Overview
See everything. Supreme Commander’s strategic zoom transformed RTS interface design—one mousewheel scroll took players from watching a single unit to viewing the entire battlefield as icons. Chris Taylor’s vision of grand-scale warfare finally had the technology to match. Thousand-unit battles, experimental superweapons, and multi-front conflicts demanded the macro-level perspective that zoom provided.
Fast facts
- Developer: Gas Powered Games.
- Designer: Chris Taylor.
- Year: 2007.
- Innovation: Strategic zoom.
Strategic zoom
| Level | View |
|---|
| Close | Individual units |
| Medium | Squad formations |
| Far | Unit icons |
| Strategic | Full map |
Faction design
| Faction | Philosophy |
|---|
| UEF | Balanced, conventional |
| Cybran | Stealth, speed |
| Aeon | Technology, purity |
| Seraphim | Alien power |
Experimental units
| Unit | Function |
|---|
| Monkeylord | Spider assault |
| Fatboy | Mobile factory |
| Colossus | Sacred assault bot |
| Czar | Flying fortress |
Economic system
| Feature | Implementation |
|---|
| Mass | Extracted, fabricated |
| Energy | Generated, stored |
| Adjacency | Bonus placement |
| Overflow | Shared resources |
Scale warfare
| Aspect | Scope |
|---|
| Map sizes | 80km × 80km |
| Unit counts | Thousands |
| Battles | Multi-front |
| Duration | Hour-long matches |
Legacy
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Forged Alliance | 2007 |
| Supreme Commander 2 | 2010 |
| FAF Community | Ongoing |
See also