Paraworld Mods

version: v.1.01

A group of 19th-century scientists discover ParaWorld, an alternate universe where dinosaurs never became extinct and the primitive human.

Paraworld Patch 1.01 Change Log

- The snare trap crash in campaign level 5 is fixed.

- The proxy server address which used to run on port 2222 was changed due to compatability problems with some anti-virus programmes.

- Epoch progress is now visible both in the replays and to Spectator watching the game.

- Unit access to Bunkers has been improved.

- Tooltips for level 2 units in the Army controller now function after sorting.

- The Poisoner now runs through the poisoning animation when he kills himself.

- The bug which sometimes led to the left wall section being removed when a gate was torn down has been fixed.

- Resurrection of Dustriders could be abused with the help of allied players; this was repaired.

- The problem with system messages closing the Dustrider infantry construction menu has been fixed.

- The calculation of projectile trajectories has been corrected.

- Falling Stones are now only triggered once construction of the wall in question has been completed.

- A bug allowing units to run through any wall built right in front of the building's exit has been corrected.

- Fixed a bug which caused some characters in Quotes.txt to be displayed incorrectly.

- Freezing now has a visible effect.

- Building rotation speed has been doubled.

- The Parasaurolophus and Seismosaurus Gatling units now automatically target and fire upon enemies if no manual attack commands have been issued.

- Animal death animations now display properly.

- Forests can now once again be harvested after restarting/loading during a running game.

- Jungle Faketrees have been made larger and no longer ignore the range of view.

- Titan selection is now more precise.

- Poison effects are now visually recognizable.

- Characters loceated near to buildings may now be selected using a double-click.

- Construction speed increase is no longer limited to 10 Workers.

- Fixed an error which caused the Allosaurus' armour to disappear as soon as the 'Allosaurus Scrunch' was researched.

- Incorrect Tree values which prevented Collectors from harvesting trees have been corrected.

- The Load screen now deletes correctly when the server connection is lost.

- Spectator are no longer able to change Player grouping assignments.

- Spectator are no longer able to chat with other Players.

- Spectator can now leave a game in progress using the 'Abandon game' function.

- Spectator can no longer pause a game.

- Each unit can now only be resurrected by a single Shaman, as multiple simultaneous resurrections led to the creation of 'virtual' units which served no function yet still occupied a slot in the Army controller.

- Buildings can no longer be frozen, as this also prevented unit construction.

- The animals used for the Shaman ability 'Camouflage' can now be assigned individually for each map as some maps do not use the standard animals.

- Shamans now automatically lose their camouflage as soon as they cast 'Resurrect', 'Termites' or 'Tornado'.

- Berserkers can no longer be controlled using the 'Defensive', 'Aggressive' and 'Hold position' commands.

- River shaders were added to rivers in the Icewastes and the Jungle.

- The Arch Druid no longer attempts to perform his non-existent finishing move. This had led to errors in enemy unit animation.

- Whenever a player uses random choice to determine their tribe in multiplayer mode the other players will see the message 'predefined deck'.

- The Dragon Clan 'Mortar' unit now only does 15% damage to Infantry and Animal units.

- Stina's armour value against Animal attacks has been raised from 50 to 75 to allow her to block enemy Animal units more effectively.

- The Governor's Special move now takes 10 seconds longer to recharge and only causes damage within a 6 instead of 7 meter radius, as he was previously capable of destroying too many units in too short a time period.

- The Jetpack Axe Warrior Special move now only requires 17 seconds to recharge; disruptive tactics are now possible.

- The Dragon Clan 'Saltasaurus Transporter' unit now has an attack frequency of 30 to 35 attacks per minute as it's damage rate was too high.

- The duration of effect of doping the Dragon Clan unit 'Saltasaurus Transporter' has been shortened from 10 to 7 seconds.

- Construction time for the Dustrider Temple has been increased from 30 to 45 seconds.

- Workers generally cause less damage.

- The Rhino Transporter now takes 40 seconds to build instead of 35 and costs 50 Food and 20 Wood more.

- Trigger update for single player level 15.

- Stone outcroppings are now spread more evenly across the 'Autumn Battlefield' map.

- Stone outcroppings are now spread more evenly across the 'Ice River' map.

- Stone outcroppings are now spread more evenly across the 'Ajuba City' map.

- The river shaders have been fixed.

- All tribes: the Eusmilus Rider Armour has been increased from 0 to 20 against ranged attack and decreased from 30 to 0 in close combat.

- Norsemen: Rhino Transporter damage to buildings has been decreased from 100% to 50%.

- Norsemen: Rhino Transporter no longer does armour-piercing damage.

- Norsemen: the Lancer ranged-weapon armour has benn increased from 0 to 20.

- Norsemen Chariot: Skulls at level 2 decreased from 23 to 17.

- Norsemen: Ram construction time shortened from 35 to 25 seconds.

- Norsemen: Kennel Eusmilus: skulls decreased to 10.

- Dustrider: Brachio Transporter damage to buildings has been decreased from 100% to 50%.

- Dustrider: Raptor handler costs have decreased from 60 to 50 Food.

- Dustrider: Taslow Tower range decreased from 65 to 60.

Sling and jump bag. - Dragon Clan: Salta Transporter damage to buildings has been decreased from 100% to 50%.

- Dragon Clan: Gatling riders can now simultaneously run and shoot.

- Dragon Clan: Poison Trap: Skulls decreased from 30 to 20.

- Dragon Clan: Dilophosaurus in Nest: Skulls decreased from 10 to 7.

- Fixed crash which occured when a transporter was converted while in battle.

- Icons in the Pyramid once again blink when the Unit concerned is attacked.

- Transporters can once again be promoted independent of their cargo.

- Captain initialization for the Brachio transporter was fixed to avoid a crash.

- 'GameSpy shared socket' has been assigned to 0.0.0.0 instead of the first local IP.

- Units attacking a visible trap no longer take damage from it.

- Norsemen: Rhino Transporters could not be countered, so their speed has been reduced from 3 to 2.

- Once a slot has been defined as 'Blocked' in the LE the map can be leveled up and thereafter not leveled back down.

- The flat Northland River plane had a misplaced centerpoint, causing it to blend out too early when viewed from a particular direction. This has been fixed.

- Taslow's Level 2 construction bonus was too high and hsa been reduced correspondingly.

- On Cold Blood it was possible to bypass an enemy wall by means of a non-blocking cliff; this has been fixed.

- A number of orthographical mistakes have been corrected.

- The warehouses were using the wrong rate of exchange when trading Skulls for Stone. This has been fixed.

- Dragon Clan water mines did not explode once the enemy changed his stance to 'neutral'. This has been corrected.

- The space bar no longers hangs up any of the menu buttons.

- Dustriders: The Shaman's Termites now earn him Skulls when they destroy a building.

- Norsemen: Fixed the bug which caused the Mammoth Trumpet to sound continuously.

- Fixed a bug in the single-player Save/Load routine which prevented the quest trigger from functioning after loading a game.

Report problems with download to [email protected]

Inside the ParaWorld, man and beast battle endlessly for dominance and power in a dimension stuck between prehistoric time and the 19th century. Three nations -- the Norsemen, the Dustriders, and the Dragon Clan -- are competing for resources, land, and the right to exist in this sliver of time. The Norsemen are humans from the north that command a giant Triceratops with archers mounted on its back. The Dragon Clan is equipped with a Brontosaurus carrying Gatling guns and mortar mounted on top of it. Finally, the Dustriders are a brutal group of mercenaries with a T-Rex ally that can terrorize and eat enemy infantry.

Each clan is equipped with nine heroes and has the capacity for up to 52 units on the battlefield at one time. Each of the three types of unit -- human, machine, and animal -- has its own special finishing move. For example, cavalry comes in the form of two-legged carnivorous mounts, and Brontosaurus mounts can knock over tree lines. Other units include dinosaurs that launch eggs that hatch small raptors upon impact. Heroes can construct clan specific buildings, develop new abilities, and collect different items. There are over 50 types of animal found in ParaWorld, 40 of which are dinosaurs.

ParaWorld features 15 single- and multiplayer maps, and five climatic environments including Northland, Jungle, Savannah, Icewaste, and Ashvalley. For those who seek human competition, there are three multiplayer modes for up to eight players such as 'Team Deathmatch,' 'Defender,' and 'Domination.' The game also includes a unique 'Army Controller' that allows you to select infantry from a checklist, eliminating scrolling time spent looking for a lost unit.

ParaWorld is set in a parallel world where dinosaurs weren't wiped out. In its alternate dimension, the beasts continued to exist and evolve alongside man. In all fairness, the game tries to do a little more than show off a plethora of dinosaur models (which incidentally are very smartly rendered). It also attempts to throw a spin on the traditional interface with something called the army controller. This is a panel that sits on the left hand side of the screen displaying every unit in your army. It allows you to examine your troops at a glance, complete with health bars, so battered units can be quickly identified and pulled out of battle. It's also useful for monitoring which resources your workers are gathering, and for managing promotions.

ParaWorld has a capped army size of 52, with five different ranks. Units are promoted using 'skull' points which are earned from kills, and as they rise through the ranks they become more powerful (plus in the case of hero units, they acquire special abilities). A great deal of the strategy in the game revolves around promoting the right troops and achieving a good balance of infantry, ranged, siege and naval units within your 52 limit. The army controller's handy overview of your forces definitely helps this balancing act, but it's nothing revolutionary.

Working out your perfect army is a more interesting exercise due to the variety of units on the game's three sides. Do you plump for the towering brachiosaurus catapault, which can hit buildings really hard, or the more versatile ankylosaurus siege dino, which might not pack such a punch but can switch to flinging raptors at infantry? Or forget them and build a few stegosaurus transports to carry your squad of archers, letting the bowmen rain arrows down upon the enemy as they trot along. Each race plays quite differently: the norsemen are the vanilla warrior race, the dustriders are nomads with mobile bases while the dragon clan encompass an intoxicating mix of samurai, steam-punk technology and fiendish traps.

It's a shame then that the linear campaign hasn't been designed with more imaginative flair. Overall, the mission objectives tend towards that RTS formula which is as old as the dinosaurs themselves: harvest resources, build up your base, then destroy your opponent's base. A little variance is added via some sub-quests, and it's quite important to complete these, as each objective secured earns you points to spend on extra units between missions. However, these points are awarded in a seemingly haphazard manner, as missing even one small sub-quest can lead to your score being reduced to next to nothing.

And at times, the computer's AI seems on a par with its patchy maths. It tends to ignore defensive considerations, such as staying near arrow towers or behind base walls, and just chucks everything at you. Battles often turn into a boiling and bubbling mass of beasts, particularly as there are no army formations. Actually, that's not entirely true - basic formation orders can be given, but they seem to make naff all difference and in practice, troops always move in one big lump. The real skill in combat is micromanaging your unit's special powers, but sometimes these can be frustratingly difficult to target in the chaotic swirl of a melee.

There's certainly a good whack of content in ParaWorld, with sixteen chunky single-player missions and multiplayer trimmings including deathmatch, domination (capture the flag) and defender (one resource boosted player versus the rest).

ParaWorld isn't without its charms, particularly its diverse and enticing set of armies, but it's truly a dinosaur of an RTS, bog standard in terms of mission design and somewhat messy in the combat department. Strategy gamers expect more than this now, but even so, there are undeniable nuggets of fun to be had watching giant reptiles beat the crap out of each other.

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