Absolute Annihilation 2.23

Felix the Cat · Post by **Felix the Cat** » 02 Nov 2006, 20:18

I posted this in Caydr's forum and I'm reposting here (mostly to increase my e-penor size)

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One more thing I'd like to add.

You're basically going to stop developing Absolute Annihilation. The mod is going to change, and it looks like it's going to change dramatically, regardless of how much you insist that it will "play the same".

So why don't you take one final look at it. Correct any outstanding balance issues. Make whatever last-minute changes that you feel need to be made.

Then release it as the final version of Absolute Annihilation. Keep it up for download, or at least give someone else the right to offer it for download. Make it clear that this is the final version, no more changes or updates or anything.

It would give some much-needed continuity to the mod, and would allow those of us who actually like AA to keep playing AA, rather than whatever you decide to make AA into.

You can designate this "abolition" thing the "spiritual successor" to AA or something. But don't make it the actual next version of AA, and release it separately from AA.

jackalope · Post by **jackalope** » 02 Nov 2006, 20:56

Felix the Cat wrote:I posted this in Caydr's forum and I'm reposting here (mostly to increase my e-penor size)

---------

One more thing I'd like to add.

You're basically going to stop developing Absolute Annihilation. The mod is going to change, and it looks like it's going to change dramatically, regardless of how much you insist that it will "play the same".

So why don't you take one final look at it. Correct any outstanding balance issues. Make whatever last-minute changes that you feel need to be made.

Then release it as the final version of Absolute Annihilation. Keep it up for download, or at least give someone else the right to offer it for download. Make it clear that this is the final version, no more changes or updates or anything.

It would give some much-needed continuity to the mod, and would allow those of us who actually like AA to keep playing AA, rather than whatever you decide to make AA into.

You can designate this "abolition" thing the "spiritual successor" to AA or something. But don't make it the actual next version of AA, and release it separately from AA.

+500

ginekolog · Post by **ginekolog** » 02 Nov 2006, 23:07

jackalope wrote:
Felix the Cat wrote:I posted this in Caydr's forum and I'm reposting here (mostly to increase my e-penor size)

---------

One more thing I'd like to add.

You're basically going to stop developing Absolute Annihilation. The mod is going to change, and it looks like it's going to change dramatically, regardless of how much you insist that it will "play the same".

So why don't you take one final look at it. Correct any outstanding balance issues. Make whatever last-minute changes that you feel need to be made.

Then release it as the final version of Absolute Annihilation. Keep it up for download, or at least give someone else the right to offer it for download. Make it clear that this is the final version, no more changes or updates or anything.

It would give some much-needed continuity to the mod, and would allow those of us who actually like AA to keep playing AA, rather than whatever you decide to make AA into.

You can designate this "abolition" thing the "spiritual successor" to AA or something. But don't make it the actual next version of AA, and release it separately from AA.
+500

*69^69

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 03 Nov 2006, 03:40

Like I said, development isn't over, and balance stuff is still going to be regularly updated as necessary. Just, I'm not going to be spending all my free time remodling TA units anymore, I'll be making brand-new ones.

Felix the Cat · Post by **Felix the Cat** » 03 Nov 2006, 04:01

Caydr wrote:Like I said, development isn't over, and balance stuff is still going to be regularly updated as necessary. Just, I'm not going to be spending all my free time remodling TA units anymore, I'll be making brand-new ones.

That's a pretty big change right there. A lot of us like playing with TA units, and would enjoy continuing to be able to play with them.

You've mentioned more changes than that, though. You've mentioned doing away with the vehicle/kbot system and instead going with one ground tech tree, as well as other significant changes.

If you want to make a new mod and discontinue development of AA, I cannot emphasize this enough, that is fine. It's not giving up... it's not deserting the community... it's not making you look bad. Are commercial games in continuous development? No. Despite some minor (and I will stress, minor) qualms with current balance (and qualms can be reduced to one: cut back on Maverick autoheal!), I believe that the latest version is sufficiently balanced to release it as simply "Absolute Annihilation", or just not release a new "Absolute Annihilation".

You'll be doing the Spring community a favor by giving it a mod with constancy. You'll be doing those who like your current work the way it is a favor by allowing us to continue to play it without large changes. You'll be doing yourself a favor by opening up the drawing board and enabling yourself to explore new areas that would not fit into the AA schema.

I think you'll find that this method of continuing your work on "Abolition" or whatever you ultimately decide to call it, while allowing those who enjoy AA basically as it is right now - and there are a lot of us - to continue to play a mod that is officially released as an end version and will continue to be officially offered for download, will find wide support in the Spring community. If you're afraid that people will see you as selling out, I can assure you that that won't be the case.

LordMatt · Post by **LordMatt** » 03 Nov 2006, 07:04

Please include a fix for the dgun (which still lags sufficently to be annoying), and revert lvl 1 radars back to OTA range.

Hellspawn · Post by **Hellspawn** » 03 Nov 2006, 11:02

LordMatt wrote:Please include a fix for the dgun (which still lags sufficently to be annoying), and revert lvl 1 radars back to OTA range.

+1

Kixxe · Post by **Kixxe** » 03 Nov 2006, 11:10

Why is D-gun volume so LOW btw? For being the most powerfull gun in the universe, i can't fucking hear it fire anymore

ginekolog · Post by **ginekolog** » 03 Nov 2006, 14:28

Kixxe wrote:Why is D-gun volume so LOW btw? For being the most powerfull gun in the universe, i can't fucking hear it fire anymore

cause it was much too loud.

Peekaboom · Post by **Peekaboom** » 03 Nov 2006, 19:03

I second the motion to release a FINAL AA version. As the Spring development team is moving onto their new project, they will be releasing a FINAL Spring engine release, fixing up outstanding bugs.

PLEASE for the love of god let the legacy of your work be a stable AA release that works with the final spring release.

Others, please voice your desire to have an AA: Final Release.

If the game gets too much further away from OTA, I for one will still be wanting to play/host AA 2.23 games.

We love the mod cadyr, we just don't see the validity in discading the legacy.

hawkki · Post by **hawkki** » 03 Nov 2006, 20:54

Play XTA if you want ota style gameplay. AA is far from ota, so i have nothing against it evolving into abolition and something even more distant from ota. You know what you are doing Caydr !

Felix the Cat · Post by **Felix the Cat** » 03 Nov 2006, 20:56

ginekolog wrote:
Kixxe wrote:Why is D-gun volume so LOW btw? For being the most powerfull gun in the universe, i can't fucking hear it fire anymore
cause it was much too loud.

Yeah, there were concerns about blowing out peoples' speakers I believe.

I can hear the DGun fine, for one. I think sound volumes are fine at the moment.

edit. Also, XTA is nothing like OTA-style gameplay IMO, though maybe I have a poor memory.

pintle · Post by **pintle** » 03 Nov 2006, 21:19

I barely play AA but i think that doing a final AA release is a very good idea; I may not particularly enjoy it but the vast majority of springers do, to take it in a radically different direction would be a bad move imo. Not that i do not look foward to trying abolition, but it does sound like a different game to AA.

Felix, XTA is a lot more like OTA in gameplay. I definitely dont want to start a flamewar over this, but so many things radically alter gameplay in AA from OTA, for eg the versatility of t1 units, which contains amphibs, artillery etc, which you have to tech for in OTA/XTA. Plasma shields, the entire tech 3 thing (even if you have removed orcones), liches/FF, and the multitude of base defences make it very different from OTA. The balance of XTA may not be the same as OTA, but you can go straight from OTA into an XTA game and know what every unit does (although you may be surprised by the immolator

) which in my mind makes it infinitely closer than AA.

Just to try and minimise flamage, i do like AA, and am not trying to criticise it, merely saying why i think XTA is a lot more similar to OTA.

Peet · Post by **Peet** » 03 Nov 2006, 21:21

pintle wrote:Felix, XTA is a lot more like OTA in gameplay. I definitely dont want to start a flamewar over this, but so many things radically alter gameplay in AA from OTA, for eg the versatility of t1 units, which contains amphibs, artillery etc, which you have to tech for in OTA/XTA. Plasma shields, the entire tech 3 thing (even if you have removed orcones), liches/FF, and the multitude of base defences make it very different from OTA. The balance of XTA may not be the same as OTA, but you can go straight from OTA into an XTA game and know what every unit does (although you may be surprised by the immolator ) which in my mind makes it infinitely closer than AA.

Just to try and minimise flamage, i do like AA, and am not trying to criticise it, merely saying why i think XTA is a lot more similar to OTA.

QFT. Well said.

tombom · Post by **tombom** » 03 Nov 2006, 21:21

I am here to show my support for a forking. I'm interested in your new project, but it is likely to end up very different to AA and I'd prefer for them to be separate.

Cabbage · Post by **Cabbage** » 03 Nov 2006, 22:00

TBH i like constant little tweaks

LordMatt · Post by **LordMatt** » 03 Nov 2006, 22:08

pintle wrote:Felix, XTA is a lot more like OTA in gameplay.

Perhaps true, but I would argue that AA is closer to what Cavedog intended the gameplay to be (based on what happens in their missions).

pintle · Post by **pintle** » 03 Nov 2006, 22:27

interesting point (one that has never been raised when im getting "omfg XTA is 73H G4YZ0RZZ!!11" in #main) Ima have to go dig out my BT/CC cds and play through the missions again, been about 6-7 years since i last did.

Felix the Cat · Post by **Felix the Cat** » 03 Nov 2006, 22:31

If it is necessary to have the XTA vs. AA vs. OTA discussion, let's take it to General Discussion.

pintle · Post by **pintle** » 03 Nov 2006, 22:31

or end it here :)

Spring RTS Engine

Absolute Annihilation 2.23