MMORTS? Is it possible?

Jimmy_Scythe · July 2005

I'm a strategy geek and I've been thinking alot about combining RTS elements into MMORPGs for awhile now. However, before we can do that we need to make an MMORTS. We have the RPG side pretty much figured out. The RTS side though? Well.....

Right now, the only "massive" strategy games out there are turn based. Massive assault, Laser Squad Nemisis, Artifact, etc. The only RTS style games I can think of are Time of Defiance and the now dead Legacy Online by Sega. Both games Put the players right at the top of the heap and pace the game so that the player only needs to check in a maintain their empire for an hour or two a day. What I'm thinking of is more like Darkspace or Shattered Galaxy. Beginning level players start with a small group of units they Purchase and, as they accomplish goals, they can expand the units under their command as well as be promoted in rank. A higher level player could also award or assign one of their units to a lower ranking member of their faction. Missions for each player would be set by the highest ranking player in their guild on the field. The problem with this model is that the higher you go in rank, the less you actually get to play. Also, assigning missions to human beings that will ignore you will lead to quick defeat.

These are my questions:

Is it possible to make an RTS game with 500+ players on the server at once?

If so, how could it be done so that you weren't overun while offline?

Would it require a different command interface for the highest ranking players, or would we just zoom out the players view and add hot keys for all the active, lower ranking players in the gam?

I'm sure you can think of more questions than that, but it's a good start. Notice that I haven't even asked the most important question. Would anybody play the damn thing?

scaramoosh · July 2005

Black and white 2

mmorpg! WOot

Hyoukan · July 2005

The thing is you'd have 500 players with like 1,000-10,000 units each (not including the possible NPC's), and of course the units will have to be able to do your bidding while offline (which is the easy part) such as defending, gathering, patrolling, and I think that would create a HUGE server load.

Ontop of this I'm sure SOME players would be addicting like 18 hours a day of play, eventually you'd have a couple players controlling most of the game and new players will have little chance to do anything. And if this is so, then monthly, bi-monthly wipes might be proposed, from my experience, I dont believe many players like their shit being wiped when they pay monthly.

If done right I would definately play a MMORTS, just dont know how it can be done right .

Kem0sabe · July 2005

I think the current multiplayer format of todays RTS games is pretty satisfying as it is. I dont think RTS games lend themselfs to persistent online play, games like starcraft, C&C, Age of Empires and warcraft 3 amongst many others, these games when played online are a blast, fast paced and furious gameplay, thats how it should be, 6-8 players max, battling it out on a map.

Dont think a MMORTS is going to be coming anytime soon, at least one with a development budget as large as a high quality mmorpg, that would mean monthly fees and i for one would not pay a monthly fee for a MMORTS, would have to be a trully great RTS for me to do that.

Wombatica · July 2005

Has anyone checked out Gods & Heroes? Their RTS elements should make for a really interesting mix if it all works as planned. It's not a full-fledged RTS, but uses squad based tactical combat to complete objectives.

Jimmy_Scythe · July 2005

My original idea was kind of like a really big and slow version of Savage: The Battle for Newerth. With the players doing alot of what they would normally do in a MMORPG and higher ranking faction members calling the shots on the overall strategic picture. I also thought that using NPC bots for resource gathering and cannon fodder would cut out alot of the tedium in this play style. The number of NPC bots you could command would be equal to a leadership stat or some such. Players could outfit their "army" before leadingit off into battle and what not. Factions would also have to create new serfs to replace ones that were killed during raids. I just started looking at the PvP side and thought that there should be a little more at stake. MMORPGs are pointless enough as it is. If we introduced RTS elements to the game we could have some context for what's happening in the game.

nubbins · July 2005

one word >>>ballerium<<<

GeneralDoli · July 2005

Gods and Heroes lets you have somewhere around 7 followers. Oh wow.

Oh, wait. So you're saying squad based combat is an RTS feature? OHHHH, so Rainbow Six is an RTS. So are all the other squad based FPSes out there. And Baldur's Gate, since it has a group of party members you can directly control.

Zaradis · July 2005

there is ballerium that has been in beta forever but it's been fun playing beta and i'll probably end up buying it when it comes out

LordMagnus · July 2005

http://www.sgalaxy.com/

That's the only thing that comes close to an mmorts. maybe navyfield also. http://navyfield.com/

Elapsed · July 2005

I think it's near impossible to make a true MMORTS, at least make one that is fun and balanced. I could get into a lot of theoretical details but I've come to the conclusion a lot of modifications have to be done to the normal RTS model in order for it to work and even be worth playing.

Howdy, Stranger!

MMORTS? Is it possible?

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

MMORTS? Is it possible?

Comments