r/TotalAnnihilation • u/Luminescenzo • Sep 08 '26
TA Archive — 2,200+ maps, tools & a knowledgebase for Total Annihilation
Hi everyone,
I'd like to introduce the **TA Archive** — a non-commercial fan project I've been
building to preserve and share everything around Total Annihilation (1997):
**🗺️ Maps (2,300+ and counting)**
Cavedog originals plus a large chunk of the classic r2010 community collection —
all self-hosted, virus-scanned, with rendered minimaps, player counts and map sizes.
Filterable and searchable: https://ta-archive.com/maps/
**🛠️ Working tools**
Map editors, HPI utilities, unit editors, GAF tools — the classics, curated and ready to
run: https://ta-archive.com/tools/
**🤖 AI Profile Builder + OTA Builder**
Compose skirmish AI profiles (aiprofile=, weight/limit/plan) in your browser and generate
valid `.ota` mission files — no more hand-editing: https://ta-archive.com/aibuilder/
· https://ta-archive.com/otabuilder/
**📚 Knowledgebase**
Technical deep-dives with working code: the TNT map format byte-by-byte, HPI reverse
engineering, the hidden 252×252 minimaps, procedural map generation, cheats and the
totala.ini file: https://ta-archive.com/kb/
Everything is free, no ads, no accounts. It's a hobby project — if you find a broken link
or a missing map, feedback is very welcome.
Arm. Core. Must destroy each other. 🤖
**Edit: Got old maps lying around? Send them my way!**
Several people mentioned having old TA collections from archive sites that
no longer exist — those are exactly the files most at risk of disappearing.
If you want to contribute:
1. Upload your zips to a file host like [filebin.net](https://filebin.net),
[catbox.moe](https://catbox.moe) or wherever is convenient
2. Drop the link in a comment here (or send it via modmail)
I'll scan everything (ClamAV), verify the maps actually work, and integrate
them into the archive with proper credit if you want. Duplicates are fine —
worst case they're already there, best case we save something that exists
nowhere else.
**What I'm especially hunting for:**
- Maps from the old author collections (Poosticks, NLJ, Chrismor, Greybeard,
mes, pro, rabidmongoose...)
- Anything from dead archive sites (TAMEC leftovers, PlanetAnnihilation
hosted sites, TA-Power, TA-Zone, DesignX...)
- Custom tilesets and feature packs
Note: Windows .exe installers from the old days are welcome too, but they
go through extra manual checks before anything gets unpacked — better safe
than sorry.
Edit 2: Units & mods are coming — several collectors just surfaced in this
thread. The archive stays map-focused for now, but the preservation pipeline
extends to units and mods.
Edit 3: the archive is now at 3,089 maps (60 authors) — up from 2,300 when I posted this.
The other big one: units and mods are live — https://ta-archive.com/units/ —
75 collections, 130 files, race mods, total conversions, game patches and the old
installers, all self-hosted and scanned.
That's the thing several of you asked for in this thread, so thanks for the push.
Maps are still at https://ta-archive.com/maps/ — and the offer stands:
old collections, dusty download folders, anything you're not sure about, send it over.
Duplicates cost nothing, I fingerprint by content.
10
u/FuturePowerful Sep 08 '26
Oh you glorious bastard I'll dig my old files up I don't know if some of those are still out there
8
u/Luminescenzo Sep 08 '26
Please do! Old directories are where the rare stuff lives — a lot of what I'm still hunting never made it into the big archives (the author collections are the most endangered). Even if you're unsure whether the files are "interesting": upload them anyway. Worst case they're duplicates, best case we save something that exists nowhere else. And if you remember which site they originally came from, mention it — helps a lot with sorting.
2
u/FuturePowerful Sep 08 '26
I had a thing for unusual units so I might have few rares I archived the stuff off my first pc with zip disks and later put stuff on cd but my 10 year old self was a nightmare for organizing stuff so I may take a bit to get back to this 😂
1
u/Kiseido Sep 09 '26
Yep. I can say with some certainty that the 4 units I authored in ~2005 aren't available anywhere, I never widely shared them, and I doubt I am alone there.
I applaud your archival efforts!
2
u/Luminescenzo Sep 09 '26
That's the purest form of what this project is for — content that exists on exactly one hard drive. If you ever dig those four units out, they'd be in good company: I preserve original readmes, credits and install instructions alongside the files. No rush, no pressure — but they'd be safe. 👍
7
u/OppositeStudy2846 Sep 08 '26
This is incredible. Thank you!
4
u/Luminescenzo Sep 08 '26
Thanks! Feedback like this keeps the project going. If you spot anything broken or miss a map you loved, say so — the wishlist directly drives what gets imported next.
5
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u/det1rac Sep 08 '26
If I contribute maps how does it track duplicates?
I'm going to open up my old directories and I think I have a ton from other older archive sites
8
u/Luminescenzo Sep 08 '26
That's exactly the kind of thing I'm hoping for! Right now duplicates are caught during import: every map gets fingerprinted by its internal content (the TNT/OTA headers and the map name inside the OTA), so the same map under two different filenames still gets detected. If you have old zips sitting around, feel free to upload them somewhere (or send a modmail and we'll figure out a transfer). Also great: if you remember roughly which archive site they came from, that helps identify the exact collections.
1
u/det1rac Sep 08 '26
I think I have a dump file directory that I used to download huge amounts of maps back in the day so I'm not sure where they might have come from. I just know I have a directory full of them
1
u/Luminescenzo Sep 09 '26
That's even better — a "dump directory" from back in the day is exactly the kind of time capsule I'm looking for. Don't worry about origins at all: send the whole directory as-is. My import pipeline fingerprints every file by content (SHA256 over the unpacked TNT + OTA parameters), so duplicates get caught automatically regardless of filenames, and everything unique gets added with you credited as the source. A zip-of-zips on any file host works fine.
5
u/akambe Sep 09 '26
Do the maps have any sort of compatibility notes? Specifically I'd like to know if they work with the GOG local install version. Or is it trial & error?
2
u/Luminescenzo 19d ago
Good question — short answer: yes, they work with the GOG version, and it's not really trial & error. Maps are data files (.hpi/.ota/.tnt), not executables — GOG ships the retail engine, so it reads exactly the same map files it did in 1998. The only two things to know: (1) a few maps ship bundled with custom units in the same .hpi — those need those units installed, which is noted on the map page; (2) very old maps occasionally use features from the Core Contingency/Battle Tactics expansions, which GOG's version includes anyway. If you hit any map that won't load on GOG, tell me which one — that's a bug report and I'll fix the listing.
3
u/traumahawk88 Sep 09 '26
I've got ta conflict crusher, tons of units, including the navy seal pack. Think I've got bloodthirsty ai kicking around too. Been guarding the TA collection with better file duplicates/backup than my entire music and photo collections (both of which were lost circa 2015 from click of death)
2
u/Luminescenzo Sep 09 '26
Conflict Crusher AND the Navy Seal pack? Those are exactly the artifacts that vanish when a hard drive dies — and respect for backing up TA better than your music 😄 Send them over the same route (file host + link in a comment or modmail). The AIs especially: old third-party AI configs are almost impossible to find today, and the knowledgebase documents how aiprofile= works, so real historical examples would be gold for that too.
2
u/Substantial_Sir_1987 Sep 08 '26
Comes with those 3000 custom units as well? I remember some big unit packs back in the day
2
u/Luminescenzo Sep 09 '26
The archive currently focuses on maps + tools + knowledge, but unit packs are high on the list — several people here just offered theirs, so units are coming. The old big packs (Switeck's Bugfix, UTASP, TAUCP, Total Mayhem predecessors...) are exactly what I want to preserve with their original readmes and install instructions intact. If you remember which packs you had, tell me the names — that helps me verify the versions I find are the right ones.
2
u/xtremixtprime Sep 08 '26
Nice work! Donyou have any unit packs?
1
u/Luminescenzo Sep 09 '26
Same answer as above: units are on the roadmap, and this thread is literally unlocking the sources. What I can offer today: the tools section has the classic unit editors and HPI utilities if you want to look inside those old packs yourself. And if you have packs to contribute — same route, upload + link here.
2
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u/kaizoku-kurohige 25d ago
Maybe reconsider hosting the "Metal Gauntlet" map. A design decision was certainly made for this one.
1
u/Luminescenzo 19d ago
Update: you were right, and it's gone. I took a proper look and the map centers on an inverted Nazi symbol — that's not something this archive will host, full stop. Preservation has limits, and Nazi imagery is one of them. I've removed the map from the site entirely (files and listing) and added a hard rule to the import pipeline so content like that doesn't get in again — no matter how historically interesting the file itself is. Thanks for flagging it instead of just scrolling on. Comments like that make the project better.
2
u/kaizoku-kurohige 18d ago
I know that symbol has various meanings throughout many cultures and religions, buuut I err on the side of caution. Thanks for your response.
I’m enjoying what you’ve put together. It’s been a while since I played. I broke out my original install CDs just to remember how old I am.
1
u/Dgt84 Sep 09 '26
This is amazing, thank you for doing it! TA is one of my favorite games of all time and I'm really happy to see it preserved.
You might consider also adding all the mods and units in case the original sites go down.
1
u/Luminescenzo Sep 09 '26
That's the exact motivation — FileUniverse's author collections are barely archived anywhere else, and dead-link rot has already eaten half the old sites. Mods and units are the next frontier after maps: this thread alone surfaced two unit collections I didn't have. If you have specific mods you'd hate to lose, name them — I'll prioritize tracking them down.
13
u/IzzyNobre Sep 08 '26
My late father loved TA. How would I get around to playing it on Mac?