DracoNihil wrote on 2023-10-02, 06:10:
I think "KKND: Krush Kill 'n Destroy" is also a "bitmap RTS" as well, but I'm not sure if that was MS-DOS or 32-bit Windows native.
Oh right, KKND. The original release is for DOS, but the Xtreme version is 32-bit Windows (it has the original campaigns plus expansion scenarios).
Here's a few more Windows native RTS games that should run under XP and later:
Astroseries
Seven Kingdoms + Ancient Adversaries (check out the unique demo scenarios as well)
Seven Kingdoms 2
Rise and Nations + Thrones and Patriots (this one has 3D models for units but everything else is sprites, and the two blend in very well together)
Stronghold (was already mentioned -- it looks very nice, but castle management isn't really my type here)
Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim
Rising Kingdoms -- this is like Warcraft III, but completely in 2D (from the creators of Tzar)
Submarine Titans (StarCraft clone under water, felt a bit boring to me)
TRIDONIS -- kind of a C&C clone with somewhat better graphics, a demo is available
Knights & Merchants (The Settlers meets Warcraft II)
gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-02, 06:45:
TZAR: Burden of the Crown
tutorial/beginning is a bit childish with weird road rash pc avatar art (don't get this type of artwork), which put me off. looks promising in youtube videos
This is one of the games which looked cool in the demo (I'm a big Warcraft II fan and this seemed like an elaborate clone/Age of Kings hybrid), but much less so in the full release. I bought this off GOG some years ago and when I started playing (mind you that before that, I'd poked around the demo and even played some skirmish maps in the demo, not just the campaign scenario which seemed ok), unit pathfinding was simply atrocious. I had to replay the second level, which is incredibly simple (walk from one corner of the map to another and defeat a small band of enemy units), twice, because the way my units had absolutely no clue how to group or move around obstacles resulted in a pathetic defeat the first time I played.
Later on I read some forum posts and people actually recommend playing on Easy difficulty to spare yourself some nerves because of these pathfinding problems. I did exactly that, but the game quickly became not very fun to me. Once you get to levels where the AI actually has a base, it has a tendency to dig itself up in strong defences, which easily tear through your forces, and even if you manage to take the base down piece by piece, and it rebuilds very quickly (unlimited resources I guess). As a result, dealing with this swiftly becomes a boring chore, so I finally dropped this for good.