Recommend me a RTS, please

[ExecutionerFive]

I want to play multiplayer. I don't want to play one of those RTS's where you HAVE to have the perfect build queue or you're toasted. I want to play a RTS where you can use imagination and not get killed for it. Recommend me one, please?

[metta]

Kohan II: Kings of War

http://www.kohan.net/kow/?cnt=news

[DanielElliot]

Play an RTS with other people who kinda suck at RTS games. I say this as someone who kinda sucks as RTS games.

[Bill Dungsroman]

ExecutionerFive, which RTS? Ahahahahahahahahhhheeeheegegkhkgkh

[JMR]

Starcraft. You can fantasize about having sex with the infested Kerrigan and not get killed for it.

[jfletch]

The first RTS I really liked was Age of Mythology. Fast paced, pretty, fairly neat singleplayer campaign, simple to understand and not much micromanaging. Eventually I dug Warcraft 3 and Rise of Nations but AoM is a good start.

[balut]

Kohan II: Kings of War.

[Enidigm]

Starcraft. You can fantasize about having sex with the infested Kerrigan and not get killed for it.

wtf. Sometimes i think Blizzard is low brow for including a little anime T&A but it's msgs like this that make me think their geniuses. Even if that was a joke :)

[Enidigm]

I'd second the Age series. Of course "using your imagination" only works at the lower levels of play - once you start getting a decent record you'll have to play against the hotkey monkeys.

I say this because the average lowbie Blizzard player is 10x better then the average lowbie Ensemble player online. I have no idea why, but it's like 1/2 of the people on ESO have never played an online RTS before. Even lowbie Blizzard opponents tend to be relatively seasoned enemies by comparison.

[Enidigm]

Kohan 2? Are you nuts? What's left of that community are ultra-hard core experts. And don't kid yourself about not being a game that's 100% about build orders and unit counters. If you build the wrong building and mess up your economy there really isn't a way to come back against the perfectionist opponents you'll be facing.

Oops this wasn't supposed to be it's own post.

[Lum]

Age of Empires III may be a better bet for a new player at this point, despite Age of Mythology being a really good (probably superior) game, simply because of critical mass of new players from being on store shelves. Most AoM players aren't exactly *new*. The Age of... series also is slower paced, so strategy is weighed a little heavier than hotkeyclickmadness.

Dawn of War is another good bet. It's pretty accessible so even new players should be able to do OK.

One hint: in ANY RTS avoid "Newbies Only" games. 99% of the time it's really someone trying to farm ladder rank.

(I really need to reinstall AOE3 and try it out now that it's been out a while. Played it the first week but ESO needed some work, then other stuff got in the way.)

[Ben Sones]

Also bear in mind that Battle for Middle Earth 2 and Empire at War are coming out in the next three weeks. Both look promising.

I'd offer another vote for Dawn of War as well.

I wish more people were playing Dragonshard, because that's a great multiplayer game.

[shang]

I wish more people were playing Dragonshard, because that's a great multiplayer game.

I'm tempted to get this now that it's cheap, but did they manage to fix any of the connectivity issues people were talking about here? I.e. can you already play a four player game from start to finish over the internet without going out of sync?

[DeepT]

C&C Generals Zero hour

[SlyFrog]

I'm tempted to get this now that it's cheap. . . .

It's cheap? Where?

[shang]

£15.99 at dvd.co.uk or £17.99 at play.com. Can't help if you're in the US, though.

[SlyFrog]

£15.99 at dvd.co.uk or £17.99 at play.com. Can't help if you're in the US, though.

Actually, I think play.com ships to the US for a relatively low price, but that's still not in my "cheap" ballpark, unfortunately. :)

[Old Man Gravy]

Myth: TFL had great multiplayer. Plus, the Myth series are exceptional and are what all the other RTS games aspire to be when they grow up. It's a true RTS, versus an RTS where the "S" stands for "build as big a horde as you can as fast as you can and send it at your enemy."

I like the Warcraft and C&C games just fine, but the Myth series really makes 'em all look stupid. Note, though, that there hasn't been a new Myth game in like half a century.

[Dirt]

Age of Mythology.

[VegasRobb]

Kohan (if you can find it)
Kohan 2
Dawn of War
Myth
Myth 2
Battle for Middle Earth
Warcraft 3 (The ladder system will allow you to play against players with skills near your own ... for awhile)

[McBain]

Dawn of War

Just don't play "AUTOMATCH" (i.e. ranked) games online and you'll be fine.

[SlyFrog]

Dawn of War

Just don't play "AUTOMATCH" (i.e. ranked) games online and you'll be fine.

Even if you tried to play "AUTOMATCH," if your experience is like mine it will only work about 1% of the time, so you should be safe. :)

[Jab2565]

I think I saw Battle for middle earth 1 dropped down to 19 bucks at eb recentily, guess in time for the sequel if you want to try it. Its going to be somewhat different from the second one though, since you can build anywhere in bfme2.

[SuperHiro]

Play an RTS with other people who kinda suck at RTS games. I say this as someone who kinda sucks as RTS games.

Hey! I do NOT suck. I'm just rusty at WCIII that's all.

[caesarbear]

If the idea is to avoid build que mathematics then the AoE and DoW series really are not good suggestions. Neither are most RTSs, Zero Hour, Warcraft or Kohan. RTS games that avoid base building altogether might be an option, like Blitzkrieg 2, Soldiers, Darwinia(?). Maybe Total Annihilation is a compromise since it's more about what units you build rather than what base structures you construct?

If it's the strength of multiplayer opponents that's the concern, then generally it's better to get a game that just came out. Usually the older, more obscure the game, the more difficult the online opponents.

[Efthimios G.]

Zero Hour is very good, but, by now most players are far from easy to defeat. Guaranteed if you enter any of the rooms with NOOBs ONLY in the title, you will get players with hundrends of online games under their belt.


How about conquest frontier wars?

[DeepT]

Zero hour isnt neccairly about base building unless it is small map. Unfortunatly most RTS games do take base building into account since that *is* part of the game.

Unlike other games, like WCIII or Starcraft, games like zero hour are not that critical for base building. Well let me clarify, base build order. Base layout is important, but having the right build order isn't super critical.

[caesarbear]

I've found base building very important in Zero Hour, especially in the beginning. The first one to increased income, upper level techs, or a super weapon, often has the advantage. If you build an airport and don't use it, that's money wasted.

[DeepT]

That is common sense, not a build order.

To clairfy:

In Starcraft for Zerg you have a way to get your frist lings out in 1:37 seconds, and then if you are going mutas, to have your first tower done in 4 min and 45 seconds into the game.

Opposed to zero hour (and most other games) where you might decied to get an extra stockpile going or build a few buggies to scout with. You are not watching the clock timing everything down to the second to get the most effiicent base build you can.

WCIII is like SC in that respect, which is one reason I never played it much.

[caesarbear]

These "most efficient use of time" build order strategies apply to Zero Hour as well. You can still screw yourself by building the wrong thing at the wrong time. While there certainly is more than one way to do things in Zero Hour, I would not want to give the impression that you can be lackadaisical. But I agree, there is much more pressure to stick with the script and not improvise in Blizzard RTSes.

[DeepT]

OMG! I spent 10000 gold on tuennels that go nowhere! Dammy my build order! Damm it to hell!

[Efthimios G.]

In Zero Hour (my favourite RTS since its release) if you play online in a game where "rush" is "allowed", if you want to attack as quickly as possible then there is certain order(s) of building to help you with it. Since there are effectively 12 sides, there are ways of making such an attack. An attack that is easily to defend against it if you know the game. The most basic advice towards that is to build mobile defenses at first and to not rely on static turrets etc till the game is well underway.

If you do not wish to make the first "rush" attack, then you can build in any sequence you feel like it, though logic should be used.

[mtkafka]

I'd reccommend WBCIII which can be found really cheap these days, and Act of War has dropped to 20 bux... a good CnC knockoff... even better than CnC Generals!

etc

[SlyFrog]

I'd reccommend WBCIII which can be found really cheap these days, and Act of War has dropped to 20 bux... a good CnC knockoff... even better than CnC Generals!

etc

Bearing in mind that these may not be the best choices if you have any interest in multiplayer.

[Derek French]

Rise of Nations (and Thrones and Patriots). We play it at every LAN party we have as well as kicking back to some Starcraft. RoN has lots of interesting game modes, so we find it easy to balanace between all the different skill levels that attend.

[Rimbo]

The new LOTR RTS coming out Real Soon Now, if only because a friend of mine is a developer on the team.

And you get to watch dragons go after dwarves, like the way you or I would eat popcorn shrimp.

[unbongwah]

As a Kohan fan, I prefer RTSs which de-emphasize micromanagement, through streamlined economic models and sensible army grouping / formation commands. Unfortunately, I find most RTS franchies - inc. WC, AoE, C&C, RoN - have gone in the wrong direction for my tastes.

I've heard good things about Dragonshard, so I'll give the demo a whirl at some point. Any other recommendations?