MDMA: A Total Annihilation fan site

Glossary

Explaining some of the less obvious terms from the game

Because some of the terminology Total Annihilation uses is not clear to someone new to the game, here's an attempt to clarify:

.CCX: This file extension is used to identify archives that are compressed with the new compression scheme, which supports higher (Zlib compressed) compression-ratios.
.HPI: This file extension is used to identify default (LZ77 compressed) archives.
.UFO: This file extension is used to identify default (LZ77 compressed) archives.
Commander: The commander is the personification of the player. When you start a new game, you start with your commander.
HPIpack: This utility allows you to create compressed archives for Total Annihilation. The latest version supports LZ77 as well as Zlib compression. You can download it from the downloads page. Sources also available!
HPIview: This utility allows you to read compressed archives for Total Annihilation. You can download it from the downloads page. Sources also available!
nanolathing: This is done by the commander or other units capable of nanolathing. Basically, it's just Total Annihilation's way of visualising how everything is build/constructed. Generally, I like this theory (nano-sized construction bots) better than most RTS games, like for example the Command & Conquer series, where buildings just sort of pop out of the ground.
reclaiming: Because construction is based on nanolathing, most in-game elements (rocks, trees, wrecks) can be reclaimed (converted back to energy) by inverting the process of nanolathing.