wrote:

Sheekel wrote: .
..
.

k, why would u change it? would be better to fix sea- and veh-bot-balancing. long range is fine immo, krogette 4 arm would be good ... work together with noruas instead of making 2 versions/interpretations of xta

why? there are so much *A mods, XTA is nearly dead, like AA, and i think it cannot be reincarnated

The...principle of it?

The last release that was made by SY's (well, a SY) themselves, the original makers of Spring, the gods who gave us all we have yada yada yada.

Hoi wrote: [...] XTA is nearly dead, [...], and i think it cannot be reincarnated

Are you still alive?

Hoi i think you should start posting a little less.

why?

Gota wrote:Hoi i think you should start posting a little less.

Got irony?

Updated the poll question...for those who care

probably going to use .66se...good ol' xta glory days

Part of what I plan to do for this game is restore XTA to fit the original design goals of XTA. I've spoken with some of the SY's of about their thoughts on the original mod:

SJ wrote:I think that the main goals compared to OTA was to make it more about land army action as opposed to air and BB battles that usually decided OTA matches and also to widen the difference between l2 an l1 and actually make l2 stuff wortwhile. Also to make moho mexes better so that it was worth it to hold ground instead of building mmms in your base. And a lot more but ask yxan.

I cant say that i remember much about the 0.66 version any more, there was stuff that needed fixing which was why I left it to more active developpers than me but I dont remember exactly what it was.

hopefully through testing we can identify the things that need fixing in 0.66