An interesting RTS request.

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

Just wondering what people can come up with. I was talking with my friend and he said he would play a coop RTS with me if it had the ability for 2 payers to share a base so that he can micromanage controlling the base and handling its defense while I can take units and go out and fight.

I was wondering if ant RTS games like this exist. Single player campaign I must specify, I can't hack it in multiplayer and my friend definitely couldn't.

Is there anything out there like that.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

Well red alert 3 was Co-Op, but each player had their own base and own set of units. Might be close enough for what you need.

 

[Morgoth780]

Planetary Annihilation has the ability to have an entire team share their army. There isn't a campaign, but you can play vs AI.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Well red alert 3 was Co-Op, but each player had their own base and own set of units. Might be close enough for what you need.

I've co-opped on Red Alert 3 before, apparently if you co-op the campaign you "share" the credit income meaning you can both dwindle it away which doesn't seem entirely accurate since I ran a test with a friend on our PC's during a LAN party 3 years ago and it turned out there was a few number differences in our overall credits on our status bars so it's not entirely a true concept.

On the bright side you do technically share a base most of the time but you can build your own units/buildings/defenses and even build on your ally's land turf which came in handy a lot whenever one of us had our bases wiped out only to build in the other base but it came with a slight problem, the bases each have their own ore spots so we couldn't exactly share since it would mean en even slower trickle of overall income and they only last so long.

Still Red Alert 3 is definitely a good kind of game for co-op fun, even vs AI but EA cut the online service a while back and now it's either play with AI or play LAN, I'm happy with either tbh since I've mostly done both for years now and tend to do with every other RTS with Starcraft II being an exception.


Honestly though you could technically do what you're asking in most RTS games, even ones like Age of Empires provided you and your friend discuss tactics like who is going to defend the base at all costs and who is going to amass an army, it sounds like a fun game mode when you think about it, I should ask a few friends to see if they'll buy into the idea.

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

Well red alert 3 was Co-Op, but each player had their own base and own set of units. Might be close enough for what you need.

I've co-opped on Red Alert 3 before, apparently if you co-op the campaign you "share" the credit income meaning you can both dwindle it away which doesn't seem entirely accurate since I ran a test with a friend on our PC's during a LAN party 3 years ago and it turned out there was a few number differences in our overall credits on our status bars so it's not entirely a true concept.

On the bright side you do technically share a base most of the time but you can build your own units/buildings/defenses and even build on your ally's land turf which came in handy a lot whenever one of us had our bases wiped out only to build in the other base but it came with a slight problem, the bases each have their own ore spots so we couldn't exactly share since it would mean en even slower trickle of overall income and they only last so long.

Still Red Alert 3 is definitely a good kind of game for co-op fun, even vs AI but EA cut the online service a while back and now it's either play with AI or play LAN, I'm happy with either tbh since I've mostly done both for years now and tend to do with every other RTS with Starcraft II being an exception.


Honestly though you could technically do what you're asking in most RTS games, even ones like Age of Empires provided you and your friend discuss tactics like who is going to defend the base at all costs and who is going to amass an army, it sounds like a fun game mode when you think about it, I should ask a few friends to see if they'll buy into the idea.

Have you ever tried private networks like Hamachii or Tungle, because we cant get together that much and even if we did we may have a hard time stetting up. So when we have played Minecraft we use a VPN which by my understanding is basically "fake LAN" as far as games can tell.

 

[loc978]

Haven't seen the option in an RTS for quite awhile, but you're basically describing "Team Melee" mode from the original Starcraft... which isn't available in the campaign, but you could skirmish against the AI.

 

[Veylon]

The fan-remake of Total Annihilation Spring [http://springrts.com/] allows for this kind of sharing. No campaign, but you can play vs AI.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Have you ever tried private networks like Hamachii or Tungle, because we cant get together that much and even if we did we may have a hard time stetting up. So when we have played Minecraft we use a VPN which by my understanding is basically "fake LAN" as far as games can tell.

I have once before for one game I can't remember long ago but I never tried it with Red Alert 3, the problem is it only works via an EA account method, I know there's the LAN option but I don't know if it would work entirely, there is currently a modded way to actually play RA3 online with other people but it seems complicated from what I can see and the steps taken to just play with another person.

This is why I'm looking forward to eventually playing Planetary Annihilation with my friends since I'm more a defense type and I'd love to protect the metal planet (which can now be used as an orbital moving death star) while allies go off to horde other asteroids, moons and the new Gas giant planets for resources.

Captcha: Never gonna give you up.

Well I just got Rolled.

 

[BrotherRool]

When you play multiplayer Starcraft 2 you can give 'share' control of your units with your partner, so what you can do is have one player expand and build all the units whilst the other guy controls them. The only problem is that the guy who controls the units would still need to build probes and donate the money from the first base every now and then, and you couldn't max out properly, but that's not necessarily a huge problem.

If you have the multitasking skills to build units then you can play the game normally but controlling his units as well as yours, whilst he focuses entirely on defending the base and making his army.

(Sorry that I only know bodge job solutions)

 

[Dr. Thrax]

You could go for AI War, though, I think I remember seeing an option where you could share control of units with another player.

And while it's not exactly what you're asking for..
Supreme Commander is always a good one vs AI, and they have a rather good single-player campaign.
I would recommend Forged Alliance over the first and second.
SupCom focuses more on the larger scale of things, battles take hundreds of units to break a well-fortified position, so with a No Rush time (This creates a zone around your Armored Command Unit that you cannot leave) of 10 minutes, you can have a base up and running and your initial expansion squad ready with no worries of rushing. Set your Engineers to Patrol and they will automatically repair your structures and reclaim wreckage for Mass, build shield generators covering a cluster of defenses and you're pretty much set. Resources are infinite so long as you have the structures that produce them.

You have the ability to scroll all the way out until you're looking at the entire map, and you can see the icons of units and buildings, and can actually control the battle from up top, no frantic scrolling around the map or clicking on the minimap to get where you need to be.

However, it's also quite easy to take a T3 Engineer (Or three) or a Support Armored Command Unit, load it into a transport, drop it next to your ally and build near them to supplement their defense, or to add to their assault force.
SupCom is not a "fast" game like Starcraft II can be, it can take a while, especially when you're facing a heavily shielded base. I'm also a turtler, and I prefer to turtle, tech up to T3, build up a large enough force and then steamroll my way through things, while I have artillery to help soften things up.

There's also an option to disable the Fog of War entirely, while it's a bit cheap, it allows you to be able to easily detect threats early, like Experimentals or Artillery Stations being built. I use it all the time because I'm not good at RTS games.

 

[Evonisia]

Halo Wars actually does this, well sort of.

You both have control of the base (can build it and destroy things and what not), and you control the units you build. You can transfer control of your units to the other player if you wish. I did this to get the campaign finished on Legendary (plus get the Co-Op achievement). Granted it can only be done over Xbox Live rather than through local multiplayer, but still.

Of course I'm not recommending you go out and play it based on that alone, I was actually reading this to see the replies.

 

[loa]

There definitely was a game where one player built the base and all the "units" were actual players.
It was team vs team though, I don't think it exists in a co-op human vs ai form.

 

[Isalan]

There definitely was a game where one player built the base and all the "units" were actual players.
It was team vs team though, I don't think it exists in a co-op human vs ai form.

Believe that was called Savage, think there was a second one. (Brief trip to Google says yes, it was called Savage: A Battle for Newerth, and there was a second one).

On Topic: Have you considered maybe Civ V? It's less Real Time and more turn based, but the field is wide open for your friend to run a economic/religious power state while gifting you all the gold and units he makes so you can militarily conquer and command. Could be worth a shot, though like I said, turn based, not real time.

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

On Topic: Have you considered maybe Civ V? It's less Real Time and more turn based, but the field is wide open for your friend to run a economic/religious power state while gifting you all the gold and units he makes so you can militarily conquer and command. Could be worth a shot, though like I said, turn based, not real time.

Actually our Civ V playstyle is what prompted this question. I am a casual RTS fan. I like to play single player campaigns but I cannot do good worth a damn online. And my Friend has never really been an RTS player.

My RTS interest got rekindled recently as I watched Wowcrendor do a Warcraft 3 playthrough, and sold my firend on the idea of coop RTS by comparing it to his Civ V playstyle.

 

[ThatQuietGuy]

Not quite Rts but you should take a look at Kill all Orcs 2. It's an action tower defense game and has a coop mode, I recommend it.

 

[Vigormortis]

Halo Wars fits your request perfectly. It's co-op mode is based around the solo campaign, gives shared control over the base(s) and units, and allows each player to concentrate on individual goals. (i.e. one building the base while one controls the units, etc, etc)

Now bare in mind that this will take two copies of the game and two Xbox 360s to play. So, unless you both have 360s and are willing to each buy a copy (they're cheap at this point), this may not be the option for you.

However, if you do have two 360s, Halo Wars will give you precisely what you're looking for.

 

[Quazimofo]

There definitely was a game where one player built the base and all the "units" were actual players.
It was team vs team though, I don't think it exists in a co-op human vs ai form.

Natural Selection 2 does this if I'm not mistaken (I've not played it but I looked into it before at the recommendation of a friend. Just didn't have the specs to run it).

Not quite Rts but you should take a look at Kill all Orcs 2. It's an action tower defense game and has a coop mode, I recommend it.

Do you mean Orcs Must Die? If so, I'd recommend it as well even though it's pretty unrelated and you can't have one person do ALL of the base building (or trap placement as it were) and one do all the fighting since your trap selections are split between the 2 players. Another more interactive tower defense game you might want to look at if you want is Dungeon Defenders.

Anyway, back on topic. I'll second Halo Wars. As far as RTS games go, it's pretty limited. It works fairly well on the 360, but that's because it was built around the 360 from the ground up. It's still quite enjoyable, but there's a few little things you might miss if you are an RTS veteran, like a patrol button or easier micromanagement of unit abilities.
Really it's a shame that a) the game was a 360 exclusive, since it was maybe 2 steps short of a kickass RTS, and b) it didn't sell well enough to get a sequel.

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

Thanks for the suggestions but quick note since Halo Wars has popped up quite a bit. I don't have Xbox live and he does not use his Xbox. So by necessity not preference it has to be PC.

 

[Isalan]

Thanks for the suggestions but quick note since Halo Wars has popped up quite a bit. I don't have Xbox live and he does not use his Xbox. So by necessity not preference it has to be PC.

I know someone mentioned Planetary Annihilation further up, I can't tell you if it has shared unit control or not, but if it did it would be perfect for what you're after. It doesn't so much have a single player campaign, as a single player vs AI mode where you unlock tech by moving through the galaxy map and fighting wars. Even if you just multi'd it up in a vs AI skirmish I reckon you'd have a whale of a time. What with bots, vehicles, aircraft, orbital aircraft, ships and super weapons (oh and the ability to use small moons as weapons) you kinda need someone sorting out the production side of things while someone else fights the wars. Give it a shufty on steam.

 

[Rad Party God]

Starcraft on the N64 had exactly that kind of mode, two players with the same base, where both could control the same building and units, either by each player having his own base, or as you say, one micromanages and the other goes to battle.

Not sure if the PC version is capable of this as well, but I also remember Age of Empires 2 had a similar mode, I have to research quite a bit on that.

Other than that... well, Dawn of War 2 had an interesting coop mode called Last Stand, but that's more like a Gears of War-esque Horde mode, with each player controlling a single unit and trying to survive as many waves of [small]enemies[/small] heretics as possible.