RTS for Beginners?

jalu6

jalu6

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After playing WoW for a while, I picked up WC3 to see a little more of the story and I ended up really digging the gameplay. I've heard that the Blizzard RTSs are really some of the easier, more forgiving on the genre, and I doubt I'm ready for some of the more difficult ones, so does anyone have any suggestions about what to pick up next?

I've read the first LOTR RTS is pretty easy, since they only let you build in certain places, but I saw Rise of Nations pretty cheap the other day, and I know there's a sale on Age of Empires 3going on. I tried the demo of the latest Star Wars RTS, and I went through the tutorials, but it just seemed far too complicated for me to really get into. How about C&C?

Any suggestions?
 
I think it depends on how serious you want to play. If you're talking about just the campaigns and the occasional skirmish, then the Blizzard games aren't too complicated. But, if you want to play online, then I would say the Blizzard games are two of the hardest RTS to be competitive in. The levels of micro and macro are incredibly high, with APMs in Starcraft of decent players often reaching 200+ (APM means Action Per Minute, and is basically the number of clicks or button presses that do something - such as building a unit, attacking a unit, casting a spell, etc. (that is more than 3 actions per second)). The learning curves are pretty steep and it's not uncommon for a player to take years and years of gaming before they reach the 'average' skill level.

I think the Command and Conquer series are all pretty easy. Very little micro and you can often win online after playing for a short amount of time. The control schemes (other than C&C3) are unusual for the genre, though. The interface is one of the easiest to use.

I don't have much experience with the 'Age of ...' games online. Generally, the races aren't very distinct, with every race having the majority of the same units with one or two unique units mixed in. To me, this ruins the fun of the game. These games are pretty competitive, but I'd say the level still falls short of the Blizzard games. Rise of Nations is similar to the Age of series in the way that it is presented, but I would say it would be more complicated to a newbie.

Other RTS games generally aren't played too much competitively. Personally, I would say that Warcraft 3 is the best game to start out with. It will teach you skills that are necessary to be an accomplished RTS gamer, and you can usually find a game to play at your level via the automated matchmaking system. There are also a lot of fun custom games when you get tired of the main game that will hold your attention for a long time. You could also pick up any Command and Conquer for a relatively easy experience. If you find you want to get more serious about RTS gaming, then you can either learn the nuances of Warcraft 3 and continue playing it, or pick up Starcraft (but be prepared to get you ass kicked!). If you're looking for a change of pace, pick up a game from the Age of series (I recommend Age of Mythology or Age of Empires 3).
 
A good rts training game is Command and Conquer Generals... They start simple and go from there. Rise of Nations is also a good trainer. You might also want to go back to WC2 before wc3.. that will also get you used to most of the units.
 
Thanks for the info, I guess I forgot to say I'm really looking for offline only. (Right now at least) I'm not that much of a competitive online gamer. Especially after hearing Byrdo's description of Starcraft, it sounds completely terrifing.

I'm glad you guys mentioned Rise of Nations, since I saw it on sale at my local EB for only $5. I'll have to pick that up today at lunch. I'll also see if I can find any C&C games on the cheap, I keep seeing some sort of "battle chest" type thing for it in stores.
 
I didn't mean to scare you lol, I just didn't know if you were trying to find a game you could be competitive in or not. Starcraft is still a great game, but I think it loses a little charm when you don't play online. Still has a great campaign and the computer can put up a good challenge (to a point).

Rise of Nations was fun when I played it. I played through the little Conquest mode or something like that. Kind of like Risk, except with an RTS. I think you'll have fun with it.
 
I LOVE RTS, but I suck at them, and I NEVER play them online for the exact fear of SC players who have like 160 APM.

I think C+C is my favorite RTS game series. But Starcraft and its expansion are well within reason for beating offline. They are well worth it and its not too insane to beat. Both of those are my recomendations.

Red Alert 2 is a really good choice.
 
You can get the Command & Conquer The First Decade at B&M for $29.99 that has every cnc game for the last 10 years, great deal on a DVD!
 
The RTS games that I would suggest would be, Age of Empires 2 for its simplicity and good historical campaigns.
Starcraft for its great Campaign and almost undending replay value, also it would warm you up for Starcraft 2.
The third I RTS game I would recommend would be C&C 3, it is very easy to pick up and play but has lots of strategy to it and a pretty cool campaign.
 
Play Warcraft 3 (or Starcraft.. but.. eh) online. Just, don't be intimidated and trust me. Stick with one game, definitely one of Blizzard's, and get good. Online. Screw offline play. I'm one of the top ladder players of Frozen Throne on USWest, but honestly, it's not bias speaking, a Blizzard RTS is simply the finest tuned online experience you'll find anywhere, the only games with as large an emphasis on macro strategy as twitch-reflex micromanagement.

I won't get into the hardcore details of why Starcraft and Warcraft 3 are, hands down, the only RTS games to play, but they are. I'd just be spouting off pros and cons that probably wouldn't make sense to a casual RTS player anyway. Instead I'll spend my time convincing you to not be intimidated by WC3 online play because of a single glorious feature - the matchmaking system.

Yeah, the learning curve is huge (not steep, no, it's quite gradual, it's just epic in size), but the matchmaking system addresses this. It's really the best matchmaking system around. Players are given levels, with experience for wins, negative experience for losses, etc. I'll spare you the history, but in short, WC3's bad reputation for online play comes from the old matchmaking system, the one that was in place 3+ years ago. The new system is perfect.

You still have a display level to brag about, but they use ELLs to match now, which is kind of a behind-the-scenes experience system that starts (arbitrarily) at level 26. You're matched with people who have an ELL within 3 levels of your own. ELLs fluctuate a lot faster than display levels, so the short and sweet is that after your first several losses online, your ELL will be lowered to the appropriate level and you'll be playing against new players.

I could go into far greater detail if you want, but I'd probably bore you. The point is, play online, and after your first several losses, you'll probably win half your games and lose half your games, always playing against people on your skill level.
 
I love RTS. I kind of got started liking them with RPG RTS games like FFTA and TO on GBA. Then I played LOTR:BFME 2 on 360 and loved it. Never the online side of things.

I started WCIII yesterday night and so far it seems really fun and I am getting into it just fine.
 
Since you guys are both new to WC3 you should hop online and have some fun. Hell, get a large group of CAGs who aren't terribly experienced and have some big Free For Alls. I'd love to see a WC3 community develop here...
 
Koggit, could you link to your War3 profile? Just curious.

I have satellite internet so I can't game online anymore. I do occasionally get on dialup that we have limited hours of and play some starcraft and occasionally war3, but with the full second of delay time it's hard to play well. I guess I'm slightly below average, overall - I have an APM that fluctuates around 100 (starcraft) and Warcraft 3 I've made level 15 or so on Azeroth FFA, and back in Reign of Chaos days I was around level 10 when the high solo was 13.
 
Starcraft was my best initiation into RTS.

WarCraft 2 popped my 'cherry' though.

Either of those are great, but like someone mentioned. The only RTS you need is Starcraft.
 
I have great memories playing Age of Empires 2. I like AOE 3 but I don't like the setting as much. The ultimate AOE game would be the setting of Age 1 with the graphics and RTS advances of Age 3.

I plan on getting StarCraft this week at BB ($10) but they were sold out on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to playing this game. A great single player story in an RTS!
 
dawn of war is fairly simple to get into. A couple of the newer races r different at first, but its a fairly straight forward rts. Not much micromanagement.
 
Hmm

Who is game for some WC3/TFT?? I SUCK and want to play some online! I'm going to install it now. And Im gonna install SC and Brood War for the same reason.

I made a B.net account of cdietschrun...who here is interested in playing something?
 
[quote name='Dijital']You can get the Command & Conquer The First Decade at B&M for $29.99 that has every cnc game for the last 10 years, great deal on a DVD![/quote]

The First Decade Collection is a shoddy p.o.s. I considered purchasing it because my C&C discs are scratched to hell, but after reading the support forums, I decided it wasn't worth the hassle until EA releases another patch. You need several third-party fixes to even play the older games online. The RA map editor won't work unless you rename some files. Unless you're savvy enough to discover a certain third party patch, the Collection will take up an extra 700MB of HD space for nothing. None of this is mind blowingly difficult, to be sure, but I expect more from a professionally released game.

Then again we are talking about the shrills at EA...

That being said, the Command&Conquer games are great for beginners. Plus they're amazingly fun.

Regarding WarCraft: WC2 is more like C&C or StarCraft in that it focuses on unit production and large masses of units charging each other; there are few unit abilities to micromanage. WC3, on the other hand, instead focuses on smaller groups of units, many of them with special abilities.
If you like epic battles and "classic" military strategy (like huge envelopment maneuvers and cavalry charges), play Total War games ASAP. Whereas most RTS games devolve into jumbled unit rushes and clickfests, Total War games focus on realistic battle tactics. If Alexander the Great were alive today, he'd play RTW.
 
[quote name='cdietschrun']Hmm

Who is game for some WC3/TFT?? I SUCK and want to play some online! I'm going to install it now. And Im gonna install SC and Brood War for the same reason.

I made a B.net account of cdietschrun...who here is interested in playing something?[/QUOTE]

What server are you on? There are four, Azeroth (USEast), Lorderon (USWest), Kalimdor (Asia) and Northrend (Europe).
 
[quote name='cdietschrun']I picked US east.[/QUOTE]

I'll play, I made a USEast account "SyntheticHero"

We could play as a team against computers, if you want to get a feel for the game before solo matches. 2 vs. 2 or something.
 
Never played WC3. After listening to you guys, I might have to now. :p Alot of good suggestions. You can not go wrong with C&C, Starcraft, and AOE.

A great RTS for a beginner would be Dune 2000. Has a nice ramp up in difficulty. I'm not to sure how easy it would be to find. Would be cheap though. Just stay away from Emperor: Battle for Dune. Not bad, but I could never get into it.

Another vote for Total Annihilation. Just be sure to download all the extra units and stuff. Makes the game more interesting. Can be brutal against other people online.

Another one to come to mind is Homeworld. More of a learning curve, but fun as hell to play.
 
An RTS for beginners? Warcraft III! :D If anyone with decent skill wants to solo, ask me. It's been awhile since I've played any solo games
 
[quote name='Oktoberfest']An RTS for beginners? Warcraft III! :D If anyone with decent skill wants to solo, ask me. It's been awhile since I've played any solo games[/QUOTE]

AIM me at SyntheticHoliday anytime for a game on any server. =]
 
Damn, well I got plenty of places to start.

I already have and started playing WC3, so I'll definitely get around to finishing that, and I picked up Rise of Nations today.
 
Don't listen to all these fools. Starcraft and Brood War have great single player campaigns and the game/xpac are a ton of fun even if you never play online.
 
[quote name='jalu6']Damn, well I got plenty of places to start.

I already have and started playing WC3, so I'll definitely get around to finishing that, and I picked up Rise of Nations today.[/quote]

I would definitely recommend the WC3 Frozen Throne expansion as well if you don't already have it. The campaign was a ton of fun and the levels were very diverse.
 
The first RTS I ever played was Age of Empires (back in 4th grade or something). It was amazing. Hell, if I could play when I was 9, I bet you can learn how to do it. Age of Empires 2 is my main RTS, and it's loads of fun. Only bad thing is that it takes a while to get into it, collecting resources and such.

Have you looked into Company of Hereos? I've never played, but it's gotten good reviews. I intend to upgrade my hardware and play.
 
Seconded Age of Empires, especially since you can get the Age of Empires Collection at Wal-Mart for $10, that has Age of Empires 1 and the expansion, and Age of Empires 2 and the expansion.
 
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