Simplified RTS's

Paul Cunningham · 2000-08-07T10:39:46

I think "Real Time Strategy" games are over complicated. They are a lot of fun unless your to busy telling your little mining fellows what to do. This frustrates me no end. I also wish RTS''s were more balanced. They all seem to have an overkill vechial of sorts which completely ruins the strategy element of the game. I say that when it comes to a RTS we should dump the attitude that bigger is better. What ever happened to games designs like axis and allies. Why can''t we make a RTS like this. Wouldn''t this be more appealing? We are their, "Children of the Free"

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Paul Cunningham July 02, 2000 08:19 AM

28 comments, last by Paul Cunningham 23 years, 10 months ago

Paul Cunningham

122

Author

July 04, 2000 05:32 PM

quote:Original post by KingMabuto

Hey Paul Cunningham, KKND was my favorite RTS and I played KKND2 DEMO like long time ago and it rocked.I m trying to buy a copy of the game.

Do you know where I can get it from???

I ordered it from Chips&Bits like 6-7 month ago and it still backordered.

I know like beam games(or melbourne house) was sold to inforgrams, and they are only distributing playstation version.

Thanks.

Sorry, i don''t want to come across to you the wrong way but this is a "Game Design" forum not a trading site for gamers :-).

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Paul Cunningham

122

Author

July 04, 2000 05:48 PM

I''m just curious about the term RTS. Is it/should it be presumed to include economic management?

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Voodoo4

122

July 05, 2000 04:40 AM

Yeah,economic managment is a basic element of strategy.Since someone can''t have unlimited resources and since workers,machines,buildings and equipment costs money he is oblidged to make a wise economic managment.

I know in real world you can''t be at the same time both a manager and a general but since in a game taking place in real time you are the overruler and you control everything else why shouldn''t you control your finance too?

But that''s just my opinion

Voodoo4

Here these words vilifiers and pretenders, please let me die in solitude...

deakin

122

July 05, 2000 05:23 AM

What about battle strategy? As in moving your units to take advantage of terrain, make surprise attacks, etc. I think this is something that is missing from RTS games. At the moments its just who can build the biggest army in the smallest amount of time. You can do this by just having good knowledge of the game, without thinking for yourself. Thats my opinion, anyway.

- Daniel

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dwarfsoft

1,237

July 05, 2000 05:39 AM

Easily handled. Set priority on arrangements (higher terrain is usually a benefit) so for high terrain you put a few extra priority points and so the army is likely to use it as a point of reference for it''s attack.

I believe that this technique is used to place enemy bases near resources so as not to disadvantage them in any way. Just a priority based terrain, you could use it in conjunction with the pathfinding if you really wanted to cut back your options. Fast terrain could be more desirable a battleground than slow terrain

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Dak Lozar

122

July 05, 2000 08:14 AM

quote:Original post by Paul Cunningham

I''m just curious about the term RTS. Is it/should it be presumed to include economic management?

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

No.

OK, yes... but not in the way that it currently is presented.
I think that the STRATEGY element in RTSs should be on movement/placement of units and not on collecting resources.
When your playing these games, what is the role you are playing?
Are you the unit commander? Or, are you the Ruler of the race?
If you say unit commander, then I don''t think that you should be forced to "collect" materials to build more units. That is given from someone higher than you.
Of course if your Castro, you might have to order your units to collect food, wood, etc...
I know that some people feel that this adds to the strategy... so to satisfy these people, you could make this an option in the game startup.
Do you want to macro-manage or micro-manage?

Dave "Dak Lozar" Loeser

Dave Dak Lozar Loeser
"Software Engineering is a race between the programmers, trying to make bigger and better fool-proof software, and the universe trying to make bigger fools. So far the Universe in winning."--anonymous

Paul Cunningham

122

Author

July 05, 2000 09:29 PM

The are purely financial games out their for finance strategy games (FSG i guess) and there is RTS. I guess there will always be hybrids and we''ll just have to live with the fact that thats the way it will be.

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Anonymous

July 06, 2000 01:26 AM

Myth didn''t have resources so no, resources aren''t essential to an RTS.

Voodoo4

122

July 06, 2000 01:49 AM

How realistic is in an RTS to control small groups of troops in real time?

I mean to control your troops you have to either be a part of their squad or communicate with them with radio signals.

In most RTS''s you never take part in battles cause if you do you should also die like any soldier.

In games taking place in pre-scientific times radio communication is abscent.So the only way to control your squad at real time is to be with them.

Radio communication can only be used in modern times and even then you could just "chat" with them.You can''t see what they see.
So you can''t really have total control of them.

Now for more RTS''s these rules do not apply for the sake of gameplay and the player usaually takes the place of God that can be everywhere without been seen or touched!

I wonder if a game that follows the above rules could exist in the market of RTS''s.What''s your opinion?

Voodoo4

Here these words vilifiers and pretenders, please let me die in solitude...

Anonymous

July 06, 2000 02:35 AM

then it wouldn''t be RTS, it would be a sim. RTS players tend to not like sims because sim games are at the opposite end of the simulation-strategy axis. You have to ask yourself who the audience would be. Maybe Age of Empires players but they''re casual gamers so that would turn them off. Civ players maybe, but most of them like slower paced games.

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