Real-time strategy games are referred to as RTS, originally a type of strategy game, strategy games are usually turn-based, but real-time strategy games are real-time, players in the game will generally play the role of commander of troops, leading their army to the final victory. Classic real-time strategy games include: Red Alert, Age of Empires, Warcraft, StarCraft, etc., which are full of variables and uncertainties, which test the player's global awareness and tactical ability, thus attracting a large number of fans.
Red alert
StarCraft
Age of Empires
Warcraft
Real-time strategy games have already appeared in the 80s, such as 1982's Cytron Masters, Utopia, Legionnaire, etc., which have elements of real-time strategy games. However, the 80s were a time of scarcity for us, and the above games were basically impossible to see, even if they are not easy to find today. Most of the first video games that everyone here came into contact with were FC red and white machines (Nintendo, Little Bully, etc.), and at that time, the friends who owned a red and white machine were the most beautiful boys in the village. But don't say, there is really a game similar to real-time strategy on the red and white machine, that is, "Killing Battlefield" released in 1985, I always feel that this game seems to have some real-time strategy flavor, I don't know if the friends who have played it feel the same.
FC game Killing Battlefield released in 1985
Fast forward to the 90s, when computers gradually began to become popular, video games also flourished, and various types of games bloomed, especially real-time strategy games reached their peak in the 90s. So who is the originator of real-time strategy games? This topic still seems to be very controversial, but it has to be said that in 1992, Westwood Studios released "Dune Castle 2" (Dune 2), laid the foundation for all the core concepts in real-time strategy games now, in which resource gathering, base construction, unit building, class control and other elements have had a profound impact on future real-time strategy games, and later real-time strategy games are basically based on the concepts in "Dune Castle 2". So I personally feel that the originator of real-time strategy games should be "Dune Castle 2".
Dune Castle 2 game screen
Those who like to play real-time strategy games should have heard of the name "Dune" to some extent, because this work laid the foundation for real-time strategy games, but many people may not know that when this game was first created, it was actually a text adventure game, what kind of it is, let's take a look.
Dune Castle 1 (Dune 1) was released in 1992
This work is adapted from the 1984 movie of the same name "Dune Castle", and the movie is adapted from a science fiction novel "Dune" by American science fiction giant Frank Herbert (so many people call the game Dune). This is a text adventure story about a planet called Alecis in the universe, the surface of the planet is covered with yellow sand, so this planet is also called "Dune". The sand of the planet contains a rare substance called spices, which is a very rare resource in the entire universe, so the major family forces have launched a series of stories in order to compete for the resources on the dunes.
The planet of Alechis
Planetary landforms
Scary sandworms
Because it is a text adventure game, its content is mainly to experience the story plot, so in the game, the player plays Paul of the Yatridi family, and unfolds the storyline from Paul's perspective. In the game, Paul uses various options to play the game, such as moving to other scenes, talking to the characters in the scene, etc., our purpose is to unite the forces of the Frimans on the dunes under the premise of satisfying the Emperor to fight against the Harkeni family, the sworn enemies of the Yatridi family. This kind of text adventure game is basically moved to each scene to talk to the relevant characters, the overall feeling is like watching a movie or reading a book to experience the plot, the playability is not high, and friends who like to read can try it.
Prince Paul of the Yatridi family
With the digital selection command on the lower panel, the arrow controls the movement position
Yatridi Palace
Fly a small plane on the move
Descend near a mine cave
Talk to various characters to unfold the plot
Dune Castle 2 (Dune 2) was released in 1992
Perhaps because the script of "Dune Castle" is more suitable as a strategy game, in the same year, Westwood Studios released a new work "Dune Castle 2", which changed the previous text adventure game style and became a new real-time strategy game style. In the game, players can choose three different families: Yatridi, Otus, and Hakeni to play. The gameplay basically lays the foundation for today's regular real-time strategy games.
Dune Castle 2
The three families of Yatridi, Otus and Hakeni
In this game we need to tap on the base on the screen to build various facilities to play the game. At this time, the concept of capital and electricity has already appeared, so at the beginning we need to build a power plant and a spice factory to maintain basic needs, the Dune series is slightly different from other real-time strategy games, if the building is placed directly on the ground, it will become half blood, so if possible, you need to build the foundation first, and placing the building on the foundation is the right way.
The building is best placed on the foundation
First build a power plant to ensure electricity, and choose a power plant to see the power supply
The funds in the upper right corner are urgent, and the construction of a spice factory is needed to increase funds
After clicking on the building, you can enter the construction page through the panel on the right, select the unit you want to build, and click build this below to build. In addition to the basic construction, some buildings can also be upgraded, after upgrading can produce more advanced units, after selecting the building, click UPGRADE on the right to upgrade, for example, after the barracks are upgraded, you can build infantry columns.
After selecting the building, click the panel on the right to enter the construction screen
Some buildings can be upgraded by clicking the button on the right
After the barracks are upgraded, you can add new troops
Since this game is in the early stage of real-time strategy games, many settings are very rough, especially the operation of units is very cumbersome, mobile attacks and other instructions need to select the unit first, and then select various commands (keyboard shortcuts can be used) through the panel on the right, and then click on the map to execute. And it is impossible to frame and form troops, which leads to the operation of troops can only be clicked to give instructions, and the experience is very bad to play, but in any case, the concept and setting of "Dune Castle 2" have the original appearance of real-time strategy games.
Class operations need to be controlled through the right panel
Dune 2000, released in 1998.
The success of "Dune Castle 2" gave Westwood a taste of sweetness, and immediately began to develop a new plot of the real-time strategy game "Command and Conquer", some friends have not heard of this work, then his biography work you must have heard, that is, the famous "Red Alert". The release of the series caused a boom in real-time strategy games in the game industry, with the huge success of the game, in 1998 Westwood finally remembered the "Dune" series, launched a new work "Dune 2000", the basic plot of the game is still the content of "Dune Castle 2", but the picture is much better, the overall color is yellow, there is a strong dune style, the core gameplay is basically similar, it is still the story between the three families of Yatridi, Otus, and Hakenny, but the pace of the game is slow, Poor balance does not have a fire after all. But I think the style of this work is very good, the yellow sand in the sky, the sandworms wriggling underground, all interpret the concept of sand dunes very well.
Dune 2000 game screen
Three different races
Dune 2000 game graphics, feel better than Red Alert
Dune 2000 game screen
Dune 2000 game screen, strong dune style
Dune 3000, released in 2000
In 2000, Westwood followed the popular 3D trend and used the 3D engine to produce a new work "Dune 3000", which continued the story of three families fighting for control of spices. Unfortunately, the 3D in this period is not very mature, the game screen does not seem to achieve the ideal effect, and "StarCraft", the real-time strategy masterpiece, is in the hottest state, "Dune 3000" performance in the market is mediocre, so that many friends have not played this work.
Dune 3000 game screen
Dune 3000 game screen
Dune 3000 game screen
In general, although the Dune series is not as famous as "Red Alert" and other masterpieces, this series opened the era of real-time strategy games from "Dune Castle 2", and laid the concept and foundation for later similar games. Even the late bigwig Blizzard (StarCraft Development Company), the earliest real-time strategy game "Warcraft: Humans and Orcs", was basically improved on the content of "Dune Castle 2", which shows that the "Dune" series did influence later real-time strategy games.
Guys, if you've played the Dune series, what do you think is the best? I personally think that "Dune 2000" is a work worth collecting in terms of gameplay and graphics, do you remember the sandworm full of electric light in the minecart? Well, I am a fun-loving cow hero, bringing you wonderful games every day, thank you for your support, welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss and exchange.