[HN Gopher] A Dialog in Real Time (Strategy)
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       A Dialog in Real Time (Strategy)
        
       Author : devinjon
       Score  : 37 points
       Date   : 2023-07-02 10:42 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.filfre.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.filfre.net)
        
       | hartator wrote:
       | Funny that the RTS gender seems to be dyeing again. Starcraft 2
       | was - is - super popular, but it has been already more than 10
       | years!
       | 
       | Homeworld 3 is promising, but is far from getting the press it
       | should. C&C died trying to transition to mobile. Total Wars are
       | still very alive though.
        
       | TulliusCicero wrote:
       | There's some sentiment in the RTS sphere that we may be seeing a
       | modest resurgence in RTS interest at the moment, led by upcoming
       | titles like Tempest Rising and Stormgate. That AoE2's developers
       | seem to be doing a great job with continuing to release new
       | content for the venerable, still-popular title also helps (it
       | even got released for Xbox recently), some Total Annihilation-
       | like fans are _really_ enthused about Beyond All Reason, and
       | horde defense RTSes like They Are Billions and Age of Darkness
       | seem to be gradually becoming more popular /common.
       | 
       | There's actually still a decent number of RTSes that get released
       | each year, but...they generally don't make much of a splash,
       | other than a few standouts like Age of Empires 4 and Company of
       | Heroes 3 (though even neither of those has done terribly well
       | really, especially the latter).
        
         | BolexNOLA wrote:
         | I just can't find a good space one to scratch the itch that
         | Sins of a Solar Empire left me. Stellaris doesn't cut it. The
         | constant blitz to expand at the cost of literally anything and
         | the non-viability of 95% of non-expansion focused strategies
         | just sucks the fun out for me.
        
           | icegreentea2 wrote:
           | Dunno if you know, but Sins 2 is in development. Stardock
           | released it in Alpha state on Epic late last year (you can go
           | and buy it now, and play through the 'Technical Preview'
           | releases). They do seem to have multiplayer up and running.
           | 
           | I haven't bought it or really followed how things are going
           | in detail.
        
             | BolexNOLA wrote:
             | I did not! Thank you!
        
           | endominus wrote:
           | Have you looked at Falling Frontier? Not quite the same, but
           | some of the ideas in it (like resources being physical items
           | that actually need to be moved around from harvesting area to
           | production facilities, rather than abstract "metals" and
           | "credits" that can be instantly deployed anywhere) look
           | really fascinating.
        
         | bob1029 wrote:
         | I'd say there is a significant resurgence at the moment, but it
         | won't hit mainstream for a while.
         | 
         | Just take a look at SC2 arcade and Supreme Commander FAF
         | activity if you need examples of a very intense fire that won't
         | be put out. FAF in particular has been extremely active
         | relative to where it was just a few years ago. It's also
         | probably the most friendly international gaming community I've
         | ever witnessed.
         | 
         | I've been dreaming of building an RTS as my next project.
         | Something exactly in-line with a C&C Generals, BFME2 or AOE2
         | experience. Getting kind of bored with the domain of fintech
         | these days.
        
           | beebeepka wrote:
           | Huh, I've been playing SC2 for about 14 years now and have no
           | idea what SC2 arcade is.
           | 
           | I think the game is pretty much dead but don't take my word
           | for it. Just look how much money Blizzard is spending on it.
           | Scraps. Literally. I guess it's hard to monetize because
           | there isn't much room for vanity in such a game.
           | 
           | That said, history often rhymes. I care little about fashion
           | but it's hard to miss the endless repetition every few years.
           | Same with music, interior design, politics, and so many other
           | things in life
        
       | cevn wrote:
       | Strange choice to release an article about RTS without mentioning
       | Starcraft. I still play frequently as do plenty others, despite
       | naysayers claiming the genre as dead for 5+ years. Stormgate
       | coming out soon will hopefully scratch the itch for a sequel.
        
         | brezelgoring wrote:
         | The article's timeline ends in '96, two years before the
         | release of Starcraft.
         | 
         | I think it's more about the origin of the genre rather than
         | it's greatest exponents. I believe an honest retrospective on
         | RTS should also include Warcraft 3, RA2, AoE2 (!) and Cannon
         | Fodder, among many other titles.
         | 
         | I share your sentiment about Stormgate, I hope I get to play it
         | without having to upgrade my PC, at least.
        
         | themadturk wrote:
         | You can bet that Jimmy will talk about it within the next few
         | months.
        
       | karpierz wrote:
       | I don't think the RTS genre died; I think it evolved. Two of the
       | most popular games in the world, League of Legends and DotA2, are
       | RTS games. The Total War franchise keeps on kicking. Auto-
       | battlers like Teamfight Tactics and Mechabellum mix real-time
       | analysis with turn-based decision making.
       | 
       | It's the old school style of RTS that's dying; harvest resources
       | to build units and beat your opponent. But that style of game was
       | perfected with the release of Brood War, and the core mechanics
       | haven't been improved on since.
        
         | Capricorn2481 wrote:
         | I have no evangelism for the RTS genre, but I don't consider a
         | MOBA the same as an RTS. MOBAs are only real time strategy in
         | the sense that it's a game you can't pause where you need to
         | think strategically, and coincidentally has a birds eye view
         | just because it was a WC3 mod. I mean, Smite is a third person
         | MOBA. Is that an RTS?
         | 
         | Doesn't mean they are less valid of games, it's just not what I
         | think of. To me, controlling more than one unit is pretty
         | central to what an RTS is. It scratches a certain
         | commander/godlike itch that other games don't. And those things
         | you list (harvesting resources, building units) aren't
         | absolutely critical to the genre. Company of Heroes is
         | considered an RTS by many
        
           | dandellion wrote:
           | Another trait MOBAs share with RTS is that they use click-to-
           | move, despite WASD being used in most real-time action game
           | genres. The other exception being Diablo (which I believe
           | uses CTM because it evolved from a turn-based strategy game).
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-03 23:02 UTC)