What Chris refers to here is the concept of вЂCommand NappingвЂ™, as it was referred to by the TA community. The Commander added an extra wrinkle, and in some ways needed special attentionвЂ¦ and yet, вЂCommand NappingвЂ™ still snuck past us! We never saw that coming.вЂќ As for the challenge of balance, that was handled by Jacob McMahon, who although had never done that kind of work before, did a fabulous job, and spent hours and hours poring over the numbers to balance the game. We were pushing the boundaries in as many areas as we could, and when we stopped, we just picked that up where we left off with Supreme Commander. вЂњThere was a lot of stuff packed into the game.

So, if you follow the design logic and say that if the Commander dies, the game is over, then the Commander needs to be powerful.вЂќ Placing a metaphorical king onto the field of battle came with some unintended consequences, though. Although, one could argue that it really didnвЂ™t accomplish that, per se, but it did give the player a sense of, вЂhey, donвЂ™t mess with my Commander, or there will be trouble!вЂ™ It makes the game more personal. I imagine I wrote something like this in the design, вЂThe player needs to feel like they are part of the game, and the Commander accomplishes that.вЂ™ IвЂ™m paraphrasing, but you get the idea. вЂњBut besides needing a king on the board for the enemy to focus on, the player needed an avatar, a place to feel like they are connected to the game experience. вЂњI always believed that RTS was a true strategy game, and having played a bunch of chess, I felt there was a place to insert some of that,вЂќ he says. Chris remembers the inspiration for it clearly. Then there was the introduction of the Commander, a central, all-important unit to the battlefield that was a big hit at the time. Indeed, Total Annihilation was considered revolutionary in many ways, like its excellent AI, new grouping techniques and the scale of the battles. This is something I am still passionate about today.вЂќ I donвЂ™t know how much TA contributed to the genreвЂ™s success, but I think more specifically it helped advance the idea that a RTS could be вЂover the top and insaneвЂ™ and have more advanced control schemes. I totally agree that having all those RTS games come out around that time made the RTS genre very popular, and top of mind.

вЂњThatвЂ™s something I can only speculate on really. But was it helped by the general popularity of RTS games at the time, or was it the other way around? Total Annihilation enjoyed immediate success and the kind of glowing reviews any games studio would dream of. Total Annihilation had many RTS contemporaries, with Z and Command & Conquer: Red Alert both released in 1996, and Total Annihilation sharing 1997 with games like Age of Empires and Dark Reign before StarCraft came out in 1998. Anyhow, itвЂ™s a lot of factors that all lead up to a moment where you have an idea for a game.вЂќ And whatвЂ™s kind of crazy is that I developed a lot of these while working on baseball games like Hardball II and Triple Play Baseball. I had developed many techniques for sort of вЂtrickingвЂ™ the computer into making it look 3D and saving a lot of calculations.

вЂњFor example, I was always a very big proponent of doing things in true 3D, but the computers just couldnвЂ™t handle it. вЂњIt evolved from a bunch of experiences that I had while developing games for most of my childhood, but there was a moment, while I was playing the original Command & Conquer where I saw many of the ideas coalesce,вЂќ Chris says. We caught up with Chris and asked him about the game's origins. And it was that world Total Annihilation creator Chris Taylor was waiting for. By the mid-Nineties, PCs were capable of capturing the necessary scale of battles, and online gaming was about to become a phenomenon. Total Annihilation came out when games, and RTS games in particular, were quickly evolving. To subscribe or find out more, head here. This feature originally ran in Retro Gamer 183 earlier this year. Its current issue celebrates the 40th anniversary of Space Invaders. You can subscribe in print or digital no matter where you are by clicking this link. Retro Gamer is an award-winning monthly magazine dedicated to classic games, with in-depth features from across gaming history.

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