nice read. Does RA2 really look that dated? lol, greatest RTS i've ever played. and yes I agree boo on EA for buying Westwood and cancelling Renegade 2
Originally Posted by Bauul Good read Joe, although to be honest my gauge of a good RTS story is based solely on whether Joe Kucan is in it or not. :)
Though, sorry to be pedantic, but isn't Theme Hospital technically a God Game, not an RTS? They're pretty destinct genres.
I think because it has a very narrowed scope on a competitive environment and because it has clear Win scenarios it is a Strategy game rather than a God game. You can if you mess up your spending and you have got firmly set aims to progress through the levels. A God game is more about managing a civilisation, or something with a very broad scope. They tend not to have structured levels per se and often just perpetuate endlessly without a clear victory - like The Sims, Theme Park, Civ etc.
No idea I'm afraid - I can't find the site it on and lost the original since I've reformatted my PC since the article was started. These things take bloody weeks to write!
Originally Posted by CardJoe No idea I'm afraid - I can't find the site it on and lost the original since I've reformatted my PC since the article was started. These things take bloody weeks to write!
D'awww.
Ahwell. time to scoure some of the RA mod sites still in existance.
Interesting article, but I was hoping for more of a technical discussion regarding the challenges of designing RTS games, and new ideas that are coming to the table. The article focussed too much about bringing the story and narrative the the game and hybrid RTS/RPG elements.
Its starting to look like the 360/PS3 can now 'game' on par with a relatively newish PC - or should I say that the AAA games for the PC are making themselves 'console viable' - COD4, OrangeBox, UT3, Supreme Commander, World in Conflict..
How about an article about how control schemes for RTS games on consoles ? Or about the more technical details of what makes RTS as a concept work ?
I have a 360/Wii/PC. The PC will always be my first point of call for RTS games, but Im pleased they are coming to the consoles to widen the market.
And with regards to SupCom on the 360.. it will be 500 unit limit, with 4 player multiplayer, and units comparable to the PC version. I hear its going well from the beta, and the interface is very easy. graphics are supposed to be very good. People need to give the 360 credit here.. its more powerful than people realise. We'll never see SupCom on the Wii though!
Looking back at that Dune I screenshot brings back good early gaming memories. Anyone know if it'll run on XP? If so, I might be forced to bring out the discs for it later...
Originally Posted by CardJoe N'ah, I'm sure one of the people here should be able to help you out. Yes Bauul, I'm looking at you...
Lol, you know me so well!
Quote:
Originally Posted by liratheal I have a question about the review images.
Last page, the RA2 image. What mod is it?
It looks awesome, and I wants it.
Unfortunately, that isn't a mod, it's an extremely early promotional screenshot Westwood released long before the game ever hit Gold status. In other words, it's an alpha build, and all the funky units you can see must have been subsequently dropped before the game was finished. There might be some mods out there of people adding them back into the game themselves, but it'd be a long shot with a game this old. Sorry!
Unfortunately, that isn't a mod, it's an extremely early promotional screenshot Westwood released long before the game ever hit Gold status. In other words, it's an alpha build, and all the funky units you can see must have been subsequently dropped before the game was finished. There might be some mods out there of people adding them back into the game themselves, but it'd be a long shot with a game this old. Sorry!
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe ...even I'm stunned by that level of geekiness
Stunned but appreciative!
I ended up scouring some RA2 mod sites, and there are a few with the same units in use (Guessing they're fan models) but the projects all look pretty dead, at least, a last post of four years ago doesn't look hopeful!
Why do I remember Dune II as "Dune II: Battle For Arrakis", not "Dune II: Building a Dynasty"?
Or was that the first Dune game? Have to say, the first was truly epic, must have played it about 10 times to completion. Why there aren't any other games in the role-playing-adventure-strategy game I don't know...
Personally, of all the Dune games, I favour the first RPG/RTS blend. My Dad would play that on our Amiga and my brother and me would be allowed up late sometimes to play it with him. I got far more into it than my brother and would keep lists of all the different Sietch names and maps for my Dad, whooping for joy when we found characters from the book. My Dad played it for about a month and never won. Years later I bought it for PC and quickly found that the key was to rush through the game so you gathered troops before the Emperor started demanding too much of a tribute. I beat the whole game in an hour and sent him an email of the YOU WIN screen, but he didn't even remember the game. :(
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Westwood Studios for those who don't know, was bought out by the evil Electronic Arts.
Sam
How about RTS's designed for consoles first like Halo Wars?
Interesting article, but wish Magnus had been a bit more involved or spoke more so we really could've got his point of view not Joe's interpretation
it'll prolly only have 4 units per side :P
i love RTS since dune.
very much into pvp in C&C and Starcraft. i was surprised to see Starcraft being still being played in south korea on recent visit.
strangely enough, reinstalled all the Rise of Nations series last week.
Though, sorry to be pedantic, but isn't Theme Hospital technically a God Game, not an RTS? They're pretty destinct genres.
I think because it has a very narrowed scope on a competitive environment and because it has clear Win scenarios it is a Strategy game rather than a God game. You can if you mess up your spending and you have got firmly set aims to progress through the levels. A God game is more about managing a civilisation, or something with a very broad scope. They tend not to have structured levels per se and often just perpetuate endlessly without a clear victory - like The Sims, Theme Park, Civ etc.
Last page, the RA2 image. What mod is it?
It looks awesome, and I wants it.
D'awww.
Ahwell. time to scoure some of the RA mod sites still in existance.
Nice article, too. Enjoyed reading it.
Its starting to look like the 360/PS3 can now 'game' on par with a relatively newish PC - or should I say that the AAA games for the PC are making themselves 'console viable' - COD4, OrangeBox, UT3, Supreme Commander, World in Conflict..
How about an article about how control schemes for RTS games on consoles ? Or about the more technical details of what makes RTS as a concept work ?
I have a 360/Wii/PC. The PC will always be my first point of call for RTS games, but Im pleased they are coming to the consoles to widen the market.
And with regards to SupCom on the 360.. it will be 500 unit limit, with 4 player multiplayer, and units comparable to the PC version. I hear its going well from the beta, and the interface is very easy. graphics are supposed to be very good. People need to give the 360 credit here.. its more powerful than people realise. We'll never see SupCom on the Wii though!
Hm, maybe I'll look at that in the future - seems like a good idea.
Lol, you know me so well!
Unfortunately, that isn't a mod, it's an extremely early promotional screenshot Westwood released long before the game ever hit Gold status. In other words, it's an alpha build, and all the funky units you can see must have been subsequently dropped before the game was finished. There might be some mods out there of people adding them back into the game themselves, but it'd be a long shot with a game this old. Sorry!
Stunned but appreciative!
I ended up scouring some RA2 mod sites, and there are a few with the same units in use (Guessing they're fan models) but the projects all look pretty dead, at least, a last post of four years ago doesn't look hopeful!
Thanks for the info, Bauul.
Or was that the first Dune game? Have to say, the first was truly epic, must have played it about 10 times to completion. Why there aren't any other games in the role-playing-adventure-strategy game I don't know...