Total Annihilation

Total Annihilation
Cover art
Developer(s)	Cavedog Entertainment (A sub-division of Humongous Entertainment)
Publisher(s)	GT Interactive
Designer(s)	Chris Taylor
Composer(s)	Jeremy Soule
Version	3.1c
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS
Release date(s)	September 30, 1997[1]
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T
Media	CD
System requirements Minimum: Pentium 100 MHz, 16 MB RAM, internet connection for multiplayer

Total Annihilation (abbreviated TA) 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.^[1] It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain. Two expansion packs were released, The Core Contingency on April 30, 1998^[2] and Battle Tactics on June 30, 1998.^[3] After the closure of the Cavedog Entertainment Studios 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^[4].

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.^[5] An open source remake of Total Annihilation named Spring, with a completely 3D graphics engine and lacking any fixed camera angle, has also been independently produced.^[6]

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, reconnaissance 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.

An in-game screenshot of a Core base. Near the bottom-right corner the Commander (with the yellow backpack) is visible assisting a factory in construction.

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 much faster than a tier-1 engineer. 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. In addition, if the player runs out of energy, radar structures and stealth fields will cease to function. This adds an element of economic complexity unparalleled in most RTS games of the time period.

Combat

The player can command a variety of units from fighter and bomber aircraft, to tanks and mechs, to ships and submarines. Given their robotic nature, units are self-contained with no limiting factors such as fatigue, fuel or morale. Units can vary in size, speed and the ability to give and take damage, generally depending on their tech level. One praised feature of the game's units are their hierarchical proportionality— that is, an advanced unit being equal in combat terms to many weaker units, but taking a proportionately longer time to build. 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 defences, and knowledge of the opponent's strategies. The game's interface 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 unlimited range and very high damage. There are two story-related factions which, while aesthetically different, have a similar set of units.

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 stealth generators that prevented units in a small radius around them from appearing on radar. Mobile stealth generators could be used to create surprise attacks, necessitating the deployment of scout units on a regular basis to reveal said units visually. In addition, stealth generators could disguise the presence of visually cloaked units, such as the commander or land mines. Radar fields rendered cloaked units visible; a stealth field could make said units invisible until the stealth generator 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. The first subsequent RTS game to produce the same atmosphere is Cossacks: European Wars, which has up to 10,000 units per side.

AI and 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 3D 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 points. 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.

Multiplayer

Total Annihilation can be played online on the following servers:

• The WarZone attracts most TA players at the moment. Sometimes there are tournaments among the top TA players.
• GameRanger is a gaming client that does not need port forwarding for TA, except for port 16000UDP for the host. There is no TA lobby here though.
• GameSpy Arcade is a gaming client that has ads.

Some players also choose to play by IP or LAN and set up games in the IRC community. Some of those with connection problems choose to play on Hamachi.

Multiplayer uses DirectPlay 7 for networking. If one is behind a NAT router and wants to host a game then they require to port forward DirectPlay 7 ports (range 2300-2400 plus 47624). However some NAT routers are not capable of forwarding port ranges. It is still possible to host games behind a NAT router with only 3 or 4 ports forwared (instead of the 2300-2400 range). The ports needed are TCP 2300, UDP 2350, & TCP/UDP 47624. This assumes this is the only DirectPlay 7 game running.

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.

Screenshot of an Arm campaign mission. The interface is visible along the top and left sides, displaying resource, minimap, construction and movement information.

In the far future the galaxy is ruled by a benevolent central body of humans and artificial intelligences 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' 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 archipelagos 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 GameSpot's Game of the Year Award for 1997.^[7] TA is still played actively today, over 10 years after its release.^[8][9][10] It won Gamespy's Top Ten Real-Time Strategy Games of All Time ^[11] 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.^[12] See Awards. Overall, Total Annihilation received metascores of 86 out of 100 from Metacritic.com and 88.85% from GameRankings.com.^[13][14]

Expansions

Official

Core Contingency

Cavedog released The Core Contingency 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 Tactics 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.

Community

Units

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.

The default unit limit was originally 200, which was changed to 250 in Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency—by modifying the totala.ini file in the game folder, users can increase this limit up to 500. With a binary modification of the program file and sufficient hardware, the unit limit can be increased to 5000 per team.

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.

Unfortunately not all 3rd party additions to the game run flawlessly, with particular additions such as units (and especially the 3rd party weapons that certain units possess) and map elements can cause the game to crash from time to time. However, applications such as the 3rd party 'Unit Editor' allow a user to change nearly all values to do with the unit (for example changing a 3rd party weapon that caused the game to crash to a stable weapon, even ones used by official Cavedog units). But as with units there is a limit to how many custom 3rd party weapons can be installed on the game.

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.

Demo Recorder

Made by the community, most online players use TA Demo Recorder or TADR with their TA install. The latest version by Yankspankers is TADR99B2. It is used with the tadr1.0.0.545 upgrade. This tool allows the player to save a replay of a game and to play it back later. It also includes the TAHook tool which allows the player to queue factories 100 units at a time, to queue buildings in lines and to easily build Dragon's Teeth around buildings. It also contains many lag fixes. Taking of disconnected players' units, choosing Commander start locations, autopausing at start of game and many other features. The most important feature it gives is allied LOS or Line of Sight. Previously in TA allies were only able to see radar, if it was shared with the +shareradar command. With 'TADR' allies can now share LOS to their allies with .sharelos command. The 1.0.0.545 version also gives 1500 unit limit to multiplayer and skirmish games, where the original TA limit was 250.

Soundtrack

The game has an original orchestral soundtrack composed by Jeremy Soule 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.

Awards

Total Annihilation has won 57 awards, the list of which follows:

See also

• Spring (game engine)
• Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency
• Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics
• Total Annihilation: Kingdoms
• Supreme Commander

References

External links

• Total Annihilation at MobyGames
• Total Annihilation guide at StrategyWiki
• TA Universe A major community website for the game, plus hosts FileUniverse, UnitUniverse, TA-Zone, TADRS.
• Total Annihilation at the Open Directory Project
• CaveDog TA Strategy Pages (WayBackMachine 2003-June-09 last working)
• Gamers Extreme's TA Bible (WayBackMachine 2001-June-13 last working)
• PlanetAnnihilation's WarGuide (WayBackMachine 2008-August-02 last working)
• Gamespot's Guide to Total Annihilation
• Wikia's TA