Real-time strategy
Encyclopedia
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game
which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry
is credited with coining the term to market Dune II
.
In a RTS, as in other wargames, the participants position and maneuver units and structures under their control to secure areas of the map and/or destroy their opponents' assets. In a typical RTS, it is possible to create additional units and structures during the course of a game. This is generally limited by a requirement to expend accumulated resources
. These resources are in turn garnered by controlling special points on the map and/or possessing certain types of units and structures devoted to this purpose. More specifically, the typical game of the RTS genre features resource gathering, base building, in-game technological development and indirect control of units.
The tasks a player must perform to succeed at a RTS can be very demanding, and complex user interfaces have evolved to cope with the challenge. Some features have been borrowed from desktop environment
s, most prominently the technique of "clicking and dragging" to select all units under a given area.
Though some game genres share conceptual and gameplay similarities with the RTS template, recognized genres are generally not subsumed as RTS games. For instance, city-building game
s, construction and management simulation
s, and games of the real-time tactics
variety are generally not considered to be "real-time strategy".
At least one source considers Intellivision
's Utopia
by Don Daglow
(1982) to be an early real-time strategy game. In Utopia, two players build resources and carry out combat by proxy. It contains the direct-manipulation tactical combat now common in that the players can assume direct control over a PT boat and sink the opponent's fishing boats. However, the game used a turn-based strategy
interface, though one where the turns are timed. Another early example from the same year is Legionnaire
on the Atari 8-bit family
, written by Chris Crawford
for Avalon Hill
. This was effectively the opposite of Utopia, in that it offered a complete real-time tactical combat system with variable terrain and mutual-help concepts, but lacked any resource collection and economy/production concepts. As a result, this game might be better considered an early forerunner of the real-time tactics
, or RTT, genre.
In the United Kingdom, 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 oldest game retrospectively classified as real-time strategy by several sources isThe Ancient Art of War (1984), designed by Evryware
's Dave and Barry Murry, followed by the sequel The Ancient Art of War at Sea
in 1987, although Dani Bunten Berry's (of M.U.L.E fame) Cytron Masters
(1982), developed by Ozark Softscape
and released by SSI, also has been considered the earliest game of the genre.
In Japan, the genre's beginning can be traced to Bokosuka Wars
(1983), an early strategy RPG
(or "simulation RPG"); the game revolves around the player leading an army across a battlefield against enemy forces in real-time while recruiting/spawning soldiers along the way, for which it is considered by Ray Barnholt of 1UP.com
to be an early prototype real-time strategy game. This led to several other games that combine role-playing
and real-time strategy elements, such as the 1988 Kure Software Koubou
computer strategy RPGs, First Queen
and Silver Ghost, which featured an early example of a point-and-click
interface, to control characters using a cursor. Another early title with real-time strategy elements was Sega
's Gain Ground
(1988), a strategy-action game
that involved directing a set of troops across various enemy-filled levels. TechnoSoft
's Herzog (1988) is regarded as a precursor to the real-time strategy genre, being the predecessor to Herzog Zwei and somewhat similar in nature, though primitive in comparison.
Scott Sharkey of 1UP considers Cytron Masters and other real-time examples prior to Herzog Zwei to be tactical
rather than strategic, due to most lacking the ability to construct units or manage resources. Herzog Zwei
, released for the Sega Genesis in 1989, is the earliest example of a game with a feature set that falls under the contemporary definition of modern real-time strategy. In Herzog Zwei, though the player only controls one unit, the manner of control foreshadowed the point-and-click mechanic of later games. It introduced much of the genre conventions, including unit construction and resource management, with the control and destruction of bases being an important aspect of the game, as were the economic/production aspects of those bases.
Notable as well are early games like Mega Lo Mania
by Sensible Software
(1991) and Supremacy (also called Overlord - 1990). Although these two lacked direct control of military units, they both offered considerable control of resource management and economic systems. In addition, Mega Lo Mania has advanced technology trees that determine offensive and defensive prowess. Another early (1988) game, Carrier Command
by Realtime Games
, involved real-time responses to events in the game, requiring management of resources and control of vehicles. The early game Sim Ant by Maxis
(1991) had resource gathering, and controlling an attacking army by having them follow a lead unit. However, it was with the release of Dune II
from Westwood Studios
(1992) that real-time strategy became recognized as a distinct genre of video games.
and Blizzard Entertainment
.
Westwood's Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
(1992) featured all the core concepts and mechanics of modern real-time strategy games that are still used today, such as using the mouse to move units, and gathering resources, and as such served as the prototype for later real-time strategy games. According to its co-designer and lead programmer, Joe Bostic, a "benefit over Herzog Zwei is that we had the advantage of a mouse and keyboard. This greatly facilitated precise player control, which enabled the player to give orders to individual units. The mouse, and the direct control it allowed, was critical in making the RTS genre possible.”
The success of Dune II encouraged several games which became influential in their own right. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) achieved great prominence upon its release, owing in part to its use of a fantasy setting and also to its depiction of a wide variety of buildings (such as farms) which approximated a full fictitious society, not just a military force. Command & Conquer became the first popular RTS game to utilize competitive multiplayer. Command & Conquer, as well as Command and Conquer: Red Alert, became the most popular early RTS games. These two games contended with Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
after its release in late 1995.
Total Annihilation
, released by Cavedog Entertainment
in 1997, introduced 3D units and terrain and focused on huge battles that emphasized macromanagement over micromanagement. It featured a streamlined interface that would influence many RTS games in later years. Age of Empires, released by Ensemble Studios
in 1997 try to put a game in a slower pace, combining elements of Civilization
with the real-time strategy concept by introducing ages of technologies. In 1998, Blizzard Entertainment
released the game StarCraft
, which became an international phenomenon and is still played in large professional leagues to this day. Collectively, all of these games defined the genre, providing the de facto benchmark against which new real-time strategy games are measured.
's acclaimed Total Annihilation
from 1997 distilled the core mechanics of Command & Conquer, and introduced the first 3D units and terrain in real-time strategy games. The Age of Empires idea was refined further by Stainless Steel Studios
' Empire Earth in 2001. GSC Game World's
Cossacks: European Wars
series took the genre in a different direction, bringing population caps into the tens of thousands.
Populous: The Beginning
(1998), Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds
(1998) and Homeworld
(1999) were among the first completely 3D real-time strategy titles. Homeworld was notable in that it featured a 3d environment in space, therefore allowing movement in every direction, a feature which its semi-sequel, Homeworld Cataclysm (2000) continued to build upon adding features such as waypoints. Homeworld 2
, released in 2003, streamlined movement in the 360° 3D environment. Furthermore, Machines
, which was also released in 1999 and featured a nearly 100% 3D environment, attempted to combine the RTS genre with a first-person shooter (FPS) genre although it was not a particularly successful title. These games were followed by a short period of interest in experimental strategy games such as Allegiance
(2000). Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds was notable for being one of the few completely non-linear RTS games ever.
It is only in approximately 2002 that 3D real-time strategy became the standard, with both Warcraft III (2002) and Ensemble Studio's Age of Mythology
(2002) being built on a full 3D game engine. Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns
introduced classic wargame
elements, such as supply lines to the genre. Battle Realms
(2001) was another full 3D game, but had limited camera views.
The move from 2D to 3D has been criticized in some cases. Issues with controlling the camera and placement of objects have been cited as problems.
Relatively few genres have emerged from or in competition with real-time strategy games, although Real-time tactics
, a superficially similar genre, emerged around 1995. In 1998, Activision
attempted to combine the real-time strategy and first-person shooter
genres in Battlezone, while in 2002 Rage Games Limited attempted this with the Hostile Waters
games, and Natural Selection, a game modification based on the Half-Life engine. Savage: The Battle for Newerth
combined the RPG and RTS elements in an online game.
allowed units to tunnel underground, effectively creating a dual-layer map; three-layer (orbit-surface-underground) maps were introduced in Metal Fatigue. In addition, units could even be transported to entirely separate maps, with each map having its own window in the user interface. Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon
(2001) offered a simpler model: the main map contains locations that expand into their own maps. In these examples, however, gameplay was essentially identical regardless of the map layer in question. Dragonshard (2005) emphasized its dual-layer maps by placing one of the game's two main resources in each map, making exploration and control of both maps fundamentally valuable.
Some games, borrowing from the real-time tactics
(RTT) template, have moved toward an increased focus on tactics while downplaying traditional resource management, in which designated units collect the resources used for producing further units or buildings. Titles like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
(2004), Star Wars: Empire at War
(2006), and Company of Heroes
(2006) replace the traditional resource gathering model with a strategic control-point system, in which control over strategic points yields construction/reinforcement points. Ground Control was the first such game to replace individual units with "squads".
Others are moving away from the traditional real-time strategy game model with the addition of other genre elements. One example is Sins of a Solar Empire
, released by Ironclad Games
, which mixes elements of grand-scale stellar empire building games like Master of Orion
with real-time strategy elements. Another example is indie game Achron
, which incorporates time travel as a game mechanic, allowing a player to send units forward or backward in time.
perspective of the world, or a free-roaming camera from an aerial viewpoint
for modern 3D games. Players mainly scroll
the screen and issue commands with the mouse, and may also use keyboard shortcuts.
In most real-time strategy games, especially the earliest ones, the gameplay is generally fast-paced and requires very quick reflexes. For this reason, the amount of violence in some games makes RTS games close to action games in terms of gameplay.
Gameplay generally consists of the player being positioned somewhere in the map with a few units or a building that is capable of building other units/buildings. Often, but not always, the player must build specific structures to unlock more advanced units in the tech tree
. Often, but not always, RTS games require the player to build an army (ranging from small squads of no more than 2 units, to literally hundreds of units) and using them to either defend themselves from a virtual form of Human wave attack
or to eliminate enemies who possess bases with unit production capacities of their own. Occasionally, RTS games will have a preset number of units for the player to control and do not allow building of additional ones.
Resource gathering is commonly the main focus of the RTS games, but other titles of the genre place higher gameplay significance to the how units are used in combat, the extreme example of which are games of the real-time tactical genre. Some titles impose a ceiling on the number simultaneous troops, which becomes a key gameplay consideration, a significant example being StarCraft
, while other titles have no such unit cap.
refers to when a player's focus is directed more toward economic development and large-scale strategic maneuvering, allowing time to think and consider possible solutions. Micromanagement frequently involves the use of combat tactics. Macromanagement tends to look to the future of the game whereas Micromanagement tends to the present.
computer games. In the past, a common criticism was to regard real-time strategy games as "cheap imitations" of turn-based strategy games, arguing that real-time strategy games had a tendency to devolve into "click-fests" in which the player who was faster with the mouse generally won, because they could give orders to their units at a faster rate. The common retort is that success involves not just fast clicking but also the ability to make sound decisions under time pressure. The "clickfest" argument is also often voiced alongside a "button babysitting" criticism, which pointed out that a great deal of game time is spent either waiting and watching for the next time a production button could be clicked, or rapidly alternating between different units and buildings, clicking their respective button.
A third common criticism is that real-time gameplay often degenerates into "rushes" where the players try to gain the advantage and subsequently defeat the opponent as quickly in the game as possible, preferably before the opposition is capable of successfully reacting. For example, the original Command & Conquer
gave birth to the now-common "tank rush" tactic, where the game outcome is often decided very early on by one player gaining an initial advantage in resources and producing large amounts of a relatively powerful but still quite cheap unit—which is thrown at the opposition before they have had time to establish defenses or production. Although this strategy has been criticized for encouraging overwhelming force over strategy and tactics, defenders of the strategy argue that they're simply taking advantage of the strategies utilized, and some argue that it is a realistic representation of warfare. One of the most infamous versions of a rush is the "Zergling rush" from the real-time strategy game StarCraft
; in fact, the term "zerging" has become synonymous with rushing.
A fourth criticism of the RTS genre is the importance of skill over strategy in real-time strategy games. The manual dexterity and ability to multitask and divide one's attention is often considered the most important aspect to succeeding at the RTS genre. According to Troy Dunniway, former Westwood developer who has also worked on Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, "A player controls hundreds of units, dozens of buildings and many different events that are all happening simultaneously. There is only one player, and he can only pay attention to one thing at a time. Expert players can quickly flip between many different tasks, while casual gamers have more problems with this."
, lead designer of Supreme Commander, he said, "[My first attempt at visualizing RTSs in a fresh and interesting new way] was my realizing that although we call this genre 'Real-Time Strategy,' it should have been called 'Real-Time Tactics' with a dash of strategy thrown in." (Taylor then posits his own game as having surpassed this mold by including additional elements of broader strategic scope.)
In general terms, military strategy
refers to the use of a broad arsenal of weapons including diplomatic, informational, military, and economic resources, whereas military tactics
is more concerned with short-term goals such as winning an individual battle. In the context of strategy video games, however, the difference is often reduced to the more limited criteria of either a presence or absence of base building and unit production.
In an article for Gamasutra
, Nathan Toronto criticizes real-time strategy games for too often having only one valid means of victory — attrition
— comparing them unfavorably to real-time tactics games. Players' awareness that the only way for them to win or lose is militarily makes them unlikely to respond to gestures of diplomacy. The result is that the winner of a real-time strategy game is too often the best tactician rather than the best strategist. Troy Goodfellow counters this by saying that the problem is not that real-time strategy games are lacking in strategy (he says attrition is a form of strategy), rather it is that they too often have the same strategy: produce faster than you consume. He also states that building and managing armies is the conventional definition of real-time strategy, and that it is unfair to make comparisons with other genres.
In an article for Gamespy
, Mark Walker criticizes real-time strategy games for their lack of combat tactics, suggesting real-time tactics games as a more suitable substitute. He also says that developers need to begin looking outside the genre for new ideas in order for strategy games to continue to be successful in the future.
, Rise of Nations
, and the games of the Total War series allow the player to pause the game and issue orders. Additionally, the Total War series has a combination of a turn-based strategy map with a real-time battle map.
Another example of a game combining both turn-based game and real-time-strategy is The Lord of the Rings: The Rise of the Witch-King which allows players, in a 'War of the Ring' game to play a turn-based strategy game, but also battle each other in real time.
s have been consistently criticized due to their control schemes. The PC
's keyboard and mouse are generally considered to be superior to a console's gamepad
. This is similar to the main criticism of console-based first-person shooter (FPS) games because a mouse guarantees a higher level of pointer accuracy than a gamepad can offer. RTS games for the consoles have generally met with mixed success.
However, Halo Wars
, which was released in 2009 for the Xbox 360
, garnered generally positive reviews, achieved an 82% critic average on aggregate web sites, and sold over 1 million copies http://www.halowars.com. MetaCritic
and Game Rankings
.
According to IGN
, the gameplay lacks the traditional RTS concepts of limited resources and resource gathering and lacks multiple buildings.
(1997) was the first real-time strategy game to utilize true 3D units, terrain, and physics in both rendering and in gameplay. For instance, the missiles in Total Annihilation travel in real-time in simulated 3D space, and they can miss their target by passing over or under it. Similarly, missile-armed units in Earth 2150
are at a serious disadvantage when the opponent is on high ground because the missiles often hit the cliffside, even in the case when the attacker is a missile-armed helicopter. Homeworld
and Warzone 2100
(both released in 1999) advanced the use of fully 3D environments in real-time strategy titles. In the case of Homeworld
, the game is set in space, offering a uniquely exploitable 3D environment in which all units can move vertically in addition to the horizontal plane. However, the near-industry-wide switch to full 3D was very gradual and most real-time strategy titles, including the first sequels to Command & Conquer, initially used isometric 3D graphics made by pre-rendered 3D tiles. Only in later years did these games begin to use true 3D graphics and game-play, making it possible to rotate the view of the battlefield in real-time. Spring
is a good example of the transformation from semi-3D to full-3D game simulations. It is an open-source project which aims to give a
Total Annihilation
gameplay experience in 3 dimensions.
Japanese game developers Nippon Ichi
and Vanillaware
worked together on Grim Grimoire, a Playstation 2
title released in 2007, which features hand-drawn animated 2D graphics.
Recently, (December 2010) real-time strategy games have more commonly incorporated physics engines, such as Havok
, in order to increase realism experienced in gameplay. A modern real-time strategy game that uses a physics engine is Ensemble Studios'
Age of Empires III
, released on October 18, 2005, which used the Havok Game Dynamics SDK to power its real-time physics. Company of Heroes
is another real-time strategy game that uses realistically modeled physics as a part of gameplay, including fully destructible environments.
The game being that successful that some players of Warcraft III playing Warcraft III professional competition
have earned over $200,000 at the Warcraft III World Championships
.
Strategy video game
Strategy video games is a video game genre that emphasizes skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. They emphasize strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges. Many games also offer economic challenges and exploration...
which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry
Brett Sperry
-Career:Sperry co-founded Westwood Studios with Louis Castle in 1985, when both were in their early 20s.Sperry has been credited with the roles of design, production, support and box and content...
is credited with coining the term to market Dune II
Dune II
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty is a Dune computer game released in 1992 by Westwood Studios...
.
In a RTS, as in other wargames, the participants position and maneuver units and structures under their control to secure areas of the map and/or destroy their opponents' assets. In a typical RTS, it is possible to create additional units and structures during the course of a game. This is generally limited by a requirement to expend accumulated resources
Resource management
In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology...
. These resources are in turn garnered by controlling special points on the map and/or possessing certain types of units and structures devoted to this purpose. More specifically, the typical game of the RTS genre features resource gathering, base building, in-game technological development and indirect control of units.
The tasks a player must perform to succeed at a RTS can be very demanding, and complex user interfaces have evolved to cope with the challenge. Some features have been borrowed from desktop environment
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
s, most prominently the technique of "clicking and dragging" to select all units under a given area.
Though some game genres share conceptual and gameplay similarities with the RTS template, recognized genres are generally not subsumed as RTS games. For instance, city-building game
City-building game
City-building games are a genre of strategy computer game where players act as the overall planner and leader of a city, looking down on it from above, and being responsible for its growth and management...
s, construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulation is a type of simulation game in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Strategy video games sometimes incorporate CMS aspects into their game economy, as players must manage resources while expanding...
s, and games of the real-time tactics
Real-time tactics
Real-time tactics or RTT is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics...
variety are generally not considered to be "real-time strategy".
Precursors and early Genesis
The genre that is recognized today as "real-time strategy" emerged as a result of an extended period of evolution and refinement. Games that are today sometimes perceived as ancestors of the real-time strategy genre were never marketed or designed as such at the original date of publication. As a result, designating "early real-time strategy" titles is problematic because such games are being held up to modern standards. The genre initially evolved separately in the United Kingdom, Japan, and North America, afterward gradually merging into a unified worldwide tradition.At least one source considers Intellivision
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
's Utopia
Utopia (video game)
Utopia is a video game, released on Intellivision in 1981 and often regarded as among the first sim games and god games. It is also regarded as setting the scene for the real-time strategy genre. It was designed and programmed by Don Daglow....
by Don Daglow
Don Daglow
Don Daglow is an American computer game and video game designer, programmer and producer. He is best known for designing a series of pioneering simulation games and role-playing games, as well as the first computer baseball game and the first graphical MMORPG, all between 1971 and 1995...
(1982) to be an early real-time strategy game. In Utopia, two players build resources and carry out combat by proxy. It contains the direct-manipulation tactical combat now common in that the players can assume direct control over a PT boat and sink the opponent's fishing boats. However, the game used a turn-based strategy
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
interface, though one where the turns are timed. Another early example from the same year is Legionnaire
Legionnaire (computer game)
Legionnaire is a computer game for the Atari 8-bit series created by Chris Crawford in 1982, and released through Avalon Hill.-Plot:Recreating Julius Caesar's campaigns in a semi-historical setting, the player takes command of the Roman legions in battles against the barbarians.-Gameplay:Similar to...
on the Atari 8-bit family
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
, written by Chris Crawford
Chris Crawford (game designer)
Christopher Crawford is a computer game designer and writer noted for creating a number of important games in the 1980s, founding The Journal of Computer Game Design, and organizing the Computer Game Developers' Conference.- Biography :...
for Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
. This was effectively the opposite of Utopia, in that it offered a complete real-time tactical combat system with variable terrain and mutual-help concepts, but lacked any resource collection and economy/production concepts. As a result, this game might be better considered an early forerunner of the real-time tactics
Real-time tactics
Real-time tactics or RTT is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics...
, or RTT, genre.
In the United Kingdom, the genre's beginning can be traced to Stonkers
Stonkers
Stonkers is one of the earliest real-time strategy games. It was written for the ZX Spectrum and published by Imagine Software in 1983. It was designed and programmed by John Gibson with graphics by Paul Lindale.-Summary:...
by John Gibson, published in 1983 by Imagine Software
Imagine Software
Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20...
for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, and Nether Earth
Nether Earth (game)
Nether Earth is one of the earliest computer strategy games taking place in real time. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in 1987. It was published in the United Kingdom by Argus Press Software and re-released in Spain by Mind Games Espana S.A.-Plot:The player takes...
published on ZX Spectrum in 1987. In North America, the oldest game retrospectively classified as real-time strategy by several sources isThe Ancient Art of War (1984), designed by Evryware
Evryware
Evryware Inc. is a computer game development company based in Olympia, Washington, USA. It was founded in California in 1980 by two engineers, Dave Murry and Joe Gargiulo. Dave's siblings, Barry Murry and Dee Dee Murry, joined a few years later to round out the company. Evryware was active through...
's Dave and Barry Murry, followed by the sequel The Ancient Art of War at Sea
The Ancient Art of War at Sea
The Ancient Art of War at Sea is a computer game developed by Brøderbund and released for IBM micros and compatibles in 1987 as a sequel to The Ancient Art of War.-Plot:...
in 1987, although Dani Bunten Berry's (of M.U.L.E fame) Cytron Masters
Cytron Masters
Cytron Masters is a computer game by Dani Bunten Berry released for the Apple II in either 1980 or June 1, 1982. It was developed by his company, Ozark Softscape, and released by Strategic Simulations, Inc...
(1982), developed by Ozark Softscape
Ozark Softscape
Ozark Softscape was a computer game programming team consisting initially of Dan Bunten, Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing, and Alan Watson.-History:The company was based out of Little Rock, Arkansas and had profound success with a few of their early titles...
and released by SSI, also has been considered the earliest game of the genre.
In Japan, the genre's beginning can be traced to Bokosuka Wars
Bokosuka Wars
is a 1983 action-strategy role-playing video game developed by Kōji Sumii and released by ASCII for the Sharp X1 computer, followed by ports to the MSX, FM-7, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-8801 and NEC PC-9801 computer platforms, as well as an altered version released for the Nintendo Famicom console and...
(1983), an early strategy RPG
Tactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and strategy games. In Japan these games are known as , a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers...
(or "simulation RPG"); the game revolves around the player leading an army across a battlefield against enemy forces in real-time while recruiting/spawning soldiers along the way, for which it is considered by Ray Barnholt of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
to be an early prototype real-time strategy game. This led to several other games that combine role-playing
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
and real-time strategy elements, such as the 1988 Kure Software Koubou
Kure Software Koubou
Kure Software Koubou , or KSK, is a Japanese game development company founded in 1985 that creates games for many platforms, but focusing mostly on home computers...
computer strategy RPGs, First Queen
First Queen
is a real-time strategy-action RPG video game developed by Kure Software Koubou. It was first released on the Sharp X68000 and NEC PC-9801 computer platforms in Japan in 1988, and then subsequently released on the Super Famicom as First Queen: Ornic Senki in 1994 and Microsoft Windows as First...
and Silver Ghost, which featured an early example of a point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
interface, to control characters using a cursor. Another early title with real-time strategy elements was Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's Gain Ground
Gain Ground
Gain Ground is a 1988 action-strategy arcade game with real-time strategy elements, later ported to the Sega Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, and PC Engine . In 2004, it was re-released in Radica Games' TVPlay Legends Vol. II TV Games compilation. It was remade in the PlayStation 2 title Sega...
(1988), a strategy-action game
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
that involved directing a set of troops across various enemy-filled levels. TechnoSoft
Technosoft
Technosoft is a Japanese video game developer that is known for the Thunder Force series of shooter games, as well as Herzog Zwei, regarded as the world's first real time strategy game....
's Herzog (1988) is regarded as a precursor to the real-time strategy genre, being the predecessor to Herzog Zwei and somewhat similar in nature, though primitive in comparison.
Scott Sharkey of 1UP considers Cytron Masters and other real-time examples prior to Herzog Zwei to be tactical
Real-time tactics
Real-time tactics or RTT is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics...
rather than strategic, due to most lacking the ability to construct units or manage resources. Herzog Zwei
Herzog Zwei
Herzog Zwei is a Mega Drive / Genesis game by Technosoft, published in 1989 . It is an early real-time strategy game, the first with a feature set that falls under the contemporary definition of the genre, predating the genre-popularizing Dune II...
, released for the Sega Genesis in 1989, is the earliest example of a game with a feature set that falls under the contemporary definition of modern real-time strategy. In Herzog Zwei, though the player only controls one unit, the manner of control foreshadowed the point-and-click mechanic of later games. It introduced much of the genre conventions, including unit construction and resource management, with the control and destruction of bases being an important aspect of the game, as were the economic/production aspects of those bases.
Notable as well are early games like Mega Lo Mania
Mega Lo Mania
Mega Lo Mania is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Sensible Software. It was released for the Amiga in 1991, and ported for a variety of other platforms. It was released as Tyrants: Fight Through Time in North America....
by Sensible Software
Sensible Software
Sensible Software was a software house active during the 1980s and 90s, from the United Kingdom.The company was well-known for the very small sprites used for the player characters in many of their games, including Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder and Sensible Golf.- Early history :Sensible Software...
(1991) and Supremacy (also called Overlord - 1990). Although these two lacked direct control of military units, they both offered considerable control of resource management and economic systems. In addition, Mega Lo Mania has advanced technology trees that determine offensive and defensive prowess. Another early (1988) game, Carrier Command
Carrier Command
Carrier Command is a landmark 1980s computer game available on Amiga, Atari ST, PC, ZX Spectrum, Apple Macintosh, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC computers....
by Realtime Games
Realtime Games Software
Realtime Games Software Ltd. is a defunct British video game developer. It was founded in 1984 by three Leeds University students, Ian Oliver, Andrew Onions and Graeme Baird....
, involved real-time responses to events in the game, requiring management of resources and control of vehicles. The early game Sim Ant by Maxis
Maxis
Maxis is an American company founded as an independent video game developer in 1987. It is currently a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims and its first sequel, The Sims 2...
(1991) had resource gathering, and controlling an attacking army by having them follow a lead unit. However, it was with the release of Dune II
Dune II
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty is a Dune computer game released in 1992 by Westwood Studios...
from Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios was a computer and video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in as Westwood Associates, and renamed to Westwood Studios when it merged with Virgin Interactive in...
(1992) that real-time strategy became recognized as a distinct genre of video games.
1992–1998: seminal titles
Although real-time strategy games have an extensive history, some titles have served to define the popular perception of the genre and expectations of real-time strategy titles more than others, in particular the games released between 1992 and 1998 by Westwood StudiosWestwood Studios
Westwood Studios was a computer and video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in as Westwood Associates, and renamed to Westwood Studios when it merged with Virgin Interactive in...
and Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
.
Westwood's Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
Dune II
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty is a Dune computer game released in 1992 by Westwood Studios...
(1992) featured all the core concepts and mechanics of modern real-time strategy games that are still used today, such as using the mouse to move units, and gathering resources, and as such served as the prototype for later real-time strategy games. According to its co-designer and lead programmer, Joe Bostic, a "benefit over Herzog Zwei is that we had the advantage of a mouse and keyboard. This greatly facilitated precise player control, which enabled the player to give orders to individual units. The mouse, and the direct control it allowed, was critical in making the RTS genre possible.”
The success of Dune II encouraged several games which became influential in their own right. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) achieved great prominence upon its release, owing in part to its use of a fantasy setting and also to its depiction of a wide variety of buildings (such as farms) which approximated a full fictitious society, not just a military force. Command & Conquer became the first popular RTS game to utilize competitive multiplayer. Command & Conquer, as well as Command and Conquer: Red Alert, became the most popular early RTS games. These two games contended with Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a fantasy-themed real-time strategy game published by Blizzard Entertainment and first released for DOS in 1995 and for Mac OS in 1996...
after its release in late 1995.
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain...
, released by Cavedog Entertainment
Cavedog Entertainment
Cavedog Entertainment, or Cavedog, was a video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Cavedog gained the attention of gamers and the gaming press alike with the 1997 release of Total Annihilation , winning many accolades such as multiple Game of the Year honors or being one of The Greatest...
in 1997, introduced 3D units and terrain and focused on huge battles that emphasized macromanagement over micromanagement. It featured a streamlined interface that would influence many RTS games in later years. Age of Empires, released by Ensemble Studios
Ensemble Studios
Ensemble Studios was a video game developer initially established in 1995 as an independent company, but was owned by Microsoft from 2001 to 2009, when it was officially disbanded. Ensemble developed many real-time strategy games, including the Age of Empires game series, Age of Mythology, and Halo...
in 1997 try to put a game in a slower pace, combining elements of Civilization
Civilization (computer game)
Sid Meier's Civilization is a turn-based strategy "4X"-type strategy video game created by Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley for MicroProse in 1991. The game's objective is to "Build an empire to stand the test of time": it begins in 4000 BC and the players attempt to expand and develop their empires...
with the real-time strategy concept by introducing ages of technologies. In 1998, Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
released the game StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
, which became an international phenomenon and is still played in large professional leagues to this day. Collectively, all of these games defined the genre, providing the de facto benchmark against which new real-time strategy games are measured.
Refinement and transition to 3D
The real-time strategy genre has been relatively stable since 1995. Additions to the genre's concept in newer games tend to emphasize more of the basic RTS elements (higher unit caps, more unit types, larger maps, etc.). Rather than innovations to the game concept, new games generally focus on refining aspects of successful predecessors. As the paragon example of gameplay refinement, Cavedog EntertainmentCavedog Entertainment
Cavedog Entertainment, or Cavedog, was a video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Cavedog gained the attention of gamers and the gaming press alike with the 1997 release of Total Annihilation , winning many accolades such as multiple Game of the Year honors or being one of The Greatest...
's acclaimed Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain...
from 1997 distilled the core mechanics of Command & Conquer, and introduced the first 3D units and terrain in real-time strategy games. The Age of Empires idea was refined further by Stainless Steel Studios
Stainless Steel Studios
Stainless Steel Studios was a computer game development company, started in 1997 by Rick Goodman and Dara-Lynn Pelechatz. The company was based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and focused on the development of real-time strategy software titles.-History:...
' Empire Earth in 2001. GSC Game World's
GSC Game World
GSC Game World is a Kiev-based computer game developer. Founded in 1995 in Kiev, Ukraine, it released titles such as Cossacks: European Wars, American Conquest, Alexander, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat...
Cossacks: European Wars
Cossacks: European Wars
Cossacks: European Wars is a real-time strategy computer game for Windows made by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. It was released on April 24, 2001. The game has an isometric view and is set in the 17th and 18th centuries of Europe...
series took the genre in a different direction, bringing population caps into the tens of thousands.
Populous: The Beginning
Populous: The Beginning
Populous: The Beginning is a strategy and god-style video game. It is the third entry in the Populous video game series, developed by Bullfrog Productions in 1998. The PC version of the game was released November 30, 1998 and a PlayStation version was later developed and released on April 2, 1999...
(1998), Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds is a title used for two 1998 video games published by GT Interactive. The first is a real-time strategy game developed by Rage Software Limited for the PC...
(1998) and Homeworld
Homeworld
Homeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was the first fully three-dimensional RTS. In 2003, Relic released the source code for Homeworld...
(1999) were among the first completely 3D real-time strategy titles. Homeworld was notable in that it featured a 3d environment in space, therefore allowing movement in every direction, a feature which its semi-sequel, Homeworld Cataclysm (2000) continued to build upon adding features such as waypoints. Homeworld 2
Homeworld 2
Developed by Relic Entertainment and released in 2003 by now defunct publisher Sierra Entertainment, Homeworld 2 is a real-time strategy computer game sequel to Homeworld. It takes place after the events in Homeworld and concerns Hiigara's response to a new enemy called the Vaygr. Its gameplay...
, released in 2003, streamlined movement in the 360° 3D environment. Furthermore, Machines
Machines (video game)
Machines is a 3D real-time strategy game released for Microsoft Windows. Published by Acclaim and developed by Charybdis, Machines was one of the first 3D games of this genre...
, which was also released in 1999 and featured a nearly 100% 3D environment, attempted to combine the RTS genre with a first-person shooter (FPS) genre although it was not a particularly successful title. These games were followed by a short period of interest in experimental strategy games such as Allegiance
Allegiance (computer game)
Allegiance is a multiplayer online game providing a mix of real-time strategy and player piloted space combat gameplay. Initially developed by Microsoft Research, the game was later released under a shared source license in 2004 and is now maintained and developed by volunteers.The story in which...
(2000). Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds was notable for being one of the few completely non-linear RTS games ever.
It is only in approximately 2002 that 3D real-time strategy became the standard, with both Warcraft III (2002) and Ensemble Studio's Age of Mythology
Age of Mythology
Age of Mythology , is a mythology-based, real-time strategy computer game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
(2002) being built on a full 3D game engine. Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns is the first game of the real-time strategy series Kohan, developed by TimeGate Studios. It was published for Windows by Strategy First, and ported to Linux by Loki Software, both in 2001. With a high fantasy setting, the game follows immortal beings named Kohan...
introduced classic wargame
Wargame (video games)
Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical accuracy.-History:The genre of wargame video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames...
elements, such as supply lines to the genre. Battle Realms
Battle Realms
Battle Realms, released by Ubisoft in 2001, is a Japanese themed real-time strategy computer game and is the first game created by Liquid Entertainment. Ubisoft released the stand alone expansion pack Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf in 2002....
(2001) was another full 3D game, but had limited camera views.
The move from 2D to 3D has been criticized in some cases. Issues with controlling the camera and placement of objects have been cited as problems.
Relatively few genres have emerged from or in competition with real-time strategy games, although Real-time tactics
Real-time tactics
Real-time tactics or RTT is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics...
, a superficially similar genre, emerged around 1995. In 1998, Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
attempted to combine the real-time strategy and first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
genres in Battlezone, while in 2002 Rage Games Limited attempted this with the Hostile Waters
Hostile Waters (game)
Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising is a hybrid vehicle and strategy game released on the PC in 2001 by the British company Rage Games Limited. It was inspired by an earlier game known as Carrier Command .-Plot:...
games, and Natural Selection, a game modification based on the Half-Life engine. Savage: The Battle for Newerth
Savage: The Battle for Newerth
Savage: The Battle for Newerth is a science fantasy computer game that combines aspects of the real-time strategy and first-person shooter genres. It takes place in the distant future when humankind has rebuilt society following an apocalypse, but is threatened by intelligent beasts...
combined the RPG and RTS elements in an online game.
Specialization and evolution
A few games have experimented with diversifying map design, which continues to be largely two-dimensional even in 3D engines. Earth 2150Earth 2150
Earth 2150 also known as Earth 2150: Escape from the Blue Planet is a real-time strategy game, originally published in 2000 by SSI and the Polish developer Reality Pump and a sequel to the largely unknown Earth 2140...
allowed units to tunnel underground, effectively creating a dual-layer map; three-layer (orbit-surface-underground) maps were introduced in Metal Fatigue. In addition, units could even be transported to entirely separate maps, with each map having its own window in the user interface. Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon
Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon
The Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon is a video game developed by Overmax Studios in 2001 for the PC. It is based on the historical background of the epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms....
(2001) offered a simpler model: the main map contains locations that expand into their own maps. In these examples, however, gameplay was essentially identical regardless of the map layer in question. Dragonshard (2005) emphasized its dual-layer maps by placing one of the game's two main resources in each map, making exploration and control of both maps fundamentally valuable.
Some games, borrowing from the real-time tactics
Real-time tactics
Real-time tactics or RTT is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics...
(RTT) template, have moved toward an increased focus on tactics while downplaying traditional resource management, in which designated units collect the resources used for producing further units or buildings. Titles like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment based on Games Workshop's popular tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000. It was released by THQ on September 20, 2004 in North America...
(2004), Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars: Empire at War is a 2006 real-time strategy game developed by Petroglyph Games and published by LucasArts. Set between Episode III and Episode IV, it focuses on the fledgling struggle between the Empire and the Rebels. It uses Petroglyph's game engine Alamo. The most recent patch was...
(2006), and Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Relic Entertainment. It was released on September 12, 2006, and was the first title to make use of the Games for Windows label. A standalone expansion, Opposing Fronts, was released on September 25, 2007. A second standalone...
(2006) replace the traditional resource gathering model with a strategic control-point system, in which control over strategic points yields construction/reinforcement points. Ground Control was the first such game to replace individual units with "squads".
Others are moving away from the traditional real-time strategy game model with the addition of other genre elements. One example is Sins of a Solar Empire
Sins of a Solar Empire
Sins of a Solar Empire is a science fiction real-time strategy computer game developed by Ironclad Games and published by Stardock Entertainment for Microsoft Windows operating systems...
, released by Ironclad Games
Ironclad Games
Ironclad Games is a Canadian PC game developer. The company was founded in 2003 by former employees of Barking Dog Studios/Rockstar Games. Ironclad is located in Burnaby, British Columbia.-Titles:...
, which mixes elements of grand-scale stellar empire building games like Master of Orion
Master of Orion
Master of Orion is a turn-based, 4X science fiction computer strategy game released in 1993 by MicroProse on the MS-DOS and Mac OS operating systems. The purpose of the game is to lead one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing...
with real-time strategy elements. Another example is indie game Achron
Achron
Achron is considered to be the first "meta-time strategy game" , notable for being the first game with free-form multiplayer time travel and its subtle handling of temporal paradoxes such as the grandfather paradox...
, which incorporates time travel as a game mechanic, allowing a player to send units forward or backward in time.
Gameplay
In a typical real-time strategy game, the screen is divided into a map area displaying the game world and terrain, units, and buildings, and an interface overlay containing command and production controls and often a "radar" or "minimap" overview of the entire map. The player is usually given an isometricIsometry
In mathematics, an isometry is a distance-preserving map between metric spaces. Geometric figures which can be related by an isometry are called congruent.Isometries are often used in constructions where one space is embedded in another space...
perspective of the world, or a free-roaming camera from an aerial viewpoint
Bird's-eye view
A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird, often used in the making of blueprints, floor plans and maps.It can be an aerial photograph, but also a drawing...
for modern 3D games. Players mainly scroll
Scrolling
In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
the screen and issue commands with the mouse, and may also use keyboard shortcuts.
In most real-time strategy games, especially the earliest ones, the gameplay is generally fast-paced and requires very quick reflexes. For this reason, the amount of violence in some games makes RTS games close to action games in terms of gameplay.
Gameplay generally consists of the player being positioned somewhere in the map with a few units or a building that is capable of building other units/buildings. Often, but not always, the player must build specific structures to unlock more advanced units in the tech tree
Tech tree
In strategy computer games, the technology tree or tech tree is a hierarchical visual representation of the possible sequences of upgrades a player can take, by means of research. The diagram is tree-shaped in the sense that it branches at certain intervals, allowing the player to choose one...
. Often, but not always, RTS games require the player to build an army (ranging from small squads of no more than 2 units, to literally hundreds of units) and using them to either defend themselves from a virtual form of Human wave attack
Human wave attack
Human wave attack, also known as human sea attack, is an offensive infantry tactic, in which an attacker conducts an unprotected frontal assault with densely concentrated infantry formations against the enemy line, intended to overrun the defenders by engaging in melee combat.-Definition:According...
or to eliminate enemies who possess bases with unit production capacities of their own. Occasionally, RTS games will have a preset number of units for the player to control and do not allow building of additional ones.
Resource gathering is commonly the main focus of the RTS games, but other titles of the genre place higher gameplay significance to the how units are used in combat, the extreme example of which are games of the real-time tactical genre. Some titles impose a ceiling on the number simultaneous troops, which becomes a key gameplay consideration, a significant example being StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
, while other titles have no such unit cap.
Micromanagement and macromanagement
Micromanagement refers to when a player's attention is directed more toward the management and maintenance of his or her own individual units and resources. This creates an atmosphere in which the interaction of the player is constantly needed. On the other hand, macromanagementMacromanagement
Macromanagement is the act of leading decision makers or managing the managers. Macromanagement is a close concept to the economic concept of mechanism design....
refers to when a player's focus is directed more toward economic development and large-scale strategic maneuvering, allowing time to think and consider possible solutions. Micromanagement frequently involves the use of combat tactics. Macromanagement tends to look to the future of the game whereas Micromanagement tends to the present.
Criticism of gameplay
Because of their generally faster-paced nature (and in some cases a smaller learning curve), real-time strategy games have surpassed the popularity of turn-based strategyTurn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
computer games. In the past, a common criticism was to regard real-time strategy games as "cheap imitations" of turn-based strategy games, arguing that real-time strategy games had a tendency to devolve into "click-fests" in which the player who was faster with the mouse generally won, because they could give orders to their units at a faster rate. The common retort is that success involves not just fast clicking but also the ability to make sound decisions under time pressure. The "clickfest" argument is also often voiced alongside a "button babysitting" criticism, which pointed out that a great deal of game time is spent either waiting and watching for the next time a production button could be clicked, or rapidly alternating between different units and buildings, clicking their respective button.
A third common criticism is that real-time gameplay often degenerates into "rushes" where the players try to gain the advantage and subsequently defeat the opponent as quickly in the game as possible, preferably before the opposition is capable of successfully reacting. For example, the original Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer, abbreviated to C&C and also known as Tiberian Dawn, is a 1995 real-time strategy computer game developed by Westwood Studios for MS-DOS and published by Virgin Interactive. It was the first of twelve games to date to be released under the Command & Conquer label, including a...
gave birth to the now-common "tank rush" tactic, where the game outcome is often decided very early on by one player gaining an initial advantage in resources and producing large amounts of a relatively powerful but still quite cheap unit—which is thrown at the opposition before they have had time to establish defenses or production. Although this strategy has been criticized for encouraging overwhelming force over strategy and tactics, defenders of the strategy argue that they're simply taking advantage of the strategies utilized, and some argue that it is a realistic representation of warfare. One of the most infamous versions of a rush is the "Zergling rush" from the real-time strategy game StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
; in fact, the term "zerging" has become synonymous with rushing.
A fourth criticism of the RTS genre is the importance of skill over strategy in real-time strategy games. The manual dexterity and ability to multitask and divide one's attention is often considered the most important aspect to succeeding at the RTS genre. According to Troy Dunniway, former Westwood developer who has also worked on Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, "A player controls hundreds of units, dozens of buildings and many different events that are all happening simultaneously. There is only one player, and he can only pay attention to one thing at a time. Expert players can quickly flip between many different tasks, while casual gamers have more problems with this."
Tactics vs. strategy
Real-time strategy games have been criticized for an overabundance of tactical considerations when compared to the amount of strategic gameplay found in such games. According to Chris TaylorChris Taylor (game designer)
Chris Taylor is a computer game designer and entrepreneur most famous for developing Total Annihilation and the Dungeon Siege series and for founding Gas Powered Games...
, lead designer of Supreme Commander, he said, "[My first attempt at visualizing RTSs in a fresh and interesting new way] was my realizing that although we call this genre 'Real-Time Strategy,' it should have been called 'Real-Time Tactics' with a dash of strategy thrown in." (Taylor then posits his own game as having surpassed this mold by including additional elements of broader strategic scope.)
In general terms, military strategy
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
refers to the use of a broad arsenal of weapons including diplomatic, informational, military, and economic resources, whereas military tactics
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...
is more concerned with short-term goals such as winning an individual battle. In the context of strategy video games, however, the difference is often reduced to the more limited criteria of either a presence or absence of base building and unit production.
In an article for Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
, Nathan Toronto criticizes real-time strategy games for too often having only one valid means of victory — attrition
Attrition warfare
Attrition warfare is a military strategy in which a belligerent side attempts to win a war by wearing down its enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and matériel....
— comparing them unfavorably to real-time tactics games. Players' awareness that the only way for them to win or lose is militarily makes them unlikely to respond to gestures of diplomacy. The result is that the winner of a real-time strategy game is too often the best tactician rather than the best strategist. Troy Goodfellow counters this by saying that the problem is not that real-time strategy games are lacking in strategy (he says attrition is a form of strategy), rather it is that they too often have the same strategy: produce faster than you consume. He also states that building and managing armies is the conventional definition of real-time strategy, and that it is unfair to make comparisons with other genres.
In an article for Gamespy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
, Mark Walker criticizes real-time strategy games for their lack of combat tactics, suggesting real-time tactics games as a more suitable substitute. He also says that developers need to begin looking outside the genre for new ideas in order for strategy games to continue to be successful in the future.
Turn-based vs. real-time
A debate has emerged between fans of real-time strategy and turn-based strategy (and related genres) based on the merits of the real-time and turn-based systems. Some titles attempt to merge the two systems: for example, the role-playing game Fallout uses turn-based combat and real-time gameplay, while the real-time strategy games HomeworldHomeworld
Homeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was the first fully three-dimensional RTS. In 2003, Relic released the source code for Homeworld...
, Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. The development of the game was led by veteran Brian Reynolds, of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Concepts taken from turn-based strategy games have been...
, and the games of the Total War series allow the player to pause the game and issue orders. Additionally, the Total War series has a combination of a turn-based strategy map with a real-time battle map.
Another example of a game combining both turn-based game and real-time-strategy is The Lord of the Rings: The Rise of the Witch-King which allows players, in a 'War of the Ring' game to play a turn-based strategy game, but also battle each other in real time.
Real-time strategy games on the consoles
Real-time strategy games made for video game consoleVideo game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s have been consistently criticized due to their control schemes. The PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
's keyboard and mouse are generally considered to be superior to a console's gamepad
Gamepad
A gamepad , is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the digits are used to provide input. Gamepads generally feature a set of action buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left...
. This is similar to the main criticism of console-based first-person shooter (FPS) games because a mouse guarantees a higher level of pointer accuracy than a gamepad can offer. RTS games for the consoles have generally met with mixed success.
However, Halo Wars
Halo Wars
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Japan and Australia on February 26, 2009, in PAL territories on February 27, and in North America on March 3...
, which was released in 2009 for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, garnered generally positive reviews, achieved an 82% critic average on aggregate web sites, and sold over 1 million copies http://www.halowars.com. MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
.
According to IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, the gameplay lacks the traditional RTS concepts of limited resources and resource gathering and lacks multiple buildings.
Graphics
Total AnnihilationTotal Annihilation
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain...
(1997) was the first real-time strategy game to utilize true 3D units, terrain, and physics in both rendering and in gameplay. For instance, the missiles in Total Annihilation travel in real-time in simulated 3D space, and they can miss their target by passing over or under it. Similarly, missile-armed units in Earth 2150
Earth 2150
Earth 2150 also known as Earth 2150: Escape from the Blue Planet is a real-time strategy game, originally published in 2000 by SSI and the Polish developer Reality Pump and a sequel to the largely unknown Earth 2140...
are at a serious disadvantage when the opponent is on high ground because the missiles often hit the cliffside, even in the case when the attacker is a missile-armed helicopter. Homeworld
Homeworld
Homeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was the first fully three-dimensional RTS. In 2003, Relic released the source code for Homeworld...
and Warzone 2100
Warzone 2100
Warzone 2100 is an open source real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid computer game, originally developed by Pumpkin Studios and published by Eidos Interactive...
(both released in 1999) advanced the use of fully 3D environments in real-time strategy titles. In the case of Homeworld
Homeworld
Homeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was the first fully three-dimensional RTS. In 2003, Relic released the source code for Homeworld...
, the game is set in space, offering a uniquely exploitable 3D environment in which all units can move vertically in addition to the horizontal plane. However, the near-industry-wide switch to full 3D was very gradual and most real-time strategy titles, including the first sequels to Command & Conquer, initially used isometric 3D graphics made by pre-rendered 3D tiles. Only in later years did these games begin to use true 3D graphics and game-play, making it possible to rotate the view of the battlefield in real-time. Spring
TA Spring
Spring , is a free open source RTS game engine created by the Swedish Yankspankers...
is a good example of the transformation from semi-3D to full-3D game simulations. It is an open-source project which aims to give a
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain...
gameplay experience in 3 dimensions.
Japanese game developers Nippon Ichi
Nippon Ichi
is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. They are responsible for such titles as Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Phantom Brave, La Pucelle: Tactics and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.-History:Nippon Ichi Software was founded in September 1991 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, as an entertainment...
and Vanillaware
Vanillaware
is a Japanese video game company development studio. Previously, they were known as Puraguru from 2002 until 2004, when they renamed as Vanillaware. The studio's past projects have specialized in 2D, or sprite-based, game design. They have garnered positive attention from fans and game media alike...
worked together on Grim Grimoire, a Playstation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
title released in 2007, which features hand-drawn animated 2D graphics.
Recently, (December 2010) real-time strategy games have more commonly incorporated physics engines, such as Havok
Havok (software)
Havok Physics is a physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. It is designed primarily for video games, and allows for real-time collision and dynamics of rigid bodies in three dimensions. It provides multiple types of dynamic constraints between rigid bodies , and has a highly optimized...
, in order to increase realism experienced in gameplay. A modern real-time strategy game that uses a physics engine is Ensemble Studios'
Ensemble Studios
Ensemble Studios was a video game developer initially established in 1995 as an independent company, but was owned by Microsoft from 2001 to 2009, when it was officially disbanded. Ensemble developed many real-time strategy games, including the Age of Empires game series, Age of Mythology, and Halo...
Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III is a real-time strategy game developed by Microsoft Corporation's Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed by Destineer's MacSoft Games and published by Destineer and MacSoft Games...
, released on October 18, 2005, which used the Havok Game Dynamics SDK to power its real-time physics. Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Relic Entertainment. It was released on September 12, 2006, and was the first title to make use of the Games for Windows label. A standalone expansion, Opposing Fronts, was released on September 25, 2007. A second standalone...
is another real-time strategy game that uses realistically modeled physics as a part of gameplay, including fully destructible environments.
Tournaments
RTS World tournaments have been held for Warcraft III since its release in 2002.The game being that successful that some players of Warcraft III playing Warcraft III professional competition
Warcraft III professional competition
The expansion to the computer game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne has an active professional competition scene, particularly in China, Germany and South Korea. The game is featured at electronic gaming festivals including the World Cyber Games, the Electronic Sports...
have earned over $200,000 at the Warcraft III World Championships
Warcraft III World Championships
This article contains a summary of the top four finishers in the various professional Warcraft III world championships from 2003 till present.-Individual competitions:-Team competitions:...
.
See also
- Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy
- Real-time tacticsReal-time tacticsReal-time tactics or RTT is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics...