RTS thread

[Anonymous No.2090956]

I find it weird how /vr/ talks so little about RTS games, especially with how it's a dead genre nowadays and like 3/4 of the gems were released in the /vr/-relevant timeframe.

Talk about RTS games here, tell us your gaming stories, share your favorites, post anything relevant to the RTS genre.

I am particularly interested in the more obscure titles (i.e. not AoE, -craft, TA or C&C), which were a dime a dozen after SC's release, but remain a very obscure and scarcely explored page in video game history. I can share a couple titles if someone like me's played all the big RTS titles to death and wants to play something obscure and fresh.

[Anonymous No.2090960]

Well, I come here to discuss pre-2000s games, and I honestly don't think that pre-2000 strategy games are very good. Sure, Starcraft is great, but I don't still play it or anything.

But I do have an obscure RTS for you. Here's SSI's Blood and Magic. Because what everyone wanted was an RTS game based on TSR's Dungeons and Dragons license. I guess. It isn't a straight up C&C clone like most, but it is fairly similar in general structure. Gets really damn tough towards the end, too. I have no idea why I own this game. I think my brother bought it. It was kind of fun, but frustrating.

[Anonymous No.2090965]

I agree, aside from a few early 2000s games every rts I have enjoyed has been in /vr/s timeframe. Usually that would be good, but as you also said no one wants to talk about it, or really any other strategy genre. I have made threads before about it, but they have rather premature deaths unfortunately.
Right now, I am playing Homeworld, I am only on the seventh mission, right after I fought the defenders of the holy sector. That battle was fucking intense, only have a handful of units left. Now I am relaxing while my harvesters hollow this fucking horrible place out. Any rts games like this other than the other 2 Homeworld games available?

[Anonymous No.2090981]

There is a pretty good RTS called Submarine Titans. It is an interesting little gem, clearly is influenced by StarCraft. The whole game is underwater oriented, gotta check it out.

[Anonymous No.2091153]

RTS is a genre that when I was young I never explored much because I was utter shit at them.
I became decent when I started getting interested in competitive SC2 around 2011, and figured out what had been holding me back all that time: build more than one production facility.
I shit you not, it had never occurred to me.

Pretty much the only /vr/ RTSs I know are SCBW and WC2. I think SCBW is the best overall, old and modern. The 12-unit selection limit literally makes the game fun, especially compared to unrestricted selection like in SC2.

[Anonymous No.2091164]

>>2091153
>it had never occurred to me.
I was the same.
It felt weird to eventually go back and replay some old RTS with a little know-hows and blowing through the scenarios that used to be borderline impossible for me to beat.

[Anonymous No.2091202]

i got total annihilation with my first pc in 1998,fucking loved it but ive not really tried any other RTS game apart from some obscure ones which seemed shit in comparison.Ive yet to play command and conquer but i cant imagine it being better than Total annihilation

[Anonymous No.2091239]

>>2090981
Please tell me there are timed escort missions.

[Anonymous No.2091364]

>>2090956
It's kinda funny how big rts games were back in the 90s and how they've mosly disappeared now.

[Anonymous No.2091367]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cq9adyPyGc

[Anonymous No.2091370]

>>2091364
The elitist fag in me wants to say that RTS is a genre that you can't water down and casualise too much.

[Anonymous No.2091373]

>>2091370
Except of course you can. RTS itself was a watered down casualization of the TBS until StarCraft arrived.

[Anonymous No.2091934]

>>2090960
>I honestly don't think that pre-2000 strategy games are very good.
>what is EVERY FUCKING WESTWOOD C&C

[Anonymous No.2092437]

>>2091239
Only found out about the game not too long ago, so I don't know. I have played only the first mission so far. Though googling does bring up some promising results, saying that there are escort missions.

[Anonymous No.2092446]

>>2091934
>sid meyers golden years
>blizzards golden years
>team 7's golden years
>westwood studios golden years
>microprose golden years
>ensemble studios golden years
>ET FUCKING CETERA
>>I honestly don't think that pre-2000 strategy games are very good.
clearly most would disagree. he just might not have liked games based on strategy.

[Anonymous No.2092507]

>tfw I want to discuss about the RPG/RTS hybrid Warlords Battlecry on /vr/ but the series is mostly post-2000.

[Anonymous No.2092514]

I really with they would continue the Myth series. There really isn't anything comparable these days in the real time tatics area.

Myth 2 still holds up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWmyTLKXRBc

[Anonymous No.2092546]

A myth video since why not I guess

http://youtu.be/cYBNln7BE7M?t=2m25s

[Anonymous No.2092547]

>>2092507
Never heard of it, but I sort of know that feel. I want to discuss games like Diablo 2 and other games that were made after 2000 for the operating system Windows 98, but that is a no go even though the system was made pre-2000. Meanwhile, fans of consoles or earlier computers can discuss homebrew made fucking yesterday and emulators created for systems today. It makes no fucking sense.

I really wish the restriction was all 2D or something. That way the board would be true retro, the rules would be more clear, and also there wouldn't be the cocktease of shit released a month after some arbitrary cutoff.

Anyways, the game looks really good. Could you create a thread on /v/ and link it here? I am real interested in it.

[Anonymous No.2092554]

>>2092547
>I really wish the restriction was all 2D or something.
But there's a lot of retro games that are 3D and modern games that are 2D...

[Anonymous No.2092607]

>>2092554
It isn't very relevant to the thread, but I will respond just so you understand what I mean. There are a lot of OLD games, not retro, that are 3D. By definition, a retro videogame cannot be 3D. Videogames started off two dimensional, 3D was a deviation from the norm, it cannot be retro. As such, it would be discussed on /v/, MODERN games, as 3D is the modern norm. And allowing newer games would be the whole point of ONLY 2D, so people could talk about great games like Diablo II, Warlords Battlecry, among many other 2D post-2000 games that I just don't fucking know because it isn't allowed to be discussed here. It just makes more sense to me that a retro board should have RETRO games, from eight generations ago to now. I would talk about this on /q/, but for some reason it is gone now.

[Anonymous No.2092615]

>>2092607

[Anonymous No.2092636]

>>2092547
>true retro
There's no such thing. "Retro" is just a buzzword in the videogame world. Every person interprets it in a different want.
For some it means indie games with square pixels. For some CRTs. On 4chan it means 15 year-old games.
For me it means I want to discuss videogames but /v/ is too much shit.

[Anonymous No.2092647]

Anyone else play Metal Fatigue? Great concept of a mecha-based RTS where you customized the weapons and armor of each mech. They even had pilot names so you'd get emotionally attached and it felt like a big deal when you lost one. It had some cool features, like you could recover wreckage from enemy mechs and incorporate them into your own but the orbit-ground-underground division of the maps was a terrible idea. It was frustrating to split your attention between three completely different maps at once and the subterranean section without the mechs was completely unfun.

[Anonymous No.2092658]

>>2092636
Definitions do change overtime, though retros definition, to my knowledge, has always meant imitative of a style from the past. It really doesn't matter though, /vr/'s purpose it too engraved, as is /v/'s. Though I would very much prefer a /2v/ and /3v/.

>>2092647
Sounds interesting, would you recommend trying it?

[Anonymous No.2092906]

>>2092507
>want to share a pet obscure starcraft clone of mine
>it was released in 2001

[Anonymous No.2092912]

>>2092906
>want to discuss C&C3

[Anonymous No.2092921]

Anyone have a link to download this game? I love it, its definitely one of my all time favorites and the capture the flag as resource mechanic is really awesome, its kind of interesting that no one picked up on that mechanic until like Company of Heroes and Dawn of War.

[Anonymous No.2092929]

>>2092446
I just don't think there's all that much to the Command and Conquer format. Starcraft pretty much perfected it, so other titles seem pretty lame by comparison. And yeah, I loved Civ 2, but not particularly more than Civ 3.

[Anonymous No.2092930]

>>2092921
It's on Steam, so I'd assume you can also find it on the 'bay.

[Anonymous No.2092936]

>>2092929
Also, I mis-typed somewhat, when I meant to say "RTS" I said Strategy, when I meant to preclude stuff like Civ 2.

[Anonymous No.2092958]

>>2092930
Type Z into the 'bay and sift through 1000 results...

[Anonymous No.2092959]

>>2092921

it's $3.49 on steam bro... just buy it.. I just bought it literally just now

[Anonymous No.2093064]

>>2092958
I wanted to shame you and tell you how easily I had managed to find it, but fuck it, you're right, it's impossible.
I only managed to find Z Steel Soldiers. The user who uploaded that probably did Z too, but you can't filter user's uploads on TPB, or I don't think so at least.

[Anonymous No.2093074]

>>2091367
I love War Wind. It was ahead of its time in so many ways. Individual upgrades and inventory for all units, fighting in buildings, stealth system, pretty complex economy...

The sequel was kinda bad though.

[Anonymous No.2093075]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eltechs.es&hl=ru

this thing can play C&C, Starcraft and Warcrafts too.

[Anonymous No.2093271]

>>2092547
>>2092658

Let me add my view on this discussion. In the broadest sense, we can define retro in two ways: 1) games which are imitative of the past or 2) games which are from the past.

/vr/'s definition is more like 2), but it really has it's own problems because it uses a fixed cutoff date. This means the number of excluded games grows every day.

I would like to really defend option 2) over 1) though. 3D games have been evolving too, and the old ones grow more and more different from the new ones (just look at FPSes).

Also, there is is a plain old "discussion cliff" effect that applies equally to all old games, even the 3D ones that aren't imitating a specific game from the 80s and 90s. Games from 10 or 15 years ago are talked about far less often than games 5 years ago, which are talked less often than 2 years ago, etc. It would be nice to have dedicated places for people like us to still talk about them.

[Anonymous No.2093279]

>>2092912
>C&C 3 and Warcraft 3 are my favourite RTSes of all time

I-I guess I l-liked Age of Empires and Red Alert 2?
>RA2 released in 2000

FUCK

[Anonymous No.2093294]

About to play Dark Omen for the first time in about 14 years.

CHAAAAAAARGE!

WE FEAR THE ENEMY!

WE'RE TERRIFIED!

FLEE THE BATTLE!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!

[Anonymous No.2093296]

>>2092906
>>2092912
>>2092507
>>2092658
>>2093271
I honestly just go on /vr/ to talk about cool videogames without people screaming memes like /v/ or pulling huge circlejerk shitposting sprees like /vg/, and most of my favourite videogames come from the PS2 era of gaming. I can't wait in 15 years when i'm still a poor skinny guy who goes on 4chan I can discuss games like Dark Cloud and such on a board that doesn't require sifting through shit to get to a cool discussion about video games

But this is completely off topic at this point. My favourite RTS is Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds 2 which is still barely not /vr/ but it's a reskin of Age of Empires so it might as well be which I fully acknowledge is a cheap reskin but for some reason I found shooting lasers and having big stompy mechs more satisfying than 3 knights against a few hussars

[Anonymous No.2093321]

>>2093294
click and click on a "fist pump" button IIRC

[Anonymous No.2093323]

>>2093296
what were they thinking...

[Anonymous No.2093324]

>>2093321
TO THE DEATH

My parents were sure I was going to break the mouse. I perfected that clicking down to a fine art.

[Anonymous No.2093343]

I was thinking of playing KKND 1/2 again. Has it aged well? Will my nostalgia be crushed?

[Anonymous No.2093451]

>>2093279
It's a well known fact that this is fine for the same reason as remakes are fine, just make it C&C general. We discuss Dragon Quarter all the time in BoF threads.

God, can a thread not get overrun with "muh not retro feels" whenever someone mentions it?

sage for meta

[Anonymous No.2093456]

Settlers 2 anyone?

[Anonymous No.2093504]

>>2093343
The interface is a little clunky and pathfinding fails when there are too many units, but I played KKND 2 last year just fine.

[Anonymous No.2093596]

>>2093343
Still playing it, evolved campaign is kicking my ass.

That fucking music is truly goat

[Anonymous No.2093607]

>>2093504
Pathfinding was a problem back when the game was released too. I remember it was criticized that units would always take the most suicidal route to a given location.

[Anonymous No.2093613]

Motherfucking Knights and Merchants, clunky combat but awesome city building, lovely visuals and good soundtrack. Try it if you didn't played it, it's on gog for few bucks

[Anonymous No.2093686]

>>2093456
first one for me, but 2 is probably better I admit. I just like the graphics and sound effects.

[Anonymous No.2093809]

>>2093296
god, galactic battlegrounds was amazing

[Anonymous No.2094219]

>>2093613
The remake is also free on some German website called DLH.net along with a few other games, for steam.
http://www.dlh.net/en/gaming-news/46076/steam-key-giveaway-for-knights-and-merchants-hd-for-all-dlhnet-visitors.html Signup process isn't too bad, and the free game offers never seem to expire so even if you missed the first five reveals so you can still download them.

[Anonymous No.2094450]

>>2094219
Just registered like a poor nigga i am. What do now? Should i just post my mail into comments section like that huge hivemind?

[Anonymous No.2094459]

>>2094450
NOPE, don't do that. Not sure what would happen. I cannot log in for some reason, but I think you just go to "Account" and then somewhere on there should be a list of your games. I will log in to check, those people in the comments section are fucking retarded though.

[Anonymous No.2094471]

>>2094459
Yeah, click "Profile/Keys" in the top right after logging in, and then scroll down. Then you can snag the 6 (7 plus some beta) keys.

[Anonymous No.2094474]

>>2094459
aaah, got it, i'm fucking blind dude, thanks for the help

[Anonymous No.2094501]

I loved Empire Earth. It's basically a modified Age of Empires with fifteen different eras, spanning all the way from prehistoria to sci-fi future. Cool campaign missions based on history too.

And the nukes were spectacular.

[Anonymous No.2094510]

>>2094501
Holy damn man, german campaign was so based, this game is the shit

[Anonymous No.2094780]

>>2094501
This game always pissed me off because I always had to play on island/space maps. Otherwise the AI would expand so fast it was impossible to kill them.

But I fucking love that game. The second one was pretty bad tbh, and I never even played the third. But fuck I spent so much time on the first...

[Anonymous No.2097349]

Hey guys, try Kingdom under Fire: War of Heroes (easier to get as Kingdom under Fire Gold). It's like Warcraft 2 with better graphics, actually different races and shitty diablo-like missions thrown in for no reason. Also, voices of those dark elven sluts always made me hard when i was young. Good times

[Anonymous No.2098442]

>>2094780
>Otherwise the AI would expand so fast it was impossible to kill them.

There's a trick to winning skirmish games in Empire Earth. Unlike a lot of RTSs, it cannot be won simply by turtling in your base until you've amassed enough power to kill the enemy in one sweep--the combined factors of near-limitless resources, ease of construction, and durability of buildings means that the defender in any situation has a huge advantage and can easily replace any losses in the time it takes for the attacker to bring in new reinforcements.

Instead, approach it as if it were a game of gradual territory conquest, like Risk. With liberal use of walls, towers, and fortresses, you must systematically capture resource nodes and secure them against counterattack. Just keep expanding, one resource node at a time, until your borders meet the enemy's borders, and then expand some more.

One single match can take hours upon hours, but it provides a unique experience compared to the glut of RTSs out there that can be won with a single deathball ordered to attack-move.

[Crimson King !oj1MW0xW/2 No.2098512]

>>2092507
The third game is my favorite game of all time


Sadly the map/modding community is dead for the most part :(((

[Anonymous No.2099091]

Now for the timeless question:

Attack or defence upgrade first?

[Anonymous No.2099113]

>>2099091
I always do Attack first.

[Anonymous No.2099130]

>>2097349
I remember this, it was like a hybrid between Warcraft 2 and Starcraft, but worse than both. Still a decent game.

The Diablo-style levels were shit, they only added them because they tried to emulate Warcraft 3 (which wasn't even out yet), but they didn't get the whole RTS/RPG thing.

[Anonymous No.2099139]

>>2098512

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/R1u92p1a6HU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Anonymous No.2099146]

>>2098512


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1u92p1a6HU