Survey on RTS design

[iNcog]

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1U0We4a ... k/viewform

[purplesquid]

Cool survey. Are you posting this on the other game's community sites too?

[iNcog]

Yep, I am.

I might get some flak for it though, since I'm well-known here but on other sites I'm not discussing their game in particular or something.

I'm just really curious. ^^

29 responses so far, quite cool

Reddit won't let me post more than one link every 7 minutes though so it's kind of slow

[momuuu]

I love gamedesign discussion or just thinking about it. Going to answer it when I boot up my pc.

[iNcog]

cool

i was at 51 replies before lunch, i'm sure that i'm in the 70s now

[momuuu]

Sometimes it's hard to express your feelings about design in just 4 options.

For example I was very conflicted between complex vs simple unit control and economy. Some degree of complexity makes it better I think, but some degree of simplicity, for example with aoe3 unit control, makes it even more interesting.

[iNcog]

there are a few open questions at the end

i agree though questions aren't optimized, they're very broad

they do give a general feel on some things though. in particular it's interesting to see what people aren't interested in first and foremost.

115 replies now actually

[iNcog]

edit: king or kynesie took this survey

What do you find cool:

The age of empires wall building mechanics

[iNcog]

shout out to this dapper gentleman as wel:

ashigaru musketeers wroomwroom pewpew (also roach hydra)

[MCJim]

Done.
Interesting that most people have played something from the AoE series, but aren't playing it now. The series is getting outdated, we need a new title

[iNcog]

i have heard that apparently halo wars 2 is coming to PC

it's an rts iirc

[iNcog]

Done.
Interesting that most people have played something from the AoE series, but aren't playing it now. The series is getting outdated, we need a new title

wait, can you see the results?

[MCJim]

Done.
Interesting that most people have played something from the AoE series, but aren't playing it now. The series is getting outdated, we need a new title

wait, can you see the results?

Yes, after filling in the survey you can click a link.

[iNcog]

oh neat

that way i don't need to bother going through all those communities to tell people what the results were

[momuuu]

You play almost every RTS out there, it seems O_o

[iNcog]

funnily enough, you can actually access the company of heroes subreddit without actually buying the game

[pecelot]

Can you post a link to the results? I filled the pool but didn't check them.

[iNcog]

here are the results: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1U0We4a ... rm_confirm

[momuuu]

The complex economy thing reminds me of stronghold crusader. That game was pretty unique, but it felt like the economy was so complex that it probably isnt a fun competitive game.

One part where I really disagree with the poll results is the part where they think mechanics should affect micro and macro evenly. Having macro that requires good mechanics is one of the worst things for a game imo. Having to have a shitload of apm to properly produce units and villagers is just going to detract from other aspects, strategy most importantly. If macro is so hard that you are floatong resources, then you can simply throw all strategic considerations out of the window. Some amount of macro challenge is okay, but micro is by far the more interesting thing to do and thus should be the most apm heavy.

[iNcog]

but that's just like, your opinion, man



besides there's a difference between complexity and mechanics. aoe3's economy is a lot more complex than sc2's, but still arguably easier to manage for a given amount of time

AoC is immensely popular, yet for some reason it requires mechanics and complex understanding in order to macro things efficiently.

kind of fun to think about

[momuuu]

In the second paragraph I was referring to "Mechanics, or input from players, should influence". I think the main reason I could never enjoy starcraft 2 was that the mechanics were way too hard. I really think that is a big point for all players that don't want to invest a shitload of time. I also don't think the statement that macro is less fun than micro is completely an opinion. Starcraft 2 had micro scenarios, aoe3 has time to micro which is quite popular, but I don't see equivalent macro scenarios. That is, I think, because spending apm to produce workers and units isn't that much fun, especially compared to micro.

[iNcog]

because re-allocating villagers from food to wood to gold to wood to food in order to gather the exact amount of resources you need to put up a bank whilst also getting out 5 hussars is somehow fun?

[momuuu]

because re-allocating villagers from food to wood to gold to wood to food in order to gather the exact amount of resources you need to put up a bank whilst also getting out 5 hussars is somehow fun?

figuring out how to allocate them to optimize your build is win yes. Because then you don't need to re-allocate \o/

[iNcog]

well i'm not going to disagree with you, i also like this game

just pointing out that i don't quite get your comments about APM. if anything it's quite taxing to make sure that your gathering is optimal in aoe3, as opposed to starcraft where you can just focus on making units, using units and hitting supply drops

[momuuu]

Maybe I have a talent for aoe3 but I find macro very easy.