Empire at War still getting the attention it deserves makes me happy. What a stellar game. There's a really active and impressive modding community too! Check out the EaWX mods (Thrawn's Revenge and Fall of the Republic). They're particularly good! On another note... how did we make it through the first minute with no mention of StarCraft, arguably the GOAT of competitive golden-age RTS.
Empire at War is a very old game, but shockingly enough the devs recently gave the game an update that significantly improves performance allowing modded campaigns to run smoothly, which is nuts since the game hasn't gotten an update in over a decade.
@@TheBoneKing This is not true, they didn't lose it. They 1: Just aren't allowed to share it. 2: Their support for EaW is mainly coming from their love, or at least respect, of the modding community it has, so it's something they work on in their time in between projects.
I downloaded a version of the game from some page online, but the game speed is tied to the frame rate so the units are very fast and things die extremely quickly. There’s a way to change the files with OS Big editor to lower the frame rate but I’m not sure how to do it.
When AoE3 came out in 2005, my mind was blown. It has the best artillery in any Age game, period. It has the most flavour, depth, customizability, immersion, and personality. It quickly became everything I ever wanted out of an RTS, and that holds true to this day. You can tell ES poured their heart out making the game. It isn't without flaws, and DE has fixed some of them, but man, is it a joy to play. Sad it doesn't get the respect it deserves.
Yep little kid me was blown away, was the first AoE for me, really only played Warcraft III and StarCraft before that. Also Empire at War. I remember the cannons vividly, as the ragdolls were funny AF. I remember a couple times where physics were kinda fked and some bodies were sent flying across the map. Even did some mapmaking. Some people didn't like the shipments thing, but I did. It helped you to invest more into a certain nation, and some even allowed for unique ways to play. ..... Or you just get factories and pump out heavy cannons lol.
When it was released, it was too good for its time and brought average grade gaming PCs to their knees that people avoid playing water maps. I remember the demo almost killed my laptop in sea battle. Today I have to say out of the remasters, AoE 3 is the one that got the most orphaned treatment. They only add new civs for basic inclusivity sake but not much else. Unlike 2 which got that plus they kept upgrading the old content to balance the new additions. I wish they actually pay more attention to 3 just like they do with 2 and 4.
@@maciekszymanski1078they mentioned somewhere in a comment section there’s a strong likelihood it could be done before the end of the year so like end of December maybe or right before Christmas
I honestly never imagined Sins of a Solar Empire would ever get a sequel, and for those who remember that the Vasari faction were running from a really powerful unknown enemy, they're even planning to add a 4th faction which many are speculating will be this unknown enemy. Really looking forward to how the game will turn out!
Rise of Nations seems mostly forgotten but that was one of my favorites. Similar to Empire Earth but it just felt a bit smoother and more modern. The insane amount of options you could set up made it really replayable.
We are living the indis golden age era thanks to the rise of pc gaming and steam platform patronage.. On the other hand we are witnessing the demise of AAA games… PC golden age =RTS golden age.
The amount of RTS I enjoyed as a kid is insane, I started with WC2 when I was like 6-7 years old! I will never forget what WC3 did for me, including their custom maps.
Wow i didnt know theres rlly cool up and coming rts games from smaller devs! Thanks Andy for giving the spotlight to them and this caused me to wishlist Age of Respair.
Empire at War is kept alive thanks to its massive modding community. While developers may have moved away from the RTS genre, the players are die hard and will probably play these games until their death (I know I will). So devs realizing the massive gap in the field and coming back is a wonderful event and I have a lot of hope for the future.
When we first got our home computer back in 2005, mind you it was a big thing back then in my country, I used to sit and watch my grandfather play CnC Generals and Age of Mythology all day. It brought him a pleasure that I had never seen him experience before, and I caught the bug too. Nowadays, all I play are strategy games, but I wish they’d bring the Generals series back.
Basically, we're in the Renaissance era of the RTS genre. New indie developers are popping up and creating their RTS games with new concepts and mechanics that was never thought of during the Golden age. Im not sure if the RTS genre will return to its former glory. But we've definetely ressurected the genre thanks to these creative devs
My theory as to why RTS genre disappeared is that during the PS360 era: the publishers were consolidating their efforts to make gaming fully multiplatform. It also meant genres that were not popular on consoles got the shaft. PC only or PC as lead development platform games got much rarer. Lately, PC gaming has made a comeback, 9th gen consoles aren't doing so hot as 7th and 8th gen consoles. AAA releases have slowed down and have become too safe and practically the same genre. Perfect opportunity of mid budget games with different genres to shine.
I remember getting LOTR BFME and Rome total war, one year at christmas from my Nan, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I don’t think I left my PC for weeks afterwards.
Same of the games you mentionned have very small dedicated communities and they are usually very reluctant to change and have very strong nostalagia. That's the reason why lots of them are not switching to the new games.
More upcoming RTS games (based mostly on my Steam account wishlist): Beyond All Reason, Sanctuary: Shattered Sun and Industrial Annihilation that are new Total Annihilation-likes Global Conflagration which is a mix of CnC Generals, Etherium (from the developer of Battlefleet Gothic Armada games) and Company of Heroes Barkhan, a callback to Dune 2000 without the license troubles from the Herbert Estate Falling Frontier which is a mix of Planetary Annihilation and Sins of a Solar Empire Ratten Reich that is currently in Early Access version D.O.R.F. that is a mix of KKnD and CnC Red Alert 2 Red Chaos: The Strict Order Tempest Rising. That is all.
I recently dug up Dawn of War 2 which then reminded me of the CoH series. But one could argue that they are more tactical than strategy especially Dawn of War 2.
probably the reason the developers went with tried and tested formula, is that they want to regain their fans from their old games to which once they gain traction they can try something new. because releasing a game a decade from your last title and spinning up the formula might alienate the fans. so its kind of a high risk high reward thing and the devs are playing it safe
I always wanted a Starcraft RTS where you could click on that unit and take First Person control of that unit, even be a terran marine and you could hop in a Goliath, call in a nuke strike, pilot a wraith or walk in the command center may e watch a siege tank get built in a factory. No extra powers just a basic unit. Hell, even grab an SCV suit and go mining!
Question: can RTS games ever feel fresh while giving players what they want? You have a genre that is antiquated, and to make innovative moves in a market that isn't large is dangerously risky.
Not speaking about Men of War when talking about Company of heroes should be a crime. Btw there is Call to Arms: Ostfront which is carrying ww2 rts for me for many years. You should cover that one in one of your future videos.
I think manor lords is a strategy game first then a city builder. And as a 35 year old who has been playing star craft since I could start playing, Manor Lords is the kind of RTS I been waiting for, for decades. And I hope we get to see more of a similar level.
Old strategy games are kept alive with Amazing modding communities just look at all the great mods still being updated for Dawn Of War and Empire At War.
i think you should have talked more about Total war : warhammer 3 that game still going strong even after 2ish years (10 years if you count the other 2 games) after it's initial release and the game have still a strong player base. 30 k for a RTS game it's really good and the devs make sure to update it often and add new mechanic with each new DLC they release. and when the next DLC will release in 12nd december you can play with 100 unique different Legendary Lord* (some sort of general) and each army are completely different with each other so there no copy-paste, each army have they weakness and strong point . *as long you have the DLC for it
I am so glad RTS games are making a comeback, one that especially excites me is Sanctuary Shattered Sun, it may not release soon, but it looks awesome, I hope it lives up to Supreme Commanders legacy
Well that was a great summary at the end and I totally agree, it is similar with total war with so many playing the older historical titles because although the new ones still have "new" feature people prefer the older games as they are better balanced and tend to be more fun. Another game that was not technically rts, cities skylines 2, has usually less player than cities skylines 1 due to it being a low fps graphically improved clone of cs1 with less features (from dlc content). Hopefully with the new age system in civ 7, although many won't like it, and with towns aswell Civ7 is showing some new innovation however some of this has already been done in other similar games like humankind, etc.
If you're going to talk about innovation and indie games, you can't not mention the Spring-Recoil engine 'series' derived from Total Annihilation mods ! 2005-2013ish was the ridiculously innovative era of Spring lobbies, which connected together dozens of different Spring games (most TA-derived), the most popular being Balanced Annihilation (BA). 2013ish-2022ish was kind of a slump dominated by Zero-K (formerly Complete Annihilation (CA)), who had split off the lobby protocol, which tried to also dedicate a lot of effort to polish (and a campaign !) in addition to still some innovation. 2022ish-now is seeing BAR, the BA remaster, overshoot Zero-K in popularity, thanks notably to even more focus on polish, art quality, and optimization. But sadly the commercial RTSes seem to have almost completely ignored the innovations introduced by these games (dating back to 2005 !) For some reason, RTS players also seem to be particularly picky about graphics (and having a story), rather than gameplay, much more than in any other genre ??
I'm more of a Total War player when it comes to RTS but for the past 5 months I've been playing Crusader Kings 2 and I plan to transition into Europa Universalis 4 sometime soon. Specifically for Total War I got Medieval 2 for free through their website and initially I hated it because it was janky and I couldn't get it to full screen but once I was able to play full screen and work with the pathfinding I was playing a game that showed you mechanics that are in future titles but you wouldn't notice such as how armour and shield blocking works and the importance of keeping rebels and enemy armies out of your lands due to destruction. To your point on older games having more people play them, I notice this *a lot* with Napoleon: Total War which is my favourite title in the series. Even without the chat the multiplayer scene is still loaded in the day. Creative Assembly also updated the sound design because of a bug that would not make some sounds work. In fact, I was just checking Steam Charts and Empire has more players currently than Three Kingdoms. The latest title in my Steam library is Thrones of Britannia but I have Troy on Epic Games (free). I'll patiently wait for all three Warhammer games to be 75% off before buying.
i noticed that you didnt talk about RTS games set in the more modern era and smaller titles. Some examples we have the upcoming game broken arrow that has its 2nd open beta up and running right now and then warno. when it comes to smaller titles we have like gates of hell ostfront or ultimate admiral: dreadnoughts. also i would love to see a video around mods to empire at war.
Empire Earth was a great AoE clone that went into the nucleur age and hyped for Industrial Annihilation which has some different supply chain mechanics to it
@@LegendofNelda the archetypes of these games are, let’s say: RTS: Warcraft, Age of Empires , C&C GS: Paradox games, Total War 4X: Civilization The important thing is though that a lot of these share similarities, so a grand strategy game can be both RTS and 4X technically (EU4), for example, but it is very rare for a game labeled «RTS» as a selling point to be a grand strategy game. Grand strategy games tend to be much deeper and all-encompassing top-down games.
My first RTS game I played was warcraft 2 after that I was hocked. I am so glad they made a remake. But saddle, we will probably never get a battle for middle earth or dune 2000 or emperor battle for dune remake due to licensing issues. But EA should try to give us a command and conquer generals remake. I also think someone should buy the studio that made the empire earth games and give us a remake too.
I played all the 3 games at the beginning of the video C&C Generals Battle for Middle Earth And Empire at War (My favourite game btw. I have over 4,500 hours on it)
i always knew RTS needed to evolve into a City builder with a Functional Economy and resource gathering systems and Militairy and city population systems
I have a great huge hard on for RTS games but sadly I play on consoles n which ofc I'm very limited to what I can play. My biggest concern about this is yes why not get a pc and enjoy all these games mentioned. Well I'm a console player and sadly I'm going to stick what I know . Playing CoH3 on xbox was amazing was super excited when it came to consoles but the moment they discontinued support for consoles it's been super upset . Especially when they literally left part of the community behind. Or when EA disconnected there servers for C&C servers was also a huge blow . Just us console folk that enjoy RTS games have it harder when it comes to pc players 😢
We are "old" people, the RTS from the old days remind us our youth. 15 years ago the game were not better (age 4 has better mechanics than age 2), but I was neither working neither paying bills.
@@bnjmndrf1055 that’s correct of course, but the point stands in that AOE4 actually isn’t that different from AOE2 at its core, nor in most of its design. I just wish it had been more ambitious and dared to step outside of the boundaries it created for itself all those years ago
@AndysTake sure but Black Ops 6 is not very different from the last call of duty I played before it (which is Modern Warfare 2, the first one long time ago). For age 4 the main issue where the broken siege balance at launch, so lot of people stop playing the game and never come back. The fact that in standard game (the ranked type game) you can win by holding sacred points, or destroying enemy landmark, or holding a wonder correct a big design flow of age2. Same with the ability to trade with Gaia market reinvented the endgame issues. The main reason why age 2 DE is more popular is nostalgia, another one an esport scene highly motivated (the star from age 2 like Hera, Daut, Viper went back to age 2 because after the first tournament the top age 4 player where mainly StarCraft 2 players) with no interest to move to a newer game (more risk, and less money), and higher cashprize (funny stuff the highest cash price are mainly due to Microsoft sponsorship)
@@AndysTakewould say the biggest thing in age 2 to 4 is civilization options. Age 4 all cake up but lack options compared to the two. There also the UI when it comes to AI. 2 had generated names for the AI. 4 it "Civ". Combat in 4 also runs faster than 2. More time spamming than thinking.
Command & Conquer didn't die out, EA killed it by strangling every aspect of it and throwing it into the trash when their suit morons decided "Hey man, this is doing good money, but we could do shittier different games and make EVEN MORE MONEY".
A "lack of creativity and innovation" is often touted by the big studios/companies as the reason why they stopped making RTS games in the first place I believe. The genre was never quite as big and mainstream as the rapidly growing FPS genre, and fundamentally had more restrictions in what could be done before it stepped outside of "being an RTS game", so the big players just gave up trying because trying to make an RTS that felt fresh and new was too hard for them. It didn't help that a lot of the studios that made some of the most iconic RTS series (ie Westwood Studios) were quickly bought up by the likes of EA, pulled apart, and totally discarded in the early 2000s, scattering the best people behind the genre on the development side of things to lord knows where. I'm so glad to see the genre gain a revitalization lately, though I fully expect the reasons for the popularity of these games will totally go over the heads of the bigger studios and companies. Age of Empires 4 is a huge example of this, with them low-key stepping on the legacy of the franchise and the original creators intended direction for the franchise (which would have seen AoE 4 be set a lot closer and moving into modern day) by just trying to pull a "we made AoE2 again, but better" while failing to even keep the better aspects, and general improvements, of AoE3 (not having a 5 stack of units complete as one in a NEW AoE game is sad). Age of Mythology Retold is thankfully fantastic as a remake that they have already given fresh life to with the Arena of the Gods mode, plus the inclusion of a new Major God (with promise of more, plus a new pantheon beyond the Chinese one). Sanctuary Shattered Sun is looking to be a magnificent spiritual successor to Supreme Commander, while Beyond All Reason is already a fantastic successor to the original Total Annihilation game. All I can hope for now is some more new and interesting titles to keep popping up, and maybe even an announcement of a C&C Red Alert 2 and/or Tiberium Sun remake(s).
Ironically Empire at War is growing due to petroglyphs support of the modding community and teams of dedicated modders. No matter what your playstyle there is a mod for you. It does make me wish for a new engine or innovative gameplay loop though, there is a limit to what modders can achieve with single core processing and the jank it creates fan be jarring sometimes
the reason the older games are liked better is they have more thought out units and are not all just reskins of others of the same type and work to counter one or two of the other units of the game and the story lines are not all just cookie cutter filling things thrown in to sell the game as a new one in the series. look at age 3 as an example the entire single player campaign was about the same family over many yrs and their struggles newer ones dont feel as thought out
Empire at War still getting the attention it deserves makes me happy. What a stellar game. There's a really active and impressive modding community too! Check out the EaWX mods (Thrawn's Revenge and Fall of the Republic). They're particularly good!
On another note... how did we make it through the first minute with no mention of StarCraft, arguably the GOAT of competitive golden-age RTS.
And Awakening the Rebellion!
Empire at War is a very old game, but shockingly enough the devs recently gave the game an update that significantly improves performance allowing modded campaigns to run smoothly, which is nuts since the game hasn't gotten an update in over a decade.
It gets small updates every year.
Empire at war would be one of the best modded rts but devs lost the source codes . But still them trying their best to improve is really nice
@@TheBoneKing What?! They lost it?
@@TheBoneKing This is not true, they didn't lose it. They 1: Just aren't allowed to share it. 2: Their support for EaW is mainly coming from their love, or at least respect, of the modding community it has, so it's something they work on in their time in between projects.
Improves performance huh since the update and I tried playing again it's unplayable for me 100x worse than before
I desperately want a remaster of the battle for middle earth series
you and me both
I think there is an independent group working on that, dont let the name scare you but I think its Battle For Middle-Earth: Reforged
@@PNarbz123 lmao about the name. But sadly I think it’s abandoned? Haven’t been any updates in like forever
I downloaded a version of the game from some page online, but the game speed is tied to the frame rate so the units are very fast and things die extremely quickly. There’s a way to change the files with OS Big editor to lower the frame rate but I’m not sure how to do it.
Age of the ring mod for BFME2:Rotwk brings lots of new stuff, highly recommend
When AoE3 came out in 2005, my mind was blown. It has the best artillery in any Age game, period. It has the most flavour, depth, customizability, immersion, and personality. It quickly became everything I ever wanted out of an RTS, and that holds true to this day. You can tell ES poured their heart out making the game. It isn't without flaws, and DE has fixed some of them, but man, is it a joy to play. Sad it doesn't get the respect it deserves.
@@DuVtrell agreed, those visuals were mind blowing too!
Yep little kid me was blown away, was the first AoE for me, really only played Warcraft III and StarCraft before that. Also Empire at War.
I remember the cannons vividly, as the ragdolls were funny AF. I remember a couple times where physics were kinda fked and some bodies were sent flying across the map. Even did some mapmaking.
Some people didn't like the shipments thing, but I did. It helped you to invest more into a certain nation, and some even allowed for unique ways to play. ..... Or you just get factories and pump out heavy cannons lol.
It got overshadowed by AOE2, which is one of the greatest.
When it was released, it was too good for its time and brought average grade gaming PCs to their knees that people avoid playing water maps. I remember the demo almost killed my laptop in sea battle. Today I have to say out of the remasters, AoE 3 is the one that got the most orphaned treatment. They only add new civs for basic inclusivity sake but not much else. Unlike 2 which got that plus they kept upgrading the old content to balance the new additions. I wish they actually pay more attention to 3 just like they do with 2 and 4.
When I compare Age 3 vs Age 4 , I laugh 🤣🤣😂😂.Age 3 to this day , is so advanced with graphics and physics
Kinda weird seeing you talk about Empire at War, I’m a developer of the Awakening of the Rebellion mod and the coming Awakening of the Clone Wars mod
I just came over from XPGamer's while playing Awakening. You all did an awesome job on it. Looking forward to the Clone Wars mod!
you have no idea how excited I am to play a clone wars mod dipped in the Aotr style
Any dates or maybe month of the mod coming ?
Dude I'm so excited for Awakening of the Clone Wars, I can't wait man
@@maciekszymanski1078they mentioned somewhere in a comment section there’s a strong likelihood it could be done before the end of the year so like end of December maybe or right before Christmas
I honestly never imagined Sins of a Solar Empire would ever get a sequel, and for those who remember that the Vasari faction were running from a really powerful unknown enemy, they're even planning to add a 4th faction which many are speculating will be this unknown enemy. Really looking forward to how the game will turn out!
Rise of Nations seems mostly forgotten but that was one of my favorites. Similar to Empire Earth but it just felt a bit smoother and more modern. The insane amount of options you could set up made it really replayable.
Mad that never got a sequel awesome game
@@w92viking64 Check out Rise of Legends. Kind of a sequel.
Still on my top 3 rts. Wish they made a remake or a sequel.
A message from Saladin :
I can't believe the Stronghold series didn't mentioned in video...
EVEN ONECE...
Who? What?
Warcraft 3 and Dawn Of War blew my mind as a kid.
RIP Westwood Studios, I lived right down the street from their headquarters in Las Vegas, was so sad when they were bought by EA.
We are living the indis golden age era thanks to the rise of pc gaming and steam platform patronage.. On the other hand we are witnessing the demise of AAA games… PC golden age =RTS golden age.
I miss it :(
I always thought the RTS died because it couldn't be played on a console.
The amount of RTS I enjoyed as a kid is insane, I started with WC2 when I was like 6-7 years old! I will never forget what WC3 did for me, including their custom maps.
it was such a vibe, dude
Garena times were sick
Wow i didnt know theres rlly cool up and coming rts games from smaller devs! Thanks Andy for giving the spotlight to them and this caused me to wishlist Age of Respair.
@@Exter33 my pleasure!
There is also the fact that the 'Empire at War' Modding scene basically puts out finished games as mods.
When you showed C&C:Generals, I suddenly got so hyped of the nostalgia xD
Well, try some mods like ROTR and Contra, trust me , the game is still alive today
GLA postal service
@@dickysatria7268 May I have some shoes
Empire at War is kept alive thanks to its massive modding community. While developers may have moved away from the RTS genre, the players are die hard and will probably play these games until their death (I know I will). So devs realizing the massive gap in the field and coming back is a wonderful event and I have a lot of hope for the future.
When we first got our home computer back in 2005, mind you it was a big thing back then in my country, I used to sit and watch my grandfather play CnC Generals and Age of Mythology all day. It brought him a pleasure that I had never seen him experience before, and I caught the bug too. Nowadays, all I play are strategy games, but I wish they’d bring the Generals series back.
Basically, we're in the Renaissance era of the RTS genre. New indie developers are popping up and creating their RTS games with new concepts and mechanics that was never thought of during the Golden age.
Im not sure if the RTS genre will return to its former glory. But we've definetely ressurected the genre thanks to these creative devs
My theory as to why RTS genre disappeared is that during the PS360 era: the publishers were consolidating their efforts to make gaming fully multiplatform. It also meant genres that were not popular on consoles got the shaft. PC only or PC as lead development platform games got much rarer.
Lately, PC gaming has made a comeback, 9th gen consoles aren't doing so hot as 7th and 8th gen consoles. AAA releases have slowed down and have become too safe and practically the same genre. Perfect opportunity of mid budget games with different genres to shine.
My all time favs are Rise of Nations and HoI 2
Opening with a shot of BFME was a class act ❤
We need Battle For Middle Earth 3 !
@@meftov2762 seconded!
I prefer total war middle earth
Oh god yes!!!!
Born in 99, this was my childhood right here.
You missed EVERGLORY in your list of upcoming RTS games.
I remember getting LOTR BFME and Rome total war, one year at christmas from my Nan, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I don’t think I left my PC for weeks afterwards.
Starship troopers Terran Command is awesome, and with multiple expansions and ongoing development, it’s in great hands
agreed, love the game!
Imagine if they'd made a Command and Conquer 4. That could have been really cool
Same of the games you mentionned have very small dedicated communities and they are usually very reluctant to change and have very strong nostalagia. That's the reason why lots of them are not switching to the new games.
More upcoming RTS games (based mostly on my Steam account wishlist):
Beyond All Reason, Sanctuary: Shattered Sun and Industrial Annihilation that are new Total Annihilation-likes
Global Conflagration which is a mix of CnC Generals, Etherium (from the developer of Battlefleet Gothic Armada games) and Company of Heroes
Barkhan, a callback to Dune 2000 without the license troubles from the Herbert Estate
Falling Frontier which is a mix of Planetary Annihilation and Sins of a Solar Empire
Ratten Reich that is currently in Early Access version
D.O.R.F. that is a mix of KKnD and CnC Red Alert 2
Red Chaos: The Strict Order
Tempest Rising. That is all.
I recently dug up Dawn of War 2 which then reminded me of the CoH series. But one could argue that they are more tactical than strategy especially Dawn of War 2.
probably the reason the developers went with tried and tested formula, is that they want to regain their fans from their old games to which once they gain traction they can try something new. because releasing a game a decade from your last title and spinning up the formula might alienate the fans. so its kind of a high risk high reward thing and the devs are playing it safe
There is no essemble studios anymore, with the exception of aoe4 (relic entertainment), the "age of" franchise is handled by forgotten Empires.
I always wanted a Starcraft RTS where you could click on that unit and take First Person control of that unit, even be a terran marine and you could hop in a Goliath, call in a nuke strike, pilot a wraith or walk in the command center may e watch a siege tank get built in a factory. No extra powers just a basic unit. Hell, even grab an SCV suit and go mining!
Question: can RTS games ever feel fresh while giving players what they want?
You have a genre that is antiquated, and to make innovative moves in a market that isn't large is dangerously risky.
Not speaking about Men of War when talking about Company of heroes should be a crime. Btw there is Call to Arms: Ostfront which is carrying ww2 rts for me for many years. You should cover that one in one of your future videos.
Ostfront is great
The one incredible thing about the RTS space, is that no great RTS is allowed to die.
Modders always find ways to keep it eternally fresh!
I love Empire at War. It never gets old either with the abundance of mods still being updated
Neat video, Andy!
@@freelancershogun thank you!
I think manor lords is a strategy game first then a city builder. And as a 35 year old who has been playing star craft since I could start playing, Manor Lords is the kind of RTS I been waiting for, for decades. And I hope we get to see more of a similar level.
Old strategy games are kept alive with Amazing modding communities just look at all the great mods still being updated for Dawn Of War and Empire At War.
i think you should have talked more about Total war : warhammer 3 that game still going strong even after 2ish years (10 years if you count the other 2 games) after it's initial release and the game have still a strong player base. 30 k for a RTS game it's really good and the devs make sure to update it often and add new mechanic with each new DLC they release.
and when the next DLC will release in 12nd december you can play with 100 unique different Legendary Lord* (some sort of general) and each army are completely different with each other so there no copy-paste, each army have they weakness and strong point .
*as long you have the DLC for it
Only rts games I played recently is total war warhammer 3 and empire at war mod awakening of the rebellion
I am so glad RTS games are making a comeback, one that especially excites me is Sanctuary Shattered Sun, it may not release soon, but it looks awesome, I hope it lives up to Supreme Commanders legacy
I grew up playing lords of the realm 2, Warcraft 2 and Empire Earth. Recently ive played manor lords.
Well that was a great summary at the end and I totally agree, it is similar with total war with so many playing the older historical titles because although the new ones still have "new" feature people prefer the older games as they are better balanced and tend to be more fun. Another game that was not technically rts, cities skylines 2, has usually less player than cities skylines 1 due to it being a low fps graphically improved clone of cs1 with less features (from dlc content). Hopefully with the new age system in civ 7, although many won't like it, and with towns aswell Civ7 is showing some new innovation however some of this has already been done in other similar games like humankind, etc.
My addiction to RTS back in the Red Alert 2 days. its been a while
Last RTS I played was Stronghold Crusader HD and Empire Earth (original)
If you're going to talk about innovation and indie games, you can't not mention the Spring-Recoil engine 'series' derived from Total Annihilation mods !
2005-2013ish was the ridiculously innovative era of Spring lobbies, which connected together dozens of different Spring games (most TA-derived), the most popular being Balanced Annihilation (BA).
2013ish-2022ish was kind of a slump dominated by Zero-K (formerly Complete Annihilation (CA)), who had split off the lobby protocol, which tried to also dedicate a lot of effort to polish (and a campaign !) in addition to still some innovation.
2022ish-now is seeing BAR, the BA remaster, overshoot Zero-K in popularity, thanks notably to even more focus on polish, art quality, and optimization.
But sadly the commercial RTSes seem to have almost completely ignored the innovations introduced by these games (dating back to 2005 !)
For some reason, RTS players also seem to be particularly picky about graphics (and having a story), rather than gameplay, much more than in any other genre ??
I'm more of a Total War player when it comes to RTS but for the past 5 months I've been playing Crusader Kings 2 and I plan to transition into Europa Universalis 4 sometime soon. Specifically for Total War I got Medieval 2 for free through their website and initially I hated it because it was janky and I couldn't get it to full screen but once I was able to play full screen and work with the pathfinding I was playing a game that showed you mechanics that are in future titles but you wouldn't notice such as how armour and shield blocking works and the importance of keeping rebels and enemy armies out of your lands due to destruction.
To your point on older games having more people play them, I notice this *a lot* with Napoleon: Total War which is my favourite title in the series. Even without the chat the multiplayer scene is still loaded in the day. Creative Assembly also updated the sound design because of a bug that would not make some sounds work. In fact, I was just checking Steam Charts and Empire has more players currently than Three Kingdoms. The latest title in my Steam library is Thrones of Britannia but I have Troy on Epic Games (free). I'll patiently wait for all three Warhammer games to be 75% off before buying.
I also wish for the Ground Control series to return. The second game ended with a cliffhanger. It deserves a sequel.
A buddy and I just bought Line War. Good times. Multiplayer is so important to the Genre IMO. For old unsettled rivalries and to find new ones. Ha
i noticed that you didnt talk about RTS games set in the more modern era and smaller titles. Some examples we have the upcoming game broken arrow that has its 2nd open beta up and running right now and then warno. when it comes to smaller titles we have like gates of hell ostfront or ultimate admiral: dreadnoughts.
also i would love to see a video around mods to empire at war.
Been playing Warcraft 1 remastered. Still waiting for a C and C type of game with FMVs
Please cover smaller and upcoming RTS games, like DORF as an example. Dorf rts will have both classic features and new ones.
Man I miss mud and blood 2
Talks about generals but shows the better RA2. Love it
Shoutout to Stronghold that scratched that itch for economy management castle management
Empire Earth was a great AoE clone that went into the nucleur age and hyped for Industrial Annihilation which has some different supply chain mechanics to it
Age of Mythology Retold is so beautiful
Command and conquer lord off the rings battle off middle earth my all time fav games we need these back 💯💯
Lego RTS. I love them.
Whats the difference between RTS, Grand Strategy and 4x?
@@LegendofNelda the archetypes of these games are, let’s say:
RTS: Warcraft, Age of Empires , C&C
GS: Paradox games, Total War
4X: Civilization
The important thing is though that a lot of these share similarities, so a grand strategy game can be both RTS and 4X technically (EU4), for example, but it is very rare for a game labeled «RTS» as a selling point to be a grand strategy game. Grand strategy games tend to be much deeper and all-encompassing top-down games.
My first RTS game I played was warcraft 2 after that I was hocked. I am so glad they made a remake. But saddle, we will probably never get a battle for middle earth or dune 2000 or emperor battle for dune remake due to licensing issues. But EA should try to give us a command and conquer generals remake. I also think someone should buy the studio that made the empire earth games and give us a remake too.
I need a new battle for middle earth so bad, man... a c&c generals remake or just sequel would be awesome too
I believe EA Games played a key role in the demise of the RTS genre.
Make RTS great again!!
I played all the 3 games at the beginning of the video
C&C Generals
Battle for Middle Earth
And Empire at War (My favourite game btw. I have over 4,500 hours on it)
You might want to check out Battle Realms. Came out in the peak of RTS, very similar to WC3 but samurai themed.
i always knew RTS needed to evolve into a City builder with a Functional Economy and resource gathering systems
and Militairy and city population systems
AoE2, RA2, EE1, RoN and Generals ZH, RTS flows in my veins
Here early for a video, especially if it means the rebirth of RTS.
@@legionofrome2967 appreciate it :)
I have a great huge hard on for RTS games but sadly I play on consoles n which ofc I'm very limited to what I can play. My biggest concern about this is yes why not get a pc and enjoy all these games mentioned. Well I'm a console player and sadly I'm going to stick what I know . Playing CoH3 on xbox was amazing was super excited when it came to consoles but the moment they discontinued support for consoles it's been super upset . Especially when they literally left part of the community behind. Or when EA disconnected there servers for C&C servers was also a huge blow . Just us console folk that enjoy RTS games have it harder when it comes to pc players 😢
I've been having alot of fun playing WARNO
No mention of Beyond All Reason?
We are "old" people, the RTS from the old days remind us our youth. 15 years ago the game were not better (age 4 has better mechanics than age 2), but I was neither working neither paying bills.
@@bnjmndrf1055 that’s correct of course, but the point stands in that AOE4 actually isn’t that different from AOE2 at its core, nor in most of its design. I just wish it had been more ambitious and dared to step outside of the boundaries it created for itself all those years ago
@AndysTake sure but Black Ops 6 is not very different from the last call of duty I played before it (which is Modern Warfare 2, the first one long time ago). For age 4 the main issue where the broken siege balance at launch, so lot of people stop playing the game and never come back. The fact that in standard game (the ranked type game) you can win by holding sacred points, or destroying enemy landmark, or holding a wonder correct a big design flow of age2. Same with the ability to trade with Gaia market reinvented the endgame issues. The main reason why age 2 DE is more popular is nostalgia, another one an esport scene highly motivated (the star from age 2 like Hera, Daut, Viper went back to age 2 because after the first tournament the top age 4 player where mainly StarCraft 2 players) with no interest to move to a newer game (more risk, and less money), and higher cashprize (funny stuff the highest cash price are mainly due to Microsoft sponsorship)
@@AndysTakewould say the biggest thing in age 2 to 4 is civilization options. Age 4 all cake up but lack options compared to the two. There also the UI when it comes to AI. 2 had generated names for the AI. 4 it "Civ". Combat in 4 also runs faster than 2. More time spamming than thinking.
Supreme commander Forged Alliance is still very fun to play.
Try Beyond All Reason
Keeping an eye on Tempest Rising myself. At the current moment really enjoying the Empire at War mods though.
true, Tempest Rising is interesting!
Command & Conquer didn't die out, EA killed it by strangling every aspect of it and throwing it into the trash when their suit morons decided "Hey man, this is doing good money, but we could do shittier different games and make EVEN MORE MONEY".
Their mistake was chasing the CoH audience and going after ESports with C&C 4 instead of making another C&C.
I wouldn't say its back perse, but it does seem like it's slowly clawing its way out of the grave like a resurrected zombie.
it's something :)
if petroglyph doesnt make c@c tiberium sun remaster and red alert 2 remaster i will be so sad
The CK3 music in the background hell ya
C&C, Warhammer 40k, AoE, Supreme Commander, Company of Heroes and my favorite of all time: Rise of Nations.
EaW didn't really die, we got the sequel on from of EaW Expanded, Remade, AoTR, and all the other mods.
Really miss Empire Earth. I think a Civ+RTS today could be great.
Broken Arrow will be a game changer I have been testing the beta and there is nothing like it
Best RTS in 3 words ,
Forged Alliance Forever
Beyond all reason
StarCraft 64, i mowed alot of lawns for that game! Still got it too!
Last train home and Iron harvest slap
The reason I started playing Xbox at 6 years old was for RTS games let a lot off people down 💯
Thanks I didn't know about lines wars. Always nice to discovering new thinks! Did you know about Sanctuary the claim successor of supreme commander?
@@skoub3466 I have not, thanks for letting me know!
First game i remember playing is AoE II on my fathers computer up in the attic 🔥
Talking about C&C:Generals... shows C&C:Red Alert into clips XD
I still play Dawn of War, Empire Earth, C&C:RA & stronghold 1
A "lack of creativity and innovation" is often touted by the big studios/companies as the reason why they stopped making RTS games in the first place I believe. The genre was never quite as big and mainstream as the rapidly growing FPS genre, and fundamentally had more restrictions in what could be done before it stepped outside of "being an RTS game", so the big players just gave up trying because trying to make an RTS that felt fresh and new was too hard for them. It didn't help that a lot of the studios that made some of the most iconic RTS series (ie Westwood Studios) were quickly bought up by the likes of EA, pulled apart, and totally discarded in the early 2000s, scattering the best people behind the genre on the development side of things to lord knows where.
I'm so glad to see the genre gain a revitalization lately, though I fully expect the reasons for the popularity of these games will totally go over the heads of the bigger studios and companies. Age of Empires 4 is a huge example of this, with them low-key stepping on the legacy of the franchise and the original creators intended direction for the franchise (which would have seen AoE 4 be set a lot closer and moving into modern day) by just trying to pull a "we made AoE2 again, but better" while failing to even keep the better aspects, and general improvements, of AoE3 (not having a 5 stack of units complete as one in a NEW AoE game is sad).
Age of Mythology Retold is thankfully fantastic as a remake that they have already given fresh life to with the Arena of the Gods mode, plus the inclusion of a new Major God (with promise of more, plus a new pantheon beyond the Chinese one). Sanctuary Shattered Sun is looking to be a magnificent spiritual successor to Supreme Commander, while Beyond All Reason is already a fantastic successor to the original Total Annihilation game. All I can hope for now is some more new and interesting titles to keep popping up, and maybe even an announcement of a C&C Red Alert 2 and/or Tiberium Sun remake(s).
4:31 what is the name of the game? I can't hear
Ironically Empire at War is growing due to petroglyphs support of the modding community and teams of dedicated modders. No matter what your playstyle there is a mod for you. It does make me wish for a new engine or innovative gameplay loop though, there is a limit to what modders can achieve with single core processing and the jank it creates fan be jarring sometimes
Rise of the Reds for C&C Generals Zero Hour is fire.
you didn't even mention Iron harvest. that game is peak.
I dream every year that we will finally get a sequel or remake of Empire at War and every year I am let down.
@@Kebron999 same 😭
the reason the older games are liked better is they have more thought out units and are not all just reskins of others of the same type and work to counter one or two of the other units of the game and the story lines are not all just cookie cutter filling things thrown in to sell the game as a new one in the series. look at age 3 as an example the entire single player campaign was about the same family over many yrs and their struggles newer ones dont feel as thought out
Hey, can someone tell me the background music was from which game? I know this song but can't remember where it's from😅
Checkout Darfall, it's strategy with heavy RPG hero mechanics 😉
What was the game shown at the very beginning???