• Welcome to the RTS HQ Community Hub. Join us to discuss your favourite real-time strategy games! Enjoy exclusive insights from indie devs, participate in tournaments, and explore discussion forums - all focused on real-time strategy. Register now and become part of a welcoming community built by RTS gamers, for RTS gamers.

Can RTS Games Work on Consoles?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Al
  • Start date Start date
Al

Al

Howdy, I'm Al
Staff member
Joined
Sep 24, 2023
Messages
413
Points
17
Location
UK
Website
rtshq.net
So, can RTS games really work on consoles? It's a tough one! Historically, RTS games have been a PC staple, but there have been some solid attempts on consoles. Halo Wars and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 on Xbox and PlayStation managed to adapt pretty well.

Recently, there's been a trend towards making games more accessible on consoles. Battle Aces is a new RTS that's aiming to get it right, and there's an upcoming title from Good Trouble Games that's generating a lot of buzz.

With modern consoles supporting keyboard and mouse the future looks promising for RTS on consoles. What do you all think? Any other RTS games you’ve enjoyed on consoles? Let's discuss!
 
Trying to play RTS with a controller is really challenging. There's just too many options. I mean, look at Supreme Commander 2. They really dumbed it down so it would work on consoles. If ya have to chop up a solid PC release to make it work on a console that's not a great place to be. Maybe with a mouse and keyboard plugged in it could work, but you then still miss a lot of modding options which I think are essential to a successful RTS.
 
I have played Minecraft Legends on PlayStation 4 as well as PC and based on my experience I can say I had as hard time playing it on console because I did not get a lot of options with the controller as I could get with a keyboard and mouse. I think you need a good gamepad controls to play on console.
 
I'm writing a piece on Chris Taylor's legacy and looking at the feasibility of RTS games on consoles:

SupCom 2 had reduced scale, a reduced unit roster, and reduced complexity. Many commentators attribute this to a decision by Square Enix to demand the game be playable on Xbox 360. With the general consensus being that controllers do not lend themselves well to the complex controls required in real-time strategy games. Supreme Commander 2 is evidence of the necessity to 'dumb down' complex gameplay mechanics for a videogame console audience.
Click to expand...

Thoughts?
 
IMO, the decision by Square Enix to force Gaspowered Games to build SupCom 2 to be played on Xbox 360 is what killed the series.
 
Battlemind said:
I have played Minecraft Legends on PlayStation 4 as well as PC and based on my experience I can say I had as hard time playing it on console because I did not get a lot of options with the controller as I could get with a keyboard and mouse. I think you need a good gamepad controls to play on console.
Click to expand...

You are correct. It is all about finding out the best move to make in terms of whether you would like to play RTS games on PC and save yourself the stress of trying to find the games that work on consoles. I would say that while some RTS games can work on consoles, playing on PC is far much better.
 
Do you really can play console games with a keyboard and mouse? Never tried that or heard that it's possible. Still, for me, PC will always be the go-to for such games.
 
The RTS games can definitely work on consoles, especially with the advancements in technology that we have right now. Halo Wars and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 are great examples of the RTS games that are very successful on consoles. Can you see that it's possible? I'm so excited to see more RTS games on consoles.
 
It works fine on console but the developers should know that the gamers on console have different expectations when compared to PC gamers. So, RTS games on consoles need to be designed with this in mind and that's how it's going to work seamlessly.
 
For me, enjoyed several RTS games on consoles because I've had immersive experience with StarCraft 64 on the Nintendo 64 and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II on the Xbox 360. I’m not saying they are not with limitations,.of course they do but those games showed us that RTS games can work on consoles.
 
I think they can work well on consoles, but they have to be very well optimized, I think RTS games will always work better on computers because they are more optimized and also the keyboard is much better for everything that has to do with the functions from an RTS video game.
 
I think PCs are the best platform to play RTS games. The major benefit is you can customize your PC according to your game's requirement. When you use a mouse and keyboard, input is precise giving you a quick and accurate control of units.
 
Yes, there are many RTS video games that work quite well on consoles, there are many examples of this, but the best RTS are on PC, and it is because computer controls are better for this type of video game.
 
Back
Top