Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Real Time Strategy (RTS)
Although
Dune II
(Westwood Interactive, 1992) basically set the
standard for real time strategy gameplay, it was their best-selling classic
Command & Conquer
(1995), that dei ned this genre. The game featured
isometric views, a large map, and many combat opportunities, but it also
required substantial resource acquisition and technology to maintain the
player's military production capacity. Other popular titles include the
Age
of Empires
series from Microsoft with a broad historical view, and
Starcraft
from Blizzard Interactive, set in a futuristic background.
Turn-Based Strategy (TBS)
Though
Risk
i ts into the category of turn-based strategy games, Sid
Meier's excellent, highly inl uential
Civilization
series became the gold
standard of TBS. The player directs an entire civilization from the birth
of the Stone Age to the future and possibly beyond by practicing the
4X rule: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. (Maybe they should
have called it the 4E rule?) The player develops and builds technologies,
cities, infrastructure, industry, production, and, of course, armies to
conquer, ally with, and betray opponents, as the player sees i t. The
player is the leader but must remember that every action has an equal
and opposite reaction. The gameplay balance in
Civilization
became the
model for turn-based strategy games of all types.
Kent Jolly, Audio Director
at Electronic/Arts has
worked on the
SimCity
series since
SimCity 3000
,
The Sims
,
The Sims2
, and
Spore
. Here's his take on
the special challenges
involved in designing
sound for strategy
games:
“
h ere are several things about working on Strategy/Simulation games
that I think are dif erent from other genres. First, there's the fact that
the camera view is usually a displaced
'
God
'
type view. Accurate 3D
sound sources often work against you when you want to highlight
particular actions or areas of the screen. So, a continuous loud sound
