Chances are you‘ve heard the term "RTS" thrown around for years in gaming circles. As your friendly neighborhood gaming guide, I‘m here to welcome you into the fascinating world of real-time strategy games – one of the most thrilling, mentally demanding, and competitive gaming genres out there!
What Is Real-Time Strategy?
An RTS game blends strategic decision-making with the need to execute tactical choices simultaneously in real-time without pausing. This creates an utterly unique pressure cooker where winning requires balancing economic expansion, research choices, infrastructure growth, and military prowess second-by-second against enemies.
Unlike turn-based formats, RTS games offer no downtime – the action flows continuously like a sport, testing players‘ abilities to adapt under pressure by thinking critically and reacting instinctually in tandem.
Common traits of the genre include:
- An aerial "god view" of the battlefield to survey and command units
- Control over groups and factions (not lone heroes)
- Gathering resources to fund expansion
- Exploring maps and controlling territory
- Managing research, infrastructure, and army power
With origins dating back over 40 years, RTS has cemented its reputation through landmark franchises like Command & Conquer, Warcraft, and StarCraft as one of gaming‘s definitive spectacles of skill testing.
Let‘s explore its rich history!
Origins – Multiplayer Battles, Intriguing Experiments
While Dune II coined the genre in 1992, RTS genesis traces back decades earlier across intriguing experiments in real-time sim play and networked multiplayer combat:
The Spark – Multiplayer Space Warfare
One of the earliest influencers emerged not from a commercial game but MIT‘s Quantum Laboratory circa 1972. A team led by Silicon Valley pioneer Dan Edwards developed Spasim – a program for up to 32 players to engage in tactical space battles on pricey $5 million IBM mainframes.
Spasim took advantage of early networking to enable real-time competition. Players could fly various ships, engaging weapon systems while navigating a black void landscape spanning 256 planetary systems!
The game ended up going viral (by 1970s standards) across over 50 North American universities. Whenever it ran, university network performance often crashed from the sheer computational intensity. And based on accounts, Spasim gatherings exuded almost spiritual devotion and tension that presaged future esports phenomena.
Laying Down RTS Roots on the Sega Genesis
Fast forward a decade and a half later to 1989 when a more direct RTS forefather emerged on home consoles – the under-appreciated Sega Genesis classic Herzog Zwei from Japanese developer Technosoft.
Herzog Zwei dropped players into single screen 8-way scrolling battlefields with an initial armed unit. Players needed to purchase additional combat robots, tanks, planes and command them strategically to destroy enemy bases across eight epic missions.
The game introduced several pioneering concepts that RTS titles later codified including:
- Real-time unit construction/resource management
- Direct control over individual units in the thick of battle
- Fortifying captured points to fund further expansion
With its tactical mech combat and economic underpinnings, Herzog Zwei deserves credit as an influential RTS trailblazer, even if its limited 1989 distribution kept mainstream fame elusive.
The Birth of Real-Time Strategy
Refinement into the powerhouse money minting genre we know arrived in 1992 courtesy of Westwood Studios‘ Dune II. Set amidst Frank Herbert‘s epic sci-fi universe, the game tasked players with harvesting spice resources to build armies and conquer desert territories for one of three factions: Atreides, Harkonnen, or Ordos.
Westwood co-founder Brett Sperry introduced the key "real-time strategy" terminology to describe Dune II‘s vision. Beyond a branding masterstroke, the game deserves significant credit for codifying and popularizing core RTS ingredients still used today including:
- Intuitive mouse-driven UI for construction and unit control
- Individualized asymmetric factions
- Fog-of-war for unexplored areas
- Distinct economic and military channels to juggle
Dune II became a revelation, selling over 250,000 copies globally while setting Westwood on a path toward blockbuster success with 1995‘s Command & Conquer. More importantly, its immense influence shapes almost every real-time strategy title released since to this day. Players have Westwood visionaries Brett Sperry, Joe Bostic and co-founder Louis Castle to thank for this cornerstone in PC gaming history!
The Golden Age – RTS Rivalry for the Ages
Following Dune II‘s meteoric rise, the classic RTS formula we know and love today exploded throughout the mid-90s across two landmark franchises – Westwood Studio‘s Command & Conquer (1995) and Blizzard Entertainment‘s Warcraft (1994).
Westwood Dominates with Command & Conquer
Westwood cemented itself as the RTS leader through an iconic series spun from Dune II‘s framework dubbed Command & Conquer. The new cyberpunk-styled franchise centered around factional warfare between the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and rogue Brotherhood of Nod upstart.
Signature gameplay advances introduced across a flurry C&C expansions included:
- Covert agent saboteur units for infiltration objectives
- Superweapons like GDI Ion Cannons for decisive tactical strikes
- Promotional live-action FMVs to propel lore and drama
By 2002 the franchise breached an astounding 21 million units shipped globally while revolutionizing RTS presentation values beyond just raw gameplay. C&C‘s gripping political narrative filled with shady underworld subterfuge and high stakes nuclear brinksmanship combined RTS gameplay depth with emotional storyline investment like never before.
Artwork from the Command & Conquer franchise which has shipped over 21 million copies to date
Blizzard Makes a "Warcraft" Splash
Never one to ignore exploding gaming fads, Blizzard Entertainment jumped on the RTS train in late 1994 with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans – applying Westwood‘s formula into a fantastical Tolkien-esque setting. Players could build human civilizations or command orcish clans through two lengthy story-driven campaigns + skirmishes.
Signature introductions included:
- Ancillary buildings like farms, barracks, lumber mills to deepen economic strategy
- AI heroes with special abilities to augment strategy
- Innovative random map system to enhance replayability
By leaning into dungeons and dragons style fantasy, Blizzard‘s charismatic worldbuilding and visual polish attacked RTS gaming from a different artistic angle compared to Westwood‘s grittier techno-military tales.
The runaway success led to the seminal 1995 follow up Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness which cemented the burgeoning franchise as a commercial titan selling over 5 million copies in just two years while topping charts across Europe.
With two bonafide smash studios pushing boundaries, RTS gaming entered its competitive zenith period throughout the late 90s.
Modern Classics – Innovation Continues
As Westwood and Blizzard battled for supremacy in the classical RTS template, new franchises leveraged technological leaps of the 2000s decade to introduce welcomed innovations:
StarCraft Perfection
Blizzard‘s hottest streak persisted into 1998 as they followed up Warcraft II with the legendary StarCraft – perhaps the greatest competitive RTS ever designed. The new galactic setting featuring three wholly unique races struck a perfect balance between asymmetry and precision balancing.
Quick fun facts on why StarCraft remains an undisputed apex of 1v1 competitiveness 20+ years later:
- Over 11 million copies sold globally
- Precision-tuned asymmetry between insectoid Zerg, technocratic Protoss, and gritty Terrans
- Thriving esports ecosystem with over $30 million in prizes awarded at tournaments
- Largest RTS gaming community extinction with hundreds of thousands still playing daily
Dawn of Real-Time Tactics
Beyond conventional RTS, the 2000s saw experimentation around real-time tactical shooters led by 2001‘s Ground Control from Massive Entertainment. Instead of sprawling empire building, these games focused battles around squad positioning, cover utilization, morale effects, and other granular military details.
The sub-genre exploded in prominence through Relic Entertainment‘s blockbuster Company of Heroes WWII series. 2006‘s original (plus expansions) wowed critics with unrelenting action centered around cunning tactical use of terrain, suppression fire, and unit abilities.
With over 4 million Company of Heroes games sold to date, Relic proved real-time squad tactics could captivate just as powerfully as traditional RTS city building when executed skillfully.
Why We Still Play RTS Games
Given gaming‘s explosive diversification into battle royales, RPGs, and more in recent decades, why does this nearly 30 year old genre still compel such devotion today?
Cerebral Strategy Challenges
RTS games enable something few other genres can match – allowing players to live out fantastical power fantasies as battlefield generals commanding thousands of units across vivid 3D worlds. Applying our strategic cognition feels immensely gratifying whether defeating campaigns on brutal difficulties or outsmarting online opponents.
The sheer diversity of strategic avenues and unit combinations guarantees endless replayability. Would you rather overwhelm foes with cheap rush units or tech up advanced artillery? Fortify defensive structures or relentlessly harass with hit-and-run raids? RTS games offer almost limitless strategic expression.
Competitive Community Spirit
However, as StarCraft and Warcraft 3 demonstrate, RTS titles come alive most vibrantly through competitive multiplayer. The allure of pitting wits against equally cunning opponents creates unmatched gaming tensions. Small wonder top StarCraft 2 players in Korea have achieved celebrity status with six figure contracts to dominate for elite esports organizations.
But beyond just elite talent, RTS communities exude a special spirit of friendly competition, mentorship, and collective ambition to master intricate systems. From shouting casters analyzing pro matches to Discord theorycrafters debating unit balances, RTS superfandom creates irreplaceable bonds forged in virtual battle.
Constant Renewal on the Horizon
Some may argue that the RTS genre has stagnated from its early 2000s peak amidst fierce MOBA/battle royale competition. Yet recent successes like Age of Empires IV selling over 3 million copies shows core demand persists. And this cycle of old franchise rebirths and spiritual successors like mobile superhit Clash of Clans guarantees RTS will keep evolving for veteran devotees and next-gen newcomers alike!
So I welcome you dear reader – whether lapsed fan or curious newcomer – to dive into some great intro RTS titles and explore their captivating maze of strategic expression against friends old and new. With over three decades of innovation ahead, you‘ll find no greater showcase of gaming skill…or more welcoming community of passionate fans ready to embrace you as the next great commander!
Let the battles commence!
