Homeworld 2: Difference between revisions
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Frigates can only be produced on production ships that have a Frigate Facility. They have medium armor, which means they can be hit by anything, although a Battlecruiser's main weaponry will only inflict 50% damage on one. |
Frigates can only be produced on production ships that have a Frigate Facility. They have medium armor, which means they can be hit by anything, although a Battlecruiser's main weaponry will only inflict 50% damage on one. |
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'''[[Hiigaran]] Frigates used in "''Homeworld 2''":''' |
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*''Torpedo Frigate''- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Fighter role, but can later be upgraded to fire torpedoes that damage Capital-class ships |
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*''Flak Frigate''- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Corvette role. |
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*''Ion Frigate''- specialized Frigate. Primarily used for attacking slower-moving targets like Capital- and Mothership-class vessels, but also useful on stationary targets like space stations. |
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*''Marine Frigate''- specialized Frigate design. Used for breaking into enemy ships from Frigate-class on up, and capturing them for the player's use. Used in the same role as the Salvage Corvette from "''[[Homeworld]]''", but with more armor and minor defensive capabilities. |
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*''Defense Field Frigate''- specialized Frigate design. Uses temporary energy shield to protect other vessels. Used in the same role as the [[Taiidan]] Defense Field Frigate from "''[[Homeworld]]''", but with more armor and minor defensive capabilities. However the duration of time the shield is up is limited in this game and requires recharge between uses. |
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'''[[Vaygr]] Frigates used in "''Homeworld 2''":''' |
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*''Assault Frigate''- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Corvette role. |
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*''Missile Frigate''- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Fighter role, but can later be upgraded to fire torpedoes that damage Capital-class ships |
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*''Infiltrator Frigate''- specialized Frigate design. Used for breaking into enemy ships from Frigate-class on up, and capturing them for the player's use. Used in the same role as the Salvage Corvette from "''[[Homeworld]]''", but with more armor and minor defensive capabilities. |
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==Capital ships== |
==Capital ships== |
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Revision as of 05:35, 19 September 2007
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (June 2007) |
 | This January 2007 is written like a review. |
| Homeworld 2 | |
|---|---|
_box_art.jpg) | |
| Developer(s) | Relic Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X |
| Release | September 16, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Singleplayer and Multiplayer |
Homeworld 2 is a real-time strategy (RTS) computer game, the sequel to Relic Entertainment's Homeworld from 1999. It takes place after the events in Homeworld, and concerns Hiigara's response to a new threat, known simply as the Vaygr. It features enhanced graphics and new audio, and its gameplay takes a new direction: Vaygr and Hiigaran ships differ significantly in design and application, in contrast to the closely equivalent Kushan and Taiidan forces of the original game.
Homeworld 2 was released in late 2003. Shortly afterwards, Relic Studios was bought by THQ, a direct competitor of publishers Sierra and Vivendi, who own the Homeworld license. [citation needed]
Gameplay
Homeworld 2 shares the three-dimensional battlefield its predecessor introduced to the real-time strategy genre. Unit commands can be issued in all three dimensions via a movement disc that handles movement relative to the plane a ship currently resides on. A second modifier allows movement up and down along the Z Axis.
For base construction, Homeworld 2 features production vessels like the Mothership, as well as auxiliary carriers. The Mothership can produce most large vessels, serving as a drop-off point for resources and for defense against light enemy attack. Carriers are significantly more mobile, but are less capable of construction. The shipyard is a special construction facility which represents a significant investment of resources. The shipyard is poorly-armed and a very slow unit capable of significantly increasing production capacity. It builds the most powerful conventional unit available to each side: the Battlecruiser.
Production vessels can build various modules to enhance abilities. Production modules enable construction of each respective ship class, while subsystem modules perform special actions or enhancements. These modules serve the purpose of the factory/barracks and research structures common in other real-time strategy games.
Resource Collectors are small vessels capable of extracting Resource Units (RUs) from asteroids, supply containers, and floating debris left behind from destroyed vessels. RUs are then returned to a drop-off point, either the Mothership, carriers, or mobile refineries. Defending mobile refineries and resource areas (mainly asteroids) is an important aspect of the game, although mining is made somewhat superfluous in the single-player campaign since the available resources in a map are automatically harvested upon the completion of a mission. Resources, like ships, carry over to the next single-player mission.
Combat is conducted by four primary classes of vessels. Strikecraft consist of fighters and corvettes. Fighters are capable of engaging any enemy unit in the game, from other fighters to capital ships and installations. Corvettes are slightly larger strike craft. Their primary purpose is protection and assault against strikecraft, other corvettes, and the next largest ship class, the frigates. Frigates are small capital ships, usually specialized for maximum effectiveness against a certain class of ship, while capital ships such as destroyers and battlecruisers excel against the enemy's larger ship types.
Ship capture is conducted by specialized type of frigate. Marine frigates maneuver close to enemy vessels and dispatch boarding parties. The progress of a capture is indicated by a bar beneath the target vessel's health indicator and is made easier by using of multiple frigates against the same target simultaneously. In the single-player campaign, enemy production ships can be captured, but once under player control they will have their original production capacity. Larger combat ships, such as the battlecruiser and destroyer can be captured fully functional.
Mission objectives in the single-player game are primarily achieved by destroying key enemy elements, capturing particular targets, protecting certain units for a particular amount of time, or towing an object back to the Mothership. In addition to the storyline objectives, a significant portion of the missions require the destruction of all units.
Plot
Homeworld 2 continues the epic struggle of the Hiigarans and their leader Karan S'jet. The Hiigarans face a new enemy, a renegade clan from the eastern fringes of the galaxy. The campaign, spread out into 15 missions, follows the Mothership and its crew as they venture into the oldest regions of the galaxy to confront their new foe and discover the truth behind their exile.
Ship Classes
Homeworld 2 ships can be evenly divided by size, the smallest of which are the strikecraft: fighters and corvettes. Medium sized ships are the frigates. Large ships are the capital ships and the super large are the motherships. Both the Hiigarans and Vaygr have similar ships in each class with some minor differences. The Hiigarans have extra frigates while the Vaygr have additional fighters and corvettes. Extra ship classes include the Utility class ships and the additional weapons platforms.
Strikecraft
Strikecraft are the cheapest, lightest, fastest, and most numerous ships in the game. Strikecraft enjoy a free reinforcement philosophy: when badly battered squadrons dock, the surviving ships are not just repaired, but lost wing men are replaced free of charge.
Fighters
Fighters are fast, cheap and numerous. They rely on their small size, maneuverability, and speed to stay alive. The key to their success is in their numbers. They're the cheapest warship class to set up and develop. Their high mobility is ideal for intercepting enemy units far across the map or getting help to remote outposts in a timely fashion. Their only drawback is their lack of armor and the need for frequent docking to maintain their effectiveness. Used in the right combinations or speed variants and power variants, fighters can pose serious threats to capital ships.
Corvettes
Corvettes are small gunboats, slower than fighters and easier to hit but still agile, packing heavier armor and heavier weapons. Most Corvettes make use of turrets, and can cruise around the target, subjecting it to a constant barrage from all angles without the need to line up attack runs. They rely on their stronger armor to survive. Their turret speed and advanced targeting systems make them very effective against other strikecraft, depending on the variant.
Mid-size ships
Frigates
Frigates are the medium sized ships of Homeworld 2, built and deployed as individuals. They can slowly repair themselves, but they can't dock for repairs. However, Frigates can be repaired with Resource Collectors. Although capital warships can slice through individual frigates, in sufficient numbers frigates can pose a significant threat.
Frigates can only be produced on production ships that have a Frigate Facility. They have medium armor, which means they can be hit by anything, although a Battlecruiser's main weaponry will only inflict 50% damage on one.
Hiigaran Frigates used in "Homeworld 2":
- Torpedo Frigate- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Fighter role, but can later be upgraded to fire torpedoes that damage Capital-class ships
- Flak Frigate- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Corvette role.
- Ion Frigate- specialized Frigate. Primarily used for attacking slower-moving targets like Capital- and Mothership-class vessels, but also useful on stationary targets like space stations.
- Marine Frigate- specialized Frigate design. Used for breaking into enemy ships from Frigate-class on up, and capturing them for the player's use. Used in the same role as the Salvage Corvette from "Homeworld", but with more armor and minor defensive capabilities.
- Defense Field Frigate- specialized Frigate design. Uses temporary energy shield to protect other vessels. Used in the same role as the Taiidan Defense Field Frigate from "Homeworld", but with more armor and minor defensive capabilities. However the duration of time the shield is up is limited in this game and requires recharge between uses.
Vaygr Frigates used in "Homeworld 2":
- Assault Frigate- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Corvette role.
- Missile Frigate- basic Frigate design. Primarily used for anti-Fighter role, but can later be upgraded to fire torpedoes that damage Capital-class ships
- Infiltrator Frigate- specialized Frigate design. Used for breaking into enemy ships from Frigate-class on up, and capturing them for the player's use. Used in the same role as the Salvage Corvette from "Homeworld", but with more armor and minor defensive capabilities.
Capital ships
The Capital Class is the biggest in the fleet. They are the only class of ships to have subsystems. Two of the Capital class ships are capable of production, the Carrier and the Shipyard. Two types of warship also fall into the capital class: the Destroyer and the Battlecruiser. Capital class vessels can only be produced by Motherships and Shipyards, and the Shipyard is the only unit able to produce the Battlecruiser.
Carrier
Carriers are the smallest production ship with an emphasis on fleet service. They process and repair Strikecraft more efficiently than any other ship in the fleet. However, if undefended they will be quickly overwhelmed by anything more than a few Strikecraft. Like all production ships, a carrier increases the sensor range with a Sensor slot, but holds less Module and Production slots than the Mothership or Shipyard.
Shipyard
The shipyard is the only unit in the game able to build battlecruisers. The shipyard has room for all 6 subsystems. Although slower and equally armored, the shipyard has more slots for facilities than anything else.
Destroyer
The Destroyer is the smaller and cheaper of the two capital warships. It is heavy on armor, guns and long-range explosives. The Hiigaran Destroyer is equipped with four dual-linked heavy cannons and two torpedo launchers, while the Vaygr Destroyer has only two heavy cannons, but has a four-salvo missile launcher that fires faster than the Hiigaran torpedos. They are about three to four times stronger than a frigate. They can repair themselves and can be attended to by a maximum of three Resource Collectors.
Battlecruisers
Battlecruisers are monstrous, singular units. They come with their own docking bay that can service and store strikecraft squadrons for defense, as well as two Module Subsystem slots. The only drawbacks to a Battlecruiser are expense and set up time. They are ponderously slow and have appalling maneuverability, but with the combination of module subsystems and proper support, can be devastating to any opposing fleet.
Utility
There are two basic Utility classes in the game: Resourcing and Probes.
Probes
Probes are one-shot satellites that fly at high speeds across the map to spy on the enemy. They are fast, but fragile, with no defenses and no armor. There are three types.
There are Recon Probes, which provide a massive area of view in the sensors manager. There are Proximity Detection Probes, which detect enemy vessels utilizing cloaking fields. And there are Sensor Jamming Probes, which scramble enemy sensors amd disable enemy ship indicators.
Resource Collector and Mobile Refinery
Resourcing is mostly unchanged from the original game. Homeworld 2 measures all resources generically as Resource Units or RU's. RU's are found in two forms: asteroids or small clouds of space wreckage left over from destroyed capital craft and motherships. Collecting wreckage from destroyed ships is a new feature in Homeworld 2, and not available in its predecessors.
The Mobile Refinery is a cheap mining base, with an engine and some point defenses. It is basically a mobile Resource Drop-Off module. It can quickly be destroyed by raiding parties.
Platforms
The platform class represents static gun turrets. They simply open fire on any hostile units that stray into range. Platforms are strictly defensive: they move slowly and are designed only to defend.
Like a probe, the platform can only be given one move command. Once moved, they are locked in place. It will not travel in "parade formation" with its construction vessel. If there are enemies nearby where the turret has been ejected, it will engage it defenses, but will still be able to be given a Move order. Turrets ignore waypoint commands completely. They have a strictly straight line navigation at a snail's pace, with no shooting until they come to rest, although they will line up their guns at targets along the way. They cannot be repaired, retired or salvaged.
Races
There are four major race groups in Homeworld 2: The Hiigarans, the Vaygr, the Bentusi, and Progenitor.
Hiigarans
The Hiigarans are the playable race in the single player game. Their story began in the original Homeworld as a number of Kushan clans on a desert planet called Kharak. They detected a large metal formation in the Great Desert after a deep-space scanning satellite encountered an error in its propulsion system, which turned it around and scanning the planet's 'Great Desert.' It was revealed to be an ancient space ship, turned into a city, known as the "Khar-Toba". Inside was a stone with a galactic map and the text, "Hiigara": "Our Home". The technology discovered allowed the Kushan to build a massive Mothership which took 60 years according to the opening cutscene. However, no computer was powerful enough to command the Mothership based on the amount of data processed at a time. A young scientist named Karan S'jet volunteered to become the living core of the Mothership after creating the technology to neurologically link her brain to the Mothership's systems (this action, however, led Karen to become inseparable from the core). Along within the Khar-Toba was one of the three known Hyperspace Cores, which allowed the Mothership to perform its hyperspace jumps.
The Kushan fought their way to Hiigara, and became a well-established nation controlling much of the Inner Ring of the galaxy. After generations in exile and a perilous journey across known and unknown space, the Hiigarans reclaimed their home planet. It was learned during the game that the Kushan were the exiles of the Hiigaran Empire, which spanned throughout a great space within the galactic core. However, the Taiidan Emperor believed the Hiigaran expanse was too great, and thus led them into exile, to which they took their hyperspace core with them.
However, the true test for the Hiigarans may not be the new threat of the warring Vaygr, but a prophecy that Sajuuk – He Whose Hand Shapes What Is – will return and herald the coming of the End Time. The Hiigarans, as always, are divided on religious lines. A number of apocalyptic sects see portents of doom everywhere. To them, the rumor that their enemies the Vaygr are the Sajuuk-Khar is a dire omen and proof of Sajuuk's anger.
In Homeworld 2, a new Mothership has been created, named the Pride of Hiigara. Karan S'jet must once again prepare for war. Shortly after the Mothership was built, the Vaygr attacked in order to destroy it. The Mothership escaped with its hyperspace core, newly installed. The main story line picks up from this point.
The Pride of Hiigara has the same role as the mothership did in the original Homeworld, though it bears a more militaristic look. While the old Kushan mothership was the heart and soul of the Kushan people during their great migration, the Pride of Hiigara is the flagship of their space navy. It is the mobile base from which all the crews and resources are ultimately derived. It is the only vessel that cannot be manufactured or replaced.
Vaygr
The Vaygr are a warrior clan originally from Vay, an isolated planet in the eastern fringes of the galaxy. The discovery of early and inefficient hyperdrives enabled these warriors to travel and raid widely across their sector of space. Always a nomadic race, the strongest warlords brought groups together into crusades. A Vaygr crusade is entirely independent. The build capacity of their Motherships (Also known as flagships) combined with the resource harvesting of their individual craft enable them to live self sufficiently in space. Communication between separate Vagyr crusades is minimal.
Over the centuries, the Vaygr have integrated many separate races, civilizations and technologies. The planet Vay is now forgotten, the name they take its only living reminder. Constant infighting between separate crusades and struggling for position among warlords has kept the eastern fringe a warzone as long as any can remember. However, under the guidance of the warlord Makaan, the various Vagyr tribes have formed into a cohesive force. While still operating independently, the overall strategic aims of the Vaygr have been coordinated and focused by Makaan, a master strategist.
After Homeworld: Cataclysm, the Imperial Taiidan were defeated by the returning Exiles. Many sought the patronage of Makaan in an effort to regain some of the power they had lost. Taiidan technology found in Vaygr ships include the Atmosphere Deprivation missiles seen in the final mission, originally used to destroy the Hiigaran's exile world of Kharak, and notably in the design of certain ship classes such as the Vaygr frigates.
Homeworld 2 opens with a massive Vaygr invasion of Hiigarran territory. However, by the end of the single-player campaign Makaan was destroyed at Balcora and the main invasion force defeated in the Siege of Hiigara. It is not clear if remnants of the Vaygr continue to exist in the Outer Rims.
Bentusi
The Bentusi are a mystical race of nomadic traders. Calling themselves The Unbound, the Bentusi have no known leader and are all cybernetically integrated into their ships (much like Karen S'Jet but believed to be much more advanced). The Bentusi are a very ancient, wise race who do not claim any planet for themselves, instead opting to live exclusively among the stars. It would probably be impossible for the Bentusi to even survive outside of their ships, since they are physically connected to them. The Bentusi are one of the three races to possess hyperspace cores, along with the Vaygr and the Hiigarans. They made their debut in the original Homeworld and traded the Hiigarans the ion cannon technology. They also brought the Galactic Council to Hiigara to persuade them to allow the Hiigarans to have their homeworld again. The Bentusi were instrumental in revealing the past history of the Hiigarans. In Homeworld: Cataclysm they helped perfect the siege cannon and gave the designs for the Super Acolyte in the end.
At the beginning of Homeworld 2, the Bentusi are described as having one ship, the Great Harbourship of Bentus. It was revealed that 4000 years before the events of Homeworld, the Hiigaran Empire's fleet abused the use of their hyperspace core. Due to Bentusi pressure, they were ordered to give it, but in an act of defiance attacked the Bentusi fleet. As a consequence, the Hiigaran ships were obliterated by the Bentusi, enabling the vengeful Taiidan to conquer Hiigara and drive the people into exile on the desert planet Kharak. The Bentusi thus are indirectly responsible for the Hiigaran exile and felt compelled to help the Kushans return to their Homeworld. Because of their guilt, the Bentusi abandoned all weaponry and adopted a peaceful existence.
Eventually, the Bentus ship self-destructs to save the Hiigarans from an attack by Progenitor Keepers, thus apparently ending the presence of the Bentusi in the Homeworld universe (though there is evidence to suggest some Bentusi escaped to another galaxy as seen in Homeworld: Cataclysm).
The Progenitors
The Progenitors were an immensely powerful and technologically advanced race that apparently died out about 100,000 years ago. Much of what remains from them is found in the Karos Graveyard, an area of full of spaceship derelicts.
The three Hyperspace Cores were created by the Progenitors in the forge module of one of their greatest spaceships, which was also the berth for the dreadnaughts. One of the cores was discovered by the Bentusi 6,000 years ago, which brought forth a great age of galactic prosperity by making possible interstellar travel over long distances. The second core was discovered by the pre-Exodus Hiigarans, who through misuse of the device ended up being exiled to Kharak. The third core was found by the Vaygr. The central conflict of Homeworld 2 revolves around acquiring all three cores and unlocking their secrets.
The Progenitors possessed great knowledge of interstellar and even intergalactic travel. Their hyperspace gate network, which uses The Eye of Arran as its main gate, is one of the many constructed by this ancient race which possibly "seeded" intelligent life throughout the universe.
Some Progenitor constructions include:
Movers
Automated utility vessels whose programing has deteriorated over the ages, movers are now extremely hostile and swarm over any ship that strays too far into the Karos Graveyard. The player is attacked by infinite swarms of movers at Karos. All Movers have with a single, forward-mounted, plasma cannon, and are the only radiation-immune ships
Keepers
Keepers are indestructible ships armed with rapid-firing ion cannons. They possess enormous firepower, and are able to vanish when damaged, only to return fully repaired.
Drones
These fighter-size vessels are launched from the keepers. Drones are considered corvettes, although they have the speed and maneuverability of a fighter. They are armed with powerful kinetic cannons.
Balcora Gate
An extremely powerful hyperspace gate with enough energy to send matter through the black hole cluster at Balcora. A Dreadnaught is needed to activate it.
Dreadnoughts
Two of these powerful ships were created by the Progenitors. One ends up in Makaan's possession. The second, the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, was found by the Hiigarans in the wreckage of a massive Progenitor ship. Its discovery wakes the Keepers. The dreadnought is armed with a powerful gun and potent defensive weapons, its main weapon is the Phased Cannon Array, which fires a large yellow beam that requires the Dreadnought to be aligned with its target.
Sajuuk
Sajuuk itself is also a Progenitor construction. It is an extremely powerful warship; like the Dreadnaught, it is armed with a phased cannon array, and has many defensive weapons. It is also the only ship in the single player game that can be commanded to make tactical hyperspace jumps.
Programming Languages
Homeworld 2 uses a proprietary programming language, known as SCAR (SCripting At Relic) in addition to others.
SCAR
The SCAR language was created for the express purpose of coding in Homeworld 2, and deals mainly with events in the single-player campaign (zooming out with the camera, creating enemy ships, moving the player to the next level, etc.) See the SCAR Documentation
LUA
Homeworld 2 also makes use of version 4.0 of the Lua programming language. Homeworld 2 uses LUA for in-game levels, formatted as .level files, AI, and as a Rules Engine for game logic. A players sets many variables inside a Homeworld 2 game, including ambient light, background, placement of start positions and asteroids, among many other things.
Reception
Rated with a 9.0 at IGN, the reviewers were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the work done, and the greatly improved graphics, music, and ease of play. [1]
Amongst web sites that compiles game reviews and averages reviewers' scores, Homeworld2 reached an average score of 85.1%[2] at Game Rankings and 83%[3]at MetaCritic.
Sequel?
Rumours had been circulating among fans of a possible Homeworld 3, however none have been true as a sequel could cause a dispute between Relic Entertainment and Sierra, since Sierra and Vivendi own the current rights to Homeworld. Also, Barking Dog Studios created Homeworld: Cataclysm, adding to the problem. Furthermore, Relic is currently owned by THQ, making the chances of a sequel very slim. ,[4].
References
- ^ Adams, Dan (September 16th, 2003). "Homeworld 2 Review". ign.com. Retrieved 2006-03-04.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|year=(help) - ^ "Homeworld 2 Game Rankings Reviews". gamerankings.com. January 7th, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|year=(help) - ^ "Homeworld 2 MetaCritic Reviews". gamerankings.com. January 7th, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|year=(help) - ^ Relic Forums (2005). "Homeworld 3". Relic Forums. Relic Forums. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
All about Homeworld 3
External links