3 ms·

I hadn’t heard of this before, and was excited that a new RTS was being announced, given that RTSes seem like a fading genre. Of course it’s just a link to an

I hadn’t heard of this before, and was excited that a new RTS was being announced, given that RTSes seem like a fading genre. Of course it’s just a link to an older game. I guess the days of the RTS really are behind us. :(

rollcat 3y ago
There's a lot of promising RTSs currently in development, that can trace their roots to Blizzard and/or SC2. As wheelerof4te suggests, I'd keep my eyes on Stormgate. It's being developed by the ex-Blizzard team that worked on SC2 and WC3. More big names involved than I care to drop. <https://playstormgate.com/ https://playstormgate.com/>, <https://store.steampowered.com/app/2012510/Stormgate/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2012510/Stormgate/> ZeroSpace came out of the blue a couple months ago with pre-alpha gameplay videos, kickstarter, tournaments, etc. They have several SC2 pros and community figures involved in development (Scarlett, CatZ, PiG, GiantGrant, Maguro). Their kickstarter just raised over half a million dollars. <https://www.playzerospace.com/ https://www.playzerospace.com/>, <https://store.steampowered.com/app/1605850/ZeroSpace/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1605850/ZeroSpace/>. There's also Immortal, which has been in development for a longer while. The team has previously built some great SC2 mods, and the pre-alpha got some attention from SC2 pros. <https://sunspeargames.com/ https://sunspeargames.com/> The big "problem" with RTS is that the genre in general is not very accessible. SC1 is clunky (1998), SC2 is extremely lethal (splash damage vs glass cannons), team modes like 2v2 are not considered seriously (people want to play with their friends), getting good at the game requires learning all the rock-paper-scissors of dozens of units per faction that make Pokemon type charts pale in comparison. The 1v1 ladder is designed to give you an average 50% winrate, hence it demands that you consistently play at your best or deal emotionally with a giant lose streak. The team making Stormgate is aware of these (and many other) problems, and takes a lot of input from the community on Reddit. It's gonna boil down to execution, but I have faith that they can make a fun game that's gonna be appealing to a much broader crowd than the hardcore RTS fans.
- good_lord_dang 3y ago
  [dead]
BlueTemplar 3y ago
It's a bit like calling Magic the Gathering «just» an older game. («It came out in 1993, how old, must be bad !») Your complaint would have more merit if the many innovations of Spring-Recoil engine games had been adopted more widely in the genre, but even Supreme Commander 1 came short (except for polish maybe). You cannot expect RTS to become one of the biggest genres again, but it's still quite lively (yes, even outside of SC2 and AoE2) : RTS is fun, actually (and you can learn it): a video essay - CloudCuckooCountry : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl4myN8q_KM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl4myN8q_KM A list of upcoming(ish) RTSes : The Most Anticipated RTS Games in 2023 & 2024... SO MANY! - GamerZakh : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKujSK4FRWk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKujSK4FRWk (Notably, including BAR, another Spring-Recoil game.) (Yes, most of them will suck and fail, such is life.)
brucethemoose2 3y ago
The Planetary Annihilation devs are coming out with a factory-rts hybrid game akin to Mindustry. That seems the direction RTS is heading in general, hybridizing with other genres.
- olavgg 3y ago
  link?
  - willis936 3y ago
    I want them to take my money. Update: They have taken my money. There are few groups that have kept my trust as well as these folks. I know they'll deliver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB49yJp-rJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB49yJp-rJI https://industrialannihilation.com/ https://industrialannihilation.com/
    - BlueTemplar 3y ago
      Very interesting, I wonder how they are going to balance supply chains being hard to set up but easy to disrupt ? It reminded me of an old game : Mechanized Assault & Exploration (M.A.X.) : https://www.gog.com/en/game/m_a_x_m_a_x_2 https://www.gog.com/en/game/m_a_x_m_a_x_2 Gameplay : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TdjQZz0lFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TdjQZz0lFY (stretched, sigh...) So you need to use surveyor units to scan for underground resources (metal, fuel, gold), build mines that extract them, but then also have to transport them (also ammo) to the place where they will be used (buildings, constructors, units) either by using specialized units or via connectors (think Factorio's overground pipes). It's quite complex, so it's turn based (either simultaneous real time, or sequential turns). M.A.X.2 also experimented with real time (as well as 3D map, inspired by Total Annihilation ?) but sadly it's basically a rushed mess. Annoyingly this brilliant game has been plagued for decades by memory issues : https://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_series/changing_dos_extenders_might_be_the_solution_for_all_of_us/post33 https://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_series/changing_dos_extender... But it looks like we finally have the solution as a "port" !! https://klei1984.github.io/max/ https://klei1984.github.io/max/ Seems to be working as advised (the only thing not working yet would be network multiplayer and some of the various non-critical bugs already present in the original game).
wheelerof4te 3y ago
Stormgate is one of the recent promising titles.
concordDance 3y ago
I'd still recommend it though, it's very fun.

rollcat 3y ago

There's a lot of promising RTSs currently in development, that can trace their roots to Blizzard and/or SC2. As wheelerof4te suggests, I'd keep my eyes on Stormgate. It's being developed by the ex-Blizzard team that worked on SC2 and WC3. More big names involved than I care to drop. <https://playstormgate.com/ https://playstormgate.com/>, <https://store.steampowered.com/app/2012510/Stormgate/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2012510/Stormgate/> ZeroSpace came out of the blue a couple months ago with pre-alpha gameplay videos, kickstarter, tournaments, etc. They have several SC2 pros and community figures involved in development (Scarlett, CatZ, PiG, GiantGrant, Maguro). Their kickstarter just raised over half a million dollars. <https://www.playzerospace.com/ https://www.playzerospace.com/>, <https://store.steampowered.com/app/1605850/ZeroSpace/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1605850/ZeroSpace/>. There's also Immortal, which has been in development for a longer while. The team has previously built some great SC2 mods, and the pre-alpha got some attention from SC2 pros. <https://sunspeargames.com/ https://sunspeargames.com/> The big "problem" with RTS is that the genre in general is not very accessible. SC1 is clunky (1998), SC2 is extremely lethal (splash damage vs glass cannons), team modes like 2v2 are not considered seriously (people want to play with their friends), getting good at the game requires learning all the rock-paper-scissors of dozens of units per faction that make Pokemon type charts pale in comparison. The 1v1 ladder is designed to give you an average 50% winrate, hence it demands that you consistently play at your best or deal emotionally with a giant lose streak. The team making Stormgate is aware of these (and many other) problems, and takes a lot of input from the community on Reddit. It's gonna boil down to execution, but I have faith that they can make a fun game that's gonna be appealing to a much broader crowd than the hardcore RTS fans.

good_lord_dang 3y ago
[dead]

BlueTemplar 3y ago

It's a bit like calling Magic the Gathering «just» an older game. («It came out in 1993, how old, must be bad !») Your complaint would have more merit if the many innovations of Spring-Recoil engine games had been adopted more widely in the genre, but even Supreme Commander 1 came short (except for polish maybe). You cannot expect RTS to become one of the biggest genres again, but it's still quite lively (yes, even outside of SC2 and AoE2) : RTS is fun, actually (and you can learn it): a video essay - CloudCuckooCountry : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl4myN8q_KM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl4myN8q_KM A list of upcoming(ish) RTSes : The Most Anticipated RTS Games in 2023 & 2024... SO MANY! - GamerZakh : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKujSK4FRWk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKujSK4FRWk (Notably, including BAR, another Spring-Recoil game.) (Yes, most of them will suck and fail, such is life.)

brucethemoose2 3y ago

The Planetary Annihilation devs are coming out with a factory-rts hybrid game akin to Mindustry. That seems the direction RTS is heading in general, hybridizing with other genres.

olavgg 3y ago
link?
- willis936 3y ago
  I want them to take my money. Update: They have taken my money. There are few groups that have kept my trust as well as these folks. I know they'll deliver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB49yJp-rJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB49yJp-rJI https://industrialannihilation.com/ https://industrialannihilation.com/
  - BlueTemplar 3y ago
    Very interesting, I wonder how they are going to balance supply chains being hard to set up but easy to disrupt ? It reminded me of an old game : Mechanized Assault & Exploration (M.A.X.) : https://www.gog.com/en/game/m_a_x_m_a_x_2 https://www.gog.com/en/game/m_a_x_m_a_x_2 Gameplay : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TdjQZz0lFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TdjQZz0lFY (stretched, sigh...) So you need to use surveyor units to scan for underground resources (metal, fuel, gold), build mines that extract them, but then also have to transport them (also ammo) to the place where they will be used (buildings, constructors, units) either by using specialized units or via connectors (think Factorio's overground pipes). It's quite complex, so it's turn based (either simultaneous real time, or sequential turns). M.A.X.2 also experimented with real time (as well as 3D map, inspired by Total Annihilation ?) but sadly it's basically a rushed mess. Annoyingly this brilliant game has been plagued for decades by memory issues : https://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_series/changing_dos_extenders_might_be_the_solution_for_all_of_us/post33 https://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_series/changing_dos_extender... But it looks like we finally have the solution as a "port" !! https://klei1984.github.io/max/ https://klei1984.github.io/max/ Seems to be working as advised (the only thing not working yet would be network multiplayer and some of the various non-critical bugs already present in the original game).

wheelerof4te 3y ago

Stormgate is one of the recent promising titles.

concordDance 3y ago

I'd still recommend it though, it's very fun.