real part of a series onstrategy video games subgenres 4x multiplayer online battle arena realtime strategy time management tower defense realtime tactics tactical roleplaying game turnbased strategy turnbased tactics artillery game wargame history chronology of 4x video games chronology of artillery video games chronology of grand strategy video games chronology of massively multiplayer online strategy video games chronology of multiplayer online battle arena video games chronology of realtime strategy video games chronology of realtime tactics video games chronology of tactical roleplaying video games chronology of turnbased strategy video games chronology of turnbased tactics video games more info portalstrategy games vte realtime strategy rts is a subgenre of strategy video games where the game does not progress incrementally in turns in an rts the participants position and maneuver units and structures under their control to secure areas of the map andor destroy their opponents assets in a typical rts it is possible to create additional units and structures during the course of a game this is generally limited by a requirement to expend accumulated resources these resources are in turn garnered by controlling special points on the map andor possessing certain types of units and structures devoted to this purpose more specifically the typical game of the rts genre features resource gathering base building ingame technological development and indirect control of units the tasks a player must perform to succeed at an rts can be very demanding and complex user interfaces have evolved to cope with the challenge some features have been borrowed from desktop environments for example the technique of clicking and dragging to select all units under a given area though some game genres share conceptual and gameplay similarities with the rts template recognized genres are generally not subsumed as rts games history origins the genre that is recognized today as realtime strategy emerged as a result of an extended period of evolution and refinement games that are today sometimes perceived as ancestors of the realtime strategy genre were never marketed or designed as such at the original date of publication as a result designating early realtime strategy titles is problematic because such games are being held up to modern standards the genre initially evolved separately in the united kingdom japan and north america afterward gradually merging into a unified worldwide tradition ars technica traces the genres roots back to utopia 1981 citing it as the birth of a genre with a realtime element that was virtually unheard of thus making it arguably the earliest ancestor of the realtime strategy genre in the united kingdom the earliest realtime strategy games are stonkers by john gibson published in 1983 by imagine software for the zx spectrum and nether earth for zx spectrum in 1987 in north america the oldest game retrospectively classified as realtime strategy by several sources is the ancient art of war 1984 designed by evrywares dave and barry murry followed by the ancient art of war at sea in 1987 in japan the earliest is bokosuka wars 1983 an early strategy rpg or simulation rpg ign cites herzog zwei released for the sega mega drivegenesis home console in 1989 as arguably the first rts game ever notable as well are early games like mega lo mania by sensible software 1991 and supremacy also called overlord 1990 although these two lacked direct control of military units they both offered considerable control of resource management and economic systems in addition mega lo mania has advanced technology trees that determine offensive and defensive prowess another early 1988 game carrier command by realtime games involved realtime responses to events in the game requiring management of resources and control of vehicles the early game sim ant by maxis 1991 had resource gathering and controlling an attacking army by having them follow a lead unit however it was with the release of dune ii from westwood studios 1992 that realtime strategy became recognized as a distinct genre of video games 19921998 seminal titles although realtime strategy games have an extensive history some titles have served to define the popular perception of the genre and expectations of realtime strategy titles more than others in particular the games released between 1992 and 1998 by westwood studios and blizzard entertainment drawing influence from herzog zwei the success of dune ii encouraged several games which became influential in their own right command conquer as well as command and conquer red alert became the most popular early rts games these two games contended with warcraft ii tides of darkness after its release in late 1995 total annihilation released by cavedog entertainment in 1997 introduced 3d units and terrain and focused on huge battles that emphasized macromanagement over micromanagement it featured a streamlined interface that would influence many rts games in later years age of empires released by ensemble studios in 1997 tried to put a game in a slower pace combining elements of civilization with the realtime strategy concept by introducing ages of technologies in 1998 blizzard released the game starcraft which became an international phenomenon and is still played in large professional leagues to this day collectively all of these games defined the genre providing the de facto benchmark against which new realtime strategy games are measured refinement and transition to 3d the realtime strategy genre has been relatively stable since 1995 additions to the genres concept in newer games tend to emphasize more of the basic rts elements higher unit caps more unit types larger maps etc rather than innovations to the game concept new games generally focus on refining aspects of successful predecessors as the paragon example of gameplay refinement cavedogs acclaimed total annihilation from 1997 distilled the core mechanics of command conquer and introduced the first 3d units and terrain in realtime strategy games the age of empires idea was refined further by stainless steel studios empire earth in 2001 gsc game worlds cossacks european wars series took the genre in a different direction bringing population caps into the tens of thousands dungeon keeper 1997 populous the beginning 1998 jeff waynes the war of the worlds 1998 warzone 2100 1999 machines 1999 homeworld 1999 honour freedom 1999 and dark reign 2 2000 were among the first completely 3d realtime strategy titles homeworld was notable in that it featured a 3d environment in space therefore allowing movement in every direction a feature which its semisequel homeworld cataclysm 2000 continued to build upon adding features such as waypoints homeworld 2 released in 2003 streamlined movement in the 360 3d environment furthermore machines which was also released in 1999 and featured a nearly 100 3d environment attempted to combine the rts genre with a firstperson shooter fps genre although it was not a particularly successful title these games were followed by a short period of interest in experimental strategy games such as allegiance 2000 jeff waynes the war of the worlds was notable for being one of the few completely nonlinear rts games ever it is only in approximately 2002 that 3d realtime strategy became the standard with both warcraft iii 2002 and ensemble studios age of mythology 2002 being built on a full 3d game engine kohan immortal sovereigns introduced classic wargame elements such as supply lines to the genre battle realms 2001 was another full 3d game but had limited camera views the move from 2d to 3d has been criticized in some cases issues with controlling the camera and placement of objects have been cited as problems relatively few genres have emerged from or in competition with realtime strategy games although realtime tactics a superficially similar genre emerged around 1995 in 1998 activision attempted to combine the realtime strategy and firstperson shooter genres in battlezone while in 2002 rage games limited attempted this with the hostile waters games later variants have included natural selection a game modification based on the halflife engine and the free software tremulousunvanquished savage the battle for newerth combined the rpg and rts elements in an online game specialization and evolution a few games have experimented with diversifying map design which continues to be largely twodimensional even in 3d engines earth 2150 2000 allowed units to tunnel underground effectively creating a duallayer map threelayer orbitsurfaceunderground maps were introduced in metal fatigue in addition units could even be transported to entirely separate maps with each map having its own window in the user interface three kingdoms fate of the dragon 2001 offered a simpler model the main map contains locations that expand into their own maps in these examples however gameplay was essentially identical regardless of the map layer in question dragonshard 2005 emphasized its duallayer maps by placing one of the games two main resources in each map making exploration and control of both maps fundamentally valuable some games borrowing from the realtime tactics rtt template have moved toward an increased focus on tactics while downplaying traditional resource management in which designated units collect the resources used for producing further units or buildings titles like warhammer 40000 dawn of war 2004 star wars empire at war 2006 and company of heroes 2006 replace the traditional resource gathering model with a strategic controlpoint system in which control over strategic points yields constructionreinforcement points ground control 2000 was the first such game to replace individual units with squads others are moving away from the traditional realtime strategy game model with the addition of other genre elements one example is sins of a solar empire 2008 released by ironclad games which mixes elements of grandscale stellar empire building games like master of orion with realtime strategy elements another example is indie game achron 2011 which incorporates time travel as a game mechanic allowing a player to send units forward or backward in time a specific genre of strategy video games referred to as multiplayer online battle arena moba that originated as a subgenre of realtime strategy gained popularity in the 2010s as a form of electronic sports encompassing games such as the defense of the ancients 2003 mod for warcraft iii its valvedeveloped sequel dota 2 2013 league of legends 2009 and heroes of the storm 2015 gameplay screenshot from the game 0 ad showing typical rts interface elements such as a resource overview top left a map of the game world bottom left and a description of the selected unit bottom center in a typical realtime strategy game the screen is divided into a map area displaying the game world and terrain units and buildings and an interface overlay containing command and production controls and often a radar or minimap overview of the entire map players mainly scroll the screen and issue commands with the mouse and may also use keyboard shortcuts in most realtime strategy games especially the earliest ones the gameplay is generally fastpaced and requires very quick reflexes for this reason the amount of violence in some games makes rts games close to action games in terms of gameplay gameplay generally consists of the player being positioned somewhere in the map with a few units or a building that is capable of building other unitsbuildings often but not always the player must build specific structures to unlock more advanced units in the tech tree often but not always rts games require the player to build an army ranging from small squads of no more than 2 units to literally hundreds of units and using them to either defend themselves from a virtual form of human wave attack or to eliminate enemies who possess bases with unit production capacities of their own occasionally rts games will have a preset number of units for the player to control and do not allow building of additional ones resource gathering is commonly the main focus of the rts games but other titles of the genre place higher gameplay significance to the how units are used in combat z steel soldiers for example awards credits for territory captured rather than gathered resources the extreme example of which are games of the realtime tactical genre some titles impose a ceiling on the number simultaneous troops which becomes a key gameplay consideration a significant example being starcraft while other titles have no such unit cap micromanagement and macromanagement micromanagement and macromanagement micromanagement deals with a players constant need to manage and maintain individual units and resources on a fine scale on the other hand macromanagement refers to a players management of economic expansion and largescale strategic maneuvering allowing the player time to think and consider possible solutions micromanagement involves the use of combat tactics involved in the present whereas macromanagement considers the greater scale of the game in an attempt to predict the future criticism of gameplay because of their generally fasterpaced nature and in some cases a smaller learning curve realtime strategy games have surpassed the popularity of turnbased strategy computer games a third common criticism is that realtime gameplay often degenerates into rushes where the players try to gain the advantage and subsequently defeat the opponent as quickly in the game as possible preferably before the opposition is capable of successfully reacting a fourth criticism of the rts genre is the importance of skill over strategy in realtime strategy games the manual dexterity and ability to multitask and divide ones attention is often considered the most important aspect to succeeding at the rts genre according to troy dunniway former westwood developer who has also worked on command and conquer 3 tiberium wars a player controls hundreds of units dozens of buildings and many different events that are all happening simultaneously there is only one player and he can only pay attention to one thing at a time expert players can quickly flip between many different tasks while casual gamers have more problems with this tactics vs strategy see also realtime tactics genre classification realtime strategy games have been criticized for an overabundance of tactical considerations when compared to the amount of strategic gameplay found in such games according to chris taylor lead designer of supreme commander he said in general terms military strategy refers to the use of a broad arsenal of weapons including diplomatic informational military and economic resources whereas military tactics is more concerned with shortterm goals such as winning an individual battle in the context of strategy video games however the difference is often reduced to the more limited criteria of either a presence or absence of base building and unit production in an article for gamasutra nathan toronto criticizes realtime strategy games for too often having only one valid means of victory attrition comparing them unfavorably to realtime tactics games players awareness that the only way for them to win or lose is militarily makes them unlikely to respond to gestures of diplomacy the result is that the winner of a realtime strategy game is too often the best tactician rather than the best strategist in an article for gamespy mark walker criticizes realtime strategy games for their lack of combat tactics suggesting realtime tactics games as a more suitable substitute turnbased vs realtime timekeeping systems in games a debate has emerged between fans of realtime strategy and turnbased strategy and related genres based on the merits of the realtime and turnbased systems some titles attempt to merge the two systems for example the roleplaying game fallout uses turnbased combat and realtime gameplay while the realtime strategy games homeworld rise of nations and the games of the total war series allow the player to pause the game and issue orders additionally the total war series has a combination of a turnbased strategy map with a realtime battle map another example of a game combining both turnbased game and realtimestrategy is the lord of the rings the battle for middleearth ii which allows players in a war of the ring game to play a turnbased strategy game but also battle each other in real time on consoles despite herzog zwei a console game laying the foundations for the realtime strategy genre rts games never gained popularity on consoles like they did on the pc platform some handheld consoles like napoleon video game on the gba uses a similar solution however halo wars which was released in 2009 for the xbox 360 generated generally positive reviews achieved an 82 critic average on aggregate web sites and sold over 1 million copies according to ign the gameplay lacks the traditional rts concepts of limited resources and resource gathering and lacks multiple buildings graphics total annihilation 1997 was the first realtime strategy game to utilize true 3d units terrain and physics in both rendering and in gameplay for instance the missiles in total annihilation travel in real time in simulated 3d space and they can miss their target by passing over or under it similarly missilearmed units in earth 2150 are at a serious disadvantage when the opponent is on high ground because the missiles often hit the cliffside even in the case when the attacker is a missilearmed helicopter homeworld warzone 2100 and machines all released in 1999 advanced the use of fully 3d environments in realtime strategy titles in the case of homeworld the game is set in space offering a uniquely exploitable 3d environment in which all units can move vertically in addition to the horizontal plane however the nearindustrywide switch to full 3d was very gradual and most realtime strategy titles including the first sequels to command conquer initially used isometric 3d graphics made by prerendered 3d tiles only in later years did these games begin to use true 3d graphics and gameplay making it possible to rotate the view of the battlefield in realtime spring is a good example of the transformation from semi3d to full3d game simulations it is an opensource project which aims to give a total annihilation gameplay experience in three dimensions the most ambitious use of full 3d graphics was realized in supreme commander where all projectiles units and terrain were simulated in real time taking full advantage of the uis zoom feature which allowed cartographic style navigation of the 3d environment this led to a number of unique gameplay elements which were mostly obscured by the lack of computing power available in 2007 at the release date japanese game developers nippon ichi and vanillaware worked together on grim grimoire a playstation 2 title released in 2007 which features handdrawn animated 2d graphics from 2010 realtime strategy games more commonly incorporated physics engines such as havok in order to increase realism experienced in gameplay a modern realtime strategy game that uses a physics engine is ensemble studios age of empires iii released on october 18 2005 tournaments electronic sports rts world tournaments have been held for both starcraft and warcraft iii since their 1998 and 2002 releases the games have been so successful that some players have earned over 200000 at the warcraft iii world championships in addition hundreds of starcraft ii tournaments are held yearly as it is becoming an increasingly popular branch of esports notable tournaments include mlg gsl and dreamhack rts tournaments are especially popular in south korea list of realtime strategy video games chambers c feng w feng w saha d 2005 mitigating information exposure to cheaters in realtime strategy games proceedings of the international workshop on network and operating systems support for digital audio and video new york acm 712 doi10114510659831065986 isbn158113987x claypool mark september 15 2005 the effect of latency on user performance in realtime strategy games computer networks computer networks 49 1 5270 doi101016jcomnet200504008 cheng d thawonmas r november 2004 casebased plan recognition for realtime strategy games pdf proc of the 5th gameon international conference 3640 aha d molineaux m ponsen m september 7 2005 muozvila hctor ricci francesco eds learning to win casebased plan selection in a realtime strategy game casebased reasoning research and development lecture notes in computer science springer berlin heidelberg 3620 520 doi10100711536406 isbn9783540281740 chan h fern a ray s wilson n ventura c 2007 online planning for resource production in realtime strategy games pdf proceedings of the international conference on automated planning and scheduling vtevideo game genres listaction beat em up hack and slash fighting maze pacman clone platform shooter firstperson thirdperson light gun shoot em up tactical survival battle royale actionadventure grand theft auto clone immersive sim metroidvania stealth survival horror psychological horror adventure escape the room interactive fiction interactive movie visual novel mmo mmofps mmorpg mmorts mud roleplaying action roleplaying dungeon crawl roguelike tactical roleplaying simulation construction and management business city government life simulation dating sim digital pet god social simulation sports strategy 4x multiplayer online battle arena realtime strategy tower defense time management realtime tactics turnbased strategy turnbased tactics wargame vehicle simulation flight simulator amateur combat space racing kart racing sim racing submarine simulator train simulator vehicular combat other genres artillery breakout clone digital collectible card game eroge exergame incremental music rhythm nongame party programming puzzle sokoban tilematching related concepts aaa game advertising arcade game art game audio game casual game christian game crossover game educational game fmv gamification indie game multiplayer video game nonlinear gameplay open world nonviolent video game online game browser game multiplayer online game online gambling socialnetwork game pervasive game serious game toystolife twitch gameplay video game clone vterealtime strategy gameplay actions per minute build order fog of war macromanagement metagaming micromanagement random map rush technology tree tank turtling 