Should iPhone RTS be like Strategic Assault or more like Galcon?

[hkiphone]

I've bought Strategic Assault, dying for a real RTS on the iPhone.
However, I just didn't find it as enjoyable as I thought it should be.
Part of the problem seems to be the selection of multiple vehicles, and commanding them.
I can understand the developer wanting to stick to classic RTS gameplay roots, and I have nothing but praise for them trying at this highly desirable genre.
But I cannot avoid the niggling feeling that perhaps RTS for the iPhone, and for mobile gameplay in general, need to turn a new direction and drift more towards the likes of Galcon and maybe even Fieldrunners. Both games have a more immediate feel to them, and no micromanagement of units - you just get on with the game. And, they both feel more enjoyable for me.

What do you all think? Does this new platform mean we need new directions on gameplay rather than just port PC-style gaming over? Or are these too simplistic and we need greater control in order to deliver more sophisticated and enriching gameplay?

Cheers!

[Oliver]

The problem is of course the control scheme used, like with so many games. I would prefer something looking real with a bit micro management, but the control scheme has to fit to the iPhone. Compare Fieldrunners and Besiegement in terms of control scheme and you know what I mean.

What I would like to have in an RTS with graphics like Strategic Assault:

- Resize the map with the known gestures
- Select a bunch of stuff with drawing a line with your finger
- Deselect with tapping twice on the ground
- Select a single unit with tapping on it
- Present a menu with tap-hold
- Tap once somewhere to move or attack
- Move the map with a two-finger-drag
- Rotate the map like in Google Earth with two fingers

For game content and complexity, I would love to have Warcraft 1 one the iPhone. Maybe with smaller maps (Fieldrunners x4).


Another example would be Age of Empires for the DS, where you just move 1 unit on the map with stands for about 12 different persons in this unit.

[eragmus]

Yeah, control scheme is key. With a great control scheme, any style of game will work.

I freakin' love Galcon, by the way, and the control scheme has a lot to do with it!

[Wegmans]

Every RTS so far has been a let down. I don't want a remake of an old game, and i don't see why people can't figure out a good control scheme. If anything, it should be simpler! Galcon is probably the best implementation, but that's because it's so simple.

[wootbean]

Galcon would be my choice too, it's so simple and I could play online forever.

[Doxxic]

Galcon is still the best RTS game for touch devices. Even on iPad.

But: 1v1 games are way too predictable.

The ideal RTS game on iOS would be Galcon but with a slight Civ twist.

What i mean is cities instead of planets - cities you build yourself, that from then on grow automatically, but decrease when captured (they cannot be destroyed).

Those cities:
- would come to existence by players who build them on a hex map where each tile offers slightly different amounts of unit building resources
- grow over time, meaning they get resources from the map over an increasing radius
- new cities can be built only within existing cities' radiuses + 1 hex
- cities are captured, not destroyed. When captured, their size decreases several stages.

! Note that because cities grow automatically, this game would have same ease of use and same speed while adding *a lot* more strategic depth.