Progression and Appeal of Real-Time Strategy Games

A game in the real-time strategy genre challenges the player to overcome an opponent with superior tactics and management skills in a continuous time flow. With that simple definition, real-time strategy elements have been found in games as early as 1982 with games like Cytron Masters, Stonkers, Ancient Art of War, and Herzog Zwei. But the first game to really define the genre and put it on the map was Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty.
Developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive, this militaristic science fiction adventure is based on conquest. The objective is to harvest spice, trade it, and in turn build military units to attack enemy bases. A simple concept, but for the first time, completely focused on the development and strategic management of a force. From Dune II came Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Blizzard's first venture into the RTS field. Warcraft's appeal came from it's fantasy setting rather than futuristic science fiction. It had a more worldly feel and engaged the player with hand-to-hand combat of units. The addition of a complete society with civilian units and buildings to support the military also created a more immersive experience. In 1995 Westwood released Command & Conquer to compete with Blizzard's new hit.This new Westwood game was Dune II all grown up, and expanded the standard military attack strategy to include special units that could, for example, convert and steal enemy buildings. Although it was a possibility in Warcraft, Command & Conquer became the first to popularize competitive multiplayer in RTS games. Following the two reigning RTS developers, other RTS games started popping up. Age of Empires by Ensemble brought a more realistic touch to the genre. Total Annihilation was the first to emphasize macromanagement and standardize 3D environments. In 1998, Blizzard released the hit that would become the fourth best selling pc game of all time.StarCraft was and still is an international favorite of the genre, and even now, ten years later, it's still going strong with millions of active members on the StarCraft Battle.net server. Since these original staples of the genre, an abundance of sequels and new competitors have established real-time strategy games as one of the seven main genres.

The opportunity to build a society from the ground up appeals to the two basic hunter, gatherer human instincts. So it's no surprise that the RTS genre has captured the hearts and minds of so many gamers. The initial gathering of resources feeds the desire to hoard and gain materialistic worth, and the production of a dominating force to defeat all opposition enforces that the player is indeed superior to any that might stand up to them. Every action completed in an RTS gives the player a feeling of satisfaction that they have done something to further their growth and ultimate domination. An important aspect in any game is the feeling of accomplishment. There aren't too many digital experiences more fulfilling than reaching the epitome of a civilization and conquering the world. Another interesting and unique quality of the real-time format is that the player is required to be constantly involved in one action or another. Every second is valuable. In addition to making the game incredibly immersive, this encourages a mindset of constant multi-tasking and time management, which if carried to real-world settings, could lead to increased productivity. Those who prefer turn-based games may argue that this demonstrates a skill in manual dexterity rather than strategic affluence, but the rapid mouse-clicks are accompanied by rapid thought patterns, not empty button mashing instincts. The biggest drawback of RTS games is, perhaps, also the biggest drawback of video games in general. There is always a singular goal and mentality of “kill everything everywhere!!1!”. Some progress is being made on this front by options such as those in Age of Empires, where a player can win by building an ultimate structure rather than by slaughtering an enemy.