I have a bone to pick with RTS’s. I started the picking in DD5 , and I’m not done with it yet.

Were I pedantic, I would point out that “Real-Time” is generally a misnomer. Were it not, an RTS based on the Hundred Years War would take more than a human lifetime to complete. Hmmm…no, I’ll save that idea for later. Fortunately, I’m not going to go there.

No, my beef is with the “S.” A quick perusal of dictionary.com’s definitions for strategy come up two definitions that covers most of what we consider the strategy part of the RTS (The science and art of military command as applied to the overall planning and conduct of large-scale combat operations).

The rest of the definitions broaden the scope to include “all the forces of a nation,” shy away from military force all together to favor politics and business, detour into “[a]…complex of adaptations…that serve…in achieving evolutionary success,” and finally throw the door wide open with, “an elaborate and systematic plan of action.” When defined as Real Time Elaborate and Systematic Plans of Action, I’d say we’ve spent far too much effort on combat as the sole surrogate for strategy. More on this later.

Beef-the-second, and the focus of part-the-first is the standard progression in nearly all RTS’s. You know the tune, feel free to sing along:

• Start Small
• Build Up a Resource Base
• Expand
• Attack and Destroy Enemy

It’s a great model, but it’s not the only way to dice the onion. When in doubt, flip about. Let’s see what happens when we reverse the polarity:

• Start Large
• All Resources Fully Exploited
• Contract the least
• Deal, merge, betray

The enemy is undefeatable, and there is no combat.

“Impossible!” you say. “Poppycock!” I rejoin, “and/or Balderdash!”

I love these little talks we have.

To help form a picture, let’s say narratively that the game take place 20 years from…Now. Populations are decimated, humankind is fighting (but only metaphorically, you understand) for survival. An elaborate defense system ensures that no population can attack another. Like the missile defense sheild in that it is a work of fiction, but unlike the missile defense system in that it is completely effective. Now, on with the show!

Let’s take them one at a time.

Start Large

Each map begins fully populated, even overpopulated with various factions and a functioning but fragile infrastructure.

Contract the Least

The game is about survival. Resources are dwindling. Rioting, asteroid impacts and disease are ravaging the population. The goal is to be last man standing.

Deal, Merge, Betray

The “S” in this game is all about making strategic deals and side deals with your neighboring factions. These can be trade and support deals, mergers, or power sharing deals (both political and motive). The various factions will have their own needs and their own conditions for these deals. Many of these conditions will be in direct conflict with the requirements of other factions.

This requires diplomacy, or as it’s sometimes called, lying. Which is cool, until you are caught in an overt act of, uh…diplomacy. In which case alliances will be broken, deals revoked. You can of course betray your partners for strategic gain.

The enemy is entropy, outside forces, disaster and disease. As stated, there is no direct combat, but there are many ways to make sure that your neighbor’s populations dwindle while you maintain. These include cutting of aid, closing borders, sending your sick across open borders, screwing them in deals for resources.

Final Thoughts

It has to be said: Being the last to die is not as quite as compelling as “To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women .” So I think a more satisfying victory condition is needed.

In its final throes, humanity bands together to build an Ark Ship that will take the lucky few to a pristine new world. So added is a layer of building Ark Ship Components, and two new win conditions: Completion of the Ark Ship and being on the Ark Ship when it leaves.

-game over-

Tune in for Part 2 on Monday.

Thanks for reading another action-packed installment of Design a Day. For background on the Design A Day challenge, take a peek here and here.