Trigger

Wanted to start a thread about Homeworld 2 since there hasn't been any discussion about it really... figured I'd tack on RTS in general since it's not the hottest topic around here.

So - I picked up Homeworld 2... am I the only one? It's really good actually. I'm not the type of person who buys RTS games. It's not my genre of choice, but if I start playing one I usually get sucked into it for awhile. It's like any other RTS cuz you can build units and collect resources and attack enemies... but then at the same time, it allows you to move in 3D and your base can even move - among other differences. I never really got into Homeworld 1 or the expansion pack, but H2 is damn cool.

A friend of mine gave me Age of Mythology which is pretty good and I got Civ 2 somehow... Rise of Nations is awesome - I only played the demo though. So aside from Homeworld 2, anyone into RTS games in general?

flashburn

Homeworld 2 is a great game. I never played the original so the second one was totally new to me. I think they totally got the feel of 3d space down perfectly.

RyoHazuki

Civilization III is pretty decent. The AI could use some work but it is a pretty fun game to play.

Ghym

I don't play a lot of rts games. I used to play a bunch of the original C&C and Warcraft II. Recently, I've played C&C Generals and really liked that one. My favorite RTS series though, is Total War. I love seeing thousands of troops going at it and the fact that there isn't any resource gathering or unit building during the battles. All of that is done in the turn-based kingdom management part. Lots of strategy. Can't wait for Rome:Total War. Looks awesome.

I have been thinking about picking up Homeworld 2, but right now I've been in the mood for FPS games. I'll probably pick it up at some point though. Never finished the first one.

Noonan

I picked up homeworld 2 when it came out. I never really got into it, although it is very good. I love WCIII, but I would have to say that AOM is the best RTS available right now. I can't get enough of that game. I still need to pick up the expansion though...

Groucho

The Civilization games are turn-based.

Most underrated and underplayed RTS is Sacrifice. It can be found in the bargain bin for $10 and is a great game.

dancinns

I love RTS games. They're the only genre of games (along with simulations) I play on my PC. I do try to avoid them though since they seem to take away hours from me.

timewaster

I'm a big warcraft III (and II) fan and nothing comes close to this game. I'm still playing online every now and then too.

joshd2012

Homeworld is one of my favorite games ever. I haven't had the chance to play HW2, but I will as soon as I can afford a computer that can play it. My friend just finished it and said it was awsome. He said that they stream-lined the controls alot to make it easier to play. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

SiberianLlama

The original Homeworld is one of my favorite games ever, as well. I agree with the other poster that they totally captured the feel of 3D space combat in that game. Even in the original, the graphics were gorgeous to look at, I can't wait to see how they'll look in HW2. The music and story were top-notch as well.

I recently tracked down a copy of the somewhat underated add-on Cataclysm so I'm playing through that before I take the plunge with HW2. Here's hoping that even with the somewhat dissapointed reviews of HW2 (at least compared to the first one) that they make a part III.

And onto the general topic of RTS games, how are AOM and Rise of Nations? I've heard good things about both, but how do they differ from the general "craft' and "cc" games out there?

Trigger

I've never played Warcraft or Command and Conquer... I never associated them with RTS. Yeah - Civ is turn-based, but it kinda fits in this genre... all the turn-based and real-time strategy games are on the shelves next to each other in the store.

Maybe I should check out Warcraft. What's Starcraft about? RTS also?

Groucho - What's Sacrifice like?

Llama - I didn't know there were bad reviews of HW2... it's really quite good... from the little I played of Homeworld, HW2 is heaps better I think. Age of Mythology is pretty fun - nice and balanced with some neat twists... Rise of Nations is really good... I just haven't bought it yet. The demo was really addictive. Microsoft is really good at RTS games. Also - I played a demo of one where you make animals out of other animals - like a frogmonkey or a Tigerbear... that one was highly addictive and fun... it involved creativity as well as the typical strategy of these games.

One game I've been playing lately that's really good - don't know why I didn't think of it - Savage. Savage is like an online RTS, online FPS, and a 3rd person hack and slasher. Tons and tons of fun. Totally worth buying. Without a doubt.

tomwaits

My favorite is still Total Annihilation.
Very fast paced sci-fi RTS with limited resource management and lots of action.

There was only one official expansion pack (Core Contingency), but there are lots of user mods. Hundreds of new units, new maps, and replacement AIs.

Trigger

Impossible Creatures - that's what I was tryin to think of.

nickdawgy

Surely you jest.....

have you really never heard of and/or played Starcraft?

Trigger

I've heard of Starcraft... I've heard lots about it - but at the same time I've really learned nothing of what type of game it is. I know Blizzard makes it... right? Anyway - so what's it like? any good? I don't know anything about Warcraft either really.

timewaster

wow you're really missing out.
IMO, blizzard makes the best games in the PC world.
They mostly make RTS. starcraft and warcraft are RTS.
ALL their games are top sellers and receives excellent reviews from just about everyone.

xVladx

Sort of a strange action/FPS hybrid. The perspective is pretty similar to 3rd person action games, but the gameplay leans more towards an RTS. The main difference between it and most RTS games is that the focus is more on units and combat instead of base building. You can only build two types of buildings, and only in certain spots on the map.

It's a bit hard to really explain the game, but there is a demo floating around, which gives a good idea of how it plays. I picked it up for about $5 a while back, and have gotten a ton of playtime out of it.

Technically, there were two expansions, Core Contingency and Battle Tactics. Battle Tactics was basically just a map pack, though.

I definitely agree about TA, though. Back when Boneyards was around, I had some seriously large battles.

Trigger

Sacrifice sounds alot like Savage.

jrutz

Trigger try Ground Control. It's also a RTS/FPS hybrid but IMO better than Sacrifice. Not as much resource management, better combat. If you can find it, that is. I picked it up a couple years ago at CC for $9.99, but it was already an old game then (old as in little over a year old).

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/914166.asp

Great graphics even by today's standards. Kinda like Homeworld - way ahead of it's time.

Jeremy

xVladx

Well, to be fair, there's really hardly any resource management in Sacrifice. It's not like you've got to babysit harvesters or anything. It's place manaliths wherever you can, and convert souls as much as possible.

I've been meaning to pick GC up on the cheap, though. Never have played any of it except the demo.

flashburn

Z and Z2 were alot of fun a few years ago. Nothing has really grabbed me in the RTS genre lately. I use to love the original C&C 1+2.

CreatureX

I also like the Age of Empires series, but my all-time favorite strategy games would be Bungie's 'Myth: The Fallen Lords' and 'Myth II: Soulblighter'. The Myth series ditched all the resource collecting and focused on pure fighting carnage!

SiberianLlama

Trigger, while most of the reviews I've read concering HW2 were positive, usually in the high 70's to mid 80's, overall, the reviewers said that they were expecting more from the game.

I guess with a game as revolutionary and as amazing as the original HW, people expect just as much innovation from the sequel, which is unfair, but what can you do?

Specific complaints against HW2 compared to the first one is that the story isn't nearly as compelling as in the original, the player can't select what kind of formation to put the ships in, the AI is stupid and only puts forth a challenge by cheating and throwing infinite ships at you instead of using tactics, and finally that in the original and add-on, after you were done with a mission you could take as long as you wanted to before the next one, repairing your ships and building any additional ones you thought you needed for the next mission. In HW2, so the reviewers say, you can't do this and are forced to build new ships at the beginning of each new level. This combined with the bad AI and infinite enemy ships, they say, takes a lot of the strategy and enjoyment out of the game.

Regardless of all these criticisms, people seem to like the game but were dissapointed that it was basically treading water, compared to the first one, and not innovating.

I still plan on getting it though eventually...

nickdawgy

Ground Control is a great game. It's almost exactly like Starcraft.

Adam Tyner

Necro-bump for this Homeworld 3 trailer: