Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to play. The term "real-time strategy" was coined by Brett Sperry to market Dune II in the early 1990s.
Replay value is a term used to assess a video game or other media products potential for continued play value after its first completion. Factors that can influence perceived replay value include the game's extra characters, secrets and alternate endings. The replay value of a game may also be based entirely on the individual's tastes. A player might enjoy repeating a game because of the music, graphics, gameplay or because of product loyalty. Dynamic environments, challenging AI, a wide variety of ways to accomplish tasks, and a rich array of assets could result in a high replay value.
The Ancient Art of War is a computer game designed by Dave and Barry Murry, developed by Evryware, and originally published by Broderbund in 1984. It is generally recognized as one of the first real-time strategy or real-time tactics games.
Guild Wars is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), and Best Game. Guild Wars was noted for being the "first major MMO to adopt a business model not based on monthly subscription fees", its instanced approach to gameplay, and the quality of the graphics and play for computers with low specifications. In April 2009, NCSoft announced that 6 million units of games in the Guild Wars series had been sold. The sequel and fourth major entry into the series, Guild Wars 2, was announced in March 2007 and released on August 28, 2012. It features updated graphics and gameplay mechanics, and continues the original Guild Wars tradition of no subscription fees. The Guild Wars series had sold 11.5 million copies by August 2015
Space Hulk is a 1993 real-time tactical video game for MS-DOS, Amiga and PC-98. The game was based on Games Workshop's 1989 board game of the same name. Set in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, the player directs squads of Space Marines, genetically enhanced armoured soldiers, in their missions to protect the human race from deadly aliens. Space Hulk was developed and published by Electronic Arts, with support from Games Workshop.
Dungeon Siege II is an action role-playing video game, the sequel to 2002's Dungeon Siege. It was developed by Gas Powered Games and released on August 16, 2005. The story is a continuation of the Dungeon Siege storyline. An expansion Broken World was released in 2006.
Chaos Island: The Lost World is a real-time strategy video game for the PC, developed and published by DreamWorks Interactive, and based on the 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Chaos Island was released in North America on October 30, 1997. In Chaos Island, the player controls characters displayed on a map, directing where they move with the mouse and giving them commands either with the mouse or from a menu.
Syndicate Wars is an isometric real-time tactical and strategic game, developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for DOS in 1996 and for the PlayStation in 1997. It is the second video game title in the Syndicate series, retaining the core gameplay and perspective of the original Syndicate, but with a setting 95 years further into the future.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Winter Assault is the first expansion to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War for the PC developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War: Winter Assault was released on September 23, 2005. Some time after its initial release, Winter Assault and Dawn of War were coupled together in a double pack which featured some art on a fold out cover, an Ork with a flamethrower, or a group of Imperial Guard tanks lined up for attack. Though Winter Assault required the base game to play, its follow-up expansions, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm were stand-alone, not requiring the base game.
Urban Assault is a 3D combined first-person shooter and real-time strategy computer game developed by the German company TerraTools and published by Microsoft in the year 1998.
Real-time tactics (RTT) is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics. It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the lack of classic resource micromanagement and base or unit building, as well as the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade is the second expansion to the real-time strategy video game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dark Crusade was released on October 9, 2006. The expansion features two new races, the Tau Empire and the Necrons. Including the Imperial Guard from Dawn of War's first expansion pack Winter Assault, a total of seven playable races in this expansion.
Troddlers is a 1992 Lemmings-inspired puzzle game developed by Atod that was originally released for the Amiga and was later remade on the Super NES. The remake was published by Seika. An MS-DOS port was also released.
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is a real-time strategy-tactical role-playing video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ for Microsoft Windows based on the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. It is the sequel to the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War video game series. Dawn of War II was released in North America on February 19, 2009 and in Europe on February 20, 2009. A sequel, Dawn of War III, was released in April 2017.
Clone Wars Adventures was an online virtual world based on the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Players could create and customize in-world avatars and participate in a variety of Clone Wars-themed mini-games and activities, earning Republic credits to purchase new weapons, outfits, ships, and furniture. Clone Wars Adventures was free to download and play, but only those that had a paid membership got access to a majority of the game's features. Additionally, many outfits and premium items could only be purchased with Station Cash, a form of in game currency that players needed to purchase with real money instead of in-game credits. This MMO game follows a similar business model to Free Realms. However, unlike Free Realms, the game was released at retail, though the game is free-to-play.
Combat Mission is the name of a successful series of computer wargames simulating tactical battles. The series has progressed through two distinct game engines. The original game engine, referred to as 'CMx1' by the developer, Battlefront.com, powered a trio of games set in the Second World War. Combat Mission: Shock Force was released in July 2007 as the debut of the 'CMx2' game engine. The Combat Mission games are a mixture of turn-based gameplay and simultaneous real-time execution. The game environment is fully three-dimensional, with a "Wego" style of play wherein each player enters their orders into the computer simultaneously during pauses in the action, and then are powerless to intervene during the action phase. More familiar turn-based games use an "I-go/You-go" system of play.
Operation Flashpoint: Resistance is an expansion pack to Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. It was developed by Bohemia Interactive, authors of the original game, and published by Codemasters. It is the second expansion of Operation Flashpoint, the first one being Operation Flashpoint: Red Hammer, which was developed by Codemasters. Resistance was later re-released as part of ArmA: Cold War Assault.
Tribal Wars (TW) is a browser-based, real-time strategy, massively multiplayer online game set in the Middle Ages. The game is set with each player starting off controlling a small village, with the objective being to slowly expand and conquer new villages through the formation of complex armies and a tactical combat system. The game incorporates multiple components of teamwork, planning, and strategy. The game allows players to collect resources, build armies, construct buildings, combat other armies, and conquer new villages. The game also allows for a level of player-specific customization, in regards to village names, army types, and troop-counts. The game operates under world-specific settings that vary from world to world.
XCOM: Chimera Squad is a turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K as part of the XCOM series. It is set as a sequel to XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, after a tenuous peace accord between warring human and alien forces has been achieved. The player controls a mixed squad of human and alien special forces soldiers that help maintain the fragile peace of City 31, an experimental city where humans and aliens are attempting cohabitation. While Chimera Squad follows similar tactical elements of the XCOM series, it introduces new gameplay concepts to accelerate the pace of gameplay.
