I used to play this old PC game called USS Ticonderoga. It was a pretty clunky modern naval simulation, but I persisted with it for one reason: it let you explore your ship in first-person. I can’t believe it’s taken this long for another game to realise how awesome that premise is.
A big problem with a lot of strategy games is that the excitement and tension they can produce is reliant on the player’s imagination. A dry interface and abstract icons often don’t do much to immerse you in your actions, which is weird considering you’re normally engaged in epic battles where you’re sending thousands of people to their deaths.
Upcoming indie PC game Flagship thinks the answer to this is to literally drop you into the battle. You command your ship from its bridge in direct first-person, able to instantly look around you and see the consequences of your actions.
In terms of strategy, things are looking fairly basic. Whether that’s a question of early development or stretched resources, who knows. But loads of people won’t care if it’s Strategy Lite, since it’s going to have Oculus Rift support.
Comments
3 responses to “First-Person Games Meet Strategy Games. In Space.”
I miss Battlezone..
Battlezone was good.
I also Miss Hostile Waters Antaries Rising
@0:59 that has got to be the most exposed bridge/CiC for a combat vessel in SciFi history
This idea in XCOM would be awesome!
I would love it if in the XCOM game (I think there should be one considering how well it did) you are able to walk around your base and get to know your soldiers, scientists, engineers etc. It might be hard scripting any sort of complex interaction with your soldiers because of permadeath, but being able to give me a glimpse into their lives would be so cool.
Been waiting for a good rts for a long time. Think we were spoilt far too early with excellent dune 2 & 2000, C&C all (except red alert 3 and C&C4), total annihilation, starcraft (not 2 thats a bunck of arse) and warcraft(rts NOT mmorpg)… its hard to get excited about rts now…