An Analysis of the Real-Time Strategy Games: The Nineties

This chapter aims to perform a scoping review related to video games of the genre Real-Time Strategy. Several video games have been associated with the strategy genre, and different titles have appeared on the market over time, some of which have a more military aspect and are usually associated with the subgenre of real-time strategy. These types of games tend to be more dynamic as opposed to turn-based because they feature time-based gameplay and choices about unit building. The difficulty of controlling all elements of the game makes them more attractive to players, with a high degree of uncertainty and complexity. Decisions are not perfect and most often are made abstractly. There has been a profusion of research work that makes use of RTS to develop AI or to build knowledge repositories with options that are made during games by players. The review that is made in this paper demonstrates the diversity of the formal elements that make up the RTS, identifies some of the initiatives that make use of RTS for research on certain topics, as well as the challenges that arise for game designers when making the choices they have to do.