benhubel

Perhaps it could be done by using a standard AI script that has been edited to take general commands from the player. This way there is no major change in the game engine, and it would solve the part about sending archers to the front lines, since the AI would handle that part. In fact, if we really wanted to dumb it down, we could let the AI handle which types of units to build unless otherwise specified by the player.

I must support the idea of alternate game modes. It would be nice to be able to add one or more additional game modes that have never shown up in other games before. Here are some suggestions that may or may not have been seen before: Zombie survival mode: Zombies are continually coming from all over the map, and your goal is to last as long as you can. The zombies get more numerous as time goes by. This might be combined with multiplayer play to either hold out longer or to combine forces. Autonomous mode: The units move on their own and the player just gives general commands. This idea is based off of the Globulation style gameplay. Creating the AI could be done essentially by pulling it directly from Globulation with the necessary tweaks. Speed edit mode: You are able to increase or decrease the game speed during multiplayer by either earning bonuses in game or using resources. For example, if you want to increase game speed, you pay perhaps 500 gold to increase speed one level. This could be used to throw off the other players tactics. Decay mode: Everything is continually losing hp and for buildings you have to continually repair them, and units have to hunt, farm, or some other method to restore health. This would take a lot of micromanagement, so it might be part of Autonomous mode. Extermination: One player is the hunter, and can build anything. The other is the rats, and they can only build economic stuff. The hunters job is obviously to exterminate the rat, and the rats job is survive by massive numbers alone. CTF: Simple capture the flag. I don't remember any other RTS game with this. Tower defense: Self explanatory, build towers and defend from waves of enemies like any other tower defense game. Perhaps there can be additional towers in this mode that don't show up in the actual game. I'm running out of ideas, but it would be cool to see some of these implemented. I personally am not a programmer, so I am unable to do the coding part, but I am a 3d modeler, so if any of them require additional art, I could probably help with that.

"Old School RTS games" might be a dying breed, but they will never completely die. There are WAY too many people who play them for the genre to die. Supply and demand says that there will probably be more good ones coming up in the near future. (For example 0 A.D. ) On the subject of random events, the game can successfully dump terrible random events on the player if it is based on a choice the player made(for example, the player makes a nuclear power plant, and then it fails and destroys everything)