"Homeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It is best known for its full three-dimensional movement, engrossing storyline and unique soundtrack...
Homeworld is known both for its multi-player online and single-player elements. The player may choose to play as either the Kushan or Taiidan, both online and in the single-player campaign. While each unit serves a particular function and represents a tradeoff in strength, offensive power, speed, and cost, the differences between the two factions are mostly in cosmetic ship design. Parallel ships (the "Vengeance"-class Kushan Assault Frigate versus the "Kudaark"-class Taiidani Assault Frigate) look different but have identical armor, speed, weapons power, etc - although tests have shown that the Kushan Assault Frigate has a tendency to survive longer due to the way its turrets give it an almost 360° firing arc. However, each race does feature two unique units (the Kushan Cloaking Fighter and Drone Frigate versus the Taiidani Defense Fighter and Defense Field Frigate), and equivalent ships often have different gun positioning, usually in favor of the Taiidan.
The screen is devoted entirely to maximize the field of view, so the only toolbar is hidden and appears only when the cursor is moved to the bottom of the screen. Orders such as moving and formations are given both from right-click menus, and hotkeys for more advanced gameplay.
The inclusion of unrestricted unit movement in all three dimensions adds a tactical dynamic not encountered in typical ground based real time strategy games where movement is on a two dimensional plane. Since the area of play is generally void of significant obstacles to create "terrain", there is little emphasis on the control of a certain choke point in order to establish defensive perimeters...
The single-player campaign includes 16 missions, and focuses on a persistent fleet concept, which causes all ships built during a mission to appear in the next (as long as they are not destroyed). The ultimate goal of the single player mode is to find the Homeworld of the chosen protagonist race, though the vantage point will remain unchanged regardless of the player's actual choice of race (in this and subsequent Homeworld games, the Kushan, called Hiigaran in "Homeworld 2", are the canonical "heroes")...
Homeworld can also be played in a deathmatch mode where the player can choose the number of opponents, the map, enabling or disabling researching and fuel consumption. These games can be played with up to seven computer-controlled opponents, which have an adjustable difficulty setting and a setting that allows you to determine whether they attack the human player or other computers more often...
Homeworld's original multiplayer lobby system was closed in October of 2008. To play online the player needed to create an account and download the latest patch (or version). However, users are still able to play online through usage of third-party solutions such as GameRanger and Hamachi.
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Source: Wikipedia, "Homeworld," available under the CC-BY-SA License.
