Real time strategy games on a single map

[thesecret1]

I love strategy games, but I despise having to start over and over again whenever I get to the next level in a campaign (it gets incredibly repetitive, and usually, long-term planning doesn't have a chance to pay off due to winning too soon), and various skirmish maps (even the very big ones) tend to be too short.

Do you know of any strategy game going on in real time that takes forever to win, and takes place on a single absolutely massive map? I only know about the Hegemony series that does this, but I've already played Hegemony Gold to death, and wish for something similar. Bonus points for city building elements.

 

[spectre]

So uh, you want something like Total War but in real time? Crusader Kings or Hearts of Iron maybe?

More seriously, I think the first Supreme Commander more or less did what you're asking about, a mission would start on a small-ish map that would expand as you progress.
In a similar vein, Planetary Annihilation can take a while because you and the AI get to expand on all the various celestial bodies.

I vaguely recall either Warzone 2100 or the Earth 2150 had some persistency between missions, but it's been a while and it's turned into a bit of a blur,
I'll do a quick refresher and get back at you.

 

[thesecret1]

Crusader Kings or Hearts of Iron maybe?

Played both to death. Plus, neither is really real time.

the first Supreme Commander more or less did what you're asking about, a mission would start on a small-ish map that would expand as you progress.

That does sound like exactly what I'd want. I'll check it out, thanks.

I vaguely recall either Warzone 2100 or the Earth 2150 had some persistency between missions

If it managed to preserve the base, so that I wouldn't have to build it all from scratch again, then that'd be perfect. It's my biggest beef with RTS, really – it's early game over and over and over again, which is always boring as hell, and when you do reach late game and crush the enemy, you gotta wave your base goodbye as it's getting discarded, only to start with nothing in next mission again. RTSs where you at least start with a pre-made base in most missions are much more bearable in this regard; Original War and Stronghold both come to mind.

 

[Arrowgrab]

Sins of a Solar Empire? It has skirmish-style gameplay, but the gameplay is generally slower than most RTS-s, so you can expect a match to last a while even on medium-sized maps.

Earth 2150 was mentioned above. You have a main base which is preserved from mission to mission, and which you can use as your research hub. You also need to build a base in each mission which will NOT get carried over, mainly for resource extraction, defenses, superweapons and unit construction. (Technically, you COULD just build all your (ground) units in the main base and ship them to the mission theatre, but it would be a lot of busywork.) Also, research is persistent over the entire campaign.

Some of these observations are also true of Warzone 2100, but basically EVERY mission in that game has a strict time limit, so you might not enjoy it much if you hate being rushed.

 

[what am i doing]

the first Supreme Commander more or less did what you're asking about, a mission would start on a small-ish map that would expand as you progress.

That does sound like exactly what I'd want. I'll check it out, thanks.

As much as I love SupCom I must point out a couple caveats
1. This is done each mission so while missions do have stages with persistence, there will then be another mission where you start from scratch again.
2. The difficulty tuning is really bad and each stage is usually accompanied by a huge wave of enemies (this might be just an FA thing, I don't remember if vanilla did it), and you are typically either under-prepared and get squashed, or over-prepared and face no real challenge.

 

[Norfleet]

Do you know of any strategy game going on in real time that takes forever to win, and takes place on a single absolutely massive map? I only know about the Hegemony series that does this, but I've already played Hegemony Gold to death, and wish for something similar. Bonus points for city building elements.

Hegemony doesn't REALLY do it, IIRC, at various points the map is reset to a new map that is ostensibly the same map, but you'll quickly notice it isn't: Things you did are arbitrarily reverted to a template of "things that you might have done if you were lazy and sloppy and didn't bother to fully take over the map as you went". It's not REALLY the same map, with all of your progress.

The closest thing in the sense of "no resets" is probably Homeworld. The campaign is continuous and everything you build is for keeps. While it is not on the same singular map for every single stage, nothing is reset and you don't suddenly lose everything and have to start from scratch.

 

[thesecret1]

Hegemony doesn't REALLY do it, IIRC, at various points the map is reset to a new map that is ostensibly the same map, but you'll quickly notice it isn't: Things you did are arbitrarily reverted to a template of "things that you might have done if you were lazy and sloppy and didn't bother to fully take over the map as you went". It's not REALLY the same map, with all of your progress.

Eh? No, it stays the exact same, it's literally all in a single session with no loading screens, etc. that'd break the flow. Assuming we're talking about Hegemony Gold, of course. I didn't like the sequels so I didn't spend much time with them.

 

[Norfleet]

Okay, maybe they changed something in Gold or we're thinking of a different game by the same name, I dunno. Either way, my point remains: The only other game I can think of with a continuous campaign, that doesn't just delete your shit between stages was Homeworld.