Locate the TA settings menu
There are sveral settings which have an impact on the workload your computer's
CPU has to deal with during a TA game. To change these settings start TA manually
from the windows task bar by choosing Start->Total Annihilation->
Total Annihilation. After the intro movie the main screen below will appear. Now
click on the red marked 'Single' option:
The Single player menu appears. Pick the red marked 'Options' button:
In the the TA options main menu pick the 'Visuals' first:
Optimal visual settings
Set the options on the visual screen exactly as shown below:
The 640x480 Screen Size is the minimum possible. The lower the setting
the smaller is the region of the map displayed at the in game main screen. A
smaller map frame reduces the number of units to be displayed at once and thus
reducing the CPU load but it also means you will have a hard time to keep an eye
on the things going on without scrolling much. Play around with the resolution if
you get the feeling a too small in game main screen becomes too much of a handicap
for you. Depending on your computer system you may be able to increase it from the
minimum without giving too much game performance away.
When you are done with the visual settings head over to the interface menu by
picking the 'Interface' button:
Optimal interface settings
There are two things to check here - first, make sure the game speed slider
is at the center position, second unit text acknowledgement is off as shown
below:
The Game Speed setting determines only the default speed when entering
a game. It can be changed any time in the game by any player by using the
+ or - key on the number block of the keyboard. You should
never fiddle around with the speed setting in an online TA game since it will make
lag effects worse or take players out of synchronization. Just keep it a normal
speed and you will be fine.
Next step is to set the music options appropriate. Click on the 'Music' button
:
Optimal music settings
Switch the 'CD Music' option off:
Now head over to the 'Sound' settings by clicking the according button:
Optimal sound settings
Set the sound options as shown in the screen shot below:
Now leave the options menu by picking the 'Ok' button:
And you will be back at the Single player menu screen. From here you can either
start a single player TA game or go back to the main menu or exit TA. No matter
what option you pick the new settings are stored and will be used in singleplayer
and multiplayer games from now on.
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