AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Another day, another bit of news. This one is about modding tools.. and it is a bit on the sad side.
From Noelle:
Mod Integration and Custom Unreal Editor Launch Timing
We are quickly approaching the launch of Homeworld 3, and with that, the release of mod creation tools to the community.
Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen challenges, our custom Homeworld 3 Unreal 4 editor will be initially unavailable on launch day.
We’ve been working with members of our modding community behind the scenes who have been giving us ongoing feedback. It's important to us that we get this vital part of the Homeworld experience up to the standards you expect, and this will take a little bit longer than expected.
The Homeworld 3 Mod.io page will still be available on May 10, as will the Mods tab within the game.
We are continuing to finalize the editor for public release and hope to have an update when that will be live in the very near future.
You can read more about modding and Skirmish Mode in the latest Blog Post.
It might just be a necessity to use any Unreal Engine tools? At least I think that was the case the last time I used the Epic Launcher, years ago, before Fortnite was even available, before the Store even existed.
that's the stupidest thing I've heard since microsoft fired tango and arkane yesterday
+1
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
It's Midnight on the East Coast of Freedomville.
No, this does not mean HW3 is available.
Reminder: Advance Access Starts around 1:00 PM May 10, 2024.
This is when Fig Backer and Fleet Command/Collector's Edition game keys will activate, and those players can start playing!
There's always the potential that something doesn't release at the exact time, so please give about an hour. There will be an announcement post when we have confirmation Advance Access is live on Steam and EGS.
Fig Backers: If you are expecting a Digital Game Key from Gearbox, those keys will start being sent to emails around 12:00 PM May 10, 2024. We have several batches of keys that will be deployed to everyone so if you receive a key before OR AFTER that time, that is expected. You will want to check your spam and any auto-filtered folders.
They don't say the exact time zone, so I'm assuming pacific.
That said?
WE ARE GOING CLOSED SPOILERS FOR CAMPAIGN MODE CONTENT.
I've been waiting for this game for 20 goddamn years, but at the same time I don't want to ignore my own thread. So I'm going to ask everyone to be respectful of this. We're gonna follow similar rules to the discord.
Please use spoiler tags for the following:
- Any discussion about the story of the Homeworld 3 campaign in its entirety, or in-part.
- Any characters revealed within the campaign whom we were not already familiar with.
- Any special campaign-only ships/technology or otherwise single-player campaign specific assets.
- Any lore specifically mentioned within the single-player campaign.
With that said? War Games is up for grabs. I suspect there will be some high level fleets that unlock in that, and they may tie back to the campaign, but let's be respectful if that shows up.
I have no clue how popular this game will be around here. I'm hopeful. I really, REALLY hope this lives up to my expectations. I dunno.
Tomorrow, I'll find out.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
+3
MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
Oh I'm actually just gonna disappear until I've finished the story. This games too important to me to risk.
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I leave for a trip next week and I'm really tempted to upgrade just to play today. I'm embarrassed, help!
I am not the person to ask for help on making poor life decisions around Homeworld. I mean, I own the board game, the RPG, 2 collector's editions, extra soundtracks, and so on...
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
It might just be a necessity to use any Unreal Engine tools? At least I think that was the case the last time I used the Epic Launcher, years ago, before Fortnite was even available, before the Store even existed.
Yes, Unreal Engine is only available, for free, through Epic's store regardless of what game it is or where the game is sold. And there is no real difference between their "mod editor" and base Unreal Engine. It's the same tool, just with some additional files bundled in the download for game-specific code/objects you need to facilitate modding that particular game. Hence why mod editor distribution has the same restrictions as base Unreal Engine.
What tends to delay mod editor releases is the developers almost always have additional proprietary helper tools/code in their own Unreal installs that need to be removed since they don't have rights for public redistribution. But they need to do additional testing to verify things don't break for modders when that extra code is removed. And that testing is obviously lower priority than getting the game out the door.
SiliconStew on
Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
Has anyone gotten their key yet? I apparently backed this at some point but I don't remember at what level, so I don't know if I have advanced access or not.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Has anyone gotten their key yet? I apparently backed this at some point but I don't remember at what level, so I don't know if I have advanced access or not.
My key was in my CE. Here's the official post from Gearbox:
Reminder: Advance Access Starts around 1:00 PM May 10, 2024
(times are shown in your local timezone) [OP is in Central time, so 11AM PST, 2PM EST]
This is when Fig Backer and Fleet Command/Collector's Edition game keys will activate, and those players can start playing!
There's always the potential that something doesn't release at the exact time, so please give about an hour. There will be an announcement post when we have confirmation Advance Access is live on Steam and EGS.
Fig Backers: If you are expecting a Digital Game Key from Gearbox, those keys will start being sent to emails around 12:00 PM May 10, 2024. We have several batches of keys that will be deployed to everyone so if you receive a key before OR AFTER that time, that is expected. You will want to check your spam and any auto-filtered folders.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
edit: there also might be a little Syngyne flying around in someone's fleet if they accepted my pilot name.
Syngyne on
+1
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Couple notes:
1. My Fig backer rewards went into my google "Promotions" area instead of into my spam folder, so worth checking out.
2. Nuff said.
3. Yes, it's Gearbox, so that means Twitch Drops and Shift codes.
Get Homeworld 3 Twitch Drops for the Launch of Homeworld 3!
With the release of Homeworld 3, we are inviting you to celebrate with your communities by activating Twitch Drops!
Starting on May 10 with the start of Advance Access, viewers will be able to redeem a Twitch Drop that contains a couple of exclusive emblems to customize their ships in Multiplayer in Homeworld 3!
Start Time:May 10, 2024 1:00 PM (shown in local time)
End Time: May 20, 2024 1:00 PM (shown in local time)
How to Get Them: Watch 1 hour (60 minutes) of Homeworld 3 streams on Twitch while this Twitch Drop is active on any channel to earn these Emblems that can be used to customize your ships in Multiplayer games!
Once you’ve redeemed your Emblems from Twitch, they’ll be delivered via SHiFT right into your game!
A free SHiFT account is required. It will need to be linked to your Twitch account and the platform you’ll be playing Homeworld 3 on.
More information on: Steam Announcement | HWU website
How lost am I going to be if I never finished HW2? I know the general story beats with the hyperspace cores.
Ran the benchmark, and it got a bit chunky on my 3090 with everything but nebulas set to high. Too many tiny ships and laser beams
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
There's a "History of Homeworld" link on the launch page, a few other resources, and other bits that can help you along.
To be quite honest, the story itself of Homeworld 2 is fairly forgettable. The biggest thing it does is introduce the Progenitors and the significance of the Hyperspace cores.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
It's Cthulhu, isn't it? Or I guess in this case K'thuu-lu
edit: or wait... could it be The Beast?
Syngyne on
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NEO|PhyteThey follow the stars, bound together.Strands in a braid till the end.Registered Userregular
Purely mechanics-based question: did they fix up the weird UI jank that was on display in the war games demo?
I'll probably get this picked up eventually, I've already got games in need of playing from earlier this week
It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
Warframe/Steam: NFyt
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Purely mechanics-based question: did they fix up the weird UI jank that was on display in the war games demo?
I'll probably get this picked up eventually, I've already got games in need of playing from earlier this week
It's... still taking me some getting used to. I threw it into the modern control scheme, which is WASD + QE for up and down. I also skipped the tutorial because I did it during War Games. The sense of scale is really kind of hard to judge sometimes with a fully floating camera, and of course being new to everything.
The biggest issue still seems to be that ships just sit there if you don't actively set them to an aggressive stance, which is tough when you are trying to survive an assault.
Story spoiler, I'd say 6-7 missions in:
It's cool to see them continue to build on the Unbound concepts from the first two games, and what that potentially means. The stuff they are doing with hyperspace, though.. holy shit. And I thought it was scary in Star Wars.
You can tell Battlestar Galactica taught this crew a lot.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
So... I definitely threw money at gearbox....was it 3 years ago? Have not gotten a key.
Are any of the extras worth it? Should I just stick with the base game?
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
I could get used to the camera stuff, my main concern mechanically is just pathfinding and AI stuff, like ships doing nothing
I'm also not a big micro guy so I hope there's not a ton of that required? Beyond that they can do what they like, I just wanna have big fleets fight other big fleets and me watch the pretty lasers and explosions
So... I definitely threw money at gearbox....was it 3 years ago? Have not gotten a key.
Are any of the extras worth it? Should I just stick with the base game?
They are mostly cosmetics for War Games. If you threw money at Gearbox, check your spam or promotions folder, you should have something there. If not, I can point you towards resources to get it figured out.
I could get used to the camera stuff, my main concern mechanically is just pathfinding and AI stuff, like ships doing nothing
I'm also not a big micro guy so I hope there's not a ton of that required? Beyond that they can do what they like, I just wanna have big fleets fight other big fleets and me watch the pretty lasers and explosions
The ships doing nothing bit is annoying. It seems to relate to when they are in parade formation, or when they aren't set to "Aggressive." I am trying to play with the modern camera controls, but that locks out the keyboard shortcuts under WASDQE.
There was a lot of Micro in the War Games demo, because the fighters had an extremely short cooldown on their ability. In the full game, they've slowed that WAY down so you don't have to constantly slam abilities. Positioning and terrain do still play a factor.
The game is absolutely breathtaking, graphically speaking. I am okay with them going FMV for the cutscenes, as it makes the story a bit more personal rather than the detached nature of the earlier games. This makes more sense in the context of the story.
If there is still one big knock I have, it is NLIPS being on. I think that's an option I could toggle at the beginning, but I want it about half the scale it is now. You can really tell the difference in sizes when you go to dock turrets, because the attachment reticle is the size of the real ship versus the NLIPS scale. The biggest downside is that NLIPS makes the fighters feel like they are moving WAY slower than they should be. It throws off the sense of scale of the whole game.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
So... I definitely threw money at gearbox....was it 3 years ago? Have not gotten a key.
Are any of the extras worth it? Should I just stick with the base game?
They are mostly cosmetics for War Games. If you threw money at Gearbox, check your spam or promotions folder, you should have something there. If not, I can point you towards resources to get it figured out.
I could get used to the camera stuff, my main concern mechanically is just pathfinding and AI stuff, like ships doing nothing
I'm also not a big micro guy so I hope there's not a ton of that required? Beyond that they can do what they like, I just wanna have big fleets fight other big fleets and me watch the pretty lasers and explosions
The ships doing nothing bit is annoying. It seems to relate to when they are in parade formation, or when they aren't set to "Aggressive." I am trying to play with the modern camera controls, but that locks out the keyboard shortcuts under WASDQE.
There was a lot of Micro in the War Games demo, because the fighters had an extremely short cooldown on their ability. In the full game, they've slowed that WAY down so you don't have to constantly slam abilities. Positioning and terrain do still play a factor.
The game is absolutely breathtaking, graphically speaking. I am okay with them going FMV for the cutscenes, as it makes the story a bit more personal rather than the detached nature of the earlier games. This makes more sense in the context of the story.
If there is still one big knock I have, it is NLIPS being on. I think that's an option I could toggle at the beginning, but I want it about half the scale it is now. You can really tell the difference in sizes when you go to dock turrets, because the attachment reticle is the size of the real ship versus the NLIPS scale. The biggest downside is that NLIPS makes the fighters feel like they are moving WAY slower than they should be. It throws off the sense of scale of the whole game.
I submitted a ticket on the gearbox website with the appropriate tag, no response yet.
I am torn between waiting to play and getting money back or just throwing more money into the pit.
Just checked my promotions and general tabs. No correspondence about Homeworld 3
So... I definitely threw money at gearbox....was it 3 years ago? Have not gotten a key.
Are any of the extras worth it? Should I just stick with the base game?
They are mostly cosmetics for War Games. If you threw money at Gearbox, check your spam or promotions folder, you should have something there. If not, I can point you towards resources to get it figured out.
I could get used to the camera stuff, my main concern mechanically is just pathfinding and AI stuff, like ships doing nothing
I'm also not a big micro guy so I hope there's not a ton of that required? Beyond that they can do what they like, I just wanna have big fleets fight other big fleets and me watch the pretty lasers and explosions
The ships doing nothing bit is annoying. It seems to relate to when they are in parade formation, or when they aren't set to "Aggressive." I am trying to play with the modern camera controls, but that locks out the keyboard shortcuts under WASDQE.
There was a lot of Micro in the War Games demo, because the fighters had an extremely short cooldown on their ability. In the full game, they've slowed that WAY down so you don't have to constantly slam abilities. Positioning and terrain do still play a factor.
The game is absolutely breathtaking, graphically speaking. I am okay with them going FMV for the cutscenes, as it makes the story a bit more personal rather than the detached nature of the earlier games. This makes more sense in the context of the story.
If there is still one big knock I have, it is NLIPS being on. I think that's an option I could toggle at the beginning, but I want it about half the scale it is now. You can really tell the difference in sizes when you go to dock turrets, because the attachment reticle is the size of the real ship versus the NLIPS scale. The biggest downside is that NLIPS makes the fighters feel like they are moving WAY slower than they should be. It throws off the sense of scale of the whole game.
So I'm reading from reviews that HW3 is doing that crap where they auto-hyperspace you out at the end of a stage the same way HW2 did? Can anybody confirm that? Always hated that in HW2. Yes, I know the game scaled with you so there's really no incentive to sit around resource gathering and rebuilding, but I'd very much rather hyperspace when I feel like it, not cause the game is forcing me along.
So I'm reading from reviews that HW3 is doing that crap where they auto-hyperspace you out at the end of a stage the same way HW2 did? Can anybody confirm that? Always hated that in HW2. Yes, I know the game scaled with you so there's really no incentive to sit around resource gathering and rebuilding, but I'd very much rather hyperspace when I feel like it, not cause the game is forcing me along.
Yeah, all missions end after you finish all objectives.
Wargames is the one lets you hang out as much as you can hold on (if you feel like it.)
( < . . .
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I only got a few missions in before Dyson Sphere Program took over my life again (nothing against Homeworld, just.. OMG the way my brain works), but I never really felt the lack of harvesting affecting things between missions. Admittedly I stopped because I just ran into a mission that I couldn't brute force, so that may impact, but a lot of the missions end with events or cutscenes where it made sense to not wait around.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Patch day!
It's listed as a Hotfix, so small stuff.
Hotfix Patch - 1.02
Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining us for launch.
Today we are releasing a hotfix (1.02) for Homeworld 3 that addresses a few quick-fix issues we’ve seen so far.
We know many of you have shared a much broader spectrum of feedback and we want you to know that we’re listening and digesting every piece of it. We are currently investigating what changes can be made and how they can be implemented, and appreciate your patience while we do so.
We’re looking to have a more thorough response soon that will speak to what we’ve heard from players and how we’ll be addressing your feedback. You can anticipate that message coming soon, but didn’t want that larger conversation to stop us from addressing bugs we’re able to fix now.
We have released an update for Homeworld 3 that addresses the following issues:
Entitlements for Fleet Command Extra Content, Backer Extra Content, Pre-Order bonus are not registered by the game on EGS.
A login screen would occasionally appear when losing connection in multiplayer lobbies.
Ships built from a Carrier could occasionally be unable to be selected and unresponsive to orders.
Another player joining a Skirmish lobby could reset the map selection to Deep Space
Looking forward, we are looking to release another update next week with improvements to AZERTY & QWERTZ key rebindings, and some progression-blocking bugs. We’ll be able to give more information on those when we’re closer to that update’s release.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
Hotfix Patch - 1.02
Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining us for launch.
Today we are releasing a hotfix (1.02) for Homeworld 3 that addresses a few quick-fix issues we’ve seen so far.
We know many of you have shared a much broader spectrum of feedback and we want you to know that we’re listening and digesting every piece of it. We are currently investigating what changes can be made and how they can be implemented, and appreciate your patience while we do so.
We’re looking to have a more thorough response soon that will speak to what we’ve heard from players and how we’ll be addressing your feedback. You can anticipate that message coming soon, but didn’t want that larger conversation to stop us from addressing bugs we’re able to fix now.
We have released an update for Homeworld 3 that addresses the following issues:
Entitlements for Fleet Command Extra Content, Backer Extra Content, Pre-Order bonus are not registered by the game on EGS.
A login screen would occasionally appear when losing connection in multiplayer lobbies.
Ships built from a Carrier could occasionally be unable to be selected and unresponsive to orders.
Another player joining a Skirmish lobby could reset the map selection to Deep Space
Looking forward, we are looking to release another update next week with improvements to AZERTY & QWERTZ key rebindings, and some progression-blocking bugs. We’ll be able to give more information on those when we’re closer to that update’s release.
Well I finished the campaign.
I think the biggest issues on balance is that bombers are too easily killed and rail gun Corvettes stand still to fire. So removes any value to being a Corvette, as every class vessel can kill it with ease.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited May 18
A thing I learnt from following a BBI dev team member giving out tips is that you can right click bombers and set them to auto cloak. Soon as they stop attacking, they recloak. Rail gun corvettes are specifically designed to kill capital ships, and are a great source of quick to create and send out dps against these very tanky capital ships. They are not meant to engage strike craft. They're sorta like a movable sniper, weak to being attacked, and should be babied that way, and not sent against any furball whatsoever. Leave them at the back of your fleet until after the other units have engaged and then send them in to pinpoint large targets and take them out. Use the interceptors as distractions and shields, dealing with enemy fighters and distracting bigger craft.
Bombers also work this way, and have no business being sent against anything but big targets they can total quickly. Any other time they should be left cloaked and waiting in ambush.
The "this is how corvettes" work pattern in people's heads from HW1 and 2 doesn't exist at all in this game. Corvettes as they were previously used aren't a thing, as "anti strike craft, weak to frigates" is not a thing. The game even says this on the help text for rail gun corvettes (weak against strike craft). Assault frigates now have the anti strike craft role, since they spit out insane amounts of fast tracking fire. There is no "middle class" general purpose corvette unit that is meant to be an "upgrade" from the interceptor.
It's not an issue it's just different.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
that is good to know, a habit that will have to be unlearned for me
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited May 18
I recommend reading the HW tactical manual it lays out a bit of information on the lore based hiigaran fleet doctrine regarding what kinds of units are Swords/Shields/Hammers. It's a lot of fluff, but the basic idea is that some units are swords, and have no defense. They are designed to attack, and only attack. Bombers and RG corvettes are examples of swords. They cannot defend, and must avoid up front battles. The Hiigaran bomber is so specialised as a sword and so dedicated to this fleet doctrine that it literally can go invisible when not attacking: a sword has no purpose when not swung. Another example is a torpedo frigate. (It's a bit of a strange analogy cos both rail gun and torpedo frigates are snipers but the idea is ALL ATTACK).
To see just how much insane damage a bomber group can put out, make a save, attack something with a bomber fleet in a standard "swing by and attack then swing back" formation, and watch how long it takes to kill it. Reload, then let them swing by, then switch to sphere after they've passed the target and let them pound it. They will vaporise it. I don't necessarily recommend this but it's an example of how dedicated an attack unit they are.
Shields are units that protect while attacking, think Roman Phalanx. They cover for swords, who swing around and smash through the enemy. A notable "Wait that is different to how I thought of it" unit it mentioned as a shield is strike craft. Recons, in particular, with the speed upgrade, are really good at keeping enemies busy. Interceptors are good at swarming all over the place, and can deal some damage if necessary, but they mainly exist as a shield.
And then there's hammers, units with very heavy armor but weak attack, intended to draw attention (buffered by shields) while the swords strike. That's capital ships. In HW2 these units were massively powerful damage dealers, but in this game they're there to be the linchpins of your fleet.
Another trick with this game is don't always set your units to aggressive. Units will use cover when set to passive or neutral: just like hw1, these stances affect their behavior. Units will pop out of cover and shoot then go back in as a notable example. They also navigate terrain much better. On the other hand Aggressive explicitly makes them ignore terain: if all your units are set to aggressive, they charge up, ignore unit behaviors, and you are just throwing a blob against a blob. Sometimes that's what you want, but not all the time.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
I played about half of this campaign today and I am, quite frankly, baffled at how bad the story and cutscenes are turning out to be
I always liked Deserts of Kharak's story, certainly not perfect but the aesthetics and the tone were there! This... wow it looks like shit. Just overanimated facial expressions and cartoonish body language. "Immature" was the word that came to mind, totally different than the elegance and austerity of basically every other Homeworld game. And the actual story itself? So much ink spilled in multiple interviews with the writers, and I feel like this is among the most generic, least interesting space opera narratives I've seen in a while
The missions themselves have been pretty simple, but the gameplay has been up and down -- I've felt like I have a lack of control over my ships, and putting them into formations rarely seems to have the effect I want it to. Strike craft feel particularly brain-dead, just doing repeated strafing runs rather than engaging in any kind of meaningful dogfights, and seem to have no idea how to prioritize targets. There are things I feel like are improvements, but at the same time... I feel like the lack of control I have over things like facing, or maneuvering during an engagement, really hurt my ability to want to engage with the strategy. The terrain and tunnels feel like such a pain in the ass to utilize I haven't bothered outside of the one time they introduce them, and I feel like the UI is super messy, especially with NLIPS on. But turning it off also makes the UI scale down with them! Baffling!!
I'm probably going to finish it, but good god, what a disappointment so far. I preordered the collector's edition! That'll fuckin' teach me, I guess!
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
Yeah I haven't pulled the trigger on buying this yet, and I'm avoiding actual spoilers, but what I'm hearing about the campaign from many different people is that.
Kinda disappointed it took this long and this is what they made, espcially when the first game is held up as the golds standard of 'this is how you tell a great story in an RTS'.
Posts
From Noelle:
They didn't link it in the announcement, but This is the blog post being talked about.
It is SUPER cool to see modding support baked in, even if the dedicated skirmish mode editor is not available at launch.
That skirmish mode editor is apparently only going to be available through the Epic Games Store, which.. well, Unreal, so not surprising.
No, this does not mean HW3 is available.
They don't say the exact time zone, so I'm assuming pacific.
That said?
WE ARE GOING CLOSED SPOILERS FOR CAMPAIGN MODE CONTENT.
I've been waiting for this game for 20 goddamn years, but at the same time I don't want to ignore my own thread. So I'm going to ask everyone to be respectful of this. We're gonna follow similar rules to the discord.
Please use spoiler tags for the following:
- Any discussion about the story of the Homeworld 3 campaign in its entirety, or in-part.
- Any characters revealed within the campaign whom we were not already familiar with.
- Any special campaign-only ships/technology or otherwise single-player campaign specific assets.
- Any lore specifically mentioned within the single-player campaign.
With that said? War Games is up for grabs. I suspect there will be some high level fleets that unlock in that, and they may tie back to the campaign, but let's be respectful if that shows up.
I have no clue how popular this game will be around here. I'm hopeful. I really, REALLY hope this lives up to my expectations. I dunno.
Tomorrow, I'll find out.
I am not the person to ask for help on making poor life decisions around Homeworld. I mean, I own the board game, the RPG, 2 collector's editions, extra soundtracks, and so on...
Yes, Unreal Engine is only available, for free, through Epic's store regardless of what game it is or where the game is sold. And there is no real difference between their "mod editor" and base Unreal Engine. It's the same tool, just with some additional files bundled in the download for game-specific code/objects you need to facilitate modding that particular game. Hence why mod editor distribution has the same restrictions as base Unreal Engine.
What tends to delay mod editor releases is the developers almost always have additional proprietary helper tools/code in their own Unreal installs that need to be removed since they don't have rights for public redistribution. But they need to do additional testing to verify things don't break for modders when that extra code is removed. And that testing is obviously lower priority than getting the game out the door.
My key was in my CE. Here's the official post from Gearbox:
edit: there also might be a little Syngyne flying around in someone's fleet if they accepted my pilot name.
1. My Fig backer rewards went into my google "Promotions" area instead of into my spam folder, so worth checking out.
2. Nuff said.
3. Yes, it's Gearbox, so that means Twitch Drops and Shift codes.
https://www.homeworlduniverse.com/homeworld-3-launch-day-twitch-drops/
Look, all I'm gonna say is... The intro is perfect. Exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you, BBI.
Edit: Okay, I have to stop. I saw something 10 minutes in that made me positively giddy, and if I keep going I will be playing it through work.
Sounds like a lot of people are having issues with Steam unlocking, but the GBX folks are on that.
Ran the benchmark, and it got a bit chunky on my 3090 with everything but nebulas set to high. Too many tiny ships and laser beams
To be quite honest, the story itself of Homeworld 2 is fairly forgettable. The biggest thing it does is introduce the Progenitors and the significance of the Hyperspace cores.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
edit: or wait... could it be The Beast?
I'll probably get this picked up eventually, I've already got games in need of playing from earlier this week
Warframe/Steam: NFyt
It's... still taking me some getting used to. I threw it into the modern control scheme, which is WASD + QE for up and down. I also skipped the tutorial because I did it during War Games. The sense of scale is really kind of hard to judge sometimes with a fully floating camera, and of course being new to everything.
The biggest issue still seems to be that ships just sit there if you don't actively set them to an aggressive stance, which is tough when you are trying to survive an assault.
Story spoiler, I'd say 6-7 missions in:
You can tell Battlestar Galactica taught this crew a lot.
Are any of the extras worth it? Should I just stick with the base game?
I'm also not a big micro guy so I hope there's not a ton of that required? Beyond that they can do what they like, I just wanna have big fleets fight other big fleets and me watch the pretty lasers and explosions
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
They are mostly cosmetics for War Games. If you threw money at Gearbox, check your spam or promotions folder, you should have something there. If not, I can point you towards resources to get it figured out.
The ships doing nothing bit is annoying. It seems to relate to when they are in parade formation, or when they aren't set to "Aggressive." I am trying to play with the modern camera controls, but that locks out the keyboard shortcuts under WASDQE.
There was a lot of Micro in the War Games demo, because the fighters had an extremely short cooldown on their ability. In the full game, they've slowed that WAY down so you don't have to constantly slam abilities. Positioning and terrain do still play a factor.
The game is absolutely breathtaking, graphically speaking. I am okay with them going FMV for the cutscenes, as it makes the story a bit more personal rather than the detached nature of the earlier games. This makes more sense in the context of the story.
If there is still one big knock I have, it is NLIPS being on. I think that's an option I could toggle at the beginning, but I want it about half the scale it is now. You can really tell the difference in sizes when you go to dock turrets, because the attachment reticle is the size of the real ship versus the NLIPS scale. The biggest downside is that NLIPS makes the fighters feel like they are moving WAY slower than they should be. It throws off the sense of scale of the whole game.
I submitted a ticket on the gearbox website with the appropriate tag, no response yet.
I am torn between waiting to play and getting money back or just throwing more money into the pit.
Just checked my promotions and general tabs. No correspondence about Homeworld 3
You can modify NLIPS in the settings
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Yeah, all missions end after you finish all objectives.
Wargames is the one lets you hang out as much as you can hold on (if you feel like it.)
It's listed as a Hotfix, so small stuff.
Well I finished the campaign.
I think the biggest issues on balance is that bombers are too easily killed and rail gun Corvettes stand still to fire. So removes any value to being a Corvette, as every class vessel can kill it with ease.
Bombers also work this way, and have no business being sent against anything but big targets they can total quickly. Any other time they should be left cloaked and waiting in ambush.
The "this is how corvettes" work pattern in people's heads from HW1 and 2 doesn't exist at all in this game. Corvettes as they were previously used aren't a thing, as "anti strike craft, weak to frigates" is not a thing. The game even says this on the help text for rail gun corvettes (weak against strike craft). Assault frigates now have the anti strike craft role, since they spit out insane amounts of fast tracking fire. There is no "middle class" general purpose corvette unit that is meant to be an "upgrade" from the interceptor.
It's not an issue it's just different.
To see just how much insane damage a bomber group can put out, make a save, attack something with a bomber fleet in a standard "swing by and attack then swing back" formation, and watch how long it takes to kill it. Reload, then let them swing by, then switch to sphere after they've passed the target and let them pound it. They will vaporise it. I don't necessarily recommend this but it's an example of how dedicated an attack unit they are.
Shields are units that protect while attacking, think Roman Phalanx. They cover for swords, who swing around and smash through the enemy. A notable "Wait that is different to how I thought of it" unit it mentioned as a shield is strike craft. Recons, in particular, with the speed upgrade, are really good at keeping enemies busy. Interceptors are good at swarming all over the place, and can deal some damage if necessary, but they mainly exist as a shield.
And then there's hammers, units with very heavy armor but weak attack, intended to draw attention (buffered by shields) while the swords strike. That's capital ships. In HW2 these units were massively powerful damage dealers, but in this game they're there to be the linchpins of your fleet.
Another trick with this game is don't always set your units to aggressive. Units will use cover when set to passive or neutral: just like hw1, these stances affect their behavior. Units will pop out of cover and shoot then go back in as a notable example. They also navigate terrain much better. On the other hand Aggressive explicitly makes them ignore terain: if all your units are set to aggressive, they charge up, ignore unit behaviors, and you are just throwing a blob against a blob. Sometimes that's what you want, but not all the time.
I always liked Deserts of Kharak's story, certainly not perfect but the aesthetics and the tone were there! This... wow it looks like shit. Just overanimated facial expressions and cartoonish body language. "Immature" was the word that came to mind, totally different than the elegance and austerity of basically every other Homeworld game. And the actual story itself? So much ink spilled in multiple interviews with the writers, and I feel like this is among the most generic, least interesting space opera narratives I've seen in a while
The missions themselves have been pretty simple, but the gameplay has been up and down -- I've felt like I have a lack of control over my ships, and putting them into formations rarely seems to have the effect I want it to. Strike craft feel particularly brain-dead, just doing repeated strafing runs rather than engaging in any kind of meaningful dogfights, and seem to have no idea how to prioritize targets. There are things I feel like are improvements, but at the same time... I feel like the lack of control I have over things like facing, or maneuvering during an engagement, really hurt my ability to want to engage with the strategy. The terrain and tunnels feel like such a pain in the ass to utilize I haven't bothered outside of the one time they introduce them, and I feel like the UI is super messy, especially with NLIPS on. But turning it off also makes the UI scale down with them! Baffling!!
I'm probably going to finish it, but good god, what a disappointment so far. I preordered the collector's edition! That'll fuckin' teach me, I guess!
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Kinda disappointed it took this long and this is what they made, espcially when the first game is held up as the golds standard of 'this is how you tell a great story in an RTS'.