So I’ve been playing a bunch of Battlegrounds lately, slipping into old habits and all that. As I’m playing the game I’ve been trying to get better at it, to be able to take on computers on harder difficulties. This is taking some getting used to: my strategy games for the past several years have been turned-based (between games XCOM and Civilization, Firaxis has a hell of a hold on me), so the real-time part of real-time strategy has been a bit of an adjustment. It’s not just coming up with almost chess-like strategies where I’m preparing for several turns ahead, there’s a lot of time management and multitasking to make sure my factories are producing more AT-ATs while my workers are keeping my economy running even as I have Stormtroopers raiding a Trade Federation encampment.
While googling around the internet, I came across a forum dedicated to Battlegrounds with twenty-year-old threads filled with strategies and approaches. They’re a fun read and illuminating in just how to step things up. They call for an adjustment to how I play — and letting go of some habits from when I was thirteen — but they’re definitely working (and letting me field as many AT-ATs which is paramount for me). With a bit more practice I think I’ll be able to consistently take on harder AIs.
The question, though, is then why. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds came out over twenty years ago and it’s not held up as a modern classic like, how Battlefrontor Jedi Outcast are. It’s just another game that came out while Lucas Arts was publishing slews of Star Wars games in a whole mess of genres. Battlegrounds was the one that was an RTS running on the Age of Empires engine. Why get good at this old game? I don’t see myself interested in joining a competitive scene (and I know I’ll never be good enough for that), so all that lies ahead is continuous skirmishes against the AI. There are newer and better games to lose myself in.
But Battlegrounds is Battlegrounds, a game that I love, and playing it brings me joy. That’s reason enough, isn’t it? I found an impressive mod for the game (Expanding Fronts) that updates it to draw deeper from Star Wars lore (ranging from adding the old EU’s Imperial Remnant to the sequels’ Resistance and First Order) in addition to stabilizing the game to run smoother on modern machines. It doesn’t make it into a brand-new game, instead, it’s the same old Battlegrounds with a few tweaks. And you know what, I’ll take it. I struggle with playing games for the sake of it, with being able to just enjoy a game without needing to 100% it or collect every trophy or do whatever the thing of the day Destiny has in store. If this is a game that I can just lose myself in, I’m all for it. At least until Star Wars: Outlaws gets its bugs patched out, then I’ll be writing about that here instead.
Essays, Not Rants! 