Homeworld2

[Yian]

It's about time to talk about this most anticipated game in gaming history! Maybe not all that, but let's talk about it!

I was addicted to he original when first time I played it (fuck! need to jump back to previous missions because the fleet isn't big enough...), the graphics is actually ok (not stunning as other people said), but the 3D shit really got me. A revolutionary game indeed!

So... when thye said that they are gonna make HW2, I was all excited. I think HW2 must achieve certain things because that is what they failed in the firt one: (1) Much better textures of the ships. Also better damage effects and such. (2) Customizable ships and units... (3) More tools for customized games and maps, (4) More varieties in combat. (5) More difference between both sides without losing the balance, (6) More official maps for skirmishing, (7) More interaction with the enviroment, (8) More missions for single player part, (9) A brand new gameplay elements, such as the fleet layout,and (10) A more stable engine that doesn't crash!

What they must NOT change, I hope, are the followings: (1) The navigation and control mechanism. If you can't get used to the original HW, that means you are a NOOOOB and get your hands off! (2) The sketchboard/story-telling style. This is so original and it will be just fine in any sequel. (3) The great sound effects and music. (But please more customizable musics in the maps.) (4) The full-screen switch interface. I hate the old RTS style that takes off half of the god damn screen. Again, any complaints are from the NOOOOBs.

[cr3am]

i think HALO 2 is the most anticipated game ever....

coulda been warcraft 3... but otherwise i think it's HALO2

[AVataRR]

actually, we're still wating for Halo1.

god damn microsoft and their Xbox.

[cr3am]

yeah, it's just so great, fuck them :D

halo on computer will be great too, but there's just a feel to the xbox that HALO prolly won't have on computer (until it gets hacked :D)

[cenpjas]

A lot can be said for HW. The mention of the graphics not being quite so WOW is true now, HW is showing its age in the Graphics area's for sure for sure.

However if you compair apples to apples and Hw to games produced at the same time, I think its graphics and ship textures were very very good.

HW:C had nicer textures but hey, it came out later and the hard part (creating the engine, produceing a game and makeing money) had already been done. I think HW:C was a nice filler.

(The fact you can get HW for £4.99 at the mo is quite nice :) )

As for other games like Halo1 & 2 I would say Halo 2 I suppose so to people who are into FPS but for most old hands HW2 should be the bizz. Remember Halo 2 will need to compete with Doom III. As for warcraft, whist I am a fan and do own WarCIII I am not as excited by it. (I have infact not played it for quite some time).

I got excited about C&C : Renegade, however Westwoods inexperiance in 3D FPS showed through and the game alwas felt sluggish (even in single player).

I have looked though the feature list and mod tools and what not for HW2, and I am even more excited. What I would hope though is Automatic map downloading (like Starcraft) and a menu to choose default or a mod settings, thus saveing my copying 100's of MB back and forth on my HDD.

I love MW4 in all its forms and Mercanarys is the best, however not being able to down load the map from the game server/host is really really starting to do me in. (I mean like SC again).

High on my antisipation list is Mechworld or what ever they call it (the percistant universe of the innersphere) but only an old time lord could know if the project is still proggressing.

Ok, I have had my say,

-cen

[Yian]

Huh... poeple, please realize how bad Cataclysm is and stop saying things like "richer graphics" and blablablah....:p Cataclysm is bad! It not even 1% of the original HW! Thank you.

[RedBrain]

Funny thing about HW and multiplayer is that there is no real variation in the maps. The only difference was spawn points and where the asteroid fields were placed. Guess you really can't do much,...it is space based. There's not much out there.

Loved the single player game though.

[cenpjas]

I know lots of people who like HW:C and the graphics were better.

Nothing I like more than watching as another craft falls prey to my infectius beam.

I am not saying HW:C was all singing and danceing far from it, but I belive HW2 will be better for it. (things they will of learned).

As for space, that was the funnie thing with HW, you know exaclty where the other guys base is..., there is nothing between you much bigger than a nat, yet... if you blinked you'll get mugged from behind by a fleet of carriers maxed out with mine corvets!!! - arrggg.

Or maybe you expected that and have fighters and corvs waiting..., mybe your HC's are jumping to his mother ship, or was it just a frig on its own and there about to appear next to them carriers!!- ARRGGG. - and then you need to worry about the other four players!!.

As far as I can tell they have gone all out to beable to give you places to hide your ship and it looks like you can build structures on astroyeds!!!

(guess its time to upgrade my old MX400!!)

-cen

[Yian]

...but I don't like it. Well, that's just me so don't worry about it. I don't like warcraft too mush either...( :eek: )

Okay, here is some goodies I have for you guys, HW2's screenshots. These are the newer shots that just got onto the web this month. According to the sayings, they are also pre-alpha screenshots and they are expected to be better. But I think as a game hit alpha it has plenty more to worry about besides the graphics, so this might be very well the thingy we are gonna get in the actual game...

Some Ion Cannon Frigates... Check out the explosion at the background, it is HUGE.

[Yian]

This formation might change when the game is doen, I hope... because this is basically the same shit from the first HW! It is easier to manage the ships, but so unrealistic! I have pointed out some ships shown in this shot:

[Yian]

Vaygr is the bad guys in HW2, the opposite of Higarans. It is promised to be very different from Higaran fleet. It does look weird...

[Yian]

Any one has any idea what this ship is? Again, the background. The smoke looks as realistic as it could get.

[Yian]

This is a very neat angle contains Higara, the Angel Moon, and the logo of the Mothership.... That planet looks really familiar... a return trip to Coruscant?

[Yian]

The explosions look amazing! PC Gamer magazone mentioned that HW2 will focus on the damage effect heavily. This shot proved the words:

[Yian]

The ship can hide in the fog! That is cool...

[Shadow]

I'd have to say my most anticipated game is virtual pong... where you are the paddle. :D

[cenpjas]

Yip, sure look nice.

....can't talk much.... changing graphics card..... in time.... for release.....

-cen

[ReDeeMeR]

Yian, you probably played HW not long ago huh>?

I remember when I wasnt so much into PC gaming or gaming at all, (was hooked with lego's lol) and some1 bought me HW and said that the guy in the shop praised it and they just got it, ie it was just released, so I went and installed it and WOW the gfx blew me away, 3D! you could view them from all angles!!! 32bit colors etc etc, I was amazed and the gameplay while pretty damn hard at first was awesome when I mastered it.

HW:C was very good to, it was an update to HW all round, it was better story-wise and over all SP was more fun then HW.

HW2, there's just something bothering me about it, the graphics in particular(yup)... the ship models are abit to much 1999, and the explosions dont really look good, Take Hagemonia for example and I bet it will eat HW graphics for lunch, but graphics isnt everything! :)

Halo hmm I was like "Fuck Halo" 2 years ago and I really dont care about it anymore, but it could have been a great game from what Bungie "originaly planned it to be"

Weird, but I enjoyed C&C Renegade to, ppl seemed to ask to much and I really knew that I shouldnt hope to much, I mean it spromised to much to swallow nicely, but even if not so nicely it still did it. MP wasnt so good as it could've been tho.

[Yian]

Ah-ha! You were right about everything, ReDeeMer, except the first one. I got Homeworld right after it came out (....1999, I think?) Actually my friend gave it to me 'cause he said it sucked. I though "oh well, I don't like crappy game either. But I have nothing else to play with so I gave it a shot .

Homeworld is so fucking awesome! I never fully enjoyed the graphics due to the texture, but I would sat there for hours watching my resource collectors sucking asteroids... Jesus it was fully 3D! In fact, if you ever have a chance to talk to my friends, they will all agree that HW was, and still is, my favorite game. (Because I was always playing it!)

I was even more happy when I "bought" HW:C. Repeat, the only moment I was being happy were the moments BEFORE I played it. HW:C sucked bad! One of the biggest problem in Cataclysm was actually repeated by ORB recently: Sometimes the ships are so small all you see are the green dots. Cataclysm definitely has better graphics, but the balance is all fucked. What is the point of building little fighters if all the capital ships are equiped with missile launchers? The muti-beam frigates are the gayest one: now we really don't have to worry about strike crafts any more.

Barking Dog Studio's pencil art is lame, too, comparing to the original. The epic storyline I felt in Homeworld was totally absent, and the voice acting was horrible.

Anyway, HW2 is coming out. And we can forget about Cataclysm totally. Homeworld2 so far doesn't live up my expectations, but I will still get one copy as a tribute of the original Homeworld.

[Yian]

...and about HW2's graphics, I agree, the shitty texture has returned... just look the example I have down below. About the explosion, though, I will show you a better example in the next post. They really improved it a lot in this one.

Bungie fucked up Oni by removing that robot! Wherever this thing come from... anyways, here is the shitty texture I'm talking about. Be honest, I think Hegemonia did better (probably because the feleling of metal was presented more successfully...):

[Yian]

... this is for those who think HW2's explosion isn't impressive...

[Shadow]

Mmmm.... Intergalatic donut.

[ReDeeMeR]

Originally posted by Yian
... this is for those who think HW2's explosion isn't impressive...


Yep, not impressive at all, I see a model and a "Boom" texture slapped on, wow very impressive ;)

You probably havent seen/played Hagemonia then. The ships were gettin torn appart peace by peace and then float in space lifeless....whoa that is impressive ;)

[Yian]

So, piece-by-piece-torn-apart is impressive, huh? Hey, whatever. So, here is a shot of the new resource harvester, probably the last pic I'm gonna put up here... look how shitty it looks(like a bug) but it might look better in action. Again, we see the shitty texture... really not as good as the metallic touch they have in Hagemonia (with reflection and all that). I just wonder how this thing will harvest the resource...

[ReDeeMeR]

I actualy like these kinda freaky, bug lookin ships :D
I've red in some sci-fi mag(dont ask :D) that everything in nature is closest to perfectness, so its very possibe that ships will be all odd looking, ever seen that true space ship drawing? the fuel canisters will be actualy bigger then the whole ship hehe


Oh and yip Hage had it done really good, you have to see to believe it and while I havent seen HW2 yet I will shutup :D

[Yian]

Speaking of the nature bug looking spaceship, what is the first sci-fi series come to your mind?

(hint: it was on SciFi channel.)

[Yian]

Lexx! The answer is Lexx! Anyone watch that show at all?

(Yohh..ayyy...ohhh, Hommm...baaa....wayyyy, Yoooo... ayyy....runnnn.... Ja drewww baranjiiii.....)

[ReDeeMeR]

I never got into it, I think it was "to much of csi-fi" ;)

[Yian]

ReDeeMer doesn't watch Lexx! Not friend! (Actually as far as i know NO ONE watches that show...) :) :)

Ok anyways, I got this really great stuff from a website, basically saying the graphics of Homeworld2 is really gonna rock, and the screens I had here before were the junky, experimental ones that should not be concerned with...

"...The graphics in Homeworld2, just like in the original game, are likely to be the biggest selling point of the sequel. People who have just seen screenshots of the game and concluded that Homeworld2 doesn’t look appreciably better that the first game are going to have a big surprise when they see the sequel in action. Ships in the game have a lot more detail, lighting is top notch and even the space in the game looks better. An example is the dust clouds that are used, just like in the first game, for resources. In Homeworld they look like wisps of dust. In the sequel, they look fully 3D with depth and animation. The brief combat sequence we had demoed truly looked epic and fans of Homeworld2 will have a ton of fun with the sequel..."

It was from Homelanfed.com and hopefully what they said is true...

[cenpjas]

Now whilst I am in the proccess of running off and buying MOO3, which I hope with be "all that", I do worry that HW2 will need me to empty by bank account to get a GFX card that will do it as it deserves to be done.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining that the game may force me to invest in a better CPU and GFX card, In fact the original HW made me do just that.

After running the original on a 4Mb 2D card in software render mode, where you had to hold the mouse down a bit longer or it would not select or deselect correctly I was ready to call it a day, untill I saw it on a Voodo I, that was when I relised that my PC was poo - not the game.

An upgrade to a Voodoo II later and I was loveing it.

I suspect HW2 will follow that path, it will be playable on my old Geforce2 MX-400 (top end GF2-MX) but to feel they joy I will need at least a ATi-9000 or so. (being DX8.1 compliant and quite a bit faster).

Unlike the last time I belive I will need to upgrade my CPU this time as the 'old' trusty PIII-733 or my Duron-750 will not handle the large fight's where you have a few hundred fighters of diffrent types moveing in formations trying to kill each other in a six way multiplayer in skirmish, and lets face it - thats what we need. Even basic HW can crush a CPU of similar spec if you go mad with fighters and corv's. (yes I know true multi-player not skirmish reduces the load on the CPU, however I like to practise my unplesant supprises).

I think upgradeing to a Duron or better 1.2Ghz with a ATi-9000 (or 9600 (replacement for the 9500) if I can afford it), should do me fine.

Anyhoo, catch you all on the flip side :)

-cen

[Yian]

You people must thought this thread is dead by now, huh...? Wrong! I'm here to bring you guys some, well, bad news, about Homewrorld2...

I saw the video interview they made in GameSpot few weeks ago.All the worries I had with Homeworld2 concerned about its gameplay and graphics has come true. The gameplay uses the very same fleet formation from the original, and the graphics is as good as the ones we saw in the newly released screenshots. The graphics we see now is very likely to be final, and I have to say that it failed my expectation.

(sigh...) that was the firt time I see the game in action, and it is pretty bad... maybe the concept of the game is aging...?

[Yian]

Attnetion all Homeworld2 lovers!!!! Finally for the first time on the internet, We get to see the interface of Homeworld2!

http://actionvault.ign.com/features/interviews/homeworld2int_b.shtml

So relic has abadonned the old screen-switch control panel... and giave this game a more tranditional RTS panel... is it a good thing or not...? I can't tell unless I play the game, but I hope it does a good job.