HOMEWORLD WALKTHROUGH
by Briareos Kerensky (briareos_hf@tiscali.it, briareos_HF), ver 3.X.
1/11/2002
Table of Contents
1-Update History
2-History Briefing
3-Technology Briefing
4-Tactics Briefing
5-Formations Briefing
7-Ships Briefing
8-Walkthrough
9-String Options
10-Submissions
11-Credits and misc
****************
1-UPDATE HISTORY
****************
23/10/2002-version 3.X. More submissions.
16/10/2002-version 3.X. Submissions and corrections.
17/09/2002-version 3.X. No new submissions, but some additions to the
walktrhough as I've finished the game once again. Finally, even this document
reached and passed 100k ;)
23/07/2002-version 2.X. Submissions only.
18/02/2002-version 2.0. Document completed. Minor corrections throughout the
document.
19/01/2002-version 1.3. The Fellowship Of The Ring is here too! Finally (with
Japan), after all countries in this world, Italy recieves this movie. Still
have to see it (just let me find a free place in whatever theater), but...ehm,
totally senseless here. Walktrhough completed. Sections needing update were
updated.
16/01/2002-version 1.2. Removed Modified Ships section due to some technical
problems. Walkthrough continued. Other sections needing update were updated.
11/01/2002-version 1.0. Basic sections online. Let me say why I'm doing this
document: HomeWorld is still a wonderful game. I've found myself playing it
throughout the night after I've stumbled on this document looking in my CDs.
The original idea was thought after HW: Cataclysm (the sequel to HomeWorld and
my first walkthrough) and was forgot due to time and, partially, to a limited
PC. Now that I have both (well, time is always running away, but, hey, I'm on
holiday!), it is time to seriously begin and end it.
Kharak, the desert planet. An hell where only the poles are barely suited for
living. Your race, the Kushans, have always lived here. From the ancient days
the social structure is unchanged, divided into families, the Kiiths, but after
1106, when a mis-positioned satellite discovered a large metal formation in the
Great Desert, the whole planet life has changed.
In 1110 an expedition found the Khar-Toba, the First City, formed around an
ancient starship, buried under the sands. In 1112, technicians were able to
study and replicate the complicate technology that formed the starship's drive;
most thought that Khar-Toba offered all it had to offer, until a young
archeologist found a large piece of black stone with an interstellar map and a
word, Hiigara, "our home".
Since then, all efforts of the Kushan race were focused in building a massive
starship, using the same hyperspace technology found in the Khar-Toba, to
explore the space and reach the homeworld.
This starship, later renamed MotherShip, was built in 55 years: 20 to collect
all resources from the outer space, 10 to realize a giant Scaffold and 25 to
actually build the MotherShip. The MotherShip has a living core, Karan Sjet, a
scientist that voluntereed to become the center of the whole MotherShip's fleet
after having perfectioned the technology that now traps her. The MotherShip
also contains several thousands of colonists in cryogenic hybernation, a series
of factories to build other ships and spare parts in order to maintain the
MotherShip always functional. Hi-tech weaponries have been included for defense
purpose, in case of unknown threats attack the MotherShip.
It's 1214.
The MotherShip is ready start its journey.
In this secton you'll find description of the technology you have to research
to obtain new vessels during the game. A brief description of weapon types is
also provided.
+ Mass Drivers: projectile weapons. The weapon itself is small, so you'll find
at least a small-caliber gun on every Fighter. Bigger ships will have
mass-drivers in their secondary turrets. In HomeWorld, projectyle weapons are
useful against fast strike crafts, as they travel at an higher velocity and do
moderte damage to their thin armors. They have short/medium range values.
+ Energy Beams: Capital Ships only. The most common energy beam is the ion
beam, mounted on a number of ships. Only Super-Capital Ships carry them in
turrets, as an ion cannon is usually big as a whole Frigate. Medium/long range
weapons with high damage values, mainly useful against Capital Ships, though a
turret-mounted cannon can deal with Corvettes and reduce them in scraps within
seconds.
+ Missiles: Missiles are the only weapon limited by ammunition supplies, but
bigger ships can build them automatically, so just make an intelligent use of
them. They were developed to provide anti-Fighter capabilities to Capital
Ships. Though their damage value is lower than the Beam's one, they are fired
in groups and have a longer range.
+ Fields: some ships come equipped with a field generator capable of deflecting
enemy weapons or generating gravity to stop enemy's Strike Crafts. Those
shields are useful to protect valuable ships (Carriers, Cruisers,
MotherShips...) or to trap enemy vessels. The third type of field is the
Stealth, capable of masking crafts to enemy eyes and standard sensors. Only
advanced sensor suites will detect Stealth (or cloacked) units.
+ Plasma Bombs: large plasma spheres that do a lot of damage; they are a bit
slow, however. Very effective against large ships and, if they hit, against
fighters.
CORVETTE CHASSIS
Pre-requisites: Corvette Drive
Lead to: Heavy Corvette Upgrade, Fast Tracking Turret, Minelayer Technology
Needed for: Light Corvette, Salvage Corvette, Multi-Gun Corvette, Heavy
Corvette, Minelayer Corvette, Support Corvette
Notes: Base for most of Corvette-related technologies.
CORVETTE DRIVE
Pre-requisites: none
Lead to: Corvette Chassis
Needed for: Light Corvette, Salvage Corvette, Multi-Gun Corvette, Heavy
Corvette, Minelayer Corvette
Notes: Research ASAP to build Salvage Corvettes
CAPITAL SHIP DRIVE
Pre-requisites: none
Lead to: Capital Ship Chassis
Needed for: Assault Frigate, Ion Frigate, Drone Frigate, Defense Frigate,
Support Frigate, Gravity Generator, Cloack Device, Resource Controller
Notes: Needed for Frigates
CAPITAL SHIP CHASSIS
Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Drive
Lead to: Ion Cannon, Super-Capital Ship Drive, Super-Heavy Structure, Gravity
Generator, Cloack Device
Needed for: Ion Frigate, Drone Frigate, Defense Frigate
Notes: Needed for Frigates
SUPER-CAPITAL SHIP DRIVE
Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Chassis
Lead to: Heavy Guns, Guided Missile
Needed for: Destroyer, Missile Destroyer, Carrier, Heavy Cruiser
Notes: Basic technology for Super-Capital Ships. The drive only will allow you
to build a Destroyer.
PROXIMITY SENSOR
Pre-requisites: none
Lead to: Sensor System
Needed for: Proximity Sensor
Notes: maneuverable Probe
PLASMA BOMB
Pre-requisites: Fighter Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Attack Bomber
Notes: none
MINELAYER TECH
Pre-requisites: Corvette Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Minelayer Corvette
Notes: none
ION CANNON
Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Drive
Lead to: none
Needed for: Ion Frigate, Destroyer, Heavy Cruiser
Notes: base technology for most Capital Ships
HEAVY CANNON
Pre-requisites: Super-Capital Ship Drive
Lead to: none
Needed for: Heavy Cruiser
Notes: Needed for the most poweful ship in the game
HEAVY CORVETTE UPGRADE
Pre-requisites: Corvette Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Heavy Corvette
Notes: none
GRAVITY GENERATOR
Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Gravity Well Generator
Notes: traps enemy fighters
DEFENDER SUB-SYSTEM
Pre-requisites: Fighter Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Defender
Notes: none
SENSOR SYSTEM
Pre-requisites: Proximity Sensor
Lead to: none
Needed for: Sensor System
Notes: Capable of tracking most ships and revealing Cloacked ones.
FAST TRACKING TURRET
Pre-requisites: Corvette Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Multi-Gun Corvette
Notes: Needed for the most versatile Corvette in the game
CLOACKING DEVICE
Pre-requisites: Super-Capital Ship Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Cloack Generator
Notes: it is not the same technology needed for the Cloaked Fighter
SUPER-HEAVY STRUCTURE
Pre-requisites: Super-Capital Ship Chassis
Lead to: none
Needed for: Carrier, Heavy Cruiser
Notes: Needed for the most powerful ships in the game
CLOACKED FIGHTER
Pre-requisites: Fighter Structure
Lead to: nothing
Needed for: Cloacked Fighter
Notes: it is not the same technology needed for the Cloak Generator
DRONE TECHNOLOGY
Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Structure
Lead to: nothing
Needed for: Drone Frigate
Notes: basically useless
+Evasive: only Strike Crafts really benefits of this behaviour, as they are the
only vessels capable of tigh maneuvers. With evasive tactics, your units will
travel toward the opponent without keeping formation, each one using at maximum
efficiency its engines and firing only when sure that enemy fire won't hit.
Ideal for high-speed strafing runs on enemy Capital Ships with anti-fighter
guns, where tight formations usually result in a single ion cannon vaporizing a
good number of crafts. Also, when crafts using Evasive tactic reach red and
yellow health status, they immediately return to the nearest support ships for
repair
+Neutral: the standard behavior of new units; in Neutral mode crafts will
attach only if attached first, and then will return to inactivity until someone
fires against. It will be used in the single palyer (see the walkthru below),
but I've never seen someone using it in multiplayer games
+Aggressive: units will maintain formations, and when a target is within range,
they will fire. The drawback of this tactic is that crafts only do strafing
runs or maintain position to have an optimal aim over the targets, and won't
dodge any enemy projectile, missile or energy beam. Useful for Capital vs
Capital and Fighter vs Fighter dogfights.
+Delta: vessels will form a 2D triangle. Though it is a very classic formation
and very useful for parades, the top craft will be the most vulnarable to
damage, effectively broking the formation.
+Broad: an other 2D formations, but this time the vessels will form a straight
line. Deadly for crafts, especially for big groups, as the combined firepower
of a formation should give is centered around few elements. Quite effective for
Capital Ships as you can use it for positioning them along the enemy's front
and sides. I will describe this tactic later on.
+X: one of the best formations for fighters: the X formations allows relatively
small groups (maximum 15) to concentrate fire. Drawbacks? As the formations is
compact, enemy turrets will enjoy in destroying your fighters.
+Claw: the best formations for fighters, and if you have some Frigates, even
for them. Recomended for maximum 15 crafts, like X formation, the Claw
maximizes the effects of concentrated fire of an X formation while reducing the
compactness of the formation.
+Wall: ideal for large groups of ships and every Capital Ship formation, the
wall creates a...wall (¬_¬...) of ships, maximizing firepower. If you have
large fighter formations (10+) or at least 4/6 Frigates, the Wall will be THE
choice.
+Sphere: though I use this formation mainly for defensive purposes, I know that
someone uses it for single Capital Ships with large Fighter escorts. In a
Sphere formation, the bigger ship will be the center of the sphere, while the
lighter ones will produce a defensive bubble around it. When usued cleverly,
this formation will break any defense line and/or assault.
+Military Parade: the only way to use this formation is to include Carriers.
Any kind of formation including such ships will be changed in a Military Parade
formation, a roughly rectangular formation where the Carriers are at the
lateral edges, Strike Crafts at the "frontal" edge and the Capital Ships at the
"rear" edge. Useless during combat (friendly fire) but good if you want to snap
few screenshots.
First of all, a brief description of ship classes and main capabilities.
+ Strike Crafts: Fighters and Corvettes. Fast and Maneuverable, these ships are
useful for fast-raiding parties and to harras larger ships until rienforcmentes
arrives. Fighters lacks the turrets and firepower of Corvettes, though they are
faster.
+ Capital Ships: a group divided into Frigates and Super-Capital Ships.
Frigates features a decent firepower and armor protection while mantaining a
decent maneuverability; this class features a large number of vessels, each
with differents armaments. Super-Capital Ships are Carriers, Cruisers,
Destroyers and every other kind of ship capable of delivering massive firepower
or build Strike Crafts and Frigates. To counteract one of these behemoths, use
a similar vessel or a group of Frigates. Worst of all, these crafts are usually
accompained by fighter escorts.
+ Non-Combatant Ships: ships dedicated to recon, repair and harvesting. Bigger
ships usually mount only defensive turrets. They are not intended for combant,
so use them for their main tasks.
+ MotherShips: massive ships capable of building any other vessel class, except
other MotherShips. Your main task is to defend yours, though the armor and
firepower can support attack vessels. However, defend it. Immobile in all
single-player missions.
Note: under the coverage section I put the descripton of the weapon and type
(projectile or mass drivers, missile, ion and plasma). I divided turrets into
two categories: sponson turrets can track enemies in limited arcs but they
aren't fixed nor can turn 360°. Normal Turrets are mounted on a fixed mount and
can fire in 360° degrees. Enjoy.
16/10/2002 adittion: while searching infos on HomeWorld 2 (can't wait it!), I
stubled on this beautiful website, HomeWorld Shipyard:
http://www.well-of-souls.com/homeworld/hws/index.html
It contains very detailed infos on every ship in both HomeWorld and HomeWorld:
Cataclysm. I'm not going to copy them in this document as they are not my work
and the site definitively is worth of a visit. Check it out.
Mass: 40 tons
Armor: 110
Firepower: 10
Coverage: 48% (single forward-fixed projectile weapon)
Maneuverability: very high
Max Velocity: 1050 m/s
Special Action: speed burst
Required Tech: none
RU Cost: 35
Available from: mission 1
A reconaissance fighter. The fastest and most maneuverable ship in the game,
the Scout is used for scounting missions, though in first missions it will be
your main attack force or a good complement to the Interceptors. Note that its
Special Action consumes fuel, and can be used until the fuel load is exhausted.
INTERCEPTOR
Mass: 60 tons
Armor: 160
Firepower: 18
Coverage: 10% (two forward-fixed mass drivers weapons)
Maneuverability: high
Max Velocity: 875 m/s
Required Tech: Fighter Drive
Fighter Chassis
RU Cost: 55
Available from: mission 1
Interceptors benifit from a particular reinforce structure, allowing them to
carry more armor and weapons at expense of speed. Also, due to the particular
position and construction of their guns, mixed with their minor agility, their
firing arc is more limited than a Scout's one. Interceptors will become the
backbone of your Strike Craft formations as they mix firepower, armor and speed.
DEFENDER
Mass: 60 tons
Armor: 280
Firepower: 30
Coverage: 90% (three mass drivers on sides and bottom, mounted in turrets)
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 385 m/s
Required Tech: Fighter Drive
Fighter Chassis
Defender Subsystem
RU Cost: 65
Available from: mission 5
A slow fighter with very fast turning rates and awesome coverage and firepower;
the Defender has three guns which can fire to three separate targets , making
it ideal for escort operations. Large groups of Defenders are able to fend off
any attack made by other fighters with minimum losses, and can be used to
harras Frigates and other Super-Capital Ships without anti-fighter defenses,
but are in trouble when facing Missile Destroyers, Carriers and most fighting
Corvettes.
ATTACK BOMBER
Mass: 90 tons
Armor: 300
Firepower: 45
Coverage: 5% (two forward fixed small plasma bombs launchers)
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 700 m/s
Required Tech: Fighter Drive
Fighter Chassis
Plasma Bombs
RU Cost: 85
Available from: mission 5
My favourite fighter, both technically and graphically. Though a bit slow for a
Strike Craft, the raw firepower of a group of 20 Bombers can devastate Frigates
in seconds. The Plasma Bombs are slow, so they are a bit ineffective against
other Strike Crafts, but the idea of a fast moving, small and cheap craft is a
good one. Do not pretend to destroy Super Capital Ships with a group of them,
but big groups in wall formation can support larger units in all-out attacks.
LIGHT CORVETTE
Mass: 400 tons
Armor: 900
Firepower: 100
Coverage: 40 % (one medium projectile on sponson turret)
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 575 m/s
Required Tech: Corvette Drive
Corvette Chassis
RU Cost: 135
Available from: mission 2
Slighlty slower than an Attack Bomber, but more armored and with a turreted
weapon, the Light Corvette is a medium-range patrol fighter capable of dealing
with Fighters and Corvettes of the same class. It costs less than Heavy
Corvettes, but its cost-to-performance ratio is relatively low.
HEAVY CORVETTE
Mass: 750 tons
Armor: 1700
Firepower: 200
Coverage: 50 % (two medium projectile on sponson turrets)
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 350 m/s
Special Action: Powered Attack
Required Tech: Corvette Drive
Corvette Chassis
Heavy Corvette Update
RU Cost: 250
Available from: mission 2
Slow, but powerful. It carries almost twice the armor of a Light Corvette and
carries two guns (each in one turret under its nose), effectively doubling the
firepower. The Heavy Corvette is perfect to spearhead assaults set on Strike
Crafts, thanks to its endurance; groups of these can defeat Ion Cannon Frigates
easily, and if used cleverly and backed up by Attack Bombers, even Destroyers.
MULTI GUN CORVETTE
Mass: 750 tons
Armor: 1400
Firepower: 180
Coverage: 78% (6 mass dirvers on turrets -2x front, 2xsides-)
Maneuverabilty: medium
Max Velocity: 695 m/s
Required Tech: Corvette Drive
Corvette Chassis
Fast Tracking Turrets
RU Cost: 250
Available from: mission 7
The best escort Corvette; groups of Multi-Gun Corvette can easily dispatch
Fighters and other Corvettes easily. Used with evasive tactic and relatively
loose formations this corvette can deal some damage on Frigates and
Super-Capital Ships thanks to its excellent coverage.
MINELAYER CORVETTE
Mass: 750 tons
Armor: 800
Firepower: 300 (for each mine)
Coverage: none (theorically 100%; mines can engage any target)
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 425 m/s
Special Action: Mine Laying
Required Tech: Corvette Drive
Corvette Chassis
Minelayer Technology
RU Cost: 295
Available from: mission 10
Based on the original Taiidan technology, the Minelayer Corvette is used to
establish unmanned defense lines. The mines can track down all types of crafts,
but they are pretty useless again fast Strike Crafts due to their poor agility.
Capital Ships can be easily destroyed by cleverly placed mines. Also, the
Minelayer Corvette is capable of sending mines toward targets, but only in a
roughly straight line; mines are very slow, so most ships (aside the MotherShip
in singleplayer games) will be able to easily outmanuever them.
REPAIR CORVETTE
Mass: 750 tons
Armor: 1200
Firepower: 65
Coverage: 10 % (one mass driver on stern turret)
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 350 m/s
Special Action: Repair
Required Tech: none
RU Cost: 150
Available from: mission 1
Repair Corvettes are used as mobile repair units for single Strike Crafts. As
with Support Frigates, Repair Corvettes can use "heal guns" to repair friendly
units as Support Frigates do.
SALVAGE CORVETTE
Mass: 1200 tons
Armor: 1200
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 425 m/s
Special Action: Salvaging
Required Tech: Corvette Drive
Corvette Chassis
RU Cost: 220
Available from: mission 1
Totally unarmed. The Salvage Corvette is capable to overrun all computer
defenses of any enemy vessel to immobilize and bring it to the MotherShip (or
Carrier if Frigates) to be analized and/or captured. Salvage Corvettes can
capture only Capital and Super-Capital Ships, and only if they are badly
damaged. Also, bigger is the ship, more Corvettes you'll need: Frigates can be
captured with two ships, Destroyers require three, Carriers and Heavy Cruisers
five.
ASSAULT FRIGATE
Mass: 400 tons
Armor: 16000
Firepower: 82
Coverage: 100% (2 forward-fixed medium plasma; 4 medium mass drivers on frontal
turrets)
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 325 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Capital Ship Drive
Capital Ship Chassis
RU Cost: 575
Available from: mission 3
The first combat Frigate you will be able to build. Reasonably fast and
maneuverable for a ship of its size, the Assault Frigates sports four turrets
that grant a good coverage and twin Plasma Bombs launchers for extra punch when
needed. Though Ion Frigates can be better for Capital/Super-Capital ships
battles, Assault Frigates can still hope to defeat slow moving Fighters or
Corvettes.
ION FRIGATE
Mass: 425 tons
Armor: 15000
Firepower: 138
Coverage: 3% (large ion, forward-fixed)
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 300 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Capital Ship Drive
Capital Ship Chassis
Ion Cannons
RU Cost: 650
Available from: mission 4
This Frigate is built around an Ion Cannon, which gives it extreme firepower
but it must sacrifice speed and agility. Also, the Ion Cannon is so big that
the Frigate has to turn itself to aim the Cannon, meaning that all Strike
Crafts will be able to escape from its beam. However, against other Capital and
Super-Capital ships, the Ion Cannon performs way better, being able to deal
tremendous amounts of damage in a single blow.
SUPPORT FRIGATE
Mass: 400 tons
Armor: 12000
Firepower: 36
Coverage: 21% (2 medium mass drivers on frontal sponson turrets)
Maneuverability: very low
Max Velocity: 450 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Capital Ship Drive
RU Cost: 425
Available from: mission 3
Supports Frigates are especially designed to help Strike Crafts in extra
long-range operations. They have 14 hardpoints and are capable of repairing and
refuelling them just like MotherShips and Carriers do. Those Frigates are also
more agile than other combat Frigates and lightly armed to fend off small
attacks. Support Frigates can also repair larger Ships thanks to their repair
gun in the nose. Just select a Support Corvette and double click on the damaged
unit.
DESTROYER
Mass: 1800 tons
Armor: 44000
Firepower: 347
Coverage: 88% (2 forward fixed large ion; four big mass drivers -upper side-)
Maneuverability: very low
Max Velocity: 315 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Super-Capital Ship Drive
Ion Cannons
RU Cost: 1350
Available from: mission 6
Destroyers mounts two Ion Cannons and two hi-power mass drivers on four
turrets, allowing them to aim Capital Ships and, partially, Strike Crafts
without moving. Destroyers are superior to any Frigate, except for anti-Strike
Craft duties, where they lack fast-tracking or homing weapons. They represent
the balance between the huge, time- and resource- consuming, powerful and slow
Heavy Cruiser and the relatively fast, cheap and weak Frigates.
MISSILE DESTROYER
Mass: 1000 tons
Armor: 42000
Firepower: 450
Coverage: 100%
Maneuverability: very low
Max Velocity: 295 m/s
Special Action: all-out attack
Required Tech: Super-Capital Ship Drive
Missile Technology
RU Cost: 1500
Available from: mission 9
Missile Destroyers were designed after engineers were able to develop
space-capable missiles, usually ignored for cheaper and more efficent Ion
Cannons and mass drivers. Missiles are especially good against Strike Crafts
and for long-range attacks. Each Destroyer carries 32 missiles divided into
four separate canisters, each with a fully automated production line to
manufacture extra missiles if the original payload runs out. Missile Destroyers
are also capable to fire all missiles in storage bays in a single, powerful
salvo, especially useful against other Super-Capital Ships.
Deadly against Strike Crafts, they need support from normal Destroyes and
Cruisers for Capital Ship battles, where those Destroyers are usually assigned
to long-range fire support and/or fighter hunt.
CARRIER
Mass: 10000 tons
Armor: 72000
Firepower: 109
Coverage: 100% (six mass drivers spread all along the hull)
Maneuverability: very low
Max Velocity: 315 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Super-Capital Ship Drive
Super Heavy Structure
RU Cost: 2000
Available from: mission 9
Carriers are praticall smaller MotherShips. Totally independent, they have two
docking bays for Reosurce Collectors, can build and dock all ships up to
Frigates and are decently armed and have enough armor to withstand attacks
until reinforcments arrive of the Carrier finishes building ships. However,
they are very expensive and due to their great tactical value, they are usually
protected by large groups of ships, sometime including Heavy Cruisers, that
often act as shield for Carriers.
HEAVY CRUISER
Mass: 10000 tons
Armor: 90000
Firepower: 921
Coverage: 100% (4 large ion on two frontal sponson turrets; 6 turrets -2xtop,
2xbottom, sides- with big mass drivers)
Maneuverability: very low
Max Velocity: 250 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Super-Capital Ship Drive
Ion Cannons
Heavy Guns
RU Cost: 3700
Available from: mission 13
The largest and most powerful ship in your fleet, MotherShip aside, the Heavy
Cruiser is especially designed for combat, rather than fleet support like
Carriers. Its payload is impressive, with four Ion Cannons mounted on twin
sponson turrets and six large mass drivers mounted all around the hull to
provide excellent coverage. The Heavy Cruiser is slow, but heavily armored, and
its often used as a phisical protection for Carriers, as they can withstand
more punishment.
RESOURCE COLLECTOR
Mass: 40000 tons
Armor: 10800
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 300 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: none
RU Cost: 650
Available from: mission 1
The ships you need to collect resources. Totally unarmed and slow, but decently
armed, Resource Controllers must be defended against anything.
RESOURCE CONTROLLER
Mass: 79000 tons
Armor: 13600
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 300 m/s
Special Action: can support Strike Crafts
Required Tech: Capital Ship Drive
RU Cost: 680
Available from: mission 3
Controllers are used as mobile drop points for Collectors. Slow, unarmed and
decently armored, Controllers need protection as Collectors do. Every
Controller has eight hardpoints for Strike Crafts (three per side, for
Fighters, and 2 uder the nose, for Corvettes) ; it also one of the first
vessels not needing refuel and with complete hyperspace capabilities. Later,
Controllers can be replaced with Carriers, has they are more armored, have
self-defense guns and two hardpoints for Collectors, plus the ability to build
vessels.
PROBE
Mass: 40 tons
Armor: 800
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: medium
Max Velocity: 4000 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: none
RU Cost: 30
Available from: mission 1
A small device used for long-range reconaissance missions. Once the Probe as
been launched, there is no way to change its trajectory, nor it is possible to
move it once it has reached its intended position. It is also impossible to
decommission built Probes, store them in docking bays or the collect them for
hyperspace jumps.
GRAVITY WELL GENERATOR
Mass: 65000 tons
Armor: 8000
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 325 m/s
Special Action: traps Fighters and Corvettes
Required Tech: Capital Ship Drive
Gravity Generator
RU Cost: 800
Available from: mission 9
Gravity Well Generators are capable of trapping Strike Crafts in strong gravity
fields. The gravity doesn't affect other ships as their engines are too
powerful for this relatively small ship.
CLOACK GENERATOR
Mass: 22000 tons
Armor: 6000
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 325 m/s
Special Action: Cloack
Required Tech: Capital Ship Drive
Cloacking Device
RU Cost: 500
Available from: mission 13
Identical to the Gravity Well, but its cloack field will affect all ships
within range. Cloacked ships can be detected by Sensor Systems, but they will
automatically releav themselves when firing. If a ship decloacks and then
decloacks, Ion Cannons and projectiles will still hit and allocate damage, but
missiles will probably lose their lock-on.
PROXIMITY SENSOR
Mass: 40 tons
Armor: 800
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: very high
Max Velocity: 1000 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Proximity Sensor
RU Cost: 50
Available from: mission 10
An upgrade of the Probe, the Proximity Generator featurs a small reactor and
thruster to change course during flights and even to moe after it has been
deployed. Think to it as a Scout without weapons, and built only for
reconaissance.
SENSOR SYSTEM
Mass: 2900 tons
Armor: 6000
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 280 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: Proximity Sensor
Sensor System
RU Cost: 800
Available from: mission 14
The Sensor System is pratically a large, semi-mobile antennae capable of
detecting cloacked ships and Capital and Super-Capital ships within the map.
This won't give you the chance to see them with the camera system, but you'll
know that there are such ships on the Sensor Manager. It cannot detect Strike
Crafts at long ranges; it will also be a favourite target for your enemies, so
take care of it.
RESEARCH SHIP
Mass: 11000 tons
Armor: 4500
Firepower: none
Coverage: none
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 280 m/s
Special Action: none
Required Tech: none
RU Cost: 700
Available from: mission 1
You can build a maximum of six Research Ships. Once linked, these ships will
effectively become a semi-mobile research station. Purpose of these ships is
clear, so I won't bother you in useless descriptions; however, it is remarkable
that a single technology can be researched in more than one laboratory (just
click once more on the technology to be researched) and that a group of ships
can handle different researches.
MOTHERSHIP
Mass: 5000000 tons
Armor: 160000
Firepower: 7500
Coverage: 60% (six mass drivers spread all along the hull)
Maneuverability: very low
Max Velocity: 50 m/s (only in multiplayer)
Special Action: none
Required Tech: none
Available from: mission 1
An huge Ship capable of building any other class of ship present int he game,
MotherShip class vessels excluded. If you lose it in single player, you'll
lose. Lose it in multiplayer without any Carrier under your control and you'll
lose. It is well armored, but unable to move if not by hyperspace (in single
player; during a multiplayer match the MotherShip can move at a very sluggish
pace). It is protected by six small mass drivers located along the hull (two on
front, one on each side and two on rear); they are powerful enough to repel
attacks made by Strike Crafts, but even a large number of Heavy/Multi-Gun
Corvettes will be hard to fight off; the MotherShip can build one type of unit
at once, meaning at you can build an Interceptor, a Defender, a Carrier, a
Destroyer and an Assault Frigate togheter, if your resuorces allows it. It has
two docking hardpoints for Resource Collectors and can accept up to 40 Fighters
and 20 Corvettes in its docking bays. Frigates cannot dock with the MotherShip
for repairs.
Mass: 40 tons
Armor: 150
Firepower: 10
Coverage: 10% (two forward-fixed mass drivers)
Maneuverability: high
Max Velocity: 775 m/s
Special Action: cloaking
Required Tech: Fighter Drive
Fighter Structure
Cloaked Fighter
RU Cost: 35
Available from: mission 12
A strange looking Fighter with the capability to cloak. This ability grants it
to pass unseen from any standard sensor; only Sensor Systems can detect Cloaked
Fighters, but it decloaks when fires.
DRONE FRIGATE
Mass: 60,000 tons
Armor: 16,000
Firepower: 4,900
Coverage: 100% (24 drones with one mass driver each)
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 325 m/s
Special Action: drones
Required Tech: Frigate Drive
Frigate Structure
Drone Tedchnology
RU Cost: 800
Available from: mission 6
Uhm...This Frigate should be useful against Strike Crafts, only if you get used
to the drones; when activated, 24 drones will create a sphere around the
Frigate herself and will attack any craft daring to pass near the Frigate.
Useless, however.
Mass: 75 tons
Armor: 300
Firepower: none
Coverage: 80%
Maneuverability: high
Max Velocity: 875 m/s
Required Tech: Fighter Drive
Fighter Structure
Defense Fighter
RU Cost: 85
Available from: mission 12
A Strike Craft developed to destroy incoming enemy shots with its small energy
gun. This gun cannot arm other vessel's armors and the fighter itself is
useless. Better to use resources for Interceptors.
DEFENSE FIELD FRIGATE
Mass: 400 tons
Armor: 17,600
Firepower: none
Coverage: none (though field covers 100% of the ship)
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 325 m/s
Special Action: defense filed
Required Tech: Frigate Drive
Frigate Chassis
Defense Field
RU Cost: 800
Available from: mission 6
The bigger version of the Defense Fighter...and useless as its smaller cousin.
Useless. Build Ion or Assault Frigates instead.
---------------------------------------------------------------
--TAIIDAN/KUSHAN AND INSTALLATIONS (enemies in single player)--
---------------------------------------------------------------
A deep-space research outpost with enough rear armor to withstand radiations
from an active SuperNova. It has docking points for Strike Crafts and Frigates,
but it hasn't the ability to produce them.
HYPERSPACE INHIBITOR FIELD EMITTER (single section; from mission 14)
Mass: 60,000 tons (extimated)
Armor: 20,000 (extimated)
Firepower: none (extimated)
Coverage: none (extimated)
Maneuverability: very low (extimated)
Max Velocity: 150 m/s (extimated - note that this is the revolution speed)
A Hyperspace Inhibitor Emitter is composed of eight of these sections; they
slowly rotate to create a gravity effect which is amplificated by particular
emitters in each section to deform the hyperwave. It is significantly bulkier
than the Renegade's own device, but more armored and with larger range.
-----------------
--RENGADE SHIPS--
-----------------
The renegades, or Kadesh Nebula inhabitants. Their forces are based on strike
crafts but their capital ships can be a nasty surprise.
SWARMER
Mass: 8 tons
Armor: 400
Firepower: 43
Coverage: 4%
Maneuverability: very high
Max Velocity: 1500 m/s
Cost: 25 RUs
Thanks to Barrengate (neobios@comcast.net) for the Swarmer stats. He captured
one in mission 7 and sent me a screenshot when the Swarmer was docked in the
Mothership.
Highly manueverable fighter. Though its more or less a normal Interceptor, the
great number of them will make them deadly. Really small fuel tanks; destroy
the Fuel Pods to stop them at once.
ADVANCED SWARMER
Mass: 80 tons (extimated)
Armor: 150 (extimated)
Firepower: 50 (extimated)
Coverage: 20% (extimated; two forward-fixed mass drivers and two plasma bomb
launchers)
Maneuverability: very high (extimated)
Max Velocity: 875 m/s (extimated)
A Swarmer with two guns and two additional plasma bomb launchers, used only
against Capital or bigger ships. Can be recognized by its yellowish exhaust and
orange parts.
FUEL POD
Mass: 30,000 tons (extimated)
Armor: 10,000 (extimated)
Firepower: 65
Coverage: 10 % (one mass driver on stern turret)
Maneuverability: medium (extimated)
Max Velocity: 450 m/s (extimated)
Nothing much to say. Unarmed refuelling station for Swarmers and Advanced
Swarmers.
Ver 3.X addition: the Fuel Pod is a mistery. As the Multi-Beam Frigate of the
same race (read below), this ship is much smaller than all ships in its class;
it should be a Frigate, as it has six hardpoints to refuel fighters, it is not
fuel limited and it has hyperspace capabilities and can be captured (two
Salvage Corvettes); however, it leaves the same trail has Fighters and
Corvettes, it is big as a Taiidan Salvage Corvette and has the same firepower
of a Repair Corvette.
MULTI-BEAM FRIGATE
Mass: 40,000 tons (extimated)
Armor: 10,000 (extimated)
Firepower: 600(extimated)
Coverage: 20% (extimated; six fixed-forwad Ion Cannons)
Maneuverability: medium (extimated)
Max Velocity: 350 m/s (extimated)
You'll see only few of these ships. And if I think it's better for you. Six (6)
Ion Cannons, all mounted forward, in 2 groups of three, in each "wing". Seek
and destroy.
Rather than "firepower+armor", these crafts seems to be "firepower+agility".
Also, they tend to be more effective than other Ion Frigates against Fighters
and Corvettes.
"MUSHROOM" CAPITAL SHIP
Mass: 700,000 tons (extimated)
Armor: 70,000 (extimated)
Firepower: 200 (extimated)
Coverage: 50% (extimated; one forward-fixed Ion Cannon and four mass drivers on
frontal turrets)
Maneuverability: low (extimated)
Max Velocity: 400 m/s (extimated)
Special Action: disable hyperspace generators
I do not know the designation of this ship, nor if it is a real MotherShip or
something like a Carrier; the fact is that this ship looks like a mushroom, so
I'll call it in that way.
It is not heavily armed, though it has an Ion Cannon on its "top" and can
produces Swarmers and Fuel Pods; never seen Multi-Beam Frigate coming out from
one of these ships, but they should come from somewhere. It is fast and
manueverable as most Super Capital Ships and has the ability to block
hyperspace jumps.
Ver. 3.X addition: I'm not still sure if the Ion Cannon I saw during my very
first campaign was an error or what. However, I'm sure that there are four mass
drivers at each cardinal point of the frontal "capella".
Mass: 70 tons
Armor: 75
Firepower: 65
Coverage: 5% (single massi driver on the nose, fixed forward)
Maneuverability: very high
Max Velocity: 780 m/s
It can matches standard Kushan/Turanic Interceptors in large groups; it is the
fastest and most widely used pirate craft.
THIEF class corvette
Mass: 660 tons
Armor: 1.200
Firepower: 200
Coverage: 10% (single mass driver on nose sponson turret)
Maneuverability: high
Max Velocity: 550 m/s
Standard Turanic Corvette; not a real problem, its armor is a bit thicker than
an Interceptor's one but less versatile.
BRIGAND class missile corvette
Mass: 775 tons
Armor: 1.300
Firepower: 320
Coverage: 60% (two missile launchers)
Maneuverbility: high
Max Velocity: 500 m/s
If the Thief was a mediocre Corvette, the Brigand is an excellent one. Its
missiles can wreak havoc in fighter formations and allows the Corvette to fire
from long range. It is no match for Capital Ships with anti-Strike Craft
weapons, however.
ASSASIN class ion array frigate
Mass: 13.550 tons
Armor: 3.500
Firepower: 4.800
Coverage: 6% (single fixed-forward Ion Cannon)
Maneuverability: low
Max Velocity: 245 m/s
Special Action: cloack
Swarm them with strike crafts (especially Attack Bombers). The Ion Array
Frigate is like any other Ion Cannon Frigate, though its cannon is a bit more
powerful and slightly less agile and fast.
LORD class attack carrier
Mass: 109.000 tons
Armor: 58.000
Firepower: 7.500
Coverage: 40% (2 forward fixed Ion Cannons, 4 mass drivers, front, on turrets)
Maneuverability:low
Max Velocity: 235 m/s
This particular Carrier-class vessel is catalogated as "attack carrier", as its
weapon systems are more efficent than the other Carriers currently in service:
it features a forward-fixed Ion Cannon
and it is well protected by projectile turrets mainly mounted on sides and
bottom. The maneuvarbility can pose a problem, as the Lord can efficently aim
its cannon against Capital Ships, and the turret complements can pose more than
a threat for Strike Crafts. Like all Carriers it can produces units, but I've
never seen one building Frigates: the AI keeps building Corvettes. The best way
to attack it is to target rear quarters and top. Do not understimate its Ion
Cannon.
Ver. 3.X Addition: while replaying the game as a Taiidan, the Lord from mission
4 got too near the MotherShip and started firing. To my surprise, it fired two
Ion Cannons. Also, there are four turrets on the nose of the craft, capable of
full motion. It appears that the Lord class was scaled down for HomeWorld
Cataclysm, the main source for its statistics.
Mass: 600.000 tons (extimated)
Armor: 120.000 (extimated)
Firepower: at least 15.000
Coverage: at least 40% (3 ion cannons)
Maneuverability: medium/low
Max Velocity: 250 m/s (extimated)
Intergalactic traders. They are very mysterious and have the most exotic
technologies you can pay for. Though the Taiidans are rulers of the whole
galaxy, the Bentusi could be more powerful than them...as their Trade Ships
show. Three Ion Cannons, high maneuverability for a ship of this tonnage, largo
cargo decks, powerful hyperdrive...probably this ship is comparable to a
Carrier-class ship.
BENTUSI CARGO BARGE
Mass: 4.000 tons (extimated)
Armor: 5.000 (extimated)
Firepower: none (extimated)
Coverage: none (extimated)
Maneuverability: medium (extimated)
Max Velocity: 400 m/s (extimated)
This small Frigate-class ship is intended for short hypersapce travels and
in-system travels. Probably it has no armament, devoting all possible space to
cargo bays.
-----------------------------------------
--ALIEN SHIPS and OTHER FOREIGN OBJECTS--
-----------------------------------------
ALIEN VESSEL (from mission 9)
Mass: unknown
Armor: 20.000 (extimated)
Firepower: none (extimated)
Coverage: none (extimated)
Maneuverability: very low (extimated)
Max Velocity: immobile (extimated)
This alien vessel of unknow origins is totally immobile, but has the particular
ability to capture Capital and Super-Capital Ships. Bentusi are particularly
affected by this effect. Other purposes are unknown.
DAWG (from mission 13)
Mass: unknown
Armor: 500.000, or even undestructible (extimated)
Firepower: none (extimated)
Coverage: none (extimated)
Maneuverability: medium (extimated)
Max Velocity: 350 m/s (extimated)
This particular vessel can be inserted into the Frigate class. It is basically
a tug with the ability to override any Capital and Super-Capital ship eletronic
defense, disable its engines and weapons and then steal it to place the newly
acquired ship in the Karos Graveyard. It doesn't appear to have hyperspace
abilities but it is probably indestructible.
Doug McLaren (dougmc@frenzy.com) sent this:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Dawg (where did this name come from?) in Mission 13 ...
It's not invincible. It's really tough, but my force of 5 destroyers,
3 missile destroyers and 3 heavy crusiers took it out before it could
steal my carrier. But it's certainly fast, and if it gets away with a ship,
your super capital ships aren't likely to catch it.
Not sure yet if another will appear )
-------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTOMATED GUN (from mission 13)
Mass: unknown
Armor: 10.000 (extimated)
Firepower: 2.000 (extimated)
Coverage: 2% (extimated; one mass driver fixed forward)
Maneuverability: low (extimated)
Max Velocity: immobile (extimated)
Fixed defense stations with the only ability to turn in all direction to target
any unknown object. The gun mounted by these "turrets" is quite devastating,
mostly due to its high firing rate.
A piece of an unknown starship where lies a Comm Repeater. It is unknown if the
Daw recieve its orders from this place or if it thinks on its own.
LARGE ASTEROID (from mission 15)
Mass: 500.000 (extimated)
Armor: 200.000 (extimated)
Firepower: none (extimated)
Coverage: none (extimated)
Maneuverability: very low (extimated)
Max Velocity: 250 m/s (extimated)
A very large asteroid with an engine powerful enough to partially move it,
implaneted by the Taiidans.
*************
8-WALKTHROUGH
*************
As you may have noticed, during the installation HomeWorld requires a special
code to be activated: I WON'T SEND THIS CODE TO ANYONE.
And this, too: HomeWorld has NO codes, except the string options found in the
next section. However, this always made the game unbearlably unstable to me.
Use them as your own risk; I won't remburse any kind of damage, nor will Relic,
Sierra or sites hosting this document will. You use those strings at your own
risk.
For race purposes, I consider as you are playing with Kushans.
You'll always start with your MotherShip, 7 Scouts and one Resource Collector.
The game has been finished in normal difficult.
MISSION 1: THE KHARAK SYSTEM
Mission Objectives:
+ Harvest Resources
+ Build Primary Research Ship
+ Destroy the Drones Using a Formation
+ Destroy the Drones Using a Tactic
+ Capture the Drone with a Salvage Corvette
The MotherShip is ready. The whole Kushan race is awaiting its departure from
the giant Scaffold orbiting around Kharak.
This mission is very simple. It will allow you to further improve your skills
with the game. Simply do what the male voice orders you:
immediately build a Research Ship and a Salvage Corvette; research Fighter
Chassis and Corvette Drive in the Research Ship and have the Resource Collector
harvest any possible resource.
The Scout will have to destroy a group of 9 Drones first, using a Formation (go
for the X or Claw one), then a group of 16 Drones with Tactics.
Then use your Salvage Corvette to retrieve the single Drone.
Build five Interceptors or retire all Scouts to build ten Interceptors;
Resources will be too low for construction of other ships, so use them for
fighters.
Once the Salvage Corvette has retrieved the Drone, the hyperspace module will
be fully charged. Order your fleet to dock with the MotherShip and let the
journey begin.
MISSION 2: OUTSKIRTS OF KHARAK SYSTEM
Mission Objectives:
+ Send a Probe to Investigate
+ Protect the MotherShip
+ Salvage the Khar-Selim
+ Defend the Salvage Team
+ Defend MotherShip
+ Destroy Attacking Forces
The first hyperspace jump will bring you to the outskirts of the Kharak system,
to rendez-vous with the support vessel Khar-Selim, which has passed the last
ten years travelling on standard drives to tune your hyperdrive.
As the MotherShip will emerge from hypersapce, order your Collector to harvest
resources.
Fleet Comand will alert you that it is possible that the fleet mis-jumped and
will start hailing the Khar-Selim on all frequencies. Sensors will pick up the
ship's automated beacon.
Before sending a Probe, be sure to have at least two Resource Collectors and a
strong group of Strike Crafts; as the Research Ship will be ready to begin
development of Corvette Chassis and Heavy Corvette Upgrade, you'll may want to
wait until at least 5 Heavy Corvettes are ready. Keep your ships near the
MotherShip, and do not send any of them toward the Khar-Selim. Position at
least 5 Interceptors on the left side of the MotherShip.
Once you are ready, build a Probe and send it near the Khar-Selim.
From the wreckages of your suport vessel unknown enemy ships will emerge, and
will start to fly toward your MotherShip.
Order your units to destroy all incoming enemy ships (8 Interceptors divided
into two waves, the first composed of 2 fighters, 2 Corvettes and one Missile
Corvette), then repair and substitute any ship needing it.
Fleet Comand will order you to direct a Salvage Corvette to the Khar-Selim to
retrieve its flight recorder.
Place half of your Fighters between the MotherShip and the Khar-Selim, while
the rest will remain with your MotherShip; a group of Corvettes will escort the
Salvage Corvette to the Khar-Selim and back.
Salvaging operations will take few seconds; after the Salvage Corvette has
finished, other waves of enemies will try to destroy the Corvette. Have your
forces fend off any attack; use your fighters to locate the enemy Carrier
before the Salvage Corvette arrives at the MotherShip.
From now on, Corvettes and Interceptors will defeat any Strike Craft coming
from that Carrier while Scouts attack it; use evasive tactics to minimize
losses.
After the Corvette has docked, the MotherShip will play the last entry from the
flight recorder: before being destroyed, the Khar-Selim tried to broadcast an
abort signal for your hyperdrive test, but it was too late.
Now you'll have to destroy the enemy fleet. Order your Corvettes to attack the
enemy Carrier with the Interceptors, and have the Interceptors destroy any
enemy Strike Craft.
The Carrier will retreat soon. Call back all your forces, repair and refuel
them, and if all resources on the map have been harvested, engage hyperspace
for immediate return to Kharak. It is also reccomandable to have at least two
Salvage Corvettes.
MISSION 3: RETURN TO KHARAK
Mission Objectives:
+ Defend the Criotrays
+ Capture an Enemy Ship with 2 Salvage Corvettes
+ Salvage the Criotrays
Hostile units belonged to Corvette and Fighter classes. The MotherShip will
return to Kharak to alert the planetary missile defense and for final touches
to its systems.
Once the MotherShip emerges from the hyperspace, everyone sees a dreadful show:
the scaffold and any other orbiting facility destroyed, and Kharak is being
consumed by a firestorm. The only suriving structures are the cryotrais near
you, and one of them is suffering a massive malfunction.
First, order your Collectors to harvest the few resources near the wreckages of
the scaffold, and move the Salvage Corvette near the Criotrays. Form the usual
Scout/Interceptor/Corvette groups and move them near the trays too.
The Criotrays are under attack by four ships, different from those you
encountered at the Khar-Selim. Tactical suggests to capture at least one of
those ships to know what happened.
To capture a single Frigate you'll need two Salvage Corvettes; I suggest not to
try to simply order your Corvettes to move in and capture a ship or they will
be destroyed at once; also, the game will not react well to any enemy ship
you'll capture aside the first one, so capture just one (that's it only one
Frigate in this mission until mission 8; read that mission for further
informations).
Order your Strike Crafts to attack the Assault Frigates: fighters are good to
draw them away from the Criotrays while Corvettes fires from behind, below or
from sides to maximize damage.
Once three Frigates are down, order to dock to your fighting Corvettes and
Interceptors and order your Scouts (or Interceptots if you don't have any) to
engage the last Frigate while your Salvage Corvettes capture it; the best way
to draw fire from the Corvettes is to use evasive tactic until the Corvettes
are docked with the Frigate.
Now dock all your fighters, replace any loss and have the Reasearch Ship study
the Capital Ship Chassis technology and watch the recording of the captured
ship.
!!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!!
Discovered a bug in this mission, in every version of the game. It is possible
that the Criotrays will be under attack by only three ships, with one of them
damaged. If this happens, and you are able to salvage all 6 Criotrays, the
mission won't end as the game AI won't recognize the sixth Criotray as
salvaged. Unfortunately, the only way I've found to eliminate this problem is
to let the Taiidan ships destroy at least one of the Criotryas, and then
following with the mission.
!!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!!
Now use your Salvage Corvette to recover all surviving Criotrays (it is
relatively easy to save them all); I suggest to issue the salvage order when
the previous Cryotray is going to be "incorporated" into the MotherShip, or the
queue will eventually screw up the game, obliging you to replay the mission.
You should also have some spare resources; build a second Resource Collector
and if you have something left at least one Assault Frigate; don't worry if you
haven't any or enough, the next mission will allow you to increase your units'
numbers and quality.
Once all Criotrays are secure, jump toward your next mission.
MISSION 4: THE GREAT WASTELANDS
Mission Objectives:
+ Harvest
+ Protect Fleet
+ Destroy the Enemy Carrier before It Leaves
Secondary Obectives:
+ Build and Position a Resource Controller
The commander of the captured enemy ship has revealed that the fleet which
destroyed you planet was a frontier guard of a vast interstellar empire, and
your race has violated a 4000 years old treaty forbidding to develop hyperspace
drives.
Before hunting down the remainings of the fleet, however, you'll have to refit
and increase number of your fleet; course has been directed to a deep-space
asteroid belt.
Begin to harvest resources; build a Resource Controller and move it near the
Collectors to improve harvest productivity. Remember that you'll have to
manually move the Controller near the Collectors everytime they move from a
deposit to an other one, or it will be nearly useless.
Resume procution of Assault Frigates; build at least two of them, and save all
remaining resources for after.
Sensors will pick up a fast-moving MotherShip-class signal directed toward your
MotherShip. Power reading are off the scale (It's manifestating! The Lance!
Pull back the...ehm, sorry, wrong series...if you understood the joke, mail me,
no prizes are awaiting you).
The ship will stop in front of your MotherShip. As it didn't fired first, the
ambassador will dock with the unknown ship to establish communications.
This ship belongs to the Bentusi, the Unbounds, interstellar traders; they ahve
just delivered an Exchange Unit to the ambassador in a gest of good will; with
this Exchange Unit you'll be able to buy new technologies exchanging them with
harvested resources.
The technology being offered is vital, the Ion Cannon (whenever you are playing
as a Kushan or Taiidan, the Bentusi will offer this technlogy). As it costs
only 500 RUs, buy it immediately.
If think that the Bentusi will remaing there as long as you do not buy Ion
Cannons, but I'm not sure.
Tegger Better (teggetwo@hotmail.com) says that if you are not quick in buying
the technology, the Bentusi will leave.
As the Exchange has been concluded, the Bentusi will leave, telling you that
everything that moves is easily eard in the void (everyone knows that everyone
can ear your scream in space), and will alert you that the Turanic Raiders,
serves of the Taiidans are coming and should not know that you have seen them.
Now that you have access to Ion technology, build at least four Ion Cannon
Frigates and keep them all near your MotherShip, including the Assault
Frigates. Move your Research Ship somewhere in front of the MotherShip and
order your Salvage Corvettes to dock and keep them inside.
Use your Strike Crafts to fend off any Turanic attack and try to locate the
enemy Carrier: this time this Carrier mustn't run away, or will alert the
Taiidan fleet you are seeking to destroy of your existence.
Also, when located, the Carrier will call for reinforcements: two Ion Array
Frigates will hyperspace near the Carrier itself and four other Frigates of the
same type will jump near your MotherShip: recall your Strike Crafts and order
your Frigates to destroy all enemies sorrounding the MotherShip.
Once they have been destroyed, direct all your forces against the enemy
Carrier, which will constantly come toward the MotherShip to use its Ion Cannon.
That Carrier MUST NOT escape. Have your Strike Crafts engage the Ion Array
Frigates near it and have your Frigates fire on the Carrier.
As the Carrier collapses, replace any loss and be sure to harvest all resources
in the map.
If you can, build now two other Ion Frigates and retire any Scout and replace
them with Interceptors or Heavy Corvettes.
Now prepare youself to face your first large-fleet combat.
MISSION 5: THE GREAT WASTELANDS
Mission Objectives:
+ Investigate at the Asteroid Belt
+ Destroy all Enemy Vessels
Secondary Obectives:
+ Destroy Enemy Resource Collectors
The first hyperspace jump of your race had devastating effects: Kharak, the
planet you thought was your homeworld is burining; the renmants of your race
are sleeping, unaware of the situation and the MotherShip and its fleet is
chased by two alien races; for now, however, there is one single objective:
destroy the fleet that consumated your world.
As soon as you came out from hyperspace, begin to harvest the resource-rich
asteroid belt and position your Frigates in front of the MotherShip. Position
your fighters near the Frigates for cover and move the Corvettes in the
right-most asteroid belt (with the MotherShip at the bottom of your Sensor
Manager).
Do not send Probes or other fighters to recon the center of the belt: your
Resource Collectors will automatically reveal the ships an the Taiidans will
start to move against you. Not sending a Probe immediately will also grant you
few resources to increase your fleet and to research Plasma Bomb technology,
that might be useful to produce cheap anti-Capital Ship fighters.
When Tactical will inform you that the ships are the ones which destroyed
Kharak, begin to move your Frigates toward the center of the belt, with the
fighters few meters behind. Order your Corvettes to move along the right
asteroid belt, but do not engage them in direct combat until I told you so.
The Taiidan fleet is composed of 2 Ion Frigates, 6 Assault Frigates, a Support
Frigate, a Carrier, Interceptors and Defenders; the latter class of ship is
brand-new, and will be protecting the enemy Carrier; as soon you'll make
contact with them, Tactical will inform you that engineers are ready to start
to study the technology. The enemy fleet will also start to move toward the
MotherShip, with the Destroyer as spearhead. Ion and Assault Frigates will be
slightly below it, and the Support Frigate will remain with the Carrier.
Your Corvettes should have identified the enemy Resource Collectors: destroy
them at once, then redirect the Corvettes into the main battle. Have them
destroy the Defenders and any other unit around the enemy Carrier, and then
harras it until your Frigates have finished with the enemy Capital Ships. I
suggest to take out the Assault Frigates first, then concentrate on the
Destroyer while your Fighters take out the Ion Frigates and enemy Interceptors.
Now that the enemy Capital Ships are down, take care of the Carrier and any
renmanents of the Taiidan fleet.
Before hyperspacing, be sure to collect all resources and replace all your
losses. Build 10 Attack Bombers, and be sure to have all your Strike Crafts
locked in the MotherShip.
(note: I know, the best thing would be to capture the enemy Destroyer or at
least the Frigates, if not even the Carrier; however, read mission 8 for a good
reason to avoid this)
MISSION 6: DIAMOND SHOALS
Mission Objectives:
+ Protect the MotherSHip
You have succesfully decripted the data from the captured Taiidan ship: it
appears to be an Imperial broadcast, full of unknown words, sounds and
mysterious outposts, but each one looks very frightening. To avoid them, the
MotherShip will change its path and will pass through a Nebula, but before,
through an asteroid field.
The objective of this mission is simple: destroy any asteroid that threats your
MotherShip. The MotherShip itself can withstand few hits, but your Frigates
will have to shoot down any incoming object. Note that resources will be
available only when few asteroids have been destroyed, and if they impact with
your Frigates, it is most likely that you'll lose them. Ion Cannon Frigates,
with their firepower performs better than Assault Frigates in this job.
Once the first wave of asteroids have been eliminated, when you have a chance,
release your Strike Crafts and help the Frigates in their job: the worst is yet
to come. Super-Capital Ship Drive will become available after some minutes, and
the help a Destroyer can give will prove valuable. Build two or three of them,
but be sure to have at least 500 RUs in your stores.
After all asteroids are gone, the Bentusi will appear, offering you Drone
Technology. This time you'll have a limited time to buy the Technology; if you
wait too much, the Bentusi will leave; Drone technology is not vital, but you
might want it for some reasons.
When the deal is done, Fleet Comand will ask help to the Bentusi for
identifying the dangers in this region; the Bentusi don't ear nothing here, and
even the Taiidans fear the Great Nebula. No one returns.
Once the Bentusi are gone, be sure to have a good Capital/Super-Capital Ship
wing (let's say minimum two Destroyers and 9 combat Frigates of various type)
and, above everything else, a strong Strike Craft wing, with Interceptors and
Heavy Corvette as backbone. Be sure that they will automatically leave the
MotherShip once out of hyperspace.
The Nebula is incredibly rich in energy and resources. Sensors have problems
compensating the energy spikes, and need recalibration. Order your Collectors
to harvest, but do not move the Controller. Have all non-combat ships docked
(if they can) and move your Frigates in front of the MotherShip, and your
Destroyers behind. Your Strike Crafts will be split between the sides of it.
A large sensor contact will move toward you; sensor instability makes difficult
to identify. The ambassador will meet with an emissary of the unknown ship.
This Nebula, as the emissary says, is the Garden of Kadesh, protected for 30
generations from the Unclean by these people; they ask the ambassador if you've
come here to stay. As the ambassador apologizes for the intrusion, the emissary
will sentence that everyone not willing to remain, will be destroyed. A large
numbers of ships will come out from the alien ship, directed toward our
MotherShip.
The enemy ships will attack your right flank first, so have your Strike Crafts
fend off any attack while the Frigates attack the larger ships, the Fuel Pods,
essentially Support Frigates. The enemy ship will start a flanking maneuver,
trying to go in your rear spot. Ignore it for now. Fleet Comand will also begin
to charge the hyperdrive; it will be ready in 8 minutes.
Continue to order your Strike Crafts to destroy the enemy fighters ad your
Firgates to destroy all Fuel Pods (remeber, stay away from the enemy Carrier).
Enemies will also start to attack your Resource Collectors. As soon as they
came under attack, order them to dock with the MotherShip or the Resource
Collector and move a group of Interceptors to guard them. Enemies will attack
the Collectors even if they are near the MotherShip, so pay attention.
Scientists will be also able to research Fast-tracking Turrets to build
Multi-Gun Corvettes, the best to deal with these swarms of light Fighters.
Build at least 10 of those Corvettes.
Meanwhile, the enemy Carrier should have completed the flank maneuver: begin to
move your Capital Ships behind the MotherShip, but do not attack it.
The hyperdrive should be ready now. Dock all your ships and prepare to escape.
The hyperdrive wave has collapsed, due to some kind of inhibitor field. You'll
have to guard the fleet again until the source is located.
Order your Strike Crafts to deal with the enemy fighters while your Capital
Ships move toward the enemy Carrier for interception; have some Strike Crafts
guard them or they will fall prey of the enemy fighters.
The enemy Carrier is the source of the inhibitor field. Order your Capital
ships to destroy it, but pay attention to the fighters and the ramming tecnique
of the Carrier, continuosly order your ships to change altitude and direction
to avoid such attacks.
As the enemy Carrier is destroyed or has left the map, the inihibitor field
will be disabled. However, before leaving, have your Collectors harvest
everything they can and replace your losses. An other Destroyer and some more
Ion Cannon Frigates, plus Multi-Gun Corvettes (you can retire Heavy Corvettes
for them) will work fine in the next mission.
MISSION 8: THE CATHEDRAL OF KADESH
Mission Objectives:
+ Protect the MotherShip
+ Destroy all Attackers
!!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!! BUG WARNING !!!!!!!!
As I stated in all previous missions, capturing enemy ships (aside the Frigate
to complete mission 3) will cause a big problem in this mission. Sierra support
politely replied to my e-mails telling that I am the only one suffering this
problem, but here's my experience: everytime I start this mission and I have
even one extra enemy ship with me, the game bombs to Windows. This happens with
every version of the game. Also, with patch 1.5 this problem always happens,
even without captured ships. This is the only mission where I experienced this
problem, and I don't know what to say aside reporting it.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! END OF BUG WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UPDATE TO THIS PROBLEM:
I restarted the game as a Taiidan, and tried to capture as many vessels as
possible. In this mission, I arrived with four Ion Array Frigates, one Assault
Frigate, one Destroyer and three Multi-Beam Frigates, and the game didn't
crashed. However, my MotherShip was destroyed, and had to replay it over. The
game still ran, but no orders were accepted, and neither the enemies attacked
me. Game version was 1.0.
END OF UPDATE
The enemy Carrier had a powerful field generator that deformed the hyperspace
wave, pratically inhibiting all hyperspace jumps. Also, they hyperspace
signature was identical to your own; this is an iteresting question considering
that the MotherShip's hyperdrive was reverse-engineered from the Khar-Toba.
This jump will bring the fleet out of the Nebula.
The fleet is still in the Nebula. Multiple contacts are approaching fast. Three
of them are Carriers, each one carrying an inhibitor device. All three have to
come down if you want to escape.
An alien emissary will ask if you want to join them again. Fleet Comand will
state that we have the same hyperspace technology, and the HomeWorld your fleet
seek might be theirs as well. The Renegades will start attacking.
Group your Capital Ships and assign them a fighter escort escort, but be sure
that the MotherShip and remaining vessels aren't without a minimum fighter
cover. Do not harvest resources for now, or your Collectors will be destroyed
and the defense linew ill be too loose.
Move your assault group toward the nearest Carrier (should be the one coming
from the left), and take it down: the tactic to use is the same of the previous
mission, for all three of them. However, the Renegades will have Multi-Beam
Frigates with them, so pay attention. Destroy them first before taking care of
the Carrier. Each Carrier has 2 of such Frigates defending it.
As the first Carrier is down, move toward the nearest to your MotherShip and
attack it. Repeat the same tactic and you won't have too many problems.
When the second Carrier is gone, the third and its whole escort of Fighters and
Frigates will withdraw toward the heart of the Nebula, which has a friendly
sensor contact in it, but it is defenetively not yours.
Pursue them, or you won't be able to leave. Order your Collectors to harvest
and move your fleet toward the friendly contact. Always have Strike Crafts with
your Capital Ships as the Renegades fighters will always try to attack you.
Near the heart of the Nebula there are six Multi-Beam Frigates: use your
Frigates as a bait and order your Strike Crafts to attack them while your
Capital ships reply to their fire and take the brunt of their attack. The
remaining Carrier is near the contact.
The contact has been identified: it's the Khar-Toba. Metals and structures
match the original found on Kharak; your origins are the same.
Destroy the Carrier, and, as usual, before leaving harvest everything you can.
Replace your losses, but do not build any new Capital ship for now, concentrate
on Heavy and Multi-Gun Corvettes and Attack Bombers instead.
MISSION 9: THE SEA OF THE LOST SOULS
Mission Objectives:
+ Investigate the Anomaly
+ Destroy the Alien Ship
+ Salvage the Alien Ship
While the Khar-Toba was able to reach Kharak, its sister ship tried to hide in
the Nebula. The Renegades started to steal passing ships by trapping them with
hyperspace inhibitors. Soon, the Nebula become an off-limits region, and this
way of life became the Renegade's religion.
The hyperdrive has been disabled, due to an anomaly on the MotherShip's path.
This anomaly is an unknown vessel: it doesn't match any profile, and it is
sorrounded by some inactive ships of various origins.
Begin to harvest resources, build a Probe and send it toward the vessel: as the
Probe approaches, you'll see the ships activating and opening fire at the
Probe. The ships sorrounding the vessel are 1 Taiidan Missile Destroyer, 2
Taiidan Assault Frigates, 2 Renegade Multi Beam Frigates and 1 Turanic Ion
Array Frigate.
Move one or two Support Frigates (if you have) and the Attack Bombers (20),
Heavy Corvettes (10) and Multi-Gun Corvettes (10) near the ship, sligthly on
its left side (I considered the left side from the vessel's nose; the nose is
the part pointing toward your MotherShip), away enough to avoid activation of
the ships sorrounding the vessel. If you have any Interceptors, use them too.
Do not move any Capital or Super-Capital ship near the vessel or you'll lose
control of them, and they will be used by the vessel as a reinforcment of its
defenses. The plan is to use your Corvettes as a decoy for the Attack Bombers,
allowing you to disable the vessel and therefore capturing 6 Capital Ships, 4
of them incorporating unknown technologies.
The plan is simple: from the left side (slightly from the rear, but, in
general, the left side is not defended; the real threats are the Assault
Frigates and the Missile Destroyer, the other Frigates do not have enough
agility to track down Corvettes or Fighters), order your Corvettes to engage
the vessel with an evasive tactic, and one or two seconds after, order the
Attack Bombers to attack the vessel with a neutral stance (if attacked with an
aggressive mode, the vessel will tend to smash on the vessel). The key to this
plan are the Bombers, so just have the Corvettes fight on their own while you
maneuver the Bomber group: all attack runs should be issued with a neutral
tactic, then a quick retreat in evesive mode opposite to the Missile Destroyer,
and then repeat until the vessel has been neutralized.
Now you'll have six brand-new ships at your command. Also, research section
will be able to replicate missile technology, allowing you to build Missile
Destroyers. Build one, and send a Salvage Corvette to retrieve all possible
datas on the vessel.
As the Salvage Corvette returns to the MotherShip and docks with it, the
Bentusi will appear, offering you Super-Heavy Chassis technology in exchange of
the informations you retrieved. Gravity Generator technology will be also
available.
Fleet Comand will ask the Bentusi for help again; they will reply that war is
not their way, but even if the Taiidans rule the Empire, they have to respect
the Galactic Council decisions: they will bring your matter to the Council for
debate.
Before leaving, build a Carrier and two Support Frigates, if you do not have
one. You can ignore replacing the Strike Crafts for now.
MISSION 10: SUPERNOVA RESEARCH STATION
Mission Objectives:
+ Destroy Research Outpost
+ Destroy the Carrier
+ Destroyer All Enemies
The fleet is about to enter the outer limits of the Taiidan empire; the defense
is very strict, but there is a weak point: a deep space research station near
an active SuperNova. It is time to hunt the enemy that hunted us.
The SuperNova produces high powered radiations that can destroy Strike Crafts
in seconds. Also, the radiations are so high that Capital Ships will take
damage if they do not move in the veins of cosmic dust in the area.
Harvesting resources in this area is extremely dangerous, not only the
radiations will constantly damage Collectors, Controllers or Carriers, but
you'll discover that the Taiidan are using mines, which are deadly even to
Destroyers. As I always reach this mission with a good fleet and enough
resources, I do not harvest there. However, if you need, use the Carrier
instead of the Controller, as it will repair the Collectors when docked. Also,
be sure to strictly follow the Collectors and place one other Support Frigate
near the Carrier to repair its damages, then retreat to the MotherShip when the
Frigate's health bar reaches the yellow. Build a second Support Frigate and
have them escort the Carrier: one will repair the Carrier and one other the
Supoort Frigate; switch roles sometime.
To reach the Research Outpost, there are two main routes: one takes the upper
dust vein, while the other the lower: I suggests the lower, as the upper is
heavily mined; travelling along the lower vein will let you avoid this risk and
take by surprise the garrison at the end of the upper vein. The lower vein is
protected only by 5 Assault Frigates.
Remember to order your Support Frigates/Repair Corvettes to follow your assault
group and repair them as soon as their health bar reaches the yellow level.
However, when the lower vein ends, you'll have to go to the upper vein to
destroy a group of Super-Capital Ships, formed by a Heavy Cruiser and two
Destroyers.
Once this group is gone, move all your Frigates on the upper vein, repair and
begin to travel toward the Research Station. It is defended by a large number
of Defenders (immobile: an easy prey even for Ion Cannon Frigates), 2 Assault
Frigates, 3 Ion Cannon Frigates, 5 Assault Frigates slightly below the base and
one Carrier, with Mutli-Gun Corvettes in it.
Destroy the Ion Cannon Frigates first, then the first lines of Defenders to
enter the zone protected by the Research Station. Attack and destroy the
Carrier before it leaves, then split your group: the Destroyers will take care
of the Defenders while the Frigates will destroy the enemy Frigates. Now
destroy the Outpost.
In this mission, you can capture an enemy Heavy Cruiser and a Carrier, but the
SuperNova radiations will force to use one Support Frigate to constantly repair
the Salvage Corvettes; also, if the ships are damaged, there's no way to repair
them, so the possibility of an explosion is very likely. Don't worry, you'll be
able to capture more enemy ships on later missions.
Hyperspace when ready; I suggest the fast docking option for minimizing
SuperNova-produced damages.
Ver 3.X addition: it is possible to capture the enemy Heavy Cruiser located in
the uppermost dust vein, with no damage to the Salvage Corvettes: the path
they'll follow (a stright line toward the Mothership) is protected by the
cosmic dust, so they won't recieve damage. However, after the Destroyers are
gone and the Cruiser siezed, you can move all remaining (if any) Salvage
Corvettes to replace the destroyed ones and two Repair Corvettes to fix them up.
You have intercepted a coded Taiidan transmission: it shows an huge machinery,
probably a living computer, speaking to an humanoid figure: the Kushan fleet is
the matter of the discussion: if you should enter the inner core of the Empire,
it could be a disaster; also, seems that Taiidan spies reported that the
Bentusi are helping you, and they must not bring the matter to the Council.
Hyperdrive has been disabled: you have recieved a distress call from the
Bentusi: they are under attack by Taiidan forces.
The Bentusi must be defended: immediately send your Capital Ships to engage the
Taiidan formation, and position your Salvage Crovettes halfway between the
MotherShip and the Bentusi Carrier. The Taiidan formation is composed of one
Heavy Cruiser, 4 Ion Frigates, 2 Assault Frigates and three Destroyers; if you
are lucky, the Bentusi will be able to destroy a Frigate or heavily damage a
Destroyer before your arrival. Also, the Heavy Cruiser is a very tempting prey
to capture.
Have your Capital Ships engage the Frigates and the Destroyers; the Heavy
Cruiser should disengage from combat as soon as it detects the Salvage
Corvettes; if it doesn't, have your Missile Destroyers fire on it to attract it
attention. The easiest way to capture it is to lure it near the MotherShip,
moving the Salvage Corvettes behind the MotherShip for protection. This will
also make the Cruiser fire on the MotherShip instead of the Corvettes: this is
when you have to order them to dock with the Cruiser: one or two will be
probably destroyed by its turrets, but two Corvettes are enough to stop the
Cruiser from moving and firing, allowing you to build more Salvage Corvettes to
finish the operation.
Meanwhile, your Capital Ships should have destroyed all other Taiidan ships:
move them away from the Cruiser or they will keep firing on it, wasting your
efforts in capturing it.
As the Cruiser will be under your control, the Bentusi will thank you revealing
the origin of your race: during the First Times, a war disrupted the old
empire; the conquerors were merciful but exiled the losers from their
homeworld, hoping to erase their image from the memories of everyone. Crowded
in gigantic Freighters, the losers became their journey: may ships were
destroyed by imperfect technology, others established in the Great Nebula, but
only few of these were able to reach a remote planet at the far end of the
galaxy; the Guidestone you are carrying testimonies your origins: it was
sculpted from a piece of rock from the Angel Moon near Hiigara, your homeworld.
Many propheticized your return, and probably the time has come.
Before leaving the area, be sure to have harvested everything and that your
Strike Crafts are locked down in your Carrier or MotherShip.
MISSION 12: GALACTIC CORE
Mission Objectives:
+ Protect the Fleet
+ Destroy the Source of the Gravity Field
+ Protect the Defector
The hyperdrive has been disabled due to a malfunction. The wave generation will
be interrupted to allow diagnostics and necessary repairs.
As soon as the MotherShip will come out from the hyperspace, it will be
sorrounded by Gravity Generators: no Strike Crafts will be able to fly until
those Generators are active.
The first thing to do is to eliminate all combat Frigates near the MotherShip.
Gather your Capital Ships into a wall formation and destroy the two Assault
Frigates, then concentrate on the approaching Missile Destroyer. When those
ships are down, you will be able to destroy the 3 Gravity Well Generators; each
Generator is backed up by two Support Frigates, which will repair them as soon
as they take damage. To speed up the procedure, destroy the Support Frigates
first, then the Gravity Wells.
Now the Strike Crafts will be able to move. The situation is this: two enemy
Carriers are harvesting resources, heavily protected by Strike Crafts and
Frigates (a Support Frigate, 2 Ion Cannon Frigates and two Assault Frigates for
each Carrier). Also, an Heavy Cruiser and its escort (6 Ion Cannon Frigates,
some Heavy Corvettes and Defenders), are patrolling the right area of the map.
They start the mission in the rightmost resource field, and will proceed toward
the left of the map; however, if the Carriers come under attack, the Cruiser
and its group will move toward your MotherShip.
Order your Collectors to harvest, but pay attention where they'll go: the
rightmost deposit (the one where the Cruiser started) is mined.
First, deploy all Strike Crafts and position them aruound the MotherShip: move
all your Capital Ships except one Destroyer (or two/three Ion Cannon Frigates)
toward the Cruiser and its group, backed up by a Carrier and six Salvage
Corvettes (if you want to capture the Cruiser. If not, have the Corvettes dock
with the Carrier and keep it near the MotherShip).
The tactic to capture the Cruiser is the usual: destroy all its escorts, then
use your Capital Ships as decoy while the Salvage Corvettes dock with it. Two
of them will allow you to disable the Cruiser, useful if other Corvettes have
being destroyed during the capture operation.
An other Taiidan Destroyer will hyperspace in: this time, the Destroyer and its
Captain, Elson, will ask for your help: they are pursued by other Taiidan Ships
and the Destroyer is badly damaged.
Probably your Capital Ships will be too far away to help the Destroyer; use
your Strike Crafts for long-range interception of the pursuing ships and the
Frigates for close-in defence. The Destroyer will move toward your MotherShip,
but won't reply to enemy fire; you really have to save it.
The rogue Destroyer is attacked by two Ion Cannon Frigates, two Assault
Frigates and one Support Frigate. Engage the Ion Frigates first, then the
Assault and finally the Support.
As Captain Elson positions his Destroyer near your MotherShip, you will be able
to leave the area. However, if you want, you can capture the two Taiidan
Carriers and harvest all unmined resources.
MISSION 13: THE KAROS GRAVEYARD
Mission Objectives:
+ Dock with a Strike Craft to the Comm Repeater
Captain Elson tells the story that lead to an open rebellion toward the Taiidan
Empire: after centuries, the Empire became corrupted and decadent; the use of a
atmosphere deprivation warhead on your planet was the light that ingnited it;
he asks for help to contact the resistance: there is a Transmitter in a
wreckage area: once active, the resitance will start attacking the Empire.
This mission will allow you to finally research Heavy Guns and therefore build
Heavy Cruisers; there is the possibility to research Cloack Generator.
To activate the Repeater, a Strike Craft will have to dock with the "Junkyard
Office", a piece of ship located in the graveyard. Unfortunately, the Graveyard
is well protected by Automated Guns, powerful enough to destroy most Corvettes
in few shots. Also Capital Ships will have troubles with them if took too
light. Also, all resource deposits are near those guns, and Collectors will
surely have hard times. Last, but not least, the graveyard hosts a strange
ship, the "Dawg". This ship is invincible (or so it seems), and it has the job
to steal ships. All ships stole by this Dawg won't be returned at the end of
the mission, so pay lots of attention when moving your ships. The Dawg will
emerge from hyperspace throuh a series of portals throughout the map.
The lightest-defended side of the Graveyard is the right one (with the
MotherShip at the bottom of the Sensor Manager): this mission can be
accomplished only with Frigates if you have a good number of them (let's say 9
or more Ion Cannon Frigates) and two Support Frigates (or two Repair Corvettes,
if you wish) to repair them, so that you won't risk to lose Super-Capital Ships.
Simply move the Frigates from the right side of the Graveyard to the Junkyard
Office, then, when the road is free from Automated Guns, send a Strike Craft to
dock with the structure, the hyperspace to your next mission.
If someone is wondering if it is possible to reach the Office only with Strike
Crafts, I'd say that it is possible, but extremely difficult. This is only
theory, I do not grant the success of that plan.
First, you'll need a large group of Scouts (20), backed up by Interceptors
(10/15) and some Light Corvettes (10). Send the Corvettes first, then the
Interceptors and finally the Scouts, all with an evasive/neutral tactic, in a
loose formation. Scouts should use their special action to get an extra burst
of speed, which should be disabled near the Office to maximize the chances of a
straight-in docking. The Dawg is not attracted by Strike Crafts, and won't dare
to come too close to the MotherShip.
David (dteviot@mail.iconz.co.nz) adds:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
An update.
In mission 13, KAROS Graveyard,
The DAWG captured one of my ships and dragged it into the graveyard.
I subsequently killed the DAWG (It doesn't regenerate) and later, while
blasting my way through the graveyard discovered my previous captured ship,
and was told it was salvagable. (I DID recover it with Salvage Corvettes.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
MISSION 14: THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS
Mission Objectives:
+ Destroy Field Generator
Secondary Obectives:
+ Destroy Hyperspace Portals
The data provided by Elson were correct: the homeworld is sorrounded by a
network of hyperspace inhibitors that are invisible to sensors. We have to
destroy one to get our own access point.
The objective is quite simple, but the situation is not. As your Research team
allows you, study Sensor Systems and build one Sensor System to have a clearer
view of the situation. The Hyperspace Inhibitor Fiel Emitter is directly in
front of your MotherShip, sorrounded by enough Ion Cannon Frigates to form a
rough sphere around it; also, if you send a Probe or a Proximity Sensor to the
Inhibitor, you'll see other enemy ships: a Carrier, 2 Resource Controllers, a
Destroyer, an Heavy Cruiser, two Cloack Generators, some Resource Collectors
and some Multi-Gun Corvettes.
Gather all your Capital Ships in front of the MotherShip; if you have a large
number of Frigates, divide this group in two, one with your Super-Capital
ships, which will be used as spearhead, the other one composed of all your
Frigates, which will serve as a secondary assault force, slightly behind the
Cruisers; use Support Frigates to repair all damage ships; Strike Crafts will
defend the MotherShip.
The Ion Cannon Frigates around the Inhibitor do not form a perfect sphere: on
its sides this sphere is more concentrated than on front; the best way to
engage as few Ion Cannon Frigates as possible is to travelin a direct line from
the MotherShip to the Inhibitor, from below. However, remember that the Ion
Cannon Frigates won't remain immobileif they spot your ships on their sensors,
they will move to intercept; also, all interception will be made from all
sides, so do not relax when you destroyed the single Ion Cannon Frigate you
saw; soon, other will come; an usual attack wave is composed by 5 or 6 Frigates.
Do not move too fast. Take your time to repair any damage, replace any loss and
build some extra ships; this will allow you also to spot the Hyperspace Portals
that the Taiidans will establish 10/15 minutes from mission start. From these
Portals the Taiidans will send ships as long as you are near them: the usual
group sent through a Protal is composed by a Destroyer, Support Frigates, Ion
or Assault Frigates (usually 3 or 4 of one only type), Multi-Gun Corvettes,
Attack Bombers and Interceptors. They are not really dangerous as you should be
able to stop most of the Capital and Super-Capital Ships while they are exiting
from hyperspace, or even destroy the Portal before they have completed the
passage, resulting in all ships not out yet in being destroyed. There are three
Portals: on between the MotherShip and the Inhibitor that has to come down to
allow "quiet" harvesting for you Collectors, and two on each side of the
defensive sphere arounf the Inhibitor. As destroying these Portals is a
secondary objective and they won't send troops as long as you stay away from
them, it's your choice; I usually destroy the right one, which seems just to
pump troops even if you are kilometers away.
Getting rid of the Ion Cannons and all defenses around the Inhibitor should be
simple with all fights you had durin the game. The Carrier near the Inhibitor
is quite easy to capture as it won't move at all, and will only reply to fire
if Salvage Corvettes are approaching. The Heavy Cruiser will act as usual,
trying to destroy all Salvage Corvettes near it and ignoring other targets, so
having a Carrier nearby will help if you want to capture it. Remember that the
Corvettes will follow the shortest way possible to reach the MotherShip,
ignoring enemies, so if you want them to reach safely the MotherShip, destroy
some Ion Cannon Frigates and have them escorted by Attack Bombers and other
Corvettes.
Destroying the Inhibitor is quite simple, however, as it rotates, your ships
will try to move to always have a clear line of sight to a specific section,
often meaning a risk of impact between them and an other section, resulting in
losing the ship.
Once the Inhibitor is destroyed, harvest all possible resources on the map and
concentrate your production on Super-Capital ships.
MISSION 15: CHAPEL PERILIOUS
Mission Objectives:
+ Destroy the Object
We must assume that the defensive fleet is alerted of our presemce. All vessels
ready for maximum efficency. All weapons operating at 100% and actively
tracking.
Hyperspace has been interrupted. There's a large object in collision course
with the MotherShip. Destruction of the Hyperspace Inhibitor alerted the
Taiidan and they were able to produce this trap. Impact will be in 6 minutes.
The objective of this mission is simple: there's a huge asteroid moving toward
your MotherShip and you'll have to take it down. However, the asteroid is
protected by a large Taiidan fleet, composed by Attack Bombers, Multi-Gun and
Heavy Corvettes, Defenders, 9 Assault Frigates, 3 Destroyers and 9 Ion Cannon
Frigates.
The first thing to do is to gather all your Capital Ships in a wall formation
and proceed toward the enemy. Launch all Strike Crafts you have. Attack
Bombers, Heavy and Multi-Gun Corvettes will be especially useful against the
Taiidan fleet and the asteroid.
The first waves of Taiidan attackers will be the Strike Crafts, not a hard work
if you have two or three Missile Destroyers.
Then, the Frigates, followed shortly by the Destroyers. Have your Capital Ships
engage the Frigates first, then the Destroyers while your Strike Crafts take
care of the asteroid. They won't be enough to stop it, so concentrate fire on a
single target before engaging an other one. When the Taiidan fleet is down to
two Destroyers, have your Super-Capital Ships and half of your Frigates engage
the asteroid. It moves slower even than Heavy Cruisers, so Frigates will be
surely able to get within firing range.
Use your Carriers to deal some damage to the asteroid too and if you have some
resources, reinforce your wing of Frigates (larger ships will take too much
time). You'll have up to the last second before the impact to destroy the
asteroid, even if Fleet Comand alerts everyone of the incoming impact (BTW, the
impact will destroy the MotherShip, whatever health it or the asteroid have).
If you succeded in destroying the asteroid, harvest all resources in the map
and spend all of them to replace your losses and increasing your ranks' number
with Destroyers (ignore Missile Destroyers if you have two or more).
Ver 3.X addition: apparently, in version 1.0 there is a bug: in my last replay,
I had three Carriers (two of them captured) and placed them just in front of
the MotherShip, and when the asteroid was near (less than one minute for
impact), I ordered them to attack the asteroid. With my surprise, when the
giant rock was near the Carriers, rather than first smashing them away (yes, I
admit it, tactical error...) and then proceeding for the MotherShip, it just
stopped, leaving me the possibility to capture two more Destroyers and finish
off all Frigates before concentrating on the asteroid. I don't know if this is
a "real" error or just a minor glitch.
MISSION 16: HIIGARA
Mission Objectives:
+ Destroy all Enemy Forces
"Karan."
"You took one step too close to me."
Fleet Comand is gone. Emergency Biotech teams are trying to save Karan. The
asteroid attack served its purpouse as a delay tactic; sensors show a large
number of Taiidan ships, with a MotherShip-class vessel among them.
First, move your Resource Controller and all Collectors in one of the nearby
resource deposits, and ignore the Carrier above the MotherShip: you'll soon
recieve visit from the first group of Taiidan ships, 6 Ion Cannon Frigates from
the bottom. Use your Strike Crafts and part of the Frigates to stop them, and
move all other combatant ships in front of the MotherShip: an other group of
Taiidan ships, this time larger (namely 5 Ion Cannon Frigates, 5 Assault
Frigates, 2 Missile Destroyers, 2 Destroyers and one Heavy Cruiser), will
attack you.
Move the Support Frigates (if you have) near the MotherShip, issuing a support
order, so that it will be partially healed, though it won't be enough to stop
damages from Taiidan ships. Now concentrate fire one target to quickly destroy
it and pass to an other one; when the Strike Crafts are done with the first six
Ion Cannon Frigates, use them to destroy the Frigates from the second group
while our Capital Ships take out the Destroyers and the Missile Destroyers. If
you have Salvage Corvette, use them to capture the enemy Heavy Cruiser, you'll
surely need extra firepower in this mission.
When this group is gone, Taiidan reinforcments will exit hyperspace above you.
DO NOT move your ships to intercept. Repair them, replace your losses and wait.
Before the first batch of reinforcments, an other group, identical to the
second one, will attack the MotherShip from the front. Repeat the same tactic
used with the first group, and prepare to see an other group of Taiidan ships
coming out from hyperspace below you.
Ver 3.X addition: you should have time to destroy the first group before it
reaches the MotherShip. I did it with 4 Heavy Cruisers with Attack Bombers,
Heavy and Multi-Gun Corvettes as support. You can also send Attack Bombers and
Corvettes (Heavy and Multi-Gun) against the reinforcments to at least destroy
the Frigates; such group should be able to take down all Frigates and maybe a
Destroyer before they reach the MotherShip. If you are going to attack with the
Cruiser (with four of them one was nearly eliminated), be sure to bring in
Salvage Corvettes (for the Heavy Cruiser and for one Destroyer) and Repair
Corvettes.
Again, do not move your ships and wait for the third group, which comes from
above: it composed of 5 Assault Frigates, 5 Ion Cannon Frigates, 3 Destroyers
and one Heavy Cruiser; probably, during this attack a fourth group of Taiidan
ships will enter the are, just on top of the MotherShip: this time it is
Captain Elson with reinforcments: he's trasferring under your command squadrons
Kor and J'ssah (2 Missile Destroyers and 3 Ion Cannon Frigates - I saw the Ion
Cannon Frigates replaced by Assault Frigates...when this happened, I got six of
them) while his Destroyer and six Ion Cannon Frigates will fight on their own.
With Elson's help you should be able to repel this wave; after this wave, Elson
and his group will move toward the Emperor MotherShip, located exactly
oppositely to your MotherShip. Do not follow him, there's the last group of
Taiidan reinforcments still coming from below; this time there are one Heavy
Cruiser, 9 Ion Cannon Frigates and 9 Assault Frigates. Move all your Frigates
and Strike Crafts toward them, and if they are numerically inferior, send the
Super-Capital ships too.
Now it is time to destroy the enemy MotherShip. Repair and replace all your
losses, then head toward your enemy. Elson will directly go toward the
MotherShip, deviating its course only when the enemy Carrier harvesting
resources near the Emperor will come within sensor range (or it will attack
it...the Carrier itself will be probably destroyed, not before releasing a grup
of 12 Multi-Gun Corvettes and 12 Attack Bombers). He should be able to destroy
it, but its group will be shattered by the Attack Bombers and the Multi-Gun
Corvettes protecting the Carrier.
If there are survivors, they will go after the MotherShip: a suicide, but this
will allow you to see what kind of defenses the MotherShip has: 3 Heavy
Cruisers, each backed up by three Support Frigates, 2 Missile Destroyers and
one Gravity Well Generator, plus the MotherShip, with ability to build other
units (it will usually produce Interceptors, only when under attack by your
forces...I saw the Interceptors perform suicidal attacks against the surviving
vessels from Elson's fleet once). The contacts orbiting around Hiigara are only
Proximity Sensors, ignore them.
When Elson's attack is finished, the suriving Strike Crafts and the Heavy
Cruisers (plus their Support Frigate escort) will move toward you at different
speed, allowing you to pick them out with concentrated fire one at time.
The Missile Destroyers near the enemy MotherShips are not really aggressive,
and will reply only if fired upon (or when the MotherShip will come under
attack). The Gravity Well Generator can be ignored.
As the last Missile Destroyer goes down, attack the MotherShip, ignoring
everything exiting from its hangars.
When the enemy MotherShip is gone, Fleet Comand will recover and the Bentusi
will appear with the Galactic Council.
The Kushan fleet finally arrived on its homeworld. A place of wonder, for
everyone used to the scorching sands of Kharak. All signs of the old Taiidan
empire were destroyed, and a celebration marked the beginning on a new era. The
Kushan colonists were released from their forced sleep and Karan Sjet, Fleet
Comand, survived extraction from the MotherShip's core and was the last Kushan
person to set foot on the homeworld.
Before anything else, me, Relic, Sierra or the sites hsting this fact will not
be responsible for any damage or data loss due to the wrong use of these
options. You do it at your own risk.
To use these "cheats", you have to add them after the "homeworld.exe" command;
to do this, right-click on the HomeWorld shortcut, Properties, Shortcut tab,
Destination field; you should see something like this:
C:\Progam Files\Sierra\HomeWorld\homeworld.exe
or the drive or the directory where you installed HomeWorld. Add these options
after the .exe as showed below. Note that you need the options next to the
slash and the slash one space away from the .exe:
C:\Progam Files\Sierra\HomeWorld\homeworld.exe /1stOPTION /2ndOPTION [...]
/4320thOPTION
Options are the followings:
debug: enable debug mode
nodebugInt: disbale int 3 after fatal error and fatal errors do not generate
Int 3 before exiting
noBG: no background (can be accessed in the options/graphic/advanced menu
during the game too)
noCompPlayer: no CPU-controlled fleets
notactics: disable tactics
noretreat: CPU-controlled enemies won't retreat
disableAVI: no cutscenes (smacker files)
heap: set global memory heap size
prepath: set path to search for opening files
CDpath: set path to CD drive
freemouse: button F11 enables free mouse
ignoreBigfiles: exclude infos from *.big files
logFileLoads: create log with all files loaded
disbaleKatmai: disable KNI support
forceKatmain: force to use KNI support
noSound: disable sound effects
noSpeech: disable voices
waveout: force mixer to write to Waveout
dsound: force mixer to write to DirectSound driver
noFilter: disable bi-linear filtering (can be accessed in the
options/graphic/advanced menu during the game too)
noSmooth: disable polygon smoothing (can be accessed in the
options/graphic/advanced menu during the game too)
nilTexture: disable textures
NoFETextures: disable front end textures
stipple: enable software renderer (stipple alpha)
noShowDamage: disable damage effects (can be accessed in the
options/graphic/advanced menu during the game too)
sw: resets rendering system to defaults at startup
fullscreen (default option): force fullscreen with software rendering
window: force window mode
noBorder: window with no border
slowBlits: force slow screen blits
device (sw, fx, d3d as options): force one of the rendering modes (software,
OpenGL or Direct 3D)
gl: force OpenGL rendering
d3d: force Direct3D rendering
nohint: disbale OpenGL perspective correction hints
noPause: pause with Alt+Tab disabled (Windows feature)
nominimize: disable minimize Windos feature
dockLines: show dock lines
gunLines: show gun lines
light Lines: show light lines in debug mode
boxes: force render to bound bowties on the ships
textFeedback: enable text feedback in game commands
aiplayerLog: enable AI player logging
determCompPlayer: CPU-controller players are deterministic
gatherStats: enable gathering of stats
captaincyLogOff: turn off captaincy log file
captaincyLogOn: turn on captaincy log file
logOff: turn off network logging file
logOn: turn on network logging file
logOnVerbose:turn on verbose network logging file
statLogOn: generate log on file
intOnSync: generate Int 3 when a sync error occours
debugSync: enable autosave and packet recording
forceLAN: force LAN support, regardless of version
testNIS: enable NIS testing mode using [nisFile]
testNISScript: enable NIS testin mode using [scriptFile]
demoRecord: record a demo
demoPlay: play a demo
packetRecord: record packets used during multiplayer games
packetPlay: playback packet recording
disablePacking: disable use of packet textures if available
smCentreCamera: center SM world plate at about 0, 0, 0 rather than the camera
closeCaptioned: close captioning
640 (default option): 640x480 resolution (can be accessed in the
options/graphic/advanced menu during the game too)
800: 800x600 resolution (can be accessed in the options/graphic/advanced menu
during the game too)
1024: 1024x768 resolution (can be accessed in the options/graphic/advanced menu
during the game too)
1280: 1280x1024 resolution (can be accessed in the options/graphic/advanced
menu during the game too)
1600: 1600x1200 resolution (can be accessed in the options/graphic/advanced
menu during the game too)
d16 (default option): 16 bit color depth (can be accessed in the
options/graphic/advanced menu during the game too)
d24: 24 bit color depth
d32: 32 bit color depth (can be accessed in the options/graphic/advanced menu
during the game too)
truecolor: try 24 bit mode before 16 bit
**************
10-SUBMISSIONS
**************
Andrew Traviss (ninja_squirrel_@hotmail.com) sent me this:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great FAQ, it pointed out some things I didn't think about before. I never
used a Defender before, and never realized how useful they are, I also didn't
know that Ion Array Frigates could cloak, which would have helped, because I
managed to hijack 5 of them.
Also, a point you might like to note is that Multi-Beam Frigates place a really
low targeting priority on Salvage Corvettes, so it is easy to steal them. I
stole 11. Imagine what theat did to fighter *evil grin*, though friendly fire
is an issue with them, as they lack fine firing control.
You also misrepresented Repair Corvettes. They CAN repair capital vessels.
Also, Heavy Cruisers and Carriers require 6 Salvage Corvettes, don't they?
Speaking of all this hijacking, I did not experience the same error as you did
on Mission 8, I was free to be a hijacker for the entire game -P
How did you beat Mission 14 so easily? It is proving impossible for me. I
cannot seem to limit the enemy attacks to 4 or 5 ships. Every time I hit a
portion of the sphere, almost the entire hemisphere comes after me.
In the formations section, I have something you might like to add The spehere
formation is perfect for cloak generators. It is a special case.
Any group with a cloak generator in it puts the generator in the center of the
sphere, regardless of other ship classes present.
Claok generators are also useful for capturing enemy capital ships, by allowing
salvage corvettes to latch on unfettered ^_^
I try to steal every capital ship I encounter, it saves resources for Strike
Craft and Corvettes. In the end I had 2 Heavy Cruisers, 2 Destroyers, 1 Ion
Cannon Frigate, 1 Missile Destroyer, 11 Multi Beam Frigates, 5 Ion Array
Frigates, and a Resource Collector that weren't mine.
I might add that stealing the cloak generator from Mission 12. There are no
proximity detectors among the enemies in that mission, so it is possible to
take their carrier and frigates if you do it properly, and it also spares you
the considerable 700 expense to build one.
Haha, that's alot, I know. Have fun with it, I hope you found it interesting,
and I hope I hear back from you sometime. I like to discuss this game, and I
don't know many other players.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
and this:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool. I checked, by the way, and it is 5 salvage corvettes to grab a heavy
cruiser or carrier. I should pay more attention lol.
And how did you get the Ion Array Frigates to cloak? I tried and they won't do
it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In Homeworld Ion Array Frigates do not cloack, they do it in Homeworld:
Cataclysm.
General question:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I need to know the title of the end song from Homeworld and the group that did
it.
Thanks
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It is performed by Yes, and it is called Homeworld: The Ladder. An original
game should contain a small directory with few HMTL pages with a
mini-interview, lyrics and overview of the song; it is also diplayed at the
very end of the credit movie.
Adam Craig Walter (mmaster@UDel.Edu) sent this:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission 6
I never got the hang of maneuvering my force of capital ships here, so I
did this with a strong groupd of fighters, I blasted only those rocks
that would obviously collide with the mothership. I also placed a few
repair corvettes behind it to repair any collisions. Then I moved ALL of
my capital ships way above the asteroid field to keep them out of danger.
Mission 8
This is where I feel sorry for you. I would sometimes come out of the
nebula series of missions with 8to 10 multi-beam frigates. Oh well...
Mission 10
I went down the to kill the 5 frigates first, then came back to my
starting location and went in the main route, using this trick by hold
shift and alt while firing, my missle destroyers were able to target MINES
within the target box I assigned. So they minsweeped for me. Also, the
resources in this stage act just like the minieral debris fields to avoid
radiation; so I had my harvesters pick up all the resources they could
while still being protected by the other resources... once there were so
few rocks left the collectors took damage, I fast-docked and left.
Missions 11
Risk is all about this stage for me... by planning ahead with upwards of
15 salvage corvettes, I was able to come away with the heavy cruiser, 2
destroyers, and 3 frigates. It seems the capital ships like to break into
3 groups; the crusier, the destroyers, and the frigates. Shoot any of a
group, and the rest of that group turns against you... so just have some
fighters harass the other groups while you first get the cruiser... you
get the idea.
Mission 13
I used stealth technology ). Using a trik where I have 3 stealth
generators, each running at different times, I can keep my ships cloaked
indefinitely. So I take my missle destroyers and a few fighters, cloak
them, move them around the outside of the map, and then slowly move them
towards the outpost... I used my destroyers to shoot the guns, and my
fighters to hit the anti-stealth generators once the guns are clear (and I
always make sure the dawg is on the other side of the map before going
near an anti-stealth generator)
Mission 14
holy heck, it's time to get a HUGE force. Using cloaked capture-corvettes
and plasma bombers, I was able to capture SEVENTY (yes, you read that,
SEVENTY) ion frigates. Step one Save the game. step 2 shoot a probe
to the center of the map, to learn where the enemy jump gates will be.
Step 3 reload the game, and move forces to each gate. step 4 fire
another probe to open gates, which you prmptly destroy. step 5 using
stealth generators, hide salvage corvettes to ride right up to and lock
onto a frigate, and have other salvage corvettes ready. Once you grab the
first frigate, others will move in. Let thefollow you to your base; once
you are out of range of the other frigates, have your other salvage
corvettes grab some of the other frigates, and have plasma bombers hit the
rest. You can basically remove the entire front 1/2 of the sphere this
way without losing a ship. I had so many ships, that I didn't even get to
carry all of them over to the next stage.. but the war of 100 frigates and
other ships vs 100 frigates and other ships is a sight to behold indeed )
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A mail from David Brower (David.Brower@oracle.com):
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The first time I played the game, I found myself grossly outgunned
by the time I got to Hiigara. In retrospect, I decided the answer
was in two words aggressive salvage.
I've played through carefully a few times since then, giving the
following strategy that differs from the ones in most other
walkthroughs. I avoid combat, and don't kill as much as most others
do, and collect everything I can. One of the fun things is seeing the
different successful ways one can play through. I played both a 1.0
from the CD, and the 1.05 patch. They are different! I'll refer to
1.05 here.
1 - nothing to say.
2 - outskirts
Don't listen to directions; harvest all you can before sending
a single salvette to investigate. guard it with 3 interceptors.
You can't kill the carrier, or capture it; let it go. guard around
the mothership and destroy everything that attacks.
It is handy to group the interceptors into 2 or 3 groups, so you
can have one being docked at all times.
Make sure you build 6 salvettes; keep them docked if you want.
group the salvettes into a hot-key group, and the interceptors into
another.
3 - return to kharak
entry collector, 6 salvettes, some interceptors.
send your intceptors to the far side of the cryo trays, and have them
evasively attack the frigates. Then send the salvettes all at once
to capture all three. This works -- but you only get to keep 2 of
the assault frigates! salvage the 6 trays, and harvest till all is gone.
Build another collector and a controller.
4 - waste lands
send the collectors, controller, frigates and interceptors
out to the resources. build more interceptors and 6 more
salvage corvettes. Send the interceptors out to the collectors
to protect them. Take special care to defeat the group of missile
corvettes quickly-- they are very dangerous, and can't be captured.
You MUST get 12 salvettes as soon as possible. Park them a little
under the mothership. Take the Bentusi offer, but build NO ion frigates.
When the array frigates appear by the mothership, let them start
shooting a little, then select the salvettes and capture them. If
you send the salvettes before the frigates target the mothership,
they will blast the salvettes.
Have the group by the collectors retreat toward the mothership
if you like; you don't need to harvest after your salvettes are built.
You will have defeated all the attack craft, have 6 frigates being
captured, and face the carrier and two array frigates guarding it.
Capture the two frigates, and attack the carrier with everything
else. Feel free to let it close toward the mothership before attacking
it; it is harder for it to escape the closer it gets. You cannot
capture this carrier.
Send out your resourcers w/collector, with most of your interceptors
and all 8 array frigates to guard. go half way up each leg of the Y
to get all you can before crossing the tripwire. Build more
interceptors and salvettes, as many as you can make. Keep a few
interceptors near the mothership. Keep the salvettes a little behind
the collectors. Use the interceptors to blast the attack craft, and
the array frigates to blast the assault frigates. Go ahead and
capture the enemy collectors, but not until you have taken out the
frigates. Retreat when you've got a dent in the frigates and attack
craft to delay contact with the supporting destroyers. Keep nibbling
the support, then use savlettes to capture the two destroyers, then
capture the carrier. Do not try to salvage too early -- the salvettes
are vulnerable to the attack craft. You will probably lose salvettes,
but you will have gotten some early access to high power.
harvest everything left.
end of battle 1 carrier, 2 destroyers, 8 array frigates,
2 assault frigates, 16 salvettes, 4 collectors, 1 controller,
55 interceptors, about 7200 rus.
build 16-20 attack bombers, trading in all your interceptors. Assign
destroyers, frigates and bombers to a group. Turn off auto-launch.
Build at least 4 field frigates.
6 - diamond shoals.
Move fragile things behind the mothership. launch the bombers. blow
stuff up. As you do blow stuff up, send the collectors out w/o
controller support. Sometimes they will say there is nothing left,
but keep sending them out. Do your research, but do not build
anything until the end. At the end, build as many destroyers as you
can. Why? You will capture more later, and these are the last you can
build. Why not earlier? They are hard to manage while blasting the
asteroids, and you dont' really need them.
Build as many bombers as you can - 50 if possible.
7 - garden of kadesh
This is hard. guard collectors w/field frigates and send them off.
Attack the fuel pods with bombers, and have the heavies dust off
floating groups, but don't pay that much attention to them. Keep
bombers behind the needle ship, and blast pods as they arrive.
Build defenders, and protect the heavies with them.
At the end, do not hyperspace -- collect and build salvettes.
8 - cathedral of kadesh
Use your heavies on the needle ships. Capture the multi-beam
frigates, first on the right of the needle ship straight ahead,
then from above the mothership, then from the needle ship at the
800 position. The bombers are expendible, and will get expended
as you clobber fuel pods with them.
When you've killed two needle ships, secure the area around the
mothership. You might kill the third needle ship, or it might slip
away. Let it go for now. Build a support frigate. Pack up a
flotilla around your carrier, with your destroyers, frigates,
salvettes, bombers and defenders. Leave the array frigates. Go
forward and capture the group of 6 more multi-beam frigates, processed
by the carrier. Salvage abandoned pods. Attack the needleship with
the multi-beam frigates from behind. You'll have 15 or 16 of them.
Retire any captured pods and swarmers.
Harvest everything, and build a full complement of salvettes.
exit 1 carrier, 6 destroyers, 16 multi-beam frigates, 4-8 array
frigates, 4 field frigates, 2 assault frigates, 1 support frigate, 50
salvettes; a few bombers, a few defenders, and about 7000 rus.
9 - Sea of lost souls
Easy and fast (except the harvesting). Send all of your salvettes
directly underneath the alien ship, creeping up until things are
visible. Then salvage everything in one fast evasive attack.
Congrats, you have your first missile destroyer, plus 1 more array
frigate and two more assault frigates. Go ahead and retire all the
array frigates; they are no help any more, and they are slow.
Harvest; use the carrier to guard some collectors to speed it up.
Take the free bentusi offer of the super heavy chassis, but you won't
build anything based on it.
Start one collector harvesting, and watch it occasionally. When it is
nearly done with the first clump, move it evasively to a protective
belt, and sit it there while you do other things.
Send the destroyers, the missile destroyer and the multi beam frigates
in a wall up the central shaft, blasting the mines and the mine
layers. Target mines with ctrl-shift. Help with the Follow them with
the carrier, all the salvettes, and the support frigate. When
approaching the opposing two destroyers and cruiser, keep the
salvettes behind the wall, then snatch all the heavies in one shot.
Load 25 of them into the carrier. Go down and snatch the 6 frigates
in front of the station, and return to the main belt. Return all the
salvettes from the catch, the two new destroyers and the cruiser.
send a proximity sensor into the station. This will get the carrier
moving. Keep the salvettes behind the wall of destroyers. Use the
destroyers to take out all the carrier escorts, then capture the carrier.
In two trips, take all the heavies and take out the defenders in front
of the station. Don't target any of the frigates. Take the carrier
behind the station. Attack the station with the heavies, and capture
the frigates while moving the carrier up to the station. Retreat to
safety and the support frigate. Carefully harvest, watching the
health and radiation. Rebuild any salvettes lost.
exit 1 cruiser, 2 carriers, 8 destroyers, 1 missile destroyer, 16 multibeam
frigates, 3 ion frigates, 10 assault frigates, 4 field frigates, 4
collectors, 50 salvettes. etc.
11 - tenhauser gate.
Well, stock us up. The trick here is to avoid taking losses while
capturing everything there. Do nothing until you get your salvettes
launched. Then, attack what is close with evasive destroyers. When
they engage, target everything for salvage with your 50 salvettes.
Target the destoyers on the cruiser until salvettes get near it, then
move the destroyers away so they don't shoot up your booty.
exit 2 cruisers, 2 carriers, 11 destroyers, 1 missile destroyer,
16 mb frigates, 6 ion frigates, 11 assault frigates, etc.
group the destoyers and mb frigates together, and the cruisers.
12 - galactic core.
hard, but worthwhile.
take out the left and center gravity well with the destroyer group,
and the right one with the cruiser group. attach immediately with
the salvettes to get another missile destroyer, some attack frigates
and support frigates. Fight off attacks for a while, destroying
light attack craft, and capturing all larger vessels. Once the
attacks have died down, send out a group with a carrier, all the salvettes,
the destroyers and the missile destroyers. Destroy little things,
capture big things. Harvest everything.
exit 3 cruisers, 4 carriers, 11 destroyers, 2 missile destroyers,
12 assault frigates, 8 support frigates, 8 ion frigates.
13 - Karos Graveyard.
You have the power, use it. Send all the mb frigates, destroyers and
cruisers in a sphere straight up the middle. When the Junkyard Dawg
shows up, blast it to bits, aggressively, with everything. When you
are all clear, then send an interceptor or a scout to the office.
Then, slowly go towards the office, clearing out a path; when it's
clear, send in an interceptor or scout. Harvest if you want, with
protection from things you missed.
14 - Bridge of Sighs.
The mother lode, for the patient. Here we discover there is a limit
on the number of ships in the fleet! At all times make sure you have
your 50 salvettes.
Send a proximity sensor up to the sphere straight away; when the ion
frigates move, come back to the mother ship. This will result in
14-20 frigates following it, and they are stupidly dead set on getting
that sensor, ignoring all else. Put your salvettes in the way, and
capture them all. Do this 3-4 times, but not immediately adjacent to
each other, or the sphere can collapse. Punch big holes. Then clear
out the remainder of the front. When you have cleared out a lot, it's
time to start capturing destoyers and missile destroyers. Build two
gravity wells, and guard them with support frigates. Move them either
side of the gate, guarded by the two missile destroyers. Keep the 50
salvettes behind the destroyers, guarded by captured cloak generators.
Activate the wells, and make sure the support frigates are giving them
health. Attack the gate with an assault frigate. Two support
frigates will appear, and a bunch of attack craft will be caught in
the well. Leave the last attack craft, and salvage the support
frigates. Move the salvettes closer, and activate the cloak. Then
kill the last attack craft. Two aggressive destroyers and a missile
destroyer will appear. Capture them with cloaked ships. This is
tough, the missile destroyer can make life miserable. When they are
caught, they are reluctant and slow to move. Give your capturing
salvettes health, and then have one assault frigate attack each
captured ship until it starts moving at a reasonable speed. It takes
forever to get these captured. Protect them from attack with the
missile destroyers. Then go to the same at each of the other two
gates result, 3 more missile destroyers, and 6 destroyers. Again,
patience is rewarded; this takes forever.
Now it is time to nibble the sphere. Do NOT go inside! Move some
carriers up closer so this will take less time. Move around and take
holes out, dragging them around with proximity sensors as bait. Bring
them near a group of salvettes near a carrier. Make sure you have all
your salvettes available, some groups are 20 ion frigates, and you
need at least 40 to catch them all. Do not be short salvettes, or it
gets ugly. Guard from attack with missile destroyers. This takes a
long time.
You can end up with > 150 ion frigates this way. Sometime here you
will run into the dreaded "maximum size of the fleet" complaint,
and you will need to retire some of them. Try to end up with about
100 ion frigates. (in 1.00, the game can lock if you try to
hyperspace with too many)
Now it's time to move into the interior. Bring a group of carriers,
salvettes, missile destroyers and cloak generators. Destroy attack
craft with the missile destroyers, and capture the cloaked heavy craft
(several destroyers and a cruiser) with your own cloaked salvager.
Blow up the generator, and capture everything else.
Build a number of gravity well generators.
exit 4 cruisers, 5 carriers, 19 destroyers, 100+ ion frigates...
15 Chapel Perilous
Why do they bother? Just more to capture.
Wait for them to come to you. Drag all your ion frigates forward past
the midline (they won't all be able to get into battle!). Move the
grav well generators about 15k in front. Move the cruisers to one
side, and the destroyers and missile destroyers to the other. Guard
the salvettes with cloaks. Activate the grav wells as the attack
craft approach, then blast them with missile destroyers and cruisers.
As they approach, take out the assault frigates with the destroyers
and ion frigates. Salvage the 4 destroyers. Attack the rock with the
cruisers and destroyers, keeping them on either side of it to avoid
being damaged.
exit 4 cruisers, 5 carriers, 23 destroyers, 100+ ion frigates...
16 Hiigara.
It's a question of how fast you can win.
Move the MB frigates and cruisers forward 8km and down 10km,
aggressive to attack the ion frigates coming from below. Send all the
destroyers and all the ion frigates, evasive, moving the way to the
far side. Move the cloaks just in front, then wait for the salvettes
to launch. Move the sensors halfway toward the resources on the
right. Move the missile destroyers up toward the carrier, aggressive.
right. Guard them with grav wells. Move the salvettes forward in
broad formation, cloaked, to capturer all the attacking heavies -- 4
destroyers, 2 missile destroyers, one cruiser, and a bunch of assault
frigates. As you blunt this initial attack, you will have destroyed
the ion frigates, captured the heavies, and destroyed the carrier and
its attack craft. Send out your collectors, it is now safe.
Form the forward destroyers and ion frigates into joint formation; I
like the sphere. When they run into contact, switch from evasive to neutral.
Move the missile destroyers, cruisers, mb frigats newly captured
heavies at carrier height behind the mothership. Move the cloaks near
them, and all the salvettes as they become free.
As the first reinforcement group approaches, have the heavies destroy
the assault frigates, and capture the heavies with cloaked salvettes.
Move your group of heavies down below the mothership to intercept the
second group of reinforcements, along with the cloaks and freed
salvettes. You can do the same to them if you want and the game lasts
that long.
Meanwhile, your forward group is approaching resistance. Crush it,
and keep moving forward. Their pitiful 4 cruisers are no match for
your devastating attack fleet. Destroy the support or the mothership
as you choose.
If you are fast, you can win the game before Captain Elson arrives
to help.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*******************
11-CREDITS and MISC
*******************
The first credit goes to Relic, for Homeworld. Then to Sierra for having
published it. The third is to me, Briareos Kerensky (briareos@inwind.it), the
fourth to GameFAQs (and all sites showing this FAQ with my permission) and the
fifth to you for reading it.
For now, no one sent me mails about this FAQ, but if someone writes something
interesting, I will put his or her name here.
+ Barrengate (neobios@comcast.net) for the Swarmer stats.
+ Andrew Traviss (ninja_squirrel_@hotmail.com) for his e-mails.
+ Doug McLaren (dougmc@frenzy.com) for the infos on the Dawg.
+ David Brower (David.Brower@oracle.com) for his additional missions tactics
+ David (dteviot@mail.iconz.co.nz) for Dwag notes
I would like to thank my new computer, which allowed me to play HW at
1600x1200x32; the official HomeWorld site for Tech/Ships' English names; the
HomeWorld unit viewer and its funny descriptions of the ships; Leader for
having translated only game's texts (knowing how their dubbers mauled
MechCommander and Falcon 4.0...); Fate's Warning, the main soundtrack of the
long hours where I wrote this document; I would like to thank my girlfriend,
but I haven't one.
Sites authorized to show this FAQ:
+ GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)
+ Wolf Art (my site, visit it! http://www.geocities.com/khan_briareos/index.htm)
+ Esprit Network (http://cataclysm.esprit-str.com), translated in French
+ Cheat Happens (http://www.cheathappens.com)
+ IGN FAQs (http://faqs.ign.com)
To ask permission to post this document, just send a mail writing down the URL.
To contact me, write at briareos_hf@tiscali.it; ICQ UIN is 40534369; Odigo ID
is 264286, though you won't recieve answer to such messages (I'm just bored of
all the ICQ crap and Odigo's tendency of cutting to half your effective speed
'cause it has to check if the world is still working). Write only about this
FAQ or if you have a cute(female)friend/sister to introduce.
Copyright (c) Briareos Kerensky 2001/2002. Reproduction and translation of this
document (as a whole or parts of it) in any mode without permission is strictly
forbidden.
All names and marks are proprieties of respective owners.
