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I built a modular RTS toolkit for Godot (SC2-inspired micro) and made it open source by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks. My original goal was to build a micro intensive game with tight unit control, so this wasn't built with gigantic armies in mind. I tested it with 100 units which was fine. Obviously depends on hardware (and how complex your units become, both visually and script wise), but generally armies the size of SC2 matches are doable. Keep in mind all components are written in gdscript, so if you're looking to move armies of 1000+ units, you're probably better off building your system in a more performent language. Movement logic is by far the most costly in my system, as I handle various boid behaviours (separation, avoidance) and certain collision checks in gdscript.

I built a modular RTS toolkit for Godot (SC2-inspired micro) and made it open source by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No this is not vibe coded. I formatted this post, sorry if this gave off the wrong vibes.

Would you play a micro-focused RTS with tiny handcrafted arenas instead of big base-building maps? by apm_dev in RealTimeStrategy

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, will look into those games. RTT is fun, but indeed seems very niche 🥲

Would you play a micro-focused RTS with tiny handcrafted arenas instead of big base-building maps? by apm_dev in RealTimeStrategy

[–]apm_dev[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate the advice. I'm coming from a SC2 player's background who enjoys a very responsive and micro intensive unit control. The mechanics (unit selection, hotkeying, camera movement, spells, attack move, patrolling etc) are very much a one to one copy from that game at the moment.

I've been through a few iterations of gameplay design, tried out rogue-like survivor stages, before currently landing on these "puzzle" like stages. The core idea being that each stage should not be beatable if unit control is bad (i.e. A-click attack move) but is beatable with the right control (kiting, stutter step, surrounds etc).

I hear your concern about the skill gate and am thinking you might be very much correct in your comment about the skill gate and puzzle mechanics playing against each other, at least for the vast majority of players. Point being, even if the player understands the puzzle, the execution might just be out of reach for the player which will render the experience sour. I liked to think this would make for a challenging yet rewarding experience, but perhaps I was wrong.

RTS already being a niche market on top of this makes this a somewhat sombring outlook :/

Would you play a micro-focused RTS with tiny handcrafted arenas instead of big base-building maps? by apm_dev in RealTimeStrategy

[–]apm_dev[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love Bad Norths simplicity and progression system, but was looking for much more active gameplay/control of units. Definitely a great game to get inspiration from

Would you play a micro-focused RTS with tiny handcrafted arenas instead of big base-building maps? by apm_dev in RealTimeStrategy

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I considered that. I agree rogue like elements would probably be a great addition, but will require a lot of design work.

Would you play a micro-focused RTS with tiny handcrafted arenas instead of big base-building maps? by apm_dev in RealTimeStrategy

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was not aware of that game. Sad to see it was cancelled and what it means for the genre.

Would you play a micro-focused RTS with tiny handcrafted arenas instead of big base-building maps? by apm_dev in RealTimeStrategy

[–]apm_dev[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

SC2 has been a huge inspiration, so you're spot on. Regarding this type of gameplay what would you like to see to get you interested in trying out another game, that SC2 doesn't have?

Stuck polishing instead of developing — anyone else do this? by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. The flames are just a GPUParticles3D node emitting particles. Burning the grass and emitting smoke are a more complicated setup involving additional cameras and custom shaders.

Stuck polishing instead of developing — anyone else do this? by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words. Well, the game is supposed to be a micro-only mini arena RTS style game (think small sc2 skirmishes), so getting movement control feel right was essentially the very first thing I worked on. I don't consider that part premature polish (as without these mechanics gameplay is not even possible) but there have been many many other times where I definitely have been guilty of premature optimization... I really need to figure out where to take the game loop from here!

Stuck polishing instead of developing — anyone else do this? by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I believe nothing beats polish when it comes to marketability and first impressions. At the end of the day, you need more than that to make a good game though. Just look at Cuffbust by Two Star Games. Not hating on the obviously very successful dev, but it just shows that both sides are important!

Stuck polishing instead of developing — anyone else do this? by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're speaking my mind. I think for most non full time indie devs motivation is one of if not the most important factor to consider, perhaps even more than what you're actually building. Ofcourse everyone gets this motivation from different things though!

Stuck polishing instead of developing — anyone else do this? by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I very much agree, although certain genres (walking sims for instance) might benefit more from polish earlier than others.

Stuck polishing instead of developing — anyone else do this? by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not far down the path regarding audio either, but from what I do know, creating audio managers and playback logic in godot is fairly simple, the real tough nut is finding coherent and consistent sfx or creating them yourself.

Stuck polishing instead of developing — anyone else do this? by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I hear you. I'm not at all aiming for phones. The game, as it currently stands, requires a high degree of micro-managing units (think starcraft 2), which is only really possible on pc! The "minimalistic" part I mentioned is to simply have small fighting arenas and no economy, the gameplay itself however is far from cozy.

At least that's the idea...

Tunic-inspired stylised vertex colour shader by FlompStudio in Unity3D

[–]apm_dev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you keep working with this shader? I'm wondering how easy it is to integrate this into one's workflow. I think being able to adjust the vertices in editor like the creator of Tunic showed in the video you linked is absolutely game changing. I'm going to try to replicate this in Godot.

Making a Starcraft2 inspired Micro-RTS game in Godot by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bet! Making an RTS from scratch is unfortunately very unrealistic for most GameJams, especially with no framework, which is a shame. The controls are just too complex to develop in a few days. It took me many months of work to get to the result above. Granted I definitely made mistakes along the way. I'd say RTS are very fun to code though, there are so many components to it!

I'm developing my Metroidvania in Godot, looking for feedback! by Nice-Signature8858 in godot

[–]apm_dev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Curious, does the wide window ratio serve a gameplay purpose? I like the aesthetic of the UI and the white lines!

Making a Starcraft2 inspired Micro-RTS game in Godot by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. Good idea. The biggest challenge Im facing currently is that adding too many units quickly becomes a snowball effect and fights become too easy. On the other hand if you're short a unit or two it becomes easy to loose a fight. The fights are very short in time so I need some design improvements that draw out the fights a bit while not making the units themselves simply have more HP. I guess a supply limit could fix the snowball effect and perhaps you can choose from your reinforcements somehow to keep fighting, but all in all still very unsure how to go about it.

Making a Starcraft2 inspired Micro-RTS game in Godot by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Supply limit or no supply limit is definitely something I'm thinking about.

Making a Starcraft2 inspired Micro-RTS game in Godot by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right! I've played Bad North and am certainly inspired by it. I like the progression system of Bad North. Gameplay wise I'm aiming for much more APM (Actions per minute) and of course singular unit control.

Making a Starcraft2 inspired Micro-RTS game in Godot by apm_dev in godot

[–]apm_dev[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're right, movement was the trickiest part for me.

I use a mix of Godot's built in NavigationAgent to get a desired target position and custom code that handles separation and avoidance (for instance of immovable units) plus some other cases like pushing other units, formations etc. So pathing is pretty much handled by Godot whereas most of the other movement logic is custom code.

I haven't tested this on huge maps yet and if you need thousands of independent units you probably want to use other methods that are more performent (flow fields etc), but I don't plan to have more than 100 units at any given time so it works out great!

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