It’s a name synonymous with real-time strategy. Chris Taylor is the visionary game designer responsible for iconic RTS titles. Throughout his career he has redefined game design, creating some of the most influential and revolutionary titles in the genre. Starting his career in 1989, Taylor first gained worldwide acclaim in 1997 as designer and project lead on Cavedog’s Total Annihilation. In 2007 he returned to real-time strategy with the release of Supreme Commander and the standalone expansion Forged Alliance; considered by many to be one of the greatest real-time strategy titles of all time. Despite being seventeen years old, SupCom – as it is know to fans – remains relevant with the popular multiplayer community client, Forged Alliance Forever (FAF).
Let’s take a look back at a genre-defining career, the influence Chris Taylor has had on real-time strategy, and ask what we can expect to see next.
Total Annihilation
To call Total Annihilation a ‘landmark title’ may seem like a cliché, but its accurate. TA set new standards for the real-time strategy genre. Taylor, as project director and lead designer, introduced innovative features, setting it apart from previous titles like WarCraft and Command and Conquer. The game featured a huge roster of units, each with distinct abilities and battlefield roles. This diversity required strategic planning. Combined-arms and varied combat battalions replaced the traditional Red Alert tank rush. Players needed to experiment with different tactics and approaches to set objectives. It was one of the first games to feature true-3D terrain. This had a significant impact on gameplay due to the inclusion of line of sight and elevation. In simple terms; you couldn’t shoot through hills, and the weapons of units on top of hills had a longer reach. This forced players to consider unit placement and movement. For a game published in the mid-90s, this was a revolutionary concept.
Mechanics aside, Total Annihilation was lauded for its challenging AI that could give even seasoned RTS gamers a run for their money. The sophisticated AI enhanced the single-player experience and set a new industry-standard for how opponents should react to player strategies. Success was immediate and far-reaching, earning Taylor widespread acclaim and solidifying his reputation as a visionary in game design.
Total Annihilation received two official expansions: The Core Contingency and Battle Tactics. Released in 1998, The Core Contingency expanded the original game with additional units, maps, and a new campaign, offering even more depth and strategic options. Battle Tactics, also released in 1998, focused on smaller, more tactical missions, providing players with a different style of gameplay within the same universe.
Total Annihilation is still considered one of the greatest RTS games of all time and received numerous accolades and awards. Its influence can be felt in countless titles. It is still relevant in 2024, twenty seven years since release, and its DNA is present in games such as Beyond All Reason.
Supreme Commander
Supreme Commander, and the standalone expansion pack, Forged Alliance, were both released in 2007. This was Taylor’s magnum opus, his ambitious vision for the future of real-time strategy games. SupCom took the core principles of Total Annihilation and introduced new concepts, game mechanics, and technological advancements. It was clear, right from the start, that Chris Taylor and the team at Gas Powered Games were incredibly passionate about their project and felt that had something special.
Supreme Commander was the first ‘massive scale’ RTS game and for 2007 was a technological marvel, introducing features never seen before in real-time strategy. The scale was… off the scale, and players could take in the huge scope of the game with a system called strategic zoom. Taylor talked about typical RTS games being like a sandbox. You have a fixed, limited vision of the battlefield. In SupCom players could zoom out from an intimate close up of a skirmish to a god-like view of the entire theatre of war. It introduced dual-monitor support enabling players to keep one screen as an overview of the battlefield whilst the other was used to focus in on points of action and interest. Flux (or flow) economy was was a concept introduced in Total Annihilation and refined in Supreme Commander. With a flow economy you have a continuous stream of income and must balance production against income. Its isn’t overly complex but a marked departure from the traditional mechanic of collect and then spend.
But back to that scale. Taylor explain it as, “I believe that once you play like this it’s really hard to go back. I mean you get that wheel on your mouse, first thing you want to do is back out, you want to see the whole picture you want to put your mouse cursor somewhere, you want to zoom in then we have our scope and scale. The fact that these maps are huge, these units are huge, the weapons packing enormous punches. You can exchange nukes and when you have this entire theatre of war with the full zoom what you get to do is pull back. You get a volume. So now you’ve got nukes going up into this volume where you’ve got anti nukes coming up, you’ve got spy planes flying at one altitude, you’ve got fighters and bombers here, you’ve got torpedo bombers down here. You’ve got the strata of your simulation and it’s it takes you a completely away from the old-school model.”
Forged Alliance added new units, new maps and an entirely new faction in the Seraphim. Alongside the new faction came a brand new campaign which I still believe to be the best RTS campaign I have ever played. The three mortal enemies – the UEF, Cybran and Aeon – are forged into an alliance (I see what you did there!) to fight the alien invaders. Forged Alliance addressed some technical issues, modified the UI and made the game much more enjoyable. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance remains relevant today due to FAF.
FAF, or Forged Alliance Forever, is a fan-made multiplayer client which has significantly expanded the life and community of Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. FAF has become the definitive platform for competitive and casual multiplayer matches. It features regular updates, balance changes, and community-created content. You can check out FAF here: faforever.com
Supreme Commander 2 was released in 2010 and attempted to refine and simplify some of the complex mechanics of its predecessor. The Supreme Commander IP had been sold to Japanese publisher Square Enix, who were looking to expand their reach in western markets. Taylor describes the partnership with Square Enix at a time when Gas Powered Games were in financial difficulties as the lesser of two evils: “There was this massive financial recession it was devastating and we were in terrible financial condition as a company, and here was this amazing opportunity to work with Square Enix. Sell them the IP to the game, get a contract for a sequel, and put the company back on its feet financially. Not ideal, it’s not what you want to do, but if you look at a recession and you look at how many companies just go out of business. If you say to yourself, ‘would you rather go out of business or you know kind of sacrifice a limb?’ You choose the lesser of the two and you do what you need.”
SupCom 2 had reduced scale, a reduced unit roster, and reduced complexity. Many commentators attribute this to a decision by Square Enix to demand the game be playable on Xbox 360. On the Community Hub we have been discussing, Can RTS Games Work on Consoles? With the general consensus being that controllers do not lend themselves well to the complex controls required in real-time strategy games. Supreme Commander 2 is evidence of the necessity to ‘dumb down’ complex gameplay mechanics for a videogame console audience. Supreme Commander 2 was generally well-received but suffered mixed reactions from hardcore fans of the series.
Kanoogi and Intergalactic Space Empire
Kanoogi is an independent videogame development studio founded by Chris Taylor in 2018. Its first major project, initially referred to as Project Wargame, was later officially titled ‘Intergalactic Space Empire’. IGSE is being developed with cloud-based gaming in mind. Taylor has always been one of the first to utilise new technology in gaming – Supreme Commander, for example, could make use of multi-core processors – and IGSE is no different. Kanoogi is aiming to take advantage of the increased accessibility and computational power provided by cloud platforms.
Taylor has stated an intention to empower players to create and share their own content; building a community around the game. He recognises the importance of being inclusive, and Intergalactic Space Empire aims to support cross-platform play, allowing players on different devices to compete and cooperate seamlessly. Taylor wants to push the boundaries of what’s possible in real-time strategy just like he did with Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander. You can check out Taylor’s (infrequent!) updates on the development of Intergalactic Space Empire here: kanoogi.com
Sanctuary: Shattered Sun – The Spiritual Successor?
Its worth mentioning here, a project that Taylor has no involvement in, but has championed. Sanctuary: Shattered Sun is a new real-time strategy game in development which features many of the game mechanics introduced by Chris Taylor in Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander. Sanctuary uses flux economy and strategic zoom. Taylor said, “It could very well be deemed the spiritual successor to the games we created at Gas Powered Games.”
Developed by a team of RTS veterans, many of whom have been involved in Forged Alliance Forever, Sanctuary: Shattered Sun aims to capture the essence of what made the original series so revolutionary while introducing new elements and innovations. You can read our dive into Sanctuary here:
Influence, Legacy and What’s Next?
Its fair to say that Taylor’s influence on the gaming industry extends far beyond the individual titles he has created. ‘Visionary’ is not too much of a stretch here. He fundamentally shaped the real-time strategy genre and inspired a generation of videogame developers. Taylor has shown a willingness to push boundaries and experiment with fresh ideas. His commitment to innovation in game design has continuously moved the genre forward. With Kanoogi, Taylor is continuing the process began back in ’97, with a fresh approach to videogame development. It is evident that his passion for game design remains as strong as ever.
Looking to the future, the buzz around Sanctuary: Shattered Sun is as a result of Chris Taylor’s games. People have been clamouring for a new Supreme Commander title for over a decade. But Taylor is not satisfied with sitting back and letting young pretenders steal his throne. With Kanoogi and Intergalactic Space Empire, he continues to explore new possibilities and challenge conventional thinking.
With a career defined by a clear vision and a dedication to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in game design, Taylor is poised – directly and indirectly – to shape the next chapter of real-time strategy games.
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