Source
r/homeworld•
Prygon

Quick questions

What do you like about the game so much?

Is the multiplayer at all a part of it?

Which is your favorite and why?

I played deserts of kharak and cataclysm, I played cataclysm first and couldn't beat the last mission without cheats (I think it was on normal) and reloaded a lot especially when I got raped by the cruise missiles taking my best ships. In deserts I beat it pretty easily except the isolated mission I reloaded once and beat it in 2 days. How is the difficulty for you? Have you even beaten it on hard and what's the hardest one to you? Any similar games to this, I like AoE2 and SC but love how this is a 3D RTS and the scale is amazing! For a game made in 1999 it still uses way less processing power and has way better features and was a much better game than DoK.

Posted Aug 26, 2019, 6:11 PM UTC

68
Bozocow•

Multiplayer is definitely a big part of it but what really sold me on the original was the amazing storyline. I think Homeworld always did a good job of knowing it was cool, rather then shoving it in your face and trying to prove how cool they were like modern titles tend to do. This sort of "understated awesomeness" has become what I always look for, and rarely find, in games and movies.

1
TheRealSpill•

rather then shoving it in your face and trying to prove how cool they were like modern titles tend to do.

Can you give some examples?

2
Bozocow•

It's just all over really, not being overdone like most titles are. Like you know how in most modern FPS games whenever you get shot all this... fecal matter or something sprays up on to your hud? Or how the animations are bordering on goofy and robotic to show off how cool they are? The way they do an insufferable amount of close-ups and cinematic sequences on the thing you're supposed to notice is really cool about the game?

Sure we get a nice fly by of the Mothership in mission one of Homeworld but after that it's just kind of there with you, they don't need to have it freaking glowing and doing space donuts or something to get you to realize it. Ion cannons are cool but they don't have these huge lens flares to get you to pay attention. No fecal matter. I mean I guess it's a bit hard to describe but you know it when you see it; some games feel they need to show off, some games know that they've already got you.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Bozocow•

RM is still active but DOK gets more attention usually. That's the one I play, I think it's amazing.

1
TheRealSpill•

I never played multiplayer on this game.

I only play the compaign once in while. I love the story the music and the gameplay.

1
Torsc•

I may be an edge-case here but my favorite thing about the Homeworld series (Including Cata and DoK) is the difficulty. Both in the campaigns and the multiplayer.

Most other RTS's I've played really lend you towards the all-mighty deathball. Turtle up, do a little bit of skirmish (or skirmish defense), and then A-Move your massive army across the map and win. (Unless you're watching pro games but that's another beast altogether)

For the most part this does not work in any of the HW titles. Either you will get picked apart early on by people harassing (which is a strong tactic), the unit cap doesn't support the deathball style, or the mechanics and unit interactions don't support it. It forces you to actually think tactically and use your units intelligently.

In SC I can mass units and just try to LuL my way through, in AoE2 and DoW the same kind of rules apply. Those last two games are a bit slower paced than SC but you can still deathball your way across the map and there aren't that many mass counters.

In SC you can use siege tanks or High Templar to try to beat back a deathball but they are usually easily micro'd around and sometimes you can just muscle your way through.

In HW none of that works, units don't move fast enough or respond fast enough to make that work. If you moved your Heavy Cruiser and 4 Ion Cannons across the map without actually providing strikecraft support/defense then by the time they run into that bomber/corvette group it's too late... In DoK if you sent your two shiney and new Soban Battlecruisers out towards the enemy carriers unsupported and they run into a cloud of Sandskimmers halfway across the map then you are screwed... In that case you're bad and should feel bad. (And I usually do lol)

If you moved your strikecraft fleet across the map by themselves without any heavier support to followup and they run into 10 Flak Frigates then guess what?

That's right, it's a bad day.

On top of all that I don't know if anyone else has ever tried to actually micro their strikecraft or frigates to actually attack frigates and capital ships from above or below but it makes a big difference. Not something that you can do in most other RTS's.

If you send all of your units across the map to try to push the enemy down and don't keep anything back home to hold down the fort, don't feel bad when those LAVs come around that back hill and end your resourcing. Or in HW when those two Destroyers hyper in behind your Mothership and turn you inside out.

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Sorry for super long post but I love these games.

The story of course is also good. Even if HW2 kinda fell short on story I personally didn't find it to be all that bad. The whole "prophecy trope" thing never bothered me. They laid the groundwork for it long before HW2 in the HW1 campaign so it really didn't surprise me or bug me.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
Torsc•

The multiplayer scene is fairly small for any of the games, you'd have to jump on the discord channel to get a match but there's usually at least a few people around who are down for a game or 3.

That being said, when it comes to the multiplayer I honestly don't think I could pick a favorite between HW2 Remastered or DoK. The multiplayer is great in both and all of the factions/races/what-have-you have their relative strengths and weaknesses that make them interesting.

Unfortunately I don't think enough effort went into multiplayer balancing for ANY of the titles in the series and I think that's a big reason why the multiplayer scene didn't get much bigger. Balance is a big thing in RTS's and people get pretty upset when their favorite race isn't "competitive" (even though that term really only applies to pro-players when it comes to RTS games, Change My Mind).

Still, rolling over the dunes with your carrier powered up and weapons blazing being followed by a couple Soban Battlecruisers is glorious.

And in HW Remastered when the game is a 5-player free-for-all... things like the resources running out everywhere and there was just a 10-minute long 5-way slog of a battle in the middle of the map for the last group of resources and as it turns out, you're the last one with a destroyer... That's a pretty glorious feeling as well.

Hell, even being on the losing end of either of those encounters is hilariously fun!

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Not the same feeling that I get with games like SC2 where I've spent the last 12 minutes micro-ing and macro-ing to the point where I've got a headache only to run my Zergling/Baneling/Roach army into a hoard of fucking Voidrays and I instantly lose with no way to recover because of an arbitrary tech choice... Just frustration.

1