Game Design

Let’s Try Something, Shall We?

There was an age, long ago, when things were different.  People were simpler and less selfish, taking only what they needed from the land and giving back what they could.  The air was cleaner, the rivers were clearer, and small furry things cavorted with other small furry things.

However, all things must come to an end.  Today we look back upon this golden age, this Elysium, and we weep for what might have been.  We now live in a world filled with tiny transistors, a silicon hell.  Contrast our world with the one I speak of, a paradise filled with larger, hotter, and less efficient transistors, and also the Pentium.  I refer, of course, to the 1990s.

As much as things have changed from this fabled yesteryear, there are still some similarities.  For a short time in these “nineties,” there were two categories of games: games that were Real-Time Strategy, and games that were not Real-Time Strategy.  We have Dune II and Command & Conquer to thank for that short age of complete and ridiculous obsession on one genre.  Thankfully we’re beyond such tendencies today.

Which means, of course, that it’s time to revisit them!  I think it’s about time a decent web-based RTS was released.   I’ve seen some attempts, but none of them has really taken advantage of what Flash is capable of these days.  We have so many tools now: physics engines, 3D engines, particle engines, real-time communication between clients, &c.  So here is where the experiment begins- a Flash RTS.  Flash on a Core 2 should be able to handle anything that a 386 running Dune II could- and more.  Why not take advantage of it?

Tags: Game Design, OS Wars