http://taspring.clan-sy.com/wiki/Spring_guide%21
Yay, finaly done, after 5 days (of work, and about 3 days of slacking off-.-*) of hard work, this 8 page guide is done.
What do ya think?
THE GUIDE IS DONE!
Moderator: Moderators
THE GUIDE IS DONE!
Last edited by Kixxe on 11 Jul 2005, 11:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59
Well, from just skimming through it (will give it a good look over later), it seems you have put in a lot of effort.
The only things I have picked up from my quick scan are:
You really need to fix the spelling errors. A post on the forum is one thing, but this is something which people need to read. Poor spelling makes it difficult to read/understand (ie: misspelling LRPC, geothermal, porcing (porching... lol... [sorry, irc in-joke]) and general poor sentence structure) which can make it difficult for new users to get through, and can also lead them astray. Run it through Microsoft Word if you have too.
Secondly, I think you need to reduce the "chatty" tone of the whole thing. It reads as if it were written by an excited 14 year old (no offense intended), and so it doesn't really give the impression of someone who knows what they are talking about. For example, using "internet speak", or throwing in little comments (which on their own aren't bad, if you're saying something humorous, not "every unit explodes├óÔé¼┬ª YAY" [actual quote]), intentionally mispronouncing things like "phew" instead of "few", etc. It just makes the whole guide less respectible, which doesn't match the level of effort you've put in.
Thirdly, you seem to have written much of this off the top of your head (not in itself bad), rather than going out and researching what many people have to offer in terms of strategy as well. Eg:
"The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all."
I think it is best to leave this to the player to work out. Planes are not always the best way to kill LRPC's. Often the best way to stunt an LRPC is not to hit the thing itself, but to hit its power supply.
[this isn't the only issue, just an example I took at random]
Finally, you tend to approach the way you explain things somewhat haphazardly. You mention expansion and raiding, for example, but you don't mention it in the overall context of the most important part of TA and TASpring, which I will summarise:
Because resources are technically unlimited, the real gauge of resources isn't how much you have but how much you have incoming.
This means that such a game is not a defensive game, but an offensive one. Expansion is they fundamental of TA. The more metal you have incoming, the more plants you can afford to run. The more plants you can afford to run, the more units you can throw at your enemy. Obviously stopping your enemy from expanding is just as important as your own expansion.
Just looking over it while I read your posts, there seem to be a couple of innacuracies, but hopefully people will fix them up.
(I don't like the "PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR" section - something like that will get a new player killed. It is fairly obvious that AA is meant to kill aircraft, but beyond that counters are never that simple)
And just to cap off, I don't think you should tell people to leave your sections alone. The whole point of a wiki is that it constantly evolves and changes, so that the mistakes you made (and there are a few) are fixed up and added too. I don't even think adding your name is common practice with a wiki.
Also, this was all meant as constructive criticism. It is clear that you have put a lot of effort in, and I'm sure that it will help many people. It is definitely not complete, however, and has some things that need to be fixed up.
Good work.
The only things I have picked up from my quick scan are:
You really need to fix the spelling errors. A post on the forum is one thing, but this is something which people need to read. Poor spelling makes it difficult to read/understand (ie: misspelling LRPC, geothermal, porcing (porching... lol... [sorry, irc in-joke]) and general poor sentence structure) which can make it difficult for new users to get through, and can also lead them astray. Run it through Microsoft Word if you have too.
Secondly, I think you need to reduce the "chatty" tone of the whole thing. It reads as if it were written by an excited 14 year old (no offense intended), and so it doesn't really give the impression of someone who knows what they are talking about. For example, using "internet speak", or throwing in little comments (which on their own aren't bad, if you're saying something humorous, not "every unit explodes├óÔé¼┬ª YAY" [actual quote]), intentionally mispronouncing things like "phew" instead of "few", etc. It just makes the whole guide less respectible, which doesn't match the level of effort you've put in.
Thirdly, you seem to have written much of this off the top of your head (not in itself bad), rather than going out and researching what many people have to offer in terms of strategy as well. Eg:
While you show an understanding of the importance of an LRPC, you don't really explain their essential purpose in the game as a stalemate busting unit. Also, because of their enormous range, such weapons are base busters in medium maps as well. You don't mention the amount of energy it costs to run such a thing, which is essential knowledge tactically. A bit of research would have told you that the Arm Big Bertha is shorter ranged, but significantly more accurate than the Core Intimidator. Further research would have provided the knowledge that placing a metal storage infront of your LRPC acts as a "shield" which can protect that unit from attacks, while still allowing it to fire over (this may not work as well in spring because of the friendly fire issues, but I'm sure nerfing the storage once you build it would provide a nice non-friendly wall).LRCP The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that├óÔé¼Ôäós possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.
"The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all."
I think it is best to leave this to the player to work out. Planes are not always the best way to kill LRPC's. Often the best way to stunt an LRPC is not to hit the thing itself, but to hit its power supply.
[this isn't the only issue, just an example I took at random]
Finally, you tend to approach the way you explain things somewhat haphazardly. You mention expansion and raiding, for example, but you don't mention it in the overall context of the most important part of TA and TASpring, which I will summarise:
Because resources are technically unlimited, the real gauge of resources isn't how much you have but how much you have incoming.
This means that such a game is not a defensive game, but an offensive one. Expansion is they fundamental of TA. The more metal you have incoming, the more plants you can afford to run. The more plants you can afford to run, the more units you can throw at your enemy. Obviously stopping your enemy from expanding is just as important as your own expansion.
Just looking over it while I read your posts, there seem to be a couple of innacuracies, but hopefully people will fix them up.
(I don't like the "PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR" section - something like that will get a new player killed. It is fairly obvious that AA is meant to kill aircraft, but beyond that counters are never that simple)
And just to cap off, I don't think you should tell people to leave your sections alone. The whole point of a wiki is that it constantly evolves and changes, so that the mistakes you made (and there are a few) are fixed up and added too. I don't even think adding your name is common practice with a wiki.
Also, this was all meant as constructive criticism. It is clear that you have put a lot of effort in, and I'm sure that it will help many people. It is definitely not complete, however, and has some things that need to be fixed up.
Good work.
Last edited by Warlord Zsinj on 03 Jul 2005, 17:07, edited 1 time in total.
) but its good to see you are working on something like this... keep up the good work 
Well, from just skimming through it (will give it a good look over later), it seems you have put in a lot of effort.
The only things I have picked up from my quick scan are:
You really need to fix the spelling errors. A post on the forum is one thing, but this is something which people need to read. Poor spelling makes it difficult to read/understand (ie: misspelling LRPC, geothermal, porcing (porching... lol...) and general poor sentence structure) which can make it difficult for new users to get through, and can also lead them astray. Run it through Microsoft Word if you have too.
Secondly, I think you need to reduce the "chatty" tone of the whole thing. It reads as if it were written by an excited 14 year old (no offense intended), and so it doesn't really give the impression of someone who knows what they are talking about. For example, using "internet speak", or throwing in little comments (which on their own aren't bad, if you're saying something humorous, not "every unit explodes├óÔé¼┬ª YAY" [actual quote]), intentionally mispronouncing things like "phew" instead of "few", etc. It just makes the whole guide less respectible, which doesn't match the level of effort you've put in.
Finally, you seem to have written much of this off the top of your head, rather than going out and researching what many people have to offer in terms of strategy as well. Eg:
Quote:
LRCP The big bertha, yea. Not the ultimate, but several times cheaper and more accurate then a buzzsaw/Vulcan. No good at defending, since their slow targeting makes it impossible to hit moving targets. Try to build one on small maps, or just build one close to the enemy. In fact, build several, whit a lot of AA around em (and ground, if that├óÔé¼Ôäós possible. A LRPC expansion is very useful and can sometimes mean a win for the one hit them.
While you show an understanding of the importance of an LRPC, you don't really explain their essential purpose in the game as a stalemate busting unit. Also, because of their enormous range, such weapons are base busters in medium maps as well. You don't mention the amount of energy it costs to run such a thing, which is essential knowledge tactically. A bit of research would have told you that the Arm Big Bertha is shorter ranged, but significantly more accurate than the Core Intimidator. Further research would have provided the knowledge that placing a metal storage infront of your LRPC acts as a "shield" which can protect that unit from attacks, while still allowing it to fire over.
"The obvious way to kill LRPC is to use planes, since they are fast to enter and kill it all."
I think it is best to leave this to the player to work out. Planes are not always the best way to kill LRPC's. Often the best way to stunt an LRPC is not to hit the thing itself, but to hit its power supply.
You tend to approach the way you explain things somewhat haphazardly. You mention strategy, for example, but you don't mention it in the context of the most important part of TA and TASpring:
Because resources are technically unlimited, the real gauge of resources isn't how much you have but how much you have incoming.
This means that such a game is not a defensive game, but an offensive one. Expansion is they fundamental of TA. The more metal you have incoming, the more plants you can afford to run. The more plants you can afford to run, the more units you can throw at your enemy. Obviously stopping your enemy from expanding is just as important as your own expansion.
Just looking over it while I read your posts, there seem to be a couple of innacuracies, but hopefully people will fix them up.
(I don't like the "PAPER-ROCK-SCISSOR" section - something like that will get a new player killed. It is fairly obvious that AA is meant to kill aircraft, but beyond that counters are never that simple)
And just to cap off, I don't think you should tell people to leave your sections alone. The whole point of a wiki is that it constantly evolves and changes, so that the mistakes you made (and there are a few) are fixed up and added too. I don't even think adding your name is common practice with a wiki.
Also, this was all meant as constructive criticism. It is clear that you have put a lot of effort in, and I'm sure that it will help many people. It is definitely not complete, however, and has some things that need to be fixed up.
Good work.
About the spelling errors, i tought evrything was coorected. Most spelling errors are the TA referens like porchers and LRPC. Ill try to fix em right now since i got some time...
And ill remove some of the comments. the most useless ones, speacily the YAY one-.-* (what was i thinking.)
About the top of the head thing.
As i said before, this is a general guide, and tryed to make it as general as posibole. Notice that i rarly uses unit names, rather saying what they are. ( saying air transport instead of atlas)
The Paper rock scissor thing is being removed while we speak..
I will remove the ''dont change whitout perrmission and stuff'' section, but my name stays there.
Thank youGood work
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LathanStanley
- Posts: 1429
- Joined: 20 Jun 2005, 05:16
they are not really spelling errors... they are just grammatical errors.. lemmie find some examples...
------------------------ ex 1 & 2
"Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven├óÔé¼Ôäót got everything fixed out yet."
"beta stadium" = Beta Stadium... a stadium is where you watch football games..
I assume you mean "Beta Release", or "Beta Standing".. or you could simply just call it "a beta"
"fixed out" -> "worked out" or "fixed"
----------------------------- ex 3
TA was created bye Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released.
"bye" -> "by"
------------------------------
and thats just within the first few sentances...
I mean my french grammer sucks ass... don't get me wrong, I don't blame you for making mistakes... (I studied it for 4 years and I can read/write it quite a bit...)
but grammatical errors??? can we fix those?? I mean it really needs some "native English" speakers touches on it
edit: oh shit.... lol that read kinda rough... I'm not flaming or harassing you... lol sorry if I sound it... I'm impressed and VERY F'in HAPPY! someone wrote a guide... maybe not everyone on the net playing spring will be terribly bad now..
but yeah... I'm just trying to say that its not yer fault your grammar is bad, I was just asking if it was ok for us to correct it..
------------------------ ex 1 & 2
"Keep in mind that spring still is in a beta stadium, therefore crashes happen (a lot) and we (well, not me!) haven├óÔé¼Ôäót got everything fixed out yet."
"beta stadium" = Beta Stadium... a stadium is where you watch football games..
I assume you mean "Beta Release", or "Beta Standing".. or you could simply just call it "a beta"
"fixed out" -> "worked out" or "fixed"
----------------------------- ex 3
TA was created bye Cavedog (R.I.P) about the same time Starcraft was released.
"bye" -> "by"
------------------------------
and thats just within the first few sentances...
I mean my french grammer sucks ass... don't get me wrong, I don't blame you for making mistakes... (I studied it for 4 years and I can read/write it quite a bit...)
but grammatical errors??? can we fix those?? I mean it really needs some "native English" speakers touches on it
edit: oh shit.... lol that read kinda rough... I'm not flaming or harassing you... lol sorry if I sound it... I'm impressed and VERY F'in HAPPY! someone wrote a guide... maybe not everyone on the net playing spring will be terribly bad now..
but yeah... I'm just trying to say that its not yer fault your grammar is bad, I was just asking if it was ok for us to correct it..
Thats what the wiki is for anyway...edit: oh shit.... lol that read kinda rough... I'm not flaming or harassing you... lol sorry if I sound it... I'm impressed and VERY F'in HAPPY! someone wrote a guide... maybe not everyone on the net playing spring will be terribly bad now..
but yeah... I'm just trying to say that its not yer fault your grammar is bad, I was just asking if it was ok for us to correct it..
Meh, im working on it. I have about 6 special words that i ALWAYS misspel. These include ''whit'' and ''bye''... any they are hard to correct since they are real words to!
I remebear a fucntion in word that replaces word that i choose, for example replacing ''whit'' with ''with'' instead of searching a 8 page document...
EDIT: found it in wordpad, fixing the spelling is top prioteruy. (and i who was starting to learn silo-.-*)
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RightField
- Posts: 110
- Joined: 11 Nov 2004, 21:29
Woa, thanks to guy thats improving the guide right now... looks SOOO 
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el_muchacho
- Posts: 201
- Joined: 30 Apr 2005, 01:06
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Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59
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el_muchacho
- Posts: 201
- Joined: 30 Apr 2005, 01:06
Just one thing. I don't know how you feel about it, but I thik this strategy guide should give some broad advice on how to use units, but there is no need to reveal every single trick tested.
Let's not spoil new players' pleasure to discover things by themselves.
Also, I like the informal, personal style, and I kept it on purpose, I think it fits to this kind of document.
Let's not spoil new players' pleasure to discover things by themselves.
Also, I like the informal, personal style, and I kept it on purpose, I think it fits to this kind of document.
Yea, i know i left it a litte fuzzy... as i said, i wanted to be as general as posibole, so it could esaysely be edited if spring ever changed. But i think i should add something about units in general. A litthe something about lvl 1-2 k-bots veichles (but ill leave the weasel out. I want to keep the guide for both ota and xta and having 2 descriptions of the weasel is gonna confuse the newbies.(Just one thing. I don't know how you feel about it, but I thik this strategy guide should give some broad advice on how to use units, but there is no need to reveal every single trick tested.
Let's not spoil new players' pleasure to discover things by themselves.
Also, I like the informal, personal style, and I kept it on purpose, I think it fits to this kind of document.
No, i dint have time for that. I think ill add some, but i dont relly have any good ones. Someone, if you have some great pictures of battle, send them to me. Or even better, upload them your self! thats what the wiki is for after all.no pictures?!?!?!?!?!?!
BIIIGGG thanks el_mychacho! I think you made this guide almost more then i did. ^^
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el_muchacho
- Posts: 201
- Joined: 30 Apr 2005, 01:06
Ah alantai, we were waiting for you to add them !Alantai Firestar wrote:no pictures?!?!?!?!?!?!
It's true that a few pictures to illustrate this guide wuld be welcome, but that would mean we have to break the guide into several pages (one per section I guess) to keep it manageable and easily readable.
And also maybe after each section a reminder of the useful keyboard commands in a HTML table.
Kixxe > that was a pleasure. I didn't do much, really.