The RTS — StarCraft-Lite With a Real AI Opponent
Top-down strategy. Drag-select units. Build workers, soldiers, towers. The AI opponent runs a real build-order FSM and attacks at the 90s mark with escalating raids.
What this is
A top-down strategy game with orthographic camera, slight 30-degree tilt for depth. Procedural island map (value-noise heightfield, water mask, grass/sand/rock vertex coloring) with mineral patches scattered around two opposed bases. Drag-select units with mouse. Right-click ground to move, right-click enemy to attack. B opens build menu — workers (harvest minerals), soldiers (combat), towers (defense). The AI opponent follows a real build-order FSM: 7 workers → barracks → tower → 2nd barracks → soldier production, launches a 5-unit raid at the 90-second mark, then escalates by +2 every 60 seconds. When your units enter a 26-unit perimeter of its CC, it diverts soldiers to defend.
Why this is mind-blowing
StarCraft cost millions and shipped on three platforms. The core loop — economy, build orders, unit production, AI raids — is here in 1187 lines from one paragraph. The build-order FSM is the entire genre's brain.
Prompt
Top-down RTS in three.js with orthographic camera. Procedural island
with mineral deposits, two starting bases. Drag-select units, right-
click to move/attack. Build workers, soldiers, towers. AI opponent
runs build orders and attacks waves. Destroy enemy command center
to win.Paste into your favorite AI and adapt it to your context.
What I learned shipping it
- AI build-order FSMs (7 workers → barracks → tower → 2nd barracks → soldier production) are how you make a one-paragraph RTS feel like a real game. The AI follows a strategy, not a script.
- The resource-supply-tech triangle is the entire genre's design. The model knew to build it from one paragraph.
- Drag-select with a screen-space rectangle + raycast for unit hits is the single mechanic that separates 'top-down game' from 'RTS.' Everything else flows from it.