Homeworld 2
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| Homeworld 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Relic Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | September 16, 2003 |
| Genre | Space simulation, Strategy game |
| Mode(s) | Singleplayer and Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Platform(s) | PC |
Homeworld 2 is a real time strategy computer game, the sequel to Relic Entertainment's Homeworld from 1999. Taking place 100 years after the original game, it concerns Hiigara's response to a new threat, known as the Vaygr. In a bizarre twist, the character of Karan Sjet returns to her position as living CPU. It shares the first game's stunning graphics and soundtrack, but its gameplay takes a new direction: Vaygr and Hiigaran ships differ significantly in design and application, as opposed to the Kushan and Taiidan forces which were identical in everything but appearance. Furthermore, its plot lacks the compelling human element of the original.
Homeworld 2 was made in late 2003, but shortly after, Relic Studios was bought by THQ, a direct competitor of Sierra and Vivendi, who still own the Homeworld license. Therefore, there is a very low chance of any more Homeworld games being produced.
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Gameplay
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Homeworld 2 shares the three-dimensional battlefield that its predecessor introduced to the real-time strategy genre of computer games. As such, unit movement commands can be issued in three directions via a movement disc that handles movement relative to the plane that the vessel(s) in question currently reside on, and a second modifier that handles movement 'up' or 'down' relative to this plane.
In lieu of base construction, Homeworld 2 features 'production vessels': the Mothership/Flagship and ancilliary carriers that can be constructed. The Mothership is capable of producing most large vessels, serving as a drop-off point for resources, and defense against light enemy attack. Carriers are significantly more mobile but less capable of construction and feature less protection than the Mothership/Flagship vessel. A special type of construction facility exists as the Shipyard, which represents a significant investment of resources in return for a poorly-armed and unwieldly unit capable of significantly increasing production capacity and constructing the most powerful conventional units available to each side. Subsystem modules can be constructed by production vessels; 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/barrack and research structures common in other real-time strategy and can be targeted and destroyed by enemy attack.
A resourcing/economy component is present in Homeworld 2. The Resource Collector is a small vessel capable of extracting resources, in the form of RUs (Resource Units), from asteroids and the wreckage of destroyed capital ships, and returning them to a drop-off point. Drop-off points take the form of the Mothership/Flagship, carriers, and Mobile Refineries. Defense of Mobile Refineries and resourcing points far from the game comprises an important aspect of game-play, although mining is made somewhat superfluous in the single-player campaign that automatically harvests the available resources upon a map upon the successful completion of the respective mission. Resources, as with ships, carry over to the next single-player mission.
Combat is conducted by four primary classes of vessels. Strike craft are constructed as several fighters functioning as a single unit for the purposes of the game, and take the form of fighters or bombers capable of engaging a wide variety of vessels, from other fighters to capital ships and installations. Corvettes are slightly larger and with few exceptions also function in groups that are treated as single units: their primary purpose seems to be protection and assault against strike craft, other corvettes, and frigates. Frigates are small capital ships, usually specialized for maximum effectiveness against a certain other class of ship, while capital ships such as destroyers and battlecruisers excel against most other types of enemies.
Enemy ship capture is conducted by specialized capture frigates, in contrast to the system used by the previous two games: instead of small vessels locking onto a ship and towing it back to the Mothership for capture, capture frigates maneuver close to enemy vessels and dispatch boarding parties. The progress of a ship capture is indicated by a teal bar beneath the target vessel's health indicator and is facilitated by the presence of multiple frigates attacking the same target simultaneously. In the single-player campaign, production ships cannot be captured by the player, although such vessels as the Battlecruiser and Destroyer can certainly be boarded and acquisitioned.
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 (http://www.relicnews.com/files/homeworld2/HW2_ScarDocumentation/)
LUA
Homeworld 2 also makes use of the Lua programming language. Homeworld 2 mainly uses LUA for in-game levels, formatted as .level files. A players sets many variables inside a Homeworld 2 game, including ambient light, background, placement of start positions and asteroids, among many other things.
External links
- Official homepage (http://homeworld2.sierra.com/)
- Homeworld 2 Programming (and mapping) tutorials (http://hw2.tproc.org/wiki/Tutorials)
- Homeworld 2 Custom Maps (http://www.rakrent.com/rtsc/html/hwii2.htm)
- Karos Graveyard - features a plethora of HW2 mapping, coding, and modeling tools (http://www.rakrent.com/rtsc/html/hwii2.htm)de:Homeworld 2