I've been playing this game and enjoying the absolute hell out of it.
Since just about everything has a miss chance, can friendly fire, and is affected by terrain - and the battlefield changes shape with all the wreckage, which itself can be reclaimed for additional resources... Micro is definitely proportionally just as important as in broodwar.
And the fact that higher-energy-yielding and metal-yielding structures are volatile / unstable, but can't be built quickly unless they're bunched together because they need to be next to build turrets makes it so games can end extremely quickly if a sufficiently strong group of units gets to your base.
You still have to expand to take territory and make the most of metal deposits - but the skill ceiling is ridiculously high, just like in broodwar.
And you can play massive team games without performance issues.
I'll always love broodwar - but as far as what I actually PLAY... BAR has my heart.
It’s pretty great, I just wish there was some epic campaign to play right now.
1v1 is fun I just don’t have the time to not absolutely suck ass at it, but there’s tons to love.
Bigger team games suck IMO, but for differing reasons to me finding them underwhelming in SC and some other RTS games. It does feel very much that the game works in team contexts, rather than an awkward shoehorning of a game built for 1v1 being applied to a team game.
On the flipside there are pretty understood ways on how to play, with quite specialist and restrictive roles. And woe fucking betide you if you don’t know how to play one.
I could do a passable job at front, spamming units and microing a bit is kinda bread and butter for anyone who got even semi-decent at SC.
‘You’re too noob to play front’ ‘But I can’t play any other role!’ ‘Omg noob why can’t you play (insert other role)?’
In fairness many aren’t like that, but it really does strike me as a problem in a community that overall is pretty great.
Hehe, SupremeCommander had exactly the same issue in Teamgames. It's awesome if the positions are evenly matched. It's horrible if you get a big mismatch and your "tech/eco" guy is doing random BS while the opponent rushs a Nuke and the game is plain over.
On May 15 2025 07:55 WombaT wrote: It’s pretty great, I just wish there was some epic campaign to play right now.
1v1 is fun I just don’t have the time to not absolutely suck ass at it, but there’s tons to love.
Bigger team games suck IMO, but for differing reasons to me finding them underwhelming in SC and some other RTS games. It does feel very much that the game works in team contexts, rather than an awkward shoehorning of a game built for 1v1 being applied to a team game.
On the flipside there are pretty understood ways on how to play, with quite specialist and restrictive roles. And woe fucking betide you if you don’t know how to play one.
I could do a passable job at front, spamming units and microing a bit is kinda bread and butter for anyone who got even semi-decent at SC.
‘You’re too noob to play front’ ‘But I can’t play any other role!’ ‘Omg noob why can’t you play (insert other role)?’
In fairness many aren’t like that, but it really does strike me as a problem in a community that overall is pretty great.
impressed that they made an RTS with all the problems of MOBA
On May 15 2025 07:55 WombaT wrote: It’s pretty great, I just wish there was some epic campaign to play right now.
1v1 is fun I just don’t have the time to not absolutely suck ass at it, but there’s tons to love.
Bigger team games suck IMO, but for differing reasons to me finding them underwhelming in SC and some other RTS games. It does feel very much that the game works in team contexts, rather than an awkward shoehorning of a game built for 1v1 being applied to a team game.
On the flipside there are pretty understood ways on how to play, with quite specialist and restrictive roles. And woe fucking betide you if you don’t know how to play one.
I could do a passable job at front, spamming units and microing a bit is kinda bread and butter for anyone who got even semi-decent at SC.
‘You’re too noob to play front’ ‘But I can’t play any other role!’ ‘Omg noob why can’t you play (insert other role)?’
In fairness many aren’t like that, but it really does strike me as a problem in a community that overall is pretty great.
The single player scenarios are pretty great in terms of preparing you for being good enough to clap ass in team games. If you can beat the 7th or 8th one where you're at the top of the hill and you're surrounded by 7 hostile commanders at the bottom of the hill, you'll definitely be good enough to carry noob lobbies on glitters.
On May 15 2025 07:55 WombaT wrote: It’s pretty great, I just wish there was some epic campaign to play right now.
1v1 is fun I just don’t have the time to not absolutely suck ass at it, but there’s tons to love.
Bigger team games suck IMO, but for differing reasons to me finding them underwhelming in SC and some other RTS games. It does feel very much that the game works in team contexts, rather than an awkward shoehorning of a game built for 1v1 being applied to a team game.
On the flipside there are pretty understood ways on how to play, with quite specialist and restrictive roles. And woe fucking betide you if you don’t know how to play one.
I could do a passable job at front, spamming units and microing a bit is kinda bread and butter for anyone who got even semi-decent at SC.
‘You’re too noob to play front’ ‘But I can’t play any other role!’ ‘Omg noob why can’t you play (insert other role)?’
In fairness many aren’t like that, but it really does strike me as a problem in a community that overall is pretty great.
impressed that they made an RTS with all the problems of MOBA
It is actually a bit interesting since it depends on the map to a large degree. You can have map designs where there isn't really any roles by making it small and open. Or you can have ones that promote hyper specialization by having choke points and other map features.
If you turn off resource and unit sharing specialization also decreases. Even games with more limited sharing such as AOE2 end up with roles in team games.
Back in our Season II announcement, we mentioned a 30% growth in daily active players. Well… scratch that. As of May, our daily active user count has doubled since the start of 2025, now surpassing 15,000 every single day!
We also shattered our previous record with a peak of 3,025 concurrent players online in multiplayer alone—and we estimate just as many are playing in singleplayer!
Graphics are great. I didn’t really notice the lighting update, but I play with the graphics settings pretty low. Large 8v8 fights with hundreds of units is very taxing.
The growth has is due to a great product and RTS streamers streaming this game.
(Usual toxicity with high player count team games is pretty predictable. Nobody likes when one guy gets dominated and causes the loss for everybody else)
8v8 is the most popular format, but honestly 1v1 is the most fun. There are only ever like 2 lobbies doing 1v1 at a time - but the community is super welcoming.
Some high-level players let me play with 100% and then 70% +resource handicap so I could get some games in with a chance of winning. They gave me advice the whole time and even congratulated me for winning the 2nd game - even though it was wickedly unfair.
It plays like a mix of all the matchups from sc2. And it's also completely different. T1 usually lasts at least 10 minutes - sometimes 20 depending on the game and the map.
The hardest first thing is figuring out how to defend your metal extractors from runbys, and how to split your units because any breach of the front line means a significant disadvantage - in that way it's like letting lings past your wall in PvZ.
The macro game feels a lot like ZvZ in sc2. You can find moments to stop building units and focus on eco, and wisely switching between increasing macro power and powering units is far superior to just doing both at the same time without really committing to either.
If you get past the early game, there are well-defined siege lines. In that way it's like TvT. There's also mines.
Air units get pretty well dominated by g2a defenses, so they're not oppressive like Mutas in ZvT in sc1, or in ZvP in sc2.
If an enemy is laying on the pressure and you survive, the wreckage is on your side of the map so you can reclaim it as a comeback mechanic. That feels amazing and makes for really dynamic games. (Or you can ressurect them if you have extra energy and don't need the metal right now.)
At any point in the game, you lose if you lose your commander. In that way it's like chess.
Bots climb things, are a little more maneuverable. Vehicles are stronger but don't climb and have more inertia. Air is unique - quite unlike sc - long swooping arcs and incredible speed, but highly squishy.
Then there's also the hovercrafts, boats, and seaplanes that add yet more strategic optionality.
On May 23 2025 10:24 ThunderJunk wrote: 8v8 is the most popular format, but honestly 1v1 is the most fun. There are only ever like 2 lobbies doing 1v1 at a time - but the community is super welcoming.
Some high-level players let me play with 100% and then 70% +resource handicap so I could get some games in with a chance of winning. They gave me advice the whole time and even congratulated me for winning the 2nd game - even though it was wickedly unfair.
It plays like a mix of all the matchups from sc2. And it's also completely different. T1 usually lasts at least 10 minutes - sometimes 20 depending on the game and the map.
The hardest first thing is figuring out how to defend your metal extractors from runbys, and how to split your units because any breach of the front line means a significant disadvantage - in that way it's like letting lings past your wall in PvZ.
The macro game feels a lot like ZvZ in sc2. You can find moments to stop building units and focus on eco, and wisely switching between increasing macro power and powering units is far superior to just doing both at the same time without really committing to either.
If you get past the early game, there are well-defined siege lines. In that way it's like TvT. There's also mines.
Air units get pretty well dominated by g2a defenses, so they're not oppressive like Mutas in ZvT in sc1, or in ZvP in sc2.
If an enemy is laying on the pressure and you survive, the wreckage is on your side of the map so you can reclaim it as a comeback mechanic. That feels amazing and makes for really dynamic games. (Or you can ressurect them if you have extra energy and don't need the metal right now.)
At any point in the game, you lose if you lose your commander. In that way it's like chess.
Bots climb things, are a little more maneuverable. Vehicles are stronger but don't climb and have more inertia. Air is unique - quite unlike sc - long swooping arcs and incredible speed, but highly squishy.
Then there's also the hovercrafts, boats, and seaplanes that add yet more strategic optionality.
Absurdly deep and fun game.
It’s a sick game, it’s just a shame the 1v1 mode is so sparsely populated so you can’t just pop on and play versus someone roughly your skill.
I find it doubly frustrating because while 8v8 there’s a ton of spectacle, I think 1v1 or smaller teams are much more dynamic and the depth shines more when you’re somewhat trying to do ‘everything’ versus a specialist but limited role. But 8v8 games tend to be way, way more populated.
If 1v1 was even like, Stormgate populated I’d play way more. I think the community can be great here for sure but I just wanna play sometimes versus making connections just to get a decent game.
On May 23 2025 10:24 ThunderJunk wrote: 8v8 is the most popular format, but honestly 1v1 is the most fun. There are only ever like 2 lobbies doing 1v1 at a time - but the community is super welcoming.
Some high-level players let me play with 100% and then 70% +resource handicap so I could get some games in with a chance of winning. They gave me advice the whole time and even congratulated me for winning the 2nd game - even though it was wickedly unfair.
It plays like a mix of all the matchups from sc2. And it's also completely different. T1 usually lasts at least 10 minutes - sometimes 20 depending on the game and the map.
The hardest first thing is figuring out how to defend your metal extractors from runbys, and how to split your units because any breach of the front line means a significant disadvantage - in that way it's like letting lings past your wall in PvZ.
The macro game feels a lot like ZvZ in sc2. You can find moments to stop building units and focus on eco, and wisely switching between increasing macro power and powering units is far superior to just doing both at the same time without really committing to either.
If you get past the early game, there are well-defined siege lines. In that way it's like TvT. There's also mines.
Air units get pretty well dominated by g2a defenses, so they're not oppressive like Mutas in ZvT in sc1, or in ZvP in sc2.
If an enemy is laying on the pressure and you survive, the wreckage is on your side of the map so you can reclaim it as a comeback mechanic. That feels amazing and makes for really dynamic games. (Or you can ressurect them if you have extra energy and don't need the metal right now.)
At any point in the game, you lose if you lose your commander. In that way it's like chess.
Bots climb things, are a little more maneuverable. Vehicles are stronger but don't climb and have more inertia. Air is unique - quite unlike sc - long swooping arcs and incredible speed, but highly squishy.
Then there's also the hovercrafts, boats, and seaplanes that add yet more strategic optionality.
Absurdly deep and fun game.
It’s a sick game, it’s just a shame the 1v1 mode is so sparsely populated so you can’t just pop on and play versus someone roughly your skill.
I find it doubly frustrating because while 8v8 there’s a ton of spectacle, I think 1v1 or smaller teams are much more dynamic and the depth shines more when you’re somewhat trying to do ‘everything’ versus a specialist but limited role. But 8v8 games tend to be way, way more populated.
If 1v1 was even like, Stormgate populated I’d play way more. I think the community can be great here for sure but I just wanna play sometimes versus making connections just to get a decent game.
Yeah, implementing a matchmaking system would be huge for the game.
On May 23 2025 10:24 ThunderJunk wrote: 8v8 is the most popular format, but honestly 1v1 is the most fun. There are only ever like 2 lobbies doing 1v1 at a time - but the community is super welcoming.
Some high-level players let me play with 100% and then 70% +resource handicap so I could get some games in with a chance of winning. They gave me advice the whole time and even congratulated me for winning the 2nd game - even though it was wickedly unfair.
It plays like a mix of all the matchups from sc2. And it's also completely different. T1 usually lasts at least 10 minutes - sometimes 20 depending on the game and the map.
The hardest first thing is figuring out how to defend your metal extractors from runbys, and how to split your units because any breach of the front line means a significant disadvantage - in that way it's like letting lings past your wall in PvZ.
The macro game feels a lot like ZvZ in sc2. You can find moments to stop building units and focus on eco, and wisely switching between increasing macro power and powering units is far superior to just doing both at the same time without really committing to either.
If you get past the early game, there are well-defined siege lines. In that way it's like TvT. There's also mines.
Air units get pretty well dominated by g2a defenses, so they're not oppressive like Mutas in ZvT in sc1, or in ZvP in sc2.
If an enemy is laying on the pressure and you survive, the wreckage is on your side of the map so you can reclaim it as a comeback mechanic. That feels amazing and makes for really dynamic games. (Or you can ressurect them if you have extra energy and don't need the metal right now.)
At any point in the game, you lose if you lose your commander. In that way it's like chess.
Bots climb things, are a little more maneuverable. Vehicles are stronger but don't climb and have more inertia. Air is unique - quite unlike sc - long swooping arcs and incredible speed, but highly squishy.
Then there's also the hovercrafts, boats, and seaplanes that add yet more strategic optionality.
Absurdly deep and fun game.
It’s a sick game, it’s just a shame the 1v1 mode is so sparsely populated so you can’t just pop on and play versus someone roughly your skill.
I find it doubly frustrating because while 8v8 there’s a ton of spectacle, I think 1v1 or smaller teams are much more dynamic and the depth shines more when you’re somewhat trying to do ‘everything’ versus a specialist but limited role. But 8v8 games tend to be way, way more populated.
If 1v1 was even like, Stormgate populated I’d play way more. I think the community can be great here for sure but I just wanna play sometimes versus making connections just to get a decent game.
Yeah, implementing a matchmaking system would be huge for the game.
As far as I know that is in development but doesn't have a release date yet. A while ago they added playing as parties as part of that larger effort.
The experimental Legion faction is pretty fun. It's still unfinished. Even playing 8vAI, its a treat. I did some +100 bonus bots on Supreme Isthmus and Glitter and had a blast.
Each week, there's a new unit or a new look for one of your units or factories or buildings.
They're looking at a big balance patch to redesign some elements of T1. Right now raider units (i.e. pawns, grunts, blitzes, incisors) are too strong, and oppress 1v1. The new balance patch looks like it'll fix that.
I played FFA a couple of times, and hated it. The player who wins is the player who takes some early game wins, then sits in a corner and camps the best. Ofc, starcraft FFA is also kind of dumb. Warcraft 3 has the best FFA experience ngl.
3v3 and 4v4 are really, really exceptionally good and fun to play. The fact that there are so many commanders and units everywhere reduces the power of pawn spam, and T2 happens as often as it should. Mark my words, there is NO BETTER GAME for small team RTS.
8v8 is the most popular format, but I don't like it as much as small teams.
Once the balance patch drops, I'll get more into 1v1 again.
__
The other day, I played a 4v4, and I had an awesome emergent gameplay moment when I realized I could build the crawling spider bombs, and I snuck 3 behind an enemy mace deathball and as my ally drew their fire, KABOOM. Knocked out 85% of them. Hovercraft flanks. Bomber defenses. That game had it all. And on an asymmetrical map. Totally unbalanced and better for it.
There's more than enough fun to be had in this game. I'm wriggling with eagerness to play on the new patch.
This is definitely addicting in 1v1 and 3v3 and 4v4.
8v8 feels like a crapshoot on quality of team. 15 minutes of equal fighting occurs before a single colossal mistake from a single player, and the game is over. Win if the other team did it, loss if your team did it. Typically you’re fighting in a loss for another 15 minutes under constant pressure to team resign.
FFA I didn’t like in SC2 either, so no surprise here.
The good news is that new features and new balance changes and new maps happen fairly regularly.
I think Glitters is the most popular map in 8vs8 because it has two layers of players and short fronts. So if a player messes up you often have somebody else that can blunt the hit a bit.
But in maps with very wide fronts where everybody has to be at them you often end up in scenarios of who collapses first due to the difference in player skill.
I think large team games are popular because you can try out some slightly subpar strategies and still win. You are also not clearly the reason a game was won/lost in most cases, meaning it is less demoralizing to play. Similar to a Moba, there is a reason the 1vs1 modes never hit a large popularity, which is why it is surprising to me that RTS seems to push for that still.
I would strongly agree that it becomes less competitive due to more random factors as player count increases. General gaming trend seems to state that is a good thing for player retention/fun.
8v8 maps and matches are pretty wild. The craziness is both the draw and the downside. Top OS (Open Skill, pretend this is old SC2 MMR) and certain high OS/critical role almost get the carry treatment from MOBAs. Send them resources, transport, be their blockers up front, heal their units, etc. The thrill is when it works. You all pooled resources to send a massively expensive Tier-2 tank to the front lines to push mid back. Sometimes, it's game ending. Other times, you must convert the advantaged gained from it into opening a second front to crush.
High OS lobbies have a selection of 5-20 "meta" strategies that evolve over time. Pooling resources or "commie" builds that push the map's available income into one or two players to tech rapidly or produce an overwhelming stream of low-tech units. A sister to pooling resources is building economic production buildings for allies deliberately at high cost to yourself. On Supreme Isthmus, this comes in several flavors, including building and trading tidal generators to allies in order to get their army online earlier and win their lane. The basic meta is almost taken for granted as the way to play the game. One player sacrifices all his resources and commander to tech up rapidly, another player distributes air transport to get his tech (advanced T2 constructor) to allies, and you can have an 8v8 where 6 players fight and win the game and 2 players support from afar.
One downside to 8v8 is that one team may impoverish more players in order to boost a single player, and that player is simply good enough to dominate 4-6 players for 10 minutes and give the entire team a huge advantage. The opponents realize further struggle is pointless very early in the match. The enemy will simply scale their armies and economies too quickly to be matched. You aren't playing from behind, you're simply delaying the inevitable. So the calls come out for a group surrender 2 minutes after the first attack of the game, followed by quits if the vote to resign does not succeed.
Another downside is catastrophizing players that are at a playable disadvantage, but verbally berate and cajole allies to vote for a team resign. They had a bad start, or they got ganged up on and lost a significant amount of invested metal, and they don't want to struggle as another player comes in to cover their front while they rebuild or tech. This is a primary source of toxicity. Who's really to say that their setback isn't game-losing? But very MOBA-like toxicity here.
Yet another downside is that one player that is in an unfamiliar role or is well below the median skill of the team. The opponents either get lucky enough to focus their effort on that player, and it's strength versus weakness, or his role is critical for whole-team effectiveness, and the entire team struggles without support. In either case, allies and enemies verbally berate the poorly performing player until the loss. Sometimes for several minutes at a time while players play on.
So I try to balance 8v8 with 1v1, 3v3, 4v4, 4vAI and 8vAI to blow off steam. It sucks to put in 12 minutes of narrow defenses or attacks that slowly beat the enemy back, where that one player forgot something critical and 7 players lose instantly. As a final note, the ability to make your own AI and load them into the lobby is absolutely incredible. AI authors have been cranking out very challenging AI strategies with boosted AI income that require intense team coordination. Having 6 players you know in the 8vAI lobby is almost a requirement for victory.
EPT
