Creating less sucky games: What is the ideal RTS game? (cont'd)

Good Game Design

by Brad Wardell

6) Combine unlimited resources with limited resources. AOE has some good ideas in this area. As I mentioned earlier, there should be staple resources that build all the basic units, but implement rare resources necessary to build special units. But also balance the special units so that you won't lose if you don't have them. Special units should just give you an advantage if you control areas with the rare resources.

7) Include the usual stuff: Fog of war, waypoints, formations, elevation that matters, good unit AI. These are basics but are often not looked at.

8) Keep it simple. One thing that wrecks some RTS�s for me are artificial limits. I have a general problem with any sort of unit limitation because it really points back to the general problem of �birth on demand� (If only Nazi Germany could have clicked on their main building and cranked out 50 more peons to turn into Panzer divisions). You either make it so you can or can�t afford the units. Not a �You need to build another farm� or whatever. It interrupts the flow of the game. If you want to start talking food supplies, then design the game in a different way � you don�t create peons, they�re born naturally based on how much food you have and then you assign them. It�s too much work having to build the farm AND remember to build the peon. It�s gotta be one or the other. There is no playability reason to have both except to keep people busy micromanaging. Remember the rule: No arbitrary limitations.

9) Allow for veteran units from battle as well as training camps. Have we learned nothing from our god, Sid Meier (Brad lowers his eyes with an emphatic cough of respect at the mention of his name)? The original Civilization had a barracks building that would allow us to create �veteran� units, yet the RTS games tend to totally ignore this key game mechanic.

10) Use technology trees of some kind. You want the player to be able to move through some sort of tech tree. Again, you don�t want to get them into a rock-paper-scissors situation; rather, you want them to be able to build better units that take advantage of combined arms tactics when possible. There is a big difference between not winning and losing. Nothing is more frustrating than having built an impressive force only to be wiped out because you didn�t happen to research the �right� unit (oh, the cloaked chopper, I don�t have the anti-cloak truck built, I guess my entire army I spent 30 minutes assembling is going to be wiped out). You want to see great battles where Player 1 spent his resources researching technology to get the Mark IV Mega Tank battling it out with Player 2 who didn�t research as much but has 10 Mark I Standard Tanks. In Masters of Orion and Galactic Civilizations on OS/2, it was always fun for me to see those kinds of battles (the mass of low tech units taking on a few high tech units to see whether there were enough low tech units to wipe out the high tech unit).

These are just a few of the really key ingredients I�d like to see in an RTS. Personally, I wish they�d just get Boneyards back up on Total Annihilation. What I wouldn�t give for a TA 2.0 with just some updated graphics and a finished Boneyards. That was and is a great game.

Next issue I�ll talk about a game design that almost got made when GT Interactive and Stardock almost licensed the Total Annihilation: Kingdoms engine to make a game called Mobilization. You be the judge on whether it would have been cool or sucked. In the meantime, feel free to write me with your thoughts (flames or otherwise) at [email protected]. You can also talk on our message board.

Brad Wardell is the Project Manager of two ongoing Stardock games:

The Corporate Machine, a business strategy game due out December 11 and Galactic Civilizations, a turn based strategy game due out late 2001. Stardock�s website is http://www.stardock.com. Brad Wardell�s website is http://people.mw.mediaone.net/bwardell. He is also the Product Manager of WindowBlinds (www.windowblinds.net) and DesktopX (www.desktopx.net).

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