Homeworld Remastered - Beautiful. Majestic. Flawed.

Chaos Marine

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The two biggest complaints I have about it is the mass salvaging doesn't work and your support corvettes and frigates have to actually dry-hump your ships to repair them. It's just wrong!
 

Uhuru N'Uru

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I'm new to Homeworld but from what I've seen and read the porting to the second games engine was the popular choice and checking the mods available for the originals shows it's the modders choice.
However Gearbox also said many of the tools used to make the first game were missing. Actually making it almost impossible to remaster.
All that weighed against the advantages of the later engine and multiplayer, I'll take it.

The fact is this is a PC exclusive and though I hate all exclusives that means everyone of us can use mods. With or without the promised dev kit, any and all personal annoyances and preferences will be changeable. So consider the good changes a bonus and the bad as a future mod.

Modders can and will make this game better than Gearbox or Relic ever could. The devs make a single game and will never please all of us. Modders can turn that single game into infinite optional games which can satisfy opposite views.
The very best mods can far surpass the original game. Like XCOM's Long War mod.

Mods are why I'm a PC gamer, Graphics take second place. Consoles can't compete with that for me.
 

StewShearerOld

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Uhuru N said:
I'm new to Homeworld but from what I've seen and read the porting to the second games engine was the popular choice and checking the mods available for the originals shows it's the modders choice.
However Gearbox also said many of the tools used to make the first game were missing. Actually making it almost impossible to remaster.
All that weighed against the advantages of the later engine and multiplayer, I'll take it.

The fact is this is a PC exclusive and though I hate all exclusives that means everyone of us can use mods. With or without the promised dev kit, any and all personal annoyances and preferences will be changeable. So consider the good changes a bonus and the bad as a future mod.

Modders can and will make this game better than Gearbox or Relic ever could. The devs make a single game and will never please all of us. Modders can turn that single game into infinite optional games which can satisfy opposite views.
The very best mods can far surpass the original game. Like XCOM's Long War mod.

Mods are why I'm a PC gamer, Graphics take second place. Consoles can't compete with that for me.
This is true.

My ultimate issue with this sentiment though is that if a modder could do this, Gearbox could have as well. I have no issues with the studio forcing Homeworld 1's ships into Homeworld 2's mechanics for its new multiplayer beta. That said, it's still incredibly disappointing that those same mechanics were pushed into the story campaign where the gameplay was (in some places) very clearly designed for a different set of rules.
 

Uhuru N'Uru

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StewShearer said:
This is true.

My ultimate issue with this sentiment though is that if a modder could do this, Gearbox could have as well. I have no issues with the studio forcing Homeworld 1's ships into Homeworld 2's mechanics for its new multiplayer beta. That said, it's still incredibly disappointing that those same mechanics were pushed into the story campaign where the gameplay was (in some places) very clearly designed for a different set of rules.
The main problem with that, is you assume the devs had any choice at all. Given that the 2nd engines is being used, getting everything working in that engines systems would always be the first job and one also required for the multiplayer functionality.
Understand that ultimately Gearbox doesn't make the final decision on when it's done, the publisher, Warner Brothers will make that call.

It was always going to be with Homeworld 2's game mechanics:
1 It's the most popular choice, so less unhappy gamers.
2 The available source material requires it to be that way.
3 The Multiplayer game requires it to be that way.
4 The Financial bottom line requires it to be that way.
5 The previous 4 points, requires the Publisher to insist it's that way.

Point 5 makes it inevitable, whether you or I like it or not.

The one saving factor is it is a PC game and Modding is possible. As a mod user I consider the released game a foundation on which to build the game I prefer. Whereas, the Gearbox Devs are time limited and will soon move on to their next project.

Look at Skyrim, 3 years after the game released and 2 years since Bethesda stopped supporting it, Skyrim modding hasn't yet peaked.
With total conversion projects like:
Skywind [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3FNCrYkGU] - Morrowind Remade, not just remastered, with AAA quality work most pro devs can't match.
Endoral: Shards of Order [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQog9lkyH8k] - The sequel to the TES IV Mod Nehrim: At Fate's Edge [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUyTB-97pmk] ModDB's Mod of the Year 2010

being two of the Games, not just Mods, I'm most looking forward to playing and both having dedicated large dev teams.
Added to those delicasies, there's over 100,000 smaller mods covering every aspect of the game, going way beyond what the Bethesda devs ever considered possible.

The biggest thing mod makers have on their side is time and numbers, they can dedicate hundreds if not thousands of hours, perfecting one tiny aspect of the game. The huge numbers devoting that time, even just by playing the mods and giving feedback, is way beyond what any professional dev team can do.

If Homeworld gets a fraction of the mods Skyrim has and will have, everyone can have their own preferred Homeworld setup, with no two alike. Professional devs with. deadlines and cost limitations. can never hope to match that. The best they can do is, release the tools they used to make the game and let the modders loose.
No game with modding support is abandoned after a single playthrough. If we had the figures to see I'm sure most PC Sales of Skyrim are due to modding. Many will have played it first on console. I did and bought my gaming PC to mod it afterwards.

Homeworld Remastered is a solid foundation, what modders build on that foundation will become the definitive Homeworld experience for me and anyone else wanting to make this or that aspect better.
 

Robbo

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Nov 9, 2009
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Uhuru N said:
StewShearer said:
This is true.

My ultimate issue with this sentiment though is that if a modder could do this, Gearbox could have as well. I have no issues with the studio forcing Homeworld 1's ships into Homeworld 2's mechanics for its new multiplayer beta. That said, it's still incredibly disappointing that those same mechanics were pushed into the story campaign where the gameplay was (in some places) very clearly designed for a different set of rules.
The main problem with that, is you assume the devs had any choice at all. Given that the 2nd engines is being used, getting everything working in that engines systems would always be the first job and one also required for the multiplayer functionality.
Understand that ultimately Gearbox doesn't make the final decision on when it's done, the publisher, Warner Brothers will make that call.

It was always going to be with Homeworld 2's game mechanics:
1 It's the most popular choice, so less unhappy gamers.
2 The available source material requires it to be that way.
3 The Multiplayer game requires it to be that way.
4 The Financial bottom line requires it to be that way.
5 The previous 4 points, requires the Publisher to insist it's that way.

Point 5 makes it inevitable, whether you or I like it or not.

The one saving factor is it is a PC game and Modding is possible. As a mod user I consider the released game a foundation on which to build the game I prefer. Whereas, the Gearbox Devs are time limited and will soon move on to their next project.

Look at Skyrim, 3 years after the game released and 2 years since Bethesda stopped supporting it, Skyrim modding hasn't yet peaked.
With total conversion projects like:
Skywind [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3FNCrYkGU] - Morrowind Remade, not just remastered, with AAA quality work most pro devs can't match.
Endoral: Shards of Order [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQog9lkyH8k] - The sequel to the TES IV Mod Nehrim: At Fate's Edge [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUyTB-97pmk] ModDB's Mod of the Year 2010

being two of the Games, not just Mods, I'm most looking forward to playing and both having dedicated large dev teams.
Added to those delicasies, there's over 100,000 smaller mods covering every aspect of the game, going way beyond what the Bethesda devs ever considered possible.

The biggest thing mod makers have on their side is time and numbers, they can dedicate hundreds if not thousands of hours, perfecting one tiny aspect of the game. The huge numbers devoting that time, even just by playing the mods and giving feedback, is way beyond what any professional dev team can do.

If Homeworld gets a fraction of the mods Skyrim has and will have, everyone can have their own preferred Homeworld setup, with no two alike. Professional devs with. deadlines and cost limitations. can never hope to match that. The best they can do is, release the tools they used to make the game and let the modders loose.
No game with modding support is abandoned after a single playthrough. If we had the figures to see I'm sure most PC Sales of Skyrim are due to modding. Many will have played it first on console. I did and bought my gaming PC to mod it afterwards.

Homeworld Remastered is a solid foundation, what modders build on that foundation will become the definitive Homeworld experience for me and anyone else wanting to make this or that aspect better.
That was a big post to be wrong in and undermine the whole thing. Gearbox published and developed.
 

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Jandau said:
Also, no Cataclysm.
As much as I want to see a remake of Catalysm(mostly because the only time I tried to play it just played really badly for me), apparently the source code was lost when Barking Dog went under years ago. While I am not a programmer, from my understanding it's incredibly difficult to rebuild a program without the source code.
 

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Apollo45 said:
This makes me probably more sad than it should. A huge portion of playing Homeworld was always making the right formations for the right missions. Bridge of Sighs, for example, taking a small fleet focused on destroying the inhibitor, using the right amount of stealth fighters in the right formation, then activating everything at exactly the right time to ensure the fleet can make it through the wall of frigates, hit the inhibitors, then jump away before they suffered too many casualties...
You mean the mission with the massive number of Ion Frigates in a massive sphere? I remember using that mission as an opportunity to Grand Theft Ion Frigate a lot with my salvage corvettes.
 

Apollo45

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Dalisclock said:
Apollo45 said:
This makes me probably more sad than it should. A huge portion of playing Homeworld was always making the right formations for the right missions. Bridge of Sighs, for example, taking a small fleet focused on destroying the inhibitor, using the right amount of stealth fighters in the right formation, then activating everything at exactly the right time to ensure the fleet can make it through the wall of frigates, hit the inhibitors, then jump away before they suffered too many casualties...
You mean the mission with the massive number of Ion Frigates in a massive sphere? I remember using that mission as an opportunity to Grand Theft Ion Frigate a lot with my salvage corvettes.
That's definitely one way to do it. Jumping into the last mission with more ion frigates than the Taiidan have fighters is always entertaining. But every once in a while it's fun to play on hard mode and go through it without stealing too many frigates for the game to handle.
 

Jandau

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Dalisclock said:
Jandau said:
Also, no Cataclysm.
As much as I want to see a remake of Catalysm(mostly because the only time I tried to play it just played really badly for me), apparently the source code was lost when Barking Dog went under years ago. While I am not a programmer, from my understanding it's incredibly difficult to rebuild a program without the source code.
Oh, I understand that and I'm not saying Cataclysm isn't there due to laziness. However, the point still stands - no Cataclysm.
 

Uhuru N'Uru

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Robbo said:
...
That was a big post to be wrong in and undermine the whole thing. Gearbox published and developed.
That was a small post to be wrong in, but it undermines nothing.

Wrong how? Did I miss a comma? Spell something wrong? Get a fact wrong? Without specifying in what aspect it's "wrong in", you have no argument to debate about.

It's not an isolated post, it's the 3rd in a sequence, conveniently grouped together.
How do you think a argument supporting Gearbox's choices can possibly undermine them at all.

As to post length, this is not Twitter. A reasoned argument supporting any opinion takes more than a few words. Providing facts to justly that opinion, makes the opinion more convincing.
The facts can be right of wrong.
The opinion can't be right or wrong, it is a point of view, one you can disagree with, but that's just another opinion.
 

Briantb

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Apollo45 said:
Dalisclock said:
Apollo45 said:
This makes me probably more sad than it should. A huge portion of playing Homeworld was always making the right formations for the right missions. Bridge of Sighs, for example, taking a small fleet focused on destroying the inhibitor, using the right amount of stealth fighters in the right formation, then activating everything at exactly the right time to ensure the fleet can make it through the wall of frigates, hit the inhibitors, then jump away before they suffered too many casualties...
You mean the mission with the massive number of Ion Frigates in a massive sphere? I remember using that mission as an opportunity to Grand Theft Ion Frigate a lot with my salvage corvettes.
That's definitely one way to do it. Jumping into the last mission with more ion frigates than the Taiidan have fighters is always entertaining. But every once in a while it's fun to play on hard mode and go through it without stealing too many frigates for the game to handle.
I ended up capturing about 30 ion frigates before the last mission only to see them all wiped out by 3 Heavy Cruisers. The balance is a real issue in Homeworld.