HA2 Task 4 - Critical Article on Strategy Genre Games

Structure of a strategy game can be very simplistic, with just a lot of detail smashed into it. Strategy video games are a genre of video game that emphasise skilful thinking and planning to achieve victory. A player must plan a series of actions against one or more opponents, and the reduction of enemy forces is usually the goal they have to achieve. Victory is achieved through superior planning, whereas most other genres rely on luck or just how fast you can react to a situation. In most strategy video games, the player is given a godlike view of the game world (over the top view) and indirectly controls game units under their command. Thus, most strategy games involve elements of warfare to varying degrees, and feature a combination of tactical and strategic decisions. In addition to combat, these games often challenge the player's ability to explore, or manage an economy, an example is Shogun 2: Total War. Players interact usually with pointing and clicking (if you are on pc) with the mouse. This is simplicity at its finest as this has become the overall way to interact within strategy games. Other genre of games use motion or real life events or places to interact with the player/players, this is not so true to strategy games. There is no emotion that causes a second thought to happen when you tell the units (NPCs) you‘re commanding to charge straight in.

Example of Top-Down view In a Strategy game

Characteristics of the genre are as follows:-

Units and conflict

In strategy games, there’s conflict that takes place between groups or singular combatants, often called units. Games vary between how many there are and other variables such as; type and design. Strategy games try to reproduce important tactical situations throughout history. Techniques such as flanking, making diversions, or cutting supply lines may become integral parts of managing combat. Terrain becomes an important part of strategy, since units may gain or lose advantages based on the landscape. Some strategy games such as Civilization III and Medieval 2: Total War, involve other forms of conflict such as diplomacy and espionage. However, warfare is the most common form of conflict, as game designers have found it difficult to make non-violent forms of conflict as appealing. And if a game utilises mostly 3 units, to balance the game out by doing a rock-paper-sciccors balance, for example:  Spearsmen beat Horsemen, Horsemen beat swordsmen, and finally swordsmen beat Spearmen.

Economy, resources and upgrades

 Strategy games often involve other economic challenges. These can include building construction, population maintenance, and resource management. Strategy games frequently make use of a windowed interface to manage these complex challenges. Most strategy games allow players to accumulate resources which can be converted to units, or converted to buildings such as factories that produce more units.

Map and Exploration

 Very rarely do strategy games show the world from the perspective from an avatar on the ground. This is to provide the player with a big picture view of the game world, and form more effective strategies. Exploration is a key element in most strategy games. The landscape is often shrouded in darkness, and this darkness is lifted as a player's units enter the area. The ability to explore may be inhibited by different kinds of terrain, such as hills, water, or other obstructions. This design technique is called the fog of war, where the player can see the terrain but not the units within the explored area. This makes it possible for enemies to attack unexpectedly from otherwise unexplored areas.

 

Real time Vs. Turn-based

Strategy video games are categorized based on whether they offer the continuous game play of real-time strategy, or the discrete phases of turn-based strategy. These differences in time-keeping lead to several other differences. Typically, turn-based strategy games have stronger artificial intelligence than real-time strategy games, since the turn-based pace allows more time for complex calculations. But a real-time artificial intelligence makes up for this disadvantage with its ability to manage multiple units more quickly than a human.

Strategy vs. Tactics

- Most strategy video games involve a mix of both strategy and tactics. "Tactics" usually refer how troops are utilized in a given battle, whereas "strategy" describes the mix of troops, the location of the battle, and the commander's larger goals.

 Setting and Themes
Fantasy setting & WW1 setting

- Strategy games can take place in a number of settings. Depending on the theatre of warfare, releases may be noted as naval strategy games, or space strategy games. A title may be noted for its grand strategic scale, whether the game is real-time, or turn-based. Strategy games also draw on a number of historical periods, including World War II, the medieval era, or the Napoleonic era. Some strategy games are even based in an alternate history, by manipulating and rewriting certain historical facts. It is also common to see games based in science fiction or futuristic settings, as well as fantasy settings. Some strategies games are
abstract, and do not try to represent a world with high fidelity. Although many of these may still involve combat in the sense that units can capture or destroy each other, these games sometimes offer non-combat challenges such as arranging units in specific patterns. However, the vast majority of computerized strategy games are representational, with more complex game mechanics.

Narrative structure

Narrative Structure in this type of genre tends to be linear, you’re presented with a problem, and you must overcome this problem to move on with the story. If you fail then you’re sent back to the beginning of the problem for you to attempt to solve it again. This is repeated non-stop until either the player gets so frustrated they give up, or they were able to overcome this problem. However this is not the case in strategy games where, you’re given a goal at the very start of the game, and you have pursue it to finish the game, irrelevant of whether you win or lose at certain situations along the way. The only time in strategy games where you are represented is during any animated cut scenes or narrative plot scenes. Without that you are just a god like commander looking above the battlefield. The only other characters in-game are the units you control and manifest top your will. Which considering are the only things that you control, they represent you and the enemy units represent the opponent whether they be just a NPC or another player.

Conclusion

In conclusion, strategy games require the right mind set to play and enjoy them. They have a direct audience and are able to make problems even a logical thinker would struggle with. This genre type has spawned a lot of sales, giving the industry millions, potentially billions of dollars in profit.