Hello, everyone! I am currently making a moddable RTS, much like the command and conquer games. But, what do you think is essential to a RTS, and what do you think is a good feature in a RTS? Is there anything you wanted in any RTS, or possibly the C&C games? Please tell me, suggestions are always good. Other info: It's 2D, and it's not isometric. Every suggestion will be taken into consideration, and might be a feature. [Edited by - RayneRTS on September 26, 2009 3:38:52 AM]

You should probably just start with a core mechanic, get that working, then decide how to create a meaningful feedback loop to make it fun.

For example, one aspect of play will presumably be getting units and making them fight. You could make a game in which the player chooses units ahead of time and tries to win using just those. You could also have a more traditional factory approach in which the player using buildings to produce units at will. You can do whatever you want.

My point is that the default style of gathering resources, building things, training units with resources+time, THEN adding some crap on top shouldn't be your approach. Try to figure out what it is that makes certain RTSs great, then distill that into something simple and pure.

RTS can mean a variety of things. Typically, it is associated with mine, make armies, and fight games. Blitzkrieg, however, was a perfect example of a game in which you start with all the units you will ever have, and fight it out from there.

Since you proposed to do a mine/build/fight RTS, you have a bunch of choices. You can make your units have a squad based system (like DOW) or be individuals. You can choose to have different races, with slight differences, or totally different tech and units. You can choose interactions between units, if units have special abilities, if there are commander units, and tons of other features.

I would advice clarifying your core idea, because much of the feedback you'll get otherwise will be mutually exclusive.

I think the interface is an essential part of an RTS. The interface allow the player to see what is going on and then direct the game to perform the orders that they want.

If you are planing on making it modable, then plant for it. The main work you will need to do is in your Code Architecture. Make the game in a modular way so that everything you add in can be done through data files (the Data driven approach).

Moding a game is not the same as just changing unit stats or graphics. How those stats effect the unit, how those stats effect the combat, how combat is resolved, how it interacts with other units, how it interacts with the interface/player, and so on.

Okay.
First of all, it's set in the future.
There is 2 types of resources;
ENERGY to keep buildings working, and
POINTS to purchase buildings/units/upgrades
POINTS are gathered mainly by harvesting, but you can also get it by controlling control points on the map, and taking control over buildings.
ENERGY is gain by buildings like POWER PLANTS and similar.
I'm NOT using squad's, infantry is independent.
There's supposed to be 2 sides, both with different tech and buildings/units.
There's mainly 6 objects;
TERRAIN - Can not change during gameplay. Different units may have more difficult to pass certain terrain. EX: Rough terrain, Water, pavement.
OVERLAY - Can be added, changed and removed during gameplay. EX: craters, roads, bridges.
ITEMS - Can be added, changed, removed and moved during gameplay. Can be both impassable and passable. EX: Trees, rocks.
BUILDINGS - Can be built, changed, destroyed, and sold during gameplay. May allow you to build more buildings/units. EX: House, factory, barracks.
UNITS - Can be built, changed and destroyed during gameplay. Units have different locomotors to control how they act and react. EX: Infantry, vehicles, aircraft, ships, creatures
PARTICLES - Can be removed, added and changed during gameplay. May harm units and buildings. EX: Fire, debris, explosions.

How about a Zoomsystem, similar to one in Supreme Commander ?
A System like this:
Imho it is the best idea of how to make the UI for the Player really nice^^

I'd suggest looking at Dark Reign 2. It has a lot of similarities to what you want to do. A separate Energy/credits system, two opposing yet unique factions.

Here's some things I'd suggest:

- Make the two factions unique and easily differentiable. -
Try something like having one side use one unit to heal vehicles/machines and one unit to heal infantry/organics while the other has a single unit that can heal anything. You might even go farther and make the general healer only be able to heal at a short range, while the other sides two units can heal from a distance.

Try going for a tactical dichotomy, such as attack vs. defense, fast vs slow, etc. Have these extend to the buildings as well. A defense based army would have tougher, bulkier buildings. You might even want to mix the traditional dichotomies up in unusual ways, such as having fast tanking units with weak weapons fighting slow paper-armored units with big guns.

Give the buildings themselves a different feel. Say you have one side that can build turrets onto (or come with) each building, but they can not build separate defense turrets. This would present a challenge to both players. One wouldn't have to set up base defense but would not be able to easily defend choke points, while the other would be wary of assaulting the other's base unprepared but could more easily control the flow of the map. Turtling vs farmer's gambit.

Try to keep the units from being copies of each other as much as possible. To make a long example of what I mean as copies : A's Firebird is the exact same as B's Gasbag Sporer, both are air-to-air aircraft, neither can do anything else but take out other aircraft, they cost the same, hit for the same, and have the same amount of HP.

Try giving each side a couple of unique non-superweapon units. One side could have a sniper unit, while the other could have a unit that lays mines.

I like it! Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming - and if you have any question about the RTS, just ask! :D

IMO you should just focus on building an RTS game, rather than trying to make a moddable RTS game. The reason being that it adds heaps of unnecessary complications to the programming work that needs to be done. I've completely rewritten the core functions of my RTS multiple times in the name of making it "moddable", to no real end as far as my actual game goes.

When you are finished with your game, you will likely see a few systems that have stood the test of time and are usable for a more general game ENGINE. A good example from my project would be the code that handles all the communication between the clients & server. After I ironed out all the bugs & got it working 100%, I haven't changed it since... just added capability to transfer new things as I needed it.

But, see, the main reason I started working on it was because it were supposed to be modifiable.

Oh, and please, more suggestions!