Thank you frostgiant for finally listening & acting on fan's overwhelming feedback re need of more mature & darker artstyle! I hope fans can return & support frostgiant & make Stormgate a viable long term new RTS franchise!
I like a lot of the changes but I hope they don't keep the default of stormgate this dark. I know you can turn up brightness but it's just hard to see anything when it's this dark.
In a discussion with the new art director he mentioned that a lighting pass is coming that has a lot of improvements. He was saying how unreal was new to a lot of the team and they have come a long way since starting.
Stormgate’s art direction can change as often as the developers desire, but without significant gameplay innovations, the game risks feeling stagnant. To truly captivate players, it needs deeper mechanics and features that enhance replayability and excitement. Procedurally Generated Maps Introducing procedurally generated maps would revolutionize the scouting, making it more dynamic and engaging. This approach would also vastly increase replayability, as each match would present unique challenges and opportunities. Players enjoy adapting to fresh conditions rather than memorizing static, handcrafted maps. Age of Empires 2 serves as a perfect example: its map diversity, ranging from Arabia to Nomad or Gold Rush to Black Forest or Team Islands to Arena, requires entirely different strategies and skills, keeping gameplay fresh and exciting across thousand of matches. Evolving Economy and Resources A more diverse economy system could further enrich gameplay. Imagine resources with distinct mechanics: one tied to fixed points on the map, like gold or minerals, and another that players can harvest or generate anywhere, turning the entire map into potential strategic hotspots. Such a design would shift the focus dynamically during matches, ensuring that battles and critical moments happen in varying locations. Art-wise, resources should also stand out visually, adding aesthetic appeal and aiding gameplay readability. This diversity would make every match unique and create opportunities for more complex strategies, enhancing both player experience and spectator enjoyment. Buildable Walls for Strategy and Comebacks Walls are essential for creating strategic depth in RTS games. Cheap, high-HP walls allow for defensive maneuvers, buying time, and enabling dramatic comebacks-especially in team games, where protecting allies becomes vital. Walls also influence the flow of battles, shaping chokepoints and forcing creative unit compositions. The destruction of walls can spark tense, exciting moments across the map, keeping viewers and players alike engaged. Without such a tool, gameplay risks losing variability and tactical nuance. Aiming Beyond SC2: Learning from Age of Empires 2 Stormgate aspires to be a next-generation RTS, but to surpass Starcraft 2’s appeal, it must broaden its scope. While SC2 excels in fast-paced 1v1 matches, Age of Empires 2 boasts the highest active player base in RTS history due to its unmatched gameplay diversity and robust multiplayer modes (1v1 through 4v4). Even if one personally prefers SC2, the numbers don’t lie: Age of Empires 2 has found a formula that resonates with a wider audience. Stormgate can benefit from adopting and improving upon these mechanics without losing its identity. Procedural maps, diverse resources, and walls would not make Stormgate a clone of Age of Empires, but rather a richer game that combines the best elements of various RTS titles. Embracing Innovation The success of RTS games lies in openness to innovation. Just as Stormgate borrows successful elements like early scouting from Age of Empires and player abilities from C&C Generals and AOM, it should embrace new features that foster replayability, strategic variety, and accessibility. Procedural maps, walls, and an evolved economy are not constraints-they are opportunities to craft an RTS that stands out in the modern gaming landscape. By combining the best ideas from across the genre, Stormgate can deliver the diversity, excitement, and depth that players crave. To limit its scope would be to limit its audience, ensuring it remains a niche game rather than a genre-defining masterpiece. A broader, more adaptable vision will unlock Stormgate’s true potential. Listen to the nay-sayers who like Starcraft 2 will not improve Stormgate much. They want a game like Starcraft 2 and how successful this was and is we can see. It has less active players than SC 1 and Age of Empires 2. So they have to think about if they want to build a game for a niche or they really want to build the best next gen rts possible. There are still plenty of things that differentiate Stormgate from Age of Empires. Not only the futuristic setting but also the look and feel of the units, the better technical execution, and the improved unit responsiveness make the game still feel like a Blizzard RTS. By the way, Age of Empires, like Warcraft 3, features units with higher HP, which is one reason Age of Empires has a larger player base as Starcraft 2 and why Starcraft 2 is beyond its potential. Even the developers of Stormgate knows that and that is the reason why they increase the life of all units and structures compared to Starcraft 2. But here the good parts of Age of Empires doesn't stop. There is more like the benefits of procedural generated maps, walls and a bit more different economy. There are also good things for the economy in other games like C&C. The concept of power plants that work a bit like Pylons have a big potential to create interesting mechanics and decisions during one match. Don't just think about the mechanics in other games one by one, but also be creative. Change something in a new direction to the things you take from other games. To be successful, a game needs casual players, not just professional ones. The pros will come on their own if the game is successful with the broader audience-if players not only enjoy playing it themselves but also watching others play. Seeing the same revealed maps repeatedly, already knowing how they will be played (as is typical in Blizzard RTS games), becomes very boring for viewers. It lacks the variety and surprises that make for exciting spectator experiences. Everyone opposed to these changes should carefully consider their effects: fewer players, longer queue times in ranked matches, fewer tournaments, less support, and ultimately a less developed game. Is that what you really want? Then continue to be endlessly enthusiastic about Blizzard RTS games and ignore everything other RTS games have to offer. You can dislike Age of Empires, but you can't dislike walls or procedural-generated maps, because they offer to much for the exciting gameplay and the replayability and from which game these ideas come doesn't matter. There are lot of other games with procedural generated maps and buildable walls.
I havent played the game in about 6 months but have been following a bit. Amazing comment reiterating what ive seen since I stopped playing. You think of this one yourself?
Lvl 16 to 20 coop is incredibly boring. 4 levels are just +10% something. I'm not playing 100 games to get a new gear, what the heck. Visual improvements and bugfix is always nice.
I'm so sad no-one is talking about this game. It's such a shitshow and yet total apathy from gaming community at large. I mean at least with some interest the game would have a chance to bounce back but at this rate it will fall into obscurity with the release. I do hope they know it's all in the editor at this point.
Once again, the developers promise to improve performance for weak machines, but my game still doesn't work fine( Probably my GTX 1650 is too hopeless junk from their point of view((
I wish they wouldnt focus so much on coop. I know a lot of casual players only play coop but i dont think it helps the game to cater to casuals. No one wants to watch coop and its just dead weight development
If they turn this around, it will be a heck of a story.
Finally they are going in the right direction with the art style. They are not there yet, but it looks better!
Thank you frostgiant for finally listening & acting on fan's overwhelming feedback re need of more mature & darker artstyle! I hope fans can return & support frostgiant & make Stormgate a viable long term new RTS franchise!
such a huge improvement!
Definitely a huge improvement. Sparks my interest again!
i feel like the units have very quick movement speed
Art update/redesign and 3v3 mode is what I'm looking forward to. Btw, the doggo and rocket troop spam in co-op is so toxic.
Game looking so much better on night time
I would love 1v1 with heroes
no pls
@@petercriscuola could coexist with the current mode
@@tecnobillo it dependes on how many people will play the game.
That what a fun map editor is for
@@petercriscuola that's true
I like a lot of the changes but I hope they don't keep the default of stormgate this dark. I know you can turn up brightness but it's just hard to see anything when it's this dark.
I think it depends on the map. Some maps are bright.
I believe this is a map that takes time at night, but most of the maps are daytime
In a discussion with the new art director he mentioned that a lighting pass is coming that has a lot of improvements. He was saying how unreal was new to a lot of the team and they have come a long way since starting.
Stormgate’s art direction can change as often as the developers desire, but without significant gameplay innovations, the game risks feeling stagnant. To truly captivate players, it needs deeper mechanics and features that enhance replayability and excitement.
Procedurally Generated Maps
Introducing procedurally generated maps would revolutionize the scouting, making it more dynamic and engaging. This approach would also vastly increase replayability, as each match would present unique challenges and opportunities. Players enjoy adapting to fresh conditions rather than memorizing static, handcrafted maps. Age of Empires 2 serves as a perfect example: its map diversity, ranging from Arabia to Nomad or Gold Rush to Black Forest or Team Islands to Arena, requires entirely different strategies and skills, keeping gameplay fresh and exciting across thousand of matches.
Evolving Economy and Resources
A more diverse economy system could further enrich gameplay. Imagine resources with distinct mechanics: one tied to fixed points on the map, like gold or minerals, and another that players can harvest or generate anywhere, turning the entire map into potential strategic hotspots. Such a design would shift the focus dynamically during matches, ensuring that battles and critical moments happen in varying locations. Art-wise, resources should also stand out visually, adding aesthetic appeal and aiding gameplay readability. This diversity would make every match unique and create opportunities for more complex strategies, enhancing both player experience and spectator enjoyment.
Buildable Walls for Strategy and Comebacks
Walls are essential for creating strategic depth in RTS games. Cheap, high-HP walls allow for defensive maneuvers, buying time, and enabling dramatic comebacks-especially in team games, where protecting allies becomes vital. Walls also influence the flow of battles, shaping chokepoints and forcing creative unit compositions. The destruction of walls can spark tense, exciting moments across the map, keeping viewers and players alike engaged. Without such a tool, gameplay risks losing variability and tactical nuance.
Aiming Beyond SC2: Learning from Age of Empires 2
Stormgate aspires to be a next-generation RTS, but to surpass Starcraft 2’s appeal, it must broaden its scope. While SC2 excels in fast-paced 1v1 matches, Age of Empires 2 boasts the highest active player base in RTS history due to its unmatched gameplay diversity and robust multiplayer modes (1v1 through 4v4). Even if one personally prefers SC2, the numbers don’t lie: Age of Empires 2 has found a formula that resonates with a wider audience. Stormgate can benefit from adopting and improving upon these mechanics without losing its identity. Procedural maps, diverse resources, and walls would not make Stormgate a clone of Age of Empires, but rather a richer game that combines the best elements of various RTS titles.
Embracing Innovation
The success of RTS games lies in openness to innovation. Just as Stormgate borrows successful elements like early scouting from Age of Empires and player abilities from C&C Generals and AOM, it should embrace new features that foster replayability, strategic variety, and accessibility. Procedural maps, walls, and an evolved economy are not constraints-they are opportunities to craft an RTS that stands out in the modern gaming landscape. By combining the best ideas from across the genre, Stormgate can deliver the diversity, excitement, and depth that players crave.
To limit its scope would be to limit its audience, ensuring it remains a niche game rather than a genre-defining masterpiece. A broader, more adaptable vision will unlock Stormgate’s true potential.
Listen to the nay-sayers who like Starcraft 2 will not improve Stormgate much. They want a game like Starcraft 2 and how successful this was and is we can see. It has less active players than SC 1 and Age of Empires 2. So they have to think about if they want to build a game for a niche or they really want to build the best next gen rts possible.
There are still plenty of things that differentiate Stormgate from Age of Empires. Not only the futuristic setting but also the look and feel of the units, the better technical execution, and the improved unit responsiveness make the game still feel like a Blizzard RTS. By the way, Age of Empires, like Warcraft 3, features units with higher HP, which is one reason Age of Empires has a larger player base as Starcraft 2 and why Starcraft 2 is beyond its potential. Even the developers of Stormgate knows that and that is the reason why they increase the life of all units and structures compared to Starcraft 2. But here the good parts of Age of Empires doesn't stop. There is more like the benefits of procedural generated maps, walls and a bit more different economy. There are also good things for the economy in other games like C&C. The concept of power plants that work a bit like Pylons have a big potential to create interesting mechanics and decisions during one match. Don't just think about the mechanics in other games one by one, but also be creative. Change something in a new direction to the things you take from other games.
To be successful, a game needs casual players, not just professional ones. The pros will come on their own if the game is successful with the broader audience-if players not only enjoy playing it themselves but also watching others play. Seeing the same revealed maps repeatedly, already knowing how they will be played (as is typical in Blizzard RTS games), becomes very boring for viewers. It lacks the variety and surprises that make for exciting spectator experiences.
Everyone opposed to these changes should carefully consider their effects: fewer players, longer queue times in ranked matches, fewer tournaments, less support, and ultimately a less developed game. Is that what you really want? Then continue to be endlessly enthusiastic about Blizzard RTS games and ignore everything other RTS games have to offer.
You can dislike Age of Empires, but you can't dislike walls or procedural-generated maps, because they offer to much for the exciting gameplay and the replayability and from which game these ideas come doesn't matter. There are lot of other games with procedural generated maps and buildable walls.
less than 100 players on steam, they have a long way to go
I havent played the game in about 6 months but have been following a bit. Amazing comment reiterating what ive seen since I stopped playing. You think of this one yourself?
@ bro is crying over a comment 🤣
@@DxKShifty nah I agree the game sucks, was just drunk and I don't like people who lack original thoughts
KekGate BigW
Lvl 16 to 20 coop is incredibly boring. 4 levels are just +10% something. I'm not playing 100 games to get a new gear, what the heck. Visual improvements and bugfix is always nice.
I'm so sad no-one is talking about this game. It's such a shitshow and yet total apathy from gaming community at large. I mean at least with some interest the game would have a chance to bounce back but at this rate it will fall into obscurity with the release. I do hope they know it's all in the editor at this point.
Once again, the developers promise to improve performance for weak machines, but my game still doesn't work fine(
Probably my GTX 1650 is too hopeless junk from their point of view((
Yeah people with such old equipment shouldn't expect games to still optimize around them. I had a 1070 two machines ago, nearly 9 years ago.
I wish they wouldnt focus so much on coop. I know a lot of casual players only play coop but i dont think it helps the game to cater to casuals. No one wants to watch coop and its just dead weight development
how does a new game doesnt look at least as good as sc2?
because it's not finished?
It looks better already
Don't be too surprised. Every RTS since SC2 hasn't caught up to their level yet
sc2 had 18 years of development, but you're right it was amazing and has set the standard. Sucks that new game graphics aren't better.
No way does StarCraft look better. Fwiw stormgate is smooth and the moment to moment gameplay looks good as far as action rts goes.