A History of Computer Games: The Stragetic Years

RTS games - where would we be without them? My own preferred genre (with the exception of puzzle games) I first got hooked on that behemoth of the RTS world, Command & Conquer. Initially, I bought the game for my brother, because my brother enjoyed tanks and guns and such things. Then I started watching over his shoulder, giving him advice. Next thing you know, I was hooked, and my playstation lay neglected for a while.

The game that everyone remembers as being the first RTS was Westwood’s Dune II. Certainly Dune II did the most to establish the format, and it’s success meant that people began seeing the RTS games as a lucrative genre. Previous to Dune II, however, was Stonkers, a bug-plagued game published in 1983 by Imagine Software for the ZX Spectrum. Simplistic, it allowed you to move various units around, which would deplete their energy. To refill, you had to move supply units to the same location. Supply units could be replenished by entering a port. (Source)

After Stonkers came The Ancient Art of War, a ‘battlefield simulation’ based on the classic book The Art of War. There were three kinds of units: Knights, Archers and Barbarians, which had a circular ‘paper-rock-scissors’ type of balancing. Outside factors, such as hunger, terrain and morale all impacted the outcome of a battle. (Source)

Then, thirdly, there was Herzog Zwei for the Sega Genesis. Herzog Zwei focused on a main command unit, which could switch from an aircraft to a land unit, and was the only unit you could directly control. The rest was there for support only. The objective was to destroy your enemies base. Like the RTS games to follow, everything cost money, and managing fuel and resources was a major part of the game.

So there were the three forerunners, experimenting with different things. Dune II then stormed onto the scene in 1992. Developed by Westwood Studios, the game was the first to allow players to control their units with a mouse. It was based on Dune the movie, which in turn was based on Dune the book, the popular science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. It had a plot well-suited to the genre, with huge cartels competing over the harvesting of the spice known as melange. The established fanbase may have helped make the game successful, but the game was also very high quality - introducing many of the features that became synonymous with RTS games, including the world map, technology trees, resource gathering, and mobile units that can deploy as buildings. Each faction has unique units and structures, and completing missions gave access to higher technology, culminating in extremely powerful superweapons.

The RTS genre, unlike many others, can be directly linked to the current state of modern warfare. The focus on researching technology and building better and better units can be seen as a direct mirror of the cold war arms race, whilst the tensions and factions in many RTS games closely mirror the global conflicts of the times. The conflict over resources - whether melange, tiberium, oil or gold - can be linked to the battles fought today over oil, water and arable land.

Having said that, the next RTS game was pure fantasy. The recently formed Blizzard, impressed by the success of Dune II, and confused as to why nobody else had released an RTS game, decided to create their own for their first title. The result was Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. It used many of the conventions begun by Dune II, had similar units on both sides, and was successful enough to let Blizzard begin work on a sequel (Source). Prior to Starcraft, however, came Command & Conquer, Westwood’s next release.

Command & Conquer did many things right. Firstly, it didn’t rely on an already successful storyline like Dune II. C&C had to stand on its own merits - and the story of C&C is vital to the game’s success, and to the success of the franchise. Set in the late 1990’s and early 21st century, it works as a kind of alternative history, detailing the introduction of Tiberium, an alien substance that quickly becomes an incredibly valuable substance. The conflict is between an ancient and mysterious society (Brotherhood of Nod) led by Kane and the GDI - a UN sanctioned Global Defense Initiative Task Force. The result is a fast escalating world war. I could write an entire essay on the story and characters of C&C, but the net upshot was a game with real depth. The story is further highlighted by the inclusion of live action video. This was unusual, and has become associated with C&C. Few other games have followed suit.

Secondly, the gameplay was fantastic. It was easy to grasp, but could become very complex. Whilst both sides shared a similar tech tree, the unit specs differed and gave a different feel to the strategy for each. Mission goals varied, as did the strategy and resources you used to complete them. In short, the game rocked.

The combination of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and C&C: Tiberian Dawn meant that the RTS genre - and the PC - was entrenched within gaming culture. It also meant Blizzard was in business as a serious heavyweight. Blizzard’s reputation would be cemented with the release of Starcraft.

There is one more thing to note about Blizzard. It is one of the very few game developers that always kept mac users in mind. Every game was released for both PC and Mac, or was a game capable of running on both. Many game development companies, knowing that most gamers bought a PC, produced games for the PC. Which in turn meant most gamers bought the PC, because that’s where all the games were. When I turned 20, I switched from PC to a Mac, because in addition to being a gamer, I was also a graphic designer and artist of sorts. Blizzard hence became my favorite game developer. Never underestimate a niche market - PC gamers have been spoiled for choice, and it was much harder to get noticed in the crowd. Get your game into an Apple Store, on the other hand, and you would be one of a handful, in a store that tended to attract fairly wealthy customers with a well-known habit of developing brand loyalty. Whilst the difference between the Mac and the PC has blurred significantly in recent years, with Macs going intel and releasing Bootcamp, and EA releasing their back catalogue for them, the lesson remains: do not dismiss a group solely because everyone else does.

Anyway: Starcraft. A defining game, that leapt away from the idea of similar units and tech trees for each side. Instead, Starcraft utilized three different races with widely differing approaches to battle. One race, the Zerg, gave the gaming world a new word to describe rush attacks, in which you seek to overwhelm the opponent through volume of numbers and speed. Games such as this are much harder to balance than games in which both sides are fairly similar. Starcraft was a masterpiece.

So there we are. RTS games were massively popular. The C&C, Warcraft, and Starcraft series were all entrenched into gaming culture. One other thing that started to become important at this time, was the internet. Multiplayer was a definite option for PC games, with online matches becoming common. There were many problems - people who hacked the games to cheat, slow internet connections, random disconnections. But this was the way of the future, and PC games led the charge.

The Full History

A History of Computer Games: The Early Years
A History of Video Games: The Golden Years
A History of Computer Games: The Plumber is Nigh
A History of Video Games: The Commercial Years
A History of Computer Games: The Strategic Years
A History of Video Games: The Multiplayer Years

Related Posts

• Getting the Balance Right
• A History of Computer Games: The Plumber is Nigh
• A History of Video Games: The Golden Years
• A History of Computer Games: The Early Years
• A History of Video Games: The Commercial Years

6 Responses to “A History of Computer Games: The Stragetic Years

HORNY ANG MOH Says:
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 pm

Hallo! As a RTS gramer I look forward to the new starcraft! Have a nice day!

Keira Peney Says:
January 4th, 2008 at 7:08 am

The new Starcraft promises to be good ^^

blob Says:
January 6th, 2008 at 11:54 am

Any of you play C&C 3?

Gayla Tibbles Says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:03 pm

Thank you for this post, I’ve learned a lot more now about wow bots!! At this moment I’m using ebot, it’s a wowbot and it’s very impressive! You should make a post about that!

Russel Swanton Says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:56 am

Laptops will change the country when they are accessible to everyone financially. Think of every man and women, having a personal laptop.

Benedict Ferriola Says:
June 8th, 2010 at 8:19 pm

Hello , Just noticed you’ve forgotten an important part of every starcraft player’s success story - game replays! And here’s my 2 cents about great games played in beta

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