What happened to the RTS genre?

[BarelyLegalBear]

Seriously, what happened to this genre? It is my favorite and Starcraft is not as fun as it was when i was younger. I'm more into the base building RTS games which is the problem. THERE aren't any games like that anymore. Warcraft series, Age of Mythology, Starcraft 1, Dawn of War series, Company of Heroes, Age of Empires 1 & 2 etc....

However, i have been looking on Steam for upcoming games and none of them coming soon seem to interest me. Most are space games (Hate them with a passion) So, what happened to the RTS genre? Is it ever going to get better and do you think we will see a few good ones this next year? OR do you think 2014 will be the death of the genre?

The only thing i can really hope for is Warcraft 4, hope this one comes...

[Charge me Doctor]

It evolved. I can't look up my steam library right now being at work, so i'll give you some pointers later. Iirc C&C is still exists, check them out. And WH40k is closer to wargame than to RTS, like RUSE.

And do i understand you correctly, yes say "It is my favorite and Starcraft is not as fun as it was when i was younger", SC remains stagnant for crapton of years, and all of the sudden you don't like it? I think it's called "being bored".

[BarelyLegalBear]

It evolved. I can't look up my steam library right now being at work, so i'll give you some pointers later. Iirc C&C is still exists, check them out. And WH40k is closer to wargame than to RTS, like RUSE.

And do i understand you correctly, yes say "It is my favorite and Starcraft is not as fun as it was when i was younger", SC remains stagnant for crapton of years, and all of the sudden you don't like it? I think it's called "being bored".

I guess you could also say i'm just kind of bored of it, but this thread isn't really about finding a game, its more about the genre and the lack of RTS games like the ones i mentioned in the OP.

[Charge me Doctor]

I guess you could also say i'm just kind of bored of it, but this thread isn't really about finding a game, its more about the genre and the lack of RTS games like the ones i mentioned in the OP.

Huh? C&C, Earth 21**, Supreme commander, the one that gives you an option to morph ground, can't remember how it's called. There is a plenty of RTS games, many of them requires to build base and maintain economy and do researches to be able to build units, or you just want a remake of games that you listed? AoE has an HD remake on steam already.

There is no such a thing as lack of RTS games, and genre hasn't changed that much (more like he gave a lot of branches to other RTS games, like, ground control, where you don't need to build base)

[skatblast]

If you like RTS your gonna have to play starcraft 2, no other competitive ones out there.

[Archimand]

i get what he mean,outside of starcraft 2 there hasnt been real RTS in ages
all the games you listed are old.
nowdays i see alot of strategy games but not RTS, i guess they gave up when blizzard released Starcraft 2

[Herecius]

The latest Age of Empires and Civ 5 was pretty brilliant, dunno about the OP.

[Thmsbkr3]

I'm a big fan of Dawn of Fantasy, maybe you should look that up. There's always an RTS game out there that I haven't played when I look for one.

[Charge me Doctor]

i get what he mean,outside of starcraft 2 there hasnt been real RTS in ages
all the games you listed are old.
nowdays i see alot of strategy games but not RTS, i guess they gave up when blizzard released Starcraft 2

Distant worlds, AoE 2 HD, Crusader kinds 2, Citadels, Company of heroes 2, (my personal favorites from here) Europa Universalis 4, R.U.S.E., Planetary annihilation, Wargame. There is a lot of RTS games released in 2013, i don't get where this "lack of RTS games" argument is coming from

[Deleted]

they stopped making Age of Empire games, that would be my bet.

[Heathy]

I still play forged alliance now and then also sins of a solar empire is quite fun, then you have ai war i find that a bit like supcom fa in space, there is that planetary annihilation in beta atm i wouldn't mind getting that at some point but i might wait for it to progress a little before committing.

i would say the RTS genre in general hasn't died its just that they tend to be pc exclusive, at least the best ones are.

[endersblade]

I'm a big fan of Dawn of Fantasy, maybe you should look that up. There's always an RTS game out there that I haven't played when I look for one.

And it's also a freaking MMO. Fuck that.

I have two 300-disc binders full of PC games. At least 150 or so are RTS games. I freaking love them. Offbeat ones like 7th Legion, Paraworld, I've played them all.

This year has been a stagnant pool of fecal matter as far as RTS games go. Too many companies are trying to 're-imagine' the genre, and so we are getting a plethora of 4X space games. While I do actually love those too, there's just nothing out there that really feels RTS-ish. Or, many companies are turning to Turn-based Strategy, like Fallen Enchantress, Heroes of Might and Magic, etc. I think Sins of a Solar Empire is the best one I've played in years, and even that is just a shell of what it could be. (You give me the option to have huge space battles, but make the game 32bit instead of 64? Well fuck you too, buddy.) It would seem that nobody really cares about the genre anymore. Sad face :-(

Planetary Annihilation is the one I'm currently watching. Spent $200 on the kickstarter for it. Really looking forward to it.

[Jokubas]

Seriously, what happened to this genre? It is my favorite and Starcraft is not as fun as it was when i was younger. I'm more into the base building RTS games which is the problem. THERE aren't any games like that anymore. Warcraft series, Age of Mythology, Starcraft 1, Dawn of War series, Company of Heroes, Age of Empires 1 & 2 etc....

However, i have been looking on Steam for upcoming games and none of them coming soon seem to interest me. Most are space games (Hate them with a passion) So, what happened to the RTS genre? Is it ever going to get better and do you think we will see a few good ones this next year? OR do you think 2014 will be the death of the genre?

The only thing i can really hope for is Warcraft 4, hope this one comes...

I know what you mean.

Starcraft and Company of Heroes are the only active ones in that list, and the former is essentially just a nostalgic remake when it comes to gameplay (not saying that's bad or anything, just that it doesn't help it feeling like there are no really new RTSs). Warcraft hasn't had an RTS since World of Warcraft came out, Age of Empires died with Ensemble (Age of Empires Online tried and failed), Dawn of War is on hiatus right now as far as I'm aware (especially since Company of Heroes Online was planned to inspire Dawn of War 3, but it flopped), and Command and Conquer has been dead for awhile (there was one in development, but they cancelled it).

Now, despite growing up on games like Warcraft and Command and Conquer, I never truly liked or was good at RTSs, but I still find it a shame. There are other strategy games that play in real time nowadays, but I can't really think of any solid franchises that are inspired by the traditional gameplay model.

[Wilian]

AAA market and sales projections by corporative suits.

[May90]

I actually love Starcraft 2 more than I did Starcraft 1, mostly since it has such an amazing collection of popular Custom Maps and just incredible campaigns, in my opinion, plus it is just so much better mechanically: workers starting collecting minerals right off the bat, ability to select up to 500 units, "smart blink", "drop micro" and other small pleasantries...

But, yeah, aside from Starcraft 2, the last RTS I really played a lot was Warcraft 3. Age of Empires and Dune series died sadly. Dune 2 was my first RTS ever (and, I suspect, it just was the first RTS ever), and Age of Empires 2 is my favorite RTS of all time, so death of these series and replacing potential Warcraft 4 with MMO for kids left quite a gap in this genre. Had it not been for Starcraft 2 which redeemed the genre for me a bit, I would consider this genre dead. And, well, it might be dead once Blizzard stops working on Starcraft.

[Herecius]

What about XCOM?

[Deleted]

The RTS genre has mutated into the MOBA.

[Yunru]

There is stil a community of modders that add stuff to a old rts and make it fresh. (not every game tho)

[Charge me Doctor]

What about XCOM?

It is not an RTS, it's turn-based strategy

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I actually love Starcraft 2 more than I did Starcraft 1, mostly since it has such an amazing collection of popular Custom Maps and just incredible campaigns, in my opinion, plus it is just so much better mechanically: workers starting collecting minerals right off the bat, ability to select up to 500 units, "smart blink", "drop micro" and other small pleasantries...

But, yeah, aside from Starcraft 2, the last RTS I really played a lot was Warcraft 3. Age of Empires and Dune series died sadly. Dune 2 was my first RTS ever (and, I suspect, it just was the first RTS ever), and Age of Empires 2 is my favorite RTS of all time, so death of these series and replacing potential Warcraft 4 with MMO for kids left quite a gap in this genre. Had it not been for Starcraft 2 which redeemed the genre for me a bit, I would consider this genre dead. And, well, it might be dead once Blizzard stops working on Starcraft.

All RTS makers try to add something new to their games. I remember playing a lot of them, and seeing them evolving from each other was awesome (things like improved group controls, complex mechanics), but some developers tried to add something really out of hand (like 1-st person control over units).

Z game had "zone control" element in it, you had to cap flags, capping it gives you zone control and all factories on this zone started producing units (more zones = faster production), then you throw them at enemy and who has more units and who've got better tactics wins.

Arsenal game was really really really unbalanced game but very interesting because of fuel system (tanks and airplanes run out of fuel and can't move until they are fueled by trucks, plane drop dead as soon as fuel is empty, you need to calculate where to place your airfields so you will be able to reach other units) and (i believe) it was first game with naval, air and ground units combined.

Do you remember Parkan game? It was 1st person shooter with elements of strategy (you had to explore and capture factory/base/bunker, build custom bots and engage enemy with them while supporting them by manual control, or by running around and giving extra firepower).

All RTS developers try to add something new, but over 10 years of developing, this genre is out of "new" things, and remaking old games is not an option. Instead of wanting remake of Warcraft games, you should try out new RTS, some of them are really good.

Whole my rant is not about "ERMAHGERD MANY RTS GAMES", but about RTS genre evolving into another genres. Because, basically, everything that involves strategy, and control over many units, and not uses turns is RTS.
I've heard same shit about quest genre (ermahgerd quests died with Siera, space quest ftw), but now we have a lot of story games (walking dead, wolf among us, anna, gone home and such) with quest and adventure elements.
And same about RPG genre being "dumbed down to hack&slash, best RPG game was baldurs gate, diablo 2 ruined everything" from people who haven't even checked Gorasul (i really love this game and want people to try it out) and Neverwinter games.

[HrznKn]

Sins of a solar empire (& sins rebellion) are pretty good. The total war series is still going strong as well if you are into turn based strategy games too.
Planetary annihilation looks promising, you can get into the beta if you preorder i believe, haven't tried it myself yet tho.

I think there is still some life left in the genre, but you are right about the classical rts like age of empires, they don't seem to make those any more.