Amir and Almog from Tri Arts Games talk about their RTS project Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow. They worked for two years without pay on a tech demo that got them 12,000 wishlists through organic community building alone. Then they secured $4.5 million in funding from RTS fans with money to spend, not a publisher trying to squeeze ROI out of the genre.

Tim Campbell from Westwood is their development advisor now. That's the same Tim Campbell who helped build Command & Conquer. They explain how they went from posting a single tank screenshot in a community forum to hiring a proper team and moving into offices. The game has weapon priority systems so your units don't fire tank shells at individual infantrymen when there's an actual tank 50 meters away. Cover mechanics where infantry automatically seek protection when shot at instead  ...