Homeworld
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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.
Plot
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.
The Kushan people have lived on a planet called Kharak, a hot and inhospitable desert world. The northern polar region had been settled for time out of mind. They are a organized into a society of kiith clans, each of which embodies unique religious and cultural traits. The major kiithid include Gaalsien, Naabal, Paktu, Soban, S'jet, and Manaan. Kharak's extremely inhospitable climate eventually led many Kushan to question how they evolved on it in the first place, and DNA comparisons between Kushans and other native life eventually proved that, in fact, they hadn't. The question of where they did come from was answered by a malfunctioning satellite which accidentally scanned the surface of the planet, penetrating to a depth of 75 meters, and detected metal in the vast, inhospitable reaches of the equatorial deserts. An expedition sent to the site discovered a huge alien ship, the Khar-Toba. Within the Khar-Toba was found an artifact that would change Kushan life forever: an artificially-created stone, etched with a crude galactic map. A dot on a spiral arm clearly represented Kharak; a line connected this dot to another on the inner rim, a dot labeled with a word so ancient that it predated the kiithid themselves:
Hiigara. " Our Home."
The clans were united toward the goal of journeying towards the game's eponymous homeworld and discovering the reasons behind their departure. However, this was far easier said than done. No one on Kharak could decide just what the journey would entail, so the decision was made to construct a ship that could handle anything. The resulting vessel, known simply as The Mothership, is over 50 kilometers on its longest axis and required 60 years to build. It demanded huge advances in science and technology (many of them back-engineered from the Khar-Toba) and every resource Kharak could muster. 600,000 colonists were frozen in cryogenic sleep for the journey, and an internal construction bay and hangar allowed for rapid construction and storage of all fleet auxiliaries. The bridge crew was staffed day and night by the best tacticians, navigators, diplomats and scientists Kharak had to offer. As no computers could be developed that were powerful or efficient enough to coordinate all this activity, Karan S'jet, a young female neuroscientist, integrated her physical body into the Mothership to serve as its living CPU. She now serves as Fleet Command.
The player receives this information via both an in-game introductory movie (rendered in hand-drawn, black-and-white animations) and, in far greater detail, through the game's manual.
After an initial tutorial mission, the Mothership tests her hyperdrive by jumping to the outskirts of the Kharak system. An assistant ship, the Khar-Selim, has been on its way to the same coordinates for the last ten years using more conventional sub light drives, but when the Mothership arrives, only wreckage greets them. The ship has been destroyed by unidentified hostile forces (eventually identified as the Turanic Raiders), which attack the Mothership as well. After defending herself, the Mothership returns to Kharak for repairs. However, in the Mothership's absence, Kharak was attacked by the Taiidan, a large interstellar empire which now controls Hiigara and viciously opposes the Kushan attempt to reclaim their homeworld. The remaining surface population of Kharak, approximately three hundred million in number, is annihilated by atmospheric deprivation weapons. The Kushan race, now reduced to 650,000 people (the vast majority of which are frozen aboard the Cryo Trays), swears revenge and sets off after the Taiidani fleet.
During their travels, the Kushan survivors meet the Bentusi, a benevolent group of traders who provide technology and information. They also re-experience the Turanic Raiders, and encounter the enigmatic Kadeshi, who defend their chosen nebula home with fanatical zeal. All the while the Kushan continue to research new technologies and spacecraft advances, eventually amassing a significant fleet, and face increasing hostility from the Taiidan Empire.
After the Mothership and the Kushan rescue a Bentusi tradeship from Taiidan forces, the Bentusi reveal some of their history: the Kushan once ruled a mighty empire from Hiigara, but were overthrown by the Taiidan. The Hiigarans were exiled to Kharak (a small segment stayed in a nebula, eventually becoming the Kadeshi) and were forbidden on pain of death from entering hyperspace again, resulting in the horrific, if technically lawful, razing of Kharak. The Taiidan Emperor, claim the Bentusi, will stop at nothing to prevent the Exiles from reaching their goal. However, the Bentusi hope to gain sympathy for the Kushan with the Galactic Council; and a groundswell of rebellion within the Taiidani Empire itself, most specifically in the form of military defector Captain Elson, who provides needed intelligence and a supplemental fleet, also aid the Exiles in their quest.
In a final battle above Hiigara, the Kushan fleet, augmented by Captain Elson's forces, destroys the Taiidan Emperor and succeeds in reclaiming their Homeworld.
Gameplay
Homeworld is known both for its massive online community and single player elements. 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.
Single-player
The single-player campaign includes 16 missions, and focuses on a fleet inheritance 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 are the canonical "heroes").
Multi-player
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.
Homeworld's original multiplayer lobby system still functions and remains in use. 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.
Musical score
With the exception of a song by the rock group Yes entitled "Homeworld", 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.
Developmental history
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Homeworld was influenced by the many earlier RTS games. Homeworld's battles, involving hundreds of small ships and dozens of larger ones, were similar by George Lucas's Star Wars, as well as J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5. The concept of a large mothership carrying exiles to their homeworld has much in common with Battlestar Galactica.
Mods
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] 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.
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 sequel, Homeworld 2, was released in late 2003. The game pits the Hiigarans against the Vaygr, a powerful, nomadic raider race. Articles in both PC Gamer (US) and Game Informer (US) gaming magazines claimed inside information that the production rights for the Homeworld series had been sold or transferred back to Relic. To date, Relic (THQ) or Sierra (VUG) have already publicly confirmed this, a Homeworld 3 should be in the making in a year.
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.
Awards
- E3 1999 Game Critics Awards: Best Strategy Games
- IGN 1999 Game of the Year
- PC Gamer 1999 Game of the Year
See also
References
- Homeworld
- Homeworld Historical and Technical Briefing (Manual)