Homeworld and its sequel have been real-time technique video games that caught in the reminiscence primarily resulting from the ambiance they managed to create by way of dialogue, music decisions and placing ship designs. I had mentally labelled coming sequel Homeworld 3 as “more of the same, but better looking”, with out considering way more about it.
A brand new improvement update from builders Blackbird Interactive would not a lot show me unsuitable as go into nice element about what “better looking” actually means – whereas additionally making me enthusiastic about the new “flavor layer” of ship-to-ship communication.
First up, the put up provides this extraordinarily temporary glimpse of Homeworld 3’s cinematics, that are pre-rendered for the first time and have “fully 3D modelled characters complete with English language lipsyncing.”
It later provides a take a look at biomes, mothership lighting, nebulae, and all the work that is going into “bringing ‘terrain’ to space combat” in Homeworld 3.
“In Homeworld 3, you’ll fight your fair share of battles in cold, dark space,” says the put up. “But [Physical Based Rendering] allows us to create levels each with their own unique visual identity and near-photo realism. You’ll command fleets in low orbit above planets, or explore ancient relics floating just above a churning sea of clouds. And in each of these environments, the materials of your ships will react with the light with a level of realism that, frankly, feels a bit awe-inspiring (yes, I’m a tad biased here).”
All of which appears interesting, but in some way it is the radio chatter that the majority excites me. When giving items instructions in Homeworld 3, they will vocally reply in two methods. The first is by way of the ship’s commander, who shall be “concise, clearly audible from all distance ranges,” and can give the participant suggestions about the state of affairs. This is the “information layer”. Then a second voice will observe, the ship’s tactical officer, who will provide “contextual conversational chatter” that may solely be heard by gamers for those who’ve positioned the digital camera inside a sure vary. This “flavor layer” is designed to humanise your items.
Notably, items will speak to one another, to not you as their omniscient chief, and can chatter forwards and backwards about what’s taking place. You can come into the center of a dialog as you zoom round a battlefield.
Watching these movies and reading the full developer update makes me realise: perhaps Homeworld 3 shall be extra Homeworld however higher trying, and higher sounding, however holy heck, what a deal with that could possibly be if it is true. Blackbird are aiming to launch it in February 2024.
