Monaco’s creator hopes to reinvent real-time strategy for controllers

Andy Schatz, creator of Monaco: What’s Mine is Yours, is working on a real-time strategy game built around analog controller use. In his blog post, Schatz revealed that his goal for Armada (work-in-progress pictured above) is to simplify RTS commands to work with a controller, but keep the feel of traditional RTS rock/scissors/paper gameplay and high-level competition. Armada will give direct control of a character to the player who will build structures and raise armies. Troops will follow AI orders per their class. Defenders will stay around the base, while attackers will seek out enemies to fight. Schatz contends that previous efforts to translate RTS gameplay to analog controllers haven’t fulfilled their promise.

“Maybe it’s just nostalgia speaking, but I want to play an RTS game that feels like a battle of wits, not a battle of clicks. I want to compete at a high level, but I also want to be able to introduce the RTS genre to my friends at a party. I want an RTS where the strategy is creative and complex and the micro is accessible and fun.

With Monaco, we took an old school genre (Stealth), we simplified the controls, and then we built an incredibly complex game that could be played at high and low skill levels alike. I want to do the same with the RTS genre.”

Armada is only a month into development, but Schatz said his team already has a working networking system, a replay system, and an editor developed. As for when it will be done, he reminded fans that Monaco started as a six-week Xbox Live Indie Game project that grew into a three year development process.