RTS Options for my Dad.

[Schmapdi]

Hi all - this is going to seem like a bit of an odd request but here it is.

My dad back in the early to mid 90s used to play Warcraft II quite a bit - not multiplayer or anything but he played through the campaigns and even beat the game before I did (I was 12ish or so at the time though). This was a bit of an anomaly - because other than War II and Doom, the only computer games I've known him to play are freecell and mahjong. (he doesn't like to have to think a whole lot while he's unwinding)

He's retired now, and seemingly bored with a fair amount of free time on his hands, and the last few days he's even been starting to play War II again (via emulator in linux, of the dos version, oddly enough).

I've tried to get him to try out some more modern examples of the genre (War 3 a few years ago when I was playing it, and DOW now) but he complains that newer games have just gotten too complicated and fast-paced for him to keep up with.

So I'm looking for a RTS game that has a lot of the modern conveniences (unit queueing, waypoints, etc) but that still remains relatively simple (not a lot of micro) and easy to play. Slow paced would be a big plus, and turn-based strategy suggestions would be welcomed, as long as they remain simple (I tried to get him into Civ IV a while back, no go). I say modern with a relatively loose definition of the word - because anything made this decade would be a big improvement from the what 94-95ish War II.

Thanks a ton - and demo's are a big plus.

[Wintermute]

Question: How old is your dad?

Of course you're free not to answer that if you feel that's too personal a question...
I will say though that I think it's very cool that your dad plays RTSs at all.

As for game suggestions... Civilizations IV is a reasonably slow strategy game. But it's turn-based, and more of an Empire-building sim than RTS, so it may not be what he's looking for. Of course I could recommend Homeworld also, but the 3D aspect of that game might also be a bit confusing. :)

Games like supcom, C&C Generals and Red Alert are probably a bit more than your dad is looking for...

[Mokino]

Yeah right, SC's not the right game for him.

He might want to try Rise of Nations. It's not terribly complex and definitely has a more relaxed pace to it.

Maybe pick up Command & Conquer: The First Decade (or I think there's now a pack with C&C 3 in it as well.) The C&C games are pretty easy to pick up and he'd get a lot of bang for his buck. If he can play Warcraft 2, everything pre C&C 3 should be fine.

Sins of a Solar Empire might be okay as well since it hardly has any micro whatsoever and actual battles occur at a slower pace.

A little out of left field, but he might also like Civilisation 4. Sure, it isn't RTS but it seems to be generally loved.

[Timeless]

I second Rise of Nations. It can be pretty deep, but does not require tons of micro. I LOVE that game. It's very rich. Oh and he'll love the capture the world "Risk-like" campaign.

[Zir]

RoN is too fast for ME, let alone someone like this.

What genres does he like? If he likes war, Combat Mission is great for older guys.

[Timeless]

I'm not a young kid and it's not too fast for me. His dad can pause the game while playing and still make his commands like building, research, attack, as well as lower the game speed many times - Rise of Nations is the single most customizable RTS on the planet, as far as I know. There's even "cannon" time which allows moments of EXTREME slow down during battle (each player gets like 2 or 3 of these). There's super slow time speed, super slow tech speed, fast tech, fast speed, you name it. How anyone can dismiss RoN as too fast is beyond me, especially since it can be played on a much slower scale than nearly any rts game out there. Maybe you should revisit the game and check out some of those options.

Some people are VERY slow thinkers, but age isn't necessarily a part of that, either. Some of the best players in RoN were mid 30s to mid 40s, and I even know a few in their 50s. He didn't say his dad was dead.

[nude-fox]

command and conquer generals is a very sure bet a very very sure bet especially if he like the modern era

also you could give sins of a solar empire alot

[DougyM]

Any or all of the following.

Shogun Total War
Medieval Total War
Rome Total War
Medieval 2 Total War

The battles are fairly straight forward if you have an idea of the units and their uses.

Arrows beat Infantry.
Infantry beat Horses.
Horses beat Arrows.

There are exceptions to the rule but thats the basic jist.

The campaigns are turn based, which means that any complexity can be overcome quite easily.

The battles in Medieval 2 can be put into slow motion.

Id recomend trying Medieval Total War (the first of the two) as its got the simplicity that anybody can overcome and its just so excellently polished seeing as its about 6 or so years old.

[Zir]

I'm not a young kid and it's not too fast for me. His dad can pause the game while playing and still make his commands like building, research, attack, as well as lower the game speed many times - Rise of Nations is the single most customizable RTS on the planet, as far as I know. There's even "cannon" time which allows moments of EXTREME slow down during battle (each player gets like 2 or 3 of these). There's super slow time speed, super slow tech speed, fast tech, fast speed, you name it. How anyone can dismiss RoN as too fast is beyond me, especially since it can be played on a much slower scale than nearly any rts game out there. Maybe you should revisit the game and check out some of those options.

Mmm, I remember those options. I still remember getting fed up with it though. It was the reflex based "build your tech tree faster than everyone else" gameplay that bugged me. Even slowed down, your keystrokes still have to be faster in relation to the enemy. RTS are obsessed with speed and base building, they forgot the strategy part.

It's a good game though.

[Kalamain]

Total Annihilation (If he can get it to run)
He may enjoy the Warcraft games.....Hell *MY* dad played those for a while!

The Homeworld games are good.....one would be better than 2 I think....

[Handyman]

Company of Heroes maybe? The single player campaigns at least aren't too fast-paced and can be really entertaining sometimes. The game isn't that simple though.

And then there is always the Age of Empires games. Slow paced, old and simple, but still requires a fair amount of strategy.

[Timeless]

Mmm, I remember those options. I still remember getting fed up with it though. It was the reflex based "build your tech tree faster than everyone else" gameplay that bugged me. Even slowed down, your keystrokes still have to be faster in relation to the enemy. RTS are obsessed with speed and base building, they forgot the strategy part.

It's a good game though.

RoN didn't forget the strategy part at all. It's just REAL TIME, which is why you always have to do things as quickly as possible to some degree. Otherwise, it would be TURN BASED. But that doesn't mean these rts games have forgotten the strategy or, more importantly, the tactics. Especially not RoN, imo. And since I've played a lot of the more twitchy type rts games like WC3, I find RoN, even at the normal speed mosT play it online, to be a rather slow paced game. Rather, it's the numerous decisions you have to make about research, economy, city placement that often makes it appear to be a fast paced game at first. There's so much to consider just on the economy side alone, with food, wood, metal, wealth, oil, etc. Once you get this down, it's not so bad, though playing at a competitive level still requires speed, since you're dealing with enemy raids while counter raiding yourself. That's the cool thing about single player - the game is rich enough to be interesting without even going online, imo. Besides, I don't think many still play it online these days, anyway.

[ToJKa]

I recommend Sins too. On singleplayer games you can just build a fleet and throw it on the enemy, but the new 1.1 patch did improve the AI though. Micromanaging obiviously improves succes rates, but i've won countless of battles just enjoying the view. And it's a pretty nice view :)

Sins is quite slow though, so for faster pace, i'd also recommend Supreme Commander. On the original, Easy Ai is a pushover, on expansion it's a bit better.

[Timeless]

Ugh, I purchased both Sins and Supreme Commander and hated both. It's too bad I can't sell them as I never played them past the first few nights. Sins has to be the most boring rts game I've ever played. Maybe I was spoiled by HW.

[Moe]

Sins of a Solar Empire might be okay as well since it hardly has any micro whatsoever and actual battles occur at a slower pace.
Every single unit in Sins has a secondary function, most of those are quite useful. You need to micro your cap ships or you die, and because it's a 4xRTS there's tons of shit you need to keep an eye on simultaneously.

Have you considered Age of Empires 2? On a competitive level it's obviously very micro-intensive, but playing against the CPU usually requires less micro and mad rushing skillz.

[Methuselath]

If you ask me, skip Sins and SupCom. Even though I love both games alot, people beyond 40+ have a tendency of their eyes failing.

I know because my dad (50+) loved RTS until the units get progresively smaller for the past few years and he complained it was hard for him to see the units; Sins have very small ships unless you zoom in real close but at that range you won't see anything, and SupCom, let's just say even I have problems noticing the smaller units.

I think the last RTS he enjoyed was CoH, tanks were big, the infantries themselves are very noticeable PLUS while it might seem frentic at times, the micro required is much less than your normal RTS (re: WC3)

I also remember my dad used to loved Stronghold.

[TheLoneKnight]

You could always look into the (somewhat dated by this point) Battle Realms. From a beginner's standpoint it's fairly unusual but ultimately pretty intuitive. The unit stats aren't listed, so counters (and unique passive unit abilities) are more or less discovered in-game (although it's usually blunt->slashing->piercing->blunt, with fire/blunt wrecking buildings) and the units can only have a single usable ability at a time. There are no hotkeys and the resource gathering is limited to gathering rice, water, and using water to make rice grow faster.

If you're looking for something turn-based (or he's feeling a little nostalgic), you can always give The Battle for Wesnoth (http://www.wesnoth.org/) a go. Easy to learn, simple mechanics and it's free to download. Admittedly it doesn't necessarily match a professional game but it's still an occasionally-amusing time waster.

Other than that, I'm not entirely sure what to suggest. If he's going for simplicity, modern and a slow pace, there isn't exactly a glut of games that fit the bill - at least not that I'm aware of.

I'm also tempted to suggest Homeworld I recall combat in that as being fairly slow/easy to manage. It shouldn't be too big a problem, so long as he can get accustomed to the 3d battlefield.

[bottenbreker]

what about Age of Empires III?

[Lor]

Settlers 3. Nuff said.

[Hirmetrium]

Sup Com is actually really complicated...

For a suggestion of modernised RTS games, if he doesn't like DoW, Try him on COH - their both very diffierent and the pace of COH might suit him.

Otherwise, there was that great suggestion of the Command and Conquer Saga (I think?) with all the games, inc. CnC3/Kanes Wrath in it.

That said, RA3 is really good. Its the slowest - paced CnC game to date, and the campaign is effing beautiful.

[Flonky]

Any or all of the following.

Shogun Total War
Medieval Total War
Rome Total War
Medieval 2 Total War
I second this idea. These games are RTS and RPG all mixed up. Brilliant!

[Coey]

CoH might be the best idea. Your Dad is a Dad, and they all love WW2.

[Retroboy]

Just curious - do you think he'd like Civilization? The gameplay is truly rich and rewarding, and the turn based nature means he can play at a much more relaxed pace.

-- Retro

[Rotlung]

Have you considered Age of Empires 2? On a competitive level it's obviously very micro-intensive, but playing against the CPU usually requires less micro and mad rushing skillz.
Seconded. As an alternative, he could also try Age of Mythology, which has a little more variety than Age of Empires 2 (depends on how you look at it) but fairly straightforward gameplay.

Also, Dune 2000? Straightforward Dune RTS where the 3 houses have fairly similar tech trees, so it's easy to get a hang of the game. I think Emperor: Battle for Dune is better but he might not be used to the camera. And Emperor is very very fast-paced.

[Mordakii]

I agree either Total war series or CoH. Both are not that fast paced and especially in single player both can be lot of fun.

If he cant see the units, he can always zoom right in :)

I find this a bit patronising tho, I fully plan to be playing the most up to date games even when I am 80!

[BmB]

Age of Empires might be just the thing.

[nuttyjawa]

I like how many people have suggested CiV4 but if you look in the post he says he tried it already :p

[InquisitorZim]

Warhammer: Battle March might be an alternative too, theres no base building at all. It contains 3 campaigns and options for vs cpu skirmishes. You can also customise your armies extensively, even down to what your individual units look like. Even the Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth games are less complicated, but adds an element of basebuilding.

[DooMJake]

Okay here is MY list for RTS and Turn-based Strategy games in no special order:

-Age series (including age of mythology)
-SupCom (In campaigns no micro needed)
-Sins of solar empires (no micro needed, turn every special ability to autocast and you should be able to beat easy AI just by throwing stuff at them)
-Heroes of Might and Magic series
-Starships Unlimited Divided Galaxy (a little gem i found by pure chance great Space-RTS whith auto pause when something happens)
-Total War series

[Rotlung]

Heroes of Might and Magic seriesOoo, yes, I especially like Heroes III! However, I find that Heroes III has a fairly steep learning curve. It's also hard to play well, unless you really have a thing for fairly epic turn based games.

[bottenbreker]

Ye, you could try Heroes of Might and Magic. They're very good turned base (basically the best in turned base I've ever played) Though, Age of Wonders is also a decent turned base game.

[Bowkers]

Rome Total War gets my vote. I think it is very enjoyable and takes up alot of time as well, as it involves an entire continent (and a little bit more). Imo CoH is a bit intense for someone coming back into RTS, unless he wants intense of course...

[CoatedTrout]

Total war definitely. AOE2 and COH are too micro-intensive for the person you're describing.

[SquidDNA]

Going to go with Supcom. It has depth but you can ignore it if you just want to have fun.

PS-- there's a demo.

[FriendlyFire]

Total War for sure. It's a very strategic game where you don't need all that much microing as much as you need to think it thoroughly. Plus, you can always pause the game and issue orders at once, which is great. RoN, at lower speed settings, is also nice.

I found Battle Realms to be punishingly difficult when you first try it out, so I'd disagree with this. Sup Com, while we could consider it slow paced, becomes a huge beast by the end-game part as you have tons of units roaming around and need to rush around doing twenty things at once. The CnC series itself is built for lightning-fast gameplay. If you aren't a fast clicker and don't learn some sort of build order, you're screwed for anything above Easy.

Other choices... What about Empire Earth? I know the game's epic scale could lead to slower stuff, and you don't really need to micro your units as they usually tend to screw around if you do that too much (at least to my memory). Empires: Dawn of The Modern World was also good, as the AI was often content of leaving you alone until you built up a major force to crush them. CoH, I'm not sure. Any WWII buff who doesn't want exact depiction of war would get huge fun out of it, but it's very micro-intensive if you want to make the best out of your units, especially infantry. AoE2 or AoE3, as well as AoM are good choices, pretty easy on beginners. I found the HW2 AI to be not too dangerous and the campaign is relatively easy, so that might be worth checking out if the 3D movement doesn't put him off. A last suggestion, even though it might stretch it a bit: Nexus. It's more of a RTT, but since you can pause the game it's a lot easier to order commands and it's a blast to work with smaller squads of ships (I find Nexus ships to be the most "realistic" depiction of possible futuristic space ship warfare to date in gaming).

[Paladin]

Get an old copy of Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim. No micro involved at all ;)

[fuggles]

Rise of Nations. My dad loves it and he's 60!

[Dooks Dizzo]

I know it's not an RTS but the Heroes of Might and Magic series was my Dads favorite for years and he's in his 50's. Heroes III was by far his favorite and the newest Heroes V is a lot like it.

Turn based strategy games are pretty awesome when you don't want to mess with reflexes or stress at all. And I think you can get it for about $20 right now. You can get part 3 for like $5 off Amazon. (I did)

[Zir]

Yeah I think he'd like HoMM3. It's worth remembering he clearly doesn't care about graphics, so don't try to force him to. He'll move on at his own pace.

[NoneSuch]

Majestys is a good choice if he's in to fantasy. I'd say wait until Empire Total war, that game should be awsome and like others have mentioned can be paused during combat.

Mm.. How about End war for the console (If you've got one)? Isn't that focused around voice commands. I've never played it myself though.

I would really suggest avoiding supreme commander. It's singleplayer is bad and the game really shines during multiplayer which requires HUGE amounts of micro and focus.

There's also World in Conflict, the single player doesn't require much micro and it's really immersive/story driven with no base building. It's also the americans v russians, what dad doesn't love that?

[BmB]

End War is one huge FUBAR clusterfucking circlejerk of confusion if you're a noob.

[Khorney]

i'd also recommend the total war series, very cerebral experience, only have to think about the units on the field, allowing you to contrate on tactics, while he can take his time planning strategy in the world map parts

[Imperial Dane]

I'd say CoH, the campaigns are nice and good and the system is rather intuitive and helpful to those who aren't so good with it.

So i would suggest that. Or perhaps Warhammer Mark of Chaos. Actually a good game and again, not to so tough for the unitiated.. in fact not very tough at all once you get it .. Battle march is different though..

[Mokino]

You can download the original Command and Conquer for free (http://www.gamershell.com/news_41337.html) if you want to try it.

[Schmapdi]

Wow - didn't think I'd get this much of a response.

To reply to some of the things I saw - he's old, but he's not decrepit - he's only in his mid 50s. I tried Civ IV - there was too much other stuff that got in the way of the fighting.

Rise of Nations - I seem to recall playing that a long time ago - it might be a good choice.

Supreme Commander - isn't that the sequel to TA - the game with a gazillion units? I think that might be too much for him. I'll check it out though since the demo came with Soulstorm. I'll look to try to find one of the Total War series too.

I was wondering about AOE series - I only really played the first one though. I don't recall it having much micro at all. Does that still hold true for II or III?

[FriendlyFire]

It does. AoE is, IMO, a pretty newbie-friendly game that doesn't involve too much micro. And yes, SupCom is the "spiritual successor" to TA with a gazillion units :P

[Shoota Fodder]

AoE2 is more or less the same as the first one, just re-skinned and updated graphics wise. It is hugely superior to the original, and the expansion pack is amazing. When I need a break from things like CoH, I still find myself drifting back to this game because of it's simplicity. AoE3 didn't work on my PC, so I can't speak for that...

Another good choice is Empires: Dawn Of The Modern World. It's like AoE, and has a similar age system to the AoE series, but the Five ages stretch from Medieval times to WW2. The Campaigns are also much better and have stories, and characters that are historical and realistic.

[Timeless]

Some of the games suggested are really cheap these days - you can get RoN for $9.99 at any OfficeMax. Maybe you could get him a few titles and see what he enjoys most?

[Demonic Spoon]

As far as "complex"...He just needs to spend some time learning the game. WAR2 isn't really any less complex than most modern RTSes.

The problem with pacing can be solved by appropriate use of hotkeys which most modern RTSes have down pretty well. I'd argue it's more of a mindset problem for him than a problem with the games...he refuses to try something new.

Modern mainstream games are very easy to pick up. Accessibility has become a necessity for modern games. Hell, my dad is the same age and plays games that are much, much more complex.

For complexity, tell him to stop dropping everything so fast and give stuff a shot. For pacing, teach him to use the available hotkeys. If he can play Warcraft 2 he can play pretty much any RTS.

If I had to suggest a game, I'd go with Sins of a Solar Empire.

[Methuselath]

To reply to some of the things I saw - he's old, but he's not decrepit - he's only in his mid 50s. I tried Civ IV - there was too much other stuff that got in the way of the fighting.

Heh, sorry if I offend. I'm just really repeating what my dad always told me when he's playing current-gen RTSes, it's always that the units themselves are too small for him to notice; and yes, he's also 50+.

[Dooks Dizzo]

I would just like to reinforce how awesome the Heroes of Might and Magic series is for ALL ages. I bring it up in particular because my dad (who is in the same age catagory) got such a kick out of it.

And it's cheap so if it doesn't work out, you're not out a ton of money or anything.

[Fish Of Doom]

RoN ultra-seconded, VERY good rts.

also, he might want to try alpha centauri, if you can get a copy. it's basically a sci-fi civ, taking place after the space ending. it's VERY fun, VERY customizable, has a very comprehensive tutorial and is infinitely simpler than civ4 without compromising gameplay enjoyment.

[Jianaran]

Well, my Dad's 51, and he's just started replaying through Homeworld. Maybe HW, or HW2 if you're up for modernness? And given the name of these forums, it's about time someone mentioned it anyway.

[Kalamain]

Not quite the RTS genre you are thinking of.....But what about the Master of Orion series?
I will agree that its not a full RTS game but its very close and can be very demanding and rewarding.

[Zir]

Real time isn't really "close" to turn based at all.

[Snake1311]

Heroes of Might and Magic for the win. Easy basics, but lots of depth. Turnbased means it can be relaxing to play. It's got strong RPG elements in the campaigns as well which is a plus for most people. And its pretty :P

[troff]

I would tend to agree with Nude-Fox in letting your dad try out the CnC games. In fact get the CnC collectors box (has the entire series of the games in it) and let him try it out.

I tend to agree with your dad about games now being a bit complicated. Unfortunately games have the scissors-paper-stone mechanics that tend to make them that way.

Thus I was going to recommend Dawn Of War (no need to worry about resources) or even Starcraft but they do get complicated after a while.

CnC games I find will allow your dad to be more accustomed to modern games, as in all of them you can still 'build 100x tanks and roll over the enemy' should you bore of tactics.

Like you said, let him beat the single player missions, and then try out the multiplayer. Once that is done it's on to the rest - I recommend Dawn Of War for its fast pace and non-use of resources. Even Company of Heroes.

Download all the demos and try em out. :dunce:

All in return we ask from you is 'how' to get your dad to play RTS's in the first place - now THAT is cool. :agree:

[Timeless]

Dawn of War is a very cool game, but I find it pretty hard.

[Stingra]

For turn-based sci-fi strategy, there's always the Galactic Civilization series. Granted it is basically Civilization in space but it's still very fun. The first game has really simple graphics and interface (unless you really want to get into the micro-managing of everything), along with fun AI that gets more creative as the difficulty level raises. You can adjust galaxy sizes from how long you want a game to last, tiny being half-an hour to an hour, huge being days. There's no campaign or active multiplayer though, and you're stuck with being human everytime. There's an expansion pack, but you'd have to buy it off Stardock's website to get it I think.

I haven't really played Galactic Civilizations 2: Dread Lords because I felt they changed some of the things I really liked from the first game, but I believe it's much more streamlined, good graphics and adjustable camera and more focus on the strategic aspect. It also comes with the option to customize everything about your ships and race. There's a solo campaign and I think actual multiplayer, and it's all still turn based.

For actual RTS that isn't complex, you could try the Stronghold series. I've only played Stronghold: Crusader (castle building seige warfare during the Crusades), but I've heard good things about the other games. Castle building is fun and easy, rock for walls, wood needed for buildings, two direct harvest foods, grain needs a mill and bakery, hops need mill and brewer and an inn to increase happiness.

It has a customizable skirmish mode and a 'Crusader trail' where you fight pre-designed scenarios, and a story mode that covers all four of the major Crusades from both points of view. The graphics are ok, it's got a 3D look to it and can look very pretty at time when the wind blows. Everything has an animation to it, it's a good game. Very simple and easy to pick up, though you might have a little trouble finding it. It is kinda old, 2001-2002ish and slightly obscure compared to other games, so I doubt anyone will be playing multiplayer.

EDIT: Crusader also has a simple map-maker. It's not Blizzard quality and can be a bit crappy at times, it's another way to keep playing once you've gotten tired of the single-player maps. There's also a castle builder mode where you can just make a giant functioning castle without enemy interference, but it's just a crazy simple and pointless city-sim in that mode.

You might be able to find it at Firefly Studios's site, along with the newer games. I think they offer a battlechest deal so you'll be able to get more maps and new enemies to fight.

[Pocktio]

Rise of Legends is pretty snazzy, if your Dad likes fantasy.

[Caesar]

It would be helpful if we knew more about your Dad's interests. Depending on his hobbies or perhaps interests in fantasies or history we could give better recommendations. If he wants to relax while playing a game, Company of Heroes and Dawn of War are not the best picks. They require too much micromanagement that is most likely not going to be relaxing for him. I would suggest Rise of Nations because of it's inherent simplicity and scalability. If he wants to play more in depth and think more, he can do so. Or, he can just play the a quick game.

[Methuselath]

Heh, does Commandoes count as RTS?

Awesome game, sedate pace and lots of depth. It's more puzzle like than your normal RTS does anyway.

PS: Or is it RTT?

[ZellFish]

Dawn of War, maybe? Wait for SC2. He'll be fimiliar with that.

[**Spetsnaz**]

i recommend Settlers III
its nice, shiny and micro-free

[corncobman]

Is there an age limit to this?

Dungeon Keeper 2
Total Annihilation
Dark Reign
Dawn of War

[Doomrider]

All this talk about Age of empires and no Empire Earth? Just need to stay away from the snazzy new sequels.

[BmB]

Epire Earth was cool. But you progress throug the ages way too fast. You only really get to fight in the nano age.

AoE's pace let you better exploit each period.

[Mokino]

Dawn of War, maybe? Wait for SC2. He'll be fimiliar with that.

Blizzard's adding a lot of micro to SC2. He might not be as comfortable with it.

[Belgarion]

Well Im a middle aged man OK not 50 but not a teenager either. My first RTS was Impossible Creatures and I would thoroughly recommend that to your father. Simplistic and not too fast a pace unless you want to take on a real person(I got trashed all the time online but the server is gone now)
I also recommend DOW although it has a steeper learnibg curve for your father.

[Timeless]

I hope we see a game someday that implements what IC tried to do. It was REALLY cool to design your own armies. Unfortunately, it didn't sell that well and no longer even has an online component.

[MardiGrasBandit]

I'm pretty excited about this thread, as I was on the verge of starting a similar one when I found it.

I'll use my potential topic as my suggestion. Axis and Allies from TimeGate. It's a reasonably easy game to get the hang of but has more strategic depth then any other RTS I've ever played. It also runs well on low end systems, sells for $10 and has a medium pacing, especially on the bigger maps.

On a side note, if anyone else has ever played it, can you recommend a similar game to me?

[Schmapdi]

Well - I've tried some of the suggestions thus far (tried them out myself that is)

Supreme Commander - Way too complicated, and more importantly I don't think he'd be able to see half the units involved. I didn't really care for it either.

Rise of Nations - Great game that I quite enjoy, but I'm not sure how much he'd be into it - it's kinda like a Real Time Civ IV (i.e. - too much spent on ecomony and expanding territory, not much on fighting). Teching seems non-stop and complicated (lot of tiers, tons of things to research) which would probably a turn off for him. But it does have a relaxed pace and simple "throw an army at em" combat. So I might see if he'll try the demo.

But I think the winnner is ....

Age of Empires II - It has the slow pace, the simple combat - while still introducing him to some of the more modern UI elements like queueing, gather points, and grouping controls. I really think he'll take to it. Plus - looking at Walmart the other day I saw they had an Age of Empires pack (Age I & II plus expansions for both) for $10. So I may just buy it and if he's still not interested play through it myself :)

But I really think it might be a good step-up to some more modern games. I for instance, think he'd like DoW or CoH or even War III if he wasn't so intimidated by so much being different than what he's used to.

But feel free to keep suggesting items - for my dad and MardiGras :)

Bonus points to CornCobMan for recommending Dungeon Keeper II, one of my all time favorites. Did you see they announced a DK mmo?

Thanks again to anyone that posted ideas!

[Methuselath]

Heh, I've played Axis and Allies, briefly, but the mechanics is quite familiar to me re: Kohan.

It's basically a grand strategy RTS; units are made into squads, a mixture of leaders, spellcasters and fighters, and when they meet another squad, they'll get locked into combat. IIRC the only input you can give is retreat.

Due to the way the mechanicss work micro is practically non-existant. Movement is IIRC sluggish-ish, when two squads are close to colliding with each other is hard to redirect them to safety; hence the grand strategy part.

All in all, the mechanics is interesting, I think Axis and Allies can be a little bland with the missions, but the mechanics itself is worth a look. Command structures works like COH brits if I'm not mistaken, but plays a more important role than unit builders, they determine the supply lines as well.

[jeb]

How about Harvest? ;)

http://www.oxeyegames.com/harvest

[Imperial Honour]

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim
Second! Its has to be one of the most awesome cult classics even today, which has a sequel coming out Q2 2009 ;)

Other options obviously include;
- Total War series
- Age of Empires 1 & 2
- Command & Conquer\Red Alert (Legally free online download, so no money lost trying them)
- Civilization Series
- Colonization (Sequel part of Civilization series)
- Close Combat series
- Company of Heroes (I've had countless people young and old love the game playing with me online {disclaimer: experiences online\offline may differ if not playing with me})

I"ll probably add some more later when I think of some.

[BmB]

Age of Empires II - It has the slow pace, the simple combat - while still introducing him to some of the more modern UI elements like queueing, gather points, and grouping controls. I really think he'll take to it. Plus - looking at Walmart the other day I saw they had an Age of Empires pack (Age I & II plus expansions for both) for $10. So I may just buy it and if he's still not interested play through it myself Just watch out for when he discovers the cheats and begins spamming robotic machinegun cars having seizures. (and no, I will not tell you that it's cheese steak jimmy's it would simply be too horrible of me to do)

[sterlingx2011]

I have always found Disciples II to be a good slow paced game. Fair warning it can be a bit punishing when you make mistakes though.

[Mokino]

Ooh, Colonization might be a good bet. It's essentially a smaller scale Civ.

[TheTick]

I like how many people have suggested CiV4 but if you look in the post he says he tried it already :p

I was thinking the same thing.... I was even starting to think he may have updated the post...haha.

I agree that Age of Empires 2 or 3. My father in law who's around 55 or so really dug it and was into it quite a bit.

[Paladin]

I have always found Disciples II to be a good slow paced game. Fair warning it can be a bit punishing when you make mistakes though.
Disciples 2 is indeed an amazing game. It is by no stretch of the imagination an RTS though ;)

[Mokino]

Empire Earth 2 is actually really good. 3's the one that sucks. However, it is a pretty deep game.

The first 4 Commandos games are really good, but not really RTSes. You only command a small group of units and cannot let any die. Each one has their specialities so the game's much closer to a puzzle game as mentioned before.

[FriendlyFire]

EE2 I found to actually be complete crap. The pathfinding was horrible, the performance was incredibly bad (it ran worse than many top-quality games) and there were tons of crashes and irregularities...

[Mokino]

The first was pretty terrible on release as well.

Actually, has your dad tried the Settlers series? They're kind of a mix of RTS and city builder. Easy to pick up and play but deep enough to be enjoyable.

[Imperial Honour]

Agreed, the Settlers series of games can be quite good for people of several ages.

[Johnny.]

A list of slow paced RTS games (though still fun)

Rome: Total War. Turn based strategy, if a tad complicated. It has a bit of a learning curve but great fun once you get going. And the tutorial system is pretty good.

Rise of Nations: If set to easy, then it's a slow, fun game. With Nukes. Can't go wrong ;)

And, have you considered Age of Empires II? That is still a brilliant game, even MY dad plays that. It's easy, fun, and got some really good campaigns.

Hope I've been of some help XD

- Tavion