Homeworld
Description official descriptions
A discovery is about to turn the culture of Kharak upside down. The people, Kushan, are not native to Kharak at all. The discovery of the Guidestone is the ultimate proof that Kushan had came from another solar system, far away. And it's time to go home. The Mothership project united the world. Part base, part construction yard, the Mothership is capable of everything, as you never know what you will find in the void...
Homeworld is a 3D strategy game where you control a mothership and a fleet as you harvest resources, conduct research, and build up your fleet that can vary from small, fast, and nimble scouts to lumbering heavy cruisers. Move your camera in full 3D (up/down/around) and issue full 3D movement orders. Specify 3D formations for your ships, employ cloaked vessels to ambush enemy or employ salvage vessels to capture enemy ships, or defend against them with prox sensors and mines. There is a 17-mission single player campaign, or you can play online in true internet multi-player.
Spellings
- 家园 - Simplified Chinese spelling
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Credits (Windows version)
175 People (132 developers, 43 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 90% (based on 35 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 96 ratings with 10 reviews)
The Good
This is what has to be the 1999 game of the year. Not often is it that a game like this comes along. After playing so many other stratgey games it is good to not see another Clone and Conquer game. Onto Homeworld. First of all the graphics in this game do what they are intended to do, show you in detail battles in space. And they do a good job of it. From the engine trails on scouts to ion cannons cutting ships in half, I found eye candy galore. Good sound dosen't hurt a game either, and Homeworld has some of the best. All of the battle sounds fit perfectly and the music seems to fit, although some people may disagree. Gameplay is great, the computer AI makes fairly smart moves and makes good use of formations. Formations are one of features I really liked in this game. They help provide well rounded attacks. Although the controls may take a little getting used to, once down, they work very well. I say bravo Relic and Sierra, keep up the good work.
The Bad
What some users may find hard about this game is the control system, but once through the tutorial anyone can be a Homeworld veteran.
The Bottom Line
People throw away Tiberian Sun, put Starcraft on the shelf, a new kid is in town, it goes by the name of Homeworld and it will rock your world.
Windows · by Derrick 'Knight' Steele (2346) · 2000
A fresh, new perspective on the otherwise stale RTS world.
The Good
Homeworld is certainly unique in its approach - a realtime strategy game, set in a true 3D environment. In order to survive in this game, one must abandon the conventional 2D thinking involved with most RTS games. The game maps are set in large cubes, instead of a flat map - enemies can, and often do, attack from above and below. Intelligent resource management is also key - quite often, you only have just enough resources in a given mission to build what you need.
The graphics are quite crisp, the music is wonderful, and the voice acting is also very well done, while at times a bit emotionless (although I believe this to be intentional).
There is also a very extensive backstory and plot to this game - while a bit on the thick side, the backstory in the manual is well worth a read in its entirety.
And my favorite part? Large battles in space - the ships move smoothly through their formations, and combined with the ambiant music the battles become more of a well-orchestrated dance, than a fierce dogfight.
The Bad
At times, managing enormous fleets can get a bit cumbersome; keeping track of all of your units at all times can be a bit of a challenge.
Also, some missions had rather obvious "triggers" - i.e., you complete a certain action, which triggers an attack that you're (usually) unprepared for. But to its credit, even an overwhelming battle can be won with the proper strategy.
The 3D interface can be a bit frustrating at times to the new player, but the tutorial explains the game world very well. The initial learning curve may deter some casual players, but it doesn't take long to become accustomed to it.
The Bottom Line
This game will grab onto you, pull you in, and refuse to let go.
Windows · by Dave Schenet (134) · 2001
The Good
I loved the graphics, sound, music, gameplay and all of that, but what really hit me was the fact that the underlying story line was fresh and interesting. The game manual has tons of background information about the Kushan and their discovery of Hiigara. If you have the game, but ignored the manual, go read it now...if you don't have the game yet, and are an RTS/Sci-Fi fan, get it now, and RTFM. Having a story that draws you into the game makes the single-player missions even more enjoyable.
The Bad
The races aren't exactly diverse...but I'd say that's a minor concern.
The Bottom Line
Real time strategy unlike anything you've ever played before in terms of story, graphics, sound, and gameplay.
Windows · by MA17 (252) · 2000
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Not a 4X game | SharkD (425) | Feb 4, 2009 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Homeworld appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Cut content
When asked, the development team at Relic said the game will feature 5 different races: Taiidan, Kushan,Turanic Raiders, Kadeshi, and T-mat. In the final version, the T-mat was absent. Although the modders community have found a reference to some of their ships in the source, Relic never released more info about them.
Music
The British rock band Yes approached Alex Garden to have their coming song put into an idea for the game. They both came into an agreement liking the idea of how Homeworld is pretty down to reality ('we're all finding a way home') and for this specially this game, Yes produced the song Homeworld / The Ladder which was the newest single of 1999 and the opening song for their album The Ladder. On the album was a Homeworld trailer.
Online servers
The game's online servers (which were hosted on World Opponent Network, or WON) were shut down on 1 November 2008 in the wake of WON's total closure.
References
The game contains a reference to the movie Blade Runner. After playing past mission 7, look at your autosaves. Some of them will have a prefix of "Tenhauser Gate," which is part of the dying words of replicant Roy Batty.
Source code
On 26 September 2003, the Homeworld source code and accompanying documentation was released by Relic on their Relic Developer Network. It has been stripped of code not owned by Relic Entertainment (including but not limited to the Bink SDK). On 21 February 2004, the code was released to the public
Awards
- CNET GameCenter
- 1999 - Strategy Game of the Year
- Computer Gaming World
- March 2000 (Issue #188) – Strategy Game of the Year
- March 2000 (Issue #188) – Best Manual of the Year
- Gamepower
- 1999 - Top 5 Strategy Games
- Gamespot
- 1999 - Best Music of the Year
- GameSpy
- 1999 - Strategy Game of the Year
- 1999 - Outstanding Music Award (together with Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Nocturne)
- 1999 - Outstanding Sound Award (together with Hidden & Dangerous)
- 2012 – #9 Top PC Gaming Intro
- GameStar (Germany)
- Issue 12/1999 - #98 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
- Gonegold
- 1999 - '99 Must Have
- I.D. Magazine
- 2000 - Silver Award (Interactive Media Design)
- PC Gamer
- 1999 - Game of the Year
- April 2005 - #46 on the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
- PC Player (Germany)
- Issue 01/2000 - Most Original Game in 1999
- PC Zone
- 1999 - Game of the Year
- Power Play
- Issue 02/2000 – Most Innovative Game in 1999
Information also contributed by Carlos Aquino, DarkDante; Henry Aloni, Indra was here, Maw; PCGamer77, Sciere and Scott Monster
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Related Sites +
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Homeworld
Relic's website for reference of the game. Includes screenshots, concept art, ships descriptions... -
Homeworld @ GamingHaven.com
Game reviews, links, screenshots and more. -
Pilotview How-To
View the battles from a pilot's point of view! Right click your Homeworld shortcut and add the switch /pilotView to homeworld.exe. In game, focus on any unit and press "Q". This even works for enemy units! The pilotView functionality requires Homeworld version 1.4 or greater.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Rynok.
Additional contributors: Kasey Chang, Unicorn Lynx, Arvin Chandra, Scott Monster, DarkDante, cow, Patrick Bregger, Plok, FatherJack.
Game added September 30, 1999. Last modified March 31, 2024.