Dave Pottinger has programming credit on all three Age of Empires video games, was director of expertise on Age of Mythology, and was lead designer on Halo Wars. He most likely is aware of what he is speaking about in terms of the RTS style. Chatting with Videogamer to advertise his new studio Final Preserve’s upcoming RTS, Mission Citadel, Pottinger identified the style hasn’t accomplished loads of evolving within the final twenty years.
“It hasn’t modified a lot,” he mentioned. “You already know, you are still enjoying the identical sport we’re enjoying 20 years in the past and a few of these new video games—Stormgate and others like that—they usually’re nonetheless actually largely based mostly on that method. It really works, it is an outdated, golden algorithm, as a result of they had been good again then they usually’re nonetheless good now, and it’s good to see that stuff nonetheless works however on the identical time I wish to do one thing new, we wish to do one thing new.”
As for why the RTS is so indebted to its previous, he talked about that again in his Age of Empires days there was a concern that gamers would push again towards makes an attempt to experiment. “There have been some instances on the Age franchise the place we flew a little bit too near the solar,” he mentioned. “We needed to pull again and take some very modern issues out of the sport—I am speaking notably about formation-based fight in Age of Empires 3. Hell, we demoed that at E3, and took that out of the sport as a result of we had been afraid it was going to alienate too lots of the present Age followers.”
I am the man who fruitlessly votes for Daybreak of Conflict: Darkish Campaign within the PC Gamer Prime 100 yearly, so I might agree the RTS loved its peak a very good lengthy whereas in the past. Pottinger is not simply speaking the speak, nonetheless, and Mission Citadel (because it’s at present codenamed) is aiming to shake issues up. It’s going to be a space-based roguelike with procedural maps, and sounds a bit like a cross between Planetary Annihilation and FTL. “Battle your means by means of Voltari house on a mission to free the sector from their rule” says the outline on its Steam web page. “It will not be simple, however you will have a secret weapon to assist you in your voyage—a secret relic that permits your mothership and crew to regenerate on the fringe of Voltari house—time and again as you uncover the story’s twists and turns.”
Different tweaks to the method embrace a “Flip-based overmap” and “Quick-paced motion with skill-shot particular skills”. I dunno if permadeath and procedural technology is what it will take to get me excited in a brand new RTS, but it surely’s undoubtedly a distinct segment in want of a change. For as soon as I agree with our cynic-in-residence Fraser Brown, who summed up latest makes an attempt at revivals by writing that real-time technique nearly got here again from the brink of dying after which fell flat on its face.
Mission Citadel is on its strategy to a launch in early entry, the place the marketing campaign shall be totally playable. “Via Early Entry,” the developer says on its Steam web page, “we plan to develop the variety of playable factions, number of items, and add associated content material in levels. We additionally plan to iterate on steadiness, gameplay guidelines and develop content material based mostly upon group suggestions.”
Watch On
