Real-time strategy game

In these video games, you must act fast.

You do not take turns like in other games. Instead, everything happens all at once.

You must gather food and other goods. You use these to build new things.

You can also build strong walls to stay safe.

Players lead many units at the same time. You might move them to take over new lands. You can also use a mouse to click and drag. This helps you pick many units at once.

Some games have big battles with many soldiers. Others take place in space. It is a big challenge to win!

Real-time strategy games are a special kind of video game.

In these games, you do not take turns. Everything happens all at once. This means you must think and act very fast.

Players must manage many tasks to win. First, you gather resources like food or gold. You use these to build a base. You can also make new units, like soldiers or tanks.

You might build walls to keep your base safe. Then, you lead your units to take over new land. You can also destroy the things your opponent builds.

To control everything, players often use a mouse. You can click and drag a box to select many units. This helps you give orders to a large group at once.

Many famous games helped make this style popular. Dune II was a very important game from the 1990s. It showed how to use a mouse to control units. Other games like StarCraft became huge hits. Some games have big battles on land. Others take place in space. They are a big challenge for players!

Real-time strategy games are a special kind of video game.

In these games, players do not wait for their turn to move. Instead, everything happens continuously in real time. You must manage resources and command units all at once. This makes the games very demanding for the player. You have to think and act quickly to succeed. It is a fast and exciting way to play.

To win, you must follow several important steps. First, you gather resources by controlling special points on the map. You use these resources to build structures and create new units.

You might build city walls to protect your base. You also use technology to help your units grow stronger. Players use indirect control to move their armies. A common way to do this is by clicking and dragging a box. This selects many units at once so you can give them orders.

This style of gaming has a very long history. Some people call the game Utopia from 1981 an early ancestor. It had a real-time element that was very rare back then. In 1989, a game called Herzog Zwei was released for the Sega Mega Drive. Many people call it the first true real-time strategy game. It was a landmark that defined how these games work. It even influenced the famous game Dune II.

Many famous titles helped make this genre popular worldwide. Dune II came out in 1992 and used a mouse for control. This made it much easier to give orders to individual units. Other games like Warcraft: Orcs & Humans used fantasy settings. Command & Conquer became a very popular choice in the mid-1990s. In 1997, Age of Empires added a slower pace with different ages of technology. StarCraft was released in 1998 and became a huge international hit.

As technology improved, these games changed in new ways. Early games were often two-dimensional and flat. By the late 1990s, games like Total Annihilation introduced 3D units and terrain. Some games moved the action into space. For example, Homeworld allowed players to move in every direction. By 2002, most games used full 3D engines to look more real. Today, these games remain a big part of gaming culture.

A real-time strategy game, often called an RTS, is a specific subgenre of strategy video games.

In these games, players must manage resources and command units to meet objectives continuously. This happens in real time rather than through a turn-based system. In turn-based strategy games, players wait for their turn to act. In an RTS, the action never stops. This requires players to think and react very quickly. The term "real-time strategy" was actually coined by Brett Sperry to market the game Dune II in the early 1990s.

To succeed, a player must master several core mechanics. First, they must engage in resource-gathering. This is done by controlling special points on the map or using specific units and structures. These accumulated resources are then spent to create additional units or build new structures.

Players also focus on in-game technological development to improve their capabilities. Most RTS games involve the indirect control of units. To manage many units at once, players often use a "clicking and dragging" technique. This creates a selection box over an area to select all units within it.

While many games seem similar, they are not all RTS games. City-building games and construction management simulations share some ideas with the genre. However, they are generally not considered real-time strategy. A distinction is sometimes made for "god games." In a god game, the player assumes a god-like role of creation. Real-time tactics games are also considered a separate category. The RTS genre is defined by the specific combination of resource management, base-building, and unit command.

The history of the genre is a long process of evolution. It grew separately in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. These different traditions eventually merged into one global style. Some early ancestors include the 1979 Odyssey 2 game War of Nerves. Another important title is the 1981 game Utopia. Some call Utopia the first RTS, though it used a hybrid turn-based cycle. In 1982, the Apple II program Cosmic Conquest offered real-time action and strategic decisions. These early titles helped set the foundation for what would come later.

One major landmark was the 1989 release of Herzog Zwei for the Sega Mega Drive.

Many experts call it the progenitor of all modern RTS games. It introduced important conventions like unit construction and resource management. It also featured fast-paced, arcade-style action. Herzog Zwei influenced Dune II, which was released by Westwood Studios in 1992. Dune II is considered the prototype for modern RTS games. It used a mouse and keyboard to allow for precise control of individual units.

Between 1992 and 1998, several seminal titles defined the genre's popular perception. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released in 1994 and used a fantasy setting. It showed complex societies by including buildings like farms. Command & Conquer and its sequel, Red Alert, became very popular in the mid-1990s. In 1997, Total Annihilation introduced 3D units and terrain. This game emphasized macromanagement, which is managing large-scale systems, over micromanagement. Age of Empires, also released in 1997, introduced the concept of progressing through different ages of technology. Finally, StarCraft was released in 1998 and became a massive international phenomenon.

As technology advanced, the genre moved from 2D to 3D environments. Total Annihilation was a pioneer in using 3D terrain. By 1999, games like Homeworld introduced a full 3D space environment. This allowed units to move in every direction. Other games like Machines attempted to combine RTS with first-person shooter elements. By approximately 2002, 3D game engines became the standard. Titles like Warcraft III and Age of Mythology were built on these full 3D engines. Today, the genre continues to evolve through higher unit caps and larger maps.