The 3.1 Patch for Total Annihilation

The 3.1 Patch adds many new features to Total Annihilation and will upgrade any previous version of Total Annihilation.

Patch Notes

  • This patch will update only the newest totala.exe file in your Total Annihilation game directory or subdirectories. Problems may occur if you have upgraded to version 3.0 and then installed the The Core Contingency expansion pack.
  • Version 3.1 incorporates all of the fixes and features previously released as listed in the version history.
  • Saved games from previous versions will not be compatible with version 3.1.
  • Users with 3.x versions cannot play multiplayer games against players with earlier versions.
  • For more information, please refer to the readme31.txt included in the download.

Features and Fixes

  • Shortcut keys: CTRL + P selects all aircraft with weapons. CTRL + R selects all radar, radar jammers, sonar and sonar jammers. CTRL + W selects all mobile units with weapons except the Commander.
  • Multiplayer sharing: Control the resources you share with your teammates and allies using the following commands. These commands can be used in multiplayer by hitting ENTER to bring up the message bar on the Main Battle Screen and typing in any of the following phrases (toggles on/off):
    +shareenergy Shares energy
    +sharemetal Shares metal
    +sharemapping Shares map information
    You can also control the amount of metal and energy shared to your teammates and allies by modifying these commands slightly with a numerical value. X indicates the amount of resource left in your reserve. For example, +setsharemetal 5000 will only share metal if you have at least 5,000 in reserve. You cannot set the amount of resources you want to keep/reserve any higher than your current storage capacity. Make sure you leave a space between the command and the numerical value.
    +setshareenergy X Shares energy while keeping X amount for yourself
    +setsharemetal X Shares metal while keeping X amount for yourself
  • Shift + construction units: While placing your cursor over any construction unit and then holding down the SHIFT key, square outlines may appear on the map. Green squares represent the build orders for the unit currently selected. Blue squares represent the build orders for all other construction units. These squares can be used as a guideline when queuing up build orders for a construction unit.
  • Shift + cloakable units: Placing your cursor over a cloaked unit and then holding down the SHIFT key will display a white circle. This circle represents that unit's minimum cloaking radius. When an enemy unit moves into that radius, the cloaked unit becomes visible.
  • Factories and squads: Select a factory and assign it a squad number. This can be done by pressing CTRL+1 through 9. All units produced by that factory will automatically be assigned to that same squad.
  • Select any mission: In version 3.1 the previous "drdeath" cheat has been enabled permanently but the bone has been removed. This function has been added to the New Campaign button. When the New Campaign button is pushed a player can now select any campaign and play any mission within that campaign.
  • Feature vanishing: The disappearing of features with some user-made maps when games are saved then loaded back up has been fixed.
  • The Phalanx: The reload time for the Arm Phalanx has been properly set.
  • AI Pathfinding: AI pathfinding in Total Annihilation has been modified for the new environments and situations people are experiencing since the release of Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency. The problem is a combination of four factors.
    1. Average map size has increased since the original Total Annihilation was released.
    2. Maze-type maps have been added.
    3. Maps with more complex and, in general, more surface features have been added.
    4. The unit number limit has been increased from the original 200 units.
    All of these factors by themselves do not cause a performance issue, but combined they will cause unit pathfinding to become a problem. We have instituted different pathfinding filters that will be run as the demand for pathfinding increases. The more units that need paths, the less complex the filter. In other words, the more units you try to move, their path will become more varied. In most situations, this will increase performance and movement efficiency. This will not solve the problem for ALL situations. If you are experiencing problems with AI and pathfinding after applying this patch, try modifying some of the four variables listed above. "Sector 410b" and "Steel Jungle," both Core Contingency maps, are examples of maps where this fix will not improve gameplay unless the unit number limit is lowered.
  • Other miscellaneous fixes.

Download Instructions

Total Annihilation highly recommends for those interested in playing multiplayer (Boneyards Galatic War, Beta) to download and run the Boneyards Patch and TA Version 3.1 Combo (8 MB):

For those only interested in playing singleplayer, Total Annihilation recommends downloading and running TA1x-31.exe (8.1 MB):

In addition, Total Annihilation recommends updating to DirectPlay 6.1a (233k).
We highly recommend that you download this.

Sound-related problems

Most sound problems and scrashes are a result of old or non-DirectX compatible sound-card drivers. This patch provides two .INI and two command-line options to help solve these problems. You must have the latest patch to take advantage of these options.

  • UseWindowsSound: (or -w on the command line) Uses the standard Windows multimedia interface for playing sounds. Setting this to 1 will play only one sound at a time.
  • NoDirectSound: (or -s on the command line) Disables the use of DirectSound. Setting to 1 will turn off all sound.
  • Download the totala.ini text file to make use of these options and to get detailed instructions. Place the totala.ini text file inside your Total Annihilation directory on your hard drive (default is C:\Cavedog\Totala).