Total Annihilation
Encyclopedia
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy
video game created by Cavedog Entertainment
, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows
and Mac OS
. It was the first RTS
game to feature 3D
units and terrain. Two expansion packs were released, The Core Contingency
on April 30, 1998 and Battle Tactics
on June 30, 1998. After the closure of the Cavedog Entertainment Studios
in 1999, the intellectual property fell to Infogrames
(now Atari
). In March 2010, Total Annihilation (with Core Contingency and Battle Tactics expansions included) was re-released as digital download from Stardock
.
Total Annihilation is no longer supported, due to the closure of Cavedog. With Gas Powered Games
, lead designer Chris Taylor went on to create Supreme Commander, popularly considered the "spiritual successor" of Total Annihilation. An open source
remake of Total Annihilation named Spring, with a completely 3D graphics engine and lacking any fixed camera angle, has been independently produced. Also, the Total Annihilation 3D (TA3D) project was begun in the summer of 2006. Total Annihilation is currently played online via The Warzone, Game Ranger, and Phoenix Worx gaming lobbies, with The WarZone being the most active.
and stealth, and evaluation of units and terrain. Battles take place against AI
in a story-driven campaign, with the option of playing against other players in a skirmish mode.
Normally, the player begins with the unique Commander unit, a mech with the ability to create structures to form a base and, by extension, a military force comprising a range of mobile units. The Commander, in addition to being a powerful combat unit, is vital to the player because of its ability to quickly construct units. This makes the loss of a Commander a critical event in any game. Construction is governed by the possession of the game's two unlimited resources, Metal and Energy, and can be undertaken by factories or mobile construction units. Every unit belongs to a level of technology (tech level); the higher the level, the more advanced the unit and the more resources and thus time required to construct it. A feature of the game is the ability to easily "queue" the many commands for a unit or group of units, with types of commands including patrolling a route, constructing a defensive group of structures and attacking enemy units. Once given its commands, the unit will go about them automatically thus minimizing the need for the player's attention to small, repetitive tasks. The victory conditions of a multiplayer game generally involve the elimination of all enemy units, but the aim of single player campaign missions can be more specialized.
consists of construction and command buttons (depending on the unit selected), unit status information, resource information on the production of Energy and Metal, and a minimap which gives an overview of the game's battlespace
— the visibility of which may be hindered by fog of war
, necessitating the use of radar or scout units. There are a few highly-advanced units which are invaluable combat-wise, such as nuclear missile launchers which have enormous range and very high damage. There are two story-related factions, Arm and Core, which have comparable sets of units (one side a little bit faster, other one a little bit tougher etc.), but are aesthetically different. However, when playing against experienced players, subtle differences between the two factions put Core players at a disadvantage. The most noticeable differences are as follows: The level 1 Arm fighter aircraft is 1.7x more maneuverable than its Core counterpart, the Arm commander walks 1.12x faster than the Core commander, amphibious Arm kbots float above water, making them faster and more useful than their submerging Core counterparts, Arm players can build Farks, fast assistant repair kbots which can be crowded around labs and structures to dramatically reduce build times, and level 1 Arm tanks are equipped with superior weapons. Core has some distinct advantage as well, such as superior naval units, level 1 bombers that drop more bombs, and less conspicuous nuclear facilities. These advantages, however, are overshadowed by the Arm advantages in most situations.
Total Annihilation was one of the first RTS games to feature radar that caused enemy units within its radius to appear on the minimap despite being covered by the fog of war. This added an additional element of electronic warfare to the game: players could construct radar jammers that prevented units in a small radius around them from appearing on radar. Mobile radar jammers could be used to create surprise attacks, necessitating the deployment of scout units on a regular basis to reveal said units visually. In addition, radar jammers could disguise the presence of visually cloaked units, such as the commander or land mines. Radar fields rendered cloaked units detectable; a radar jammer could make said units undetectable until the radar jammer itself was destroyed.
Total Annihilation was the very first RTS game to point the way towards battlefields with hundreds and thousands of units. Previous games had produced engaging gameplay with several scores of units. However, Total Annihilation initially permitted 200 units per side which was later patched to 500 and then to 1,000 or more units per side. This was battle on a scale not compassed by any previous game.
surface. Hills obstruct artillery fire, and, depending on the "line-of-sight" setting, height enhances units' visual and firing ranges. If terrain is steep and jagged, units tilt and turn to meet the face of the ground. Structures can be built on steep terrain to protect them from artillery fire and to create choke point
s. Artillery
shells are affected by gravity, which is actually variable on different planets- particularly on lower-gravity moons. Units that achieve five kills receive "veteran" status which increases health and damage, as well as giving the unit the ability to lead moving targets. This effect grows with every five subsequent kills.
In the far future the galaxy is ruled by a benevolent central body of humans and artificial intelligence
s called the Core (a contraction of "Consciousness Repository"). The Core's technological and economic triumphs have allowed humanity to colonize most of the Milky Way
and enjoy peace and prosperity. However, the balance is broken by a technological breakthrough which allows the consciousness of a human being to be reliably transferred into a machine, thereby granting theoretically indefinite life in a process called "patterning". Following a mandate imposed on humanity by the Core requiring everyone to undergo patterning as a public health measure, a rebel band is formed out of colonies from the edges of the galaxy (hence named the Arm), whose members refused to leave their natural bodies to join the Core's machines. A war lasting four thousand years followed, with the Arm mass-producing clones
as pilots for its vehicles and the Core duplicating consciousness-embedded microchips to pilot its own machines.
The game's two campaigns focus on their respective sides' military leaders, the Commanders. The story of either the Core or the Arm starts with an effort to defend the protagonist's homeworld and initiate a turning point in the overall war. The player then fights a series of battles on a number of planets and moons, as transported to through Galactic Gates, a fictional form of faster-than-light
travel. As the player progresses, more units become available for construction, either through the course of background story or upon completion of a mission centered around the unit in question. Mission objectives include protecting a vital structure or area, eliminating all enemy units, or capturing a pivotal enemy unit. The worlds upon which the player wages warfare force the player to adapt to different strategies; for example, deployment on a world whose surface is entirely composed of archipelago
s necessitates the construction of an effective navy. Some have occasional weather conditions, such as meteor storms. Both campaigns include 25 missions, the final mission ending the war with a final strike on the enemy's homeworld — either the Arm's bucolic Empyrrean or the Core's artificial Jupiter Brain world of Core Prime.
's Game of the Year Award for 1997. TA is still played actively today, over 10 years after its release. It won Gamespy
's Top Ten Real-Time Strategy Games of All Time in 2004, leaving StarCraft
in second place. It was also recently named to Gamespot's 50-game The Greatest Games of All Time list. The editors stated "It's not as famous as Warcraft or Command & Conquer
, but Total Annihilation is arguably better than any other real-time strategy game to date." See Awards. Overall, Total Annihilation received metascores of 86 out of 100 from Metacritic.com
and 88.85% from GameRankings.com.
Utilities have also been produced by the fan community, with varying support by the game's authors, for creating freely downloadable third-party units. Fans have even created their own races to join or replace the game's two original factions.
Data files containing game information can be placed within the game directory, whose contents would then be incorporated into the game. Units, weapons, AI tweaks, missions, races, and new map tilesets can be added, as well as a wide range of modifications and total conversions
.
Apart from official enhancements released by Cavedog for free, including units and patches, there is large community support with thousands of third-party add-ons and utilities. A prime example is the Uberhack modification, which modifies all of the existing units and adds several additional ones, in the attempt to balance the game and create unique roles for each of the wide variety of units.
or CC a year after TA. It features 25 new missions as well as 75 new units. It continues the story after the ending of the Arm campaign. The expansion also comes with the T.A.E. (Total Annihilation editor), which allows users to create maps and missions.
was released, which includes 4 new units, 100 additional missions as well an experimental approach to TA gameplay, with less emphasis on base construction.
ARM F.A.R.K. or Fast Assist-Repair Kbot, a construction assistant Kbot built by the Adv. Kbot Lab.
CORE Necro, a resurrection Kbot that can bring wrecks of metal back to life, whether they originally belonged to the enemy or not.
ARM Flea, an agile scout Kbot that can climb almost anywhere.
CORE Immolator, a level 1 defense tower that was supposed to be the CORE's response to the ARM Energy Machine Gun or EMG.
ARM Scarab, a mobile level 2 anti-nuke Kbot produced by the Adv. Vehicle Plant.
CORE Hedgehog, the CORE equivalent of the Scarab.
TA originally shipped with 150 discrete units but after these two expansion packs and downloadable patches, 230 units became available.
and performed by the 96-piece Northwest Sinfonia orchestra. The music changes according to events: during a battle, louder and more frantic music plays. During post-war damage repair or idle construction, a more ambient and mysterious track is played. The soundtrack is in CD-audio format and can be listened to with ordinary CD players. An ordinary music CD can be inserted once the game is under way and can replace the original game music with its own tracks. It is even possible to program such custom CD tracks to the various battlefield situations (conflict, construction, defeat, etc.) like the default set.
Following the release of Total Annihilation on Gog.com, the entire soundtrack has been made playable from mp3 files using a .dll
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
video game created by Cavedog Entertainment
Cavedog Entertainment
Cavedog Entertainment, or Cavedog, was a video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Cavedog gained the attention of gamers and the gaming press alike with the 1997 release of Total Annihilation , winning many accolades such as multiple Game of the Year honors or being one of The Greatest...
, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
. It was the first RTS
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game to feature 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
units and terrain. Two expansion packs were released, The Core Contingency
Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency
The Core Contingency is a 1998 expansion to the popular 1997 real-time strategy computer game Total Annihilation. It contains extra units and maps, as well as a campaign of 25 missions and a long-awaited official map editor.-Story:The Core Contingency picks up where the original game finishes...
on April 30, 1998 and Battle Tactics
Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics
Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics is the second of two expansion packs for the popular RTS computer game Total Annihilation, released on June 30, 1998 in the United States. Its features include 100 new missions as either the Arm or the Core, four new units and new keyboard shortcuts...
on June 30, 1998. After the closure of the Cavedog Entertainment Studios
Cavedog Entertainment
Cavedog Entertainment, or Cavedog, was a video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Cavedog gained the attention of gamers and the gaming press alike with the 1997 release of Total Annihilation , winning many accolades such as multiple Game of the Year honors or being one of The Greatest...
in 1999, the intellectual property fell to Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
(now Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
). In March 2010, Total Annihilation (with Core Contingency and Battle Tactics expansions included) was re-released as digital download from Stardock
Stardock
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998...
.
Total Annihilation is no longer supported, due to the closure of Cavedog. With Gas Powered Games
Gas Powered Games
Gas Powered Games is a video game developer located in Redmond, Washington. The development studio was started in May 1998 by Chris Taylor, creator of Total Annihilation, and several other ex-Cavedog Entertainment employees....
, lead designer Chris Taylor went on to create Supreme Commander, popularly considered the "spiritual successor" of Total Annihilation. An open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
remake of Total Annihilation named Spring, with a completely 3D graphics engine and lacking any fixed camera angle, has been independently produced. Also, the Total Annihilation 3D (TA3D) project was begun in the summer of 2006. Total Annihilation is currently played online via The Warzone, Game Ranger, and Phoenix Worx gaming lobbies, with The WarZone being the most active.
Gameplay
Total Annihilation is set in the far future in the midst of a galactic war, with battles taking place on the surface of planets and moons. The efforts of the player are centered around constructing a defensive base and an offensive force, and conquering opponents. The player is also concerned with gathering resources, reconnaissanceReconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
and stealth, and evaluation of units and terrain. Battles take place against AI
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
in a story-driven campaign, with the option of playing against other players in a skirmish mode.
Normally, the player begins with the unique Commander unit, a mech with the ability to create structures to form a base and, by extension, a military force comprising a range of mobile units. The Commander, in addition to being a powerful combat unit, is vital to the player because of its ability to quickly construct units. This makes the loss of a Commander a critical event in any game. Construction is governed by the possession of the game's two unlimited resources, Metal and Energy, and can be undertaken by factories or mobile construction units. Every unit belongs to a level of technology (tech level); the higher the level, the more advanced the unit and the more resources and thus time required to construct it. A feature of the game is the ability to easily "queue" the many commands for a unit or group of units, with types of commands including patrolling a route, constructing a defensive group of structures and attacking enemy units. Once given its commands, the unit will go about them automatically thus minimizing the need for the player's attention to small, repetitive tasks. The victory conditions of a multiplayer game generally involve the elimination of all enemy units, but the aim of single player campaign missions can be more specialized.
Resources
Resources in Total Annihilation are handled in a manner different from other RTS games of the day: they are "streaming," meaning that they are accumulated at a constant rate rather than in small batches; and they are limitless. In addition, all units and structures have a fixed cost, but they build at varying rates depending on the unit constructing them. A Commander, for example, will build a structure 3x faster than a construction vehicle. Of course, the faster a unit or structure is built, the faster the cost thereof is deducted from the player's reserves, competing with the rate at which resources are acquired. Thus, the commander is a double-edged sword, being able to build units and structures quickly, but at rates that quickly become unsustainable in the early game without sufficient reserves. If the rate at which resources are used exceeds the rate at which resources are acquired, then the player's reserves will begin to be depleted. If a player's reserves are entirely depleted, the player's production across the board will slow to a rate proportional to the amount by which outflow exceeds income, this is known as "nanostalling". In addition, if the player runs out of energy, power-dependent structures such as radar towers, metal extractors, and laser towers will cease to function. This adds an element of economic complexity unparalleled in most RTS games of the time period. When units and buildings die, they leave behind burnt metal frames, commonly referred to as wrecks, which can be reclaimed by commanders and construction units. When a wreck is reclaimed, the reclaiming player receives the metal in a lump sum. Players need to be careful when attacking, because if they leave behind wrecks, and don't do much damage, they will give the enemy a boost of metal. This is commonly referred to as 'feeding' the enemy.Combat
The player can command a variety of units including infantry bots, vehicles, ships, hovercraft, aircraft, powerful stationary long range weapons, and even a giant mecha known as the Krogoth. Units can vary in size, speed and the ability to give and take damage, generally depending on their tech level. The strongest units takes longer to build as well as costing more resources. Each unit has strengths and weaknesses, optimal styles of use, and corresponding units against which it is vulnerable or well-suited. Effective play is usually characterized by consideration of these attributes, as well as efficient resource management, strong defenses, and knowledge of the opponent's strategies. The game's interfaceUser interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
consists of construction and command buttons (depending on the unit selected), unit status information, resource information on the production of Energy and Metal, and a minimap which gives an overview of the game's battlespace
Battlespace
Battlespace is a term used to signify a unified military strategy to integrate and combine armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea, and space to achieve military goals. It includes the environment, factors, and conditions that must be understood...
— the visibility of which may be hindered by fog of war
Fog of war
The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign...
, necessitating the use of radar or scout units. There are a few highly-advanced units which are invaluable combat-wise, such as nuclear missile launchers which have enormous range and very high damage. There are two story-related factions, Arm and Core, which have comparable sets of units (one side a little bit faster, other one a little bit tougher etc.), but are aesthetically different. However, when playing against experienced players, subtle differences between the two factions put Core players at a disadvantage. The most noticeable differences are as follows: The level 1 Arm fighter aircraft is 1.7x more maneuverable than its Core counterpart, the Arm commander walks 1.12x faster than the Core commander, amphibious Arm kbots float above water, making them faster and more useful than their submerging Core counterparts, Arm players can build Farks, fast assistant repair kbots which can be crowded around labs and structures to dramatically reduce build times, and level 1 Arm tanks are equipped with superior weapons. Core has some distinct advantage as well, such as superior naval units, level 1 bombers that drop more bombs, and less conspicuous nuclear facilities. These advantages, however, are overshadowed by the Arm advantages in most situations.
Total Annihilation was one of the first RTS games to feature radar that caused enemy units within its radius to appear on the minimap despite being covered by the fog of war. This added an additional element of electronic warfare to the game: players could construct radar jammers that prevented units in a small radius around them from appearing on radar. Mobile radar jammers could be used to create surprise attacks, necessitating the deployment of scout units on a regular basis to reveal said units visually. In addition, radar jammers could disguise the presence of visually cloaked units, such as the commander or land mines. Radar fields rendered cloaked units detectable; a radar jammer could make said units undetectable until the radar jammer itself was destroyed.
Total Annihilation was the very first RTS game to point the way towards battlefields with hundreds and thousands of units. Previous games had produced engaging gameplay with several scores of units. However, Total Annihilation initially permitted 200 units per side which was later patched to 500 and then to 1,000 or more units per side. This was battle on a scale not compassed by any previous game.
Physics
The game features a physics engine which governs projectiles, explosions and wreckage. The terrain is strictly 2D but contains height values which allow it to act as a 3D3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
surface. Hills obstruct artillery fire, and, depending on the "line-of-sight" setting, height enhances units' visual and firing ranges. If terrain is steep and jagged, units tilt and turn to meet the face of the ground. Structures can be built on steep terrain to protect them from artillery fire and to create choke point
Choke point
In military strategy, a choke point is a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or a bridge, or at sea such as a strait which an armed force is forced to pass, sometimes on a substantially narrower front, and therefore greatly decreasing its combat power, in order to reach its...
s. Artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
shells are affected by gravity, which is actually variable on different planets- particularly on lower-gravity moons. Units that achieve five kills receive "veteran" status which increases health and damage, as well as giving the unit the ability to lead moving targets. This effect grows with every five subsequent kills.
Story
The game's start-up credits give a summary of the game's narrative:
What began as a conflict over the transfer of consciousness from flesh to machines escalated into a war which has decimated a million worlds. The Core and the Arm have all but exhausted the resources of a galaxy in their struggle for domination. Both sides now crippled beyond repair, the remnants of their armies continue to battle on ravaged planets, their hatred fueled by over four thousand years of total war. This is a fight to the death. For each side, the only acceptable outcome is the complete elimination of the other.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
s called the Core (a contraction of "Consciousness Repository"). The Core's technological and economic triumphs have allowed humanity to colonize most of the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
and enjoy peace and prosperity. However, the balance is broken by a technological breakthrough which allows the consciousness of a human being to be reliably transferred into a machine, thereby granting theoretically indefinite life in a process called "patterning". Following a mandate imposed on humanity by the Core requiring everyone to undergo patterning as a public health measure, a rebel band is formed out of colonies from the edges of the galaxy (hence named the Arm), whose members refused to leave their natural bodies to join the Core's machines. A war lasting four thousand years followed, with the Arm mass-producing clones
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
as pilots for its vehicles and the Core duplicating consciousness-embedded microchips to pilot its own machines.
The game's two campaigns focus on their respective sides' military leaders, the Commanders. The story of either the Core or the Arm starts with an effort to defend the protagonist's homeworld and initiate a turning point in the overall war. The player then fights a series of battles on a number of planets and moons, as transported to through Galactic Gates, a fictional form of faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
travel. As the player progresses, more units become available for construction, either through the course of background story or upon completion of a mission centered around the unit in question. Mission objectives include protecting a vital structure or area, eliminating all enemy units, or capturing a pivotal enemy unit. The worlds upon which the player wages warfare force the player to adapt to different strategies; for example, deployment on a world whose surface is entirely composed of archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
s necessitates the construction of an effective navy. Some have occasional weather conditions, such as meteor storms. Both campaigns include 25 missions, the final mission ending the war with a final strike on the enemy's homeworld — either the Arm's bucolic Empyrrean or the Core's artificial Jupiter Brain world of Core Prime.
Reception
The game was highly praised by critics and players, and won numerous awards, including GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Game of the Year Award for 1997. TA is still played actively today, over 10 years after its release. It won Gamespy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's Top Ten Real-Time Strategy Games of All Time in 2004, leaving StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
in second place. It was also recently named to Gamespot's 50-game The Greatest Games of All Time list. The editors stated "It's not as famous as Warcraft or Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer, abbreviated to C&C and also known as Tiberian Dawn, is a 1995 real-time strategy computer game developed by Westwood Studios for MS-DOS and published by Virgin Interactive. It was the first of twelve games to date to be released under the Command & Conquer label, including a...
, but Total Annihilation is arguably better than any other real-time strategy game to date." See Awards. Overall, Total Annihilation received metascores of 86 out of 100 from Metacritic.com
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and 88.85% from GameRankings.com.
Community
6,000 units are available after 3rd-party installations from Total Annihilation's many different fansites (although only 512 units can be installed on any one copy due to engine limitations).Utilities have also been produced by the fan community, with varying support by the game's authors, for creating freely downloadable third-party units. Fans have even created their own races to join or replace the game's two original factions.
Data files containing game information can be placed within the game directory, whose contents would then be incorporated into the game. Units, weapons, AI tweaks, missions, races, and new map tilesets can be added, as well as a wide range of modifications and total conversions
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
.
Apart from official enhancements released by Cavedog for free, including units and patches, there is large community support with thousands of third-party add-ons and utilities. A prime example is the Uberhack modification, which modifies all of the existing units and adds several additional ones, in the attempt to balance the game and create unique roles for each of the wide variety of units.
Core Contingency
Cavedog released The Core ContingencyTotal Annihilation: The Core Contingency
The Core Contingency is a 1998 expansion to the popular 1997 real-time strategy computer game Total Annihilation. It contains extra units and maps, as well as a campaign of 25 missions and a long-awaited official map editor.-Story:The Core Contingency picks up where the original game finishes...
or CC a year after TA. It features 25 new missions as well as 75 new units. It continues the story after the ending of the Arm campaign. The expansion also comes with the T.A.E. (Total Annihilation editor), which allows users to create maps and missions.
Battle Tactics
A month after CC, Total Annihilation: Battle TacticsTotal Annihilation: Battle Tactics
Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics is the second of two expansion packs for the popular RTS computer game Total Annihilation, released on June 30, 1998 in the United States. Its features include 100 new missions as either the Arm or the Core, four new units and new keyboard shortcuts...
was released, which includes 4 new units, 100 additional missions as well an experimental approach to TA gameplay, with less emphasis on base construction.
3.1 Patch
3.1 is the latest patch for Total Annihilation and its expansions. It gives most of the units included in CC and all the downloadable units of that time.Post 3.1 Units
After the release of 3.1 patch, Cavedog released a further six units for download. These are:ARM F.A.R.K. or Fast Assist-Repair Kbot, a construction assistant Kbot built by the Adv. Kbot Lab.
CORE Necro, a resurrection Kbot that can bring wrecks of metal back to life, whether they originally belonged to the enemy or not.
ARM Flea, an agile scout Kbot that can climb almost anywhere.
CORE Immolator, a level 1 defense tower that was supposed to be the CORE's response to the ARM Energy Machine Gun or EMG.
ARM Scarab, a mobile level 2 anti-nuke Kbot produced by the Adv. Vehicle Plant.
CORE Hedgehog, the CORE equivalent of the Scarab.
TA originally shipped with 150 discrete units but after these two expansion packs and downloadable patches, 230 units became available.
Soundtrack
The game has an original orchestral soundtrack composed by Jeremy SouleJeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television and video games. He has won multiple awards and has been described as the "John Williams of video game music" and "a model of success" for Western composers. He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen...
and performed by the 96-piece Northwest Sinfonia orchestra. The music changes according to events: during a battle, louder and more frantic music plays. During post-war damage repair or idle construction, a more ambient and mysterious track is played. The soundtrack is in CD-audio format and can be listened to with ordinary CD players. An ordinary music CD can be inserted once the game is under way and can replace the original game music with its own tracks. It is even possible to program such custom CD tracks to the various battlefield situations (conflict, construction, defeat, etc.) like the default set.
Following the release of Total Annihilation on Gog.com, the entire soundtrack has been made playable from mp3 files using a .dll
Awards
Total Annihilation has won 58 awards, the list of which follows:- The number one Real-Time Strategy Game of all time, Gamespy 2004
- Best Game of All Time, PC Games 1998
- Gamer's Choice Award, Best Real-Time Strategy Game, PC GamerPC GamerPC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
- 1998 Blister Award Winner, "Best Strategy Game of 1997", Electric Playground
- 1997 Game of the Year, GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
- Best Strategy Game of 1997, GameSpot
- Best Multiplayer Game 1997, GameSpot
- Best Music 1997, GameSpot
- Included in "The Greatest Games of All Time", GameSpot
- 1997 Game of the Year, GameSpot Reader's Choice Awards
- 1997 Best Strategy Game, GameSpot Reader's Choice Awards
- 1997 Best War Game, Happy Puppy's Golden Fire Hydrant Award
- 1997 Best Strategy Game, PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
Guru Magazine, Hungary - Best RTS Game, GAME.EXE Magazine, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
1998 - Best Game of the Year 1997, PC Soluces, France
- Silver Trophy Award, PC Magazine Loisirs, France
- Top Game Award for Five Consecutive Months, PC Jeux France
- Best RTS Game 1997, Reader's Choice Award, PC Gamer Online
- Best Real-Time Strategy Game 1997, The Adrenaline Vault
- Best RTS Game, PAJ LAN 2010
- Best Strategy Game 1997, Reader's Award, Games Domain
- 1997 Game of the Year, CompuNews
- 1997 Best Sound/Music, GamePen
- Best Strategy Game of 1997, Gamezilla.com
- Game of the Year, Game Review Central
- Best Real-Time Strategy Game of 1997, Ultra Game Players Magazine
- CG Choice Award, Computer Gaming World, 1998
- Best of the Best A+ Award, PC Games 1998
- Family PC Tested-Recommended, Family PC 1998
- Stamp of Approval, Computer Games Strategy Plus
- Editor's Choice Award 1997, Online Gaming Review
- Special Achievement in Music 1997, Online Gaming Review
- Best Game of the Year 1997, Honorable Mention, Online Gaming Review
- Best Game of 1997, Reader's Knockout Poll Award, Games Domain Review
- Best PC Game of 1997, Video Games Palace
- Gaming Product of the Year 1997, MeccaWorld
- Best Strategy Game of 1997, Gamesmania
- Gold Player Top-Rated 5 Star Award, PC Games Germany
- Gold Award, PC Action Germany
- Top Rated 5 Star Award 1997, PC Gaming World UK
- Platin Award, PC Power
- Innovation in Gaming Award 1997, PC Review
- Editor's Choice Award, Game Worlds Network
- Editor's Choice Award, Gaming Age
- Editor's Choice Award 1997, All About Games
- Awesome! Award 1997, Game Briefs
- Killer Game Award 1997, The Cheater's Guild
- OGR Preferred Award, Online Gaming Review
- X-Picks Dazzler for 1997, Gamecenter
- Hot! 4 Star Award, GAMERZedge
- Hands-On Award, PC GamePro
- Editor's Pick Award 1997, GameSpot
- Buy Now! Award, San Francisco Guardian Plug & Play
- Star Player Award, Games Machine
- GamePower's 4-Lightning Bolt Award 1997
- GamePen's Best of E3 Award 1997
- Top 12 Games of Autumn, PC Games Europe
- Hot Property Award 1997, MeccaWorld
See also
- Spring (game engine)
- Total Annihilation: The Core ContingencyTotal Annihilation: The Core ContingencyThe Core Contingency is a 1998 expansion to the popular 1997 real-time strategy computer game Total Annihilation. It contains extra units and maps, as well as a campaign of 25 missions and a long-awaited official map editor.-Story:The Core Contingency picks up where the original game finishes...
- Total Annihilation: Battle TacticsTotal Annihilation: Battle TacticsTotal Annihilation: Battle Tactics is the second of two expansion packs for the popular RTS computer game Total Annihilation, released on June 30, 1998 in the United States. Its features include 100 new missions as either the Arm or the Core, four new units and new keyboard shortcuts...
- Total Annihilation: KingdomsTotal Annihilation: KingdomsTotal Annihilation: Kingdoms or TA:K is a medieval fantasy real time strategy game created and released by Cavedog Entertainment on June 25, 1999...
- Supreme Commander
External links
- Official TA Web Site by Cavedog (Mirrored 2001-04-11)
- CaveDog TA Strategy Pages
- Wikia's TA
- Gamespot's Guide to Total Annihilation
- TA-ncient History, TAs development history from Clayton Kauzlaric in 13 parts (2006) (0,5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6.1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- TA Universe A major community website for the game, plus hosts FileUniverse, UnitUniverse, TA-Zone, TADRS.