"Hi, guys. Louis Pasteur here - the microbial fermentation dude! Do you remember when real-time strategy games were massive?
"I can't say I do - I mean, I died in 1895. However, I'm reliably informed that RTS games are still around, though the days when an RTS would be considered a major, triple-A, blockbuster release are long gone. You know: like rabies and anthrax are long gone, following my invention of the vaccines and stuff.
"I mean, I don't want to blow my own trumpet. I just worry that all my great work has been forgotten. Has it been forgotten? Please let me know in the comments. I hope I don't sound too needy!!!!
"Anyway. Look: here's a quick history of the evolution of this most point-and-clicky of genres. Remember to leave me a message in the comments, guys. Thanks, guys."
"I can't say I do - I mean, I died in 1895. However, I'm reliably informed that RTS games are still around, though the days when an RTS would be considered a major, triple-A, blockbuster release are long gone. You know: like rabies and anthrax are long gone, following my invention of the vaccines and stuff.
"I mean, I don't want to blow my own trumpet. I just worry that all my great work has been forgotten. Has it been forgotten? Please let me know in the comments. I hope I don't sound too needy!!!!
"Anyway. Look: here's a quick history of the evolution of this most point-and-clicky of genres. Remember to leave me a message in the comments, guys. Thanks, guys."
UTOPIA
Don Daglow's Utopia was the point of origin for the real-time strategy genre - but also introduced elements which would be built upon in games such as Populous and Sim City.
A two-player game for Mattel's Intellivision, released in 1981, it saw the players controlling a cursor to populate their islands with buildings, feed their citizens, and fund attacks on their neighbouring island. Oddly, fishing was a big part of the game; both when it came to finding food to shove into hungry mouths, and trying to sink the opposing player's boat.
A two-player game for Mattel's Intellivision, released in 1981, it saw the players controlling a cursor to populate their islands with buildings, feed their citizens, and fund attacks on their neighbouring island. Oddly, fishing was a big part of the game; both when it came to finding food to shove into hungry mouths, and trying to sink the opposing player's boat.
"Sorry to interrupt already. It's just that I've been told that saying 'guys' can be construed as sexist these days, and is considered an act of micro aggression against ladies. What can I say? I died in 1895! I'm not up to speed with what is and isn't considered acceptable language in the modern age. When I said 'guys' I meant absolutely everyone, regardless of whether they have a fanny or a sausage."
CYTRON MASTERS
Released for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II in 1982, Cytron Masters introduced the notion of the resource building which became a staple of the RTS genre. These resources could be spent on building robot soldiers, which could be used to attack and defend the enemy. Played on a simplified, chess-like, grid. it wouldn't win any beauty contests, but it was in every sense a real-time strategy game.
STONKERS
Published by Imagine for the ZX Spectrum in 1983, Stonkers was riddled with bugs and prone to crashing. Less about managing resources, and more about sending troops into battle, it also introduced the notion of specialist units.
"Right. Apparently, I shouldn't say ladies either, and mentioning fannies and sausages (it's just a fun term I use for my willy) also puts me on slightly dodgy, vaguely threatening, territory. Obviously, I meant females, and vaginas and penises. I really hope none of this in any way sullies my legacy! I did really good work back in the day. I'm one of the founders of bacteriology dontchaknow?!"
THE ANCIENT ART OF WAR
Originally released for the Apple II and MS-DOS systems, The Ancient Art of War didn't much resemble the games it influenced, at least on a visual level, but its rock-paper-scissors-ish gameplay, and a variety of mission types and locations, added a new smear of variety to the slowly blossoming genre.
BOKOSUKA WARS
Released on a number of systems - including the NES - Bokosuka Wars wasn't terribly well received at the time, and is best remembered for its game over screen, which displayed the epithet "WOW! YOU LOSE!". The setting, such as it was, took place in an enchanted forest. Your troops had been magically transformed into rocks and trees; moving your army over said rocks and trees would recover your transformed troops, and add them to your ranks.
"Great. This is going so well (sarcasm). Now I'm getting stick for mentioning the proper names for genitals. I only ever used those slang terms as a bit of fun. I mean, we've all got something down there haven't we? Apart from eunuchs. I bet I can't even mention eunuchs. Well, too late now. I hope you can overlook all this and remember me for my pioneering work in spontaneous generation."
HERZOG
Released by Technosoft in 1988 for the MSX centred around a battle between the curiously-named countries of Mercies and Ruth (yes: Ruth). It offered many of the hallmarks of the genre - juggling funding, building units and bases, but has been mostly overshadowed by...
HERZOG ZWEI
An early release for Sega's Mega Drive, Herzog Zwei is considered by many to be the first proper real-time strategy game. However, unlike later entries in this list, players took direct control over their units, adding an element of shoot 'em up to the gameplay. Oddly, it wasn't a huge success, despite being generally pretty great - and a direct influence on the games which followed it.
"Look, I'm not sexist okay? I admit I'm not perfect - I know I sometimes took credit for other people's work, and practiced without a medical license, but c'mon. Aside from that, I was a real pioneer - and my research benefitted all of mankind!"
DUNE II
Inspired by Herzog Zwei, Dune II was not - as the name suggests - a direct sequel to Virgin's Dune RPG - based upon the books by "Frank" Herbert's epic book series. Indeed, it only received the "II" after said RPG was rescued from cancellation and released first. All the elements of the RTS were here - including the famous Fog of War effect - and developer Westwood Games would, of course, go on to become the masters of the genre
WARCRAFT: ORCS & HUMANS
Blizzard's Warcraf franchise has done alright for itself, and it all began here - with Orcs & Humans. It was developed after Blizzard became surprised that nobody else had released an RTS game in the wake of Dune II. Sliding into that cranny, it became the company's biggest success to date. That wasn't to last, of course.
"Mankind = sexist. Sorry again, guys. NO! Not guys - girls - females - and guys (men). And eunuchs (people without sausages)."
COMMAND & CONQUER
Building upon everything that it had learned from Dune II, Westwood's Command & Conquer was the point at which the real-time strategy game became a real massive thing.
Its apocalyptic sci-fi setting, and perfectly balanced level of challenge, would spawn a franchise which would continue for more than a decade. Unfortunately, Westwood and C&C would later be purchased by Electronic Arts who - faced with changing consumer tastes - continue to not have a clue what to do with it.
Its apocalyptic sci-fi setting, and perfectly balanced level of challenge, would spawn a franchise which would continue for more than a decade. Unfortunately, Westwood and C&C would later be purchased by Electronic Arts who - faced with changing consumer tastes - continue to not have a clue what to do with it.
"Well... I guess I hope you enjoyed this run through the history of real-time strategy games. Fingers crossed it hasn't sullied your impression of me too much. What can I say? I think we all learned some lessons today. I'm going back to being dead now, and I'll be having a long, hard think about things. And no - when I say 'long' and 'hard' I'm not talking about my cock FFS."
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