Total Annihilation was released in 1997 (at least that’s the earliest date I know it to have been released) I didn’t get it until 1998, as a Christmas present from my parents. Once I did finally play it, I got so absorbed in it; I almost ceased to exist on the TeamFortress and Counter-Strike (Half Life) servers.

The multiple players on Total Annihilation were alike to no other at the time. The units were dizzying me as there were so many to choose from. The explosions of the windmills, solar panels, Fusion reactors and other units were awesome. Launching my first nuke was awesome as it plowed down into the AI base and blew up a ton of reactors though out the base. Then watching the mini map as a huge chunk of their base disappears was simply thrilling. Simply put, Total Annihilation was a complete feast for anyone who could call himself a gamer.

The release of maps for Total Annihilation heralded the rise of the TA mod community. Countless maps soon came out, as dozens of new playable maps, some were even better then those released by Cavedog Entertainment. When the 3do builder was released by a script designer, I saw a surge of units for Total Annihilation. Almost a decade later, there are now over 2500 additional units for Total Annihilation on the TA unit shop. Hundreds upon hundreds of maps are ready for download as well. Many of them excellent in their own way.

The game play, graphics and easy interface is made this game really fun. Despite with what other games had for resources, Total Annihilation had the most basic: metal and energy. Simplicity was the order of the day, and that timeless philosophy ensures that players experience more of the gameplay on the battlefield and less on managing their 'farms' and 'gold mines', which to be sure, is typically nothing more than a nuisance for the player to contend with from time to time and adds little to strategic gameplay in any other title.

There are many mods out there that can change the game totally if you want, and you can even install a new AI or make one of your own for that matter. There is now a mod that makes your view totally 3-D, just like Home World and many other games out there. After about two years, everyone who ever laid their hands on TA started dreaming of a Total Annihilation 2, and until now, there was little hope of Chris Taylor (the genius who made Total Annihilation) working on the project.

Then boom! With little more than the announcements made by GameSpy and PC Gamer, everyone discovered that Supreme Commander was in development, and everyone left in the community got very excited. Even though the game is still 13 months away (as of this article), we are all looking forward to it. We've all waited for so long, and now it's finally coming.