| 📰 Title: | Total Annihilation (with Robot War Engine) | 🕹️ / 🛠️ Type: | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🗃️ Genre: | Strategy | 🚦 Status: | 02. In dev. (no status) |
| 🏷️ Category: | Strategy ➤ Top-Down Fight of Units ➤ Spring, TA, ... | 🌍️ Browser version: | |
| 🔖 Tags: | Strategy; Tactical; Real Time Tactics; Action; Wargame; Large-Scale Combat; Conquest; Military; Mining; Building; 3D engine; Sci-fi; Mecha; Robots; Vehicles; Open World; Replay Value; Level Editor | 📦️ Package Name: | |
| 🐣️ Approx. start: | 2017-06-11 | 📦️ Arch package: | |
| 🐓️ Latest: | 2022-04-01 | 📦️ RPM package: | |
| 📍️ Version: | Latest: Progress Update 2019-11-13 / 0.1.0 / Dev: 538a379 | 📦️ Deb package: | |
| 🏛️ License type: | 💰 Commercial | 📦️ Flatpak package: | |
| 🏛️ License: | Code: GPL-3 / Artwork: Commercial | 📦️ AppImage package: | |
| 🏝️ Perspective: | Third person | 📦️ Snap package: | |
| 👁️ Visual: | 2.5D | ⚙️ Generic binary: | |
| ⏱️ Pacing: | Real Time | 📄️ Source: |  |
| 👫️ Played: | Single & Multi | 📱️ PDA support: | |
| 🎖️ This record: |  |
🕳️ Not used: | |
| 🎀️ Game design: | 👫️ Contrib.: | goupildb & Louis | |
| 🎰️ ID: | 15678 | 🐛️ Created: | 2019-10-21 |
| 🐜️ Updated: | 2023-03-30 |
| [en]: | Total Annihilation is a SP/MP sci-fi RTS released in 1997 (by Cavedog Entertainment), staging the conflict between 2 factions (150 different units, on land, air and sea), the Core and the Arm, fighting for control of the galaxy. The terrains are in pre-calculated 3D that affect the movements, the units themselves are in 2D. Robot War Engine (RWE) is a libre, multi-platform engine, focusing on respect of the original gameplay and backward compatibility, with fewer limitations (units, weapons, map size are virtually unlimited), and native support for 32-bit color & OpenGL rendering. | [fr]: | Total Annihilation est un RTS de science-fiction solo/multi sorti en 1997 (par le studio Cavedog), mettant en scène l'affrontement entre 2 factions (150 unités différentes, sur terre, air et mer), le Core et l’Arm, luttant pour le contrôle de la galaxie. Les terrains sont en 3D pré-calculés qui affectent les déplacements, les unités elles, sont en 2D. Robot War Engine (RWE) est un moteur libre et multi-plateforme, mettant l'accent sur le gameplay d'origine et la compatibilité ascendante, sans les limitations (unités, armes, taille de carte pratiquement illimités, rendu OpenGL, couleurs 32 bits, ...). |
|---|
🏝️ Trailer (original game) :
🎲️ Gameplay (original game) :
🏡️ Website & videos
[Homepage] [Dev site] [Features/About] [Screenshots] [Videos t(o) ts(202xxx) gd(202xxx) gu(202xxx) id(202xxx) r(202xxx) lp(202xxx) g(o)(202xxx) g[fr](202xxx) g[de](202xxx) g[ru](202xxx) g[pl](202xxx) g[cz](202xxx) g[sp](202xxx) g[pt](202xxx) g[it](202xxx) g[tr](202xxx)] [WIKI] [FAQ] [RSS] [Changelog 1 2 3]
💰 Commercial: [Steam (Windows, for contents extraction)] [GOG (Windows, for contents extraction)]
🍩️ Resources
• Resources for Total Annihilation: [File Universe (maps, missions, mods)] [ta.lfjr.net (maps) [fr]]
• Abandonware sites (Demo / Abandonware, Windows, for contents extraction or info): [Abandonware France [fr]]
🛠️ Technical informations
[Open Hub] [PCGamingWiki] [MobyGames] [Wiki Gamer [fr]] [Total Annihilation Universe]
🐘 Social
(Total Annihilation) Devs (Cavedog Entertainment [fr] [en]): [Site 1 2] [MobyGames] [mastodon] [twitter] [PeerTube] [YouTube] [PressKit] [Interview 1(202xxx) 2(202xxx)]
(Robot War Engine) Devs (Michael Heasell (MHeasell) [fr] [en]): [Site 1 2] [Chat] [mastodon] [twitter] [PeerTube] [YouTube] [PressKit] [Interview 1(202xxx) 2(202xxx)]
The Project: [Blog] [Chat] [Forums] [mastodon] [twitter] [PeerTube] [YouTube] [PressKit] [reddit] [Discord]
🐝️ Related
[Wikipedia (Total Annihilation) [fr] [en] [de]] [Snap]
📦️ Misc. repositories
[Repology] [pkgs.org] [Arch Linux / AUR] [openSUSE] [Debian/Ubuntu] [Flatpak] [AppImage] [Snap] [PortableLinuxGames]
🕵️ Reviews
[HowLongToBeat] [metacritic] [OpenCritic] [iGDB]
📰 News / Source of this Entry (SotE) / News (SotN)
[Changes with v. Progress Update 2019-11-13 (20191113)]
🕊️ Source of this Entry: [Site on Mastodon (date)]
🐘 Social Networking Update (on Mastodon)
🕹️ Title:
🦊️ What's:
🏡️
🐣️
🔖 #LinuxGaming #LibreGameEngine
📦️
📖 Our entry: http://www.lebottindesjeuxlinux.tuxfamily.org/en/online/lights-on/
🥁️ Update:
⚗️
📌️ Changes:
🐘 From:
🏝️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🦉️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🦝️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🦝️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🕵️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🕯️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🕯️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🎲️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🎲️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🎲️[fr] https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🎮️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🎮️ https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🐧 https://invidious.lunar.icu/
🐧 https://invidious.lunar.icu/
📕🐧"A sci-fi RTS game & a libre enhanced engine (in dev.) compatible with its data"🐧📕
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy game that was released in 1997. For over twenty years fans have been playing the game, making new maps, units, and mods that expand and enhance the gameplay. However Total Annihilation is an old, proprietary game. It contains bugs, limitations and incompatibilities that make it difficult for players to enjoy on modern PCs and for modders to bring their latest ideas to life.
Robot War Engine is an original open-source game engine built using modern tools that aims to provide an experience very similar to Total Annihilation, but without the limitations of the original game engine. As a player you will be able to enjoy the game without worrying about compatibility or technical tweaks to make it run on a newer version of Windows or to play with other people online. As a modder you will enjoy freedom from old limitations, allowing you to put more content in your mods, and you can take advantage of new enhancements to better express your ideas.
Here are some of the features that RWE provides:
• Support for both Windows and Linux.
• An OpenGL-based renderer that makes use of your GPU.
• Native 32-bit color support, compared to TA's 8-bit color.
• Fancier shadows for mobile units compared to TA's drop shadows.
• A virtually unlimited number of units on the battlefield, compared to TA's maximum of 500 per side before community hacks.
• A virtually unlimited number of weapon types, compared to TA's maximum of 256.
• A virtually unlimited number of unit types, compared to TA's maximum of 512.
• No more weapon ID conflicts, a source of incompatibility between downloaded units.
• Multiplayer support with NAT-holepunching, so you don't have to mess with your router.
• Native support for scripting extensions developed by the community for TA.
• A virtually unlimited maximum map size, compared to TA's 63x63.
RWE is incomplete and cannot be used to play real games yet. Check out the latest blog posts to keep up-to-date on development progress. If you are an experienced software developer and would like to help out, please get in touch. There is much work to be done both on the core C++/OpenGL game engine and on the Electron-based launcher application.
For more information please visit https://github.com/MHeasell/rwe
How does RWE compare to Spring?
The Spring RTS Engine, originally called TA Spring, is an open-source real-time strategy game engine that started life as a new, fully 3D engine that understood TA data files. Though Spring started with roots in TA, the project made many deviations from TA-like gameplay and focused on enhancements like deformable terrain, dynamic water rendering and lua scripting support. Spring never achieved full compatibility with original TA mods, and various “Spring-only” mods were created using the new features, eventually including mods comprised of entirely original content. Later, the Spring developers dropped “TA” from the name and presented the project as a standalone game engine.
RWE is different because the primary mission is to be compatible with TA data, without modification, and to provide a look and feel that closely matches TA. The project also specifically commits to prioritising core features and compatibility over new enhancements and effects.
How does RWE compare to TA3D?
(...)
How will this project succeed where TA3D failed?
(...)
TA looks so tiny on my screen. Will RWE fix this?
(...)
Will you implement feature X?
(...)
Will you fix bug X from TA?
(...)
(See the FAQ)
🌍️ Wikipedia:
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. 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 in 1999, the intellectual property fell to Infogrames (now Atari).
Total Annihilation is no longer officially supported, due to the closure of Cavedog. Former lead designer Chris Taylor went on with Gas Powered Games to create Supreme Commander in 2007, considered the "spiritual successor" of Total Annihilation. The creators of XTA, a mod for Total Annihilation, independently developed the open-source 3D graphics Spring game engine. The Total Annihilation 3D project was begun in 2006. Other ex-members of Cavedog, including Total Annihilation's game engine developer Jon Mavor, later went on to develop Planetary Annihilation in 2014, another game in the same vein as Total Annihilation.
In July, 2013, Wargaming bought the Total Annihilation franchise from the Atari bankruptcy proceedings.
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 on 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.
When starting a new game, the player normally begins with a lone Commander. The Commander is a powerful and irreplaceable unit that has a number of unique abilities such as a destructor weapon that vaporizes anything it hits, the ability to use cloaking and become invisible, and the ability to travel through bodies of water. 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 real-time strategy 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 three times faster than a construction vehicle, but at a higher cost in energy. 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 a unit or structure is destroyed, it leaves behind wreckage that may be reclaimed for a lump sum of metal. Many terrain structures may also be reclaimed for their metal. Some maps also have plants or other organic structures that can be reclaimed for energy.
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 Core Krogoth. Units vary in size, speed and the ability to give and take damage, depending on their tech level. The strongest units take longer to build as well as cost 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 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 enormous range and very high damage, as well as long-range artillery that have enough range to attack any point on smaller maps. 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. Generally, the Arm have faster, sleeker units while the Core units are built to take slightly more punishment. This is shown exceptionally well by the Arm being able to build an extremely fast Kbot known as the Zipper, while the Core can build an armored Kbot known simply as The Can. When playing amongst 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 1.7× more maneuverable than its Core counterpart, the Arm commander walks 1.12× 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 showed enemy units within its radius on the minimap. 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 was destroyed. Total Annihilation was also one of the first RTS games to point the way towards battlefields with hundreds and thousands of units. Previous games could field a hundred units or so. However, Total Annihilation initially permitted 250 units per side which was later patched to 500. A third party patch allowed up to 5,000 units per side.
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, slowing down or speeding up in accordance with gravity. Structures can be built on steep terrain to protect them from artillery fire and to create choke points. The wind, tides, and gravity on different maps also vary; some maps have strong wind gusts and are more suited for gathering energy via windmills. Plant life is often flammable and can be set on fire by shooting it.
Maps
The game features a number of terrain and tile sets. These represent several different planets that the war between the Arm and Core is being waged on, and contain various unique characteristics. The Core's home world, Core Prime, consists of inorganic metal structures and inky black seas. Since everything is made of metal, the player has unlimited access to this resource and can afford to build armies and bases more rapidly than on most other worlds. Other maps include the Arm's home planet, a grassy green area of forests, hills, and blue water, a barren desert world with rocks and mesas, a Martian landscape, a sandy planet with beaches and blue oceans, a volcanic world with lava instead of water, an ice planet, and more.
Many maps contain lakes or oceans; these are impassable by most land units and will require ships or aircraft to reach different landmasses. Certain land units can travel underwater, but in doing so may be attacked by enemy ships and not be able to fight back. Other maps contain lava or acid which is completely impassable except by aircraft.
Plot
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.
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. An alternative explanation for the two warring sides stems from an inside joke conceived by the developers. The Core relates to the CPU of the computer - computer core (AI), while the Arm relates to the arm of the player or human intelligence.
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 on 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.
Expansions
(...)
Un RTS culte de 1997 et un nouveau moteur multi-plateforme, améliorant ses performances, Total Annihilation par le studio Cavedog Entertainment, portage Linux (Robot War Engine) par Michael Heasell (MHeasell).
En C++.
Total Annihilation est un RTS de science-fiction solo/multi sorti en 1997 (par le studio Cavedog), mettant en scène l'affrontement entre 2 factions (150 unités différentes, sur terre, air et mer), le Core et l’Arm, luttant pour le contrôle de la galaxie. Les terrains sont en 3D pré-calculés qui affectent les déplacements, les unités elles, sont en 2D. Robot War Engine (RWE) est un moteur libre et multi-plateforme, mettant l'accent sur le gameplay d'origine et la compatibilité ascendante, sans les limitations (unités, armes, taille de carte pratiquement illimités, rendu OpenGL, couleurs 32 bits, ...).
Voir aussi / See also: Planetary Annihilation, Planetary Annihilation: Titans, Total Annihilation (1997, with Robot War Engine), Spring, Total Annihilation 3D,
Total Annihilation est un jeu de stratégie en temps réel sorti en 1997. Depuis plus de vingt ans, les fans jouent au jeu, créant de nouvelles cartes, unités et mods qui élargissent et améliorent le gameplay. Cependant, Total Annihilation est un vieux jeu propriétaire. Il contient des bugs, des limitations et des incompatibilités qui empêchent les joueurs de profiter des ordinateurs modernes et les modeurs de donner vie à leurs dernières idées.
Robot War Engine est un moteur de jeu open source original construit à l'aide d'outils modernes visant à fournir une expérience très similaire à Total Annihilation (TA), mais sans les limitations du moteur du jeu original. En tant que joueur, vous pourrez profiter du jeu sans vous soucier de la compatibilité ou des ajustements techniques nécessaires pour le faire fonctionner sur une version plus récente de Windows ou pour jouer avec d’autres personnes en ligne. En tant que modeur, vous pourrez vous libérer des anciennes restrictions, ce qui vous permettra de mettre plus de contenu dans vos mods, et vous pourrez tirer parti de nouvelles améliorations pour mieux exprimer vos idées.
Voici certaines des fonctionnalités fournies par RWE :
• Prise en charge de Windows et de Linux.
• Un moteur de rendu basé sur OpenGL qui utilise votre GPU.
• Prise en charge native des couleurs 32 bits, par rapport à la couleur 8 bits de TA.
• Des ombres plus sophistiquées pour les unités mobiles par rapport aux ombres portées de TA.
• Un nombre pratiquement illimité d'unités sur le champ de bataille, comparé au maximum de 500 par adversaire avant le hack de la communauté.
• Un nombre pratiquement illimité de types d'armes, comparé au maximum de 256 pour de TA.
• Un nombre pratiquement illimité de types d'unités, comparé au maximum de 512 pour de TA.
• Plus de conflit d'identifiant d'arme, source d'incompatibilité entre les unités téléchargées.
• Prise en charge multi-joueur avec NAT-holepunching, pour que vous n'ayez pas à vous soucier de votre routeur.
• Prise en charge native des extensions de script développées par la communauté de TA.
• Une taille de carte maximale pratiquement illimitée par rapport au format 63x63 de TA.
RWE est incomplet et ne peut pas encore être utilisé pour jouer à de vrais jeux. Consultez les derniers articles du blog pour vous tenir au courant des progrès du développement. Si vous êtes un développeur de logiciel expérimenté et que vous souhaitez aider, contactez-nous. Il reste beaucoup à faire, à la fois sur le moteur de jeu C++ / OpenGL principal et sur l’application de lancement basée sur Electron.
Pour plus d'informations, veuillez visiter https://github.com/MHeasell/rwe
Quelle est la différence entre RWE et Spring ?
Le moteur Spring RTS engine, initialement appelé TA Spring, est un moteur de jeu de stratégie en temps réel open source qui a démarré en tant que nouveau moteur entièrement 3D comprenant les fichiers de données de TA. Bien que Spring ait débuté par un enracinement de TA, le projet a fait de nombreux écarts par rapport au gameplay de TA et s’est concentré sur des améliorations telles que le terrain déformable, le rendu dynamique de l’eau et la prise en charge des scripts Lua. Spring n’a jamais atteint une compatibilité totale avec les mods TA originaux, et divers mods «Spring-only» ont été créés à l’aide des nouvelles fonctionnalités, incluant parfois des mods un contenu entièrement original. Plus tard, les développeurs de Spring ont supprimé «TA» du nom et ont présenté le projet comme un moteur de jeu autonome.
RWE est différent parce que la mission principale est d'être compatible avec les données de TA, sans modification, lui donnant une apparence proche de TA. Le projet s’engage également spécifiquement à donner la priorité aux fonctionnalités principales et à la compatibilité par rapport aux nouvelles améliorations et effets.
Comment RWE se compare-t-il à TA3D?
(...)
Comment ce projet va-t-il réussir là où TA3D a échoué?
(...)
TA a l'air si minuscule sur mon écran. RWE va-t-il résoudre ce problème?
(...)
Allez-vous implémenter la fonctionnalité X?
(...)
Allez-vous réparer le bug X de TA?
(...)
(Voir la FAQ)
🌍️ Wikipedia:
Total Annihilation (souvent abrégé TA) est un jeu vidéo de stratégie en temps réel développé par Cavedog Entertainment sous la direction de Chris Taylor et publié par GT Interactive le 30 septembre 1997. Il se déroule dans un univers de science-fiction et relate les affrontements entre deux factions, le Core et l’Arm, qui luttent pour le contrôle de la galaxie. Le jeu propose un gameplay dans la lignée de celui de Command and Conquer mais se distingue de son modèle sur plusieurs aspects, dont la diversité des unités et la gestion du relief, avec des terrains rendus en trois dimensions qui affectent les déplacements, la portée et la distance de vue des unités. Le concept du jeu est imaginé par Chris Taylor en 1995 lorsqu’il découvre Command and Conquer. Après avoir rencontré Ron Gilbert, il rejoint le studio Humongous Entertainment pour développer le jeu. Après le rachat de la société par GT Interactive en 1997, l’équipe de développement du jeu devient indépendante et est baptisée Cavedog Entertainment. Si les ventes du jeu n’ont pas été révélées par le studio, les spécialistes estiment qu’il se vend à plus de 500 000 exemplaires, ce qui en fait un des jeux de stratégie en temps réel les plus vendus de l’année. Rétrospectivement, il est considéré comme l‘un des premiers jeux de stratégie en temps réel, avec Dark Reign: The Future of War (1997), à bénéficier de terrains et d’unités en trois dimensions. Il est également crédité pour avoir fait franchir au genre un nouveau palier grâce aux nombreuses innovations de son interface. La sortie de StarCraft en 1998 donne lieu à une rivalité entre les deux jeux pour le titre de meilleur jeu de stratégie en temps réel de tous les temps.
Le jeu bénéficie de deux extensions officielles, développées par Cavedog Entertainment et publiées par Activision en 1998 :Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency et Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics. Il bénéficie également d’une suite, Total Annihilation: Kingdoms (1999), qui transpose son système de jeu dans un univers de fantasy.
En juillet 2013, lors de la procédure de faillite d'Atari, la franchise Total Annihilation est racheté par Wargaming.net.
Trame
Total Annihilation met en scène, dans un futur très éloigné, deux factions ennemies, le Core et l’Arm, qui s’affrontent dans un combat millénaire pour la domination de la galaxie. Le Core était à l'origine une organisation ayant entrepris de coloniser le plus de planètes possibles pour le bien de l'humanité. Toutefois, afin de s'affranchir des limitations de l’être humain, il tenta un transfert massif de cerveaux dans des machines, suscitant ainsi un mouvement de rébellion nommé l’Arm. Au bout de quatre millénaires de combats, l’affrontement entre les deux organisations a dégénéré au point de ruiner les ressources de toute la galaxie après avoir détruit des millions de planètes. Au moment où débute le jeu, cette guerre ne peut plus avoir comme issue que l’annihilation totale du camp adverse. Sur cet argument minimaliste commence un combat sans merci.
Système de jeu
Total Annihilation est un jeu de stratégie en temps réel dans la lignée de Warcraft II et Command and Conquer : Alerte rouge. Comme dans ces derniers, le joueur doit collecter des ressources afin de construire des infrastructures qui lui permettent ensuite de fabriquer des unités robotisé pour combattre ses ennemis. Il se distingue néanmoins de ses prédécesseurs sur deux aspects : la gestion du relief et la diversité des unités. Les champs de bataille du jeu sont en effet réalisés en trois dimensions pré-rendues (avec un seul angle de vue) avec différents niveaux de reliefs qui affectent les déplacements, la portée et la distance de vue des unités. Ainsi, un véhicule lourd ralenti dans une montée, prend de la vitesse dans la descente et ne peut pas escalader les pentes les plus raides, au contraire de certaines unités spécialisée. Le relief constitue également un obstacle que seuls certains angles de tirs permettent de franchir. Il influence enfin le champ de vision des unités qui ne peuvent pas repérer les troupes ennemies cachées derrière une montagne.
Le joueur débute généralement une partie avec un robot de combat, le commandeur. Celui-ci dispose d’une arme puissante, mais de courte portée, et peut construire certains bâtiments, dont notamment ceux permettant de produire de l’énergie ou de collecter du métal. Le joueur doit en effet gérer deux ressources, l’énergie et le métal, qui lui permettent de construire des bâtiments et des unités. L’énergie est produite par des bâtiments spécifiques : les éoliennes, les panneaux solaires ou les centrales. Avec son commandeur, le joueur peut de plus récupérer l’énergie d’organismes biologiques, comme les arbres, en les désintégrant. Le métal peut être collecté en construisant des mines sur des gisements disséminés sur la carte ou être produit à partir de l’énergie grâce à une structure spécifique, le convertisseur. Le commandeur peut de plus récupérer du métal en désintégrant les roches métalliques disséminées sur la carte ou en recyclant les carcasses des unités détruites au combat. Les unités sont construites dans des bâtiments spécifiques, comme les usines de robots, de véhicules terrestres, de navires ou d’avions. Ces usines produisent les unités une par une mais le joueur peut programmer la construction de plusieurs unités à la suite. Chaque usine existe en trois niveaux qui permettent de débloquer des unités de plus en plus puissantes. Seul le premier niveau de ces usines peut être construit par le commandeur. Pour les niveaux suivant, le joueur doit d’abord fabriquer une unité de construction plus performante dans une de ces usines, qui peut alors construire une usine de niveau supérieur. Ces unités spécialisées peuvent également construire les éoliennes, les panneaux solaires, les centrales, les mines et les silos de stockage ainsi que, suivant leur niveau, différents types de tourelles statiques de défenses et de radars.
Le jeu propose plus de 150 types d’unités différentes divisées en plusieurs catégories. Les robots ne constituent ni les unités les plus rapides, ni les plus puissantes, mais leur système de déplacement leur permet de franchir n’importe quel type de terrain et leur taille leur permet de se cacher plus facilement. Les véhicules terrestres disposent généralement d’une puissance de feu supérieure à celle des robots et sont plutôt rapides sur terrains plats, mais ils ont des difficultés à franchir les reliefs ou à traverser une rivière ou une forêt. L’aviation à l’avantage d’ignorer les problématiques liées au terrain mais se révèle très vulnérable, notamment face aux armes antiaériennes. Parmi les avions, les bombardiers sont particulièrement utiles pour détruire les bâtiments ou l’artillerie ennemie alors que les chasseurs sont plutôt destinés au harcèlement des troupes au sol. Les navires de guerre n’ont pas non plus la puissance de feu des unités terrestres, même s’ils sont plus solides que les avions. Ils permettent en revanche de porter des attaques sur les côtés, notamment avec leur artillerie ou leurs chars amphibies.
Développement
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💡️ Commentaires généraux:
(2022)
Development Status
RWE is currently incomplete, read the blog posts to find out about the latest progress.
With TA data files, the Skirmish menu path works and you can load into the game, walk your commander around and fire your laser at other commanders until you both explode. You can also do this to other players on the internet, using the included launcher application to host or join a multiplayer game room. Work is currently focused on implementing the in-game UI.