CA for the last decade has a terrible record of releasing half finished and broken games. It usually takes them a year of constant patching to get their games into an acceptable state. They also don’t have any experience making a traditional style RTS like Halo Wars. Clearly, Relic (Dawn of War/Company of Heroes) would have been a more logical choice.
I’m not entirely sure on Microsoft’s choice of CA, but I’m ok with it.
Since relic was acquired by SEGA, they’ve been pretty dormant. No game releases. Also, CA has already developed on the Xbone. Alien: Isolation, which received generally positive reviews. Again, relic has not.
Microsoft probably wanted the experience that CA has to offer.
CA better not screw up Halo Wars 2. I played there games & they were a bit crappy to be honest.
You would not be the only one who would be disappointed if HW2 is screwed up
Hope it is not a screw up
> 2533274824002906;1:
> CA for the last decade has a terrible record of releasing half finished and broken games. It usually takes them a year of constant patching to get their games into an acceptable state. They also don’t have any experience making a traditional style RTS like Halo Wars. Clearly, Relic (Dawn of War/Company of Heroes) would have been a more logical choice.
Decade? Was unaware Medieval 2, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 were so poorly received and broken as hell. Empire, maybe - if I’m reaching.
Also, who says Wars needs to be a traditional RTS? As an avid player of Ensemble’s previous work, I could almost see the frustration billowing off of the developer’s heads as they tried to make an Age of Empires game work with a controller. Wars is clunky as hell and the resource metagame is maddeningly shallow. Honestly? Halo: Total War sounds pretty swag from my point of view.
I mean, the possibility always exists that we’ll get another Rome 2 or Attila, but if I’m expected to forgive 343’s broken launches and uninspired games…
> 2535421619942348;6:
> > 2533274824002906;1:
> > CA for the last decade has a terrible record of releasing half finished and broken games. It usually takes them a year of constant patching to get their games into an acceptable state. They also don’t have any experience making a traditional style RTS like Halo Wars. Clearly, Relic (Dawn of War/Company of Heroes) would have been a more logical choice.
>
>
> Decade? Was unaware Medieval 2, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 were so poorly received and broken as hell. Empire, maybe - if I’m reaching.
>
> Also, who says Wars needs to be a traditional RTS? As an avid player of Ensemble’s previous work, I could almost see the frustration billowing off of the developer’s heads as they tried to make an Age of Empires game work with a controller. Wars is clunky as hell and the resource metagame is maddeningly shallow. Honestly? Halo: Total War sounds pretty swag from my point of view.
>
> I mean, the possibility always exists that we’ll get another Rome 2 or Attila, but if I’m expected to forgive 343’s broken launches and uninspired games…
Given that Halo Wars (the original) was a clunky RTS it can only be assumed that “Halo Wars 2” will also be an expanded version on an already clunky game. Hell, I like HW even for its odd playstyle.
> 2533274836202597;7:
> > 2535421619942348;6:
> > > 2533274824002906;1:
> > > CA for the last decade has a terrible record of releasing half finished and broken games. It usually takes them a year of constant patching to get their games into an acceptable state. They also don’t have any experience making a traditional style RTS like Halo Wars. Clearly, Relic (Dawn of War/Company of Heroes) would have been a more logical choice.
> >
> >
> > Decade? Was unaware Medieval 2, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 were so poorly received and broken as hell. Empire, maybe - if I’m reaching.
> >
> > Also, who says Wars needs to be a traditional RTS? As an avid player of Ensemble’s previous work, I could almost see the frustration billowing off of the developer’s heads as they tried to make an Age of Empires game work with a controller. Wars is clunky as hell and the resource metagame is maddeningly shallow. Honestly? Halo: Total War sounds pretty swag from my point of view.
> >
> > I mean, the possibility always exists that we’ll get another Rome 2 or Attila, but if I’m expected to forgive 343’s broken launches and uninspired games…
>
>
> Given that Halo Wars (the original) was a clunky RTS it can only be assumed that “Halo Wars 2” will also be an expanded version on an already clunky game. Hell, I like HW even for its odd playstyle.
Yeah, I posted this before I saw the official statement from CA that they were trying to make another game in the Halo Wars vein.
I’m still not a fan, however. Even when using something as simple as the rock paper scissors approach to RTS game design, Wars is a bit cumbersome for me. If the Bumpers could be used to simulate a number pad and the Triggers be used to simulate mouse buttons and the face buttons be relegated to for camera controls/unit micromanagement, we’d have a real winner on our hands. I want a function that would allow me to stick all of my tanks in the same squad and be able to move this - and only this - unique squad around with a touch of the bumpers and a flick of the triggers. It’d be so much more intuitive than War’s setup, imo.
> 2535421619942348;8:
> > 2533274836202597;7:
> > > 2535421619942348;6:
> > > > 2533274824002906;1:
> > > > CA for the last decade has a terrible record of releasing half finished and broken games. It usually takes them a year of constant patching to get their games into an acceptable state. They also don’t have any experience making a traditional style RTS like Halo Wars. Clearly, Relic (Dawn of War/Company of Heroes) would have been a more logical choice.
> > >
> > >
> > > Decade? Was unaware Medieval 2, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 were so poorly received and broken as hell. Empire, maybe - if I’m reaching.
> > >
> > > Also, who says Wars needs to be a traditional RTS? As an avid player of Ensemble’s previous work, I could almost see the frustration billowing off of the developer’s heads as they tried to make an Age of Empires game work with a controller. Wars is clunky as hell and the resource metagame is maddeningly shallow. Honestly? Halo: Total War sounds pretty swag from my point of view.
> > >
> > > I mean, the possibility always exists that we’ll get another Rome 2 or Attila, but if I’m expected to forgive 343’s broken launches and uninspired games…
> >
> >
> > Given that Halo Wars (the original) was a clunky RTS it can only be assumed that “Halo Wars 2” will also be an expanded version on an already clunky game. Hell, I like HW even for its odd playstyle.
>
>
> Yeah, I posted this before I saw the official statement from CA that they were trying to make another game in the Halo Wars vein.
>
> I’m still not a fan, however. Even when using something as simple as the rock paper scissors approach to RTS game design, Wars is a bit cumbersome for me. If the Bumpers could be used to simulate a number pad and the Triggers be used to simulate mouse buttons and the face buttons be relegated to for camera controls/unit micromanagement, we’d have a real winner on our hands. I want a function that would allow me to stick all of my tanks in the same squad and be able to move this - and only this - unique squad around with a touch of the bumpers and a flick of the triggers. It’d be so much more intuitive than War’s setup, imo.
I see what you are getting at when talking about simulating PC controls. I agree with you that the controls could be reworked to better allow for for the flow of the game. However, I believe that doing what you are stating might cause more confusion for the general players. To give an example, Starcraft 2. There are so many controls and hotkeys that for the average player to figure it out, there is way too high of a learning curve. It is exactly this fact that causes many new players to be deterred. While Halo Wars was a bit clunky, it was easy to get the hang of and be able to pick up.
> 2533274836202597;9:
> > 2535421619942348;8:
> > > 2533274836202597;7:
> > > > 2535421619942348;6:
> > > > > 2533274824002906;1:
> > > > > CA for the last decade has a terrible record of releasing half finished and broken games. It usually takes them a year of constant patching to get their games into an acceptable state. They also don’t have any experience making a traditional style RTS like Halo Wars. Clearly, Relic (Dawn of War/Company of Heroes) would have been a more logical choice.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Decade? Was unaware Medieval 2, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 were so poorly received and broken as hell. Empire, maybe - if I’m reaching.
> > > >
> > > > Also, who says Wars needs to be a traditional RTS? As an avid player of Ensemble’s previous work, I could almost see the frustration billowing off of the developer’s heads as they tried to make an Age of Empires game work with a controller. Wars is clunky as hell and the resource metagame is maddeningly shallow. Honestly? Halo: Total War sounds pretty swag from my point of view.
> > > >
> > > > I mean, the possibility always exists that we’ll get another Rome 2 or Attila, but if I’m expected to forgive 343’s broken launches and uninspired games…
> > >
> > >
> > > Given that Halo Wars (the original) was a clunky RTS it can only be assumed that “Halo Wars 2” will also be an expanded version on an already clunky game. Hell, I like HW even for its odd playstyle.
> >
> >
> > Yeah, I posted this before I saw the official statement from CA that they were trying to make another game in the Halo Wars vein.
> >
> > I’m still not a fan, however. Even when using something as simple as the rock paper scissors approach to RTS game design, Wars is a bit cumbersome for me. If the Bumpers could be used to simulate a number pad and the Triggers be used to simulate mouse buttons and the face buttons be relegated to for camera controls/unit micromanagement, we’d have a real winner on our hands. I want a function that would allow me to stick all of my tanks in the same squad and be able to move this - and only this - unique squad around with a touch of the bumpers and a flick of the triggers. It’d be so much more intuitive than War’s setup, imo.
>
>
> I see what you are getting at when talking about simulating PC controls. I agree with you that the controls could be reworked to better allow for for the flow of the game. However, I believe that doing what you are stating might cause more confusion for the general players. To give an example, Starcraft 2. There are so many controls and hotkeys that for the average player to figure it out, there is way too high of a learning curve. It is exactly this fact that causes many new players to be deterred. While Halo Wars was a bit clunky, it was easy to get the hang of and be able to pick up.
A high learning curve will only breed deeper competitive play. Need we forget that this was Bungie’s position in 2001? Taking a genre that had previously only been successful on PC and making it work fluidly and beautifully for console? Was CE as complicated as System Shock? Hell no. Did that make it an inferior game? I wouldn’t say so.
Human beings are a smart bunch - especially the strategy players. I’m honestly just trying to makes this process as user friendly as I can.
I’ll also say that the hotkeys in Starcraft aren’t actually that bad. It really comes down to hitting Ctrl or Shift with another key, most of the time. Pushing down on an Analog Stick could have a similar effect. If we’re using command hotkeys, like “A,” “C,” “P” or “S” that could be a trigger pull and then a face button: “A,” “X,” “Y” or “B” for very similar results.
What I’m getting at is that an RTS could survive in a simplified respect on Console without sacrificing the keyboard and mouse’s inherent usefulness.
One can only hope they do a good job.
In my humble opinion, creating a good control scheme for a console RTS is the hardest issue to resolve. Ensemble did a decent job of it. It could potentially have been better, but it wasn’t bad and it was much better than any predecessor RTS’s on console.