Best RTS base building games

2,868 Views | 36 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by NavyAg22
Teacher_Ag
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AG
Looking back, some of my fondest gaming memories were made playing RTS games where you build a base/encampment and then **** up your enemies. My favorites that come to mind are Warcraft II, Command & Conquer Red Alert, Age of Empires (can't remember which installment). There was also a cool RTS Dune game and some LOTR one. Which was your fav?
YouBet
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AG
Age of Empires II. It also had some great user mods.

You can get it "remastered" on Steam now. I haven't done it because the 1-2 times I've bought a game for nostalgia sake it doesn't hold up for me.
bbattbq01
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AG
Oct 28. Age of Empires 4.
Madmarttigan
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AG
Total War Warhammer doesn't have base building like normal, but it is an absolutely awesome strategy game and relies on controlling territories to tech up your troops.

I normally get very bored of single player campaigns but I have played this for hours on different races and starting points.

They have 1 and 2 out with #3 on the way. A+
Formerly tv1113
V8Aggie
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AG
I came across something on steam called survival Mars or something like that. Pretty cool game a bit in depth where you have to colonize the planet and sustain it.
TV Casualty
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AG
This was another good one. You could play as all these different nations throughout various time periods.
TV Casualty
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AG
Teacher_Ag said:

and some LOTR one. Which was your fav?


That was when they were turning everything into a RTS game. It was good, but it suffered from some play imbalances.

The humans could unleash the ghosts and they would wipe out everyone's armies like they did in the movie.

If you were the orcs then your special character was the balrog who was almost useless. He had a mind of his own and would attack your own army half of the time.

Fenrir
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Not sure how StarCraft has made it this far without mention. Not my personal favorite but it was possibly the biggest rts of all.
YouBet
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AG
bbattbq01 said:

Oct 28. Age of Empires 4.


Intrigued but RTS have lost their appeal for me over the years. I think they got too complex and it just became work.
Señor Chang
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AG
C&C Red Alert was great. Also played a ton of Age of Mythology.
Eliminatus
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AG
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is tops in my book. Giant robot armies on a game engine that I DEARLY wish would come back. Made in 2007 and still superior in nearly every aspect.

Also Sins of a Solar Empire that is Base building in planetary terms. Another amazing game that is beyond epic. My longest match was over a week long.

Will also add that these above are strategic games and NOT tactical. You ability to manage your resources and your multiple armies/fleets on a large scale are what wins matches. Not twitchy micro'ing skills or meta build lists.
Not a Bot
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TV Casualty said:

This was another good one. You could play as all these different nations throughout various time periods.



I second this. One of the most underrated games of the mid-2000s. Combined resource management, city building, and tactical operations in a way that it made it quite fun. Loved the progression through different eras. Wasted many hours playing this game.
Not a Bot
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C&C gave us one of the best cut scenes of all time:

Teacher_Ag
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Haha had never heard the alternate language versions. Rammstein did really good doing the German one. Fr though those Red Alert cut scenes were great. That entire game was gold. Will never forget the joy of clicking on a building for your spy to go sabotage and hearing "for king and country!"
Not a Bot
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The best thing about those alternate language performances is that all of them included the part where he's trying not to crack up. He was right on the edge.
javajaws
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Let's not forget Natasha...Gina Carano:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Ben Franklin
WGann3
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AG
I'm a huge sucker for the C&C and Red Alert series, always been my favorite RTS. For those living under a rock, they were remastered and are available on Steam. A lot of people have been rightfully hesitant because EA did it, but it's actually really well done.
GISTofmyBS
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If you are looking for more of a grand strategy RTS, Supreme Commander Forged Alliance is still near the top since there hasn't really been many quality new entries. The game is still alive with active support from a community addon called FAForever (Forged Alliance Forever). It adds online match making, a ladder system online coop for the campaign and custom maps.
tlepoC
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YouBet said:

Age of Empires II. It also had some great user mods.

You can get it "remastered" on Steam now. I haven't done it because the 1-2 times I've bought a game for nostalgia sake it doesn't hold up for me.
But it does hold up. I think it's also free on Windows Xbox store if you have game pass. I've played it more now as an adult than I ever did as a kid.
YouBet
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tlepoC said:

YouBet said:

Age of Empires II. It also had some great user mods.

You can get it "remastered" on Steam now. I haven't done it because the 1-2 times I've bought a game for nostalgia sake it doesn't hold up for me.
But it does hold up. I think it's also free on Windows Xbox store if you have game pass. I've played it more now as an adult than I ever did as a kid.
I will give it a shot if free.
PeekingDuck
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AOE2 remastered is pretty well done. I didn't think it felt very dated compared to some of the other remakes. Good multiplayer too.
FIDO95
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Very limited base building but a good RTS option is Company of Hero's. They currently have a free pre-alpha you can try. Pc only.

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/company-of-heroes-3-for-pc

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NavyAg22
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Ashes of the singularity absolutely meets your needs. This and Starcraft are the two best ive ever played. Be warned on Ashes though, as it is very GPU/CPU intensive. Every individual unit has its own AI. There can be thousands on the screen and when the bombers get going its crazy. Its very graphically pleasing. Trust me. Look this one up!
Eliminatus
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AG
NavyAg22 said:

Ashes of the singularity absolutely meets your needs. This and Starcraft are the two best ive ever played. Be warned on Ashes though, as it is very GPU/CPU intensive. Every individual unit has its own AI. There can be thousands on the screen and when the bombers get going its crazy. Its very graphically pleasing. Trust me. Look this one up!


Surprised someone else has heard of Ashes. I was a preorder guy for that one.

Incredible game engine that was before it's time. Just like Supreme Commander was. However it just never caught on and not entirely sure why. Scale? Power demands? Only two factions? Not sure but even though I do like it a lot I still go back to SC over it and even I don't know why.
NavyAg22
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Eliminatus said:

NavyAg22 said:

Ashes of the singularity absolutely meets your needs. This and Starcraft are the two best ive ever played. Be warned on Ashes though, as it is very GPU/CPU intensive. Every individual unit has its own AI. There can be thousands on the screen and when the bombers get going its crazy. Its very graphically pleasing. Trust me. Look this one up!


Surprised someone else has heard of Ashes. I was a preorder guy for that one.

Incredible game engine that was before it's time. Just like Supreme Commander was. However it just never caught on and not entirely sure why. Scale? Power demands? Only two factions? Not sure but even though I do like it a lot I still go back to SC over it and even I don't know why.
Biggest complaint i've read is that computers couldnt keep up with it. Shouldnt be an issue now. It felt perfectly scaled, and it had a pretty decent, but overall short story. I keep hoping they come out with new maps and challenges
Eliminatus
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Yeah, it just felt like something was lacking overall to me. I think it was factions. The same two going at it with little real variance between those two kinda stifled it to me. And the combat never felt as visceral to me. Something would get shot and die and then just kinda fade away. Just a bunch of little things like that and I usually went in other directions. Great game but it was lacking something and the sales figures agreed with me.

Also pretty sure Stardock mentioned that they would support it for bugs and whatnot but had effectively abandoned it.
TombstoneTex
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AG
Total Annihilation, the predecessor to Supreme Commander, will always have a special place in my heart.
CrottyKid
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I loved Age of Empires and Rise of Nations.
I am a frontrunner, though, so I enjoyed creating scenarios where I had to fight 6 or 7 enemy nations, but they had limited resources and their first base was relatively close to one another. So while they were fighting each other for scarce resources, I was loading up and advancing at a much quicker pace. By the time they got to armored knights, I was using gunpowder and moving rapidly towards industrialization and airplanes not long after that. I would die laughing when they made it to bi-planes, and they were promptly shot down by SAMs or F-16s.

On second thought, maybe I'm a psychopath.
YouBet
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TV Casualty said:

This was another good one. You could play as all these different nations throughout various time periods.

Does this have a good campaign and/or story? AoE had pretty good story.
Chipotlemonger
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Funny, the best AoE and Warcraft games were both number II in their respective series.
V8Aggie
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Installed Ashes and I run it at max settings. Game looks great. Haven't gotten too far into it as I just installed half life Alex for VR. Holy **** what a game!
YouBet
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Just looked at a video of Ashes and that looks overwhelming. Not sure how you are supposed to keep up with that.
TombstoneTex
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Is Ashes the full title?
V8Aggie
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Ashes of the singularity
V8Aggie
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So you can assign units to an "army group"

They support each others strengths and weaknesses and do a good job of maintaining the proper formation. Strong units up front with weaker but more powerful units towards the back.
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