How to RTS

Real-time strategy (RTS) games have long been a type that I was interested in. The two big ones that got my attention were Star Trek: Armada II and Age of Empires. There's just something about taking the position of a captain or emperor and essentially building up a nation or space empire.

The problem is, I've never been very good at them. Oh sure I've defeated AIs but not after getting significant help via some cheat code or whatever. I have yet to completely play through either one of those games, and with me taking a brief hiatus from Minecraft, there's some free time to play those.

I like RTS games and I really do want to be good at them. So - as I seem to do with every other problem - I Googled tips on how to do better in them. These come from sources all around the Internet, and aren't necessarily in any order of importance. Just things that stand out to me.

1. Build an economy. This seems pretty obvious but I'm wont to forget that I need to keep the resources flowing in. One of the perpetual goals when I'm playing an RTS is to keep having a flow of resources, either by maintaining existing farms/mines/etc., or building new ones.

2. Build workers constantly. The units which collect resources, build stuff, and so on, you need to have as many of these as you can make. That way, you advance in technology faster.

3. Spend resources constantly. Surprisingly to me, it's not a good idea to try and stockpile on resources. The more you spend, the better off you are. The expenditure leads to more fighting units, more barracks/shipyards, and more technology. In retrospect, this actually makes sense.

4. Have a build order. RTS games are fun but they're also more demanding of plans and strategizing. No surprise there. One of the plans is a build order: an exhaustive list of what kinds of units and buildings you will make. If you need to change your order to counter an unexpected move by the enemy, then do so, but try to return to it once you're done.

5. Know your enemy. Let's use Star Trek: Armada II as an example. Borg capital ships are relatively lackluster while some of the early ships are tough. So you need speed when playing against them to counter their strong middle-level ships. The Klingons need a relatively uncommon resource to tech up, so preventing them from getting that will give them trouble. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy is good.

6. Scout a lot. Scouting involves sending a weaker type of ship out into the map to see what the layout is like and where the enemy is. Awareness is good.

7. Watch how pros do it. If the game is something like Starcraft where there is tournament footage available on YouTube, check out what they do to develop a strategy.

8. Know the hotkeys. Being fast is important because it gets you to the more powerful units and technologies sooner in the game, and also makes you better matched with the enemy. Hotkeys can let you blaze through the menus and build stuff quick.

9. Be fast. Lazily building units allows the other players to outpace you fast.

10. Expand. Instead of keeping all your units and buildings in one place, find other opportune areas - like near resources - and put units and buildings by them.

11. Micromanage. This is the art of controlling specific units as opposed to just assigning entire groups orders and letting he AI do its business by itself. There are times when you will have a specific objective in mind that the AI by itself won't accomplish.

12. Use control groups. Normally, an RTS allows the ability to group units together so that they can be moved to the same spot at once. Very preferable over just grabbing an arbitrary group of units as they stay together.

13. Diversity. Try to use a range of different unit types.

14. Know the map. This also seems like common sense but I seem good at not paying attention to the map layout.

15. Practice, practice, practice. Since RTS games can get pretty complex it's a good idea to practice how to best employ various strategies, get a feel for the types of units, and so on. Practice is especially important if you want to get into multiplayer battles or be competitive.