Homeworld
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| Homeworld | |
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| Developer(s) | Relic Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Version | 1.05 |
| Platform(s) | Linux Mac OS X Microsoft Windows |
| Release date | November 15, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy, Space simulation |
| Mode(s) | Singleplayer and Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Input methods | Keyboard, Mouse |
Homeworld is a real-time strategy (RTS) computer game released in 1999 developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It is best known for its full three-dimensional movement, engrossing storyline and unique soundtrack.
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[edit] Plot
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Note: If the player chooses to play the Taiidan race at the start of the game, the roles of the Kushan and Taiidan are reversed.
For thousands of years, the Kushan people have survived on the nigh inhospitable world of Kharak, a planet where the only areas not covered by desert wasteland are its temperate poles. Shielded by The Three Northern Seas and The Great Majiirian Ocean in the south, these regions provide the most hospitable living conditions for its inhabitants. However, the scarcity of arable land and natural resources have colored Kushan history with near constant inter-clan (or Kiith) warfare and strife.
As new technological breakthroughs began to emerge, religious and political conflict partially gave way to unified scientific exploration. When scientists began to study the genetic makeup of Kharak's native plants and animals, an astonishing theory began to emerge. Based on the findings that virtually no natural wildlife found on Kharak shared a genetic resemblance to the Kushan, the XenoGenesis Theory was formed - that stated the Kushan were not native to the world they had survived on for several millenia. As the first orbital space flights were planned, all new meaning was given to the question, "Why are we here?" While many greeted the question (and all of the problems that it entailed) with enthusiasm and wonder, others did not.
Until the formation of the XenoGenesis Theory, two religious explanations as to how they came to be on such a God forsaken place prevailed. One, held by the religious leaders of Kiith Siidim said that the Kushan were once a great race, allowed to live in Paradise, but due to their arrogance were cast down into this Perdition. The other, preached by Kiith Gaalsien, was that their people were made by the Gods to suffer, and this wasteland was the best that they could ever hope for.
As the launch of the first manned space flight grew near, Kharak's religious sect became more outspoken. The Gaalsien saw the entire mission as a fantastic waste of time, protesting that the search for a better life was futile; such time and resources would be put to a greater use keeping back the growing desert and producing more food and drinking water. The objections of Siidim priests were less pragmatic. They decried the fledgling space exploration program as outright blasphemy, claiming that any attempt to escape Perdition would be an affront to the Gods, and would be met only by death and destruction. The religious fervor of the Siidim came to a head on the night of the launch of the Silumiin delivery vehicle, when an enraged mob attempted to attack and dismantle the rocket. The impending massacre (and perhaps all-out war) was prevented by the High Technocrats, who stood their ground in front of the launch defense turrets and preached wisdom to the crowd until the frenzy subsided. Per Doine, one of Siidim's most outspokenly radical theologians, managed to slip through the cordon. For several hours he knelt beneath the rocket boosters and prayed for salvation; although he died a martyr, his cause died with him.
What these first orbital flights uncovered raised as many questions as it did galvanize their space exploration efforts and revolutionize construction and propulsion technology. Small metallic debris, the largest no bigger than a hand span, were retrieved from low orbit and soft landed in the desert. Analysis of this debris revealed metallurgic structure and compounds previously completely unknown to the Kushan people. In showing that high tensile composite materials could be feasibly constructed, their development of space flight technology began to make giant leaps forward. Faster, more efficient propulsion drives were constructed, and for the first time thorough exploration of the rest of the system seemed possible. However, it did nothing to show where it was their true home was located - only that a large alien vessel had once orbited Kharak. It wasn’t until an ironic twist of fate that this question was truly answered.
In preparation for further exploration of the system, a high powered satellite was put into orbit. Its purpose was to scan coordinates designated by the launch team: the return on the signal would indicate the presence of larger metallic debris, or even the alien ship itself. However, a malfunction in its maneuvering thrusters caused the satellite to be oriented towards Kharak’s surface, scanning the Great Desert that covered the planet’s equator. One the project’s technicians, Leykab Jaraci, noticed that the satellite was detecting a strong return, even though there should have been none. Repeated scans revealed that the satellite, penetrating the desert sands by up to seventy meters, had discovered an ancient city surrounding a large metallic structure. Soon after, the massive resources required to make an expedition to the planet’s hellish deserts were gathered, and an intrepid team of archaeologists made their way to the site of the buried city. What they found there would forever alter the course of their people’s history, and answered the questions that so many had asked for so long.
Excavation of the site revealed the vast metallic structure to be something altogether different from what was expected. The first scientists to explore its interior found what was unmistakably powerful and advanced propulsion and navigation technology, the most incredible of which was to be found attached to its power core: a solid state hyperspace induction module. The ancient starship that once orbited Kharak had been found. What hadn’t been lost to time was taken back to the capital cities, to be reverse engineered and incorporated into the next generation of space faring craft. One scientist remained behind.
Mevath Segald felt that the ship (now referred to as the “Khar-Toba,” meaning “First City,”) held still more secrets to be uncovered. However, others felt that they had found everything of importance, and she was left to excavate the site virtually single handedly. For some time she tried to piece together the location of the Observatory Temple of Khar Toba, referenced in ancient writings found inside the city. When she finally entered the Temple’s inner chamber, she found the future of her people etched on a single black stone. On the stone was carved a map of the galaxy, clearly depicting the location of Kharak. From that location, a line was gouged leading to a spot near the galactic core. Adjacent to it were a set of numbers forming a three dimensional vector, and next to that was a single word. As ancient as the clans themselves, the word was common to all languages and dialects.
Hiigara. "Home."
For the first time in history, the Kiiths were united. The gathered resources and the greatest minds of Kharak were brought together to begin construction of the Mothership, a massive colony vessel that would carry over 600,000 colonists to their homeworld. Its construction, from building the megalithic scaffold to constructing the Mothership itself, would take almost 100 years. As its launch grew nearer, the prevailing question on everyone’s minds seemed to be “Who or what will we encounter on the voyage home?” Encountering alien life was an almost certainty; how they would react to the wayfaring race was not. Research began on space faring military vessels – although the capabilities of the Kharak fleet were limited to smaller fighter craft and a planetary missile defense system, plans for frigate and capital class vessels were already on the drawing board by the time the Mothership was ready to test its hyperspace core. This test is where the single player game begins.
[edit] Gameplay
Homeworld is known both for its massive online community and single player elements.[citation needed] The player may choose to play as either the Kushan or Taiidan, both online and in the single-player campaign. While each unit serves a particular function and represents a tradeoff in strength, offensive power, speed, and cost, the differences between the two factions are mostly in cosmetic ship design. Parallel ships (the "Vengeance"-class Kushan Assault Frigate versus the "Kudaark"-class Taiidani Assault Frigate) look different but have identical armor, speed, weapons power, etc. However, each race does feature two unique units (the Kushan Cloaking Fighter and Drone Frigate versus the Taiidani Defense Fighter and Defense Field Frigate), and equivalent ships often have different gun positioning, usually in favor of the Taiidan.
The screen is devoted entirely to maximize the field of view, so the only toolbar is hidden and appears only when the cursor is moved to the bottom of the screen. Orders such as moving and formations are given both from right-click menus, and hotkeys for more advanced gameplay.
[edit] Single-player
The single-player campaign includes 16 missions, and focuses on a persistent fleet concept, which causes all ships built during a mission to appear in the next. The ultimate goal of the single player mode is to find the Homeworld of the chosen protagonist race, though the vantage point will remain unchanged regardless of the player's actual choice of race (in this and subsequent Homeworld games, Kushan, called Hiigaran in "homeworld 2", are the canonical "heroes").
[edit] Multi-player
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Homeworld can also be played in a deathmatch mode where the player can choose the number of opponents, the map, enabling or disabling researching and fuel consumption. These games can be played with up to seven computer-controlled opponents, which have an adjustable difficulty setting and a setting that allows you to determine whether they attack the human player or other computers more often. The multiplayer community for Homeworld was large from its very beginnings in 1999. At its peak in 2000 and 2001 there were more than 18,000 players registered to the Ladder. Several dozen clans were active at the peak, since its release more than one hundred individual clans have been founded. There are still hundreds of active players and a handful of large clans. Today the original community of dedicated players still survives at the official yet community operated Relic forums, the publishers official forum for the game, and on IRC. Many terms are used during multi-player online play as well. For a comprehensive list of these see Homeworld Terms.
Homeworld's original multiplayer lobby system still functions and remains in use. Lately, however, due to the release of HomeWorld 2, the large group of multi-player HomeWorld enthusiasts has been reduced drastically. To play online the player must create an account and download the latest patch (or version). Both the latest patch and the Homeworld Archive can be obtained from Jst-Online. This patch may not work with the new Windows Vista or the security programs that come with it. Alternative patches can be found at other reliable websites.
[edit] Musical score
With the exception of a song by the rock group Yes entitled "Homeworld (The Ladder)" (from their 1999 CD "The Ladder"), most of the music in the game is ambient. Also worthy of note is the inclusion of Samuel Barber's Agnus Dei, the choral version of his Adagio for Strings, performed by Santa Barbara's Quire of Voyces. A 13-track CD soundtrack was bundled with the Game of the Year Edition of Homeworld and features the original soundtrack by Paul Ruskay. The re-release of the Game of the Year Edition, marked by a "Best Seller Series" stripe, does not contain the soundtrack.
[edit] Mods & Source Code
Homeworld's source code was released in late 2003, which allowed fans to port the game to other platforms (such as Linux and Mac OS X). [1][2] With homeworldsdl.org being the most active project with support for Windows, *nix, and MAC.
Because of the modular nature of the file system almost every aspect of the game can be altered, including: the basic models and textures, the in-game interface, music and effects. Notable mods were based on well known sci-fi series such as Babylon 5, Star Trek, Macross and Star Wars.
[edit] Sequels
- In September 2000, Barking Dog Studios released a stand-alone expansion, Homeworld: Cataclysm. Taking place 15 years after the events of Homeworld, the story centers on Kiith Somtaaw and its struggles to protect Hiigara from a parasitic entity known as the Beast.
- A full sequel, Homeworld 2, was released in late 2003. The game pits the Hiigarans against the Vaygr, a powerful, nomadic raider race.
[edit] Reception
Homeworld was given high marks by most of the gaming community, and earned numerous awards, including IGN's game of the year award for 1999. The game was praised for its eye-catching, movie-like graphics engine, large battles, appropriate soundtrack, compelling storyline, and revolutionary 3D interface.
[edit] Design
The spaceship designs in this game bear a strong resemblance to the designs popularized by illustrator Chris Foss, who is mentioned in the special thanks section of the games end credits.
[edit] Awards
- E3 1999 Game Critics Awards: Best Strategy Games
- IGN 1999 Game of the Year
- PC Gamer 1999 Game of the Year
- Well-Rounded Entertainment 1999 Game of the Year
[edit] References
- Homeworld
- Homeworld Historical and Technical Briefing (Manual)
[edit] External links
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