There are various early games that are believed to have contributed to the idea of the real-time strategy game as we think of it today; the first one being Stonkers was released in 1983 (developed and published by Imagine Software). Stonkers was released for a platform that, in all honesty, I never even knew about until I did some preparatory research for the series: the ZX Spectrum (and with the breathtaking graphics of Stonkers that can be seen in the first screenshot below this paragraph, I think I know why). In the game, players controlled various types of units (infantry, artillery, etc.) and focused entirely on the combat aspect of the game; while attempting to eliminate the enemy, though, players had to be mindful of each unitÂ’s energy, and attempt to conserve it to ensure that your supply units donÂ’t run out of munitions to supply the units before a new shipment of energy arrives.

Polack's voice has a tendency to get slightly unfocused at times, but on the whole his examination of the RTS genre is interesting and informative, with an extremely comprehensive approach to research and preparation--though our own Maarten may take issue with the lack of Command & Conquer discussion!