Hello again. (Note, if you have read my other topic, perhaps skip to the last two sentences.) I’ve been working on an RTS in panda3d for three (closing on four) months now and at the same time having my first serious taste of python and panda3d. So obviously I’ve been a bit slow, python is rather different than C#, but I’m speeding up considerably the past two months or so. The first private alpha release will be in just a few weeks and I hope to reach a beta release by August. And so after boring your eyes with a long paragraph, rather irrelevant one for the moment perhaps, what would you like to see in an RTS? Please do not hesitate to ask no matter how unlikely it seems, I’m not quite known for following the traditional.
well. since your original question is what i want to SEE in an rpg the answer might not suit the question… aside from that it’d love to HEAR.
to make this confusing statement a bit more understandable.
while most game developers focus on grafics and gameplay. most of them totaly drop sounds and, if present at all, they only use some random sounds found on the internet.
i wouldnt mind some less fancy grafics. but i’d love to have a rich sound atmosphere, although you dont see it. it adds a lot of detail to the game. so tweeting birds, the sounds of a fountain/small river, wind going through the trees, the sound of people walking and talking. it provides an insane ammonut of information for the brain which improves the overall game-experience a lot.
for my other whishes. well i dont know nothing about your game so i cant tell what i’d want to see in it. although a good story is yet another thing which is very lovely to have.
Did I say rpg? Apologies, I meant RealTimeStrategy. Hmmm… Good thing you don’t want a world of good graphics, even though I have a network of artists, I never said they were good. A world of sound is actually quite possible for me, I’ve been recording and mixing for two years longer than I’ve been coding. The main limitation (as I’m sure this is most everyone’s) is time. (I never download random sounds on the internet, I’m somewhat paranoid about downloading anything.)
I purposely left out all details about the RTS, so that another’s (maybe)unique viewpoint is not prejudiced toward what I might have already mentioned. Perhaps that wasn’t the best idea. It has a strong emphasis towards the fantasy-genre.
ah sorry. i misread RTS for RPG.
hm. one thing i liked about RTS where customizable units. like that one game. i dunno warzone 2100 or whatever it was called where you could combine different types of platforms with different kind of guns etc. although it eats quite some time it’s something which satisfies my tinkering demands 
Yes, Warzone 2100 I think. Customizable units are planned, though I haven’t begun work on that, its not quite top on my list at the moment. I quite understand demands for tinkering 
, the same old stuff gets boring after a while.
I love tower games - they are so addicting. How about to target this kind of game first? It is quick to put up and could be a good playground for you to make a bigger and more serious rts afterwards…
I’m sorry to say, but I’m not really a fan of tower games (that doesn’t mean I hate them either).
If I understand correctly, what you are saying is to slowly work my way up to something big. I’m not making anything big, I’m just making simple stuff and adding it all together. Most good games are made of simple concepts and ideas.
indeed that is the approach I feel comfortable with and use - far to say it’s the best - other ppl prefer to rush and rewrite.
pity you don’t like towergames though… 
Sorry about the tower games 
. But look on the bright side, I’m about a fourth of the way done. And it just might have towers… If the artists will actually work. 
But they are working for free (recognition of their talents in the credits), so I’ll cut them some slack.
Why not something unusual like white cells against viruses in a cat body ?
Here the suggestion is to bypass the usual idea : “I’m having three humans and need to constuct buildings to expand”
Or maybe milk against Coco in a coconut…
Hum, ok… I’ll stop here!!!
Sometimes, stupid things mark the most. Remember about coolSpot ?
Today I’m cheering on the viruses, the cat scratched up my furniture. 
Thank you for the posts. Something unusual is indeed needed. (I absolutely hate having to micromanage buildings, most of them are being done away with). My mind has an interesting mix of elements from rts, tbs, fps, and perhaps just a hint of tower-game. 
“what would you like to see in an RTS?”
- Nice explosions
- Online PvP + community
- at least 4 different viable strategies
- think Go - simple rules make infinity strategies
- scifi theme
- non 2d terrains. Think huge buildings and building have levels, cliffs, and caves.
- order q’s
- game replays
- ability to join an game in progress (even if its just to spectate)
don’t want
- smashing buttons to go faster/hit harder
- calling epic battles that have less then 100 units
- designing units in game
- any kind of FPS/RPG hybrid
- economy that uses Gold
- economy that has more then 2 resource types
- set in similar universe to other game
tower games are indeed something VERY related to viruses: if you think about the gameplay essence, it is just a horde of little monsters (bacteria) slowly walking paths (veins or other internal body routes) that you gotta defeat placing
countermeasures along the path (anti-bacteria) before many of them reach the end of the path (internal organs) to make you loose the game (get the desease).
Well now you don’t have to think I’m climbing windows to push you to make a towergame - I’m just helping you to take the right decision. 
Nice explosions, nope. I can manage a nice looking one in a blender render, but not in panda3d.
Online play, my networking skills are extremely weak, not to mention my internet connection.
Different strategies, not same over and over. Exactly.
Non-2d terrains is horribly tough for me, but I’ve got something running through my head.
Order-q’s are rather a standard.
Scifi theme has been used quite a bit and I am somewhat tired of it, but then again, what hasn’t been used overly much.
Ability to join a game in progress, as I said my networking skills would need to appear.
A hybrid could be fun if done properly.
Truly, a 100 units is not epic.
Unit designing, fun if done properly again.
Gold is the standard. 
Many resource types are just a pain.
Button smashing is the enemy of strategy.
Similar universe, hmmm, could that be copyright infringement.
There are too many, I wouldn’t make a pure one, if at all.
The word viruses had got me thinking, and then I also started to think about “no gold”, “no more than two resources”, “not set in a similar universe”, “at least 4 viable strategies”, “towers” (I wonder where that came from ), and my rule for simple concepts. And I’ve come up with something, not too difficult, not too easy. Rather half following my original plan but cutting out the fps part and half mixing it with" towers but no viruses, one resource type(which is not gold, and not acting like a traditional game resource type), and also influences from dungeon-crawlers, Civilization series, Star Wars Battlefront, and a couple of other games.
I had decided this yesterday, in fact. I had gotten started immediately, and the terrain loader is progressing nicely, 3D tile-based (does not just mean 3d models, means multiple levels).
yo, I keep an eye on you! 
This thread is kinda pointless, sorry. Asking what people want in a RTS game? Uh, I don’t know. Great graphics, great sound, great animations, AI. Innovative gameplay, intuitive interface. Easy to learn, hard to master. Please all for free and can run on any box no matter how slow.
Seriously … Let’s take some good elements from strategy games I like (note: I’m not much of a strategy game player).
-
Total Annihilation … The Commander. Some unique unit that stands out from the mass-produced common units. Something you don’t want to lose. … Feature to chain commands.
-
Z … Great AI, great humor, great art. Didn’t translate too well into 3D, but that’s not the games fault. Z was based on a sector-to-sector system, haven’t seen it since.
-
Command&Conquer … I mean the original one. Had a great feeling about it, hard to describe. The way the music kicks in, the way the Harvester grabs the Tiberium. How the buildings folded out when built. The announcer voice saying “unit lost”. Just plays together and oozes atmosphere. … Selection of units without a representation in the HUD a la CnC is what I prefer, kinda weird how SC2 does it right now.
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Age of Empires … The miracles. Propably not the most reasonable feature, but interesting that a non-violent feature could lead to a win. Similar to CnC the first two AoE again had small elements that blended perfectly together. The workers animation, the sound of a unit coming in, the animation of the siege units.
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Warcraft … Yes, the original. In Germany we love base building. WC had streets and walls and it was great.
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Starcraft … Three different races and still balanced. Now in part 2 they’re taking it a little over the top with creativity.
Another thing is user interface. Propably the area of innovation right now. And strategy games on concoles tried to invent here, but boy did they fail …
I apologize for the apparently pointless thread and I thank you for your excellent ideas that I have never heard and I am sure will revolutionize the game industry. 
In that case, I will be a bit more specific. What RTS-specific gameplay features would people like to see, or rather play?
Intuitive interface is extremely important. Fast and efficient.
Great graphics is something I never really cared much about, but I don’t want it horrid either.
Great sound just sounds great.
For AI, I try to make it think like I do. Which does not necessarily make it great, but at least different. For example: I hate AI just throwing away its forces piecemeal, what if it built-up and then threw everything it could against you at once.
Would running on an old P4 box be good enough performance?
If I were to charge anything, my artists would want to be paid. Can’t have that!
Sad to say, of those games you mentioned, I’ve only played the first two AOE. I have a Nintendo64, I should go find C&C sometime. Perhaps my lack of experience with rts is what prompted me to ask. Though in strategy, I’m not a stranger. I was addicted to strategy games back when they used to be called “board games” and were played on a table with other people standing around actually playing the game in person instead of on the internet.
Thanks astelix!
UPDATE 03/19/2010:
Parts of GUI and menu are here and there, not gonna bother much about them for now.
The map loader is progressing well, next thing is to get different 3D models and textures for hills, water, etc.
The one game resource is “Survival Points”, (can someone come up with a better name please? somewhat following a fantasy theme is nice.) it is used to purchase units, buildings, etc., and there are various nasty surprises if it falls below zero.
The buildings class is going fine, towers are in. 
The units class is my project for this evening, will hopefully have something to post about that in a day or two. I’ve reviewed all pathfinding availabilities and how the map is gonna look and I’m gonna go with my favorite A*.
PS. Python is admirable.