New RTS "Battle Aces" Explained

The new RTS from Uncapped Games, Battle Aces, was just revealed! After playing a lot, here's explanations for the key points!
Battle Aces Casts: • Blinks vs Gunbots | Ba...
I'm probably LIVE right now, check me out:
→Twitch: / artosis

[@fren648]

Why does this look more visually polished than the stormgate rn

[@forsensfishbox]

WAAAAY more polished, especially comparing the two cinematic trailers, battle aces just totally mogs it

[@fren648]

@@forsensfishbox Pixar's Doom vs Vs The Cardgame RTS Moba hybrid...

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

It doesn't.

[@jordanpelaez8532]

Because it is. Stormgate looks bad

[@minibeast21]

Uncapped games (studio behind this game) is owned by Tencent - so they clearly get a lot more funding than stormgate/SG. Sg had to crowdfund most of their funds & didn't have a huge multi-national media entertainment conglomerate giant such as Tencent throwing them money

[@arrashishiv1591]

Honestly it feels like glorified version of those lane battles custom games for W3 where you have a single lane and bases on each end of it.

[@Zyzyx442]

Excelelent point, if you said this was a Custom game mod for SC2 I would believe it.

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

CnC Rivals 1.5 lol

[@mareksicinski449]

glorified? anyway it is its own thing so no, theres expansion and decks

[@Ziegfried82]

Yes it looks like a custom War3 map. Looks more interesting to me than a MOBA/DOTA type game...but not having proper base building and resource management means I'm not really interested in this. The problem with streamlining RTS so much is that you eliminate a massive amount of variation in game states. There's gonna be a lot of the same going on in Battle Aces once things are figured out and builds are optimized.

[@marcelo1x1]

I’d love to play a glorified lane battle game lol

[@Eliteownage]

Looks like an arcade version of an RTS with how fast paced it is.

[@LaymensLament]

ARTS game

[@kylehill]

An art style I actually like!

[@davidm2031]

Woah, Kyle hill knows about artosis. That's nuts

[@TheCantMan01]

Crazy

[@canag0d]

A game where u don’t need to scout. RT this you bro!

[@GonzaloLozano-mb2sr]

There's something about having your units be humans with emotions, that scream and bleed when they die, that is just much more engaging than having cartoony robots with cheesy voices. Also, forcing you to expand in a certain order and limiting where you can do it seems like something that will limit fun and creativity so much, especially as a casual player

[@RealPeoplePerson]

Same reason why the Total Annihilation genre of games feel sterile to me. In those you do get the massive scale and big explosive effects though, which can be cool.

[@jaker4ster]

There are different ways to express creativity. Not every RTS has to be a Starcraft clone. I think this one is going to have a TON of strategic diversity with the unit deck concept.

[@denarte6986]

Agreed. I always enjoyed the charisma units in old games had with funny and memorable dialogues. AK47s for everyone!

[@しらこ-465]

An RTS without scouting or macro, and the complex expand vs rush vs attack decisions have been reduced to simple rock-paper-scissors of clicking the "expand" or "tech" or "build unit" button. I like Micro Wars and all, but this looks like one I'll bounce off of pretty quickly. Maybe it plays better than it looks but 🤷‍♂

[@Ananomos]

I like how quick the matches are. And its simple enough to play a few matches but seems like it could have some high-level strategies based off the type of units you decide to bring in and the rock-paper-scissor idea you mentioned! I think games like Clash of clans went on the wrong direction for RTS as its too simple and i get bored pretty easily watching gameplay. I just watched a "Pro" game of Battle Aces and thats why im here now, it was quick and very entertaining so im looking forward to more of this game and how it may help evolve RTS games.

[@lobaxx]

I really like how different this is. It’s not really an RTS like anything before it, it is its own thing. It doesn’t even try to replace BW/SC2/WC3, which is good because frankly I think it’s impossible. Seems like a fun game to play with friends that might not have that RTS experience.

[@infeza]

THIS GAME LOOKS SO GOOD OMG

[@00110000]

I'm loving the audio and visual design

[@WhiteFox-nk3jv]

Now that we know what David sees as a perfect RTS, it is pretty scary to think that he was in charge of sc2 balance for so long, good thing he left. Broodlord infestor clown

[@3halfshadows]

The balance team didn't pick what units were put in the game but yea sc2 was a mess.

[@aaron1500]

Thanks so much for the explanations! This is one I'm excited to try!

[@appidydafoo]

Looks great, Uncapped is actually pushing the boundaries of possibility... haven't seen this in a genre for many years

[@n00b1n8R]

This is basically what I was hoping for when the game was announced. A more arcadey take on the genre. Definitely the post-blizz rts I'm interested in.

[@dingoo1971]

I also was hoping for this and it has a well rounded concept. Keen to try it. But now I wonder, if this could be fun enough for also watching pros play it. No buildings feels naked. Nobody needs supply buildings, but a little sim city adds to the viewers experience.

[@Targüs42]

This looks pretty good, but does everything just shoot lasers? Would be cool to see some other attacks.

[@Nuurix]

Actually I couldn't care less about the graphics, but the game concept really sounds amazing! Its totally different from the typical hardcore RTS experience, but I can see myself just having fun playing this after a day of work or with friends. Cool concept and the right choice to try this kind of concept over just doing another blizzard style rts as everybody else does. Respect to david kim!

[@archerarcher5727]

Bless David Kim

[@BayCyst]

This is a new age RTS that I think I would enjoy. Nothing against the other ones but this one looks neat and I love the graphics.

[@iamosoli493]

Seems interesting it is more of a battle simulator rts

[@Ziegfried82]

It's meant for the ADHD crowd that just wants to hurry up and get to the action. It's not really what I'm looking for but I could see the appeal for the types that really hate macro.

[@iamosoli493]

@@Ziegfried82 that’s true I would say storm gate would fit older rts fans

[@whitneysmiltank]

@@iamosoli493 Stormgate fits no RTS fan. It's in a clear identity crisis.

[@jayhobspeedruns]

Hmm this actually looks pretty good.

[@CondemnedMarine]

This just looks like higher-budget command and conquer rivals. I don't have any hope this succeeds.

[@indescreyebableeyedeas8281]

Looks like a fun game. Casual for an RTS

[@Corusame]

I actually really like this concept and think it has a lot of potential for competitive play. That name has to go though, makes me automatically think of a mobile game lol

[@diegobuenovillafane869]

concept art unique, as they aimed. Awesome to see something totally different

[@jaho101]

The maps being completely flat and nearly featureless as far as gameplay goes feels kinda meh, you get so many units at the start that it's blob battles from the beginning.

[@antonalm7689]

Ok, this game looks dope

[@marksmithcollins]

They cut out many 'unnecessaries', eventually reaching a point that nothing better than a Roblox room

[@niklasgiden]

Interesting! Units are not too small and battles seems to have a good flow to them. The auto-expansion mechanic - Did I get it right that you have no ability at all to choose which way the auto-expansion goes? I think that could enhance the strategic side of it. This map is kind of flat it seems, but I see many possibilities on creating interesting maps to change the gameplay a lot. Seems very promising. Oh, and the command center kinda looks like the bell on my kids bike.

[@Alex-jv6ye]

Looks like a cool game. This may end up being more popular than stormgate since it’s all action, but still kinda miss the chaos involved with doing macro while fighting.

[@arushdemi677]

in short not really an rts

[@attention_shopping]

hoenstly looks great -- very simple, but fun enough to succeed as a game to play -- very playable

[@forsensfishbox]

i really really wanna try this it looks great, much better than stormgate

[@AEspiral]

Oh man, Stefan Haines! I played hundreds of times against this dude back in Dawn of War, he was an Imperial Guard player. Before he went to work at Relic... Fun days, i just wanted a dawn of war 1 remake.

[@MiguelAnton1994]

From the new RTS wave, I think this is the one I dislike the most from a game design perspective (I know it's still super early). It feels like they took the RTS genre and decided to remove the interesting parts. It's like a minigame.

[@forsensfishbox]

interesting parts = making buildings and workers ?? i play RTS for the battles and strategy idk

[@whitneysmiltank]

@@forsensfishbox Then your iq is very low.

[@arushdemi677]

well macro kinda of the point also. if the micro is not super intensive. the skillcap will be really low for an rts

[@attention_shopping]

i haven't played but i don't think i like showing the information on opponent's tech unlocked -- sure showing the deck options but not their timing

[@Ziegfried82]

It really eliminates a lot of the unknowns, creating a game that will be a solved equation in a short period of time.

[@GeneralSezme]

Really wish all these new RTS games in development would stop trying to copy League of Legends graphics and dumbing down macro. I won’t write David Kim off right now though, nostalgic for the Wings of Liberty days

[@Ziegfried82]

Yeah these new developers have no idea what made RTS special as a genre. That's a shame, because at the rate they are going you may as well just play a MOBA.

[@abdallahhakeem5185]

We have enough saturation in the conventional RTS space right now. ‘Dumbed down macro’ aka not having to pre-empt 10 different things to get to the actual gameplay, enables your average player to be able to get to see and experience and focus on that army play and that REAL-TIME STRATEGY. It’s about damn time tbh RTS has always been a hostile space for newcomers to get to participate in meaningfully, but this is a great entry point At worst, they’re catering to a different demographic and reaching out to many players that haven’t gotten to experience the fun of RTS properly, and that is fine.

[@davidramtjarn7766]

Humm no base building just a bottom to press when you want to expo. Feels abit light to be honest, i mostly see spam attack units and attack, in the trailers they litterly said there where more diffrent ways then the standerd rts games to win. Dosent seem like it tho. Just cut off parts to make it more basic. Dont get me wrong it seema interadting also, but i hope we get some more to do then just a shart of deck units to press and then attack bottom,

[@keymaker2112]

Reminds me of Tooth and Tail meets SC2, with a dash of PA: Titans.

[@psychaoticproductions3994]

This video is zzzzz. That's minerals, that's gas, this is blink units, if you press q it produces the unit, if you hold q it produces more units. Truly innovative and fascinating.

[@mvpmvp2980]

this is the most mobileish looking pc rts game ive ever seen.

[@skipp3252]

This looks cool, I like it a lot.

[@rendomone]

Now this is interesting.

[@EMP3rr0R]

Now I get why Stormgate gone Mercs vs Demons: this is just grey boxes vs purple boxes. I couldn’t tell the units in the army blob apart. Although I like the narrative, aesthetic, and gameplay of this more. (Wonder if Arti does a Tempest Rising coverage ever)

[@jakovmatosic4890]

I wanna see him do Beyond All Reason

[@Shield_Battery]

interesting they provide enemy tech/expo choices. Definitely a Terran main tired of getting denied scouting by ranged goons was behind that decision lol.

[@maksymbozhko5896]

Omg, both opponents being bottom left from their perspective is genius, we could have terran addons in sc2 always on the inside of the wall this way

[@ForzenHorizonZero4down]

I don't understand why in modern RTS the unit voices are so DISGUSTING?

[@Ziegfried82]

Yeah the voices are terrible. Better with a bloop/bleep noise than these voiceovers it's gross.

[@ForzenHorizonZero4down]

@@Ziegfried82 I agree. Its possible to make nice robotic sounds, than that abomination.

[@Tungar111-mv2hw]

Three new RTS games in the works? They're just spoiling us at this point.

[@omffgswe]

5 if you count D.O.R.F, Rogue Command, StormGate, ZeroSpace, and this.

[@smelogsplayground]

@@omffgswe what about Smelogs Playground, Immortal Gates Of Pyre and Tempest Rising? There are currently a lot of amazing RTS coming. 🙂

[@Igor369]

@@omffgswe 6 if you count sanctuary shattered sun or even 7 if you consider RTS/FPS hybrid Silica. Hell there are even more RTSes coming just little people know about them.

[@denarte6986]

@@omffgsweway more. My top are Ratten Reich, Broken arrow and Tempest rising. Cataclismo also looks interesting. And there’s also age of mythology remake

[@henrycase3788]

Y'all are forgetting Godsworn. I see a lot of potential in that game. Closest I felt playing Warcraft 3 and Frozen Throne.

[@JuNQk1E]

Ok this is looking pretty cool and it’s still beta can’t wait to play it, I’ve taken a hiatus from StarCraft

[@gillbates5]

Seems very.... basic. I hope they add some base management mechanics. The engagements looked fun though and I enjoyed the constant action.

[@pieterpieter4837]

David did NOTHING to deserve that win! He just sat there making bases! Stefan continually harassed David, but IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER how many mistakes David makes! HOW IS THIS BALANCED!?!?!

[@Kantuva]

Unknown if it is intended to be a joke but David Kim had faaaar better macro through the game, he had income advantage since the very early game

[@denarte6986]

@@Kantuvait is a joke. Never watched Artosis play vs Protoss on stream?

[@denarte6986]

Anyone feel that many RTS games are being dumbed down? We’ve had such an amazing decade of 2000s with so much innovation only to end up with shit like this 15 years later…

[@mvpmvp2980]

I dont mind dumbed down macro but it needs to be accompanied by infight micro closer to wc3, probably with heroes. This game's infight micro looks very sc2 esque which does not mesh well at all with dumbed down macro.

[@henrycase3788]

Hm, I thought the 2000s was when RTS games started to decline, especially past the mid-00s.

[@denarte6986]

@@mvpmvp2980 wc3 macro wasn’t that complicated but it had its own beautiful depth with things like upkeep, proper walling, neutral shops, ability to proxy and the unique way each faction macroed/felt. Red alert 3 despite getting so much hate did an awesome job with implementing water combat and water building in 2008. Hell , even Generals from 2003 had an awesome feel to the units the way jets and helicopters fly and land at airbase. Age of mythology had cyclops throwing units and hydras eating units and growing heads. I could go on and on. My point todays rts are missing that umph, it’s just feels too blocky and too controlled in many aspects…

[@denarte6986]

@@henrycase3788 hard disagree. Tiberius wars/Kane wrath, dawn of war, company of heroes are just a few of the goats. I think the decline came after WOL, in 2010s. There were still gems like Coh2, Dow2 but the other took a hard nose dive like CnC 4…

[@ToTheNines87368]

I agree, but they “know” it’s the only way if they want the game to be successful among the masses. I just don’t get it. Why not accept that your game is going to have under a million players and just settle for that? If you can monetize that player base, in a reasonable way you should still recuperate the cost and more.

[@AristotelisMelas]

The units look like they have good ai and resposiveness, but why the cartoony theme? Why are RTS games trying to go after the zoomer audience? The no-macro tech/expand and unit card system feels like half of the games will be decided in the first 30 seconds.

[@gantha]

Wow, this looks ridiculously boring. Like, seriously, who's the target audience? League players? Pre-schoolers? I don't get it..

[@HashbeanSC2]

this is an ad right?

[@beefbrain68]

who cares, he's providing good info that I'm interested in

[@francis9523]

Visually, I'm already captivated. I'll be checking it out with the Gates of Pyre then. They the RTS games that caught my attention aside stormgate

[@cryptorcd9352]

As a dirty casual that never played any RTS online but always wanted to, this game feels like something I can get into. I just hope voice acting ends up having more personality because as it is it's just bland. Units kinda too with all being robots but they probably won't change visuals

[@worksadman]

Looks very intuitive and the games go by quick, I definitely see what DK meant by "changing the paradigm of RTS", although I think that's a pretty grandiose thing to say. I do think amongst all the new RTS' this will have the broadest appeal to newer/casual playerbase, because it does away with what many people consider a core part of RTS. This is an RTS lite, which isn't a bad thing, it just won't be what all RTS makers want to make. Because it's so easy to get into(this is basically Marine Arena or Zergling Blood with way more polish), I think this will be a 'second' RTS game lots of old players can play at the same time as their main RTS without affecting performance in main RTS. I think if DK wants more forced variation he can always add a pseudo faction by making some cards only accessible by some factions, and also I think card meta will be affected a lot by maps, you will see deeper mindgames if players are locked into a Bo3 with map pick/bans and perhaps a 1 card substitution between rounds.

[@PompousDingo]

Sooooooooo excited!!!!

[@invisiblemenproduction]

Amazing, can’t wait to try!

[@simonreichmd]

This looks so much better than Stormgate.

[@seiaghen]

first impressions? looks like a mobile game with maphack

[@steakburger9800]

This game reminds me of a mobile game called C&C: Rivals.

[@ErikLexander]

That game got a lot of hate, and to be honest, the mobile focus on micro transactions really ruined a lot of the fun. But I think that it had something going for it, and would love for someone else to give something similar a try. Deck building, slow, zoning gameplay. This one seems way to fast for me.

[@XUndergroundRap]

Looks like a bastardized Dawn of War and stormgate. Never been a fan of the auto builders. But to each there own

[@yyyy-uv3po]

Zergs: double expand before 3mn D.Kim: triple expand before 2mn

[@marksmithcollins]

min

[@ToTheNines87368]

Visually this looks the best of any RTS that isn’t sc2 I’ve seen, so fluid and well animated. I don’t like how they limit your strategic choices like where to expand so forth, but again too early to judge.

[@HearterSG]

i already love it

[@AscentArt]

Wow, has much more of an identity than Stormgate. Polish aside, this actually has some design cohesion... not a fan of the moba aspect but will definitely be trying it out. Looks very promising.

[@simonreichmd]

I think adding an option to build at least some buildings would be beneficial afterall. For example a building which will reduce the producing time of certain units. Or buildings speeding up the mining at certain bases (like an upgrade of a base). I am afraid that getting completely rid of building anything static might end up being too bad.

[@nankam]

So it's competitive RTS distilled down to a far simpler, faster-paced form. Interesting idea but I'm not sure it will have much appeal.

[@guyfromdubai]

22:00 I wonder if they could implement a toggleable button that maybe changes targeting priorities? Probably wouldn't happen but I wonder what that kind of setting would feel like

[@ruin9027]

The name "Battle Aces" is a big whiff, it sounds like a mobile F2P game

[@RealPeoplePerson]

It will likely be pushed as a F2P mobile game in China and other places, considering Tencent is behind Uncapped. The "robots and no blood" visual style is likely a concession for the Chinese market too.

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

It probably is a mobile port. It is by Tencent, so.

[@ajaypeacock]

This game looks the most fun of all upcoming RTS games. I appreciate that they are taking some more risks and removing some of the more tedious parts of games like SC2. Seems like it will be an easy to pickup but difficult to master game with hopefully lots of variety when it comes to decks and units. I also like the anime battle bot art style. Pumped to play the beta later this month!

[@whitneysmiltank]

lol cringe

[@Norwolf2097]

Everybody interested in this should have a look at Mechabellum.

[@EnemyMatt]

Question: What happens when the timer runs out? Does it go to a tie or a score victory. If the latter, how is it calculated?

[@Igor369]

Wait this is almost like fucking Battleforge. Why do extremely unique and fun games always die after a few years?

[@dingoo1971]

I miss Battleforge

[@89volvowithlazers]

Ashes does all this and more though i love it has fans never gets the love

[@Sneeosh420]

More of an auto battler with micro than an rts. Looks nicely polished and fun though. Kind of like tooth and tail. Will def try it out.

[@ejzhuxhl3857]

Will Serral become the GOAT of this game?

[@dimitriuss]

Possibly. But if rogue queues 1 match i doubt artosis would recognize it.

[@richard31242]

This game feels like C&C4

[@chainsawfreak]

what's with new RTS and this kind of artstyle? why be cartoony? looks absolutely awful

[@hurrjackal118]

So, it’s Tooth and Tail.

[@KhGoosey]

that was my first thought too

[@skipp3252]

I dont get any tooth and tail vibes from this at all. The only thing that is comparable is that you chose your loadout of units pre-game. But economy is different, unit production is way different and army control is not even comparable.

[@wrenbo4816]

people so ready to jump down the throat of any comparison point. comparison is not analysis and it is barely description.

[@skipp3252]

@@wrenbo4816 thats not just a comparison though. They equated the two

[@wrenbo4816]

@@skipp3252 I don't want to alarm you about what an equation is...

[@profilename1337]

This looks like an alternate reality, where blizzard never made an rts, and this is actually blizzards first rts game. Like a modern blizzard version of a new rts, but they had no rts roots to build on.

[@VIBrunazo]

I like the idea of custom decks. But the game pace feels a bit too "arcadey" you know? Hard to image those large scale positional engagements from BW in a game like this. Like spreading tanks over several screens, spreading lurkers on top of ramp. Snow Reavers while backing away etc

[@eud64_]

Maybe looking at this game with a different perspective out of the bw era would help to enjoy for what it is and could be.

[@maxgrant5400]

Seems like itll be fun for a week with friends and then be completely figured out. I doubt this will keep me where stormgate probably will

[@johnwardknox]

wait wait!! Hell yeah!

[@caliwong]

does everyone get to choose the same set of units to build their deck? If that's the case I feel like the game will eventually be solved and each patch will always have a very limited set of viable playstyles...

[@Ziegfried82]

Exactly. This game will get figured out quickly with this style of design and only the micro will matter.

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

Next time, I'd show sth hype at the start before going into a dry academic style explanation of the rules for a good 6+ mins.

[@Red-wb5jj]

Stormgate is more the game I'm looking for, because there is at least a bit base building. An rts without base building is like a shooter without multiplayer or a hack & slay without items.

[@neonmarblerust]

Base building is very important

[@---oy2oy]

That’s by biggest disappointment here, too. I still think this looks really promising and I want to play it before I pass any judgements, but I do feel like I’ll miss base building and other macro-level decisions like unit upgrades.

[@forsensfishbox]

the base building in most RTS is almost entirely pointless outside of walling

[@denarte6986]

Cries in Company of heroes 😂

[@Red-wb5jj]

@@forsensfishbox In Age 2 not. To decide where to build what part of your economy is important.

[@Halpmeplox]

it's like someone took everything unfun about RTS as a genre and made a game focused solely on these aspects. The fact that it looks and sounds super generic and uninspired won't help at all. A sound cue on enemy expanding and even showing the new expansion on a perfectly mirrored map, come on... these ex-blizzard devs are coming up with wildly misguided solutions to problems that don't exist, while ignoring the problems that do exist. So far this nu-RTS trend is heading toward turning the genre into an arcade fighting game cabinet, is that really what people want from RTS games?

[@catra195]

I'd really lose respect for someone as a Man if they played this unironically.

[@Nova5ynth]

Wow... I look forward to countless hours with this game. 😁 But probably not as many as I've invested in SC2 since launch. Great video. Thanks for explaining so much. 👍

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

Tencent? No ty

[@3halfshadows]

Agreed, immediate turn off. Wouldn't be surprised if the game was spyware lol.

[@sh5dowek]

Looks promising for pre-work amusement :) Though i am still more interested in stormgate

[@Fohnzii]

Nice - Clash Royale got a big upgrade

[@ashitaka8633]

Okay this actually looks unique and fun unlike stormgate

[@Rekatan]

Very exciting concept. Definitely feels like an expansion on the idea of the lane based WC3 maps. I hope we'll see more unit diversity in the future though, with more units that have unique abilities from one another.

[@Zyzyx442]

Sad truth is Mobile games like "Lords Mobile" and "Clash of Clans" is the real RTS games of today, and they are more fun than these MOBA lite rts games.

[@rollthepoint4971]

I think this may get some esports traction with the current gen of gamers. Macro is much easier, unit micro is more important and fun to watch. May draw in some of the MOBA crowd.

[@Ziegfried82]

But why play this over a MOBA? That's the issue I am having here. Maybe people that prefer to control an army rather than one unit plus summons? But I am willing to be that's a small minority of players. This game streamlined too much and as a result looks way too much like a MOBA without the fun hero unit.

[@RayReign]

Thank you for that explanation that was awesome! Can't wait to try this game out for myself it looks very fun and fast paced. The games visual clarity is amazing, i can see clearly whats what with a glance of the camera. I'm a bit shocked at how polished it already is. wow

[@mareksicinski449]

23:20 recall hunters adn advanced recall no?

[@nabeelhussain1372]

Why does this graphically look identical to Stormgate

[@whitneysmiltank]

Goes to show the state of creativity of the RTS "veteran" developers.

[@Olagfigh]

It could also looks like Minecraft, cartoon or some pixel art. No other options these days