I came across this article today: http://www.quarterdown.com/Editorials/Can-the-iPad-Save-RTS-Gaming/ It makes some interesting assertions about RTS games, particularly that the genre is stagnating and that the touch controls of the iPad could "save" it. The article goes on to describe some touch-based features that I won't regurgitate here, but I want to know what other developers think about this. Personally, the features suggested don't seem to take advantage of anything unique to a touch device; you could easily use a mouse to do the same things. And I think the best RTS players rely very heavily on keyboard controls for speed, so a touch-centered RTS would frustrate them. In my mind, there is no question that an RTS on the iPad would have a much slower pace. Maybe that's good though, because it would appeal to a wider audience. As a developer, I don't want to make games that feel forced onto a platform where they don't belong. I will admit that I haven't played any RTS on the iPhone or iPad, but I assume they exist. Are there any that exemplify what a true touch-based RTS is capable of, or is this a genre best left to the PC?
Even since before the iPad was unleashed I've been excited about the potential for controlling RTS games on a touchscreen. I think the author makes a perfect point about how most PC RTS games have reached a point where you almost need a degree to be able to control the game. I have hundreds of control ideas for an iPad RTS game, and I'd love to have a go at designing one if nobody else steps into the fray.
I bought Red Alert and I seem to be awful at it with the touch screen, I must have mouse controls stuck in my head, but I flail around so much I just stopped playing.
Robocalypse for the iPhone. Try the lite version. I thought it was a very nicely implemented RTS for the iPhone. Also take a look at Boom Brigade for the control scheme he's proposing. Boom Brigade's gameplay demonstrates unit combat using line-drawing controls. It very quickly gets hectic and becomes very hard for me to control. It's designed that way and I really liked the game for it's fast pace. I've been playing SC2 for the past week and I just don't see the same level of play on iPad or tablets. Tablets aren't going to save RTS. Starcraft 2 will save the RTS genre.
I agree with the article: "For the average gamer, or even the non-gamer, the interface of any full featured RTS game is confusing, complex and unintuitive". For me it looks more like RTS games were forced to be used with mouse and keyboard controls, but multitouch input would be in many ways better. I could imagine that with two/three/four finger swipes and line drawing gestures you could control stategy games at a similar speed, but at the same time it would also be more easy for non-professional gamers.
Thats not a flaw in the RTS genre per se, just how developers are implementing it. There are certainly avenues you could take to make an RTS awesome, unique, and relatively simple on the iPad... it would just take a little planning and thought rather then just rehashing an existing UI and control scheme.
Thank you! Just like any new input device, whether it be the iPhone/iPad, Natal, Sony Move, whatever-- the question is not "how do I force an existing experience onto a new control scheme?" but "how do I leverage this control scheme to create a unique, fun experience?" If you believe that RTS games have to conform to cliches established way back in 1992's Dune II, then I agree that you'll probably never be happy with an RTS on the iPad, just as many PC FPS gamers feel that their genre doesn't belong on consoles and handhelds. That's certainly your prerogative. However, if your definition of RTS expands outside of that narrow implementation, I think there's a lot of promise inherent in touch screen devices. For instance, Robocalypse was (originally) designed specifically for the Nintendo DS and its unique hardware. We can argue whether their design is ultimately successful but I applaud the developers for having their priorities right. As an unnecessary aside, I personally disagree that Starcraft II is the savior of the genre. I liken it to the God of War series-- it's an extremely well-polished version of familiar ideas. In playing the beta, it feels like...Starcraft. It's almost a love letter to the existing fanbase but does little to bring new players to the genre, except for the ones who are suckers for eye candy.
I loved Dune 2, but each subsequent RTS game went more and more complex with an arms race of numbers. Units, modes, buildings, etc. They followed the same paradigm, only appealing to those who had played previous games of the same type. So the genre stagnated. This is not a new experience in video games, it happened with fighting games, flight sims, etc. Look at what the iPad offers, design to those strengths, do something new.
This is exactly what I felt when I wrote about SC2 myself! It's apparent they wanted SC, with pretty graphics. They did an excellent job of reaching that goal, but I was hoping for some innovation in the series.
RTS App I am currently preparing to develop a RTS App for the iPad. It will be similar to the game Company of Heroes. To check out the website, go here (.com domain coming soon): www.wix.com/syncpro/synchronicity-programing If you have any questions or concerns you can find my email there. Enjoy.
Your site, whilst looking nice, is entirely done in Flash. Whilst there are many sites that still require flash as the site is predominantly about the iPad, a class of device that will never run flash, you really should make a normal HTML site. Whip it up in iWeb even. Doesn't matter. I had to go and power up the computer to view your site.
RTS is something I think these devices can do well. The iPhone/iPod Touch suffer from the small screen, and so pop overs and context sensitive icon menus on long presses and so forth might be needed. This is far from ideal in the heat of battle. The iPad due to it's larger screen affords other options. You could have buttons along one edge that when selected change what happens when you select troops. With multitouch you can hold down an 'assign group' button, a friendly icon showing multiple heads over lapping maybe whilst drawing not a box but a freeform line around troops, and tapping to select/deselect additionals. When you release the assign group button, a quick animation shows lines flying away from each unit/guy into a newly formed button that 'fills' as the lines enter it. This animation could last no more than half a second, think minimising a window type speed, but it guides the user to where the button is for that newly created group. You can tap the group to select those units quickly. Two fingers to scroll around the action, one finger for move. toggling an attack button or holding it whilst tapping would make single taps attack, or another modifier button for defend an area. You want context sensitive controls to appear, and be able to customiser their position. And ensure that plenty of user interaction research is done with non RTS players, eg your mother.
"Kids, it may seem hard to believe, but when I was your age computers took up entire desks! We had to sit down in the same place every time we wanted to use them. Then something called the laptop was invented, but you still had to have a cumbersome case to carry it around...."
Sounds like Photoshop / GIMP, selecting a "brush type" or what have you. It's an alternative to hotkeys (since I don't think we'd want a keyboard on screen), and more newbie-friendly. Paramount.
I don't see how on an ipad there can be large battles - it is too difficult to control lots of units quickly so I feel like RTS will not be saved by the ipad.
I'm developing a simple RTS game for iPad. It's going to be like a cross between Flight Control and Missile Command. Here's a preview (very early prototype) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARdTf4Mgym8
When the ipad was first introduced, one of the first things that came to mind was that it wouldnt just be good for RTS games, that it would be perfect. Seriously. If you get rid of the mouse, keyboard paradigm you can see the potential the ipad brings to the table. Sure, it may not have as much microing as say starcraft, and you wont have the incessant amount of hotkeys as seen in nearly every computer RTS today. What you're left with, is an emphasis on strategy and the essence of what a real time strategy game is about, abstracted from the micro management required in the computing versions of the genre. I think of a game like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_(series) where you have a smaller number of units but each one has a specific role, and you have to think through things on a more precise scale. Also, RTS/RPG hybrids such as some of the levels for warcraft 3 seem perfect as they are focussed not on large scale operations and micro management but on individual level strategy. Really, though, as many of the other posters have pointed out, it starts with looking at the ipad's unique set of capabilities, and building an experience suited for it, from the ground up. Making starcraft for the ipad will just be a worse version of starcraft and therefore completely unnecessary. But, if done right and with the ipad in mind, we might be able to actually get some innovation in the genre for the first time in 10 years :0
