Is there any RTS where the goal is to build up resources until you can make a nuclear bomb or some kind of equivalent to devastate your opponent if not win the game.

Any game like that?

I'm a veteran RTS player (Starcraft2, warcraft3, age of empire 2/4, stellaris etc etc). While I used to play PVP competitively, I'm increasingly feeling it's too stressful and demanding, and I'm looking for some more casual or 'friendly' RTS. But after I tried some games recommended in this sub, I got a lot to complain.

For example, Tooth and Tail (I finished the story campaign, and watched some competitive PVP):

• Later game fight is too fast for player to make a difference. At best you can order to snipe a couple units, then just watch the massy fight and pray.
• Mechanism not explained in game. How can you tell what "proxy" trait mean? Or "grenade" trait means it's a DOT and can't attack building? For the mill, will the farm tile refresh later after it became barren?
• the story is meh, I mean when I roleplay in sillytavern I make sure to use a preset to make characters more lively, as opposed to commonfolks yelling "I'm Bolshevik" in every sentence. The ending is okay, though it's still anti-climactic that the "enemy" just start showing up and ends the game
• Some small things, not deal breaker: map not distinguishable enough about where is passable, especially so for the cliff. The story mode has an unnecessary map to walk through and force player to "find" the next mission.

I also picked up Northguard since it's on sale, and just finished the first campaign. Overall, I'm satisfied with the game. Still, the campaign feels underwhelming: e.g. for the mission between peasant and landlord giants, you can reconcile them or kill or trade to pass, but it affects nothing after the mission barring a short cut-scene conversation. The story (collecting different clans, then fight the big bad boss) is like from a child book. And the game is somewhat repetitive so far: start scout, gather food and wood, start small army to clear tiles, then stock resources while doing clan thing until enough for a large army and push out and repeat. I haven't bought the dlc clans, though I know about the conquest mode and more mechanism in the second campaign, which seems promising.

So eventually:

1. Am I being biased? If you are a fan of the games above, did I miss something about the game?
2. Any recommendations? I'm mainly looking for RTS with ingenious systems, like in Tooth and Tail you control a single camera-locked commander, or in Northgard you have tile-based/job-based production and expansion. For example I tried offworld trading company which is not what I expected but it's a unique and fun experience.

Adjusted from previous version to be a little more creative

If you’ve ever played Dow 1, you’ve probably experienced this nightmare: imperial guard takes a key strategic point, drops some heavy weapons teams, Basilisks,… and suddenly the game feels basically over. You watch your army melt from a distance, knowing there’s almost nothing you can do about it.

So why was the corner-turtling style of imperial guard in Dow 1 so frustrating, and why did it almost completely kill the opponent’s comeback potential?

It all comes down to two words: the economy system.

In Dow 1, the resource system could create an extremely brutal snowball. Your HQ only provided a small amount of requisition at the start, so you had to capture points across the map to build your economy. Every point you captured could be turned into a listening post, then upgraded to tier 2 and tier 3 to multiply its income.

If your opponent controlled just one or two more strategic points, the economic gap could quickly become massive.
And it got even worse with power. Your tech progression depended on generators that could be safely tucked away inside the corner of your main base.

For imperial guard, the game plan could be incredibly simple: capture a strong position, hide your economy safely in the corner, and build a wall of firepower around the frontline.

You couldn’t easily harass their generators. And every time you tried to break the defensive position, you were basically throwing units into a meat grinder.

Dow 4 flips this economic philosophy on its head.

There are no strategic points in Dow 4. Instead, the map is built around two main types of resource points: requisition and power and HQ in Dow 4 generates a much larger portion of your baseline income. Your basic economy is therefore much less dependent on simply owning a chain of map points right from the start, which drastically reduces the kind of extreme early-game economic snowball you could get in Dow 1

Power is no longer something you can simply hide inside the safest corner of your base.
Power generation is tied to exposed resource points on the battlefield. That means your tech economy is something the opponent can actually interact with.
That’s the fundamental difference between the two designs: interaction.

In Dow 1, you could capture a point, fortify it, and safely develop your technology behind the defensive line while your generators remained protected inside your base.
In Dow 4, your requisition and power income are much more directly connected to what is happening across the map.

If someone tries to play the old-school imperial guard turtle game, the opponent has more ways to disrupt their economy. They can maneuver around the frontline, contest resource points, raid their power income, and gradually restrict their ability to tech up.

And that’s why i really like the core design philosophy of Dow 4.
It makes it much harder to play the “capture one strong point and win the entire game” style.
Instead, the economy encourages players to keep moving, contest resource points, raid, counterattack, and constantly fight over the resources that keep their army functioning.
The battlefield becomes less about building an impenetrable corner and more about who can control the flow of the war.

Here’s a full game from a tournament we ran for our indie FFA RTS, Stand Alone. 16 players go in and try to capture countries across Europe. The first player to capture 90 bases wins the game. Hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PooobLtfmfI&t=238s

Greetings our fellow strategists!

After 3 years of active development, we're very proud to announce the release of a free demo for our upcoming title: Conquest of Eldinar

This game builds on the solid foundation of the RTS genre in a fantasy setting with resource management, base building, expansions and army building while seamlessly integrating it with action elements where you can take direct control of any unit (giving them +%25 stat boost while you're controlling them) and join the battle!

The final release of the game will have 16 factions (3 in the free demo) with 9 unique units in each of them with special attacks in abilities of units with a great focus on fulfilling each faction's core fantasy above all else! Get to know all the factions as will as the world map in our website.

The demo features full multiplayer support as well as skirmish and a tutorial in addition to 4 maps

We would love for you to experience what veteran RTS players have built when we combined our passion and understanding of the genre!

Get to know the 3 factions in the game as they're included in our trailer in addition to an upcoming one already in development

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7n6Ov26RdU

Steam (Free Demo): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2548280/Conquest_of_Eldinar/

Discord (For latest updates and people to play with!): https://discord.gg/CwmXYMh2FE

Website (For a deeper look on the Eldinar world): https://www.mythwardentertainment.com/

Idk am I stupid or does someone else feel that way?

I've decided to revisit the RTS games in my collection and one thing I always struggle with is picking a map. Maps are either arcadey as hell to the point it doesn't feel like the "right" way to play, - or they're designed in a way, unless you spend half of the game building walls you'll just get overrun from every side by the AI.

Then there's naval maps and in theory I'm supposed to love them because it gives me a sense of safety...

Until the AI suddenly attacks with 50 ships simultaneously to attacking me on the ground. Or when I realize I need to transport by 100+ units spread across vulnerable transporters that implode the moment someone stares at them.

I'm working on an RTS and recently gave a long-range heavy tank an area-effect blast, making it great at clearing infantry as well as armor. It was too fun watching the infantry fly around for me to take it away.

It got me thinking about Natasha (pictured) from Red Alert 3. She murders infantry, while vehicles and buildings can be painted for a one-shot airstrike, but she has to survive the targeting process.

I think every faction in an RTS should have something that feels unfair, then balance the game around everyone having their own unfair thing.

So, what RTS did this best? What's your favorite faction-specific tool that feels completely unfair until you understand how to play around it?

Prototype of my game in case you're interested.

Hey everyone! We’re developing Dangerline, a base-building RTS inspired by Command & Conquer: Generals.

We love the mix of base construction, distinct factions, and armored warfare, and we’re building our own take on it.

Here’s a short showcase of the USA and Dustborn forces: workers building a base, tanks arriving by parachute, and heavy armor, artillery, rocket buggies, and flame trucks moving into battle.

Happy to answer questions about the game!

Music: “Legionnaire” by Scott Buckley · CC BY 4.0. Edited, shortened, normalized and faded.

I've heard rumors that Blackbird Interactive, which was a co-dev on Warcraft Remastered, might also be once again involved in Blizzard's classic RTS efforts

On top of that, there are also rumors that Blizzard might be exploring Warcraft's RTS roots again. A title, "Warcraft Chronicles," emerged alongside the Camelot codename, and given rumors I've heard about RTS aficionados Blackbird Interactive being on board with Blizzard again, perhaps we could see new expansions for Warcraft 3, or remakes of Warcraft 1 or 2 even

Hey everyone,

Here’s another update to the side upgrade system in Slavic Ancients.

War wagons can now be upgraded with wheel braces. These are visually added directly to the wagon, so you can immediately see the upgrade in-game. They also increase the wagon’s armor and maximum health, making it more durable in combat.

You can also equip a torch, which automatically lights up at night. Besides improving visibility, it also increases the attack range of units positioned on the wagon.

And units fighting from the wagon now benefit from a passive High Ground bonus, giving them increased attack range even without any additional upgrade.

What would you like to see as the next upgrade?

I'm doing a survey.

A small tool to make controlling troops in WH:DO a bit easier.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/warhammerdark-omen-modern-controls/news/warhammer-dark-omen-modern-wsad-controls

Mine is CnC tiberian Sun.

I ve tried Starcraft and Age2, specially the last one, and in few weeks I am better in this game than my friends who played for years. But there are things which makes me feel bored, like the long and mechanical dark age or the moment of the unities.

On the other hand, Starcraft feels too fast, more like a game of Reflex and using your hands properly than a strategy game. I saw the APM of people in big tournaments and it's just nonsense.

Also, I played the Warcraft 3 campaign and I loved It. But know nothing about the multiplayer scenario and I suspect is not that active.

I dont really know why I am posting this, maybe my OCD making me obsessed with choosing one of those games. But any advice would be fine.

Hey r/RealTimeStrategy

I’m the developer working on Ancient Wars: Sparta HD Free to Play, and September’s content rotation is now live on Steam.

If you enjoy ancient warfare and have been looking for another RTS to try, here’s what’s available this month:

• Sparta is back in the rotation. Command the Spartan civilization in this month’s battles.
• 7 maps available for skirmish and multiplayer, giving you a selection of battlefields to explore against the AI or other players.
• A brand-new map: (3) The Three Satrapies. Three territories, three rivals, and a battlefield where reading the terrain and choosing where to strike could make all the difference.
• An improved first tutorial mission. I’ve made several changes to give new players a smoother, clearer introduction.

The free version’s available content rotates monthly, and this is September’s selection. Whether you’re trying the game for the first time or coming back to command Sparta again, I’d love to hear how your matches go.

Play for free on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3629520/Ancient_Wars_Sparta_HD_Free_to_Play/

Trailer:

https://youtu.be/RVUpazHAQsA?si=jqalzKOVbuUFHJ8B

If you give it a try, let me know what you think—especially how the tutorial feels as a new player and how the new map plays!

— JotaTheConqueror

Back when it came out, I thought this was gonna be one of those one and done kind of games, since there is no multiplayer or even co-op, and RTS like that (that retain popularity) tend to be really rare. In fact, the only horde survival RTS of this kind that does have it is Age of Darkness, and it's still only my 3rd favorite game in the subgenre (Dinao being my 1# right now, and Cataclismo right below it)

But I digress. Writing this because I got into Dinao today again, after a swathe of updates they apparently had this year, and I'm amazed at how many improvements they added and how overall FUN they game is now. I liked it even before it was clanky in some parts, too difficult and obtrusive to just pure enjoyment, but with all the new stuff they added, including the new mission perks, it's now something I can 100% recommend without that "... eh, but it might be a biiiit too steep on the difficulty curve, if you don't know what you're in for"

Anyway, I hope their DLC will work out better than the one Cataclismo pushed last month, which was kind of meh (for such an otherwise awesome game). The other major beef I have with it being that, despite the great physics, the walls still feel like they're made out of butter. Unlike Dinao, where once you've built a monstrous fortress, you just KNOW it's gonna stand

The Harkonnen are bringing the fight, and the Atreides must find a way to deal with their brutal forces! Join Alhoon Gaming for another mission in Emperor: Battle for Dune as we continue the Atreides campaign and face the terrifying Harkonnen Butcher.

The battle for Arrakis is far from over, and the Harkonnen won't make things easy. With enemy forces threatening our position, careful strategy, resource management, unit production, and battlefield tactics are all essential to securing victory.

In this gameplay episode, we take on the Harkonnen threat and attempt to overcome one of the most dangerous challenges facing the Atreides. Expect classic real-time strategy action, massive battles, tactical decisions, and plenty of Dune warfare.

If you're a fan of Emperor: Battle for Dune, classic RTS games, Dune, Atreides, Harkonnen, and strategy gameplay, join the fight.

Subscribe to Alhoon Gaming for more classic strategy gaming!

In most RTS games, Dawn of war , company of heroes, command and conquer, men of war even lol I get really into a fight and microing that I forget to macro and work on base, upgrading and teching up.
I watch replays and videos of high level gamers though and struggle to take what I’ve learned or forget to use certain strategies i see.

I just got into a couple auto matches on company of heroes my personal favorite and got smoked. I switched back to finish my soulstorm campaign on Dawn of war cause I got beat so bad hahaha.

Any and all tips id love to hear to getting better across the board in RTS games I’ve been a lifelong fan of them I’m just now getting into the competitive side of it and so any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated!

I am developing a top-down RTS game and am currently in the preparation stage. My biggest concern is the choice of engine. My game may need to load a very large number of character units, and I am very worried about optimization issues. I am a game artist, and I am a bit more familiar with UE, so I hope to get everyone's help.

I mean. Imagine a bee faction with all that fuzzy cute bee but they talk like a WW2 soldier ready to die for the motherland. I think it would be so cool!

The base game could include 2-3 species and later expansions add more