Turtle (game term)
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In computer and video games the term turtle, named after the turtle animal, has different meanings depending on the genre but all share the same main characteristic of the tactic, a form of defense.
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[edit] Fighting games
In the world of fighting games, especially those of the 2D variety, a turtle style of play is a defensive style that focuses on patience, positioning, timing, and relatively safe attack options to slow down the pace of the game and minimize the number of punishable mistakes made during the course of the match. This style can be very useful in timed matches, as it allows a player to deal a negligible amount of damage to an opponent, and then win the match by running down the clock.
[edit] RTS games
A Turtle strategy is commonly used in real-time strategy video games. When turtling, the player protects his territory, to the exclusion of creating any forces for attacking the enemy. The Turtle tactic is a common counter to the rush tactic. In many games, it often carries the connotation of being unskilled or new to the game.
The most common way to turtle is to build massive amounts of towers, turrets, and other defensive structures to fire upon enemy units; however, these mass groupings of towers are easily countered by longer ranged or heavily armored siege units that deal large amounts of damage to buildings.
Turtle armies may also incorporate large groups of stationary units, such as Siege Tanks in "Siege Mode" in the popular real-time strategy game StarCraft. These particular units are by default in a mode that allows them to move with a standard attack, but when in "siege mode" it becomes stationary with a very long-ranged and powerful attack.
In Red Alert 2, an entire playable nation, France, is considered the "turtling" team. The French "Grand Cannon" fires a powerful, extremely long-ranged shell effective against tanks and infantry alike, preventing all ground-based long ranged attacks from succeeding. With adequate air defense and a large source of power, the player using France may form an impervious defense line and wait for enemy forces to be annihilated. For this reason, France is generally prohibited from many online games.
In Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour, the superweapon general was designed with this play style in mind. Powerful base defenses that shut down vehicles and instantly destroy most aircraft make rushing difficult, strong power plants make causing power loss difficult, the Aurora bomber is upgraded with fuel air bombs, and particle cannons cost half as much. The latter two make it possible to play an entire game launching attacks only from the player's main base. Ironically, superweapons and synchronized bomber attacks are two of the US's best measures for cracking defenses and punishing turtlers.
One major problem with the turtle tactic is that it is normally designed as an attempt to stop an early rush. This leads to the problem of having an army comprised of units that are not advanced or varied. This army consumes resources and time to create, yet is ineffective at stopping a prepared enemy. A varied and well built army will normally be able to defeat any opponent who uses the Turtle strategy.
Another problem is that most RTS games incorporate powerful defense-cracking units and abilities at higher levels of research. A turtling player will generally have a much smaller mobilizable force as they have allocated a large portion of their resources to fixed defenses. This in turn makes it possible for mobile "siege" groups to whittle down a turtle with little worry of retalliation. This can become even more of a problem on maps with limited resources and multiple expansion points, as it provides mobile players with a much larger pool of resources than players who confine themselves to one base.
[edit] FPS and MMORPG games
In first-person shooters, turtling is used in team-based games such as capture-the-flag games or zone control. By putting a disproportionate number of players on the defensive, guarding their team's base, flag, or a pivotal strategic point, the turtling team can overwhelm an enemy team with a balanced offense and defense by outnumbering their offense. Likewise, they can withstand a "zerg" or rush by the other team. Using turtling is generally a temporary strategy at best, since by using the majority of their team to defend, they have few players to go on the offensive and accomplish whatever goals are required for victory, or used after gaining enough points to ensure victory without the other team scoring in such a game type and waiting out the time limit. A turtling tactic in a FPS cannot be completely distinguished from camping.
In the instanced battlegrounds of World of Warcraft, most specifically Warsong Gulch, "turtling" refers to the situation in which both sides have obtained the other side's flag. Since neither side can "cap," or capture, the opponent's flag without first recovering their own, a team may "turtle," or commit all of its team members to defense. This strategy cannot achieve a victory, but it almost ensures against a defeat, as the turtling team will always maintain numerical superiority over the non-turtling team. This is considered a dishonorable tactic, as it leads to a deadlock, and the goal behind the tactic is to push the opposing team into leaving the battleground, or in performing a rash attack with their flag-carrier. In another World of Warcraft instanced battlegrounds, Alterac Valley, any attempt by either side to commit large numbers of players to defense thereby prolonging the game longer than usual is also considered "turtling". However debate exists here as well about what is defending and what is turtling. When one side resorts to positioning more players on defense, it does so claiming that it is delaying the opposing side so that their players on the offense can push forward, while the other side claims that the "turtlerers" are deliberately trying to prolong a game that they have little chance of winning, usually because the side that most often "turtles" are losing.
