A major way Istrolid differs from a normal RTS is that it lacks techs, bases, or construction. Units are built with resources, which are gained by territorial control, but units are spawned from your starting location and resources are gained from occupying fixed points. This makes battles focused, intense, and capable of being fought in only a few minutes each.

We have all played a game where the match is a foregone conclusion before battle is even joined, due to overwhelming economic advantage or poor tech choices. Rather than interrupting the flow, pace, or balance of the combat, the contemplative, planning stage is abstracted out into ship design. Over the course of several games, you perfect a fleet of ships, slowly modifying and optimizing them and learning what different kinds of ships you need to beat various opponents. You can lose a battle by not having strong enough ship designs, or fielding ones weak against the opponent’s choices, but every time you learn something new and can tweak your ships to try and cover their weaknesses, or try out entirely new ships or compositions. Eventually you build your own unique fleet, and slowly perfect it against other players designs or borrow and adapt their ship designs to suit your own ends.

As you get more optimized designs, how you use them in combat becomes more important, and your skill and control becomes even more important. This separating of the game into two halves, one which requires careful thought and allows as much time as you need, and the other fast-paced and action-packed, allows both of these components of the game to be tightly focused and shine on their own merits.