Master of Orion 2 (and Space Strategy Games Discussion)

[Nemo]

Well, its out and steam wont let me play. Content still encrypted, oy.

[Nemo]

I am not certain the adaptive difficulty system is working correctly. Also captured two of two assault frigates attacking the cryo trays, but neither wound up under my control. I recall one frigate captured went to PLOT and subsequent captures went to your control, but it has been years.

Also the resource collector draws in 500 RU rather than 650. Formations do not hold in combat, fuel does not exist etc. And, as expected, I think it uses the HW2 combat rather than HW1 hit detection. So, remastered but also rebalanced.


I was never able to play enough of HW2 to make any comparisons.

[Siber]

Yeah, my take on it so far is that it's a very pretty game, and a very excellent remaster of Homeworld 2, but a very shoddy one of Homeworld 1. Perhaps they were too married to the idea of combined multiplayer? Or perhaps they simply didn't have the resources to see it through.

[NOMAD]

It up now and working on steam as of 21:00 EST ( 8-14 GIG size, so get a good book or reread the original game manuals)

Played some of the H1 mission and few P vs CPu matchers and I must say the initial impression is that gearbox did a very good job ( as did the original Relic/Serria team). not sure if my computer is set up right but so far, other that some minor bugs ( IE no text subtitles for now) but minor things that don't effect me too much (the formations don't work so no more Sphere of deaths for RU collectors ) . Ur right Nemo about the H1 remaster using H2 engine and set up. I finds it not as difficult to get the controls.

as for the ships, OH MY SAAJUKU the new textures are great. The opening for H1 is so much more emotionally now.

@ Arioch: stupid question and I don't know it answered before but with this remastered release will Homeworld shipyards getting some updates some time in the distance future ? I know your focus is the getting the next Outsider content up and I don't want to distract from that goal but is it possible in the far far future.

[discord]

one thing i want to know..... is the arioch easter egg still around? since they remade the VA of HW2.....i really should check, but i want arioch to do the honors and tell us first.

minor peeve though, no UI scaling sliders.....i want to modify it slightly, some parts are too small, others too big.... minor annoyance.
and i wonder if those khadeshi ion ships are gonna be as OP as before....should check.

[Nemo]

Perhaps they were too married to the idea of combined multiplayer? Or perhaps they simply didn't have the resources to see it through.

It may not have been feasible to bring the old HW1 engine into the modern age without rebuilding it from the ground up. Using the tools and source code I imagine making the HW2 engine tell the HW1 story was the more expedient solution.

It does look good, and I will grant the controls feel less clunky. Right click to move seems like it would be a simple thing to add into the HW1 engine and would go a long looong way to improving it.

[Arioch]

@ Arioch: stupid question and I don't know it answered before but with this remastered release will Homeworld shipyards getting some updates some time in the distance future ? I know your focus is the getting the next Outsider content up and I don't want to distract from that goal but is it possible in the far far future.

I'm up to my eyeballs in work at the moment, so Outsider has to be my top "free time" priority. If there is a clear value to Homeworld Shipyard updates, eventually I will get around to it.

one thing i want to know..... is the arioch easter egg still around? since they remade the VA of HW2.....i really should check, but i want arioch to do the honors and tell us first.

It will probably be some weeks at the very least before I'm even able to play the remastered version, so I encourage you to find out for yourself. Since they have remastered the audio, and the HW2 bit that mentions me was in reference to my objection to Heidi Ernest's replacement in HW2 (and since Heidi was chosen to do the remastered audio), I would be very surprised if there is still any mention of me or the other community members in the remastered version.

[discord]

arioch: shocking, it seems to still be there.....or kinda, kinda bugged or something, but it was definitely not the usual 'game over'.

[Siber]

I'm up to my eyeballs in work at the moment, so Outsider has to be my top "free time" priority. If there is a clear value to Homeworld Shipyard updates, eventually I will get around to it.

I've been putting some time into a program that makes a shipyards-inspired site from Homeworld 2 data files, with an example based on the mod I work on. There is setup required to get things looking good, but the whole point is to keep up with balance changes easily after that. It doesn't directly replicate Shipyards' layout or visual style, both for practical reasons and out of respect for the original, but it could potentially get a lot closer, and once I can crack open the HWRM.big file I'm going to be fixing any bugs new bugs with it and putting up a reference site for the new stats.

[dragoongfa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqDz4CmiKwo

Total Biscuit highly recommends it and calls it an ideal HD remake and how such remakes should be made.

[elorran]

When you consider how most games get remakes or remastered versions they tend to come across has a half done job. Gearbox put a lot of effort into homeworld remastered. Obviously its open to interpretation on whether you thnk they hit the sweet spot or not, and totalbiscuit is entitled to his opinion on the matter.

I for one am happy homeworld was picked up and remade, especially to the standard that it has been done. Sure the game has it issues, but some of these will be ironed out with time and developer feed back. As for the rest, likely the mod community will do many things to "fix" what the feel is wrong.

Its not quite the classic homeworld, but its close enough

[Nemo]

Its not quite the classic homeworld

Pffft, its right on the bottom of the launcher. And, ya, I gave up on the remaster and went back to the real deal.

[icekatze]

hi hi

With all this talk about the Homeworld remastered versions, I decided to go back and try to play though Homeworld 2, and maybe finish it this time. I got about as far as I did last time, which was level three. Now I remember why I never beat that game.

I'll have to go back and play Homeworld 1 again sometime, when I've got some free time.

[discord]

it's still 'half done' the AI seems kinda bugged, might be racial AI issue.... fighters/bombers crashed into the asteroid in HW1 HD due to hit box/avoidance issue, it is bigger than the craft assumes and flies into it..... and other such minor issues.

[Razor One]

Yeah, I noticed that happening in the asteroids mission. Cost me so many interceptors...

Ah well. I managed to get by and ravage the Kadeshi as I always have. Up to the Ghost Ship now, figured that would be a good place to stop for now.

[Grayhome]

http://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2015/06 ... -rebooted/

IT'S HAPPENING!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtQhNef17zw

omfg!!!!

[Arioch]

Yep, looks interesting thus far.

Though I must say it looks an awful lot like StarDrive at this point.

[Arioch]

If you haven't picked up the Homeworld Remastered Collection yet, it's currently 60% off on Steam through the 13th.

[fredgiblet]

I just bought it. Only 2 days left on the download! The internet here is wonderful.

[Siber]

Gearbox has been giving the game fairly steady attention, though they haven't yet made the changes that I would most want to see. Some of those are apparently on the table, but no guarantees if they're coming. If have or are getting the game, I'd personally recommend this re-balance mod, and if you're going to play the HW1 story, this mod is probably a good idea, though I've not yet played through with it myself. Planning on soon doing a play through with both of those on, though.

Some people might find this colorblindness related tweak I made useful too. These mods are all pretty small file sizes, script tweaks rather than any art assets.

Personally I'd tentatively recommend the game at sale price in it's current state, though for diehard HW1 purists it might still not be worth it.


Also, MoO! I'm interested to know more. The people making the trailer at least seem to be quite familiar with MoO1 and MoO2, but we don't have much info on the actual game. Personally I hope it ventures closer to MoO1 than 2, both because I prefer the mechanics of 1 and because we've gotten a lot of games already that model themselves after 2.