What benefits do Real Time Strategy games offer? First we must understand the concept of “real time”. Simply put, it requires quick thinking and swift decision making and as time progresses you will be either ahead or behind your opponent in production based on the decisions you took. Many people think of video games as a waste of time. This might be because so many players tend to become "obsessed" with video games, but we can't help to feel the adrenaline rush you get when you defeat your opponent. It's not normal, of course, to spend 5 or 6 hours in front of the computer, however, that time spent has not been in vain.
Studies show that quick thinking, cognitive skills, and intelligece are not static traits. These traits can be developed through Real Time Strategy games, such as Red Alert. On the battlefield, we can see clear examples of this. Normally, a player will learn from his past mistakes and reflect upon his or her loss. This demonstrates that players who take part in RTS games have a slightly more developed Intelligence Quotient, that is, they learn faster from their mistakes.
Red Alert requires lightning quick thinking (and precision) during the early stage of the game. Scouting units, deploying structures and deciding which strategy to play are things PROs have memorized because they have learned from their past games. They have memorized build orders, common mistakes, structure placement and not to mention they know the map like the back of their hand. Apart from this, Red Alert requires HOTKEY manipulation. It's possible to memorize the mechanical movements of your fingers when you press a certain HOTKEY pattern, for example, W -> E -> ctrl+1 -> shift+1 -> R -> Q puts newly made tanks to group 1 and pushes them to the battlefield. Another very common HOTKEY combination is E -> S which is used to stop your v2s, but this combination is pressed along with precision clicking.
Red Alert Multiplayer Online has allowed for the creation of METAS in the game, meaning a collective pool of Red Alert knowledge has created certain base strategies, such as ALL OUT TANKING or ENGIE RUSH. No single man alone could think of all the possible strategies in the game, so players contribute their personal tactics and strategies to the RA META.
Let's talk about economy management. Because we have limited resources (on unlimited ore maps we test purely speed), we are forced to scout the map and harvest more, or we are forced to destroy the opponent's structures and units in order for them to fall behind in production. Some of the most fun strategies I have ever played were not the most aggressive ones but the more passive ones such as, unit production and preservation where I try to win the game with the least amount of kills possible and the least amount of units possible.
The famous map, WAR OF THE GENERALS, is favored by a player called BigNasty. I like to think of this map (and HJK) as a race to harvest all the resources. Your opponent will resign after he or she crashes all their units into your defenses, which means you don't have to spend any money on offensive units and you didn't have to destroy any structures.
Let's talk about the long game. In the long game (usually on infinite ore maps) what will decide the winner is he who shows the most activity and the least passivity, he who can make quicker decisions than his opponent and demonstrates better tactics. Here is where a META usually comes into play, player's try to control the southern most of the map and start dominating from the bottom up (such as in DaRasta).
In the end, let's smile about the fact that we can keep playing Red Alert 1 and have it not be a complete waste of time.
In the end, let's smile about the fact that we can keep playing Red Alert 1 and have it not be a complete waste of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment