4 ms·

I loved Red Alert 2 so much at release. Always was the pinnacle of (single player) RTS for me. The over-the-top characters, the cheesy story, the terrain intera

by warpspin 11mo ago

I loved Red Alert 2 so much at release. Always was the pinnacle of (single player) RTS for me. The over-the-top characters, the cheesy story, the terrain interactions... Everything afterwards felt lame and was geared too much towards multiplayer balance, which does not interest me the least.

teeray 11mo ago
> The over-the-top characters, the cheesy story I love that they don't take themselves too seriously in this series. RA3 had some hilarious cutscenes with characters barely holding it together (the Soviet Premier was an underrated Tim Curry role IMO).
- Xelbair 11mo ago
  "I'm escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism, barely holds laughter back and takes a break SPACE!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Sq1Nr58hM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Sq1Nr58hM
  - philistine 11mo ago
    He looked up! It's vital to mention that in this moment, renowned character actor Tim Curry, to highlight the fact that he was going to space, chose to look up!
  - ceejayoz 11mo ago
    I wish there was a behind-the-scenes of this.
- tomaskafka 11mo ago
  Absolutely! I don't have time to play a RTS campaign, but I watched the RA3 story cutscenes and they are the top of the genre.
- Anon_troll 11mo ago
  It's a shame the campaign of RA3 was boring. They got the theme and cutscenes right, but the campaign missions were rather slow, generic and forgettable. It's the opposite of C&C3, which had a good campaign but the theme was a step back from the scifi of Tiberian Sun. Especially the GDI/NOD units were way less futuristic, and the alien ones were a bit too similar to each other in style. The cutscenes were also mostly boring compared to earlier games. If I recall correctly, the expansion pack for C&C3 was much more interesting in these aspects, but the gameplay suffered.
- hkt 11mo ago
  "I'm escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism... SPAAACE!" A more innocent time tbh
ecshafer 11mo ago
Starcraft becoming uber popular in Korea I think really hurt the RTS genre. I did play RTS games online when I was younger. But I think you're right, Everything went from lets make a fun game with a cool campaign, to lets make an Esport. Company of Heroes 1 to 3, Dawn of War 1 to 2, Age of Empires 1,2,3 vs 4. You can really see this.
- emaro 11mo ago
  I think the campaigns of StarCraft II are amazing (never played Broodwar unfortunately). However I kinda agree that StarCraft's success hurt the RTS genre, because it's just so freaking good. 15 years since release and there are still tournaments played, it's fun to watch and projects like Stormgate have a really hard time, because SC2 is the bar and it's super difficult to reach. In terms of unit legibility, responsiveness, balance, etc. The bad thing is, it's not an approachable game at all, it mainly is interesting in the competitive/eSport scene. If I watch YT videos a la "New RTS games 2025/2026" there are very interesting projects which give me hope that SC2 is not the end of RTS games.
  - ecshafer 11mo ago
    A lot of the new RTS games I think just end up trying to be StarCraft but not. Grey Goo for example was one that came out a few years ago and it was just Starcraft with a new skin. I am not saying Starcraft is a bad game, its a fantastic game (though I do prefer Warcraft). But it kind of sucks the air out of the genre. Starcraft and Starcraft II, and Warcraft I,II,III had great campaigns. So it is kind of ironic that a lot of the games copying them cut the campaigns for the esports focus.
    - skocznymroczny 11mo ago
      If you think Grey Goo for just Starcraft with a new skin, check out Stormgate. They went so far to replicate almost all UI elements and put them in similar spots. With even things like the top ability bar which resembles Spear of Adun/coop commander interfaces in SC2.
    - 11mo ago
nkrisc 11mo ago
RA2 was loads of fun played with a friend over LAN against many computer opponents. We’d start the game up in one computer, then pop the CD out and start it up in the next one, and so on.
- OptionOfT 11mo ago
  Doesn't RA2 check serials over network? I do remember having to install IPX to play over LAN.
  - nkrisc 11mo ago
    I don't think it did, or at least not the version I had, though it's entirely possible I am misremembering. I know for certain we did the same thing with StarCraft as well. Somehow, we got multiple instances of RA2 running on a LAN.
  - LikesPwsh 11mo ago
    The original release came with separate Allied/Soviet discs. You could put one in your buddy's computer. Keygen was also easily available.
jayd16 11mo ago
There's a lot of things going against the RTS genre. They're technically challenging to make and creatively hard to balance. The public doesn't want to pay $60 upfront for a campaign when fun freemium games exist. The UX does not work well on controller so a huge amount of console players will be out of reach. Games tend to be quite long and because it's not team play matchmaking matters a lot. This push multiplayer into being highly competitive and not pushes out the casual players. Seems like Clash Royale likes are the best we've come up with to modernize the genre but of course its very different.
tshaddox 11mo ago
It was so fun even just as a sandbox. Like Age of Empires 2, they somehow just got the feel of everything so perfect. Deploying G.I.'s in sandbags and getting them promoted to veteran, so fun! Chaining prism towers, how delightful!
patates 11mo ago
rules.ini and rulesmd.ini are the 2 text files, in my life, I've spent the most time with. I'd probably lose another week if I had easy access to RA2 modding. Or let's say "experimenting and watching the AI burn" not to disrespect the real modders.
jajuuka 11mo ago
I got really into C&C with Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 was a big change but I fell in love with it for the same reasons you mentioned. It's been the most disappointing part of seeing them open source all the old games. That this amazing game AND Tiberian Sun won't be part of it because they lost the code. The "we made units this way because it's fun" philosophy is sorely missed. Every game feels like it goes through a tuning phase just for esports. Even if the game isn't out yet.

teeray 11mo ago

> The over-the-top characters, the cheesy story I love that they don't take themselves too seriously in this series. RA3 had some hilarious cutscenes with characters barely holding it together (the Soviet Premier was an underrated Tim Curry role IMO).

Xelbair 11mo ago
"I'm escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism, barely holds laughter back and takes a break SPACE!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Sq1Nr58hM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Sq1Nr58hM
- philistine 11mo ago
  He looked up! It's vital to mention that in this moment, renowned character actor Tim Curry, to highlight the fact that he was going to space, chose to look up!
- ceejayoz 11mo ago
  I wish there was a behind-the-scenes of this.
tomaskafka 11mo ago
Absolutely! I don't have time to play a RTS campaign, but I watched the RA3 story cutscenes and they are the top of the genre.
Anon_troll 11mo ago
It's a shame the campaign of RA3 was boring. They got the theme and cutscenes right, but the campaign missions were rather slow, generic and forgettable. It's the opposite of C&C3, which had a good campaign but the theme was a step back from the scifi of Tiberian Sun. Especially the GDI/NOD units were way less futuristic, and the alien ones were a bit too similar to each other in style. The cutscenes were also mostly boring compared to earlier games. If I recall correctly, the expansion pack for C&C3 was much more interesting in these aspects, but the gameplay suffered.
hkt 11mo ago
"I'm escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism... SPAAACE!" A more innocent time tbh

ecshafer 11mo ago

Starcraft becoming uber popular in Korea I think really hurt the RTS genre. I did play RTS games online when I was younger. But I think you're right, Everything went from lets make a fun game with a cool campaign, to lets make an Esport. Company of Heroes 1 to 3, Dawn of War 1 to 2, Age of Empires 1,2,3 vs 4. You can really see this.

emaro 11mo ago
I think the campaigns of StarCraft II are amazing (never played Broodwar unfortunately). However I kinda agree that StarCraft's success hurt the RTS genre, because it's just so freaking good. 15 years since release and there are still tournaments played, it's fun to watch and projects like Stormgate have a really hard time, because SC2 is the bar and it's super difficult to reach. In terms of unit legibility, responsiveness, balance, etc. The bad thing is, it's not an approachable game at all, it mainly is interesting in the competitive/eSport scene. If I watch YT videos a la "New RTS games 2025/2026" there are very interesting projects which give me hope that SC2 is not the end of RTS games.
- ecshafer 11mo ago
  A lot of the new RTS games I think just end up trying to be StarCraft but not. Grey Goo for example was one that came out a few years ago and it was just Starcraft with a new skin. I am not saying Starcraft is a bad game, its a fantastic game (though I do prefer Warcraft). But it kind of sucks the air out of the genre. Starcraft and Starcraft II, and Warcraft I,II,III had great campaigns. So it is kind of ironic that a lot of the games copying them cut the campaigns for the esports focus.
  - skocznymroczny 11mo ago
    If you think Grey Goo for just Starcraft with a new skin, check out Stormgate. They went so far to replicate almost all UI elements and put them in similar spots. With even things like the top ability bar which resembles Spear of Adun/coop commander interfaces in SC2.
  - 11mo ago

nkrisc 11mo ago

RA2 was loads of fun played with a friend over LAN against many computer opponents. We’d start the game up in one computer, then pop the CD out and start it up in the next one, and so on.

OptionOfT 11mo ago
Doesn't RA2 check serials over network? I do remember having to install IPX to play over LAN.
- nkrisc 11mo ago
  I don't think it did, or at least not the version I had, though it's entirely possible I am misremembering. I know for certain we did the same thing with StarCraft as well. Somehow, we got multiple instances of RA2 running on a LAN.
- LikesPwsh 11mo ago
  The original release came with separate Allied/Soviet discs. You could put one in your buddy's computer. Keygen was also easily available.

jayd16 11mo ago

There's a lot of things going against the RTS genre. They're technically challenging to make and creatively hard to balance. The public doesn't want to pay $60 upfront for a campaign when fun freemium games exist. The UX does not work well on controller so a huge amount of console players will be out of reach. Games tend to be quite long and because it's not team play matchmaking matters a lot. This push multiplayer into being highly competitive and not pushes out the casual players. Seems like Clash Royale likes are the best we've come up with to modernize the genre but of course its very different.

tshaddox 11mo ago

It was so fun even just as a sandbox. Like Age of Empires 2, they somehow just got the feel of everything so perfect. Deploying G.I.'s in sandbags and getting them promoted to veteran, so fun! Chaining prism towers, how delightful!

patates 11mo ago

rules.ini and rulesmd.ini are the 2 text files, in my life, I've spent the most time with. I'd probably lose another week if I had easy access to RA2 modding. Or let's say "experimenting and watching the AI burn" not to disrespect the real modders.

jajuuka 11mo ago

I got really into C&C with Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 was a big change but I fell in love with it for the same reasons you mentioned. It's been the most disappointing part of seeing them open source all the old games. That this amazing game AND Tiberian Sun won't be part of it because they lost the code. The "we made units this way because it's fun" philosophy is sorely missed. Every game feels like it goes through a tuning phase just for esports. Even if the game isn't out yet.