As a former RTS (real-time strategy game) enthusiast, I often encounter many novices who, at the introductory stage, issue a nearly identical complaint due to their unfamiliarity with the operation and system – "The operation of this game is too complicated/cumbersome." ”
Compared with other types that are now popular, RTS that needs to take into account resource collection, unit production, and troop micro-operation is indeed quite difficult, but just like the MOBA with a wider audience and easier operation, there have also been many simplified levels for operation and system in some RTS games that are known for their complexity.
For example, in the single-player campaign of the classic RTS game Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, many missions are not assigned to player resource points and farmers at the beginning, but through the control of individual heroes, beginners are familiar with the operation, step by step to collect resources, assemble troops, and finally reach the collectable resource points.
At the beginning of the Night Elf campaign, players are only allowed to manipulate hero Marvie Shadow Song and her men
This form is actually more similar to another type of game that was born later, "RTT" (real-time tactical game), which can be simply understood as RTS that omits the acquisition and production factors and focuses on the combat link.
In many games with "real-time strategy" as the selling point, in order to reduce the threshold, increase playability or balance the rhythm of battle, you will often see a lot of RTT element design, a small number of which have even evolved into exclusive gameplay with certain characteristics.
In Blizzard's other famous RTS game "StarCraft 2", RTT runs through the entire single-player campaign from beginning to end, and its level design and gameplay have gradually matured with the update of the version, and even incorporated many elements including "infiltration" and "cultivation", which is an excellent example of the genre.
In the Terran campaign of Interstellar 2, there are hidden levels with "Cultivating RPGs" as the main gameplay in the main flow of the main line. In this map, players do not need to collect resources, only control the protagonist Jim Renault and several of his men to complete the infiltration mission of the enemy base.
The reason why there is a "cultivation element" is because the game distributes the technology in the regular RTS that requires the construction of specific buildings to upgrade in the form of "equipment" to all corners of the map. For example, players can find "fragmented grenades" items that can cause widespread AOE damage at a fork in the map, and can also obtain "sniper rifles" that can destroy enemies from a distance after defeating specific enemies.
Searching for equipment for stronger abilities is the main gameplay of this level
Due to the limited number of units controlled, there is no traditional RTS large-scale battle scene in the level, but a different way to sneak into the game. As the game progresses, you can open the poison gas valve by hacking into the enemy's computer terminal, so that you can defeat your opponent without bloodshed; Or release the enemy's breeding insects in advance and let them kill each other.
You can choose one of several different gains
Throughout the game flow, the player's perspective is reduced from the macro battlefield to the small-scale battle of a single hero, and the attention is no longer distracted by trivial matters such as operations and resources, and such a design also appears repeatedly in many expansion films in the subsequent games.
In Star 2's final campaign, DLC, "Nova's Covert Action", this RTT gameplay has also been a bolder attempt, not only adding more single-player maps that eliminate operational mechanics, but also adding elements rarely seen in real-time strategy, such as "car chase scenes", in addition to stealth elements:
It's actually a "boss battle" that needs to be completed by driving a vehicle.
In addition, after you can find equipment in the map to unlock specific skills, you can also put items into your backpack like in RPG games, and use them according to different situations in other levels.
From helmets and armor to weapons, players will be able to adjust the equipment they use before each mission begins
These battle-level optimizations do add a lot to the game's single-player campaign, but cultivation elements like "equipment" or "experience points" are not a necessary part of the RTT type game. In fact, in addition to works like Star 2 that add real-time tactical elements to mainstream RTS, games that truly meet the RTT standard also have certain genre branches inside.
The first to call its game "RTT" should be "Close Combat" launched in 1996, and its publisher director once said in an interview: "Close Combat is not RTS in the classic sense, it is actually more inclined to 'real-time tactical simulation' because it has no resource collection element." ”
Close Combat
Whether there is a resource collection element has also become a standard for RTT identification, but even if the operation mechanism is removed, there are still many subtypes of RTT with "battle" as the core. Among them, the "Allied Death Squad" series launched by Spanish studio Pyro Studio should be regarded as the pioneer of the infiltration RTT genre.
In 1998's Allied Death Squad: Behind enemy lines, players can operate the same limited number of combat units that have no operational pressure, but the game's personal frontal combat effectiveness has been further reduced, and there is almost no possibility of clashing with the enemy.
In order to complete the mission objectives in such a situation, the player needs to evade reconnaissance and infiltrate into the key area step by step using the form of infiltration rather than combat.
Although there are only 6 controllable characters, there are great differences between the characters, some are good at driving vehicles, some are proficient in camouflage assassination, and some people like to fight underwater, familiar with the skills and characteristics of each character, and cooperate tacitly to complete the task.
The subsequent Shadow Tactics: The General's Blade and Bounty Raider series are among the more well-known and representative works of this genre.
Shadow Tactics, which also has complex terrain and multiple ways to infiltrate, has been hailed as the "spiritual sequel" of the Allied death squads.
In addition to the infiltration RTT, there are also more real-time tactical games that put the perspective on the frontal battlefield, the early classic works have the above-mentioned "Close Combat", and after the new century, there are also realistic RTTs such as "Man of War" and "Company of Heroes".
For example, in the "Man of War" series, although each soldier is not highly distinguished, they have an independent equipment bar, can drive a variety of vehicles at the same time, pay more attention to the operation of the frontal battlefield, and the individual soldiers become more vulnerable, and the game pays more attention to the impact of the squad on the battlefield.
In the game, soldiers can grab enemy items, bullets will be blocked by terrain and bunkers, vehicles are also allowed to be destroyed and repaired, in the second part of the series, players can not only direct the battle on a macro level, but also use the Ctrl key to switch to the third-person perspective of individual soldiers, thus completing more elaborate micro-manipulations.
Whether the focus of the battle is "sneaking behind enemy lines" or "frontal combat", although RTT abandons the necessary operating mechanism in RTS, it does not reduce the player's evaluation, on the contrary, because it can shift more attention to a more pure combat link, simplifying a lot of cumbersome operations, this type of game has also been praised by many players.
However, in view of the special operation mode of such games, most of the works can only be played on the PC platform, coupled with the decline of RTS, RTT is always a niche game type, and it is no longer a category that manufacturers will prioritize research and development. In recent years, except for the occasional indie game like Shadow Tactics, there have been few well-made, unique gameplay, not to mention replicas on other platforms.
Because of this, an RTT game that can run on a mobile phone is even more rare, and the domestic mobile game "Fog Sequence", which has just opened the second test, is such a game.
The System of Fog Sequence draws on both SRPGs and RTTs, and the player controls characters to fight on the classic grid map of the wargame game, but unlike the general SRPGs, the game adopts a real-time gameplay, and the player needs to continuously control the character's movement, attack or release skills.
The ultimate goal of the game is to resist the monsters that continue to appear in the fog, protect the stronghold in the center of the map from being destroyed, and according to the different levels and scenes, the map will have different terrain design and strategic depth on the z-axis, and the corresponding tactics, adjust the combat role, and flexibly use the character skills according to the differences in the terrain are the main gameplay of this game.
As a long-term operation of the mobile game, the cultivation and differentiation of characters is also one of the characteristics of "Fog Sequence". Depending on the attributes and skills, the game is divided into 7 class types, including the front row class "Heavy Armor" responsible for resisting damage, the "Gladiator" who is good at melee combat, the "Cavalry" with excellent mobility, and so on.
Under the big tag of the class, different characters can master different exclusive skills, which will be gradually unlocked with the increase of the level, and in the actual battle, players need to operate multiple character attacks, move positions, and properly release skills like RTT games.
While there are some basic class restraints in the game, as with the common RTT, the player's precise operation is the key to victory.
After all, mobile phones are different from PCs, without the help of mice and keyboards, how to ensure that novices can operate multiple units at the same time? The solution given by Fog Sequence is that when the player taps on a character to enter the command interface, the game will enter a special "slowdown state".
In the skill selection screen, the character's movements will be significantly slowed down
In this state, both attacks and movements slow down, giving the player enough time to react to selecting skills or moving units. At the same time, some common micro-exercises in RTT games, such as pulling the residual blood unit to the back row to transfer hatred, moving the heavy unit to the intersection for "card slot", etc., can be well restored in the game.
In the current story level, a formation allows 4 main characters and 2 reserve players to be dispatched at the same time, but this does not mean that the remaining characters obtained are useless. As the plot progresses, players will board an airship with a huge space, and trade, internal affairs, and technological research and development have been added to this base.
Some characters who are not good at fighting, there may also be passive skills in the skill bar to improve base production or internal management, in addition to the regular plot exploration, assign the correct characters to manage the airship, handle commissions, and develop technology is also one of the gameplay of the game.
Ability to upgrade the stats of specific classes in airships
Compared with the first test, this time the "Fog Sequence" also updated a new gameplay called "Exploration Events", in each main line chapter, in addition to the regular battle levels, some special areas also require players to solve events by throwing dice or through traps, similar to the gameplay of the running group game.
In the exploration event, the player needs to choose different branch actions according to their preferences, each character's attributes in addition to affecting the battle, in the exploration event, special adventure characteristics will also affect the success rate of the judgment, such as the more agile character, in the "dodge trap" type of judgment, the pass rate will be higher.
Characters with higher combat effectiveness also have different features in this mode. Under the "Exploration Event", the battle is also carried out by rolling the dice, the higher the combat effectiveness, and the greater the probability of successfully hitting the target.
Regardless of the mode, players need to adjust accordingly according to the attributes and traits of different characters to obtain the best exploration lineup, which is also in line with the most important gameplay core of "Fog Sequence" - strategy.
Compared with the first test, the current "Fog Sequence" has made great adjustments in the art style, gameplay, and map design. The game's worldview is similar to Steve King's horror novel The Mist, in which a mysterious fog suddenly envelops the human continent, accompanied by dangerous monsters and supernatural phenomena, while the player plays the role of the "Fog Investigator" who specializes in investigating the vision of the fog.
With this setting, in addition to the enemy's design style will be more changeable, the artistic tone of the characters and scenes is accompanied by a strong layer of "retro futuristic" style.
As a science fiction genre, "retro future" refers to the imagination of the future in past science fiction works in the creation, such as the appearance of a large number of tapes, video recorders, old monitors, and the popular vehicle airship in the last century, which have withdrawn from the historical stage in reality, but are widely used in the future timeline set by the game.
This mixed scene of the past and the future has become a special existence in today's fiercely competitive two-dimensional mobile game, which also makes the game's accessible characters have more changes in shape.
Whether it is the newly added exploration gameplay, or the addition of a more suitable background setting and UI interface, as well as the polishing of the scene atmosphere, it shows that the game's production team is always listening to the player's opinions and optimizing the game's shortcomings.
At present, the game has opened the qualification reservation of the second test, if you are a strategy game enthusiast, but also interested in elements such as "occult setting" and "running group", you may wish to go to the official website to apply for test qualification.