Overview
Bigger is better. While StarCraft refined micro-management, Total Annihilation pursued scale. Cavedog Entertainment delivered true 3D terrain affecting combat, a streaming economy replacing stockpiles, and battles involving hundreds of units simultaneously. The ARM versus CORE conflict—two factions of uploaded human consciousness fighting across galaxies—provided backdrop for wars of attrition no previous RTS attempted.
Fast facts
- Developer: Cavedog Entertainment.
- Designer: Chris Taylor.
- Year: 1997.
- Innovation: 3D terrain, scale.
Technical innovations
| Feature |
Impact |
| 3D terrain |
Height advantage |
| Physics projectiles |
Trajectory calculation |
| Streaming economy |
Continuous flow |
| Unit cap |
500 simultaneous |
Economy model
| Resource |
Generation |
| Metal |
Extractors, reclamation |
| Energy |
Solar, wind, fusion |
| Flow |
Continuous income/expense |
| Storage |
Buffer capacity |
Faction design
| Side |
Aesthetic |
| ARM |
Cloned soldiers |
| CORE |
Uploaded minds |
| Conflict |
Ideological war |
| Units |
Functionally similar |
Unit scale
| Category |
Examples |
| Commanders |
Builder/combat hybrid |
| Kbots |
Bipedal units |
| Vehicles |
Tanks, artillery |
| Aircraft |
Bombers, fighters |
| Ships |
Naval warfare |
| Experimentals |
Superweapons |
Legacy
| Successor |
Developer |
| Supreme Commander |
Gas Powered Games |
| Planetary Annihilation |
Uber Entertainment |
| Beyond All Reason |
Community project |
See also