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http://www.supremecommander.com/

Wants fast dual core ^_^

While it is true that there are only a few prominent strategies used in high-level Starcraft games in the beginning, this is only because they were found to have the right combination of versatility and effectiveness. Once the initial rush phase is over, if the various sides have survived then it becomes a whole different game, and much more individualized and reactive. Terrans and Protoss start setting up defensive structures, and can go in several different directions from there (for example, the Terrans could continue with marine-medic rushes to keep the enemy on their toes while building up to, say, battleships, nukes, goliath-siege tank groups, or others). That many games end in the first few minutes following the initial rushes is a testament to the players that pursue those strategies, being able to pull them off as well as they do. Add additional players and things get more interesting, as you have to not only beat your first target as fast as possible (or at least slow them down), but also defend your own base from the other players. Its strategy on a more micro-management level than TA, and one of the reasons I enjoyed TA was that it didn't require that level of nit-picking.

You are correct, TA had no melee units. One of the 3rd party units I remember was based off a Protoss Zealot (called the Zlot in-game), but it simulated melee attacks by having a projectile range of only the length of its arms.

TA did have some differentiation in sides, if only in that they favored different strategies with their units. Overall, the Arm units were faster, while the Core units were more heavily armed and armored. Still, as you say, some of this was lost with the units introduced later, the various sides becoming a more homogeneous.

On the subject of all things TA, you might check out the following...
TA Spring is an open source RTS project that largely recreated TA in a better engine, along with deformable terrain and other goodies.
Supreme Commander is Chris Taylor's new baby, a spiritual successor to TA with all kinds of new goodies, 3 different factions, to-scale nukes, and multi-monitor support!

Forget virtualisation!

If you want TA updated, try TA Spring, now just Spring. It also has a Linux version for those of you who want it.

Also, Supreme Commander. Same game, different name, more units, better graphics, bigger maps :D

http://www.supremecommander.com/

Although I believe much of the content is available at http://www.supremecommanderhq.com/ and maybe http://www.supcomuniverse.com/

For the more screen-intensive games, I can see your point. FPS's are out then. However, for RTS especially, I can see this being useful.

Imagine a game of Starcraft where you're playing, say, the Zerg, constantly throwing unit groups together and tossing them at your enemies defenses. It could be very useful to see which keys you've assigned to your expendable zerglings, and which keys are for your Ultralisks at a glance, without having to waste time flipping through the groups and seeing that oh, I assigned the Ultra's to group 8. Also, if it were possible to move the minimap off the screen and onto the keyboard, then you could free up more viewable area to see the battlefield.

This kind of functionality, combined with Supreme Commander's built-in support for multiple monitors, could provide powerful tools for the armchair general.

Your point about eye strain remains though... on one hand, refocusing your eyes more often can help prevent vision problems by keeping the focusing muscles strong (or so I've heard), but that's not something I'd want to deal with in the middle of a game. There's no real good solution to this I'm afraid. I'd be willing to give it a try at least.

I hope you know that the creator of Total Annihilation, Chris Taylor, is making the unofficial sequel, Supreme Commander. It's said to be feature complete and due out very early 2007.

SupCom for all those Total Annihilation lovers, where you can issue orders and forget about the units doing them, because you know they'll get executed.

This game will remove the arcade out of RTS. Check out the trailer or the E3 presentation.

http://www.supremecommander.com/

You're not alone in this thinking. However, Supreme Commander,the spiritual successor to Total Annihilation, is touted to focus far more on strategy as opposed to the more tactically oriented RTS games we're used to. I'll be interested to see exactly how strategic Supreme Commander is, since much has been made of its large maps and coordinated unit movement (with respect to arrival times at a destination). Also, Total Annihilation is one hell of a pedigree to claim.

Ok, im a big TA fan too, but you do know that the original C&C was released before TA, right? If memory serves, C&C was '95, Red Alert was '96, and then Total Annihilation was released in '97. Oh and then Starcraft appeared in 98, but who cares about them, right? :P

Also, for the record... the sequel to the most amazing RTS ever, aka Total Annihilation 2, aka Supreme Commander is scheduled to rock the RTS world some time in 2007. Oh hell yes. *Fanboi drooling noises*

It's coming...
Different company, but its the same guy who made the original, Chris Taylor. Though another company owns the TA name, he's said that Supreme Commander is the spiritual sequel to TA.