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Why New RTS Games Fail. But There's Hope Yet? (www.youtube.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/rts@reddthat.com
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Real-Time Strategy once ruled PC gaming with legends like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Warcraft, and Dawn of War. But over the years, the genre has faded. New RTS games launch… and fail. Why?

In this video, we break down:
✅ The Golden Age of RTS and how it shaped gaming
✅ How StarCraft kickstarted modern esports
✅ Why publishers abandoned RTS games
✅ Why most new RTS titles can’t capture the magic

From Command & Conquer to StarCraft II and Dawn of War III, we’ll explore the rise, fall, and potential comeback of RTS.

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[–] 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

It is because RTS developers can't get out of the mindset of "rock paper scissors" strategy and create more combined arms warfare games like Beyond All Reason.

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  • [–] [S] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I'm not super familiar with BAR but most I've what I've heard about it makes me feel it fell flat as a game. I was never interested in it personally because of theme.

    Looking at the games I like, I don't think I agree that 'developers can't get out of the mindset of "rock paper scissors" strategy' is a valid critique. First, I don't think it's even entirely accurate. A game like Age of Empires 2 doesn't have a simple RPS system in reality; that's just a simplified explanation we use when first getting into it. In reality, spears/scouts/skirmishers form a pretty good RPS, but in large numbers ranged units end up outplaying cav with good micro. Then there's units like siege and the non-spear infantry units which don't fit neatly at all.

    Age of Mythology superimposes a second triangle over the basic triangle, in the form of the hero/human/myth unit triangle.

    And all these games have broader strategy triangles in the form of boom/turtle/rush. Or the eco/tech/military triangle. In AoE4, that latter tends to look like fast castle vs 2 TC vs feudal military units.

    But second, even if you do simplify these games down to RPS, I don't think it's a bad thing to have that be the core of the game design. In fact, I would say just the opposite. The Age game that deviates the most from an RPS model is the least successful. Audiences, when talking about RTS games, will extol the RPS mechanics and the interactions and back-and-forth that emerge from it. Strategies like building mostly one unit, with a few of whatever counters the counter, or the benefits of scouting so you can concentrate on what counters you opponent's play, etc.

    People talk about RPS in positive terms. It's commercially successful. The audience just leans towards something which can be mapped on to RPS.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    But second, even if you do simplify these games down to RPS, I don't think it's a bad thing to have that be the core of the game design. In fact, I would say just the opposite.

    It is boring as hell, I just end up playing realistic war games because it feels unsatisfying and rote to play the same type of boring RTS over and over again where you micro death blobs of identical units in a boring repetitive and tedious fashion.

    I'm not super familiar with BAR but most I've what I've heard about it makes me feel it fell flat as a game. I was never interested in it personally because of theme.

    Then you don't know what you are talking about.

    Beyond All Reason and Spring Engine games have been in development with an active playerbase for two decades.

    Supreme Commander Forged Alliance Forever is another spiritual successor to Total Annihilation that is very good, and people still play Total Annihilation a ton itself too.

    Planetary Annihilation is another TA inspired game.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 months ago

    It is boring as hell

    Sure, you're entitled to your opinion. But that doesn't make it a valid opinion when making a claim about broader market trends, given there's no real evidence to suggest that your opinion is more broadly held.

    where you micro death blobs of identical units in a boring repetitive and tedious fashion

    I don't think I have ever seen that happen in AoE4 or Age of Mythology. It can happen sometimes in AoE2, but I would not say it is the norm even there.

    Perhaps because of the whole first half of my comment which you ignored. That even so-called RPS RTSes aren't a simple RPS simulator, or even particularly close to that, in practice.

    Then you don’t know what you are talking about

    Uhh, what? I'm not "talking about" anything except what others said. Everyone I know of who tried out the game swiftly lost interest. The hype died out quite quickly after a brief hype cycle two or three years ago. That's not my own opinion about anything to do with the game, because I was never particularly interested in it to start with, for reasons that have nothing to do with mechanics. It's based on observations of how people who were initially interested reacted to trying it out.

    Look, I responded to your first comment in good faith. I thought it was the start of a potentially interesting conversation, and I engaged with it in that manner. But I'm sensing a rather unnecessary hostile tone in this comment that suggests you are not here for good faith discussion. I hope I'm wrong and that the rudeness was not intended. That it's just an artifact of how tone carries poorly online. Because I would be more than happy to continue the conversation further if so.

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