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by Cthulhu_ 807 days ago
It feels like Starcraft 2 was the last traditional RTS; I suspect part of that is because other developers think their game wouldn't have a chance without competitive multiplayer as tight as SC2's.

That said, there's still some RTS games in the indie space / on Steam, like Homeworld: Deserts of something. But that one was ultimately disappointing overall.

1 comments

The popularity of Starcraft confused me until I realized it was a really a "user interface game" rather than a strategy game. I mean, Starcraft 2 is still a strategy game, but if you were to propose changing the UI to enable more strategy, they wouldn't do that. The UI is the game, and once I understood that I understood Starcraft players better and was able to appreciate the game better.

It's hard for anyone to do a better Starcraft because it's a UI game based in technology of the time. We aren't going to get better at traditional computer screens with a fixed aspect ratio and a mouse. That is Stracraft.

Also, you mentioned Homeworld, and Homeworld 3 will be out in a few months.

That reminds me, somewhat tangentially, of working with a personal trainer in a gym and made some comment about a particular type of movement being done in a more "efficient" way and the dude was just like "that's not the point", and playing starcraft more efficiently is likewise not the point.