So, who likes RTS games? I don't realy like them, but I've only played Starcraft briefly. I think I would rather have an ant farm! Anyway, some of them like Alpha Centauri and Homeworld look great, but I think I'd rather play a Freespace or something. I want to fly the ships around instead of organize everything and develop civilizations. I may give one of these games a try, though. What about youse guyz?

I don't exactly love 'em, but they can pass...

You mentioned Alpha Centaury - I really enjoyed it. Also AOE.

But if you ask me, I wouldn't die because I possibly haven't seen them.

[This message has been edited by Darien Noella (edited July 07, 2001).]

I like Starcraft and the Warcraft games. Warcraft 3 should be interesting...

That would be me! :)
I love RTS, though they have to be good. I like the management and order people to do the dirty work, and not do it yourself :)

Technically speakin so inst Alpha Centaur a RTS it is a turnbased strategy game made by the most brilliant game designer ever Sid Meier.
IMHO Civ 2 is the best game ever made i play it still even though it is 4 years old and i cant wait for Civ 3 to come out.
Alpha Centauri is a good game but i think there is too muck technical mumbo jumbo you dont understand what to do with.
Starcraft is also a great game i think it is the best RTS of the ones i have played.

Alpha Centauri was an amazing game - ehwn I used to play that, I would start playing at about 6, and it seemed like moment later it was like 10. It got 98% in the US PC gamer didn't it?
AoE isn't too bad, but I haven't really experienced many TBS or RTS games.

I'm still a sucker for SC/BroodWars. Actually installed it again the other day. I think AoE is okay, but ever since I left Texas, I haven't found anybody who's interested in playing it over the LAN.

I loved Warcraft 2. The storyline wasn't bad, the play was good, and the units' voices were hilarious.

SC storyline is amazing. They could make a dang good novel out of it. Play is well balanced too. My friend & I have made a few RPG maps for it, which makes for an interesting twist on the game.

Starcraft/Starcraft: Broodwar is the strategy game of all time. Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors is playable, together with Red Alert 1, Settlers 2 and 3, Warcraft 2, Seven Kingdoms 1 and 2 and Caesar 3.

I like RTS games to a point, but once the armies get too BIG/complex it becomes almost like work to manage everything. The last thing I want to do after a day of juggling resources and pointing people in the right direction is to come home, load up my PC and juggle resources & point people in the right direction!!!!

"Real time strategies" do not deserve to have "strategy" included in their name. Mostly they are as strategical as Doom. It is all about gathering resorces and building giant armies and in combat only numbers and quality of equipment matters. Bljak! Even a five year old could do it. I stick with the real strategies, turn based strategies! The only exeptions are Sudden Strike and Close Combat series.

With RTS i mean stuff like C&C and AOE, not building games in real time like Caesar or tactical games like commandos or Mechcommander.



[This message has been edited by Hrast (edited July 03, 2001).]

Real Time Strategy is not the perfect description. Real Time Tactical would IMO have been much better.

SMAC is not a RTS game. Starcraft is. Both are great games! :)

Actually BG/BG2 are also RTS games, but with the option to pause after every turn.

Does anyone know if there's gonna be a Starcraft 2 or something? I can't believe that blizzard would miss the chance.

Some of you might find this earlier post by Orcist equally interesting:
http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000526.html

It discusses the pros of cons of turn based v real time.

As to real time Strategy. I have played both Age of Empires games and they can be OK. Unfortunatley I have got a bit bored with them. I prefer something that is a bit slower paced so I can enjoy building stuff. Things like Pharaoh and Roller Coaster Tycoon. I also don't really understand the online success of AoE. I have played it quite a bit with mates as one of them is a huge fan. The first 20 minutes or so nothing happens, you might as well be playing solo. Boring.

I also loved the original Civilisation when it first came out. I was staying in a hotel at the time as my company moved me from site to site on project work. I remember rushing back in the evening just to play it. Then getting to 7:00pm and thinking I must go for Dinner now - well soon anyway. Then it was 10:00pm and I thought just pop down to the bar for a nightcap, well soon anyway. And then it was 3:00am and I realised I had to get up again in a few hours. I don't think any game has ever got me like that since. Civ 2 was ok but too similar. I played it through again recently and managed to colonise and conquer fairley easily (on an easy setting).

I've also tried a few like Close Combat which was ok. Sid Meir's Gettsbury couldn't get into. Battleground series couldn't get into and Starwars Supremacy (Rebellion in the US). I got into that but mainly because of the theme. The real time nature of the strategy didn't suit it though.
Finally I tried Shogun as all the mags rave about it. I can't decide about it. I think the stragety is too limited and I hate the fact that you always go first and then the computer can react. The combat is spectacular though and I have several fond memories of major battles that I managed to win by some inspired tactiks (and luck). I played it through to the end twice. Not a bad game in all but one I doubt I'll go back to often.

My favourite strategy game by far though was Diplomacy the board game. At University is was fairly easy to get the required seven players together. In those circumstances the diplomacy is everything. I developoed quite a reputation so that everyone ganged up on me. I spent most of the game trying to breed mistrust between the other players. Being able to offer beer to bribe people for a peace treaty is fun too. A great game and it has one game machanic that should be copied in severy strategy game. It is turn based but all moves are made simultaneously. It adds so much to the strategy it's incredible.

I think with me though it is a matter of what mood I am in as to which I prefer. These last few years I have found myself lacking the concentration to really get into a good strategy game. This is strange as they used to be by far my prefered type. maybe BG is to blame as that is easy to play with brain on or off whatever you want.

(suddenly some men turn up and drag Slappy away before he waffles on for ever)

There are some great RTS games out there. StarCraft and WarCraft are both good but even better are Homeworld, AoE 1&2, Total Anihilation, Mech Commander 2 and the like. My favorite games are RPGs but a good RTS is almost as exciting.

AoE has been much too slow when I've played it. I fall asleep waiting for everything to happen. I played it for the first time MP with a friend who had it and stomped him almost without a battle... unfortunately it took around six hours. Way too much for a single game.

If I rush in AoK (OK, I'm not that good) I have taken my two friends in one hour. In Starcraft it works in 10 minutes or maybe less :D

RTS games were my favorite games before i "discovered" RPG's.

AoK:Conquerers is an awsome game that i think is better than any of the starcrafts or warcrafts, simply because of the number of buildings that you can build, and also a unique unit to every race. Aok is worthless in my opinion without the expantion.(not being able to stash chams in your battering rams sux.)

Starcraft is great(once my favoite game), but it lacks varity. the races have a basic match to every opponent(given sometimes they are stromger). But the only difference IMHO is that you build your town different.

Home World is ok, but it just get damn near impossible towards the end. You have that stupid limit on the number of ships per class so you can never get to powerful.(maybe has to do with game balance)

I love them. The game I have played the most by far is Civ2. It is so simple yet so complicated.

I like to build up a huge kingdom, place aircraft carriers outside all the nations on the map, throw in a bunch of subs with nukes and cruiser missiles, and let's not forget all the transports filled with troops and tanks, and then if anyone try something I don't approve of, I take over their whole nation in one turn... God I love that game.... :D :D :D :D :)

There are really no RTS games that can beat the feel you get from the CIV games.