Interesting RTS article.

[Kreeeee]

"Despite commercial and critical success, THQ's RTSes, Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, haven't reached Starcraft's level of competitive play. Designer and game student James Lantz investigates whether modern RTS innovations made the genre unsuitable for high-level play."

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18326

It explains well why I still play StarCraft to this day and why Dow and CoH can't hold my interest. Would be interesting to read your opinions on this.

 

[Kreeeee]

Good read. But i feel they missed something by not including supcom into that article (it's a THQ game as well) as they made a big thing about the randomness in coh being a downer whilst supcom actualy simulates all the projectiles and what not. Much more realistic than randomness.

But appart from missing the other big rts to come out in recent time, i think the mentions to visual clarity are off aswell, i mean even starcraft has blood filled explosions and what not when something dies (thinking zerg deaths here) and you know they would have been more spectacular in the visual separtment if the hardware allowed it, it's just how games evolve with regards to visuals.

Remember starcraft came out the same time as Total Annihilation so the hardware did allow it.

 

[Kreeeee]

But blizzard have never been one to puch the boundries in graphics i don't beleive.

The point is that it was a conscious decision to keep the graphics "clean" and clutter free and not a hardware limitation.

Why would you micro zeglings against carriers =/

 

[Kreeeee]

He's not dismissing other RTS games, he's just exploring why they're not as suitable for competitive play. A key part of eSports (what a stupid name btw, it's not a sport) is that spectators can watch and fully understand what going one, and an overly complex interface doesn't allow that.

SC isn't simple (otherwise it wouldn't be competitive) but it doesn't have anything unnecessary implemented for visual effect.

 

[Kreeeee]

Nice 'article'. Another Blizzard circle-jerk.

Diddums.

one reason why its played so widely is because people in south Korea / china even with the worst spec PC can still play it easily

Korea have great technology though, their net speed is amazing. The game's not very popular in china iirc.

I hope SC2 has low requirements though as I don't want to upgrade my PC for one game

An interesting article, but why is there no mention of Total Annihilation and SupCom? TA is fairly simple and 'clean' with plenty of predictability, plus its awesome

I think that TA is a fantastic RTS, I'd play it all the time, I did venture online a couple of times and got whooped
I used to love using PeeWee hoardes!

TA was indeed awesome and it's true, the author never addresses why it never took off competitively.

Went totally off on a tangent there but yeah, i guess it's valid. I hope starcraft 2 brings in enough talentless RTS players like myself so i can actually get into the online games this time around.

No, it was an interesting read, thanks

I see your point, even in console games like mario kart and halo 3 things have been dumbed down for the modern gamer. Personally I blame the playstation generation and their solitary gaming antics

 

[Kreeeee]

All it is, is someone taking developments in RTS games, saying they're useless, and that Starcraft is perfect.

Starcraft is NOT the best game ever made, despite what all the 1337 kiddies will have you think.

You're not too bright are you?

He's not saying any of the games are poor, he's discussing why they're not more popular in the competitive "scene".

 

[Kreeeee]

It's made by Blizzard, don't worry The graphics are always poo and cartoony but they make up for it in gameplay.

I still play Starcraft to this day (still suck at it too).

Ooh burn!

You reckon they'll crack the 3D interface problem of poor mouse response in RTS games?

 

[Kreeeee]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=050akGtHDM4

Looks pretty responsive to me, even in this early build. I'm sure blizzard know what made starcraft special was its responsiveness and will endeavor to get it as close as possible.

Doesn't show the units responses to rapid clicks though. SC is the only RTS I know of where 200+ APM (actions per minute) is feasible to use because of the UI and unit response time.

 

[Kreeeee]

Protoss are pansies, it's terran that make me run for the hills. Damn M&M's!

 

[Kreeeee]

Kreeeee, are you the one responsible for this video?

Nope, are you responsible for this one?

 

[Kreeeee]

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v13469037khXCFRTk?autoWatch=true

It looks like the interface is just as responsive.

 

[Kreeeee]

Its people playing like that which scare me from going online in the original game

It's no different to pro CS players though. You just avoid the 1v1 ladder games and play 3v3 bgh if you are just looking for some fun.

 

[Kreeeee]

I think it's the reduced anonymity and increased time investment that makes people a little more scared of online RTS than online FPS.

I've played SC a bit online. I doubt I could beat any serious player but it can still be fun.

I see your point. You can just jump into CS for a few minutes and if you're getting caned you join a new server while the average SC match is 15 minutes.

1v1 against a better player in SC does just make you feel completely dominated, but 2v2 and 3v3 can be great fun in a less serious way.

 

[Kreeeee]

I much prefer Dawn of War over Star Craft. Specifically because it is more cinematic and has elements of randomness and visual confusion. It keeps me more on edge not knowing wether a shot will hit or miss, it gives a greater sense of realism to the game.

That's fair enough. I like DoW for the same reasons but this is discussing competitive play not which RTS is better. Do you think DoW could make a great competitive game to play and watch?

 

[Kreeeee]

Im happy to play for fun and enjoyment even when playing against friends

Surely especially against friends. The whole point of playing RTS vs real life friends is to try and stab them in the back/pull off some crazy strategy.