Homeworld

For other uses, see Homeworld (disambiguation).

Homeworld
Developer(s)	Relic Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Sierra Entertainment
Composer(s)	Paul Ruskay
Version	1.05
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	September 28, 1999; 12 years ago (1999-September-28)
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy Real-time tactics Space simulation
Mode(s)	Singleplayer and multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E

Homeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was the first fully three-dimensional RTS.^[1] In 2003, Relic released the source code for Homeworld.^[2] Homeworld was the beginning of a series, followed in 2000 with Homeworld: Cataclysm and in 2003 with Homeworld 2.

Plot

For thousands of years, the Kushan survived on the arid planet Kharak, corralled into the temperate geographical poles by a vast hot desert. Scarcity of arable land and natural resources had colored Kushan history with near constant warfare between the many clans. One day however, everything changed: a satellite detected a huge spaceship under the sands of the Great Desert. It carried advanced spaceflight technologies including a Hyperspace device for faster-than-light space voyage. More importantly, a stone with a galactic map bearing two coordinates was found: One, located at the outer rim of the galaxy, was Kharak. The other, located near the center, bore a name so ancient it was common across all their languages and dialects: Hiigara, "Home".

The discovery united the people of Kharak. They worked for nearly a century on building the Mothership, a vast ship that would bear 600,000 of them to their destination. Technologies that never existed before were developed.

Central to the Mothership was Karan S'jet, the scientist who developed the science of integrating computers into human nervous system. Because the Mothership was so large and complex that needed a forbiddingly huge bridge crew, Karan proposed to joint the Mothership's control system into her own nervous system. She became the core of the Mothership and was known as the Fleet Command.

The maiden voyage of the Mothership turned into a tragedy: As scheduled, Mothership performed its first hyperspace jump, disappearing from its location near planet Kharak and appearing outside the Kharak solar system where it expected an engineering crew. Instead, it found a hostile alien fleet which had massacred the engineering crew awaiting their arrival. The Kushan managed to defeat the alien fleet and return to Kharak, only to find it burning in flames. Those left on Kharak were all dead. The chosen 600,000 were all that had survived.

The Kushan set out on their journey with a revenge. Having captured an enemy frigate, they learned of the location of the fleet that had destroyed the Kharak. They also learned that their enemy was Taiidan, a tyrannical intergalactic empire which had ordered their destruction merely because Kushan's development of a faster-than-light drive was a violation of a treaty signed fourteen thousands years ago – a time that predated Kharak's known history. En route to the enemy location, they encountered the enigmatic race of space-faring traders called The Bentusi who sell them designs of new weapons.

Having destroyed the Taiidan fleet responsible for the Kharak massacre, the Kushan become aware of huge Taiidan outposts along their way and set out to circumvent them. Their course took them through many hazards: A dangerous asteroids field, a turbulent nebula in which a huge fleet of zealous adversaries laid in ambush and a mysterious ship that could take possession of any capital ship that approached it. Occasionally, the were visited by the Bentusi and purchased designs of advanced weapons.

An encounter with the Taiidan however was inevitable. The Taiidan emperor saw Bentusi as a serious threat and ordered its destruction. The Kushan fleet arrived in time to rescue the Bentusi mothership. In return, the Bentusi told the Kushan about how their ancestors were exiled to Kharak fourteen thousand years ago and how their return was prophesied. The Bentusi promised to summon the Galactic Counsel and help establish the Kushan claim to Hiigara.

The Kushan later gave sanctuary to a defecting Taiidan rebel, one Captian Elson. With the help of Captain Elson, they penetrated the Hiigaran system blockade and engaged the massive Taiidan fleet in one last epic battle. Despite Taiidan's deadly combat strategy and the Taiidan imperial flagship that mysteriously sent Karan into coma, the Kushan emerged victorious. The Galactic Counsel arrived shortly thereafter and approved Kushan's claim to Hiigara, which turned out a beautiful lush world. Karan S'jet survived the extraction from the mothership.

Characters and races

In Homeworld's story, individual characters have very little significance; rather, it is the races that make the story by their action, combined by the context-sensitive game music and the narrations given between missions. When there is a need for a race to speak, an unnamed spokesperson does so.

Characters

• Fleet Command Karan S'jet: The leader and executive commander of the Kushan forces, Karan was a neuroscientist who gave birth to the technology of integrating cybernetic devices into human neural system, allowing human to control them. Karan is heard frequently but is not seen except at the beginning and the end of the game. She is a middle-aged slender woman with long hair. She is one of the two characters that narrates the story. During the game, she alerts the player of important events in the game.
• Fleet Intelligence: A male character that generates mission objectives and analyzes sensor data in single player campaign. He also narrates the game story. He is not heard in multiplayer games.
• Captain Elson: Commander of the Taiidani destroyer–class ship Kapella and the leader of the Taiidan revolution against the emperor. He appears in mission 12, mission 13 and the last mission. He believes that the Taiidan empire has grown corrupt over the centuries.
• Taiidan Emperor: Nothing is known about him except that he is a ruthless dictator. He appears in the final mission and commands the Taiidan fleet from his mothership–class command ship. Before the mission, he contacts Karan (apparently through no perceivable medium) and sends Karan into coma. His death restores Karan.

Races

• Kushan: The primary protagonists of the game. Fourteen thousands years before the events of the game, they were defeated in a galactic battle and are sent into exile. They travel for centuries using conventional drives. Most die. The rest reach Kharak. As a result, they forget their origin and technology and therefore do not know that they must not develop faster-than-light drive technology. After the destruction of Kharak, the Kushan harbor nothing but hatred and vengeance for their enemies; they show no mercy to Taiidan. The Kushan are one of the two teams available in multiplayer games.
• Taiidan: A galactic empire that rules most of the galaxy in which the game's story takes place. The empire is ruled by a ruthless emperor. During the game, the empire is in the state of open revolt. The Taiidan is the primary antagonist of the game and one of the two playable teams in multiplayer games. Most of the combat vessels of Kushan and Taiidan are similar in functionality, though different in shape.
• Bentusi: An space-faring race of traders, the Bentusi is a peaceful race. The Bentusi spokesperson is an enigmatic no-nonsense and to-the-point person. He usually says no more than a few sentences. The only exception is mission 11, where he tells the story of the Kushan exodus.
• Kadeshi: A race seen only in missions 7 and 8, they are descendants of the exiled who never reached Kharak. Instead, they entered an electronically charged nebula that hid them from detection by any outside sensor. This nebula eventually became the center of their existence. The Kadeshi ambush any visitor from the outside. Newcomers are given two options: To join, or to die. Kadeshi rely on large numbers of very fast and very agile small combat ships known as Swarmers which are analogous to angry wasps. Their motherships can prevent enemy vessels from performing a hyperspace jump. The Kushan were the first to ever leave their nebula by force.
• Turanic Raiders: Space pirates who were at the time of the game employed by the Taiidan Empire to help attack the Kharak. They were not seen since mission 5.

Gameplay

The game takes place in outer space where there is no gravity and ships may travel in any direction in the three dimension. Few elements, such as asteroids, dust clouds and intense radiation may impair ship movements.

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 (e.g. the Kushan Assault Frigate versus the Taiidan Assault Frigate) look different but have identical vital statistics and functionality. However, each race features two unique units: The Kushan possesses Cloaking Fighter and Drone Frigate, while the Taiidan produces Defense Fighter and Defense Field Frigate.

Resources are gathered by harvesting dust clouds and mineral-rich asteroids using special resource collector ships. Resource collectors may return their harvest either to a mothership or a resource controller ship.

The user interface is minimalistic: The only toolbar appears only when the cursor is moved to the bottom of the screen. Orders such as moving or assuming certain formations are given either from a context menu (invoked by right-click) or via hotkeys.

The inclusion of unrestricted unit movement in all three dimensions adds a tactical dynamic not encountered in typical ground based real time strategy games where movement is on a two dimensional plane. Since the area of play is generally void of significant obstacles to create "terrain", there is little emphasis on the control of a certain choke point in order to establish defensive perimeters, although minelayer corvettes can be used to create them.

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 (as long as they are not destroyed). The ultimate goal of the single player mode is to find Hiigara, the homeworld of the Kushan. The player may choose to play with Taiidan instead of Kushan, but the story remains unchanged.

Multiplayer

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 community operated RelicNews forums, the publishers official forum for the game, and on IRC.

Homeworld's original multiplayer lobby system, which was called WON, was closed in October 2008. To play online the player needed to create an account and download the latest patch (or version). However, players are still able to play online through the usage of third-party solutions such as GameRanger and Hamachi.^[3] Active clans include HG (Honor Guard) and SF (Soban Force).

Real world references

The game storyline has many parallels to The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their search for the promised land.

Mission 13 ("The Karos Graveyard - The Shining Hinterlands") also bears some resemblances to Homer's Odyssey. The mission objective is to send a strikecraft to dock with a derelict ship to establish a communication link. This alludes to the search for the blind oracle. The Karos Graveyard is protected by a ship called Junkyard Dog, an allusion to Cerberus.

Missions 7 and 8 ("Gardens of Kadesh" and "Cathedral of Kadesh" also allude to the real-world Kadesh.

Design

The spaceship designs in this game bear a strong resemblance to the designs popularized by illustrators Chris Foss and Peter Elson, who are both mentioned in the special thanks section of the game's end credits, and the latter being referenced in game by the leader of the Taiidan rebellion during the Homeworld War, Captain Elson.

Musical score

The soundtrack CD-ROM

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. It includes 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.

Paul Ruskay won the Best Score Award for the Homeworld Soundtrack at the Gaming Globes 2000.^[4]

Reception

Homeworld was given high marks by most of the gaming community, and earned numerous awards, including both PC Gamer's and 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.^[5][6]

Awards

• E3 1999 - Game Critics Awards: Best Strategy Games^[7]
• IGN 1999 - Game of the Year
• PC Gamer 1999 - Game of the Year
• Well-Rounded Entertainment 1999 - Game of the Year
• Gaming Globes 1999 - Best Original Score: Paul Ruskay and Roger Savoie for Homeworld^[4]

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.

Compatibility

Homeworld remains fully compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Graphical glitches may occur when not using the software renderer. OpenGL may be enabled by running the game in compatibility mode of Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 5). The game is locked at a 4:3 aspect ratio. However, widescreen resolutions may be applied by editing the registry. ^[8]

References

1. ^ TDA (2008-06-06). "The History of Real Time Strategy, Part 3.2: Polygons and Pixels, continued". gamereplays.org. http://www.gamereplays.org/portals.php?show=page&name=the_history_of_real_time_strategy_pt3_2. Retrieved 2011-03-23. "Homeworld was the first fully three-dimensional RTS game to be released." 
2. ^ Largent, Andy (2003-10-08). "Homeworld Source Code Released". www.insidemacgames.com. http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=8516. Retrieved 2011-01-10. 
3. ^ "Homeworld Multiplayer Revival". Relicnews. http://www.relicnews.com/archives/2009/09/homeworld-multiplayer-revival. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Gaming Globes 2000 results". eurogamer.net. 2000-04-05. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gg2000_2. Retrieved 2011-01-11. "Best Original Score: Paul Ruskay and Roger Savoie for Homeworld" 
5. ^ Bedford, John (2010-09-12). "Retrospective: Homeworld". Eurogamer.net. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-12-retrospective-homeworld-article. Retrieved 2011-01-21. 
6. ^ Dietz, Jason (July 26, 2010). "Ranked: Best and Worst Computer Strategy Games". metacritics.com. http://features.metacritic.com/features/2010/best-and-worst-computer-strategy-games/. Retrieved 2011-01-21. "Top 10, Position 3: Homeworld (1999)" 
7. ^ Vincent Lopez (1999-10-01). "Homeworld - Welcome to the best game of the year.". ign.com. http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/153/153786p1.html. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
8. ^ http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55

External links

• Official website
• Homeworld at MobyGames
• Homeworld wiki on wikia
• Homeworld Source code - mirror on filefront.com
• HomeSource - The Homeworld SDL Project (a project attempting to re-create the game from the source code released)