Configuring a router for playing TA online + other TA tweaks You need to set it to route packets from ports 2300-2400 (TCP/UDP inbound/outbound [for TA]), 28800-29000 (same setting [for TA]) and 47624 (TCP inbound/outbound [for TA]) to your computer's IP address. 2300-2400 (TCP/UDP inbound/outbound [for TA]), 28800-29000 (same setting [for TA]) and 47624 (TCP inbound/outbound [for TA]) to your computer's IP address. The direct X ports are 47624 for DirectX 7, and 6073 for DirectX 8, you may or may not need to open them both (I use 7 and only have the 47624 port open). TA also requires another set of ports to be open, these are ports 2300 through 2400, other sources say to open more, but thats all TA apears to need. For GBL, you also need to forward ports 7777 and 7778 -- probably only TCP is needed. For ICQ, you need to route data on TCP port 5190 to the IP as well. This site may make it possible to have more than 1 online TA player on the same IP behind a router -- if not in the SAME TA game then probably at least in different TA games: DXport -- multiple players PER router! http://www.puffinsoft.com/ -- Anyone want to know the quick-and-dirty TA no-cd hack? TA v3.1c CD key break: in totala.exe AT: 0001CBA3. change 32C0 to B001 WARNING: You MUST copy TOTALA2.HPI off the multiplayer CD and TOTALA4.HPI off the missions CD in order for this to work. This is similar to a "multiplayer install"... -- Delete/move unused DLLs from Totala directory: Only DLLs needed: dplayx.dll , reporter.dll , smackw32.dll , spank.dll even the one with the word online in it isn't needed :p dplayx.dll and spank.dll are part of TA Demo Recorder reporter.dll is part of GBL. :) If you want to speed up TA, remove these DLL files from the totala dir: mptaext.dll , online.dll , tadwngox.dll , taheatx.dll , takalix.dll , tamplayx.dll , tatenx.dll , tawirepx.dll If you look closely at their names, they refer to now-dead online services. Removing TADEMO.UFO from TA's totala dir will also speed the game up very slightly and lessen the chance of random grayed-out units. This is ONLY needed by TA Demo Recorder if you use the .sonar command on demo playback. Remove ALL older Cavedog unit UFO files, as they are all inside rev31.gp3 (the v3.1c patch) -- leaving them behind causes random grayed-out units. TURN OFF .fixall by default -- it generates extra network traffic, which isn't good if your modem is already overloaded. You can use .fixall in game if it's a problem... -- All 6 extra post v3.1c patch units in 1 UFO file: http://www.tauniverse.com/switeck/Cavedog_units.zip Missing features/units file: http://www.tafansite.hwgn.net/download/downloads/ccdata.zip This file contains a LOT of TA:CC + other Cavedog add-on maps: http://dl.fileplanet.com/dl/dl.asp?planetannihilation/taec/cdmaps.zip This site might have more of the same: http://www.tadesigners.com/cavedogcc.shtml -- How to repack TA's main data files to save space and gain load speed: (good for low-ram systems) Repacking TA+TA:CC+v3.1c patch saves >20mb space and loads faster. DON'T put the 6 extra units into the repacked totala1.hpi file -- it causes all sorts of incompatibilities with TA Bugfix, UberHack, unit packs, some maps, etc... Repacking totala2.hpi and totala4.hpi will also save a lot of space, as they use lower compression format HPI files than TA:CC and v3.1c patch. It doesn't do much good to repack ccmaps.ccx or btmaps.ccx cuz they already use the higher TA:CC compression format. Get HPI TOOLS from http://www.tauniverse.com/switeck/ 1.make a single dir -- I used C:\a (easy to type only 1 letter) 2.open totala1.hpi with HPI viewer, then do an extract all to C:\a 3.then open ccdata.ccx with HPI viewer and do an extract all of it to C:\a 4.then open rev31.gp3 with HPI viewer and do an extract all of it to C:\a 5.Close HPI viewer and move these old files out of the totala dir: rev31.gp3, ccdata.ccx, btdata.ccx, totala1.hpi 6.Open HPI packer 7.set Directory to pack: to... C:\a 8.set Destination HPi file: to... C:\CAVEDOG\TOTALA\totala1.hpi 9.Make Program: TA Compression Method: TA:CC 10.Press the PACK button :p 11.wait till it's done then close HPI packer and test TA in skirmish. -- This is my site for other TA files, it's the main distribution point for TA Bugfix (latest version 1.6 FINAL.) http://www.tauniverse.com/switeck/ -- How to get more than 3 ais in skirmish: FYI: it's * first, and then the roman numeral representing the number of skirmishers you want, which would be X for 10. * then X, not at the same time. (That's SHIFT+8 then X.) -- QUICK reinstall of TA: Do the standard install from basic TA disk 1. Copy totala2.hpi straight from basic TA disk 1 to the new totala dir -- where totala1.hpi is. Copy CCMAPS.CCX and CCDATA.CCX (and CCMISS.CCX if you want TA:CC missions) straight from the TA:CC cd to the new totala dir -- where totala1.hpi is. Copy BTMAPS.CCX straight from the TA:BT cd to the new totala dir -- where totala1.hpi is. Run the v3.1c patch. Install the 6 Cavedog post-v3.1c patch units. Then, if you want, install GBL/PW/TA Demo Recorder... You may need to do Directx registration for TA -- it comes with GBL v2.4.5 beta and should be done automatically. -- These 2 sites have tons of configuring TA stuff: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/draconious/TA/TASupport.html http://underworld.fortunecity.com/mario/928/utilities.htm -- For those with bad lag in multi TA... Make sure you've cleaned out all windows temporary directories using Disk Cleanup found on the Start -> Accessories -> System Tools menu. Also get Ad Aware (v5.83 is the latest last I checked) from http://www.lavasoft.nu/ to hunt for pesky adware and spyware programs that are using up precious bandwidth, cpu, and ram resources. Other things to try: Go the distance. Sometimes you can't connect to a Web site because your data dies prematurely. All data packets sent on the Internet carry a Time to Live (TTL) number. Each time the packet passes through a router or similar device, its TTL value drops by one. When the TTL reaches zero, the packet dies. This keeps lost or damaged packets from bouncing around the Internet forever. By default, Windows sets the TTL at 32; if your data must pass through more than 32 routers to get to its destination, it won't arrive. Instances of premature packet death are infrequent, but it does happen. To avoid it, reset the Default TTL setting located in the Windows Registry at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP. You can use Regedit to do this manually if you're Registry-savvy Adjust your browser settings: Make sure that your Internet Explorer security levels (select Tools, Internet Options, Security) are set to Medium (or higher), which prevents automatic software installations. Set the browser to prompt you before running programs like ActiveX applets that can start automatically. Learn the lingo: Don't trust an ActiveX applet just because a dialog box tells you it's been "signed." This language just means the applet is really from the site it claims to be from. It says nothing about what the applet does. Remove any unwanted ActiveX applets: To do so, go to Tools, Internet Options, General, Settings, View Objects. Right-click any questionable programs and select View Properties to see where they came from. If you want to uninstall one, right-click it again and select Remove. -- Making slower computers run TA better: (by tweaking windows!) Cacheman v5.11 from Outertech can majorly help older versions of Windows (95/98/me) run a LOT faster with less hdd swapping even on low-ram (<128mb) systems. You can find it at http://www.outertech.com/ RegCleaner site: http://www.jv16.org/ -------- LANGUAGE CHANGE : Think it's boring to have an English version of TA? Well, open up regedit.exe and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Cavedog Entertainment/Total Annihilation, there you will find a key with the name "Language", it should be set to 'english' (or French/German/Spanish/Italian, depending on what version you have). Now, change the value of this litte key to 'piglatin' (don't include the ' ). V¢ila, Total Annihilation in PigLatin. =) --------