Achron — an RTS With Time Travel

An anonymous reader writes "As much as I'm looking forward to StarCraft 2, there's a new RTS gaming tech that has me even more enthused. The Escapist Magazine has posted interviews and footage of the upcoming 'meta-time strategy game' Achron, which was announced at GDC earlier this year. It's a multiplayer RTS where you can send things through time. The official site has some gameplay footage as well, and it looks like their tech is useful outside of gaming."

Preview

[Junior J. Junior III]

Having already played this game in the future, I can only say that things get really strange if you try to go back in time before the game was launched and try to prevent it from being installed on your opponents computers.

Also, if you see a player on the network named John Titor, don't play against him. He seems to know what's going to happen already. Fscking cheater!

Re:I have this image...

[jollyreaper]

According to what I saw in the first video, this wouldn't be possible. Rather, you are able to fight in the past that has real influences on your present but you aren't able to truly fight your opponent when they are starting out. On top of that, you can see where your opponent is in your time stream. And on top of that, you can speed up how fast you flow through time. Since most RTS's are based on reaction time (hence the title of the genre), it becomes very obvious to me that the default strategy is to get into the game and crank your speed up as fast as it will go. Then beat your opponent to your resource rich future and send units back in time. Always fight as far back in the past as you can.

The correct strategy is to send one unit back in time to kill your opponent's mother before he was even born. If that fails, you have one more shot before the sequels get crappy.

Re:Wow, very original

[Krneki]

Console players play this the whole time. PC games 5 years in the past. :)

Re:Very Original

[krou]

Or you get as confused as Dark Helmet in Spaceballs ...

Dark Helmet: What the hell am I playing? When does this happen in the game?
Colonel Sandurz: Now. You're looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now, is happening now.
Dark Helmet: What happened to then?
Colonel Sandurz: We passed it.
Dark Helmet: When?
Colonel Sandurz: Just now. We're at now now.
Dark Helmet: Go back to then.
Colonel Sandurz: When?
Dark Helmet: Now.
Colonel Sandurz: Now?
Dark Helmet: Now.
Colonel Sandurz: I can't.
Dark Helmet: Why?
Colonel Sandurz: We missed it.
Dark Helmet: When?
Colonel Sandurz: Just now.
Dark Helmet: When will then be now?
Colonel Sandurz: Soon.

Re:I have this image...

[eln]

No no, you have it all wrong. The correct strategy is to go back in time and become your opponent's father. It may not necessarily help you win the game, but it will give all of your future "your mother" taunts a devastating ring of truth, thereby increasing their impact. Plus, you'll get laid, which is always a bonus.

Haven't I seen this before?

[vertinox]

"Spear men sapping my tanks!"

Re:Time travel RTS is hard to imagine

[vertinox]

It's easy to imagine pushing things into the future, but pushing things back is a little harder.

Nah. Its pretty easy! Haven't you seen Bill and Ted [wikipedia.org] where they just have to remember to go back in time to get a particular objects to show up.

Maybe if you start a build queue then you instantly get it but you have to keep the build queue running until then or you blow up the space time continuum by not having the unit to send back when its ready.

Paradox

[BoChen456]

So what happens when you send a unit back in time to kill itself?