points by xyzsparetimexyz 1 day ago | 0 comments
According to the RTS blog post, the things that Claude did when told to make the game fun were these:
Every skirmish and Daily Op now opens with a choice, gives the side that’s losing a way back, and pulls the armies into the middle of the map. There are also two new ways to play.
Openers: pick Blitz, Industry or Air Wing before the clock starts.
Call-down powers: Barrage, EMP, Drop Pod and the Sky Hammer orbital strike.
Objectives and salvage: Uplink relays, supply drops and wrecks worth scrap.
Feel: combat juice, adaptive music, unit voices and an announcer.
Command: battle alerts, game speed, saved squads and touch placement.
New modes: Last Stand survival waves and an 8-mission Ops campaign.
Progression: heroes, an after-action report with awards, a career, 7 mutators and a Daily Op.
I can't say that any of these things have contributed to an RTS feeling fun to me. I mean okay music is important I guess. But it's a very on-paper way of looking at 'fun' that doesn't correspond to the je ne sais quoi lived experience of fun
Prior to those there wasn't any reason to explore the map, it was just a game of building up an army and then storming the other side all at once.
The other details - shakes, music, announcements, etc, did all add little bits of interest to it.