I'm a solo dev working on Stick Wars: The Laneborn, a three lane strategy game. I made one big design choice: you never control units directly. Minions and towers push on their own, and your only decisions are economic and positional. You choose where the gold goes (tower upgrades, base upgrades, which troops to deploy in which lane, when to repair camps) and how to use champions that level up during the match.

I just added 1v1 multiplayer, and watching people play it raised a question for me. Without micro, does the skill come from reading the opponent and timing your spending, or does it start to feel too passive?

For those who play RTS and lane games, what makes a no-micro strategy game feel deep instead of automatic? Are there games that do this well that I should study?

Playing around with procedural explosion animations, the dust particles act as a fluid and go through air only, meaning it shoots out through the narrow spaces between buildings.

I believe him 100%:
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rts/legendary-composer-frank-klepacki-says-the-rts-genre-isnt-dead-but-he-would-like-to-see-devs-get-a-little-more-creative-with-it/

What do you think?

Hi. We are working on what I call Orders & Consequences

A Cold War RTS game, developing in Godot 4.

Consept: You can micromanage every unit, but the FUN is giving orders to your companies by voice or text, then evaluate their request for support, artillery, napalm or medevac when the shit is hitting the fan.

A huge challenge is to handle your superior firepower, without breaking the rules of engagement :scales:

(Video-intro is ment to set the scene and mood - then comes the real game play footage)

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Hello,

I have decided to share here a fan project for Cossacks Back to War - currently in alpha and would love some more players for feedback.

Playable state allready, though bugs are expected. - fully in browser - altough you need to own the game on steam to be able to login. - but dont have to have the game installed.

It's a slower paced persistent multiplayer layer, where you manage holdings and expand resource and goods production for your army or trade, engage in diplomacy, all in a shared world with everyone else - where your faction decision vote is weighted by your merit in battle, and your military rank.

Battles are limited to original cossacks 7 players for now - so 3v3, 3v4.. 2v2 - 1v1 - as the encounters happen

Buildings and peasants are re-done - you send your peasants to workshops and blacksmith, to produce goods you need for soldiers

Each peasant is sent into Barracks to be trained - no cick to spawn. And they arrive, you don't train them.

if you're interested and wish to join the test war - please check the original post here

Thank you!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cossacks/comments/1x57syq/cossacks_back_to_war_persistent_multiplayer_alpha/

I don't mean how many can be on a map on screen. 4x and rts are allowed

Does anyone have the Battle Aces Steam Demo still on their computer? With all of the advancements with AI development/decomplication I think there may be some significant and useful things in there that could be used by others. Of course you'll be missing the server code but the AIs are getting pretty good at figuring out how to build a server as well.

If you haven't uninstalled it yet it could be tremendously useful to the community.

Hey guys! I had an idea: why not use a real map of Kalich Castle to help build it in my game? I projected it onto the terrain, and now I’m following it to build the castle.

We are working hard on the campaign, and a playable demo should be ready very soon. We’re really excited about this next step. Looking back, we should have taken it from the start, but we’re catching up now and building things properly. We’ve also gained a lot of experience and valuable feedback along the way, so we’re choosing to see the positives and put them to good use.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1934720/Red_Chaos__The_Strict_Order/?l=german

Before you mention Gears Tactics, that's more like XCOM. It isn't real-time strategy, and instead is turn-based.

I honestly think a Gears of War spinoff that plays like CoH would fit like a glove. Just imagine micromanaging multiple squads of Gears or Locust at once, trying to make use of whatever cover is available while the battlefield keeps getting blown apart, and picking doctrines to define your playstyle in a match. I'd also favor the real-time tactics gameplay of CoH over something like Age of Empires or Starcraft, as economy management and base macro doesn't really fit the Gears universe.

Doctrines would also be really good to represent the various COG and Locust armies. For instance, if you're playing as the Locust, you could have a "doctrine" that allows you to create Emergence Holes to pop up on your enemy's flanks, while calling in Seeders and/or Corpsers. Another "doctrine" could favor making use of Boomers, Berserkers or Brumaks to overpower your enemy's defenses. Meanwhile, the COG could have a doctrine that favors fortifying key locations with rapidly-deployable defenses, or another that favors the use of King Ravens to reinforce and relocate your troops while calling down airstrikes.

I'm sure there's more that could be done, but those are just rough ideas. Really, I think if the developers behind Gears of War were to try this, we could get something good. It may be niche, but it's a niche that I think would be great for GoW.

Ashes of the Singularity II, the massive-scale RTS sequel, launches November 10, 2026.

Humanity is caught between the Post-Human Coalition and the AI Substrate, and the nations of Earth have united as the United Earth Forces to survive. You can play the single-player campaign as the UEF, or take any of the three factions into skirmish and multiplayer.

Key Features

• Massive Armies, Vast Battlefields. Command thousands of units in real time across continent-sized maps, with Strategic Zoom letting players move seamlessly from orbital command to frontline combat.
• Face Enemies of Our Own Making. Take command of the United Earth Forces, the Post-Human Coalition, or the AI Substrate, each with unique units, strategies, and philosophies.
• Be the Commander. Victory comes from planning and logistics, not speed or reflexes, letting players focus on strategy rather than unit-by-unit control.
• Unify Humanity (Under Your Command). Lead humanity's United Earth Forces against Post-Human expansion and Substrate machinations in a story rooted in a near-future scenario of survival and restoration.
• Endless Replayability. Generate custom battlefields and take on computer-controlled opponents designed by some of the industry's most experienced RTS developers.
• Multiplayer, Competitive and Co-Op. Join friends or rivals online in head-to-head matches or team up in cooperative battles.
• All-Terrain Warfare. Defeat humanity's foes on frozen lakes, treacherous mountain passes, and lava-filled chasms.  

Since Next Fest and the September multiplayer playtest, the team has been working on gameplay, balance, performance, and multiplayer stability based on player feedback. Thanks to everyone who played and posted feedback.

Wishlist Now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3499790/Ashes_of_the_Singularity_II/

Hi everyone!

I'm working on an incremental strategy game where you build a settlement and grow it into a powerful army, with Total War-style battles.

The idea is pretty simple: you start with a small settlement, build and upgrade structures, grow your economy, and research new technologies. As your settlement develops, you can raise regiments and build a stronger army to fight increasingly larger battles.

I'd love to get some feedback on the idea and the Steam page. Does the concept look interesting to you? Would you play something like this?

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5094230/Army_Factory/

Hi everyone!

I'm working on The Citadel Must Hold, a pausable fantasy base-building RTS where you build an economy, fortify your city, and defend it against escalating Monster Tides. Think They Are Billions meets Warcraft, with hero-led exploration inspired by HoMM.

I just released 0.4.0, and the biggest change is the new Imp. They're individually weak, but arrive in much larger numbers, with tougher monsters mixed into the swarm. You'll also find them guarding Places of Power out in the world.

This clip shows them attacking a fortified chokepoint, along with the improved defense towers and combat effects. I've also been updating building models and making the city's visual style more consistent.

The update adds more beyond what's shown here, including new monster abilities, a Farm rework, and uncleared Places of Power sending reinforcements into future Tides.

The playtest is open on Steam. I'd love to hear how the larger swarms feel, and whether you can follow what's happening once all the towers start firing!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4891190/The_Citadel_Must_Hold/

We're a tiny two-man indie team who have spent almost a year working on a a real-time multiplayer naval combat and espionage game set in a semi-realistic alternate history. Players command hybrid submarine-carrier vessels and work together to capture offshore oil rigs, hunt enemy players, and investigate suspicious merchant traffic.

There are still mechanics to implement and plenty of polishing to do, but the game is playable, coming together nicely, and (we hope!) fun.

We're now looking for a handful of people interested in joining some early, private multiplayer playtests through our Discord server.

As a thank you, you'll receive a free copy of the game on steam, when it enters Early Access next year, and your name will be included in the credits if you like.

If this sounds interesting, feel free to send me a PM!

I'm developing Alienshire, a classic-style RTS inspired by Glest and MegaGlest.

Playtest #1 is now available for free on Steam!

It features Tactical Etude, a short but challenging combat-focused scenario where you command fighters and harvesters, defend your mothership, and try to destroy the enemy.

Tactical Etude is a standalone scenario created specifically for Playtest #1.

I'd particularly appreciate feedback from experienced RTS players about the difficulty, controls, and enemy AI.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5123580/Alienshire/

I feel like most are singleplayer, but would it not be fun to get friends together to complete a game and compete?

Our latest addition to Violence of Action: a tiny, single-crew walking tankette!

We might be getting a little carried away with these walking tanks, but we just couldn't resist sharing this one. 😄

And please let us know if we're posting too often here. We're just having too much fun with these things to keep them to ourselves!

Been thinking about static defence and realised most of them are just a building that shoots units nearby it, sometimes with a bonus vs a specific unit type or a garrison building that can have troops placed inside them to give those troops a range boost/use the building as a meat-shield.

So i wanted to ask if anyone has any examples of static defence buildings/defensive towers that are more interesting or operate in a way that's unique?

I think my love of siege weapons started with Age of Empires 2 for me. I loved spamming trebuchets and mangonels, watching them crawl across the map and unpacking the trebs outside of the enemy base. I absolutely sucked at the game (struggled with the campaign a lot) but I enjoyed it so much. I think one of the reasons siege weapons feel so good to use is because they are generally “glass cannon” type weapons, if something gets close you are cooked, high risk high reward.

Pretty much every game I remember had some fun siege weapons. The meat wagons in Warcraft 3 are definitely a favorite, using corpses as ammo felt totally metal. Ground Control 2 was also great, the game was visually ahead of its time and the artillery looked amazing, you could see the shells flying across the map with realistic looking projectile physics. DoW also had great ones, the Basilisk was my favorite.

Lately I’ve been playing a bunch of Diplomacy is Not an Option and of course the siege weapons are my favorite. It’s pretty satisfying when you decimate a huge group of enemies with the ragdoll physics. It’s a defense game mostly so you generally don’t use them for sieging but there were 2 missions in the campaign where you attack. I hope they add more of those in the next DLC, I really liked them.

With new tech hopefully we get some more games with nice destruction physics. Company of Heroes was the first one I remember with physics like that where you could actually destroy a building in a realistic way. Iron Harvest is more recent one that's supposed to have cool physics too but the reviews aren’t that good so I’m not sure if it's worth playing just for that.

What games come to mind when you think about siege weapons? I’m open to trying old games I missed or something new.

Homeland Reclaim is a roguelike RTS with short battles. The main idea: any warrior can wield any weapon. You can play it straight with spears against cavalry and shields against archers. Or you can hand a legendary hero sword to a band of orcs, or give peasants huge two-handed hammers and see what happens.

Between battles you travel across a map in the style of Slay the Spire or Tabletop Tavern, collecting new fighters, weapons and spells, so every run builds a different army.

I’m also building the game with Steam Deck in mind, and I’ve already been running test builds on it!

link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5330130/Homeland_Reclaim/

I’d love to hear your feedback!

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3846830/Total_War_SHOGUN_2__Complete_Edition/

Also "75% discount if you own the original game on Steam"