Total Annihilation holds a special place in the author’s heart as one of the best RTS games from the late 90s, alongside Command & Conquer and Starcraft. Released 10 years later, Supreme Commander, led by notable figures from Total Annihilation, impressed both critics and players with features like “strategic zoom” and realistic ballistics. The article delves into the technical aspects of SupCom’s terrain rendering, including texture splatting and decals. Notably, the development team experimented with groundbreaking shadow map techniques, pushing the graphical boundaries of the game. The frame breakdown reveals the intricate process behind rendering the game’s visuals, highlighting optimizations like level of detail and fog of war.
http://www.adriancourreges.com/blog/2015/06/23/supreme-commander-graphics-study/