homeworld posts

Relic Entertainment's next big RTS game announcement "should come in August". That's the word from THQ exec Danny Bilson in a recent message on his Twitter site. Relic has been THQ's main RTS game developer and has created the Company of Heroes WWII themed series along with adapting the Warhammer 40,000 franchise with the Dawn of War series.

While Relic's next RTS game, the stand alone expansion pack Warhammer 40000 Dawn of War II Retribution, is currently in beta and will be released on March 1, THQ recently announced that it will shut down Company of Heroes Online, its persistant online RTS, on March 31. Some have speculated that Relic might be working on a third game in its acclaimed space-based Homeworld series.

As has been stated many times before, the PC game industry isn't dead by any means. It is changing from a retail brick-and-mortar business model to one where PC laptop and desktop owners will simply purchase and download a game to their hard drive or perhaps use cloud-based streaming technology to play their games.

As a result of this new way of selling PC games we are seeing PC game titles that have been released for years that are still selling copies via download. Just a few years ago, publishers released PC games to retail stores and if they didn't immediately catch on in unit sales, well, that would be it. You might be able to find some older PC games in online auction web sites but in many cases the years of hard work by a development team would be over.

However we think that there are a number of older but still great PC games that should be made available for download yet again that are not yet on the library of titles for Steam, Direct2Drive or GoG.com. We suspect that the main reason for this is publishing rights issues. In any case, in the spirit of the upcoming Halloween holiday, here are 10 PC games that we think should come back from the dead of the retail box coffin and rise up to be added to legal download sites (hopefully without the games biting anyone along the way).

While we have seen a number of space strategy games released in the last few years, none of them have given us that Homeworld feeling. Relic's classic RTS game used 3D space for its battles in a way that has yet to really be duplicated. That's why the announcement of Flotilla from indie developer Blendo Games caught our eye.

While the game uses rather simple graphics it's gameplay seems to be anything but. As you can see in the video after the jump, it's a turn based game but uses the full 3D space to battle enemy space ships. The result? A game design that, while not a pure RTS game, is about as close to Homeworld's design as we are going to get. Flotilla's single player game looks to be a combo of strategy and adventure (panda bears are involved) and yes there will be both co-op and skirmish gameplay for multiplayer. The game is due for a downloadable release on the PC later this month but no price point has been announced.

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Homeworld series, Relic Entertainment and THQ have released the OEM version of the game, also known as Homeworld: Raider Retreat. Raider Retreat was given away by the original publisher (Sierra) to those that pre-purchased Homeworld: Cataclysm in 2000, and now it's available to everyone. It has five single player missions, including one that wasn't in the original Homeworld, and supports LAN (TCP/IP) multiplayer.

Players who are interested in digging up their old copies of Homeworld (or purchase a new copy somewhere for cheap) can install the v1.05 patch to start playing one of the best multiplayer games in PC history. Alternatively, players can just download the standalone Homeword: Raider Retreat demo, which has the extra mission. Both can be installed, but they don't work with each other (Homeworld games don't see Raider Retreat game listings and vice versa). In either case, Relicnews.com suggests installing GameRanger for online multiplayer support.

For a trip further down memory lane, the original single player demos for both Homeworld and the Homeworld: Cataclsym expansion are available to download and play.

Download Homeworld v1.05 Patch (2 MB)
Download Homeworld: Raider Retreat OEM Demo (195 MB)
Download Homeworld Demo (63 MB)
Download Homeworld: Cataclysm Demo (49 MB)

10 years ago this week, Relic Entertainment released their first game title, the revolutionary 3D space-based RTS game Homeworld. The game was a huge hit, both in sales as well as critically and the game got a number of "Game of the Year" awards from a number of media outlets. This week the official Relic web site is looking back at the game's 10th anniversary by chatting with two current Relic employees who worked on the original game.

Principal Designer Quinn Duffy and Senior Artist Dave Cheong talk about their memories of helping to make the first Homeworld game (a sequel was released in 2003). Duffy states, "We created a visually sophisticated universe with a great deal of implied depth, crafted an evocative story and told it well, and had a pretty fun and immersive game on top of it all." And what about the rumors of a new Homeworld game in the works? Duffy points out that very few of Relic's current team worked on the first game and says, "Personally, I'd love to see another Homeworld game – I'd love to see the universe breath again, but only if it were done with the same passion and drive of the original."

In related news, fan site Relic News have posted up an article on how to play the original game in online multiplayer modes using the GameRanger matchmaking service.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

Today Relic is perhaps better known for their pseudo-tactical, squad-based RTS games franchises Company of Heroes and Dawn of War. However, back before 2004, they were known for a very different type of game. The franchise in question was the much beloved Homeworld, the first RTS to ever offer full 3D movement. We're talking moving in all three planes. With gameplay innovation, an excellently penned backstory, and art design that still impresses, Homeworld is an RTS classic on par with Starcraft or Total Annihilation. While it may be a little harder to find, it's worth every penny, and is a must play for RTS fans of all shapes and sizes.

Our favorite mail order gaming retail web site is GoGamer.com because they are not afraid of cutting prices on new games. That is certainly true for their latest 48 Hour Madness sale that ends on Tuesday at 3 am ET. Indeed one game that's on sale isn't even out yet; they have put the upcoming NCsoft MMO title Aion on sale for just $39.90 compared to its regular price of $49.99

Another game that hasn't been released in US stores is Blood Bowl but now you can get an imported box copy of the fantasy sports-strategy game for just $27.90. Other older games on sale include Supreme Commander for just $7.90, Homeworld for $9.90 and Homeworld 2 for $12.90.

There are lots of PC games out there that are getting revived lately. We have seen the Fallout franchise get back on track with Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3, The C&C: Red Alert RTS series got a new lease on life with Red Alert 3. Yet there are many other classic PC game franchises that are well known that perhaps could also get a second chance for the public.

Big Download has picked 10 such games that we think would be perfect for a publisher interested in introducing these franchises to a whole new audience. Of course, a lot will depend on which development team will handle these games but with a little bit of love, these titles are all prime candidates for a new coat of paint.

Click on the image above to continue reading 10 great PC games that need a comeback

It's been known for some time that the rights to the Homeworld space-based RTS series were purchased by THQ from Vivendi Games (before they merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard). THQ owns the game's original creator and developer Relic and while they have lots of announced projects in the works a new Homeworld game could be under development as well.

Relic released the first Homeworld in 1999 with a sequel in 2003 before they were purchased by THQ. Eurogamer reports that Relic designer Jonny Ebbert stated, "We're really happy the IP has made its way home, and yeah, we're definitely looking at it. We'll see what happens in the future." Relic is pretty busy with three upcoming projects. Two are due out in the first quarter of 2009; Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II and Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor. They are also working on a free-to-play multiplayer game, Company of Heroes Online, that will be released exclusively for Asian game markets.

One of the biggest problems for real-time strategy (RTS) games has been the detached and disinterested attitude many players exhibit when faced with playing them. More often than not, a lot of people who consistently play RTS games are doing so out of their love for the strategy element. That's all well and good, but there's a caveat: The problem continues. Why? It does so because the cache of players who're highly dedicated to RTS games don't count for much of the PC gaming contingent.

I've considered Relic Entertainment a top-drawer developer ever since I casually sat down to play Homeworld 2, only to discover a game that would absorb several tens of hours of my life. So when initial previews revealed that Dawn of War 2 (DoW2) wouldn't focus on player-built structures, I was intrigued. I continued to read up on the game and subsequently found even more provocative information. Players will only control five or so squads in any one battle? These squads are to stay with you over the course of the game? This was a glaringly unprecedented change, and I loved it.

Click the image above to continue reading "Alt-Tab: Can RPG + RTS = cute baby?"