Post by Rip__Steele on Sept 16, 2004 15:55:43 GMT -5
TA Demo 99b2
Download TA Demo 99b2 here!
Command reference
TA Demo is largely controlled via commands issued from the TA chat console available in the Battle Room and, by pressing ENTER, during the game. Here is a list of available commands:
.3dta (battleroom)
Enables the 3D version of the replayer.
.cmdwarp (battleroom host-only)
Enables a singleshot Commander warp. The game will start out paused. You can click on any spot on the map and your Commander will instantly be placed there. Do this as often as you like. Once you have found a cozy spot for your Commander, click the Done button. Once everyone does so, the game will automatically unpause. Alternatively, you can unpause the game manually - this will terminate the warp sequence for everyone in the game. Useful for fixing the start positions for 2v2 games on the MSN Gaming Zone for example.
.crash (ingame)
Mainly for debugging purposes: forces the recorder to actually crash if it is catching exceptions, so that you can get a full Errorlog.txt of the event. Usually you will want to use .panic.
.createtxt (battleroom ingame)
Logs all game chat to a texfile with timestamped name in the Default TA Demo directory (3.) of the Control Center.
.ehaoff (battleroom ingame anyone)
Disable the interface upgrade. This will disable all new functions like the Idle Const Finder, Queue 100 units etc.
.ehareport (battleroom ingame anyone)
All recorders in game report the status of their interface upgrade component. Mainly for debugging purposes.
.fakewatch (battleroom)
Gives you the ability to chat while watching. Join the game as a regular player for it to work. You will appear as a watcher to everyone else and will be unable to affect anything, except that you will be able to chat. Note that fake watchers occupy the first slots in the game, causing some disruption for the rest of the players' start positions. You may want to use .cmdwarp as a workaround.
.fixall (battleroom ingame)
Enable both lag workarounds at once: .fixfacexps and .protectdt.
.fixfacexps (battleroom ingame)
The recorder will protect new units for three seconds after they start building in a factory so that they are not killed by damage being dealt to an already dead unit, the cause for the annoying effect of "exploding build queues".
NOTE: Because new units are invulnerable for 3 seconds, some aspects of the game change. This is most notable when a group of Skeeters attacks a shipyard producing units - the Skeeters deal most damage with their secondary weapon which you can't force fire at the Shipyard, so units produced by the Shipyyard will in this case soak up a lot of the damage, making it harder to kick people out of the water using Skeeters. If this concerns you, see .fixoff.
.fixoff (battleroom ingame anyone)
Disables all fixes for everyone. The game must be rehosted in to reenable them.
.hookreport (battleroom ingame anyone)
Reports the presence and version of each TA Hook in the game. All TA Demo 0.98b recorders will always reply with a positive respond to this query. Under Note that TA Hook is now obsolete - the functionality is built right into TA Demo itself.
.take (ingame)
When a reject screen for a player appears, an ally can use .take to claim the dropping player's units and structures.
.takecmd (ingame)
Same as .take, but includes the dropping player's Commander giving you two of them to worry about and utilize. With Commander Dies: Game Ends settings, loosing any Commander loses you the game. Ctrl-C will also select all Commanders.
.panic (ingame)
If the recorder starts flooding you with Exception caught messages, use this command and pray that the recorder manages to process it.
.plfrom nick (ingame)
Packet loss statistics for a certain player. Each value represents the time passed at a certain packet loss level. The first ten values represent 2% steps in the range from 0% to 20%, the last one represents the entire 20% to 100% range.
.plresults (battleroom)
Prints info about how the packets in the last .pltest fared.
.pltest nick (battleroom)
Sends a sharp spike of ping packets to a player. This does not show what the conditions will exactly be like in a game and requires some experience to judge. However, it does simulate the kind of activity that would tend to occur during a game. See also the .plfrom command.
.protectdt (battleroom ingame)
Tries to make sure DTs aren't lost. Without this fix, sometimes an opponent will see holes in an actually solid DT line you built.
.randmap filename (battleroom)
Proposes a map randomly picked out of a list from a file that follows the format of the supplied maps.txt. The filename is optional and defaults to maps.txt if omitted. If you create your own favorite list of maps to play on you can use it by specifying the filename.
.record filename (battleroom ingame)
Records the game for later Perusing Pleasure™. By default the recorded game will end up in your TA directory, however this can be changed by the control panel's Default TA Demo directory (3.) setting. If a recording with the same name already exists, it will be overwritten.
.report (battleroom ingame anyone)
All recorders in the game report their presence, version and status of the toggles:
(T--) shows the game is being recorded
(-T-) shows .fixfacexps is enabled
(--T) shows .protectdt is enabled
Any combination of the above is possible. No answer from a player means they don't have TA Demo installed.
.sharelos (ingame)
Makes allied units and any hostiles in their LOS visible, though covered by fog of war, and shares allied radar. .sharelos is mutual - a player will neither receive nor grant LOS and radar to/from allies as long as he/she does not issue this command.
.sharemappos (ingame)
Allows your allies to see where you are looking on the main game screen, indicated by a rectangle in the respective player's color.
.syncon # # (battleroom host-only)
Gamespeed is locked to the range between the first (low limit) and second (high limit) number (e.g. .syncon -3 +2). Useful to prevent speedjacking.
.status (battleroom ingame)
Same as .report, except only your own recorder replies and noone else sees it. Useful to silently check if your recorder is turned on.
.stoplog (battleroom ingame)
Halts the recorder.
.tahookoff (battleroom ingame anyone)
This disables just the autoclick feature in every recorder in the game.
.time (ingame)
Displays the game time for all players according to their +clock. Useful for spotting a lagging player.
.votego (battleroom)
Signifies you're ready to go. If all players issue .votego, this will forcibly click in watchers. Useful if one of them left to take a shower or something without clicking in.
Download TA Demo 99b2 here!
Command reference
TA Demo is largely controlled via commands issued from the TA chat console available in the Battle Room and, by pressing ENTER, during the game. Here is a list of available commands:
.3dta (battleroom)
Enables the 3D version of the replayer.
.cmdwarp (battleroom host-only)
Enables a singleshot Commander warp. The game will start out paused. You can click on any spot on the map and your Commander will instantly be placed there. Do this as often as you like. Once you have found a cozy spot for your Commander, click the Done button. Once everyone does so, the game will automatically unpause. Alternatively, you can unpause the game manually - this will terminate the warp sequence for everyone in the game. Useful for fixing the start positions for 2v2 games on the MSN Gaming Zone for example.
.crash (ingame)
Mainly for debugging purposes: forces the recorder to actually crash if it is catching exceptions, so that you can get a full Errorlog.txt of the event. Usually you will want to use .panic.
.createtxt (battleroom ingame)
Logs all game chat to a texfile with timestamped name in the Default TA Demo directory (3.) of the Control Center.
.ehaoff (battleroom ingame anyone)
Disable the interface upgrade. This will disable all new functions like the Idle Const Finder, Queue 100 units etc.
.ehareport (battleroom ingame anyone)
All recorders in game report the status of their interface upgrade component. Mainly for debugging purposes.
.fakewatch (battleroom)
Gives you the ability to chat while watching. Join the game as a regular player for it to work. You will appear as a watcher to everyone else and will be unable to affect anything, except that you will be able to chat. Note that fake watchers occupy the first slots in the game, causing some disruption for the rest of the players' start positions. You may want to use .cmdwarp as a workaround.
.fixall (battleroom ingame)
Enable both lag workarounds at once: .fixfacexps and .protectdt.
.fixfacexps (battleroom ingame)
The recorder will protect new units for three seconds after they start building in a factory so that they are not killed by damage being dealt to an already dead unit, the cause for the annoying effect of "exploding build queues".
NOTE: Because new units are invulnerable for 3 seconds, some aspects of the game change. This is most notable when a group of Skeeters attacks a shipyard producing units - the Skeeters deal most damage with their secondary weapon which you can't force fire at the Shipyard, so units produced by the Shipyyard will in this case soak up a lot of the damage, making it harder to kick people out of the water using Skeeters. If this concerns you, see .fixoff.
.fixoff (battleroom ingame anyone)
Disables all fixes for everyone. The game must be rehosted in to reenable them.
.hookreport (battleroom ingame anyone)
Reports the presence and version of each TA Hook in the game. All TA Demo 0.98b recorders will always reply with a positive respond to this query. Under Note that TA Hook is now obsolete - the functionality is built right into TA Demo itself.
.take (ingame)
When a reject screen for a player appears, an ally can use .take to claim the dropping player's units and structures.
.takecmd (ingame)
Same as .take, but includes the dropping player's Commander giving you two of them to worry about and utilize. With Commander Dies: Game Ends settings, loosing any Commander loses you the game. Ctrl-C will also select all Commanders.
.panic (ingame)
If the recorder starts flooding you with Exception caught messages, use this command and pray that the recorder manages to process it.
.plfrom nick (ingame)
Packet loss statistics for a certain player. Each value represents the time passed at a certain packet loss level. The first ten values represent 2% steps in the range from 0% to 20%, the last one represents the entire 20% to 100% range.
.plresults (battleroom)
Prints info about how the packets in the last .pltest fared.
.pltest nick (battleroom)
Sends a sharp spike of ping packets to a player. This does not show what the conditions will exactly be like in a game and requires some experience to judge. However, it does simulate the kind of activity that would tend to occur during a game. See also the .plfrom command.
.protectdt (battleroom ingame)
Tries to make sure DTs aren't lost. Without this fix, sometimes an opponent will see holes in an actually solid DT line you built.
.randmap filename (battleroom)
Proposes a map randomly picked out of a list from a file that follows the format of the supplied maps.txt. The filename is optional and defaults to maps.txt if omitted. If you create your own favorite list of maps to play on you can use it by specifying the filename.
.record filename (battleroom ingame)
Records the game for later Perusing Pleasure™. By default the recorded game will end up in your TA directory, however this can be changed by the control panel's Default TA Demo directory (3.) setting. If a recording with the same name already exists, it will be overwritten.
.report (battleroom ingame anyone)
All recorders in the game report their presence, version and status of the toggles:
(T--) shows the game is being recorded
(-T-) shows .fixfacexps is enabled
(--T) shows .protectdt is enabled
Any combination of the above is possible. No answer from a player means they don't have TA Demo installed.
.sharelos (ingame)
Makes allied units and any hostiles in their LOS visible, though covered by fog of war, and shares allied radar. .sharelos is mutual - a player will neither receive nor grant LOS and radar to/from allies as long as he/she does not issue this command.
.sharemappos (ingame)
Allows your allies to see where you are looking on the main game screen, indicated by a rectangle in the respective player's color.
.syncon # # (battleroom host-only)
Gamespeed is locked to the range between the first (low limit) and second (high limit) number (e.g. .syncon -3 +2). Useful to prevent speedjacking.
.status (battleroom ingame)
Same as .report, except only your own recorder replies and noone else sees it. Useful to silently check if your recorder is turned on.
.stoplog (battleroom ingame)
Halts the recorder.
.tahookoff (battleroom ingame anyone)
This disables just the autoclick feature in every recorder in the game.
.time (ingame)
Displays the game time for all players according to their +clock. Useful for spotting a lagging player.
.votego (battleroom)
Signifies you're ready to go. If all players issue .votego, this will forcibly click in watchers. Useful if one of them left to take a shower or something without clicking in.