The Starcraft Model deliberately bakes excessive complexity & hyper-specific unit functionality into the game rather than allowing complexity to evolve naturally out of otherwise simple to understand principles
StarCraft units are mostly, apart from the spellcasters, very basic. Fast weak ranged unit. Fast cheap melee unit. Flying unit that can hit ground. Flying unit that can hit air. Slow splash damage unit. I can explain every unit except maybe the Dark Archon and the Defiler in like 4 to 5 words and you would get it.
The reason people still play StarCraft isn't because it's complex unit design but precisely because of the insane emergent gameplay and strategy that is STILL developing after 23 years of being played to death in a million professional matches.
I'm not arguing this is going to be fun for most people. It's certainly not. The UI is unbearable if you played any game in the last 15 years. But it's probably the most beautiful competitive game ever made.
StarCraft units are mostly, apart from the spellcasters, very basic. Fast weak ranged unit. Fast cheap melee unit. Flying unit that can hit ground. Flying unit that can hit air. Slow splash damage unit. I can explain every unit except maybe the Dark Archon and the Defiler in like 4 to 5 words and you would get it.
The reason people still play StarCraft isn't because it's complex unit design but precisely because of the insane emergent gameplay and strategy that is STILL developing after 23 years of being played to death in a million professional matches.
I'm not arguing this is going to be fun for most people. It's certainly not. The UI is unbearable if you played any game in the last 15 years. But it's probably the most beautiful competitive game ever made.