1 reply to this topic

[Shaithias]

So the key to a very fun game of mental omega is surprisingly money. Of course, many people here will jump on the idea of "fun" and say it is subjective. 

 

So, what defines a fun game? 

Out thinking your opponent. 

Trolling your opponent. 

Outmaneuvering your opponent.

 

What is NOT fun? Spamming units. Mindlessly clicking build queues to get an army capable of bashing the enemy. 

 

So... spies? very much fun. 

Spamming tanks? Not so much. 

Spamming borillos? Not at all. 

 

Picking off your opponent's harvesters and forcing him to protect harvesters? VERY FUN. 

Mass producing carriers or reshefs to spam the enemy into the dirt? Flashy... but tedious. 

 

However, the trick to a "fun" game is the economy. The more $$$ flowing in the game, the more spammy it gets. Also, the AI seems to have unlimited supplies of cash, or does not burn cash to create units. And that is a shame. When there is alot of cash, you produce dogs. You don't ask if there are engineers. You produce dogs to kill potential engineers. You also produce engineers and don't ask if there are enemy dogs. You spam. You don't counter. 

Same for all kinds of units. When you have cash, you mass produce. 
So, the trick is to keep the cash flow very very low. The closer to starvation all sides are, the more strategic they will be about spending money. 

An ideal economy would have no new ore mined. Once the ore is all mined, that's it. You are done. 
Alternatively, it would have ore generation, but no initial ore deposits. 

Both options yield interesting drawn out games that require critical thinking, maneuvering, and subtle spy games to win. 

[Divine]

I somewhat agree, but the things you say belong to a different kind of RTS. Squad based, tactical, with all units having multitude of upgrades available as well as active abilities. Games such as Company of Heroes 2, or Dawn of War 1 and 2. They also have unit caps, to further enforce the playstyle you describe. They can be fun, but they are a completely different kind of game, and neither the RA2 engine, nor the mod itself is built to support this. C&C games, with a few exceptions, usually mods, were always more about economy management and out-producing the enemy than unit microing and careful countering. I think the sweet spot is somewhere between the two, one example of this perfect synthesis I can think of is the Shockwave mod for C&C Generals. It is a mod where balance follows the "counter broken with broken" philosophy, and the sheer OPness of some things allow outplaying an economically stronger opponent. Yet the game remains somewhat balanced, because everyone has their own OP toys.

 

I fully agree though that the skirmish AI having unlimited amount of money is just cancer. Speeder & Co probably thought that since the AI is irredeemably retarded, it's the only way to make it challenging. Unfortunately, it just makes PvE games excessively tedious sometimes, while barely making them any more challenging.