Demigod Diary #4: A Different Take on RTS

By Island Dog on March 20, 2009 1:51:14 PM from

The latest edition of the Demigod Dev Diary on IGN is now out! This time the Dev Diary talks about RTS, Gas Powered Games, and some design decisions with Demigod. As usual, it’s a great read to get some insights in the development of Demigod.

“The beta program for Demigod has been unlike any that I've ever participated in. For one thing, because of the name recognition that stems from Gas Powered Games being its developer, we have gotten a lot more attention from fans.

Gas Powered Games is best known for two titles, Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander. If I were to explain to a fan of the company what Demigod is, I would say "Imagine if they took Supreme Commander or Total Annihilation) and had the game focus on the commander. In fact, imagine if you didn't have the base building and didn't directly control the units, but instead, that it was all about that leader.”

Link: Demigod Diary #4

+462 Karma | 19 Replies

A good explanation of what Demigod is. Hopefully future players are paying attention.

Well written article. Explains quite a bit about the game, and does so without rambling on for pages about how awesome the game is going to be (as is typical for marketing articles).

Good article. I believe that's a map we haven't seen as well, isn't it? Looks nice!

I noticed one odd thing though: it said in the beginning that the All-Father mystiriously vanished, and wasn't kicked down. Is this an older article, or is the story changing again?

I wanna get into Beta!

Just gotta get money to preorder it!

beta is closed and i doubt it will be open again before the release

Yeah, even if you preorder now, beta access is closed to new players.

I still wanna play that map, tho! Looks fun.

I noticed that there were several points where it said stuff like

It mainly depends on what their expectations are going in.

This is good to mention, I think. Too many people are thinking about DotA too much.

To be fair - it's their fault people have the wrong expectation. They kept saying how Generals would play like an RTS up to a few weeks ago - long after it was clear they never would. In fact, I don't think they've even cleared that up officially yet.

The Generals point is true, though I was talking more about expectations from DotA than Generals.

Demigod != RTS.

Which is something only known to people who've already paid for it (are in the beta). The official stance and PR wording is still "Assassins are RPG, Generals are RTS".

Technically I think Demigod is an RTS in that it's a real-time strategy game. It just doesn't have a lot of the elements that a traditional RTS has (base building, creep produciton, resource harvesting, etc.). From an engine/perspective/control point of view though it's an RTS.

Genre wise it's almost entirely an RPG - top-down view with point and click do not an RTS make. Baldurs Gate would be one of the best examples of that.

Baldur's Gate was not real-time. Also, RPG indicates plot/story and long term character development/advancement. While Demigod does have leveling within the game, I think that is the only thing that makes it "RPG" like.

BG was real time....with a pause option, which again, is not something that's specific to any genre (most RTS have a pause option as well)

Also, RPG's on electronic mediums have not been about a story or plot for a long time.

Hehe guys stop trying to define its genre, it has none

Of course it has a genre - Hero-Based Arena-Located Real Time Role-Playing Tactical Strategy Game (HBALRTRPTSG)

needs more words, still!

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Demigod Diary #4: A Different Take on RTS