Grizzled Ghost
Member
If you're down with squad based space RTS Aliens Dark Descent is a good one. And it's half off right now.
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Just starting to dive into RTS games. Could use some recommendations
- Thread starter The Infectious Paradox
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Newari
Member
And add this https://www.faforever.com/
Gp1
Member
The Holly trinity (ageless and perfect):
Warcraft 3
Company of Heroes (1, but the other 2 are awesome games too)
Warhammer Dawn of War
Goty material (In order):
Starcraft 1 and 2
Age 2/4/Mithology
Homeworld (1, 2 and, just a notch down, Deserts of Kharak)
Rise of Nations
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 and Generals
Shogun Total War
Warhammer Total War 3
Very good games IMHO, somewhat recent, and that i'm always playing here an there:
Steel Division 2 / Wargame: Red Dragon
Regiments
WARNO
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
And that will give you at least a year in playtime.
Warcraft 3
Company of Heroes (1, but the other 2 are awesome games too)
Warhammer Dawn of War
Goty material (In order):
Starcraft 1 and 2
Age 2/4/Mithology
Homeworld (1, 2 and, just a notch down, Deserts of Kharak)
Rise of Nations
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 and Generals
Shogun Total War
Warhammer Total War 3
Very good games IMHO, somewhat recent, and that i'm always playing here an there:
Steel Division 2 / Wargame: Red Dragon
Regiments
WARNO
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
And that will give you at least a year in playtime.
Hudo
Member
Alright:
The "Command & Conquer"-style of RTS is what I would call the "arcade"-take on RTS. It's my favorite.
Then we have the Blizzard-style of RTS, which is a lot more micro-heavy. Armies are usually smaller (especially in WarCraft) but units are more important and the counters aren't as clear-cut as in the C&C-style. It's also a lot less forgiving in terms of build order and all that stuff:
Then we've got the Age of Empires-style of RTS. Which has a far more pronounced building part. And the interesting Age-mechanic. It's less micro-heavy on the unit abilities. But more heavy on army composition.
And expect the building part to be part of your offensive strategy. Like castle dropping somewhere in the map is a legitimate strategy. In Blizzard-style RTS, buildings/bases stay "topolgically compact", if you will.
Then we have different takes on RTS. Relic have established the "Capture-key-points with squads"-RTS. Where you command and compose squads of units and go after (and hold) certain key areas on maps to get resources.
The building part is the most shallow here.
We have also have more experimental RTS games
E.g. where you essentially don't build but rather you've got a "mobile base" that you can move around the map
Where the faction mechanics are so different that it affects core gameplay
Mixture of RTS and action game, where you control a unit from a 3rd-person perspective:
I dunno where to put it:
Then we have the Chris Taylor style of RTS. Which is much more macro-heavy. In the sense that you need to figure out your resources income and production pipelines because you'll be producing a lot of units constantly
An indivdual unit isn't important. Your armies and how you move them around the map are. So it's like the C&C-style but taken to an extreme.
Maybe also worth mentioning are the Sins of a Solar Empire games. Which are a mixture of 4X and RTS. So it's a lot heavier on the macro stuff in the form of 4X mechanics that you would expect in Civilization and the like. But it's not too deep because it is still an RTS.
The modding community is really something else here. In fact, mods is how I usually play these games:
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion recommended mods:
Sins of a Solar Empire II upcoming mods that look cool:
Keep in mind that I took the liberty of only mentioning the games worth playing IMHO. There are a lot of mediocre/bad clones out there.
The "Command & Conquer"-style of RTS is what I would call the "arcade"-take on RTS. It's my favorite.
- Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
- Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
- Command & Conquer: Generals
- Command & Conquer 3
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
- Dune 2000
- Emperor: Battle for Dune
- Halo Wars
- The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth
- The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth II (I actually don't really know whether to put it here on in the Blizzard-style category...)
Then we have the Blizzard-style of RTS, which is a lot more micro-heavy. Armies are usually smaller (especially in WarCraft) but units are more important and the counters aren't as clear-cut as in the C&C-style. It's also a lot less forgiving in terms of build order and all that stuff:
- StarCraft Remastered
- WarCraft II: Battle.net Edition
- WarCraft III (STAY AWAY FROM REFORGED)
- Battle Realms: Zen Edition
- Metal Fatigue
- Submarine Titans
Then we've got the Age of Empires-style of RTS. Which has a far more pronounced building part. And the interesting Age-mechanic. It's less micro-heavy on the unit abilities. But more heavy on army composition.
And expect the building part to be part of your offensive strategy. Like castle dropping somewhere in the map is a legitimate strategy. In Blizzard-style RTS, buildings/bases stay "topolgically compact", if you will.
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
- Age of Mythology: Definitive Edition
- Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
- Empire Earth
- Rise of Legends
- Stronghold: Definitive Edition
- Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition (upcoming; going to be announced this Monday)
- Stronghold 2
Then we have different takes on RTS. Relic have established the "Capture-key-points with squads"-RTS. Where you command and compose squads of units and go after (and hold) certain key areas on maps to get resources.
The building part is the most shallow here.
- Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War
- Company of Heroes
- Company of Heroes 2
We have also have more experimental RTS games
E.g. where you essentially don't build but rather you've got a "mobile base" that you can move around the map
- Homeworld Remastered Collection
- Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
Where the faction mechanics are so different that it affects core gameplay
- Universe at War
Mixture of RTS and action game, where you control a unit from a 3rd-person perspective:
- Battlezone: Combat Commander
- Sacrifice
I dunno where to put it:
- Star Wars: Empire At War
Then we have the Chris Taylor style of RTS. Which is much more macro-heavy. In the sense that you need to figure out your resources income and production pipelines because you'll be producing a lot of units constantly
An indivdual unit isn't important. Your armies and how you move them around the map are. So it's like the C&C-style but taken to an extreme.
- Total Annihilation
- Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
- Beyond All Reason
Maybe also worth mentioning are the Sins of a Solar Empire games. Which are a mixture of 4X and RTS. So it's a lot heavier on the macro stuff in the form of 4X mechanics that you would expect in Civilization and the like. But it's not too deep because it is still an RTS.
The modding community is really something else here. In fact, mods is how I usually play these games:
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion recommended mods:
- Star Trek: Armada III
- Sins of a Galactic Empire
- Star Wars: Interregnum
- Sins of the Prophets
- Stargate Invasion
- Enhanced 4X Mod
Sins of a Solar Empire II upcoming mods that look cool:
- Star Trek: Armada IV
- Star Wars: Interregnum II
- Stargate Races 2
- Kohan is also a take on mixing 4X with RTS. It's also squad-based like Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War or Company of Heroes. But you move around on a "world map", essentially. Akin to how a Civilization map is in terms of being more zoomed out.
Keep in mind that I took the liberty of only mentioning the games worth playing IMHO. There are a lot of mediocre/bad clones out there.
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darth.shrimp
Gold Member
One of the best video game soundtracks ever, as well.
~edit: is that a fucking Czar in the first screenshot on Steam?! What version of TA is that lol
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Zug
Member
Alpha Male
Member
Halo Wars 1 & 2
C&C 3
C&C Kane's Wrath
C&C Red Alert 3
Supreme Commander 2
Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
EndWar
Homeworld 3
Homeworld Remastered
Homeworld Deserts of Kharak
Ashes of the Singularity
WARNO
Regiments
Age of Empires 2 & 4 Remasters
Age of Mythology Remaster
If you're into 4X Games then:
Sins of a Solar Empire 2
Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion
Stellaris
Total War
C&C 3
C&C Kane's Wrath
C&C Red Alert 3
Supreme Commander 2
Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
EndWar
Homeworld 3
Homeworld Remastered
Homeworld Deserts of Kharak
Ashes of the Singularity
WARNO
Regiments
Age of Empires 2 & 4 Remasters
Age of Mythology Remaster
If you're into 4X Games then:
Sins of a Solar Empire 2
Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion
Stellaris
Total War
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