|
|
|
|
|
|
REAL-TIME STRATEGY
Real-time strategy, often abbreviated RTS, is a genre of computer games characterised by being wargames which take place in real-time, wherein resource gathering, base building, technology development and the player exerting direct control over individual units are key components. A common mistake is the belief that all strategic games played out in real time are "real-time strategy" games. Since real-time strategy is a commonly-recognised and well-established genre there is a common tendency to over-classify games as of the type.
Real-time strategy titles do not involve "turns" like turn-based strategy video or board games. Rather, game time progresses in "real time;" it is continuous rather than turn-by-turn. While the word "strategy" originally referred to high-level war planning (armies, campaigns and entire wars), in real-time strategy games individual units or persons are given orders; also integral to the gameplay of real-time strategy games are production-economic aspects (resource gathering, construction and positioning of buildings and production of units), and though military confrontation is a significant part of real-time strategy gameplay, it is most often heavily stylised with relatively little emphasis placed on realism or the detailed aspects of military tactics as contrasted to real-time tactics games.
History
1983 – 1992: the beginning
The genre that is today recognized as "real-time strategy" was the result of an extended period of evolution and refinement. Games that today are sometimes perceived as ancestors to the real-time strategy genre were never marketed or designed to fulfil the current criteria. As such designating "early real-time strategy" titles is problematic since a later category is employed on earlier exemplars. The genre initially evolved separately in the UK and North America, afterward gradually creating a unified worldwide tradition.
In the UK, the genre's beginning can be traced to Stonkers by John Gibson, published in 1983 by Imagine Software for the ZX Spectrum, and Nether Earth published on ZX Spectrum in 1987. In North America, the first game retrospectively classified as real-time strategy by most sources[1] is The Ancient Art of War (1984), designed by Evryware's Dave Murry and Barry Murry (published by Brøderbund), followed by the sequel The Ancient Art of War at Sea in 1987. Some writers list Intellivision Utopia by Don Daglow (1982) as the first real-time strategy game (although it was turn based), but what is considered to be real-time strategy gameplay is a secondary component of the game, and is more properly classified as the first sim game or god game. None of these games would today be recognized as proper RTS titles since they are lacking crucial RTS gameplay components, but they do feature territorial expansion and base conquering for increased troop inflow.
Herzog Zwei for the Sega Genesis in 1989 and Battle Master for the Amiga and Atari ST [1] in 1990 are perhaps the earliest examples of relatively full-featured real-time strategy games. Real-time strategy became recognized as a genre with the release of Dune II from Westwood Studios in 1992. It also was the first to create a format for real-time strategy games that is still used today; such as using the mouse to move units. Its success encouraged the development of such games as Stronghold (1993), Warcraft (1994), Command & Conquer (1995), Total Annihilation (1997), Age of Empires (1997), and StarCraft (1998); a core group of RTS games today more or less recognised as "standard".
1992 – 1998: defining the popular perception of RTS games
Though real-time strategy games have an extensive history, some titles more than others have served to define the popular perception of the genre and expectations of real-time strategy titles, and the games released between 1992 and 1998 by Blizzard Entertainment and the now-defunct Westwood Studios have, in particular, contributed to this. Westwood's Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (1992) introduced in one sweep all the core concepts of modern real-time strategy games, [2], and as such acted as the first significant prototype for the "modern" real-time strategy game with the features described in the definition above. As a note, the designers of Dune II traced its spiritual lineage back to the real-time city-building game SimCity (1989), and their previous game BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge (1990), a real-time wargame without base-building elements. Westwood Studios has recently been resurrected as Petroglyph, which designed Star Wars: Empire at War.
While Westwood Studios laid the foundation and provided the prototype for real-time strategy games with Dune II, Blizzard Entertainment, between 1994 and 1998, can be argued to be responsible for establishing the form and content of the genre as understood today. The company's famous Warcraft titles, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) and its sequel Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995), refined the concepts introduced in Dune II and arguably ushered in the era of contemporary real-time strategy gaming with its treatment of the burgeoning genre elements and groundbreaking popularity. Westwood's Command & Conquer (1995) and Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996), and Blizzard's StarCraft (1998), cemented the genre and provided a de facto standard against which new RTS games are still measured.
1998 - present
Refinement of gameplay and ongoing transition to 3D graphics
The real-time strategy genre has been relatively stable since 1995 and additions to the genre's concept in newer games tend to be quantitative (more units, larger maps, 3D terrain etc) rather than qualitative (innovations to the game concept), and new games generally focus on refining aspects of successful predecessors. As the paragon example of gameplay refinement, Cavedog Entertainment's acclaimed Total Annihilation from 1997 distilled the core mechanics of Command & Conquer, and introduced the first 3D units in real-time strategy games. In 1997, Microsoft tried to combine elements of Civilization with the real-time strategy concept in Age of Empires by introducing ages of technologies, a combination refined further by Stainless Steel Studios' Empire Earth in 2001. GSC Gameworld's Cossacks: European Wars series took the genre in a different direction, bringing population caps into the tens of thousands. Big Huge Games' Rise of Nations (2003) attempted the integration of many of the core concepts of turn-based and real-time strategy games.
Real-time strategy has been one of the genres most resistant to being taken over by 3D, with Homeworld (1999) and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) being the first successful 3D real-time strategy titles.[citation needed] Though the games were released four years apart, few, if any, other 3D real-time strategy games between those years achieved significant popularity. Fully 3D real-time strategy games were attempted several times before this, but due to persistent issues, especially with camera control and short viewing distances, only recently becoming the mainstream. As of 2006 most real-time strategy titles tend to be in full 3D, but with constrained camera angles to decrease interface complexity.
Relatively few genres have emerged from or in competition with real-time strategy games. Real-time tactical games, a superficially similar genre, emerged around 1995. In 1998 Activision attempted to combine the real-time strategy and first-person shooter genres in Battlezone, which was critically acclaimed, but beyond a sequel and the Hostile Waters (Rage Games Limited, 2002) games, spawned few followers.
Specialisation of gameplay models and genre ambiguity
As of 2006, real-time strategy is an established genre, but the number of titles released are diminishing compared to the peak around the year 2000. Furthermore, many real-time strategy games currently under development are tending to break away from traditional gameplay elements sometimes making genre categorisation problematic.
The first such trend is toward an increased focus on tactics - real-time strategy titles such as Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Star Wars: Empire at War and the forthcoming Company of Heroes have replaced the traditional resource gathering model (where designated resource gathering units collect the resources used for producing further units or buildings) with a strategic control-point system (where control over strategic points progressively yields construction/reinforcement points). Dawn of War also replaces individual units with "squads." Other games forgo the real-time strategy model in its entirety; for instance games of the real-time tactics genre, like the Total War and Close Combat series.
A second trend of movement from the traditional real-time strategy game model is the addition of other genre elements. An example is Sins of a Solar Empire, currently under development by Ironclad Games, which mixes elements of grand-scale stellar empire building games like Master of Orion with real-time strategy elements, but pushing the conflict gameplay closer to a real-time tactics model. Another game with similar ambitions is Supreme Commander by Gas Powered Games, due for release in 2007. Thus, from a situation where real-time strategy games have been relatively uniform and easily classifiable, released titles now often seem to be genre-straddling and more difficult to exclusively position in traditional categories.
The future
Real-time strategy games continue to undergo refinement in tactics, while a few forays into other genres continue to be attempted. The upcoming Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War allows players to take control of a hero unit for a specified amount of time, allowing a player to tip a battle in their favor by directly controlling the hero from third-person view. Company of Heroes has fully destructible environments and a powerful physics engine with tactical warfare while easing many micromanagement issues in previous games. This allows for a new approach to warfare in real-time strategy games. Sins of a Solar Empire, due for release in 2006 and Supreme Commander, due for release in 2007, will attempt to combine tactical warfare over a huge scale never before seen in an RTS. Ironclad Games has coined the term RT4X to describe this new sub-genre.
There is a new genre of real-time strategy games that is emmerging, called MMORTS. The Genre is a combination of Real time strategy and MMORPG.
Gameplay
Because of the generally faster-paced nature (and in some cases a smaller learning curve), real-time strategy games have surpassed the popularity of turn-based strategy computer games. In the past some traditional strategy gamers regarded RTS games as "cheap imitations" of turn-based games, arguing that RTS games had a tendency to devolve into "clickfests", in which the player who was faster with the mouse generally won, because they could give orders to their units at a faster rate. Real-time strategy enthusiasts counter that micromanagement involves not just fast clicking but also the ability to make sound tactical decisions under time pressure. Though late in emerging, massively multiplayer online real-time strategy (MMORTS) games combine aspects of massively multiplayer with real-time strategy. However, the MMORTS genre has not become popular and many people claim that it is virtually impossible to create an MMORTS without giving up traditional RTS gameplay.
The more recent generations of real-time strategy games usually have features which reduce the importance of fast mousework, enabling the player to focus more on overall strategy. For example, "queuing" allows a player to put in an order for multiple units at once from a single building, as opposed to requiring a player to return to that building to order each unit separately. The ability to set waypoints allows a player to give multiple movement commands to a unit at once. Most games also give each unit strengths and weaknesses, discouraging players from easily defeating an opponent with simple "rush" tactics or "swarm" tactics in favour of more balanced armies.
However, some games do not allow the player to create new units, or build bases. Some of these games include Myth and Ground Control. These games are purely tactical, forcing the player to play only with the units he or she is given. Due to their fundamentally different gameplay these are defined as "real-time tactical" games".
Most real-time strategy games also feature single-player campaigns - a series of missions where a human player plays against the computer with predefined scenarios and objectives, usually within the context of a background story. Often, each mission has a different style of play, sometimes dramatically so. It has become common for single-player campaigns to include at least one mission with no base construction or resource-gathering; typically at the start of these missions the player is given a number of combat units, occasionally with a "hero" unit. These units must be used to complete the mission in a level which is usually mazelike; often additional units can be gained as reinforcements or rescued as the mission progresses. These missions eliminate the resource-gathering and military building aspect, known as macromanagement, and focus solely on micromanagement. Also, different titles place different emphasis on the macro and micro aspects.
Micro-management games
Micro-management games allow an army and base to be built, but they limit the size of the army (sometimes, rather severely). The purpose of this is to create more of a tactical atmosphere.
By limiting the size of the army, the game requires a player to intelligently utilize his or her limited troops. This is more similar to the real-time tactics genre. Good examples of this type of game are Warcraft III, where further units require more "upkeep", and Battle Realms, which allows only a maximum of 40 units. To simplify the control, however, a player may combine individual units into groups. This is even more prominent in the game ArenaWars, where every player only has 1000 credits to build units.
A similar concept exists in the game Outpost 2 where importance is placed on micro-managing the morale of the colonists living in the game, although combat is still an important factor.
Macro-management games
On the other end of the scale are the macro-management games. These titles have more of a focus on economic production and large-scale strategic maneuvering, and include games such as Age of Empires II, Empire Earth, Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, Sins of a Solar Empire and Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. A prime example is Cossacks: European Wars, where there is no population limit on units and there is no limit on how many units may be controlled at once.
Graphics
As the genre grew, some real-time strategy games attempted to break away from the 2D board-like view of Dune II and the original Warcraft to richer 3D environments, most notable among these Stronghold (1993). Myth (1997), though a real-time tactics game rather than a RTS game, pioneered the use of 3D in real-time wargames. Total Annihilation (1997) was the first true real-time strategy game to utilize 3D units, though not 3D terrain. Homeworld and Warzone 2100 (both released in 1999), pioneered the use of fully 3D environments in RTS titles. In the case of Homeworld, the game is set in space, offering a true 3D environment in which players are required to think three-dimensionally, as all units can move vertically in addition to the horizontal plane that was standard for RTS games of the time. However, the switch to full 3D was very gradual and most RTS titles, f.i. Stronghold and many futuristic games, including the first sequels to Command and Conquer, initially used isometric 3D graphics made by pre-rendered 3D tiles. Only in later years did these games began to use true 3D graphics, making it possible to rotate the view of the battlefield in real-time, instead of in 90 degree jumps as per Stronghold. These effects became even more visually detailed in later games, such as Warcraft III, Empire Earth, and Command & Conquer: Generals.
Recently, real-time strategy games have begun to incorporate physics engines, such as Havok, in order to increase realism. The first real-time strategy game to use a physics engine was Ensemble Studio's Age of Empires III, released on October 18, 2005,[2] which used the Havok Game Dynamics SDK to power its real-time physics.
Popular franchises
Future games
Some future releases:
Notes
- ^ RTSC Historical RTS List. Retrieved on August 5, 2006.
- ^ "Havok Enables Age of Empires III" (October 18, 2005).Havok announces the use of the Havok Game Dynamics SDK in Age of Empires III
See also
External links
|
|
|
|
|