I'm just messin' because TB's an asshole. 
Homeworld 1 & 2 Remastered
- Thread starter Reverend
- Start date
^I wouldn't go that far. Flipant, blunt and occasionally insensitive perhaps (especially when he's on chemo) but at least he's honest and has proven to have more integrity than most video game pundits/journalists/personalities around these days.
Also, I know it's semantics but that wasn't even a review. That was a first impressions of the preview build and even then it was only the skirmish mode he was showing off. As a rule, I don't think he ever does full reviews.
Also, I know it's semantics but that wasn't even a review. That was a first impressions of the preview build and even then it was only the skirmish mode he was showing off. As a rule, I don't think he ever does full reviews.
I've heard there are a bunch of issues with the handling of HW1 craft, due to everything now running on the HW2 engine. For example strike craft don't hold formation in combat, and corvette AI assumes unrestricted firing arcs when HW corvettes only have guns on their underside.
Still keen to give this a try, though.
Still keen to give this a try, though.
I'm enjoying it so far. I have noticed a few minor oddities like harvesters going dormant where there's still resources on the may, some sound glitching if you zoom in close to the mothership with a lot of docking traffic and (possibly related) the number of sound FX channels options keeps reverting to zero. Also one CTD, but that's after a total of 6hrs of play (according to steam.)
It's weird in a way since it still feels like it's the same game I played back in '99. Since they did such a good job of maintaining the old aesthetic, after a while you it's easy to stop noticing how improved the textures, shaders etc. are.
It's weird in a way since it still feels like it's the same game I played back in '99. Since they did such a good job of maintaining the old aesthetic, after a while you it's easy to stop noticing how improved the textures, shaders etc. are.
^Indeed. Technical issues aside, the only real problem HW1 had was a slightly clunky UI, which was fixed in HW2 and now vastly improved in the remasters.
Something else I've noticed about HW1R that I missed at first is that they've implemented HW2's ability to target sub-systems and totally removed the fuel mechanic from the strike craft. Not sure how I feel about the latter as it renders the support frigate next to useless, as that was pretty much it's only practical function IIRC. On the other hand I never liked the fuel mechanic to begin with and didn't miss it's exclusion in HW2.
Something else I've noticed about HW1R that I missed at first is that they've implemented HW2's ability to target sub-systems and totally removed the fuel mechanic from the strike craft. Not sure how I feel about the latter as it renders the support frigate next to useless, as that was pretty much it's only practical function IIRC. On the other hand I never liked the fuel mechanic to begin with and didn't miss it's exclusion in HW2.
I like this. All they need to do is remaster Master of Orion I & 2 and I'll have the improved versions of all my favourite games.
I haven't noticed a big horrible difference to the game yet, I know there was a bunch of complaining on Steam etc. about it. I'm enjoying it like I enjoyed the classic one. I'm not that picky, though, so as long as it hits the same notes that I liked, I'm good.
Of course, I read they couldn't get the YES song in, so I may have to wait for that.
My daughter noticed how much the aesthetic is similar to the nuBSG. When I started playing she immediately ran over with my die cast BSG ships to compare.
I haven't noticed a big horrible difference to the game yet, I know there was a bunch of complaining on Steam etc. about it. I'm enjoying it like I enjoyed the classic one. I'm not that picky, though, so as long as it hits the same notes that I liked, I'm good.
Of course, I read they couldn't get the YES song in, so I may have to wait for that.
My daughter noticed how much the aesthetic is similar to the nuBSG. When I started playing she immediately ran over with my die cast BSG ships to compare.
The main problem I've noticed is that formations are badly broken -- for example, X and claw break up as soon as targets are encountered and defensive spheres of craft don't work at all. In addition, research in HW1 now costs resource units and it seems like there are many fewer RUs available on the maps, although I believe you can now scoop up RUs by salvaging debris of wrecked ships. The HW1 campaign seems more difficult than I remember but that's probably down to my age.
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Sounds like a golden opportunity to introducer her to the artwork of Peter Elson and Chris Foss.
I've actually noticed the opposite problem Asbo; I'm on mission 9 and absolutely swimming in RUs, 38,000 or something ridiculous like that. I've also noticed that Collectors no longer automatically harvest everything on the map. You can set them going but once they harvest everything within the viewable area around them, they'll stop until you set them going again.
I'd also given up on building any strikecraft other than salvage corvettes before this mission, because 1) They die very easily and are a lot less effective without formations, and 2) (Assault) Frigs and Destroyers absolutely murder everything the same size or smaller, including strikecraft, so why bother. The damage escalation has apparently lead to some 'interesting' missions, but I haven't got that far yet.
In general, the Remastered gameplay has quite a few issues with it, but nothing game ruining yet. In fact it's actually quite amusing to see mothership vessels just melt within seconds under your massive firepower. Still, it would be nice to get some fixes from Gearbox, and soon.
I'd also given up on building any strikecraft other than salvage corvettes before this mission, because 1) They die very easily and are a lot less effective without formations, and 2) (Assault) Frigs and Destroyers absolutely murder everything the same size or smaller, including strikecraft, so why bother. The damage escalation has apparently lead to some 'interesting' missions, but I haven't got that far yet.
In general, the Remastered gameplay has quite a few issues with it, but nothing game ruining yet. In fact it's actually quite amusing to see mothership vessels just melt within seconds under your massive firepower. Still, it would be nice to get some fixes from Gearbox, and soon.
So far I'm having the opposite experience. Maybe my memory is off after so many years, but I remember the nebula missions (the ones with the needle motherships) kicking my ass back in the day. If I got past them at all, it was by the skin of my teeth. Weren't even hard this time.
It's my age I guess. I haven't had time to get to the Garden mission yet. I was worried how my heart rate would suffer. Perhaps I'll survive after all.
I purchased the remaster out of nostalgia and curiosity. It seems the gameplay balancing of the HW1 campaign under the HW2 engine perhaps wasn't given too much thought. Still looks mighty pretty though...
I purchased the remaster out of nostalgia and curiosity. It seems the gameplay balancing of the HW1 campaign under the HW2 engine perhaps wasn't given too much thought. Still looks mighty pretty though...
I'm actually finding it quite a bit easier than I remember. Some of that may just be forethought, since I have a vague recollection of what I'll be facing, so I tend to make sure I'm prepared before jumping into the next mission.
For example, I remembered the Kadesh missions involved a lot of getting swarmed by strike craft and those little multi-beam frigates, so I made sure I had at least one destroyer to take on the mothership, plus at least two drone frigates to deal with the fighters and some salvage corvettes to capture the multi-beams.
Add to that of course the usual mix of assault & ion frigates as support for the destroyer, some multi-gun corvettes to guard the mothership and any remaining strike craft to go after the fuel pods.
Honestly it went a lot easier than I'd expected!
For example, I remembered the Kadesh missions involved a lot of getting swarmed by strike craft and those little multi-beam frigates, so I made sure I had at least one destroyer to take on the mothership, plus at least two drone frigates to deal with the fighters and some salvage corvettes to capture the multi-beams.
Add to that of course the usual mix of assault & ion frigates as support for the destroyer, some multi-gun corvettes to guard the mothership and any remaining strike craft to go after the fuel pods.
Honestly it went a lot easier than I'd expected!
The algorithm for scaling opposition forces seems much dumber than I remember it being in the original. In mission 3, if I have 16 attack corvettes, there are seven assault frigates attacking the trays. If I have no attack ships and only salvage corvettes, there are only two assault frigates and one of those is already 90% damaged! This fact, plus the replacement of actual projectiles with a random-number generator for creating damage and the already mentioned broken formations has ruined the playability of the remastered HW1 for me. Sure the graphics are pretty but the new implementation sucks.
Salvager Corvette rush has always been my tactic for that level. I'm about two thirds of the way through now and I've noticed some very wonky difficulty curves. Some levels that I used to get through only by the skin of my teeth (Kadesh missions) were a cake walk while other more straight forward ones have me fighting just to stay alive.
Some of that may be due to bugs as I noticed in Diamond Shoals, about 5 big asteroids spawn almost right in front of the mothership, with no time to get my ships into play before they started hitting. Add to that the collision & pathfinding seems borked as when I ordered my strike craft to attack one asteroid, they act as if it's the only one in existence and invariably smack straight into another one while flying around. I lost whole squadrons to that before I figured out what was happening.
I don't recall this being a problem in the original game, just that the frigates and any capital ships are sitting ducks and it's best to either move them above the field or behind the mothership.
Love Homeworld so if it's a new game I'm very interested. If so it looks like it will be the team that did Deserts of Kharak. Gameplay wasn't quite the same given it was ground based, but they got the feel of the series spot on (for obvious reasons), so more than happy to have them go around again.