If You Could Change a Genre, Would You?

I’ve always loved real time strategy games. Unfortunately, it seems that I lacked the dexterity that is required to be very competitive in the genre. If you are like me, then you are probably frustrated with the plethora of tasks you need to perform while playing an RTS. I thought this was unfair and decided to do something about it.

As graphics kept improving for games, so did my fascination with just observing combat between units. I would lose precious time away from the management of my base in favor of watching groups of units clashing. Over time, I slowly regressed away from the RTS genre because of my skill level. I always loved watching others play, but their skill level reminded me why I left in the first place.

About two years ago, I was talking to a friend of mine who’s really into RTS games. We discussed different ideas the genre could benefit from in order to attract gamers who were like me. That’s when we came up with a thought.

What if we created a real time strategy game that allowed players to focus as much or as little on micromanagement as they wanted?

After months of coming up with plans, designs, and a story, we formed an independent game studio called Allied Games Inc, and decided to work on our first title: Shadow Heroes.

Since then, we ended up leaving our teaching jobs in order to completely dedicate all focus to this project. We enlisted the help of artists from around the world, some working with us for a short period of time, while others worked with us over a longer period to get the game to a prototype phase.

When we reached the limitations of the engine we were using (UDK), we became concerned that the project could not continue further without some serious help. When we contacted Epic Games, they allowed us to try their Unreal Engine 4. This removed previous limitations, but required a lot of work to get everything back to how it used to be.

Shadow Heroes has come a long way, but there is still a lot of work to do. We are dedicated to making this game accessible to as many people as we can, and that’s why we need your feedback. Come see what we have made so far on our Kickstarter page, and become a part of the community via our forums or Steam. Join us and help us shape this wonderful real time strategy game into something you would love to play with your friends.