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Sutton Dagger

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #1

So I just picked up Halo Wars on Steam, and I'd forgotten how fun RTS games can be. Now I know it's frowned upon to use a controller for certain genres but are there any other games that manage to pull off controller use reasonably well? Reason being is a don't actually have a mouse, just a stupid track pad on a $20 wireless keyboard.

Thanks

 

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EhoaVash

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #2

Pikmin 3 is pretty damn great with regular controller ( with wii u gamepad on side table to view map) but what makes it go above and beyond is using the wii mote's gyro sensor to point and aim at the tv. soooo good. soo much great precision.

 

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Tain

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #3

herzog zweeeeei

 

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Nzyme32

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #4

I've tried some via Steam Input and it's pretty damn tedious no matter what the setup.

Only good experience I've had is with the Steam Controller. Played through both StarCraft 2 campaigns - WoL & HotS. Was great fun. Without doubt slower but in no way tedious. Certainly more challenging but very playable. Going through homeworld and Dawn of War 1 at the moment, both also good fun.

I'd pick a mouse every time, but at a TV the SC is a great choice as a compromise


Controller based RTS can be good when designed for it though. Pikmin being an easy favourite and Xcom (new obviously)

 

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RedSwirl

Junior Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #5

That kind of situation is what the Steam Controller was designed for.

 

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SatoAilDarko

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #6

EhoaVash said:

Pikmin 3 is pretty damn great with regular controller ( with wii u gamepad on side table to view map) but what makes it go above and beyond is using the wii mote's gyro sensor to point and aim at the tv. soooo good. soo much great precision.

Click to expand...

They updated it with touch controls a year after launch as well.

In line with Pikmin there is the similar Overlord series. The first and second are on 360/PS3/PC and Overlord: Dark Legend is on Wii and uses the Wii Remote pointer.

My Little King's Story was also like Pikmin and was on Wii but didn't use the pointer. There was a Vita port by Konami that people disliked (among other things they made everything typical anime pretty). Last year there was a PC port of the Wii version.

There's also Army Corps of Hell for Vita that did not review well.

None of them are typical RTS.

 

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Ventara

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #7

GrimGrimoire was a pretty fun RTS despite being a console game.

 

DanielJr82

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #8

Brutal fucking Legend!

 

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titiklabingapat

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #9

RTS, gamepad controllers and 'controls well' the all do not belong in the same sentence. I tried Halo Wars but yeah... You can't polish shit.

I wish they would just bundle a mouse, at the very least, with the console RTS games.

 

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Tagyhag

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #10

While the controls aren't that great, I thought they were surprisingly serviceable in Tiberium Wars.

titiklabingapat said:

RTS, gamepad controllers and 'controls well' the all do not belong in the same sentence. I tried Halo Wars but yeah... You can't polish shit.

Click to expand...

I mean, it does control well for an RTS that was specifically designed to be used with a controller.

But because of that, it pales to almost every RTS out there in the gameplay department.

 

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El Odio

Banned

• Jun 25, 2017

• #11

I don't remember any stand out frustration playing Red Alert 3 and C&C on xbox years ago.

 

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Sutton Dagger

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #12

Thanks for the suggestions. I might actually go the Steam controller route, great idea. That way I can try 'hardcore' RTS games.

 

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ThoseDeafMutes

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #13

Tom Clancy's Endwar was designed for Controller+Voice command hybrid. Since it was built with a controller in mind, it obviously works fairly well but it's kind of limited compared to most RTS games with far less micro and precise positioning. You're very "hands off" compared to most RTS.

Red Alert 3 had a console port (maybe C&C3 too... can't quite recall) but I don't think they patched console controls into the PC version. It was relatively optimized for that experience but still inferior to KB&M.

 

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Giga Man

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #14

The original Pikmin is the best choice if you want a real challenge. You can play it on GameCube/Wii with a GameCube controller, or the "New Play Control" re-release with Wiimote and Nunchuk.

 

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Wollan

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #15

Anno 1404 and the Wii pointer was a delight.

Endwar and R.U.S.E by Ubisoft was some decent attempts but I found the games lacking in certain fashions (and voice controls suck).

 

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Ushay

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #16

Not strategy, but Pillars of Eternity is real time cRPG. Seems to work well enough, the only scenario where I can't see it working is multiplayer.

 

Ivan

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #17

I actually enjoyed those on a controller back in the day,and I even remember it being pretty popular for local multiplayer. People used to enjoy things without questioning back then...


I appreciated the whole thing even more knowing they were actually real pc games designed for the mouse.

It felt like a hack that allowed me to enjoy them on the system I had in a "comfy couch" mode.

Later I also bought playstation mouse to play them,but only C&C supported it. Blizzard designed the whole thing around the controller, so there was no UI on the screen, just full screen warcraft 2 on a TV. You got the menus by pressing square after selecting unit. It was interesting.

 

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RedFyn

Member

• Jun 25, 2017

• #18

Steam controller is your best bet. Any game should be fine, or at least as good as you're going to get, with that for sp.

Is there a reason you can't just get a wireless mouse?

 

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D4rth Man7iz

Member

• Jun 26, 2017

• #19

 

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SmoothRunningGun

Member

• Jun 26, 2017

• #20

Ruse is awesome with a controller.

 

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NullPointer

Member

• Jun 26, 2017

• #21

Still thought EndWar was a noble attempt, using voice to deploy units, group them and give orders. You'd also see the battlefield through the eyes of your units as you moved between them. Voice control also meant that you could give specific commands (though no micro) without taking your eyes off the battle right in front of you.

Would still love to see another stab at it.

 

AquaticSquirrel

Member

• Jun 26, 2017

• #22

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Hopeford

Member

• Jun 26, 2017

• #23

I've had moderate success with Total War with the Steam Controller, if that helps. It's not perfect and it definitely feels slower to play than with a mouse/keyboard, but it's maneagable. Does not work with standard controllers though.

 

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plainr_

Member

• Jun 26, 2017

• #24

Red Alert 3 on PS3/360 wasn't bad at all. What held it back was not the controls but the unit limit.

 

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Symbiotx

Member

• Jun 26, 2017

• #25

I remember playing this

It was pretty bad though. LoTR Battle for middle earth was fun though