Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

[undercovergeek]

Oh...low blow...Mirth is now a beta man.

At least I'm now a man.

or a masterbeta

[mirth]

Promote him!

I'd rather be banned.

I say first we hang him...then we shoot him...then we kill him...then we promote him...and then we ban him!

Not crazy about the progression

[Gusington]

Some regression then?

[Martok]

<rimshot>


Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gusington, the master of comic timing!  Just remember that the 5:00 show is completely different from the 8:00 show.  ;D 

[spelk]

I've just finished the wreckage site mission, its the 4th one in the campaign I think, and I must say it was epic. I don't think I've had as much fun in a recent RTS as this.

Theres a hell of a balance between what you can afford to make, and how much limited resource you have left. Plus theres the timing of getting things to action flashpoints given their different speeds. Every unit is precious. You have to do a lot of splitting up and covering arse/ass. Bringing the right weapon to bear on the appropriate incoming target.

[possible vague spoilers for mission 4]

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Oh man, the strike aircraft! My flyboys. Delivering ground hits at the most desperate of times. The baserunners and their ability to pop probes for ad hoc sensor work, and their turrets... mmmm... turrets.. (except overdose on turrets and you'll be stealing from the normal troop making machinery!). Damn those delicious turrets!

Trying not to spoil anything, but I have to gush a bit - each wreckage site requires planning to get the right combination of troops out there, lay down a defensive perimeter, scout and then take out enemy production cruisers with my flyboys.. slowly slowly catchy monkey... carefully planning new manufacture to roll them out, assemble them at the secured site and then leave behind a skeleton defence crew and speed the new vanguard force out towards the next site... all the while having to cope with intermittent hit and run attacks by enemy strike groups and weaving your battered troops through raging twisting sand tornadoes!

The climactic finale of the mission desperate, strung out, spread too thin defense of your carrier, and poor overworked science officer Rebecca was pure racey joy. Defense up, turret power up, flyboys launch, support cruisers lumbering back to repair major damage... get those salvagers out of here NOW!... annnnnddd relax.

Brilliant stuff. The pacing of this mission seemed spot on to me. I bungled my first attempt, took on too many sites at once... but care and planning, did the business.. and now the formation/facing is all sorted it seems to just come natural... tac view is essential for command in panic moments - clear concise view, then you can zoom in gloriously rendered desert combat, and watch the smoke billow from an enemy sand cruiser! :)

And now I'm drained. Need to chill out a bit... then come back to my desperate sandy ass crack heroes.

[Jarhead0331]

Yeah...strike craft are definitely my favorite unit in the game so far. I typically try to carry at least three wings. They have saved my ass on more than one occasion!

[JasonPratt]

I was as explicit as I could be that I agreed it could easily be a good game. Not having it, I HAVE NO OPINION ABOUT THAT MYSELF! I acknowledged several times that others, yourself included, regard it as a good game; which by the way I regard as evidence in favor of it being a good game.  ::)

I am as glad as I can be that they didn't release a wreck, simply trading on nostalgia for the HW franchise, and that you and other people are enjoying it.  O:-)

by the way, inserting little smilies everywhere does not make your posts any less antagonistic.  O0 (see what I did there?)

Apparently, neither does inserting little words everywhere.  ::)

Since Homeworld was never an RTS focused around ground combat, Deserts of Kharak cannot possibly be a "regression", either demonstrably or objectively.  You shouldn't further argue the point, because the definition on its face proves you wrong.

My comments about regression have always been in terms of comparing HW with other RTSes. I expect other comments about regression have had HW's position in the genre in mind, too.

Was the series a major set of innovations to the genre? Yes, demonstrably so.

Are all those innovations still in place for the new game? No, demonstrably not.

Does the new game now functionally resemble the kinds of RTSes that had been around for a while at the time of HW's initial release? Yes, demonstrably so.

Regression
noun
1.
the act of going back to a previous place or state; return or reversion.

Does that necessarily make it a bad game? I have repeatedly said not.

Is there strong evidence it's a good game? I have repeatedly said so.

Should they be criticized for trying something new? Of course not (as long as it works, and even then I agree they should be praised for trying something new.)

Are they trying something new in the genre? Of course not.

Should they be regarded as trying something new, and so praised for that, when what they're doing is the opposite of something new in the genre? I don't think so; the rationale seems contradictory to me.

Are they trying something new in terms of the series itself? Technically I agreed they are in several ways. I even bent over backwards to agree that by removing functionality they are, indeed, trying something new to the series, in that sense.

Should I praise their innovation in trying a new thing of removing innovations from the series, on the principle that attempting new things are worthy of praise? I guess we'll have to disagree on that.

Should I praise the game for its excellences in other regards? I don't see any problems with that at all (so far as I can experience it myself, not having played the game yet), and never have.

Am I sorry our relationship has somehow regressed over this silliness? Very much so.

Do I still value your critical appreciation of this and other games? Very much so.

[undercovergeek]

[Jarhead0331]

I've moved passed this Jason...I thought your silence over the last two days meant you had too.

I'm used to disappointment.

[bayonetbrant]

I'm used to disappointment.

He's known Gus waaaaay too long :)

[mirth]

I put a lot of effort into derailing this thread yesterday and this is how I get treated.

[mirth]

I think this thread is in regression.

[undercovergeek]

yeah but it has cool units although sadly without unit facing

[Gusington]

I'm still buying it, once it goes on sale.

[Jarhead0331]

yeah but it has cool units although sadly without unit facing

There is unit facing...see Reply #33 in this thread. Page 3, I think.