#15

I was sort of thinking before that the forums are rather dead, too.

It’s like 30 regular posters and the occasional person that drops by to repeat a topic that’s already on the front page.

It’s really sad. Homeworld deserves so much more. 15+ years later, and HW1 hasn’t budged out of my list of the top 10 best games.

I remember years after HW1 came out, and Cataclysm was out, HW1 WON had as many games going/lobbying-up as HWRM does now 2 weeks after release. :confused:

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#16

Yes, the forums seem rather empty too. I am really intrigued. The sales were awesome but still.

#17

Seems it was near 200k. That’s just okay… Obviously a lot just got it for the singleplayer.

Back when HW1 was sold, 500k was a ton. But now days, lots of indiegames like Gun Point and Dust Force sell 300k-1mil. Cities Skylines seems to have sold 1-2million+ already.

HWRM is at 2,641 peak today. Cities Skylines 58,101.
Evolve is barely more at 4.4k. That’s a game where lots said it would get boring soon after release.
If it sold 200k, a little over 1% are playing it.

Multiplayer games just have to be REALLY good on release for people to latch onto it and tell all their friends to get it and play it with them. :confused: There are cases where they’re revitalized over time, but it’s rare.

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#18

Ok, you guys are just scaring me now.

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#19

So I got the crazy theory but just hear me out.

It’s possible not as many people are playing multiplayer because they’re waiting for more bug fix patches so we can get to the balancing.

But like I said, it’s just some crazy theory I have.

Homeworld isn’t COD and we’re not COD kiddies. Let’s not panic and freak out now.

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#20

Well the hardcore HW players will be there if it’s improved.

I was really hoping the game would sell more than a million copies and be a decent hit, though. I don’t think ending beta will do that without a good PR and advertisement campaign to do with it.

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#21

All the reviews are saying it’s a great. The game looks great, all the meta critic scores etc. are super high. The hard core and modding demographic bought the game regardless and the positive reviews would have swayed the few that didn’t.

What I’m saying is that we can’t make people like or want to play a rather niche game, no matter how good it is.

Might be why a completely new-from-the-ground-up engine was never on the table.

Sometimes people do research and come up with an answer different from what we’d like but they somehow make it work for us few regardless.

The thing though, about some niche games and cult classics, they sometimes have this way of sneaking up on you, steadily over time gathering a following as the smart ones take their time to decide if this is really the game they want. The best part of those guys? They stick around, they’re the ones that will be sitting in the MP lobby 10 years from now, the drama of the first few months after launch not even a memory.

Patience young padawan.

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#22

MP population is kinda concerning right now, it reminds me of the lasts days of HW1 (WON), and HW2 was already out by the time.

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#23

People don’t go by reviews now days. Not to mention the reviews are just plain wrong, and over 90% of them don’t understand how much was changed in HW1RM.

Most sales come from streamers and youtube personalities now days.

The only review that gets shared around a ton is the escapist one that says how the original was better.

Though to be fair, I guess people shouldn’t be playing MP now. 2 races are broken. There’s tons of bugs that have been reported that need fixing. Lots want to wait for patches. But yeah, still concerning just how dead it is.

I sincerely hope that the game is fixed, and when it is people will flood back and it’ll be the most active HW multiplayer game of them all.

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#24

For your answer, all you have to do is browse the forums and HW subreddit. Both are full of threads of people saying this isn’t HW because the fighters don’t behave like they used to, formations aren’t the same, etc. So they whine, whine, and whine some more about how the game is “unplayable” because they are either incapable or unwilling to learn new mechanics because they think the old ones were better. People who are interested in the game read these and say “well, maybe I shouldn’t get/play this game because the fans of the series are trashing it so hard.” Fewer people play it, which makes the people who actually do want to play it not want to play it, so even fewer people play it, and on and on.

I’m one of the HW1 faithful. I played back in 1999, logged pretty much every weekend online for years, and generally had the greatest gaming experiences of my life. And you know what? I love the Remaster. Sure, there are some glaring issues (particularly with fighter balance), but the game is far from unplayable. Despite what everybody has said, it is possible to beat HW2 races with HW1 races; I’ve done it. This is what happens when a bunch of people would rather throw tantrums than learn to work with new things and give the game a legitimate chance.

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#25

I wouldn’t blame people who complain things are different when it’s labeled as ‘Remastered’. I don’t usually see movies change plots when they release a remastered version.

I would be somewhat shocked if they changed the homeworld2 elements especially if the balance gets broken here and there, but at least most are kept as is which makes the game great.

#26

I guess the main disconnect I have with the people who refuse to even give the game a serious chance because some gameplay mechanics were changed boils down to a difference in why they love HW vs why I love HW. I could care less about chance vs ballistic combat, unit damage scaling, and fighter behavior. I can learn new gameplay mechanics and styles; what I loved about the original was it’s soul, not it’s skeleton.

#27

But dat skin tho, :heart_eyes:

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#28

You’re right, 90% of the complaints are about balance and lack of formations and tactics. If they had reintroduced formations and tactics to begin with, their would e 90% less complaining.

Well, you can’t really play half the races if you want to win. That’s pretty major.

#29

MP without a lobby is a car stereo system made up of iphone speakers… we have yet to get a single response about this from GB. come on guys, just tell us whats up with the lobby already. i fear their lack of response is on this serious issue is an indicator that they are afraid to tell us we won’t be getting one.

please respond to this. tell me how wrong i am and that i need to be patient.

#30

I assure you, even if GBX do not reply to certain issues, they ARE listening and silently fixing them. The best example would be my Official statement on weapon sounds? thread, in which they never replied, but the bug was promplty fixed. I say, patience.

#31

I’ve been playing Kushan and have been doing just fine in multiplayer against Hiigaran & Vaygr only teams. The biggest balance issue between the races, I think, is the fighter thing, but when you consider that the HW1 defender has the firepower of 3 interceptors each, I think that helps level the playing field. Also, drone frigates are awesome against strike craft, so it’s not like the HW1 races don’t have options. I think there are a lot of people who are frustrated that it’s different from what they are used to/think it should be and simply throw up their hands and scream that the game is “broken.” There are some significant issues with regard to balance, but “broken” is a pretty big stretch.

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#32

I’ll agree with you that the lobby was one of my favorite parts of HW1 multiplayer. To be honest, that’s really the only thing that’s sticking in my craw at this point. The reason I’m not freaking out is because it’s a beta. Leading up to release, they kept reiterating that the reason for the beta was because they were working with networking code that was more than a decade old, and since that old code was designed for the now defunct gamespy, a lot of it would need to be overhauled. I think there’s still a pretty good chance that a lobby will be added, but right now, I believe they are first and foremost working on ensuring that the networking stuff is works as intended and is reliable. I’m taking the beta label to heart and adopting a “wait and see (while still playing)” approach.

Fret not friend. At least not yet.

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#33

Yeah, that’s another reason why I’m not losing my mind yet. They were determined to win the bid for the IP; they went waaaay over-budget during production; they listened to key members of the community (particularly modders) during development. I really do think this is a labor of love for them. At this point, I’m pretty confident that the HW:RM product a month pr so down the road will be much different and more polished than it currently is.

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#34

For starters, I’m playing HWR and enjoying it.

However …

The MP experience could use some help.

As many people have said (myself multiple times), we need a proper lobby where people can see who’s online and chat with them. Why is this important? If you log on and see someone you know, you can strike up a conversation with them and get a game hosted. People are simply more likely to host a game if they know their friends are there. Yes, I suppose you could use Steam friends, but this is an additional screen to keep track of and, frankly, it looks intrusive to me if you’re in a game.

Here’s the point of view I’m coming from. I loved the original Homeworld. I thought I loved Total Annihilation (and I did/do), but I REALLY loved the original Homeworld. When Cataclysm came out, I loved it too. In fact, about the only thing I didn’t like about Cataclysm was that it had hard coded random starting positions. (Maybe asteroids were too easy to kill) Both HW1 and HWC played fairly similarly – formations mattered, controlling your units mattered; players had a connection to their units. Both games implemented a fairly decent Rock/Paper/Scissors balance. On the other hand, I never quite got into HW2 as much. I enjoyed the subsystem and environmental damage aspects, but the connection to the units that I enjoyed in HW1 and HWC was largely gone. Balance was … ok. Battlecruisers seemed overpowered and Frigates seemed weak, as I recall. Although the balance was ok, it seemed to lack some of the Rock/Paper/Scissors aspect of HW1 and HWC. Generally, games ended up being a race to get BCs out. Other unit-based strategies didn’t seem as effective. It, also, didn’t help that HW2 online game stability wasn’t very good. I still played it, but the game experience wasn’t nearly what I’d come to expect from Homeworld.

So, when it was announced that HWR would be based on the HW2 engine, it gave me pause. Some of the concerns I associated with this choice have come to pass – poor online stability (though I’m finding it seems to be improving) and the strategic limitations of HW2 vs HW1/HWC. Is this a limitation of the game engine? I don’t know. I, certainly, hope not. I suspect it that may be the case, though.

When I look at HWR, I see HW2 – the good and the bad. I, also, see that the HW1 aspect of the game is majorly lacking. Things I miss from HW1 – formations, a properly functioning “Z” function like support frigates … supporting (and I haven’t figured out minelayer corvettes yet); and being able to allocate research among the research ships as I wanted. There are good things still there, such as parallel build queues and the graphics are stunning. But, again, the HW1 flavor is missing. I’m almost exclusively playing HW2 races at present and that’s a primary reason.

I’d like to know if it’s possible to get that flavor back. I’m here playing regardless, the answer to that question determines for how long. I’d like a reason to hope that’s more concrete than trusting Gearbox to do the right thing. Can the HW2 game engine accommodate HW1 playstyle? Does Gearbox see these issues the same way? Or, can the original games that came with the download have their MP options unlocked again so we can at least play them on Game Ranger (or a Steam alternative)?

Can you help us out, Gearbox, with some answers? I’m still taking the beta label to heart. I’m still taking your professed passion for the Homeworld universe to heart as well. But, I’d sure like some more feedback.

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