Every map in Total Annihilation carries its own words: the mission description
shown in the map-selection screen, and — where the mapmaker wrote one — a
loading hint or a short briefing. These texts live inside each map’s .ota
file and are usually20+ years old, written by the original authors.
The map dialogs now show them, verbatim and labelled as TA displays them:
- Mission description — the text from the skirmish map picker
- Hint — mapmaker hints (skipped when the field only points at TA’s generic hint files)
- Briefing — short briefings where the map has real text
Cards with in-game text are marked with a small 🕹️ badge. The texts are unmodified — typos, ALL-CAPS enthusiasm and early-2000s mapmaker jokes included.