Good RTS games

[Darque]

Warlords Battlecry III is more traditional and just plane kicks ass with all the different sides. And there are a lot.

 

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I'm voting for this one.

[Llyranor]

Dragonshard actually looks pretty interesting as well. ETA is summer 2005, and a demo is *supposed* to come out later this month.

 

I like how they're doing the resource system. No child-labor minor or tree-hugging, your gold comes directly from taxes of your villagers (and IIRC, this income would go down as you'd recruit more villagers into becoming soldiers, though I don't know if this actual feature is still present, since I read about it a long time ago). Otherwise, you'd have to gather gold and shards from the battlefield (the latter which would fall randomly at random times during the game, so that'd create new areas you would fight for against the enemy who would want the shards as well). That means no turtling at base, you have to get off your butt to look for those resources. Which is why I like Dawn of War so much.

 

The dual-layers is pretty neat, as well. Above ground and underground, all connected, providing opportunities for ambushing your opponent.

 

The main feature which has me very interested, however, is the building nexus system, which - if well done, could potentially be hands-down the best building/research system ever implemented in a RTS game. No more research trees, no more building crap units while you wait for those you actually want to become available.

 

Basically, you get allotted a certain number of slots where you can make buildings. Mage towers, blacksmiths, temples, thief guilds, etc. Each building can create one type of units, akin to DnD. Fighters, wizards, rogues, etc. However, the way the buildings are placed actually makes a difference. If your temple is put next to the blacksmith, the clerics coming out of it get an AC bonus, for example. Or fighters produced next to a mage tower get a magic resistance bonus. This provides for a completely dynamic creation of units, and all based on YOUR choices and what YOU want. And as you encounter the enemy and find out his/her strengths and weaknesses, you can tear down some buildings and rebuild others, to make units adequate for countering the enemy. That sounds, frankly, kickbutt.

 

The fact that it's DnD is only a bonus. The world of Eberron sounds kind of neat.

 

In any case, we shall see.

[Darque]

^ I need to do some looking into that game... Eberron is a cool setting.

[Plano Skywalker]

Stronghold 2 looks very promising. I like the mix of castle-building/-management simulation and real-time combat. I'm not a huge RTS fan, but I'll be having a go at that one when it comes out at the end of April.

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Agree. Stronghold was really good in that it mixed a SIM with an RTS (in a narrative format, too) and made for a very immersive, medieval experience. I am looking forward to Stronghold 2.