4 ms·

Dune II was released 1992, Warcraft 2 in 1995, C&C Red Alert in 1996. Dune II was the first RTS with mass market success and had a defining influence.

ekianjo 8y ago
Mass market, yes. But Herzog Zwei for Megadrive was out earlier and was already a RTS. It was not very good (at least my memories of it are not good - playing with a gamepad was a nightmare) but it was already going in that trench.
- iuguy 8y ago
  You can go back further, the original Herzog on MSX had RTS elements, and 1984's Stonkers[1][2] for the ZX Spectrum was the first commercially published RTS (AFAICT). Whether it's sales constitute mass market success is a different thing. [1] - http://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/stonkers http://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/stonkers [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-TkuFVj48E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-TkuFVj48E
  - kungtotte 8y ago
    Dune 2 invented the C&C/Warcraft/Starcraft style RTS though. Other games had RTS elements to them before that, but not like Dune 2. And certainly not to the extent that subsequent games tried to copy their successful format.
    - iuguy 8y ago
      I'm not sure I follow. I linked to a video of an RTS game from 1984. Stonkers (AFAICT) invented the RTS. It didn't have RTS elements. It was an RTS, similar to Dune 2 and the others to follow. Most of the successful games that copied Dune 2's format were written by the same studios (Westwood for the C&C franchise, Blizzard for *Craft).
- euos 8y ago
  Dune2 did not require mouse, keyboard all the way. Same as with Early FPSes (I played Doom, Heretic and Duke Nukem 3d on keyboard)
- 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
  As I recall, Herzog Zwei has a few key differences from modern RTS games: 1) The player fulfills the commander role by directly controlling a unit on the battlefield, not in "god mode". The commander unit isn't merely a stylized cursor; it also directly engages in combat. 2) No base-building or tech tree. The number, location, and capabilities of all bases are fixed. 3) No explicit resource gathering. Money is automatically accumulated based on how many bases you control. It's arguably closer to a MOBA than an RTS.
euos 8y ago
CnC was a Dune successor. Red Alert was a CnC spin-off. Warcraft (one) was a Dune2 clone with crappy pathfinding. But they did add ability to give orders to multiple units at once!

ekianjo 8y ago

Mass market, yes. But Herzog Zwei for Megadrive was out earlier and was already a RTS. It was not very good (at least my memories of it are not good - playing with a gamepad was a nightmare) but it was already going in that trench.

iuguy 8y ago
You can go back further, the original Herzog on MSX had RTS elements, and 1984's Stonkers[1][2] for the ZX Spectrum was the first commercially published RTS (AFAICT). Whether it's sales constitute mass market success is a different thing. [1] - http://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/stonkers http://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/stonkers [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-TkuFVj48E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-TkuFVj48E
- kungtotte 8y ago
  Dune 2 invented the C&C/Warcraft/Starcraft style RTS though. Other games had RTS elements to them before that, but not like Dune 2. And certainly not to the extent that subsequent games tried to copy their successful format.
  - iuguy 8y ago
    I'm not sure I follow. I linked to a video of an RTS game from 1984. Stonkers (AFAICT) invented the RTS. It didn't have RTS elements. It was an RTS, similar to Dune 2 and the others to follow. Most of the successful games that copied Dune 2's format were written by the same studios (Westwood for the C&C franchise, Blizzard for *Craft).
euos 8y ago
Dune2 did not require mouse, keyboard all the way. Same as with Early FPSes (I played Doom, Heretic and Duke Nukem 3d on keyboard)
0xcde4c3db 8y ago
As I recall, Herzog Zwei has a few key differences from modern RTS games: 1) The player fulfills the commander role by directly controlling a unit on the battlefield, not in "god mode". The commander unit isn't merely a stylized cursor; it also directly engages in combat. 2) No base-building or tech tree. The number, location, and capabilities of all bases are fixed. 3) No explicit resource gathering. Money is automatically accumulated based on how many bases you control. It's arguably closer to a MOBA than an RTS.

euos 8y ago

CnC was a Dune successor. Red Alert was a CnC spin-off. Warcraft (one) was a Dune2 clone with crappy pathfinding. But they did add ability to give orders to multiple units at once!