Post by Keith Heitmann on Jun 3, 2003 13:13:06 GMT -5
Well, I wait for repairs on my computer and a diagnosis of it's state, I have installed my 1999 copy of Homeworld on my wife's laptop to give me something to do other than surf the net. Since all my other programs and fun stuff are locked away on the non-funcional PC I needed somthing to keep me busy in the mean time.
After only two days of playing I''m moving right along having conquered two frustrating levels that gave me problems a few years ago. I'm currently facing yet another frustrating level but I'll get it done.
I forgot how engaging the "story" of this game was with all its cut scene videos explaining the events and history of the "exiles" as they return to their Homeworld against the opposition of a ruthless empire that drove them out 4000 years ago.
After building the immense mothership, you have to build all sorts of support and military ships to help you gather resources of the universe as you travel from one sector of space to the next and fight off military opposition to your ships travels. military ships include many classes from fighter, corvettes, frigates, destroyers, carriers, and several types of "special function" ships like a gravity well generator that can freeze enemy fighters in space making them easy targets for your capital ships to destroy.
A research ship that you must build develops new weapons, engines, ship classes as time passes and you encounter the enemy and either capture technology or receive it in trade from the friendly but passive Bentusi mothership that tracks your progress and pops up every now an then.
Resource gathering ships must harvest asteroids of all sizes and even clouds of space dust to attain the RUs (resource units) you need to build new ships, etc. This leads to confrontation and conflict with ships from the Taidan Empire and another race that also proves to be hostile to you.
You move around in a 3D world so 2D thinking and movement will get you killed quickly if you don't adapt. Some areas are flooded with radiation from a supernova and you must attempt to harvest resources in this area while you ships take damage and either return to safe areas to prevent further damage and return to the mother ship or you must have a pair of support frigates accompany the harvesters to repair the damage they take as they work. Even the support frigates will need repair but capital ships need repair from the effects of exposure eventually.
Battles in a 3D world can be very hectic and confusing with enemy fighter and capital ships at all angles on the screen in conflict with your own fighters and capital ships. The enemy manages to produce many deadly ion cannon frigates and destroyer class ships that can do a great deal of damage to your fleet.
You can use groups of salvage corvettes during battles or encounters to hijack enemy ships and take them to your mothership to be converted into part of your own military force. The bigger the ship the more corvettes it takes to do the job, and the enemy is not stupid, they will target these corvettes and attempt to destroy them before they can steal a ship away from the enemy.
Unit selection can be done by clicking on individual ships an issuing a set of commands, or drag clicking over a group of ships, and if you give that group a number from 0-9 you can quickly call for aid by pressin their number and issuing a command while occupied elsewhere in the battle.
The detail of these ships is amazing. You normally play the game with the screen zoomed out so they look small but you can zoom in extremely close and view many of the details of the ship and the 3d sound changes as you get close to the ship.
Movement from one level to the next is done by means of a Hyperspace Jump and ships pass through a "window" in space from one level to the next. Lesser ships such as fighters, harvesters, corvettes, and others much dock with the mothership and/or the carrier prior to the jump and they do this automatically as mothership prepares to jump. Capital ships generally have their own hyperspace jump engines and don't dock.
If you want something a little different you may want to pickup of acopy of Homeworld and give it a try. Levels can take a few minutes or a couple hours and the variety of each level makes you think. This is not a clickfest type game, there is a great deal of strategy and tactics involved.
There is also the sequel addon Homeworld: Cataclysm and the newest game just released Homeworld 2.
After only two days of playing I''m moving right along having conquered two frustrating levels that gave me problems a few years ago. I'm currently facing yet another frustrating level but I'll get it done.
I forgot how engaging the "story" of this game was with all its cut scene videos explaining the events and history of the "exiles" as they return to their Homeworld against the opposition of a ruthless empire that drove them out 4000 years ago.
After building the immense mothership, you have to build all sorts of support and military ships to help you gather resources of the universe as you travel from one sector of space to the next and fight off military opposition to your ships travels. military ships include many classes from fighter, corvettes, frigates, destroyers, carriers, and several types of "special function" ships like a gravity well generator that can freeze enemy fighters in space making them easy targets for your capital ships to destroy.
A research ship that you must build develops new weapons, engines, ship classes as time passes and you encounter the enemy and either capture technology or receive it in trade from the friendly but passive Bentusi mothership that tracks your progress and pops up every now an then.
Resource gathering ships must harvest asteroids of all sizes and even clouds of space dust to attain the RUs (resource units) you need to build new ships, etc. This leads to confrontation and conflict with ships from the Taidan Empire and another race that also proves to be hostile to you.
You move around in a 3D world so 2D thinking and movement will get you killed quickly if you don't adapt. Some areas are flooded with radiation from a supernova and you must attempt to harvest resources in this area while you ships take damage and either return to safe areas to prevent further damage and return to the mother ship or you must have a pair of support frigates accompany the harvesters to repair the damage they take as they work. Even the support frigates will need repair but capital ships need repair from the effects of exposure eventually.
Battles in a 3D world can be very hectic and confusing with enemy fighter and capital ships at all angles on the screen in conflict with your own fighters and capital ships. The enemy manages to produce many deadly ion cannon frigates and destroyer class ships that can do a great deal of damage to your fleet.
You can use groups of salvage corvettes during battles or encounters to hijack enemy ships and take them to your mothership to be converted into part of your own military force. The bigger the ship the more corvettes it takes to do the job, and the enemy is not stupid, they will target these corvettes and attempt to destroy them before they can steal a ship away from the enemy.
Unit selection can be done by clicking on individual ships an issuing a set of commands, or drag clicking over a group of ships, and if you give that group a number from 0-9 you can quickly call for aid by pressin their number and issuing a command while occupied elsewhere in the battle.
The detail of these ships is amazing. You normally play the game with the screen zoomed out so they look small but you can zoom in extremely close and view many of the details of the ship and the 3d sound changes as you get close to the ship.
Movement from one level to the next is done by means of a Hyperspace Jump and ships pass through a "window" in space from one level to the next. Lesser ships such as fighters, harvesters, corvettes, and others much dock with the mothership and/or the carrier prior to the jump and they do this automatically as mothership prepares to jump. Capital ships generally have their own hyperspace jump engines and don't dock.
If you want something a little different you may want to pickup of acopy of Homeworld and give it a try. Levels can take a few minutes or a couple hours and the variety of each level makes you think. This is not a clickfest type game, there is a great deal of strategy and tactics involved.
There is also the sequel addon Homeworld: Cataclysm and the newest game just released Homeworld 2.