Total Annihilation

[Quizzor]

If anyone remembers it, Total Annihilation was really ahead of it's time for an RTS game. To my surprise I just recently read the game engine was made in just about a year by only a handful of people, and that was more than 10 years ago. Not that I'm not implying someone could try to make an engine that is compatible with 10+ years worth of community mods and maps for the Pandora in a matter of months or something with today's software, that would be pretty sweet, but there's already an open source project that I think should be ported. You probably think I'm talking about the TA spring engine (AKA just "Spring"), but there is another project dedicated to be compatible with the 10+ year old community content (which Spring has drifted from that). TA3D I think would be a much better candidate for a port if it's possible. The TA Spring engine has gotten very bloated and while it's certainly improved, much of it is too much for an tiny ARM processor. Full blown terrain deformation etc, and basically by judging what can actually run reasonably well on my cruddy office computer I think TA3D has a much better chance than TA spring. Anyone with some credentials want to contact the TA3D devs? And while you're at it, send a letter to ATARI to release the TA source code already which will just be tossed in the recycle bin with the other hundred requests they get a month for that. Also, a letter suggesting a commercial port to the Pandora which will probably never happen anyway.

 

[Loonie]

Interesting. It'd certainly be nice to see both this and Warzone2100 ported. Both of them use OpenGL, that's probably the biggest hurdle that would be faced. They'd either need some kind of wrapper, or a conversion to use GLES.

 

[borgqueenx]

Total Annihilation!!!! praise the guy who can make this work on the pandora.
This is a great RTS game, in my eyes as good as red alert.

 

[BenScar]

I would love to see this working, I still play this on my current machine (with plenty of custom units), installed from the original CD

If I had any skills with C++ (or OpenGL) I'd take a look, if anyone wants any testing done (if it gets that far) I'll be happy to do it once I've got my hands on my Pandora

 

[rabidpoobear]

Yeah, I'll commit to spending a couple hours tinkering with this when I get my Pandora, if someone reminds me. No promises other than that, though.

 

[w1ll14m]

intresting project aiming to get the original TA game (and gameplay using original files) in full 3d/opengl and is developed on linux.
http://www.ta3d.org/cquoi-en.php

--edit--
Ohh has been mentoined above...
Bad reader in the morning

 

[Enverex]

intresting project aiming to get the original TA game (and gameplay using original files) in full 3d/opengl and is developed on linux.
http://www.ta3d.org/cquoi-en.php

The OP linked to that in the first post...

 

[borgqueenx]

even a 3d version! i think i would like the 2d version more, but this also rules.
I really want this on the pandora!
Would be a game that i play every day until all the campains are finished

 

[Quizzor]

i think i would like the 2d version more

Actually I would too. Unfortunately, there are only 3D remake projects. Someone would have to start a new project or port and hack up an existing one, which looking at the 3D projects that sprung up, is not impossible. A 2D version like the original, where the maps are 3D in the engine they are rendered in 2D for wimpier processors, would run way better on the Pandora, especially if it is made for it from the ground up. TA is still nice compared to the 3D projects in that you can run maps 10x larger.

Also, my bad, "less than a year" for the bulk of the game's engine. Corrected now. Still pretty damn impressive. That's Clayton Kauzlaric's blog. He did a lot of the 2D art for the terrain for TA. He has a whole side bar with a dozen entries on the history of TA, "TA-ncient History". Good read.

I still think that in today's standards that's an easy engine to make. All the original needed was built in features from the TADR tool/hack (building multiple things in lines and game recording) and gimmicks from some of the 3D remake projects like area commands in spring (IE "reclaim/load/unload/etc everything in this circle") that saved some repetition.

 

[3vi1]

>> not that I'm not implying someone could try to make an engine that is compatible with 10+ years worth of community mods and maps for the Pandora...

Check out Spring.

 

[Quizzor]

Check out Spring.

Already mentioned it. Also, spring has a whole new map format now, but yes it still can run OTA mods I think. They're intentionally moving away from being a TA project and just towards being an RTS engine in general.

 

[borgqueenx]

Check out Spring.

Already mentioned it. Also, spring has a whole new map format now, but yes it still can run OTA mods I think. They're intentionally moving away from being a TA project and just towards being an RTS engine in general.

Spring looks awesome, but it looks so good that i dont see changes of a working port for the pandora.

 

[Kramy]

There seems to be a misconception that TA was 2D. TA was full DX7 3D with a locked camera angle. The terrain was a flat rendered image, and the units wandered around on a 3D wireframe above it.

 

[borgqueenx]

mmm i bump this thread, to hopefully find the developer who can port a TA Clone....
this game would be sooo... supreme!

 

[MattyWS]

TA3D has a 'disable perspective' mode, where it locks the camera into the position the same as normal TA does, apart from you can zoom, like in supreme commander. The more people bug test it the better.

 

[BenScar]

I saw this thread and thought it was a great idea! Then I realised I'd thought that when the theard was originally made as well

I'm with the BorgQueen, it would command, supremely (pun intended!)