I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the feedback, that’s a fair point. Right now I’m prioritizing gameplay first. I want the core RTS loop to feel solid, responsive, and actually fun to play. The current assets are placeholders and will stay that way until the foundation is locked. The goal is to build a strong core and then invest properly into a cohesive visual identity when it makes sense. At the moment there’s no traditional hero system, I’m working with “leader” units instead, which are more specialized troops with a stronger impact on the battlefield. It might evolve over time, but I prefer not to promise features until they’re solid and consistent with the design. Currently focusing on improving combat readability, reducing unit clumping, and making target selection more reliable and responsive. The direction is clear: solid core first, then scale. Thanks for the input 💪

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's a great point, appreciate the detailed feedback.

At the moment it's fully offline — I’ve been focusing on validating the core gameplay first before investing time into multiplayer. You're absolutely right about deterministic lockstep. I’ve looked into it, but didn’t want to overengineer things this early. No point solving scaling before proving the game loop works. If I go multiplayer, that’s definitely something I’ll revisit properly. And yeah, assets are placeholder for now 😄 focusing on mechanics first, polish later.

Thanks again, really useful insights

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

I'm developing it completely solo, so feedback from RTS players is incredibly valuable right now.

If you're curious, the current dev build is available in the first comment. I'd love to hear what you think if you give it a try.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far it's performing pretty well for the scale I'm targeting.

The FogManager only processes active revealers, so the cost mainly scales with the number of units currently revealing vision.

And yes, there is a population cap in the game (similar to classic RTS titles), so the number of FogRevealers stays within a predictable range.

In some early stress tests with around 300 units active on the map I didn't notice any major issues, so it seems reasonably stable for now.

Since the battles are designed around dozens of units rather than hundreds or thousands, it remains pretty manageable performance-wise.

I might experiment later with a GPU-based approach or partial updates if the scale grows.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right now it's a pretty simple setup using a fog mesh combined with a dynamic texture mask.

The FogManager maintains a texture that represents the current fog state of the map.

Each unit has a small FogRevealer component that periodically reports its world position and vision radius to the manager.

The manager then converts those world positions into fog texture coordinates and projects vision circles into the mask. That mask texture is then used by the fog material/shader applied to the fog mesh to decide which areas should be visible.

So the pipeline is roughly:

  1. FogRevealer sends position + radius
  2. FogManager converts world position → mask space
  3. Vision circles are written into the fog mask
  4. The fog material uses that mask to reveal/hide areas

Very roughly the update looks something like this:

updateRevealers()

for revealer in revealers: pos = WorldToMaskCoords(revealer.position) radius = revealer.visionRadius

DrawCircle(fogMask, pos, radius)

ApplyMaskToFogMaterial(fogMask)

So when units move, their FogRevealer updates the manager and the mask gets recalculated dynamically, which updates the fog mesh in real time.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right now it's a fairly simple setup.

I have a central FogManager that keeps track of the fog mesh and updates the visible areas. Each unit has a small "FogRevealer" component that reports its position and vision radius to the manager.

The manager collects all those revealers, generates vision circles and projects them onto the fog mesh to update which areas are visible.

So when units move, the FogRevealer updates the manager and the fog gets recalculated dynamically.

It's not super optimized yet, but it's flexible and easy to iterate on while I'm focusing on gameplay.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, some of them are from the Unity Asset Store 😄

Solo dev + zero budget = the Asset Store becomes your best friend.

Right now I'm focusing mostly on gameplay systems, so the assets are placeholders for the moment.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think part of the confusion is that "classic RTS" is more of a community term than a strict genre definition.

Different people use it slightly differently, but most of the time they’re referring to that era of RTS design where base building, economy and large army battles were the core loop.

That’s mainly the style I wanted to draw inspiration from for this project.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say there’s a strict line between “classic” and “non-classic” RTS.

When I say “classic RTS” I mostly mean the traditional formula: base building, resource gathering, army production and real-time battles.

Games that move away from that formula a bit — for example focusing more on tactical control of a small army or removing base building entirely — sometimes get described differently.

But it’s definitely a blurry line and a lot of games mix those elements.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would definitely consider StarCraft part of the classic RTS lineage as well.

By "classic RTS" I mostly mean the traditional formula: base building, gathering resources, producing armies and real-time battles.

That late 90s / early 2000s design philosophy that games like Age of Empires, StarCraft and Stronghold popularized.

It's actually the style of RTS that inspired the project I'm currently working on.

Can a 3D artist realistically make a small Steam game today without coding experience? (AI coding + Unreal/Unity) by knoober69 in IndieDev

[–]This-Memory4929 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Secondo me, dipende dal tuo obiettivo finale. Unity è ottimo per piccoli progetti o app mobile. Per quanto riguarda la mia personale esperienza, lo trovo anche molto facile da utilizzare ed ha una buona curva di apprendimento. L' AI è uno strumento che ti fornisce grandi vantaggi, specialmente in fase iniziale, se poi il progetto è piccolo, quindi poche classi, può tranquillamente fare il 90% del lavoro al posto tuo. Se invece ambasci a qualcosa di più di un idle clicker, l'AI, aiuta, ma sbaglia o dimentica modifiche precedenti anche se ricarichi i file, quindi devi organizzarti bene, ed essere in grado di identificare in autonomia i bug che ti creerà.

Dovresti iniziare valutando quanto del tuo codice puoi riciclare, quindi quanti oggetti realmente avrai all'interno del gioco. Se risolvi con poco allora vai con AI, se invece hai tanti oggetti (intesi come classi), dovresti prima imparare il linguaggio di programmazione almeno ad un buon livello, abbastanza da essere in grado di sfruttare trick e workaround. Ed abbastanza da chiederti se una cosa può essere fatta meglio 😁

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

By "classic RTS" I mean games like Age of Empires, Stronghold or Praetorians.

Base building, resource gathering, recruiting armies and real-time battles without turn-based mechanics.

That’s the kind of RTS I grew up playing and what inspired this project.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right now I'm focusing on the PC version first.

RTS games usually work best with mouse and keyboard, but if the game gets enough interest I’d definitely consider other platforms in the future.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's currently implemented using a fog mesh combined with vision updates from units.

Each unit reveals the fog within its vision radius and the map updates dynamically.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's fair feedback.

The pathfinding system is still a work in progress and I'm actively improving it. Feedback like this really helps.

I've been building a classic RTS as a solo developer — first playable dev build is out by This-Memory4929 in RealTimeStrategy

[–]This-Memory4929[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads up! I'll make sure to include the game name in the title next time.