Strategy

Homeworld2 skirmishing ain't as obvious as it looks. For those of you used to games that have ground and terrain to work with, empty space is hard enough. Just learning to marshal the camera and navigate around the battlefield is going to take a little practise. It can be more than just a little brain bending to start with - this game seems to heavily tax new parts of your brain compared to the usual ground -hogging strategy games. Learn those keyboard shortcuts; make use of numbered selections; and take a little time to practise using Strike-Forces - they all make life a lot more easier and more manageable. While there can be ponderously slow delays building ships and moving fleets around, when it comes to the actual battles things are fast and furious, and your fate can quickly spiral out of your control. Generally, if you enter any battle unprepared, or underpowered, or with a serious hole in your force's defences, your deficencies will be quickly revealed and your forces will be swiftly routed.

Knowing your units is important. There's a bit of a learning curve. RTSC recommends beginners play the Hiigarans to learn basic game mechanics, and then proceed to the Vaygr if you're feeling more adventurous and want to experiment with strategy and tactics. More advanced players who like to fine tune their strategies and game will find the Vaygr more to their liking. They aren't as obvious to pick up as the Hiigarans, even though they can seriously overpower the Hiigarans in the hands of a good player.

There's only one major thing that disappoints in Homeworld2: despite all the scrumptious graphics, wonderful details and all that amazing battle action, you'll nearly always spend a lot of time zoomed right out with NLIPS turned on - or worse, spend most of your time in the Sensors Manager watching dozens on colour coded pixels flying around. Sight seeing is rarely an option, unless you like losing games. Even more infuriating, there's no game recording in Homeworld2! AARGH! Even a medium sized skirmish generates some extraordinary visuals - but you'll probably never, ever see them.

Anyway, its still all good jolly fun. Just be aware that your first games can be very frustrating - but the payoffs can be huge. These RTSC pages are about letting you know what you're working with, not supplying you with a set of team strats or winning shopping lists.


Whats not in Homeworld2

Actually, quite a lot changed and the new game has a very different feel to the old one. For old Homeworld vets, the biggest and most shocking alteration to the sequel were Formations being struck from the game. Or rather, they've been largely replaced by the Strike-Force, which only looks like a formation; and Squadrons, which no longer need them except as a visual cue for Tactics settings. There's no Refueling either. Strikecraft can fly forever without running out of juice. Support Frigates are now exctinct. In fact, there's no Support at all! (Oh, the pain!) If you need to repair your Strikecraft and replace casualties, you have to dock them at the nearest Docking Bay. Fortunately, there's a lot more docking bays this time around, and Carriers are essential items in your fleet. Frigates and Capitals can repair themselves (very slowly) but can't dock for repairs. You can only use Resource Collectors to repair ships, but repair orders for your workers have many restrictions.

There's no Salvaging. If you want to capture enemy ships, you have to use Marine and Infiltrator Frigates to forcibly hijack them. These units have been severely capped and are all to easy to nobble. You only need one Frigate to capture an enemy vessel, and the time it takes to capture it depends on the size of the target - which can be lengthy when it comes to Motherships. Unfortunately, doubling up Marine Frigates does bugger all to speeding things up. I have to say, I really do miss the old Salvage Corvettes... Actually, the nearest thing you get to "salvage" in Homeworld2 is using your Resource Collectors to gather wreckage from any destroyed Capital craft. But this is really a variation on harvesting.