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125-406: The Sun is dying due to a sudden black hole formation in its decaying orbit and humans have transferred as much technology and resources as possible and left on a one way mission to populate another planet. It borrows elements from RTS , FPS , RPG , Voxel builder, Tower defense and Physics sandbox genres. The game is about life on the planet of Atlas where the gameplay character is living. During

250-485: A DRM free copy of the game was uploaded to the developer's website. The developers also announced that they had no plans for further development of the game. Real-time strategy Real-time strategy ( RTS ) is a subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turns , but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to play. The term "real-time strategy"

375-483: A Kickstarter project – "ebook stravaganza 3000" – to fund the conversion of 3,000 comics, written over 12 years, into a single "humongous" e-book to be released both for free and through the iBookstore; launched 8 February 2012, with the goal of raising $ 3,000 in 30 days. The "payment optional" DRM-free model in this case was adopted on Stevens' view that "there is a class of webcomics reader who would prefer to read in large chunks and, even better, would be willing to spend

500-468: A god game , where the player assumes a god-like role of creation. The genre recognized today as "real-time strategy" emerged from an extended period of evolution and refinement. Games sometimes perceived as ancestors of the real-time strategy genre were never marketed or designed as such. As a result, designating "early real-time strategy" titles is problematic because such games are being held up to modern standards. The genre initially evolved separately in

625-464: A split-screen two-player mode where both players are in action simultaneously and there are no pauses while decisions are taken, forcing players to think quickly while on the move. In Herzog Zwei , though the player only controls one unit, the manner of control foreshadowed the point-and-click mechanic of later games. Scott Sharkey of 1UP argues that it introduced much of the genre conventions, including unit construction and resource management, with

750-445: A CSS-encrypted DVD to play on a computer running Linux , at a time when no compliant DVD player for Linux had yet been created. The legality of DeCSS is questionable: one of its authors was sued, and reproduction of the keys themselves is subject to restrictions as illegal numbers . More modern examples include ADEPT , FairPlay , Advanced Access Content System . The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT)

875-540: A DRM-free version. Websites – such as library.nu (shut down by court order on 15 February 2012), BookFi, BookFinder , Library Genesis , and Sci-Hub  – allowed e-book downloading by violating copyright. As of 2013, other developers, such as Blizzard Entertainment put most of the game logic is on the "side" or taken care of by the servers of the game maker. Blizzard uses this strategy for its game Diablo III and Electronic Arts used this same strategy with their reboot of SimCity ,

1000-511: A Ubisoft server for the game. Later that month, a real crack was released that was able to remove the connection requirement altogether. In March 2010, Uplay servers suffered a period of inaccessibility due to a large-scale DDoS attack , causing around 5% of game owners to become locked out of playing their game. The company later credited owners of the affected games with a free download, and there has been no further downtime. In 2011, comedian Louis C.K. released his concert film Live at

1125-472: A cash payout or album downloads free of DRM. Microsoft's media player Zune released in 2006 did not support content that used Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM scheme. Windows Media DRM , reads instructions from media files in a rights management language that states what the user may do with the media. Later versions of Windows Media DRM implemented music subscription services that make downloaded files unplayable after subscriptions are cancelled, along with

1250-522: A dual-layer map; three-layer (orbit-surface-underground) maps were introduced in Metal Fatigue . In addition, units could even be transported to entirely separate maps, with each map having its own window in the user interface. Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon (2001) offered a simpler model: the main map contains locations that expand into their own maps. In these examples, however, the gameplay

1375-598: A game combining both turn-based game and real-time-strategy is The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II which allows players, in a 'War of the Ring' game, to play a turn-based strategy game, but also battle each other in real time. A second criticism of the RTS genre is the importance of skill over strategy in real-time strategy games. The manual dexterity and ability to multitask and divide one's attention

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1500-459: A key gameplay consideration, a significant example being StarCraft , while other titles have no such unit cap. Micromanagement deals with a player's constant need to manage and maintain individual units and resources on a fine scale. On the other hand, macromanagement refers to a player's management of economic expansion and large-scale strategic maneuvering, allowing the player time to think and consider possible solutions. Micromanagement involves

1625-466: A little money on it." In February 2012, Double Fine asked for crowdfunding for an upcoming video game, Double Fine Adventure , on Kickstarter and offered the game DRM-free for backers. This project exceeded its original goal of $ 400,000 in 45 days, raising in excess of $ 2 million. Crowdfunding acted as a pre-order or alternatively as a subscription . After the success of Double Fine Adventure , many games were crowd-funded and many offered

1750-448: A military force. Command & Conquer (1995), as well as Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996), became the most popular early RTS games. These two games contended with Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness after its release in late 1995. Total Annihilation , released by Cavedog Entertainment in 1997, introduced 3D units and terrain and focused on huge battles that emphasized macromanagement over micromanagement . It featured

1875-426: A mobile game published by Supercell , is a good example of a game which modified the RTS format into a simpler mobile experience. While often classified in the broader Strategy game genre, Clash of Clans still possesses many of the classic RTS elements, such as a "perspective of god", control over buildings and mobile units, and resource management. It also introduces and simplifies specific elements of an RTS to fit

2000-595: A physical, analog or broadcast form into a digital form for portability or later use. Combined with the Internet and file-sharing tools, made unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content ( digital piracy ) much easier. DRM became a major concern with the growth of the Internet in the 1990s, as piracy crushed CD sales and online video became popular. It peaked in the early 2000s as various countries attempted to respond with legislation and regulations and dissipated in

2125-604: A physics engine is Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires III , released on October 18, 2005, which used the Havok Game Dynamics SDK to power its real-time physics. Company of Heroes is another real-time strategy game that uses realistically modeled physics as a part of gameplay, including fully destructible environments . RTS World tournaments have been held for both StarCraft and Warcraft III since their 1998 and 2002 releases. The games have been so successful that some players have earned over $ 200,000 at

2250-475: A presentation at DEF CON . The DMCA has been cited as chilling to legitimate users; such as security consultants including Niels Ferguson , who declined to publish vulnerabilities he discovered in Intel 's secure-computing scheme due to fear of arrest under DMCA; and blind or visually impaired users of screen readers or other assistive technologies . In 1999, Jon Lech Johansen released DeCSS , which allowed

2375-472: A process key was published by hackers, which enabled unrestricted access to AACS-protected content. In January 2007, EMI stopped publishing audio CDs with DRM, stating that "the costs of DRM do not measure up to the results." In March, Musicload.de, one of Europe's largest internet music retailers, announced their position strongly against DRM. In an open letter, Musicload stated that three out of every four calls to their customer support phone service are as

2500-477: A result of consumer frustration with DRM. Apple Inc. made music DRM-free after April 2007 and labeled all music as "DRM-Free" after 2008. Other works sold on iTunes such as apps, audiobooks, movies, and TV shows are protected by DRM. A notable DRM failure happened in November 2007, when videos purchased from Major League Baseball prior to 2006 became unplayable due to a change to the servers that validate

2625-661: A set of troops across various enemy-filled levels. TechnoSoft 's Herzog (1988) is regarded as a precursor to the real-time strategy genre, being the predecessor to Herzog Zwei and somewhat similar in nature, though primitive in comparison. IGN cites Herzog Zwei , released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1989 as "arguably the first RTS game ever", and it is often cited as "the first real-time strategy game" according to Ars Technica . It combines traditional strategy gameplay with fully real-time, fast-paced, arcade -style action gameplay , featuring

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2750-547: A strategic control-point system, in which control over strategic points yields construction/reinforcement points. Ground Control (2000) was the first such game to replace individual units with "squads". Others are moving away from the traditional real-time strategy game model with the addition of other genre elements. One example is Sins of a Solar Empire (2008), released by Ironclad Games , which mixes elements of grand-scale stellar empire building games like Master of Orion with real-time strategy elements. Another example

2875-424: A strategy map and a battle map (in full real-time) and the player can at any point in time seamlessly zoom in and out in between both. A third common criticism is that real-time gameplay often degenerates into " rushes " where the players try to gain the advantage and subsequently defeat the opponent as quickly in the game as possible, preferably before the opposition is capable of successfully reacting. For example,

3000-549: A stream specification determining whether a stream can be recorded. This could block instances of fair use, such as time-shifting . It achieved more success elsewhere when it was adopted by the Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB), a consortium of about 250 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers, and regulatory bodies from about 35 countries involved in attempting to develop new digital TV standards. In January 2001,

3125-481: A streamlined interface that would influence many RTS games in later years. Age of Empires , released by Ensemble Studios in 1997, tried to put a game in a slower pace, combining elements of Civilization with the real-time strategy concept by introducing ages of technologies. In 1998, Blizzard released the game StarCraft , which became an international phenomenon and is still played in large professional leagues to this day. Collectively, all of these games defined

3250-554: A strict non-DRM policy. Baen Books and O'Reilly Media , dropped DRM prior to 2012, when Tor Books , a major publisher of science fiction and fantasy books, first sold DRM-free e-books . The Axmedis project completed in 2008. It was a European Commission Integrated Project of the FP6, has as its main goal automating content production, copy protection , and distribution, to reduce the related costs, and to support DRM at both B2B and B2C areas, harmonizing them. The INDICARE project

3375-554: A thousand years, the gravitational tidal forces would become too great for any planet in the solar system to be habitable. To deal with this oncoming catastrophe, the citizens of Earth created the New Space Initiative. Observatories scanned the galaxy for new habitable planets while archives of ones currently known were rechecked. Finally, one planet was found and deemed habitable. It was named Atlas. At that time, scientists discovered how to make objects travel at almost

3500-465: A traditional RTS experience. In a typical real-time strategy game, the screen is divided into a map area displaying the game world and terrain, units, and buildings, and an interface overlay containing command and production controls and often a "radar" or "minimap" overview of the entire map. The player is usually given an isometric perspective of the world, or a free-roaming camera from an aerial viewpoint for modern 3D games. Players mainly scroll

3625-400: Is commonly the main focus of the RTS games, but other titles of the genre place higher gameplay significance to how units are used in combat ( Z: Steel Soldiers for example, awards credits for territory captured rather than gathered resources), the extreme example of which are games of the real-time tactical genre. Some titles impose a ceiling on the number simultaneous troops, which becomes

3750-499: Is controversial. There is an absence of evidence about the DRM capability in preventing copyright infringement , some complaints by legitimate customers for caused inconveniences, and a suspicion of stifling innovation and competition. Furthermore, works can become permanently inaccessible if the DRM scheme changes or if a required service is discontinued. DRM technologies have been criticized for restricting individuals from copying or using

3875-517: Is indie game Achron (2011), which incorporates time travel as a game mechanic, allowing a player to send units forward or backward in time. Multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA) have originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy games, however this fusion of real-time strategy, role-playing , and action games has lost many traditional RTS elements. These type of games moved away from constructing additional structures, base management, army building, and controlling additional units. Map and

StarForge - Misplaced Pages Continue

4000-626: Is often considered the most important aspect to succeeding at the RTS genre. According to Troy Dunniway, former Westwood developer who has also worked on Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars : "A player controls hundreds of units, dozens of buildings and many different events that are all happening simultaneously. There is only one player, and he can only pay attention to one thing at a time. Expert players can quickly flip between many different tasks, while casual gamers have more problems with this." Real-time strategy games have been criticized for an overabundance of tactical considerations when compared to

4125-475: Is that success involves not just fast clicking, but also the ability to make sound decisions under time pressure. The "clickfest" argument is also often voiced alongside a "button babysitting" criticism, which pointed out that a great deal of game time is spent either waiting and watching for the next time a production button could be clicked, or rapidly alternating between different units and buildings, clicking their respective button. Some titles attempt to merge

4250-485: Is that they too often have the same strategy: produce faster than you consume. He also states that building and managing armies is the conventional definition of real-time strategy, and that it is unfair to make comparisons with other genres. In an article for GameSpy , Mark Walker criticizes real-time strategy games for their lack of combat tactics, suggesting real-time tactics games as a more suitable substitute. He also says that developers need to begin looking outside

4375-624: The Bloons Tower Defense series (2007-2021), and more have (varyingly) adapted the RTS format in the same manner as Clash of Clans , and in turn developed a style of RTS unique to the mobile game industry. Beginning in the early-mid 2010s, the expansion of the Indie game market on game developer Valve Corporation 's gaming distribution service, Steam , allowed RTS game developers to produce smaller-scale and increasingly accessible Indie-RTS games. These RTS games often are more true to

4500-690: The Warcraft III World Championships . In addition, hundreds of StarCraft II tournaments are held yearly, as it is becoming an increasingly popular branch of e-sports . Notable tournaments include MLG , GSL , and Dreamhack . RTS tournaments are especially popular in South Korea . Digital rights management Digital rights management ( DRM ) is the management of legal access to digital content . Various tools or technological protection measures ( TPM ), such as access control technologies, can restrict

4625-506: The PC platform. Real-time strategy games made for video game consoles have been consistently criticized due to their control schemes, as the PC's keyboard and mouse are considered to be superior to a console's gamepad for the genre. Thus, RTS games for home consoles have been met with mixed success. Scott Sharkey of 1UP notes that Herzog Zwei had already "offered a nearly perfect solution to

4750-467: The ZX Spectrum , and Nether Earth for ZX Spectrum in 1987. In North America, the oldest game retrospectively classified as real-time strategy by several sources is The Ancient Art of War (1984), designed by Dave and Barry Murry of Evryware, followed by The Ancient Art of War at Sea in 1987. In Japan, the earliest is Bokosuka Wars (1983), an early strategy RPG (or "simulation RPG");

4875-422: The public domain and that the company that published and sold on Amazon's service had no right to do so. Ubisoft formally announced a return to online authentication on 9 February 2010, through its Uplay online game platform, starting with Silent Hunter 5 , The Settlers 7 , and Assassin's Creed II . Silent Hunter 5 was first reported to have been compromised within 24 hours of release, but users of

5000-452: The public domain . The rise of digital media and analog-to-digital conversion technologies has increased the concerns of copyright-owners, particularly within the music and video industries. While analog media inevitably lose quality with each copy generation and during normal use, digital media files may be duplicated without limit with no degradation. Digital devices make it convenient for consumers to convert ( rip ) media originally in

5125-411: The real-time tactics (RTT) template, have moved toward an increased focus on tactics while downplaying traditional resource management, in which designated units collect the resources used for producing further units or buildings. Titles like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004), Star Wars: Empire at War (2006), and Company of Heroes (2006) replace the traditional resource gathering model with

StarForge - Misplaced Pages Continue

5250-443: The "nostalgia" of classic RTS games. Rusted Warfare (2017), is an indie-mobile release which is a good example of a traditional-style RTS which utilizes assets from the unreleased Hard Vacuum (1993) to create a "revived" RTS experience. Hard Vacuum was intended to include "resource gathering from mineral deposits", "base building", and "a wide range of fighting with units". Rusted Warfare and other traditional RTS titles utilized

5375-593: The 2010s as social media and streaming services largely replaced piracy and content providers elaborated next-generation business models. In 1983, the Software Service System (SSS) devised by the Japanese engineer Ryuichi Moriya was the first example of DRM technology. It was subsequently refined under the name superdistribution . The SSS was based on encryption, with specialized hardware that controlled decryption and enabled payments to be sent to

5500-461: The 360° 3D environment. Furthermore, Machines , which was also released in 1999 and featured a nearly 100% 3D environment, attempted to combine the RTS genre with a first-person shooter (FPS) genre although it was not a particularly successful title. These games were followed by a short period of interest in experimental strategy games such as Allegiance (2000). Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds

5625-552: The 3D environment. This led to a number of unique gameplay elements, which were mostly obscured by the lack of computing power available in 2007, at the release date. Japanese game developers Nippon Ichi and Vanillaware worked together on Grim Grimoire , a PlayStation 2 title released in 2007, which features hand-drawn animated 2D graphics. From 2010, real-time strategy games more commonly incorporated physics engines , such as Havok , in order to increase realism experienced in gameplay. A modern real-time strategy game that uses

5750-559: The Ancients ( DotA ), a Warcraft III mod from 2003, and its standalone sequel Dota 2 (2013), as well as League of Legends (2009), and Heroes of the Storm (2015), are the typical representatives of the new strategy subgenre. Former game journalist Luke Smith called DotA "the ultimate RTS". The popularization of the smartphone in the 2010s led to a new market for Video games to expand to and develop. Innovation on

5875-489: The Beacon Theater as an inexpensive (US$ 5), DRM-free download. The only attempt to deter unlicensed copies was a letter emphasizing the lack of corporate involvement and direct relationship between artist and viewer. The film was a commercial success, turning a profit within 12 hours of its release. The artist suggested that piracy rates were lower than normal as a result, making the release an important case study for

6000-738: The DG Internal Market, on the Communication COM(2004)261 by the European Commission on "Management of Copyright and Related Rights" closed. In 2005, DRM Workshops of Directorate-General for Information Society and Media (European Commission) , and the work of the High Level Group on DRM were held. In 2005, Sony BMG installed DRM software on users' computers without clearly notifying the user or requiring confirmation. Among other things,

6125-572: The DVB Steering Board, and formalized by ETSI as a formal European Standard (TS 102 825-X) where X refers to the Part number. Nobody has yet stepped forward to provide a Compliance and Robustness regime for the standard, so it is not presently possible to fully implement a system, as no supplier of device certificates has emerged. In December 2006, the industrial-grade Advanced Access Content System (AACS) for HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs ,

6250-563: The DVD content is played, including what outputs are permitted and how such permitted outputs are made available. This keeps the encryption intact as the content is displayed. In May 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) passed as an amendment to US copyright law . It had controversial (possibly unintended) implications. Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested for alleged DMCA infringement after

6375-474: The Lifeships, countless others travel in their cryopods, sleeping with the dream that they will be able to wake up and have a second chance. He has been chosen as one of the advance scouts that will prepare the way for the others. After being sent ahead of the massive Lifeships, contact with them was soon lost and to make matters worse, most of the advance scouts were hit by unexpected atmospheric turbulence on

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6500-576: The United Kingdom, Japan, and North America, afterward gradually merging into a unified worldwide tradition. Tim Barry in May 1981 described in InfoWorld a multiplayer, real-time strategy space game that ran ("and probably still is") on an IBM System/370 Model 168 at a large San Francisco Bay Area company. He stated that it had "far better support than many of the application programs used in

6625-810: The Workshop on Digital Rights Management of the World Wide Web Consortium was held. On 22 May 2001, the European Union passed the Information Society Directive, with copyright protections. In 2003, the European Committee for Standardization /Information Society Standardization System (CEN/ISSS) DRM Report was published. In 2004, the Consultation process of the European Commission, and

6750-457: The Worlds (1998), Warzone 2100 (1999), Machines (1999), Homeworld (1999), and Dark Reign 2 (2000) were among the first completely 3D real-time strategy titles. Homeworld featured a 3D environment in space, therefore allowing movement in every direction, a feature which its semi-sequel, Homeworld Cataclysm (2000) continued to build upon adding features such as waypoints. Homeworld 2 , released in 2003, streamlined movement in

6875-480: The ability for a regional lockout. Tools like FairUse4WM strip Windows Media of DRM restrictions. The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property by the British Government from Andrew Gowers was published in 2006 with recommendations regarding copyright terms, exceptions, orphaned works, and copyright enforcement. DVB ( DVB-CPCM ) is an updated variant of the broadcast flag. The technical specification

7000-475: The activation limit led Spore to become the most pirated game in 2008, topping the top 10 list compiled by TorrentFreak . However, Tweakguides concluded that DRM does not appear to increase video game piracy, noting that other games on the list, such as Call of Duty 4 and Assassin's Creed , use DRM without limits or online activation. Additionally, other video games that use DRM, such as BioShock , Crysis Warhead , and Mass Effect , do not appear on

7125-529: The amount of strategic gameplay found in such games. According to Chris Taylor , lead designer of Supreme Commander : "[My first attempt at visualizing RTSs in a fresh and interesting new way] was my realizing that although we call this genre 'Real-Time Strategy,' it should have been called 'Real-Time Tactics' with a dash of strategy thrown in." (Taylor then posits his own game as having surpassed this mold by including additional elements of broader strategic scope.) In general terms, military strategy refers to

7250-412: The business", with a published manual and regular schedule. Comparing its complexity to Dallas , Barry recalled that "when the game was restored at 5 P.M., a lot of regular work stopped". Ars Technica traces the genre's roots back to Utopia (1981), citing it as the "birth of a genre", with a "real-time element" that was "virtually unheard of", thus making it "arguably the earliest ancestor of

7375-445: The claim that DRM was inciting people to use illegal copies. Although Ubisoft has not commented on the results of the "experiment", Tweakguides noted that two torrents on Mininova had over 23,000 people downloading the game within 24 hours of its release. In 2009, Amazon remotely deleted purchased copies of George Orwell 's Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) from customers' Amazon Kindles after refunding

7500-408: The cliffside, even in the case when the attacker is a missile-armed helicopter. Homeworld , Warzone 2100 and Machines (all released in 1999) advanced the use of fully 3D environments in real-time strategy titles. In the case of Homeworld , the game is set in space, offering a uniquely exploitable 3D environment in which all units can move vertically in addition to the horizontal plane. However,

7625-600: The complete blocking of any possibilities of making private copies was an impermissible behaviour under French copyright law. The broadcast flag concept was developed by Fox Broadcasting in 2001, and was supported by the MPAA and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). A ruling in May 2005 by a United States courts of appeals held that the FCC lacked authority to impose it on the US TV industry. It required that all HDTVs obey

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7750-412: The content legally, such as by fair use or by making backup copies. DRM is in common use by the entertainment industry ( e.g. , audio and video publishers). Many online stores such as OverDrive use DRM technologies, as do cable and satellite service operators. Apple removed DRM technology from iTunes around 2009. Typical DRM also prevents lending materials out through a library, or accessing works in

7875-840: The control and destruction of bases being an important aspect of the game, as were the economic/production aspects of those bases. Herzog Zwei is credited by 1UP as a landmark that defined the genre and as "the progenitor of all modern real-time strategy games." Chuck Sperry cited Herzog Zwei as an influence on Dune II . Notable as well are early games like Mega-Lo-Mania by Sensible Software (1991) and Supremacy (also called Overlord – 1990). Although these two lacked direct control of military units, they both offered considerable control of resource management and economic systems. In addition, Mega Lo Mania has advanced technology trees that determine offensive and defensive prowess. Another early game, Carrier Command (1988) by Realtime Games , involved real-time responses to events in

8000-413: The copyright holder. The underlying principle was that the physical distribution of encrypted digital products should be completely unrestricted and that users of those products would be encouraged to do so. An early DRM protection method for computer and Nintendo Entertainment System games was when the game would pause and prompt the player to look up a certain page in a booklet or manual that came with

8125-448: The copyright holders for maintaining artistic controls , and supporting licenses' modalities such as rentals. Industrial users (i.e. industries) have expanded the use of DRM technologies to various hardware products, such as Keurig 's coffeemakers , Philips ' light bulbs , mobile device power chargers , and John Deere 's tractors . For instance, tractor companies try to prevent farmers from making repairs via DRM. DRM

8250-517: The cracked version soon found out that only early parts of the game were playable. The Uplay system works by having the installed game on the local PCs incomplete and then continuously downloading parts of the game code from Ubisoft's servers as the game progresses. It was more than a month after the PC release in the first week of April that software was released that could bypass Ubisoft's DRM in Assassin's Creed II . The software did this by emulating

8375-705: The creation and distribution of tools used for such circumvention. Such laws are part of the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and the European Union 's Information Society Directive – with the French DADVSI an example of a member state of the European Union implementing that directive. Copyright holders argue that DRM technologies are necessary to protect intellectual property , just as physical locks prevent personal property from theft. For examples, they can help

8500-466: The digital marketplace. In 2012, the EU Court of Justice ruled in favor of reselling copyrighted games. In 2012, India implemented digital rights management protection. In 2012, webcomic Diesel Sweeties released a DRM-free PDF e-book. He followed this with a DRM-free iBook specifically for the iPad that generated more than 10,000 downloads in three days. That led Stevens to launch

8625-614: The element of classic PC-gaming nostalgia in order to drive the game-playing experience. Traditional RTS games released in the late 2010s - early 2020s were developed with a focus on coupling the traditional-style gameplay with uniquely styled, or hyper-realistic graphics. These RTS games are often Indie-RTS games, but released on a multitude of platforms. Some RTS releases like Halo Wars 2 (2017), Steel Division 2 (2019), Company of Heroes 3 (2023), and Last Train Home (2023) are examples of modern RTS games that are focused on providing

8750-442: The first 3D units and terrain in real-time strategy games. The Age of Empires focus on historical setting and age advancement was refined further by its sequel, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings , and by Stainless Steel Studios ' Empire Earth in 2001. GSC Game World 's Cossacks series brought population caps into the tens of thousands. Dungeon Keeper (1997), Populous: The Beginning (1998), Jeff Wayne's The War of

8875-459: The full release of Starforge, perhaps due to its long Early Access period. Hooked Gamers wrote, "StarForge is an officially released game that feels a long, long way from completion", and scored the game 2.5/10. Since release, it has received mostly negative reviews on Steam, with 83% of all given review being negative as of May, 2016. On January 27, 2017, the game was pulled from the Steam store and

9000-494: The full version of the game has received mostly negative reviews (16% positive, 84% negative) from Steam's community reviewers. Many of the positive reviews were given in the early stages of development. As of 27 June 2016 despite the negative reception, particularly after the release of version 1.0, the game was continuing to be promoted. As of March 9, 2016, it was the fourth-lowest rated game in Steam's catalog with only 18% positive ratings. There have been relatively few reviews of

9125-452: The game revolves around the player leading an army across a battlefield against enemy forces in real-time while recruiting/spawning soldiers along the way, for which it is considered by Ray Barnholt of 1UP to be an early prototype real-time strategy game. Another early title with real-time strategy elements is Sega 's Gain Ground (1988), a strategy- action game that involved directing

9250-464: The game, requiring management of resources and control of vehicles. Another early game, SimAnt (1991) by Maxis , had resource gathering, and controlling an attacking army by having them follow a lead unit. However, it was with the release of Dune II (1992) from Westwood Studios that real-time strategy became recognized as a distinct genre of video games. Although real-time strategy games have an extensive history, some titles have served to define

9375-596: The game; if the player lacked access to the material, they would not be able to continue. An early example of a DRM system is the Content Scramble System (CSS) employed by the DVD Forum on DVD movies. CSS uses an encryption algorithm to encrypt content on the DVD disc. Manufacturers of DVD players must license this technology and implement it in their devices so that they can decrypt the content. The CSS license agreement includes restrictions on how

9500-523: The genre for new ideas in order for strategy games to continue to be successful in the future. This criticism has ushered into a couple of hybrid designs that try to resolve the issues. The games of the Total War series have a combination of a (turn-based) strategy map with a (real-time) battle map, allowing the player to concentrate on one or the other. The games of the Hegemony series also combine

9625-611: The genre received positive reception. The Pikmin series, which began in 2001 for the GameCube , became a million-seller. Similarly, Halo Wars , which was released in 2009 for the Xbox 360 , generated generally positive reviews, achieved an 82% critic average on aggregate web sites, and sold over 1 million copies. According to IGN , the gameplay lacks the traditional RTS concepts of limited resources and resource gathering and lacks multiple buildings. Total Annihilation (1997)

9750-498: The genre, providing the de facto benchmark against which new real-time strategy games are measured . The real-time strategy genre has been relatively stable since 1995. Additions to the genre's concept in newer games tend to emphasize more of the basic RTS elements (higher unit caps, more unit types, larger maps, etc.). Rather than innovations to the game concept, new games generally focus on refining aspects of successful predecessors. Cavedog's Total Annihilation from 1997 introduced

9875-569: The licenses. In 2007, the European Parliament supported the EU's direction on copyright protection. Asus released a soundcard which features a function called "Analog Loopback Transformation" to bypass the restrictions of DRM. This feature allows the user to record DRM-restricted audio via the soundcard's built-in analog I/O connection. Digital distributor GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) specializes in PC video games and has

10000-429: The list. Many mainstream publishers continued to rely on online DRM throughout the later half of 2008 and early 2009, including Electronic Arts , Ubisoft , Valve , and Atari , The Sims 3 being a notable exception in the case of Electronic Arts. Ubisoft broke with the tendency to use online DRM in late 2008, with the release of Prince of Persia as an experiment to "see how truthful people really are" regarding

10125-403: The magazine's annual Game Contest, the author described it as a "single-player game of real-time action and strategic decision making". The magazine described it as "a real-time space strategy game". The game has elements of resource management and wargaming . In the United Kingdom, the earliest real-time strategy games are Stonkers by John Gibson, published in 1983 by Imagine Software for

10250-628: The main structures for each team are still present, and destroying enemy main structure will secure victory as the ultimate victory condition. Unlike in RTS, a player has control over the only one single powerful unit, called "hero" or "champion", who advances in level, learns new abilities, and grows in power over the course of a match. Players can find various friendly and enemy units on the map at any given time assisting each team, however, these units are computer-controlled and players usually don't have direct control over their movement and creation ; instead, they march forward along set paths. Defense of

10375-455: The map or possessing certain types of units and structures devoted to this purpose. More specifically, the typical game in the RTS genre features resource-gathering , base-building, in-game technological development, and indirect control of units. The tasks a player must perform to win an RTS game can be very demanding, and complex user interfaces have evolved for them. Some features have been borrowed from desktop environments ; for example,

10500-640: The mobile format with "idle" resource gathering and defenses, as well as reducing the number of resource types, unit types, and building types to make the game more accessible to new users. In an interview between game journalist Bryant Francis and Clash of Clans developer Stuart McGaw, McGaw attributed Clash of Clan ' s design to "a focus on simplicity and accessibility", something that "anyone could pick up and play", while also retaining "the strategy DNA", that gives players "lots of options" while remaining "clear to understand".  Multiple other mobile games, such as Boom Beach (2014), Plague Inc. (2012),

10625-424: The mouse to move units, and gathering resources, and as such served as the prototype for later real-time strategy games. According to its co-designer and lead programmer, Joe Bostic, a "benefit over Herzog Zwei is that we had the advantage of a mouse and keyboard. This greatly facilitated precise player control, which enabled the player to give orders to individual units. The mouse, and the direct control it allowed,

10750-402: The near-industry-wide switch to full 3D was very gradual and most real-time strategy titles, including the first sequels to Command & Conquer , initially used isometric 3D graphics made by pre-rendered 3D tiles. Only in later years did these games begin to use true 3D graphics and gameplay, making it possible to rotate the view of the battlefield in real-time. Spring is a good example of

10875-468: The necessity of which has been questioned. In 2014, the EU Court of Justice ruled that circumventing DRM on game devices was legal under some circumstances. In 2014, digital comic distributor Comixology allowed rights holders to provide the option of DRM-free downloads. Publishers that allow this include Dynamite Entertainment , Image Comics , Thrillbent , Top Shelf Productions , and Zenescope Entertainment . In February 2022, Comixology, which

11000-545: The oldest "2D Real-Time Strategy". Barton also cites Cytron Masters (1982), saying it was "one of the first (if not the first) real-time strategy games [sic]." On the other hand, Scott Sharkey of 1UP argues that, while Cytron Masters "attempted real time strategy", it was "much more tactical than strategic" due to "the inability to construct units or manage resources". Byte in December 1982 published as an Apple II type-in program Cosmic Conquest . The winner of

11125-450: The ones that arrived to begin with, many were lost on the way there due to unknown reasons. Despite this fact, supplies continued to be sent as too much had already been invested to turn back. Finally, warp drive was invented, allowing man to travel into the depths of space within an instant. In the year 3085, the gameplay character will have already left Earth, chosen through a lottery system to be part of Humanity's new home. With him aboard

11250-403: The only way for them to win or lose is militarily makes them unlikely to respond to gestures of diplomacy. The result is that the winner of a real-time strategy game is too often the best tactician rather than the best strategist. Troy Goodfellow counters this by saying that the problem is not that real-time strategy games are lacking in strategy (he says attrition is a form of strategy), rather it

11375-448: The opposing team. The vat is the location that respawns players when they die. The game is over when one team wins by destroying the opposing team's vat. In the fort defense mode, players must construct a base around a single vat and defend it from attacks by aliens. The attacks are in the form of waves and purely strategic. Waves, in strategy games, refer to batches of enemies. The aliens in the waves will increase in number and strength as

11500-492: The original Command & Conquer gave birth to the now-common "tank rush" tactic, where the game outcome is often decided very early on by one player gaining an initial advantage in resources and producing large amounts of a relatively powerful but still quite cheap unit—which is thrown at the opposition before they have had time to establish defenses or production. Although this strategy has been criticized for encouraging overwhelming force over strategy and tactics, defenders of

11625-438: The player to build an army (ranging from small squads of no more than two units to literally hundreds of units) and using them to either defend themselves from a virtual form of Human wave attack or to eliminate enemies who possess bases with unit production capacities of their own. Occasionally, RTS games will have a preset number of units for the player to control and do not allow building of additional ones. Resource gathering

11750-606: The popular perception of the genre and expectations of the genre more than others, in particular the games released between 1992 and 1998 by Westwood Studios and Blizzard Entertainment . Drawing influence from Herzog Zwei , Populous , Eye of the Beholder , and the Macintosh user interface , Westwood's Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (1992) featured all the core concepts and mechanics of modern real-time strategy games that are still used today, such as using

11875-416: The popularity of turn-based strategy computer games. In the past, a common criticism was to regard real-time strategy games as "cheap imitations" of turn-based strategy games, arguing that real-time strategy games had a tendency to devolve into "click-fests" in which the player who was faster with the mouse generally won, because they could give orders to their units at a faster rate. The common retort

12000-491: The problem by giving the player direct control of a single powerful unit and near autonomy for everything else," and is surprised "that more console RTS games aren't designed with this kind of interface in mind from the ground up, rather than imitating" PC control schemes "that just doesn't work very well with a controller". Some handheld consoles like Napoleon on the GBA uses a similar solution. However, several console titles in

12125-480: The purchase price. Commentators described these actions as Orwellian and compared Amazon to Big Brother from Nineteen Eighty-Four . Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos then issued a public apology. FSF wrote that this was an example of the excessive power Amazon has to remotely censor content, and called upon Amazon to drop DRM. Amazon then revealed the reason behind its deletion: the e-books in question were unauthorized reproductions of Orwell's works, which were not within

12250-682: The real-time strategy and first-person shooter genres in Battlezone (1998), while in 2002 Rage Games Limited attempted this with the Hostile Waters games. Later variants have included Natural Selection (2002) , a game modification based on the Half-Life engine, and the free software Tremulous / Unvanquished . Savage: The Battle for Newerth (2003) combined the RPG and RTS elements in an online game. Some games, borrowing from

12375-517: The real-time strategy genre". According to Ars Technica, Utopia was a turn-based strategy game with hybrid elements that ran "in real-time but events happened on a regular turn-based cycle." According to Brett Weiss, Utopia is often cited as "the first real-time strategy game." According to Matt Barton and Bill Loguidice, Utopia "helped set the template" for the genre, but has "more in common with SimCity than it does with Dune II and later RTS games." Allgame listed War of Nerves (1979) as

12500-402: The screen and issue commands with the mouse, and may also use keyboard shortcuts. Gameplay generally consists of the player being positioned somewhere in the map with a few units or a building that is capable of building other units/buildings. Often, but not always, the player must build specific structures to unlock more advanced units in the tech tree . Often, but not always, RTS games require

12625-433: The software included a rootkit , which created a security vulnerability . When the nature of the software was made public much later, Sony BMG initially minimized the significance of the vulnerabilities, but eventually recalled millions of CDs, and made several attempts to patch the software to remove the rootkit. Class action lawsuits were filed, which were ultimately settled by agreements to provide affected consumers with

12750-459: The speed of light. However, even with the relativistic effects of near light-speed travel and medical advances in longevity, the planet was still too far away for any human to reach in one lifetime. So, for the next 1000 years that were left, Earth sent resources to this new planet in hopes of one day sending humans there. Every corporation on Earth was required to send large quantities of equipment and weaponry. They were sent in freighters along with

12875-565: The strategy argue that they're simply taking advantage of the strategies utilized, and some argue that it is a realistic representation of warfare. One of the most infamous versions of a rush is the "Zergling rush" from the real-time strategy game StarCraft , where the Zerg player would morph one of their starting workers (or the first one produced) into a spawning pool immediately and use all of their resources to produce Zerglings, attacking once they have enough to overwhelm any early defense; in fact,

13000-507: The sum total of human knowledge so that nothing would be forgotten. To help prepare the planet for habitation, robots were sent to seed the land with common trees, grasses, food, and shrubs. After some time it was determined via the superluminal communicators carried by the freighters, that many of the supplies which had been sent were disappearing. Details were sparse on what was occurring, but it appeared that they were being taken by creatures that were acting in an intelligent way and these were

13125-469: The technique of "clicking and dragging" to create a box that selects all units under a given area. Though some video game genres share conceptual and gameplay similarities with the RTS template, recognized genres are generally not subsumed as RTS games. For instance, city-building games , construction and management simulations , and games of real-time tactics are generally not considered real-time strategy per se. This would only apply to anything considered

13250-458: The term "zerging" has become synonymous with rushing. Some games have since introduced designs that do not easily lend themselves to rushes. For example, the Hegemony series made supply and (seasonal) resource management an integral part of its gameplay, thus limiting rapid expansion. Despite Herzog Zwei , a console game , laying the foundations for the real-time strategy genre, RTS games never gained popularity on consoles like they did on

13375-486: The traditional RTS format accelerated throughout the early 2010s as RTS games were released on the App store . With the new format specific to Mobile devices , mobile RTS games were often simpler than their desktop counterparts. The simplification of the RTS formula coupled with the adoption of the smartphone during this period allowed for mobile RTS games to be more accessible than traditional RTS games. Clash of Clans (2012),

13500-477: The traditional RTS formula, with the player having the "perspective of god" and managing units and resources. Such Indie-RTS Games released in this period were often subject to Porting , and often made it to mobile devices. A few of these Indie-RTS games are Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator (2017), the Machines at War series (2007-2012), and Bad North (2018). Oftentimes, modern RTS games attempt to capture

13625-537: The transformation from semi-3D to full-3D game simulations. It is an open-source project, which aims to give a Total Annihilation game-play experience in three dimensions. The most ambitious use of full 3D graphics was realized in Supreme Commander , where all projectiles, units and terrain were simulated in real time, taking full advantage of the UI's zoom feature, which allowed cartographic style navigation of

13750-479: The two systems: for example, the role-playing game Fallout uses turn-based combat and real-time gameplay, while the real-time strategy games Homeworld , Rise of Nations , and the games of the Total War and Hegemony series allow the player to pause the game and issue orders. Additionally, the Total War series has a combination of a turn-based strategy map with a real-time battle map. Another example of

13875-416: The use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM technologies govern the use, modification and distribution of copyrighted works (e.g. software , multimedia content) and of systems that enforce these policies within devices. DRM technologies include licensing agreements and encryption . Laws in many countries criminalize the circumvention of DRM, communication about such circumvention, and

14000-628: The use of a broad arsenal of weapons including diplomatic, informational, military, and economic resources, whereas military tactics is more concerned with short-term goals such as winning an individual battle. In the context of strategy video games, however, the difference is often reduced to the more limited criteria of either a presence or absence of base building and unit production. In an article for Gamasutra , Nathan Toronto criticizes real-time strategy games for too often having only one valid means of victory — attrition — comparing them unfavorably to real-time tactics games. Players' awareness that

14125-462: The use of combat tactics involved in the present, whereas macromanagement considers the greater scale of the game in an attempt to predict the future. A debate has emerged between fans of real-time strategy (RTS) and turn-based strategy (TBS) (and related genres) based on the merits of the real-time and turn-based systems. Because of their generally faster-paced nature (and in some cases a smaller learning curve), real-time strategy games have surpassed

14250-538: The waves progress. If the vat is destroyed, then the game is lost. This gamemode has been removed in the final release. Player reception of the playable Alpha stage, which began on May 30, 2012, and ended on September 22, 2014, has been overwhelmingly negative, with the reasons cited by users ranging from dissatisfaction over update times, performance issues, a lack of progress, and frequent changes in prices, planned features, unconnected terrain and what some users feel are misleading product descriptions. As of 27 June 2016,

14375-467: The way in, scattering everyone and everything and wrecking most of what you carried. The game starts right after the lore. A sandbox game mode where the only objective is to survive on Atlas. The player may craft weapons, tilesets, and vehicles. The player can kill aliens and other players, find loot and explore the terrain. Players get spawn in the Vat. In this mode, two teams create and defend their vat from

14500-524: The years 2073–2253, there was relative peace on Earth and most funds were diverted to exploration. Eventually small bases were set up on the Moon and Mars. However, a new problem arose when earthquakes started to occur, not just on Earth, but on the Moon and Mars as well. It was later discovered that a rogue black hole had entered into a decaying orbit with the Sun. The estimates in the game show that in less than

14625-511: Was a dialogue on consumer acceptability of DRM solutions in Europe that completed in 2008. In mid-2008, the Windows version of Mass Effect marked the start of a wave of titles primarily making use of SecuROM for DRM and requiring authentication with a server. The use of the DRM scheme in 2008's Spore led to protests, resulting in searches for an unlicensed version. This backlash against

14750-415: Was another full 3D game, but had limited camera views. The move from 2D to 3D has been criticized in some cases. Issues with controlling the camera and placement of objects have been cited as problems. A few games have experimented with diversifying map design, which continues to be largely two-dimensional even in 3D engines. Earth 2150 (2000) allowed units to tunnel underground, effectively creating

14875-484: Was coined by Brett Sperry to market Dune II in the early 1990s. In a real-time strategy game, each participant positions structures and maneuvers multiple units under their indirect control to secure areas of the map and destroy their opponents' assets. In a typical RTS game, it is possible to create additional units and structures generally limited by a requirement to expend accumulated resources . These resources are in turn garnered by controlling special points on

15000-407: Was critical in making the RTS genre possible.” The success of Dune II encouraged several games that became influential in their own right. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) achieved great prominence upon its release, owing in part to its use of a fantasy setting and also to its depiction of a wide variety of buildings (such as farms) which approximated a full fictitious society and not just

15125-471: Was essentially identical regardless of the map layer in question. Dragonshard (2005) emphasized its dual-layer maps by placing one of the game's two main resources in each map, making exploration and control of both maps fundamentally valuable. Relatively few genres have emerged from or in competition with real-time strategy games, although real-time tactics (RTT), a superficially similar genre, emerged around 1995. In 1998, Activision attempted to combine

15250-411: Was notable for being one of the few completely non-linear RTS games ever. It is only in approximately 2002 that 3D real-time strategy became the standard, with both Warcraft III (2002) and Ensemble Studio's Age of Mythology (2002) being built on a full 3D game engine. Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns introduced classic wargame elements, such as supply lines to the genre. Battle Realms (2001)

15375-609: Was passed in 1996. The US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), was passed in 1998. The European Union enacted the Information Society Directive . In 2006, the lower house of the French parliament adopted such legislation as part of the controversial DADVSI law, but added that protected DRM techniques should be made interoperable, a move which caused widespread controversy in the United States. The Tribunal de grande instance de Paris concluded in 2006, that

15500-639: Was submitted to European governments in March 2007. As with much DRM, the CPCM system is intended to control use of copyrighted material by the end-user, at the direction of the copyright holder. According to Ren Bucholz of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), "You won't even know ahead of time whether and how you will be able to record and make use of particular programs or devices". The normative sections were approved for publication by

15625-538: Was the first real-time strategy game to utilize true 3D units, terrain, and physics in both rendering and in gameplay. For instance, the missiles in Total Annihilation travel in real time in simulated 3D space, and they can miss their target by passing over or under it. Similarly, missile-armed units in Earth 2150 are at a serious disadvantage when the opponent is on high ground because the missiles often hit

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