I have recently been trying to get into the RTS genre on the PC but the learning curve has been extremely deep. The only one I have ever gotten into was Halo Wars, but that was much easier to learn than anything like this. I have tried both Red Alert 3 and Warcraft 3. What RTS would be the easiest to learn for a complete newcomer?
Best PC RTS for a new player?
- Thread starter bluefire93
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If you can find a copy of it somewhere, EndWar.
It's pretty simple to play compared to most RTSs yet it's got a fair bit of depth.
It's pretty simple to play compared to most RTSs yet it's got a fair bit of depth.
I found Starcraft (the original one), Warcraft 3 and Command & Conquer simple enough to learn and play... and I'm rubbish at RTS games.
Starcraft 2 is very simple to learn the basics of. But also very hard to master perfectly. There's a bunch of tutorials and the first few missions will ease you into the gameplay well.
But honestly Warcraft 3 should have been pretty easy. Did you play through the campaign on "Normal" difficulty? There are also some cheats for it, right up to godmode, so if you're having trouble with the campaign, look them up.
http://classic.battle.net/war3/cheatcodes.shtml
But honestly Warcraft 3 should have been pretty easy. Did you play through the campaign on "Normal" difficulty? There are also some cheats for it, right up to godmode, so if you're having trouble with the campaign, look them up.
http://classic.battle.net/war3/cheatcodes.shtml
Warcraft III is probably the most user-friendly RTS that I've played. For starters, the unit limit is relatively low, so you don't have to worry about too much micro managing (though, as with all RTS's, being able to have some level of micro managing is a requirement). But beyond that there's the Heroes. The campaign mode is pretty simple and does a great job at introducing a new unit with each level and more often than not: the key to winning each level will be simply to effectively use the new unit you have been given to work with. However with multiplayer and custom games against the computer, it's a lot less about the units you use and much more about "how quickly can you get your heroes to higher levels?" And that's actually what a lot of people didn't like about WC III. Starcraft had no hero units, it was purely on how fast you could build your army, why type of army you built, and how effectively you could move and use that army. WC III is much more about how effectively you use your heroes and how quickly you can level them up.
Depends what type of RTS you're looking for.bluefire93 said:
The Total War games, are exactly as they sound, Total War, you'll manage everything from taxes, research, unit production and diplomacy as well as commanding the armies in the field. It is not as micro-management as, say, the Civ games, but it is still fairly all encompassing.
Company of Heroes is the all encompassing WW2 RTS, very little base building and lots of just shoot first and ask questions later makes this a fun, tactical and fast paced RTS.
If you want even more fast paced, the Dawn of War games are by the same makers as CoH. Set in the Warhammer 40k universe it is over the top, brutal, face paced and a whole lot of fun.
World is Conflict is another great RTS game but focused more on your used of off screen tactical weapons, airstrikes, bombardments, ect. Lots of fun and a pretty cool storyline too.
Out of the few I've played I'd have to reccomend:
Warcraft 3 - It's pretty easy to get used to how RTS's work from doing the campaigns (Though the custom skirmishes aren't that easy if you're new, even when the computer is set to easy)
Starcraft 2 - It has a nice story that gets you used to specific units and what they're good at as well as using buildings effectively. There are also challenges to help illustrate how effective good Micromanagement and use of counter units actually is. Also F12 allows you to see tech trees so you know what you will need to build to allow you to build certain buildings and what they allow you to make, you can also look up the stats for all the units in the game as well as what they are strong and weak against. After a while it becomes very intuitive as to what you need to make and the key then is just practicing both Macro and Micro management.
Supreme Commander - It may be a bit overwhelming to start with when coming to grips with how Mass and Energy work but it is very forgiving, since you can still build when your Mass and Energy are bottomed out (Albeit very slowly) and it is possible to win using pretty much any strategy (I've tried massing all tiers of air, land and water units to win and even rushed to some experimentals to win, I haven't actually found a tactic that allows me to lose yet) the emphasis of this game is on Macro management so it's pretty easy to do well (As all you need to do is get enough Mass Generators and Energy Storage Units to keep your production running smoothly, units can be sent to do their own thing most of the time)
Also just incase you're not aware Micro management is controling units to tell them to do stuff and Macro management is creating and positioning buildings and managing your economy.
Warcraft 3 - It's pretty easy to get used to how RTS's work from doing the campaigns (Though the custom skirmishes aren't that easy if you're new, even when the computer is set to easy)
Starcraft 2 - It has a nice story that gets you used to specific units and what they're good at as well as using buildings effectively. There are also challenges to help illustrate how effective good Micromanagement and use of counter units actually is. Also F12 allows you to see tech trees so you know what you will need to build to allow you to build certain buildings and what they allow you to make, you can also look up the stats for all the units in the game as well as what they are strong and weak against. After a while it becomes very intuitive as to what you need to make and the key then is just practicing both Macro and Micro management.
Supreme Commander - It may be a bit overwhelming to start with when coming to grips with how Mass and Energy work but it is very forgiving, since you can still build when your Mass and Energy are bottomed out (Albeit very slowly) and it is possible to win using pretty much any strategy (I've tried massing all tiers of air, land and water units to win and even rushed to some experimentals to win, I haven't actually found a tactic that allows me to lose yet) the emphasis of this game is on Macro management so it's pretty easy to do well (As all you need to do is get enough Mass Generators and Energy Storage Units to keep your production running smoothly, units can be sent to do their own thing most of the time)
Also just incase you're not aware Micro management is controling units to tell them to do stuff and Macro management is creating and positioning buildings and managing your economy.
Have you done the campaign of Red Alert 3 or just the multiplayer? It should be fairly simple to understand as far as RTS's go.
Give the campaign a whirl, set the difficulty to easy and maybe play the first few levels a couple of times until you get a feel for the game mechanics.
Unfortunately all the RTS's I would recommend are proper retro games now, but if you are into medieval warfare then Age of Empires 2 is one of the simplest to understand, it has a really slow tutorial, and on easy as long as you build a few walls and towers to guard your base you are virtually impregnable.
Give the campaign a whirl, set the difficulty to easy and maybe play the first few levels a couple of times until you get a feel for the game mechanics.
Unfortunately all the RTS's I would recommend are proper retro games now, but if you are into medieval warfare then Age of Empires 2 is one of the simplest to understand, it has a really slow tutorial, and on easy as long as you build a few walls and towers to guard your base you are virtually impregnable.
The thing is that if you're just getting into it you don't want anything too complicated.
I would recommend Dawn of War 1 (or just get Dark Crusade).
It's a solid RTS but it's more about tactics and the technical part is a more abridged version of serious RTSs.
Also, the combat is probably the most brutal looking & bloody in the genre; lots of fun to watch.
I would recommend Dawn of War 1 (or just get Dark Crusade).
It's a solid RTS but it's more about tactics and the technical part is a more abridged version of serious RTSs.
Also, the combat is probably the most brutal looking & bloody in the genre; lots of fun to watch.
The absolute simplest RTS I've ever played is an indie game called Galcon Fusion. It'a fun, but perhaps a bit too simple, as there's very little to it. But it does have the advantage that you can play an entire game in about two minutes.
I recommend you keep playing Warcraft 3. It's about the average level of complexity for an RTS and the story is good.
If you are getting your butt kicked, you probably need to work your economy better. Here are some tips.
1) Look for expansions. An extra gold mine will bring in a ton of money.
2) Spend, spend, spend. An noob who spends all his gold on stuff he has never heard of will do far better than a noob who gets indecisive and dies with a ton of unspent gold.
3) As a corollary to 2), avoid queueing up lots of units in one building. You have to pay in advance and the resources will be tied up. Build more unit producing buildings instead.
4) Avoid building static defence. You cannot attack with them, and a given tower will only defend one base, or part of one base. Units can attack, and can defend any part of any base.
I recommend you keep playing Warcraft 3. It's about the average level of complexity for an RTS and the story is good.
If you are getting your butt kicked, you probably need to work your economy better. Here are some tips.
1) Look for expansions. An extra gold mine will bring in a ton of money.
2) Spend, spend, spend. An noob who spends all his gold on stuff he has never heard of will do far better than a noob who gets indecisive and dies with a ton of unspent gold.
3) As a corollary to 2), avoid queueing up lots of units in one building. You have to pay in advance and the resources will be tied up. Build more unit producing buildings instead.
4) Avoid building static defence. You cannot attack with them, and a given tower will only defend one base, or part of one base. Units can attack, and can defend any part of any base.
I have exceptionally fond memories of Age of Empires 2 with the Age of Kings xpac.
You get a nicely wide and diverse selection of units, tech trees that are (more or less) historically accurate (ish) and a really nice array of unique units.
Starcraft 2 is another fine choice, it's quite well done, has excellent tutorials and a surprisingly good campaign.
You get a nicely wide and diverse selection of units, tech trees that are (more or less) historically accurate (ish) and a really nice array of unique units.
Starcraft 2 is another fine choice, it's quite well done, has excellent tutorials and a surprisingly good campaign.