The shortcut that gets created on the desktop is for TALaunch.exe. It is just a simple launcher where you press play and the game launches (via totala.exe I assume). Still no music. Can someone else please try it already?! : )
Should I be embarrassed that I don’t need this since I still have (and use) my old TA disks?
Starcraft was always better.
/troll
The mp3s are there, but ingame in the menu I have music turned on, but at the same time it says “no disc” and the music just doesn’t play ingame (or in the options menu). I hope it will get fixed.
Unfortunately, the original game used (forgot what it’s called now) where the music was played via CD. We extracted the music and put it in the package as MP3s so if you want to play the background music, you have to play it. It’s all in the readme notes I believe.
Since you already crapped on the thread, Age of Empires was better than both…
You’re right, up until Rise of Nations hit shelves.
How about not crapping on the thread at all?
I never played TA back in the day. As my interest in RTSes has somewhat revived recently, can a TA vet highlight the main strengths and weaknesses of the game? Was it typically heavy on micromanagement like most RTS games were back then? How was the balance between economy/combat?
TA is the greatest RTS ever!
Starcraft sucks.
I’m totally down for some multiplayer…
So let me just sail in and pimp my improved TA AI from back in the day…
Or if you fancy fighting nine AIs which only throw Fleas at you:
Yeah, that one is fun :)
And finally, get TA Bugfix while you’re at it, fixes a bunch of minor errors and helps the AI a bit by tweaking which personality is used for which map…
Multiplayer required quite a bit of micromanagement, especially in the early game. Rushes were key, and a good player with excellent micro skills would stomp all over you if you weren’t prepared to do the same. This was the draw that kept me playing for almost 7 years, but it’s certainly not for everyone, especially given how the genre has evolved since.
As for something like skirmish or the campaign, I guess you’ll still need to do a bit of managing (compared to most modern day RTS’) of construction vehicles and the like to maintain a steady flow of resources. Or you can just play on a metal map and turn easy mode on.
So? Why not give a disc image instead of the MP3 files, add some virtual disc software and make the launcher mount said image as the first CD for the duration of the game? That way you have perfectly working music, without any need to edit the game’s audio system.
I’ve had a folder with TA and all of my favourite mods installed that I’ve been copying from computer to computer as I upgrade for years. It is the game of choice whenever my brother and I find ourselves in the same place.
I hope this doesn’t turn into Jedi Knight all over again.
I think installing a piece of virtual drive software on someone’s computer would be a support nightmare considering the various copy protection schemes out there that blacklist virtual drives. What Brad is proposing isn’t unreasonable, and I would rather do that than have additional drivers installed on my PC.
Oh this is awesome!
If you want, we can help distribute your mods. This is good stuff.
Did TA:Spring ever overtake TA? I did enjoy playing it, but the AI wasn’t great.
It’s a valid point though - gog released many games with red book audio working perfectly. I am sure it should be possible to make it work here as well, especially since Chris Taylor himself is involved?
the readme just says “MP3 files of the original game soundtrack are available in the .\Music directory.”
It doesn’t say anything about whether it works ingame as it should or not - maybe you could adapt it? And I dunno, playing it in winamp while playing the game just doesn’t seem right.
This would fall into the adage “Perfect is the enemy of good”. Sure, I’m sure with enough effort one could do what you suggest but it’s just not something we could realistically support. It is what it is.
Redbook audio. I finally remembered what they called it. Anyway, they took the music and converted it into MP3s so people who love the music can play it in the background with their favorite MP3p layer.
Does the game work under Vista??? I don’t have a computer that runs XP and while I’d love to buy it, I’d like it to work.
I love TA, but might I ask why this version didn’t also include Battle Tactics?