Here's how the Homeworld 3 devs are improving the game after delaying release over demo feedback
Better controls, tougher ships, usefulier formations, and more
After delaying the launch of Homeworld 3 by two months to address criticism of the spacefleet shoot-o-strategy game's demo, developers Blackbird Interactive have now laid out what they're changing. Improved controls, tougher ships, more useful formations, better Attack Move command, more HUD options, and more types of War Games mode objectives are among the tweaks and improvements detailed by game director Lance Mueller in a 3000-word blogblast. "This past month, everyone was heads down discussing every post we saw from Steam, social, Reddit, Discord and beyond," he explained. They have plans.
Our own spaceman Edwin was among those who liked the mood of February's Steam Next Fest demo but found it finicky to control. And yup, that's one of the main things they plan to change. Here are their other highlights:
Updates to controls
More exciting combat
- All keybinds are now re-bindable
- Increased movement and rotation speed of the default camera settings for a smoother experience
- Updated the legacy control scheme to replicate Homeworld 2 Remastered's controls and feedback
Classic Attack has returned
- Increased ship hitpoints by 30%
- Made improvements to formations so they are more beneficial/strategically valuable
- Support Frigate pilots now heal friendly ships without being directly instructed for increased autonomy
HUD and quality of life adjustments
- As with older Homeworld titles, ships can now attack in one direction while moving in another for increased combat depth
General balance changes to War Games
- Players can now use a slider to adjust the scale of the HUD in the settings menu
- NLIPS (Non-Linear Inverse Perspective Scrolling) has been fixed to ensure players can still see and easily select smaller ships like Fighters even when zoomed very far out
- Doubled the amount of objectives that can happen during a run
- Resource Controllers are now free but take significantly longer to produce in War Games
Do dive into the blog post for more info, explanations, and screenshots, though do bear in mind Mueller says "it's not a comprehensive list of every change we've made (or will make) as much as addressing "the most common pain points players experienced".
How does all that sound, demonauts? You've still a wee wait to get your hands on all that, as Homeworld 3 is now due to launch May 13th on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Blackbird Interactive are one of the many, many, too many studios to cut jobs this year. In February they let go of an unannounced number of people as "part of a realignment plan that's necessary because of new projects that were shelved by some of our partners". As ever, best of luck to everyone.