An underrated aspect of the SupCom engine was that it natively supported multiple monitors, with independently controllable cameras on each one so you could keep an eye on any two parts of the map, or just zoom the second one all the way out to get a giant minimap. That's something you never see today even though it would be easier to pull off with modern graphics APIs (IIRC SupCom actually runs two copies of the game simultaneously, driving one monitor each, to get around DirectX limitations of the time).
If you also happen to think SupCom was the most ultimate superior RTS ever made, because it's truly strategy scale with a thousand units PER PLAYER including on 8v8 maps, and the simulated ballistics of almost all weapons means you can defend your base from an incoming nuke by scrambling your jet fighters so that they run into the incoming warhead and airburst it "safely" above your base, and love that artillery shells can also hit those same planes, or that a plane shot out of the sky can fall on a tank and destroy it, or that you think a giant walking mech with a backpack nuke launcher is the metalist fucking thing,<p>Check out Forged Alliance Forever. It's a community made, open source, "launcher" for the Supreme Commander game, that patches it, mods it, allows you to interact with other players and find games and get ranked against them, and also is a replay viewer, so you can watch how the pros actually do the insane micro and economy play that earns them the 2000+ ELO score, and also a mod manager, and also a friends list.<p>If you are like me, and love all that but actually suck at playing strategy games in general, check out Gyle on youtube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@GyleCast" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/@GyleCast</a> who has been casting SupCom games for at least a decade now, and really shows off some of the best that the game has to offer, including multi-hour "EPICs" that can involve ten thousand units controlled by several semi-pro players.
Supreme Commander is still pretty active, via the FAForever community. The original single player maps were converted to co-op. Lots of game modes, a new race, unit tweaks, new maps - very much a game that still gets love.<p>When the next steam sale hits, you only need the Supreme Commander: Forged Alliances game (Under $3) and <a href="https://www.faforever.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.faforever.com</a> installer and it all updates lovely. Works on Linux, multi monitors, and a dozen or so players connecting.<p>For me, I found this was the open source project I used to keep my SpringBoot skills current. Nothing but positive things to say.
If you find graphics studies interesting, you can find a few more at <a href="http://www.adriancourreges.com/blog/2020/12/29/graphics-studies-compilation/" rel="nofollow">http://www.adriancourreges.com/blog/2020/12/29/graphics-stud...</a>
I liked the voice acting. Especially the cranky military guy.
Ordered to attack a base on some planet: "Are we gonna hold it this time? Or are we gonna abandon it to the cybrans in a month?"
Ordered to help PC on another mission: "Arrgh how much longer do I have to hold this guy's hand?"
Enjoy that style ? Go play Beyond All Reason, its free and open-source spiritual heir - <a href="https://www.beyondallreason.info" rel="nofollow">https://www.beyondallreason.info</a>
Since the article opens with discussion of RTSs in the (late) 90s, I feel it would be a crime to not include Dune 2[0], largely considered to be the first "modern" RTS.<p>Edit: Dune2 came out in 1992, so it's understandable that it's not mentioned, I meant more in the broader discussion of RTSs.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_II" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_II</a>
There's also LOUD, the mod version of the game which adds even more dynamics and higher tier skill trees.<p><a href="https://www.moddb.com/mods/loud-ai-supreme-commander-forged-alliance" rel="nofollow">https://www.moddb.com/mods/loud-ai-supreme-commander-forged-...</a><p>I've actually playing this the last few days :)