I''m tossing around an idea for a undersea real time strategy game, similar in ways to both Insaniquarium and SimAnt. There would be two sides, but they would have the same pool of units to build from. The question is: What would the two sides be fighting over? Why would fish go to war? The game would have a silly atmosphere, so it doesn''t necessarily have to make sense. The story I came up with involves a human effort to turn a beach into a tourist attraction, with the aquatic occupants of the beach divided on the issue. But it would be hard to come up with missions for that story, and it should at least be somewhat plausible. I don''t see how the evil fish could support the humans in any way. I''m interested in seeing what kind of stories you guys can think of. Also, what kind of stuff would you like to see in an undersea RTS game?

You needn''t look too far for ideas. The two groups of fish could be fighting over the differences in their fishy religions. Or simply because of race (Red Fish vs. Blue Fish). Or you could have Democratic fish vs. Socialist fish. If you''re going to personify the fish, you can personify the conflict as well.

If you wouldn''t mind a bit of variety in the sides, you could also do Freshwater fish vs. Saltwater fish (fighting in a delta where the 2 waters meet, of course)

They fight because people watch them, and when one side wins, people throw food into the water for them. It''s the only way to feed for the fishes, as they are out of natural resources (or it''s a fishtank). They also can''t eat each other, as they are not carnivores.

Or the ARE carnivores, and they kill each other to feed.

Some random ideas...

How about intelligent mammals, such as dolphins and whales. Not the garden variety, but super-enhanced with psychic abilities to control fish. The story could be that somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, an unknown ancient civilization had left behind some objects that provide the conversion to super-intelligence. A recent tectonic shift has exposed the tops of these artifacts. A mammal (whale/dolphin/seal/etc) comes in contact with it and gains special abilities. There are other special powers available from the artifacts, but they are buried under the sand.

You start out with a mammal nearby one of the objects, for example a dolphin.

The game zone is limited by shallows surrounded by open sea. You can set up the map with everyone in the same shallows area or perhaps have some open sea separating them.

Use the dolphin to gather fish from various nearby spawning zones. Entice wandering mammals with your controlled fish to go to the artifact, where they are souped-up and join your forces.

Each mammal can control X fish, but the fish stay within D distance from their mammal. If a mammal is killed, their fish go free and can be captured by nearby mammals who haven''t reached their X fish quota.

Use crabs to excavate parts of the artifact. Once a rune is excavated, use starfish to break off barnacles and expose it to gain power-ups to captured fish. Also use crabs to bury the opponent''s artifact. Use shrimp to lure enemy fish to traps (such as hidden moray eels).

Sharks: 4 or more can swim in a circle where fish can be stored for later use. Can also provide a swimming fence to guard the perimeter. Sharks follow instructions mindlessly, so although it takes time for the mammal to train them, once they are set up the mammal is free to perform other tasks.

Jellyfish: squids can jet them into position to create floating walls.

Attack fish: whatever you can find to create platoons for each mammal.

Unexploded ordinance from human wars: torpedos, shells, bio/chem/nuke. These are buried so you''ll need crabs to get to them. Perhaps a sunken ship has a nice cache.

This could be a lot of fun to play... good luck.