Real-time tactics

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Real-time tactics (RTT) is a genre of games that simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and the operational ("military tactical") aspects of battles.

Characteristics of RTT games

Real-time tactical games are computer tactical wargames: war games of military tactics as realistically as possible representing actual or fictional military operations. The focus and goal of RTT games is to conquer the field of immediate conflict through offensive and defensive utilization of extant resources, like in Chess, but in real time. Thus, unlike conventional turn-based strategy video or board games, RTT games do not have "turns," where players can take as long as they want to make a move. Rather, game time progresses in "real time"; that is, it is continuous rather than turn-by-turn.

The genre classification debate: RTT or RTS?

The genre classification of real-time military computer games is a topic of current dispute. Real-time tactics games, which is a genre comparatively sparse of titles, are often categorised as exemplars of the more popular, well-populated, and thus recognisable real-time strategy (RTS) genre. This has been a source of dispute between two principal camps: on the one side there are those who argues that all military games played in real-time are "real-time strategy" games; on the other side those who argue that "RTT" titles display fundamental and consistent differences enough from other related genres (such as real-time strategy, turn-based strategy and turn-based tactics) to make it an unique genre. This debate can be argued to be part of a greater lack of definition of genres: various games of distinct and recognised genres, f.i. SimCity and Railroad Tycoon, are recurringly called RTS for being more-or-less in real-time and of a strategic nature. The difficulty of keeping up with genres and opinions has been recognised and for instance the Swedish computer games magazine PC Gamer use only the genre denomination "strategy" to refer to games of RTT, RTS or similar genres.

Real-time strategy games are characterised by that the player exerts direct control over individual units, resource gathering, base and unit construction and technology development, micro-managing a complete albeit stylised production economy as well as a likewise generally very simplified and stylised combat model with limited tactical options sometimes bearing little resemblence to actual military tactics. Thus, RTS titles generally encourage the player to focus on logistics and production as much as directing the confrontation of combat units. RTT games, on the other hand, do not feature resource-gathering, production, base-building or economic management, instead principally focusing on tactical and operational aspects of warfare like unit formations or exploitation of terrain for tactical advantage. In typical RTT games, the player is expected to finish the battle with a given amount of troops and resources which tends to create radically different gameplay from standard RTS titles.

Brief history and background

Wargaming with items or figurines representing soldiers or units for training or enterntainment has been common for as long as organised conflicts: Chess, for example, is based on essentialised battlefield movements of medieval unit types and, beyond the diversion, is intended to instill in players a rudimentary sense of battlefield tactics. Today, miniature wargaming, where players mount armies of miniature figurines to battle each other, has become popular (e.g., see Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40000). Though similar to conventional modern board wargames, like Axis & Allies, in the sense of simulating war and being turn-based, the rules for miniature wargames tend to attempt to recreate the minutiae of military combat rather than the strategic scale. Though popular as table-top games, tactical wargames were relatively late in coming to computers, probably because the game mechanics—games featuring often massive amounts of units and individual soldiers as well as advanced rules—would have required hardware capacities and advanced interface designs, thus making demands available hardware or software design idioms couldn't fullfill. Also, since most extant rule sets were for turn-based table-top games, the conceptual leap to translate these categories to real-time might have needed time to gestate. Free Fall Associates' Archon from 1983 can be considered an early computer tactical game built upon Chess, but including real-time battle sequences. Archon was highly influential, and for instance, Silicon Knights, Inc.'s 1994 game/ Dark Legions was virtually identical to it, only adding to Archon's concept that the player, as in many table-top wargames, purchases his army before committing to battle. Nonetheless, by 1994 there were still few, if any, purely real-time tactical games.

Around 1995, however, computer hardware and developer support systems had developed enough to facilitate the requirements of large-scale real-time tactical games and the regimentally focused wargame ', based on the highly popular Warhammer Fantasy Battle rules, was released for Windows 95. It was groundbreaking not only in that it focused purely on the operational aspects of combat (with all aspects pertaining unit maneuvering, formations, support tactics, terrain, etc.), or in that it was real-time, but also that it introduced zoomable and rotatable 3D graphics (something which took almost eight more years to become established in RTT's distant cousin genre RTS; it could be argued that the nature of RTT-games and the genre's focus lends more naturally to 3D representation, while the faster pace, rapid-click, highly stylized nature of RTS games were better presented in 2D). Note, however, that RTT games need not be in 3D: the Close Combat series as well as Sudden Strike, both successful titles, functioned in two dimensions. Close Combat, released in 1996 by Atomic Games, is a simulation of squad- and platoon-type WW2 combat tactics and introduced a higher degree of operational realism than seen before. In 1997, Bungie released Myth, which introduced radically larger battlefields than ever before, and in 2000, Creative Assembly created ' which took this even further, as well as introducing historical and tactical realism on levels until then unheard of in real-time computer games. Succeeding titles have expanded on this and the third installation in the series, (2004), features geographically vast, epic-scale, highly detailed, and realistic battles in full 3D.

Selected titles

Though there are no real sub-genres to RTT games there are a few stereotypical settings most titles can be sorted under.

Games in older-historical settings

RTT games set in older history generally try to accurately represent and recreate antique or medieval warfare. Good examples are the Total War games, whose battle portions of are fully RTT. Set in selected historical and archetypal eras, the games attempt to achieve a high level of historial and representational correctness. (2000), the first game in the series, recreates 17th-century Japanese warfare. Its sequel, (2002), went back in time and simulated large-scale battles and sieges under the Crusades. The third installation in the series, (2004), kept to the trend of retreating back in time and recreated Roman warfare. A forth installment, , is currently under development and scheduled for release in November 2006.

Fantasy settings

Fantasy RTT games are in large usually similar to games set in older history but incorporate fictional races and/or magic into the systems. Representative examples of exclusively tactical 3D wargames set in medieval high-fantasy worlds are (1995), (1998), and the three Myth games (1997, 1998 and 2001). In the two Warhammer titles—two of the very first instances of full-featured RTT games—all interactable entities, except for a few hero characters, are complete rank-and-file units, which can assume different formations (though unlike the Warhammer games, individual troops can be selected and ordered into formations in the Myth games). A third, unrelated, installment to the Warhammer Fantasy Battle franchise, , is currently under development by Black Hole Entertainment and sceduled for a late 2006 release. The scope of these games tend toward skirmishes rather than full-fledged army battles. Though you may receive reinforcements between battles, when a battle has ensued, you in principal must complete the conflict with the troops you started with.

Games set in the Napoleonic era

RTT games set in the Napoleonic age purport to represent the massive, epic-scale conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries. Especially popular are simulations of the American Civil War. Firaxis Games' Sid Meier's Gettysburg! (1997) and its sequel Sid Meier's Antietam! (1998) are well-known examples of RTT titles situated in the American Civil War. Another, more recent RTT of the American Civil War is The History Channel Civil War: The Battle of Bull Run, which, however, created little stir. Noteworthy also is Firaxis and BreakAway Games' , based on the same engine as Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, which recreates Napoleon Bonaparte's last and most famous battle of 1815.

Games set in

Screenshot from Close Combat III: The Russian Front.

These games tend to focus on the change of tactics and formations forced by the advent of accurate rapid-fire technology and mechanized warfare.

The games of the Close Combat series are situated in the mid-1940s' WW2. The games tries to simulate the operational aspects of close-combat confrontations, including infantry, mechanized units, and artillery support in a highly realistic manner. Soldiers have different weapons and equipment, limited ammunition, individual psychology, and suffer from degraded performance depending on their level of injury. Similarly, Fireglow Games' Sudden Strike (2000) is also a WW2 combat game, but with greater focus on larger-scale battles, mechanized tactics, and less on individual psychology and story-driven script.

Futuristic settings

Futuristic RTT titles are often dystopic visions of post-apocalyptic anarchy.

Massive Entertainment's Ground Control (2000) is a high-tech and futuristic fast-paced action-oriented 3D RTT. It is similar to conventional sci-fi RTS titles, like Command & Conquer and Total Annihilation, but with more focus on tactical considerations, no resource management and no unit construction. Its RTT feature highly shines upon Away missions, in which one must work with limited units one has personally selected to perform a task away from one's base. Blue Tongue Entertainment's Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy (2000) is a squad-based action-oriented RTT based on Robert A. Heinlein's book, Starship Troopers. FASA Studios' MechCommander (1998) recreated and leveraged the MechWarrior table-top game.

Screenshots

image:WHSHR-Screen2.png|Casualties littering the field in . image:Shogun Total War Assault the Bridge.jpg|Infantry assault a bridge in dismal weather in . image:Medieval Total War - poised for battle.jpg|Crusader army assembled for battle in . Image:Myth screenshot.jpg|Scene from Myth image:The History Channel Civil War The Battle of Bull Run.jpg|Union commander overseeing troop disposition in The History Channel Civil War: The Battle of Bull Run. image:Waterloo - Napoleon's Last Battle.jpg|French cavalry charging British position in . image:Sudden Strike - Boom.jpg|Screenshot from Sudden Strike. image:Starship Troopers - Terran Ascendancy.jpg|Bugs burning in Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy. image:MechCommander - PPC.jpg|Battlemechs are made ex-Mechs in MechCommander.

See also

• Turn-based tactics
• Turn-based strategy
• Strategy game
• Tactical wargames
• Real-time strategy
• RTT games in the List of computer and video games by genre article
• List of military tactics
• Warfare

References

• "The State of the RTS", 2006 article at IGN: [link]

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