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16 Apr 04
It's Friday highlights time again. I'm sure that's the only reason you were looking forward to Friday. If you need a safe and sane way to celebrate this weekend, you can always register as a member of the site. Upside, it's free and easy. Downside, you can only do it for the first time once. Head on over to the news or forum and get your own user name.
Today our highlight game is Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2. I've mentioned this game before because it's such a fun game. So let's look at it's highlights. The most important thing you can say about Red Alert 2 is that it is fun throughout. It has a fun, lighthearted feel that approaches everything with a tongue-in-cheek seriousness that just makes you smile.
The game is set in an alternate reality, but it's an Airplane or Monty Python reality. It's filled with over the top characters, strange advanced retro technology, and bizarre units. Is any military out there seriously researching the combat potential of giant squid? The cheesy full motion video just adds to the humor. Everyone is a caricature, but they never let on. The Yuri's revenge expansion just added to this by giving the mind controlling Russian his own wacky units including clones of himself. Of course, whenever you move one of them, they helpfully point out that they "knew you were going to do that." Red Alert 2 could have been done in a straight and serious manner, but it wouldn't have been half the game it is.
While I can't overemphasize the fun fact, we must move on. Like any good RTS, it's a well balanced game. With the expansion, there are three sides. While they play differently, each is quite capable of winning. There are steady improvements for moving up the tech tree. Even low tech units can still be useful especially with the unit experience system. Veteran and Elite units can be worth their weight in gold, but you must use them carefully since they can still be run over by a tank. There are superweapons in the game, but they can be disabled if you don't want them. They also show up on everyone's map and each player can see the countdown to stop you from unleashing your weapon. Units have counters and even the basics such as building walls around vulnerable buildings shouldn't be overlooked. Then in multiplayer each great side is made up of countries that each have their own special unit or building or power.
The game also challenges you with new ways to play. There's a cooperative campaign you can play through online. There's a useful alliance system that helps players work together. When they do there are some interesting team combinations of units that are much more powerful than just the units separately. There are hero units that have special abilities that can sometimes even turn the tide of battles. Even regular units sometimes have multiple abilities that can be used on the battlefield. There's the ever popular crazy Ivan cow bomb.
I know some people stayed away from Westwood games or Blizzard games out of a sense of loyalty, but I really think you should play them all. I'm pretty confident that each of the teams played their opponent's work and it made each generation better. You can find Red Alert 2 in several compilation packs as well as the Red Strike pack that can be had for cheap. If you've never experienced the insanity, please do yourself a favor and check in with Dr. Einstein, go back in time and play this game. Did I mention that even the game installer is chock full of tongue in cheek fun?
Today's game is another massively multiplayer RTS. I have a weakness for reading about these, but thus far I haven't given in and signed up for one. Probably because I know I'm merely a mediocre RTS player and rarely stick to a game long enough to make a monthly fee worthwhile. Anyway, here it is. It's Time of Defiance (official site) from Nicely Crafted. There's a demo out there on the site if you want to try it out. Briefly, the online only game has players fighting for control of islands over a 4000^2 kilometer play area. There's sequential gameplay with each game lasting up to four weeks. Servers are segregated by experience level so you don't have to face the masters straight away. It's scheduled for full release this spring.
Jason
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15 Apr 04
Happy tax day to all of our US readers. If you haven't filed yet, you should probably send in your extension form now. Most major metropolitan areas have some post offices open until midnight for procrastinators.
Since I spent last week going over how games are becoming an art form, I thought I'd briefly point out some contrary point. I still like the comparison to the movies. While a movie can be a work of art, there is a business process that goes along with it. Producers can work with directors to come up with shooting schedules and budgets. Some directors are famous for being late and over budget, but most movies have to stick to the budget if the director wants to finish.
There are lots of technical details that go into making a film. From lighting to sound to costumes to cameras, there are lots of things that need to be pulled together. Yet only the creative aspects are the ones to receive praise and awards. Even the 'technical' awards go to creative uses of technology not mere competence.
Games are the same. While there is a creative endeavor going on, there are many concrete technical details that can be scheduled, tracked and evaluated using standards and practices from years of business software development. Some developers still cry that their work is an artistic expression that shouldn't be limited with schedules and rigid software development practices. That's just nonsense. Publishers are investing money to produce a product. At a minimum they deserve professionalism.
Software development is no longer a new field. Even research (which should probably be separated from actual game development) can be compared to previous research to give a direction and an estimate of time and expenses. Milestones are not nebulous things floating out there. They must be concrete points where progress is evaluated and corrections made. That's where the publisher needs to be convinced again that this is a good use of their money.
Gamers often complain when interesting looking games are cancelled. Sometimes interesting ideas don't lead to playable games. Maybe the team and idea don't mix. Maybe the idea and the engine don't mix. I think gamers win when publishers are willing to take chances on developing an idea, but are firm when an idea isn't working out. Developers often put so much of themselves in their work, sometimes they can't look at it objectively.
So what's my point? Well, that games are an art form that exist inside a business. It's only when both sides accept each other and work together that great games are made. Remember that when you see 'Big Mindless Game XII' that it might be funding the next great idea.
Well, I'm starting to run out of WWII games, but here's one more. It's Strategic Command 2: Blitzkrieg (official site) from Battlefront.com. This is a turn based game that puts you in command of the grand strategy of one of 28 countries. There are six new campaigns covering 1939 to the end of the war. Hotseat, email and net play will all be supported for up to six players. Plan your strategies for the end of the year.
Jason
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14 Apr 04
First off, I'd like to thank everyone who stops by on a regular basis. Those numbers are slowly but steadily going up. Don't forget to tell a friend about the site. Also, I'd like to point out that while I try to keep the news site up to date, I do miss things. If you see something I missed, you can either email me or just use the submit news link on the news section of the site. Articles are subject to minor editing but only for clarity. I'd also like to point out the mini reviews section. If you go there you can add impressions or a mini review of any strategic or tactical game you're playing. Again you do have to register to do these things, but it's free. Plus you can say how cool you are because you were a founding member of the site.
I had wanted to do a brief contest around E3 time, but right now our revenues aren't enough to support that. I'm sure you noticed the collection of affiliate links around here. Well, with pretty much all of them (except Google), people not only have to click on the link, but buy something for us to see anything here. Now I don't want anyone going out there and buying something they don't want through the links just to support the site and I'm not looking for donations. However, if you normally use any of those companies, please consider using the links. It doesn't cost you any more, but it does help here. If there are any other types of stores you'd like to see, please let me know.
I wanted to talk briefly about supporting developers. Now we each have our favorite types of games. I was mentioning how different games wax and wane yesterday. Games and genres tend to flourish based on sales numbers. In other words, you are speaking to publishers every time you buy a game. You're also speaking the language they understand most, money.
Some people believe that you need to buy even crappy version of a genre to ensure it survives. Though I wouldn't call Freelancer crappy, some space shooter fans demanded that everyone buy it since the market has been so thin recently. I tend to go the other way. Whenever you buy something I think you're telling publishers you want more like what you just bought. So for Space fans who wanted joystick support, buying Freelancer would have been defeating their cause.
Most gamers don't buy every game at full price. Some exclusively shop the bargain bins. Most buy some of their games at full price and pick others up off the discount rack. What I'd like to ask is that everyone think carefully about those games they're willing to pay full price or near it. A lot of times it's easy to get caught up in the hype of a new release and next thing you know you've run out and bought it. I used to do that all the time until I got burned a few in a row. Now I always check reviews, but good reviews can often add to the impulse.
I'm not suggesting that anyone change how much they spend on games in a year. I just want you to think about sending publishers the message you really want to spend when you're buying a game in that important first two month window. For me, for instance, it's usually better to ignore FPS's when they come out (Tron 2.0 was an exception for me because I wanted to see more games like that). I'm not that good at them and I'd rather tell publishers that I want more quality strategy and tactical games. So those are the ones I wait for the bargain bins. I do the same with vanilla strategy or tactical titles that happen to catch my eye. So think before you drink, er, I mean buy.
Today's game continues our WWII theme with an expansion. Ok so Silent Storm:Sentinels (official site) actually picks up right after the war. Now you have to fund your operations, but you also have more control. You can hire and fire personnel. You can purchase new equipment as it comes available. Check out post war Europe later this year.
Jason
Comments?
13 Apr 04
Howdy, I hope everyone is doing well today. It's just a bit rough for me today because my seasonal allergies have hit hard. While there are plenty of great allergy medicines out there, it seems like there's always something that slips through resulting in bad days. Please be patient if I'm not as coherent as usual (and you didn't think it could get worse).
I wanted to talk briefly about the RTS market. A little while ago CGW ran an article about the death of the genre. Other magazines and websites have made similar arguments. While it's true that there was some stagnation and overpopulation of the market, I don't think the genre is going anywhere. Just look at the adventure genre. It's been labeled as dead for going on seven years now, but new games keep coming out.
I think there are a couple of issues here. The first is that no game type ever stays on top for long. It's not always purely cyclical, but different genres come in and out of style. There was a period where the RTS was the king of the PC market. It was in and a solid way to make money. As it lost it premier location, there were still many RTS's in the pipe. When gamers were looking for something else, a mediocre RTS wasn't going to catch fire. Several games sold much less than expected.
This occurred at the same time RTS's were making the switch from 2D to 3D. Some have argued that there was nothing to gain in the transition, but that's an argument for another time. As we've been discussing, when developers devote large chunks of the resource pie to engine development, there's less for the creative side. Time crunches and features get lost. The market found itself full of generic 3D realtime strategy games. I think the cult popularity of the Kohan games reflected this. Given a choice between creativity and graphics, gamers chose creativity.
I happen to believe we're coming out of the tunnel right now. There are some great looking RTS's on the horizon. Developers aren't fighting as much over engine development as they are about improving gameplay. 3D isn't a goal in and of itself. Developers are challenging the conventions of the genre. By taking those chances, developers will reinvent the genre. In the end, gamers will win.
Today's game follows our recent theme of World War II strategy games. They just rebranded the title so try not to get confused. It's the game formerly known as Kombat, Officers (official site) from Game Factory. Sure, it's another WWII RTS, but they're promising to let you win the war regardless of the side you choose. You also have a Battlecry-esqe hero that you play in RPG lite fashion. You try to rise from squad commander to spearhead the great battles at the end of the war. Keep an eye on it.
Jason
Comments?
12 Apr 04
A couple of site notes first. You might want to keep an eye on the forum. Raydude and Mori are going through their play by email Combat Mission battle. It's quite an interesting read so far. Also, I wanted to point out some of the features of the news site. The Postnuke system behind the site is quite flexible. You have a lot of control over it. In addition to things like themes, you can customize how many stories show up for you on the front page. In fact, if you really like the theme you've chosen, you can apply it to the forum as well. If you change your forum theme to PN Theme, it will match colors and fonts to the Postnuke theme you chose. You can even choose to minimize the forum so you can access the TSN menu. PN Theme also uses some handy Postnuke features such as a printer friendly page and emailing a post to a friend. Check it out. You do have to register to do all this, but considering we don't give your personal information out to anyone, that's not asking much.
Today, I'm going over a corollary to my theory from last week. As game development focuses on content instead of technology, weak designs or poor design decisions will stand out more. I think we'll see this most in sequels.
In most PC and console games, sequels have bucked movies' trend to have weaker sequels than the original. As technology has marched forward, game sequels have been able to bring the game experience more in line with the original design vision. As designs are less limited by technology, they'll have to stand on their own merits. When higher resolution textures and self-shadowing stop being bullet points because even the most staid strategy game has them, content will be king.
While there have been series that died out such as the Might and Magic series, most sequels have actually been better. Sometimes they score lower in reviews, but that's usually because the standards across the board have been raised. Game makers are also exceptionally good at stealing ideas that work so minimum feature sets keep going up.
Movies generally have gone the other direction. Many movie sequels don't have the time and budget to put in everything people liked from the original while adding a whole self contained story to support the sequel. Sequel reviews often have lines like, "While there are some good moments (especially for fans of the original), this follow up just doesn't have the magic touch of generic movie 1."
So how can games avoid that trap? Well, the same way good movie sequels do. More content, better content surrounded by a better story. Take a look at the Ratchet and Clank series on the PS2. While the sequel came only a year after the original, it surpassed it in nearly every way. How? Well, there were only minor engine changes and most of those were also used in Jak and Daxter 2. Freed from the responsibility of creating a new engine, Insomniac focused on characters, story and gameplay. They listened to everything their fans liked about the original and expanded on that for the sequel. They kept the solid core of their gameplay and added more options and more style.
It'll be kind of sad to see the expectation of better sequels go by the wayside, but I think it will happen unless gamers refuse to give in to the hype associated with a sequel. Sometimes wait and see is the best attitude.
Today's game is from Stormregion games. It's Codename: Panzers (official site). They're calling it a tactical action game. You are a commander of a special forces unit in World War II. You have limited units at your disposal and must make the most of them to complete your missions. You get to play as the Germans, Russians or the western Allies. With a wide variety of weapons, equipment and vehicles, your tour of duty should be full of action.
Jason
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© Talk Strategy 2004
