Rush, Boom, Turtle: How to Make an RTS

3/18/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3

3) Variable speed

A lot of RTSes are made for hyperactive kids hopped up on Jolly Ranchers and Pixie Sticks. But what about guys like me who are slow and old, as I demonstrated with my outdated Pixie Sticks reference? Work with me, RTS makers. Please. I have more disposable income than those kids who are blowing their allowance on Pixie Sticks.

I like being able to pause the game freely. Similarly, I want the game to slow to a crawl if I need time to think, or even if I just feel like watching for a while. You made all these fancy graphics, so let me appreciate them. If I want to be challenged with fast-paced gameplay, I have plenty of icons on my desktop that'll take me into shooters. Heck, I have entire console systems in my living room for that express purpose.

A single speed is rarely enough. Command & Conquer 3 does its damnedest to just rush past the early stage as if it didn't even exist, which makes big late-game battles an exercise in holding on for dear life. Age of Empires III takes another approach, letting your explorer run around discovering treasure, essentially bribing you with little gifts to persuade you that you're not bored waiting to stock up the 800 food you need to age up. Both games would be better served by simply letting players adjust the speed during the game. I hope you're writing these things on your whiteboard, Mr. RTS Developer. I need you to help me help you have me at "hello."

4) On-screen health bars

I need to know how close I am to winning or losing a battle, and I need to know it at a glance. When I have a healing spell, priests, athelas, bacta tanks or some such thing, I need to know -- quickly! -- exactly where to use them. You must give me an immediate overview of who's got how much health, preferably with a hotkey that can toggle it on and off, because let's face it: health bars are butt-ugly and they mess up your great graphics, but it's information I've just got to have. Please don't pretend otherwise, or I shall address a sternly worded letter to your place of employment. You should see the one I'm writing to the guys at Petroglyph who made Universe at War, an RTS without health bars.

5) Attack Move

The attack move was patched out of Age of Empires III a few months after its release, and it remained that way for several patches. Ensemble barely acknowledged it was a problem, merely noting that the attack move artificial intelligence was "broken." I have no idea how long the attack move was MIA, because I sure as heck wasn't playing.

Every single RTS needs an attack move. This is especially true in a game where moving and attacking are mutually exclusive. If unit range is a factor in comparative advantages -- and when is it not? -- then an attack move is even more important. I need the tactical AI to manage the advantage by stopping and attacking as soon as it's in range of an enemy.

The guys at Petroglyph deserve a special tip of the hat for recognizing that the attack move should be the primary mode of moving your units. In Empire at War and Universe at War, a right click gives selected units an attack move. A double-right click gives a conventional move order, which is great interface shorthand for telling your guys, "Just hurry up and get there!" More RTSes should adopt this convention. Unfortunately, I take back my tip of the hat to Petroglyph and instead give them a "harrumph!" for Universe at War, where units don't stop moving when given an attack move. That's going into my sternly worded letter about the lack of health bars.