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 Posted: Fri, 15th Sep 2017 22:59 Post subject: The History of RTS Games |
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Build, gather, brawl, repeat: The history of real-time strategy games
| Quote: | The rise and fall of real-time strategy games is a strange one. They emerged gradually out of experiments to combine the excitement and speed of action games with the deliberateness and depth of strategy. Then, suddenly, the genre exploded in popularity in the latter half of the 1990s—only to fall from favor (StarCraft aside) just as quickly during the 2000s amid cries of stagnation and a changing games market. And yet, one of the most popular competitive games in the world today is an RTS, and three or four others are in a genre that branched off from real-time strategy.
At 25 years old, the real-time strategy genre remains relevant for its ideas and legacies. And with it deep in a lull, now is the perfect time to give it the same in-depth historical treatment that we've already given to graphic adventures, sims, first-person shooters, kart racers, open-world games, and city builders.
Before I start recounting the history of the genre, some quick ground rules: as in all of these genre histories, I'm looking to emphasize innovation and new ideas, which means that some popular games may be glossed over and [insert-your-favorite-game] might not be mentioned at all. For the purposes of this article, a real-time strategy game is one that involves base building and/or management, resource gathering, unit production, and semi-autonomous combat, all conducted in real time (rather than being turn-based), for the purpose of gaining/maintaining control over strategic points on a map (such as the resources and command centers).
I also want to stress that tactics and strategy are not the same thing, and hence this article will not spend much time discussing real-time tactics games like the Total War and Close Combat series. For those unaware, strategy refers to high-level plans whereas tactics is focused on the finer points of execution of specific objectives. In more explicit video game terms, strategy is building and managing armies from the buildings you add to your base with the resources you mine/harvest; tactics is just the combat stuff, with in-depth battleground mechanics that focus on unit formations and positioning and exploiting terrain features to your advantage. Real-time strategy usually includes some element of tactics, but real-time tactics rarely includes strategy mechanics.
Now, with all that said, let's begin by traveling back some 36 years. |
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/build-gather-brawl-repeat-the-history-of-real-time-strategy-games/
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I skipped through it and mostly looked at the screenshots. But that was enough to bring back so many fond memories.
Besides the most known ones (like AoE, Warcraft, C&C) i still keep remembering these:
- Dark Reign (this felt so much ahead of its time with its features)
- Dune 2 (replayed this so often, often together with my father)
- Dark Colony
- Earth 2140
I miss a few though, like the KKND games or some other classic RTS franchise with aliens only - had something like Wind in the name i think.
Enthoo Evolv ATX TG // Asus Prime x370 // Ryzen 1700 // Gainward GTX 1080 // 16GB DDR4-3200
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| Posted: Fri, 15th Sep 2017 23:07 Post subject: |
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This is too much... rollercoaster of feels...
I think he's wrong though about an RTS resurgence... the genre just doesn't appeal to the "new" majority. RTS that don't have a big name attached to them will have it even harder. Even if the new AoE4 will sell pretty well, due to it's namesake mostly.. and hype culture.. I doubt other projects will have the same luck. No matter the quality.
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ixigia
[Moderator] Consigliere
Posts: 65072
Location: Italy
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| Posted: Sat, 16th Sep 2017 01:07 Post subject: |
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| m3th0d2008 wrote: | This is too much... rollercoaster of feels...
I think he's wrong though about an RTS resurgence... the genre just doesn't appeal to the "new" majority. RTS that don't have a big name attached to them will have it even harder. Even if the new AoE4 will sell pretty well, due to it's namesake mostly.. and hype culture.. I doubt other projects will have the same luck. No matter the quality. |
Exactly, there is renowned interest going on, but it is a pseudo resurgence more than a real one so to speak.
There's either the game that plays on the nostalgia factor without adding anything worthwhile (and more often than not, failing at achieving the same alchemies as before), or the one affected by multiplatformism , with HUDs and mechanics often designed with the gamepad in mind, trying to cater to everyone but not satisfying anyone in the end. We have the awesome memories at least, no one will take those away  *sheds tear* |
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| Posted: Sat, 16th Sep 2017 09:26 Post subject: Re: The History of RTS Games |
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| Bob Barnsen wrote: | | I miss a few though, like the KKND games or some other classic RTS franchise with aliens only - had something like Wind in the name i think. |
Yeah KKND is missing big time and as soon as you said Wind and RTS, my mind said War Wind
I used to play the game as a kid back on my first PC and later on it's sequel.
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JBeckman
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