Time Travel in an RTS.

[Strike Witch]

Apparently these guys have got it working.


Thoughts?

[Phylum]

cool, but it would get annoying.

reinforcements from the future, enemy counters with more reinforcements from the future. You then counter that with, yet again, reinforcements from the future.

also, you're minding your own buisness in the present, when the screen says- you loose. You were killed in the past :P

Edit: watched second video. Sorry 'bout the last bit.

[Daxter King]

Maybe there is a reason no one has done it?





Because its stupid.

[Strike Witch]

They've kinda made it so that reinforcements from the future doesn't become retarded and spammy, what with a bunch of limits.

Also they explained the Grandfather Paradox in another video where it produces a sort of heads-or-tails chance for which object survives.

[Phylum]

Yeah, I saw that. Lots of potential. Now it depends on faction/unit balance and how much the 'abuse' their key mechanic.

[OANST]

Sounds fun but a bit repetitive.


Oh, sorry. I just channeled AlexFili.

[Havoc]

This is going to be such a huge flop it won't even be funny. The idea is cool but the complexity is just overwhelming for any average gamer. Also anything that involves messing with the space time continuum gives me a headache. It's just to complicated for a game.

[OANST]

I think that the RTS genre in general is too difficult for the average player of video games. Which leads me to believe that if they are going to introduce a mind bending concept that requires a great deal of thinking and strategy...well, they picked the right genre. Could be a huge success.

[AlexFili]

Time travel hasn't been used effectively in a lot of games. Slow-motion is hard to get working in a multiplayer environment as well.

We'll have to see what becomes of this game to find out the whole story, but I don't think it'll be ground-breaking. It takes more than one gimmick to make a good game

[mr.odd]

It looks cool, but very confusing and unnecessary . Not very many people would understand how this concept works.

[Havoc]

I think that the RTS genre in general is too difficult for the average player of video games. Which leads me to believe that if they are going to introduce a mind bending concept that requires a great deal of thinking and strategy...well, they picked the right genre. Could be a huge success.

RTS is one of the easiest, actually. Should be called RTUS (Real Time Unit Spamming) these days. RTS used to be fun but these days it's all about spamming units and winning a game no matter what (using a tactic ending a game within a minute (yes it's possible in some games, say C&C 3) is not fun or strategy, that's just a lame win whore).

The hardcore RTS players (who play at tournaments ect) play these games based on speed. If you can outbuild your opponent at every corner and can get only a minute ahead of the other guy, chances are you already won the match just because you are ready to attack him before he can attack you. From the moment you can build armored units it's just earning money and spamming tanks or whatever. That's what decides a real RTS match.

Turning the S in RTS from Speed to actual Strategy would bum out a whole lot of people. Especially the hardcore RTS fans who are used to speed won't like the idea of having to think about their actions every single game. They just want to learn how to play a game and be able to repeat those winning moves over and over. By introducing an element that scrambles up the gameplay almost every match, you drive away those folks.

Like I said, I predict we will not even see this game completed. It seems to me in those video's that all they had was a rough sketch of the time travel engine, which is cool on it's own but won't work in any kind of game. They will either keep the engine as it is and never complete the game, or make some huge cuts in the game play to water it down to a normal RTS with some very minor time travel elements. Either way it will suck.

This is my prediction. Find this post when the game is (if at all) released in a year or two!

[shaman]

They should make and Age of empires mod that allows you to go back in time.

[AlexFili]

I would have to agree with Havoc on this. In fact, if you ignore the cheating AI in RTS games, RTS games are pretty easy really. Most feature simple controls, with quite a linear system of steps to win; (ie. research best unit, build lots of them, etc).

The Tower Defense genre is quite similar to RTS in many ways, but is aimed towards a more casual market. GrimGrimoire and Ninjatown are some examples of more casual defense games.

[Strike Witch]

Wow, the snark is strong with this one.

[Mac Sirloin]

I would have to agree with Havoc on this. In fact, if you ignore the cheating AI in RTS games, RTS games are pretty easy really. Most feature simple controls, with quite a linear system of steps to win; (ie. research best unit, build lots of them, etc)

Advance Wars here. You're full of shit.

[Strike Witch]

Advance Wars here. You're full of shit.

Advance Wars is turn-based.

[Hobo]

Havoc, you have clearly never played anyone with any skill. Watch some high level Korean Starcraft matches, those are fucking insane.

[Mac Sirloin]

Advance Wars is turn-based.

Your face is turn based. Fucker.

[Strike Witch]

Hey man, I play a mean Penny.

[Havoc]

Havoc, you have clearly never played anyone with any skill. Watch some high level Korean Starcraft matches, those are fucking insane.

I'd class Starcraft under the 'old RTS' category, where the S actually still stands for strategy. I've never played Starcraft myself but I've seen friends play it back in the day.

[Wings of Fire]

Yes, Blizzard make superior strategy games to EA.

I think this could work, it depends how good the time wave system is in practice.

[Bullet Magnet]

If there is one way to make players understand mind-bending physics, it's by letting people play with them in games look at Portal, and how quickly people learned to solve puzzles and channel the momentum of their falls. It became second nature. I'm confident that anyone brave enough to play this will grok it fully in only a short while.

[AlexFili]

True, but Portal is more about space than time. If you think about all the great games that had different times/eras, each time was in it's own seperate area;
Chrono Trigger, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Timesplitters...

I'd say it would take a lot of effort to get it working perfectly, but I won't say it's impossible. Imagine an Oddworld game with time travel, you could go back and save the mudokons if you accidently kill them (like quicksave!).

[Bullet Magnet]

No other game had a real game-time travel aspect, besides the usual travel into the future at one minute per minute. Redos and slow-time do not count, and neither do narrative McGuffins.

[Havoc]

Wasn't there some other time bending FPS out a while back that didn't do that good? I can't remember the name.

[Mac Sirloin]

True, but Portal is more about space than time. If you think about all the great games that had different times/eras, each time was in it's own seperate area;
Chrono Trigger, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Timesplitters...

Did you just put Chrono Trigger in the same category as Prince of Persia:WW? Did you really? None of those games even have anything in common apart from Time Travel. Are you clinically retarded or just trying way too hard? Either way, think before you type. Christ.

[AlexFili]

Basically, time-travel in games has almost always been exclusively linear. Instead of true-time travel, it was just the same area but slightly different, eg. a massive ruins and desert instead of a thriving city. I still think going back in time counts as time-travel, even if it is somewhat linear in nature (like Sands of Time).

Wasn't the time-travel FPS called Haze?
EDIT: I was wrong.

[Havoc]

Just looked it up. I was referring to TimeShift. It's linear time travel but you can like, stop time and reverse time with functions on your suit. You have to use it to solve puzzles and stuff. I've only ever played the demo but maybe I should give it another try.

[Oddey]

Try Blinx the Timesweeper.

If the game comes out I'll probrably buy it. It could work, but it's going to have to be tried a couple of time before it works properly. Maybe it can be perfected in the end, maybe not.

[Strike Witch]

I'd class Starcraft under the 'old RTS' category, where the S actually still stands for strategy. I've never played Starcraft myself but I've seen friends play it back in the day.

Bullshit. Blizzard RTSes are also 'Build Shit Faster than the other guy' with a bit of Diablo grinding thrown in.

Although seriously, All traditional RTSes are pretty much like that. Strategy is basically "a plan to beat the other guy" so I guess build things faster and blow him up" counts.