Games like C&C/StarCraft but semi-turn based?

Has anybody done this? I'm talking about an RTS type game where you build a base, construct units etc except that rather than being real time it's part turn based. To be more precise, things basically stop for both players and they issue their orders at the same time and then once both players have hit the end turn buttons the game briefly goes back into real time mode where all orders are executed at the same time, before then pausing again.

I'm toying with the idea of this because I like the idea of an RTS but they have always been too fast paced for me. I'm just curious if somebody else has done this already.

 

Frozen Synapse 1 and 2 both do this, and in another vein there's also the upcoming Phantom Brigade (though that's more of a tactical RPG). That said, just because it's been done doesn't mean that you should be discouraged from doing it, since there's plenty of directions to take this idea.

 

I have a project on the low fire that I deemed to be simultaneous-turn-based, I had a bit of trouble looking for games of the likes to say the least, just gotta get creative and test test test.

 

As in the entire Civilization series?

 

Yeah I also started my take on a Civ-clone myself. In full ECS. Obviously it is on a very (I mean it) slow burn.
Especially because most of my "fresh" ideas were shot down by the Old World: Rome. Okay, they were low hanging fruits, but still.

 

Sounds like the Battle Isle games. As @Murgilod says, though, don't let that put you off. Might be worth checking out to see what you do and don't like, though.

 

How's that semi turn based? It's as turn based as turn based can be!

I'd love to see more takes on something like Frozen Synapse, which is a masterpiece. FS2 didn't pan out very well, sadly. It's a lot harder to make a procedural game than a set of linear missions!

 

Does real-time-with-pause count? Dragon Age is pretty nifty.

Edit: Dragon Age was kind of a dumb example but technically RTwP can be thought of as "semi-turn-based." Stuff like Sins of a Solar Empire is/are real time, but you can pause to issue commands.

 

Multiplayer can set to be semi-turn-based. You can choose if you want individual turns for each player or you want all the humans have their turns simultaneously and then all the CPU-players have their turns one by one.

 

Ooh ooh! Simultaneous Turn-Based games! I loved Frozen Synapse, and probably the best one to have executed it well. The other good one is Julian Gollop's Laser Squad Nemesis pretty much the precursor to X-COM: UFO Defense. I played it on an Android emulator several years back, so hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to find.

EDIT:
Er, correction. I've never played Laser Squad Nemesis, but I know it's simulataneous turn-based. I got it confused with Rebelstar Tactical Command, which was another Julian Gollop game for the GBA.

 

When you say that - I believe that the third X-COM installment (apocalypse) also had simultaneous movement. I never played it, but I seem to remember seeing some footage where the squad is moving at the same time.

I seem to remember Rebelstar being just standard turn-based? It's the one that did characters leveling up and overwatch and all the other things that Enemy Unknown copied 6 years later.


To answer @splattenburgers question a bit - it seems like a lot of people have done this, but not with base building and resource gathering. It might be cool to see something like Age Of Empires implemented as real time with pause - you could demand a lot more tactical finesse from the player.

 

Correct. That's why I had to add the EDIT. Laser Squad Nemesis is simultaneous TB but Rebelstar is not. I was on a Julian Gollop kick leading up to XCOM Enemy Unknown, and I played a lot of Rebelstar but only a few minutes of LSN

 

So thinking about this more, the major issue you would have to overcome as a designer is pacing. Currently a fast RTS game takes around 30 minutes for a match. If you run for thirty seconds, then pause for a minute, you've extended a match out to an hour and a half. And a minute to process a turn is being pretty generous.

 

Doesn't matter for single player though.

 

True. But I'm not sure how commercially viable an RTS is without multiplayer to sustain it. Your audience is likely going to want multiplayer.

There are a few indie RTS games around with only single player. But they are uncommon.

 

This is true, and one of the reasons why the XCOM designers went with max six soldiers in tactical mode. The gameplay gets stale if there are a lot more units, and a session only lasts 15-60 minutes instead of 60+ minutes. Frozen Synapse had I think, four soldiers per side, and I thought that was a good amount for 15-60 minute sessions. I would seriously hate missions where I'd have to hold off until the next day to continue. It makes sense for something like Civ, because the campaign would be one large mission, but for traditional RTSs, a campaign is a group of missions.