I found a free RTS games that easily rivals C and C, Starcraft or AoE titles.
It has quite a few mods already. Some are really well made.



http://megaglest.org/

Must be the sequel to this http://www.mobygames.com/game/glest

Yeah it is.

in what universe is that even remotely comparable to starcraft?

Actually I like it BETTER than Starcraft.
But that's personal preference.

you cant even produce units with the keyboard apparently
you have terrible taste in rts