MechPack: Improved Documentation
MechPack: Improved (aka MPI) is a unit pack for Total AnnihilationŠ. This is not a "total conversion", and is designed to be used within the original game's balance, although the total effects of the unit pack upon gameplay and player's incentives make this project more like a mod than just another collection of random units.
The idea behind the MPI is very simple: to change the way that Total Annihilation plays in longer games with bigger maps. Currently, TA plays in well-understood ways. While during the early game land forces (vehicles/kbots) are quite viable, they have severe problems with advanced defenses during later games. This has lead players online towards the inevitable solutions: massed Hawk swarms, nuke rushing, Phoenix stacking, and other techniques.
My opinion (and I know this isn't shared by all, so please don't write me flaming email) is that this is one of the worst features of TA. It plays very well as a land-battle game until mid-game, but then becomes increasingly centered around the worst sorts of twinking and engine-abuse during late-game play (Brawler-lagging, etc.). Moreover, as many players have expressed on the TAU forums and elsewhere, most experienced players have little incentive to "tech-up", as their tactics are built around a quick kill.
While the MPI doesn't reduce the viability of Flash-rushing or other early-game tactics, it puts a whole new spin on the later game. Once Resource Towers and Worker Bees are available, Mecha can be rapidly constructed, and they are very powerful forces for breaking into porcupines on the ground. Moreover, the inclusion of fairly cost-effective anti-aircraft mecha makes it possible for players to take down large swarms of combat aircraft, which again puts a new twist on an old game.