Total Annihilation

Total Annihilation is a futuristic real time strategy game made by Cavedog Entertainment in 1997. Most people consider Supreme Commander to be this game's spiritual ancestor, and both are made by game designer Chris Taylor.

Gameplay differs from that of other RTS games such as Starcraft and Command and Conquer because most units are extremely powerful and have extremely long range - one structure is capable of firing 15 screens away and the nuclear missile has an infinite range.

Additionally, resources are managed differently than other games in that it relies on supply, demand, and storage. Units cost either metal or energy, and unlike other games in which credits are immediately deducted from the player's reserve, the cost adds a drain on the player's income. It is possible, therefore, to produce units with no loss of resources if the net production of a resource exceeds the net demand.

The game compensates strongly through the application of true Newtonian physics, three-dimensional terrain (the camera, unfortunately, is unadjustable) as well as the power to create new units from scratch. The physics engine is surprisingly advanced - true trajectories, inertia, momentum, thrust, and collateral damage. The game's terrain is a two-dimensional rendering with a matrix of height values mapped over it. All objects in the game interact with it as though it were fully, illusorily three-dimensional—hills obstruct artillery fire, and, if line-of-sight is set to "true", height enhances units' visual and firing ranges. If terrain is steep and jagged, units tilt and turn to meet the face of the ground. Bases can be built on steep terrain to protect them from artillery fire and to create choke points. Artillery shells are affected by gravity, which is variable on different planets in the Total Annihilation universe. Particularly on lower-gravity moons, some artillery units can strike targets 10 or more screens away.

The storyline and its accompanying computer AI is a relatively weak one - two factions, the Core and the Arm are two factions with conflicting views about the same subject - "patterning", which is transferring consciousness from flesh to machines. The Core made "patterning" mandatory for all its citizens - some eventually resisted and formed the Arm. At the start of the storyline, "both sides [are] now crippled beyond repair. The remnants of their armies continue to battle on ravaged planets; their hatred fuelled 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."