TA:Mod - Battle For Paradise, is a Total Conversion (TC) for Total Annihilation. It replaces Arm and Core with new factions, and in future is supposed to have two more factions to play with. This first release has units for Moon Industries and Technowizards, which are the first factions to be included. This release doesn't have all of their units, but around 70%. There is a story too, which of almost everything I have thought of myself. In other words this TC is unique in the way it doesn't copy any existing design, but is science fiction of its own kind. TA:Mod plays slower than normal TA, making units more controllable, and high unit costs give the units more strategical value.

The Story (Shortly) So Far

Year is 22XX. Earth discovers a new colonizable planet, and names it Eden. Travelling to Eden is possible, but requires a lot of resources. The first faction to set sail on the new planet is Moon Industries (MI). Their aim: to collect natural resources, and build factories on the planet. Right after MI, Earth's leading scientific personnel form a group to investigate the new planet. A number of years pass and MI has established a lot of activity on Eden, while the scientific group struggles to keep their share of land in their hands. MI makes its first aggressive move by taking a piece of scientifically important land and clearing it for industrial activity. Scientists threaten to sue MI for trespassing their lands without a permit. MI thinks big of itself and sabotages the scientists' activity even further. Scientists make their move. They resign from Earth's authority and take action against MI. Thus, the group of Technowizards (TW) is born. TW uses its scientific abilities and counterattacks against MI's industrial machinery. MI has moved most of its activity to the new planet, so they follow TW. They are no longer part of Earth, but an empire of their own. MI with the power of industrial machinery continues to battle against TW's scientific power.

The Story (Shortly) To Come

After TW and MI have battled for too long, Earth decides to send a military group, PeaceKeeping Forces (PKF) to the planet to set peace. MI's and TW's forces have been underestimated and PKF can barely hold its own grounds. The battle continues for years, while a lot of the planet gets wasted and personnel replaced by war machinery. Earth's citizens watch, and decide to react. Another group of scientists expertizing in biology and psychology establish a research base away from the battle zone. They gain the power of alien artifacts and run on the purpose to keep the planet's nature safe. Therefore, they are named the Nature Tech (NT). Their weak resources but advanced technology are supposed to be the key to stop the war, but everything gets out of control as PKF accidentally attacks NT's group mistaking it as TW's convoy. There is no trust between any of the factions. Earth is powerless against the mighty arsenals of Eden's habitants. They can only watch, and hope the war comes to a peaceful end.

What is included in the TC so far

-2 factions to play with, Moon Industries and Technowizards
-68 new units, with only custom weapons.
-3 new maps
-Custom AI profiles for the new maps
-New frontend background for the main menu

What is planned for the next release

-Rest of MI's and TW's units. (MI gets shipyard, ships, scrap factory and scrap units. TW gets drone plant, drones and more alien tech units.)
-More menu backgrounds
-More new maps

Work on PKF will start after MI and TW have been finished. NT comes after or simultaneously with PKF, depending on the time required for developement.

Downloads

TA:MOD main installation file: DOWNLOAD HERE (1.16 MB)

TA:MOD requires features from TA:CC. If you don't have TA:CC, you must download a special TA:CC feature pack below:

TA:MOD - TA:CC feature pack for people without TA:CC: DOWNLOAD HERE (1.20 MB)

TA:MOD - MAP 1 - Position Battle (lusch tileset, for 4+ players) (3.70 MB)
TA:MOD - MAP 2 - Zeta Region (green tileset, for 2-5 players) (1.99 MB)
TA:MOD - MAP 3 - Scattered Fortune (green hilly tileset, for small team games) (3.62 MB)

Installation Instructions

1. Make a new TA installation. (If you have TA:CC, install it as well)
2. Patch it to version 3.1
3. Install TA:Mod to the same folder where Totala.exe is located. The install program should create some .ufo files and some subfolders with files required by TA:Mod to the specified location. Make sure you set the right directory.
4. If you don't have TA:CC, install the TA:Mod TA:CC feature pack
5. Install any TA:Mod maps you want to use. Normal TA maps should work as well, but the AI isn't customized for them, so it may act weirdly.

6. To uninstall TA:Mod, run the uninstall.exe that should've been created by the install program. If you don't have it, or it doesn't work, feel free to contact us for help with uninstalling manually.

Playing tips

- The more resources you start with, the less easier it is for the AI to have problems starting up its base. 5000 metal and energy is a quite optimal setting.
- Learn the values of units. Radars may not do much, but they're expensive, especially for Moon Industries. Destroying TW's energy producing facilities is also an important part of a succesful MI assault.
- Play the game like you play TA normally. Expand as fast as possible and produce a lot of metal and energy. Just watch the building costs, they're quite a bit higher compared to normal TA units.

For any questiond or feedback, use the forums or send email to Hitman Neverlose (vivuori@uusikaupunki.fi)