By Jim Rossignol on February 15th, 2011 at 5:11 pm.
So, yes. According to THQ bossman Danny Bilson a new Relic RTS will be announced in August 2011. But what could it be? Carefully placing my speculation coronet on my head, I am able to say that it will probably be a new Company Of Heroes game. The Company Of Heroes Online project seems to have sputtered out, so the devs from that will have to use their expertise somewhere else. We’re unlikely to get a “new” Dawn Of War game (there’s got to be at least one more expansion for 2 in the pipeline) and as far as I understand it the Homeworld franchise is entombed somewhere deep in the bowls of ActiBlizzard. THQ does own Homeworld after all. So CoH it probably is.
Unless – gasp! – it’s something that is actually new. Could it really be possible? Maybe they will do an Epic scale 40K RTS. That might be fun/impossible. Any thoughts, internet?
15/02/2011 at 17:15 bjbrains says:
THQ retrieved the Homeworld IP rights two years ago. So Homeworld 3 looks like the most ‘obvious’ play
15/02/2011 at 17:17 Durkonkell says:
Ooh! I did not know this.
SET PREEMPTIVE_EXCITEMENT_MODE 1
15/02/2011 at 17:34 coldvvvave says:
Not going to happen.
15/02/2011 at 17:37 Jim Rossignol says:
Ok! Gosh. Any proof for that? Because I am fairly certain Relic said “not possible” recently.
15/02/2011 at 18:15 Commisar says:
Well, i would be very happy either with Homeworld 3, cuz we need an awesome space sim game, or an epic 40K scale RTS, with Titans and Deathstrike missiles
15/02/2011 at 18:42 pingualot says:
I read in PCGamer that THQ said that Homeworld 3 was unlikely because of the poor sales of 2.
15/02/2011 at 18:44 Bhazor says:
Well bugger.
Still there’s always the “Spritual Sequel” route. I just don’t see them making a new COH game so soon after the online game collapsed.
15/02/2011 at 18:45 ReV_VAdAUL says:
To be fair Homeworld 2 had a number of design flaws that made it less good than 1 and Cata. Make a good Homeworld game and I’m sure it’d sell.
15/02/2011 at 19:17 Collic says:
Oh man, another homeworld. Those games where fantastic. I regularly play through homeworld 2. I pray there is some truth to this.
edit: okay, it seems not. I still have hope though.
15/02/2011 at 19:18 Cinek says:
“Because I am fairly certain Relic said “not possible” recently.” – They only said that they’d like to make it but don’t see a chance for it currently, or something like that, not that it’s not possible… it’s very much possible considering the THQ acquisition of copyrights to the series.
15/02/2011 at 19:20 Scroll says:
I remember a Relic employee hinting at one of their teams working on an older Homeworldy license.
This was a long while a go though, but I have hope. Homeworld with some of the more modern relic design elements? Sounds delicious.
15/02/2011 at 19:24 Cinek says:
“Homeworld 2 had a number of design flaws that made it less good” – it wasn’t the design flaws, it was the storyline being a flaw. Game by design was really good, one may argue that it was better than Homeworld 1 during it’s initial release.
But the storyline… bleah… gods and saving the world – that’s just too flat.
All the politics, struggle for survival feel, deep involving storyline was gone. Pity cause HW2 got many improvements over first one from the series looking from the UI and gameplay perspective (ok, ships exploding in huge numbers and negligible survivability of frigates were gameplay big flaws but still… it was really well made attempt to create a balance by diversity not by duplication of sides.).
15/02/2011 at 20:57 heretic says:
most likely will be an existing IP, looks like all publishers are going that way recently. hopefully homeworld!
16/02/2011 at 03:20 omicron1 says:
If this is Homeworld 3, then it’s official: The late ’90s/early ’00s are coming back.
Starcraft, Duke Nukem, Diablo, Age of Empires, X-Com, Deus Ex, (Homeworld?)
All of this makes me very, very happy. For one thing, it seems to be “in vogue” to replicate the feats of ten years ago now. For another, most of these are PC-centric or even PC-exclusive titles, which makes me happy inside.
On the other hand, my budget can only take so much abuse before it fails completely…
16/02/2011 at 04:06 Mayjori says:
Homeworld 2 +Complex mod is the most satisfying gaming I’ve done for at least a couple of years. The mod is constantly being improved too, seriously, its AWESOME!
I’d be worried they would dumb it down if they did create a Homeworld 3 :/
15/02/2011 at 17:16 Meat Circus says:
Dawn of War III would be new.
15/02/2011 at 19:40 Andy_Panthro says:
Surely by then you’d have to refer to it as “Continuance of War”?
A 4X 40k game would be what I’d like to see.
15/02/2011 at 20:55 Heliocentric says:
Dawn of war: Day 3
15/02/2011 at 22:39 Davie says:
Mid-Morning of War: This Is A Really Long Day
16/02/2011 at 01:38 Bhazor says:
Well it must be a long Dawn. The 40K universe has been in constant war for at least 10,000 years.
Still another 5,000 years till elevenses.
16/02/2011 at 02:13 markcocjin says:
Twilight of War: Sparkle Marines
15/02/2011 at 17:16 RadioactiveMan says:
“As far as I understand it the Homeworld franchise is entombed somewhere deep in the bowls of ActiBlizzard”.
Really?! I did not know this. I am now EXCEPTIONALLY curious about the upcoming Blizzard project code-named Titan…
15/02/2011 at 17:56 RadioactiveMan says:
oh well. Titan will be something new then maybe. New can be good too, right?
15/02/2011 at 18:43 pingualot says:
Titan will be a MMORPG so its a tenuous link with Homeworld.
16/02/2011 at 01:23 ulix says:
Titan will most certainly not be a MMORPG, but rather a MMOFPS or a MMORTS (or something else that’s not an RPG).
Blizzard wouldn’t produce a game that would be in direct competition with WOW.
16/02/2011 at 15:13 Dances to Podcasts says:
The only thing known for certain about Titan, which seems to have to be repeated each time it comes up, is that it’s not an existing franchise. It’s a brand new IP. It’s not “game X – the MMO” because it’s not based on any existing game/book/movie/knitting pattern. It’s completely new, imagined and built from the ground up. Capiche?
15/02/2011 at 17:16 GT3000 says:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/thq-does-own-homeworld
Yarp, HomeWorld it might be.
15/02/2011 at 17:38 Jim Rossignol says:
Oh ok.
15/02/2011 at 21:07 FreezerBag says:
I was confused how I knew about the Homeworld rights and RPS didn’t when I thought I got all my gaming news here.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/11/04/cathy-come-homeworld/
Confusion ended!
15/02/2011 at 17:18 Turin Turambar says:
A few years ago (three?) in the relic fans forums they discovered that someone had secured the homeworld license, and he was the lawyer for thq/relic, so people got hyped. Of course time passed and DoW / CoH product were released, with no sign of Homeworld.
We will say in August, i suppose.
15/02/2011 at 17:21 Turin Turambar says:
Damnit, the people above me were faster.
15/02/2011 at 17:18 zergrush says:
Relic has grown to be my favourite RTS developer with the first DoW and CoH.
I’d like it to be either a new IP or a Warhammer Fantasy RTS. If it’s Company of Heroes related I hope it’s as innovative as the first one was.
15/02/2011 at 18:17 Commisar says:
either or would be nice, although the last Warhammer Fantasy RTS, mark of Chaos, was good, but it didn’t sell well. It was made by Namco games
16/02/2011 at 11:31 DarkFenix says:
Didn’t sell well with good reason too, it was shite.
15/02/2011 at 17:18 SpinalJack says:
Please let it be Homeworld and please let it be as good as Homeworld: Cataclysm
16/02/2011 at 11:05 Kdansky says:
They should call it Burning Crusade, just to mess with us.
Homeworld 3 would be a sequel I would actually look forward to.
But it’s going to be Early Mid Day of War or Some Other Company of Heroes.
15/02/2011 at 17:19 WMain00 says:
Please for the love of god let it be Homeworld 3.
15/02/2011 at 17:20 Gap Gen says:
Cat Herd 4000, a strategy game where you have to herd cats into an enclosure, and all the while avoiding beams of sunlight, balls of twine and string. Features destructible terrain, ragdoll corpses and tuna.
15/02/2011 at 17:43 Jad says:
I would play this game.
15/02/2011 at 18:00 squareking says:
I know for a fact that cats love beams of sunlight. This game will be terrible.
15/02/2011 at 18:35 Gap Gen says:
Perhaps you could charge up your cats using sunbeams and jangly things, with bonuses for achieving maximum cat.
15/02/2011 at 17:20 Choca says:
Those bastards, I’m officially excited.
15/02/2011 at 17:22 Bluebreaker says:
Hope its not homeworld. Don’t want the current relic to destroy that saga.
15/02/2011 at 19:37 Lord_Mordja says:
ಠ_ಠ
15/02/2011 at 20:44 Teddy Leach says:
ಠ_ಠ
16/02/2011 at 01:25 ulix says:
The current Relic would only make it so much more awesome.
At least if they keep some of the base-building.
16/02/2011 at 04:27 Lord_Mordja says:
Wait, but Homeworld has never had base building…
16/02/2011 at 08:43 Ovno says:
But removal of base building was one of the best things they ever did.
I mean what battle ever starts with hang on I just need to build a base….
16/02/2011 at 11:38 DarkFenix says:
“I mean what battle ever starts with hang on I just need to build a base….”
The fun ones, y’know, the ones before DoW2. Relic have destroyed two franchises now, their third franchise probably only still intact because it’s not had a sequel yet. I’m hoping for the epic scale 40k game to give me back the fun DoW1 had.
15/02/2011 at 17:24 pakoito says:
Warhammer Fantasy RTS. Would buy…
15/02/2011 at 17:38 nofing says:
That would be great, since we can’t expect a Warcraft 4 within the next decade…
15/02/2011 at 17:57 RadioactiveMan says:
You mean like Shadow of the Horned Rat? Loved that game, but way too hard!
16/02/2011 at 00:50 psycho7005 says:
I came on this only to comment this exact same thing. DoW engine, Fantasy setting = yes please. Used to love the tabletop game and shadow of the horned rat wasn’t very good in my opinion.
15/02/2011 at 17:37 ImperialCreed says:
Homeworld would be nice, but I hope desperately that Relic have decided to go and do “SupCom 40k”. As in, the Epic style 40k that Jim mentions.
It could only be glorious.
15/02/2011 at 17:49 CalleX says:
It would truly be… EPIC!
No really this would be the greatest news ever if it had squads of infantry X 100 and tank squadrons and TITANS :)
15/02/2011 at 18:51 Bhazor says:
A Relic made Total War: Warhammer 40K is the kind of thing dreams are made of.
15/02/2011 at 17:45 Jad says:
I want either 1) Homeworld 3 or 2) New IP. Generally I’m a proponent of new IPs over sequels, but Homeworld was unique enough and it’s been long enough that a 3D space RTS would be almost new at this point.
15/02/2011 at 17:49 Turin Turambar says:
In the other hand…
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-18-thq-talks-dawn-of-war-iii-ufc-3
15/02/2011 at 22:27 liqourish says:
:/
16/02/2011 at 01:40 Bhazor says:
Boo! Your research ruins all the fun!
16/02/2011 at 14:33 Koozer says:
They wouldn’t be stupid enough to release Retribution at the same time as announcing a new Dawn of War, that would be financial suicide.
15/02/2011 at 17:50 Mike says:
Company of Heroes 2 would be rather nice. Add in all they’ve learnt from DoW, new engine, yes please.
15/02/2011 at 17:51 westyfield says:
Please dear goodness not another Company of Heroes game.
15/02/2011 at 17:58 Zyrxil says:
Another? There was only one game and two standalone expansions, which is approximately 1/4 of what Dawn of War has. I loved CoH campaigns a lot more than any DoW campaign.
15/02/2011 at 19:15 westyfield says:
‘Another’ as in ‘an additional one’ as in ‘in addition to the one plus expansions plus temporary free-to-play version that already exist/have existed’.
As in, I’d rather not play another Company of Heroes game when there is an infinite variety of different games that could be made.
Edit: Egh, sorry, that came off really snarky. I’ve never played Homeworld and the idea of a space RTS excites me – I loved Sins of a Solar Empire – whereas the idea of a WW2 game makes me sigh a bit.
15/02/2011 at 19:31 Cinek says:
“the idea of a space RTS excites me – I loved Sins of a Solar Empire” – woh, than you should give HW a try. It’s like… SoSE only one dimension more deep, fun, involving and amazing game! :) ;)
15/02/2011 at 19:35 Sassenach says:
I think the Company of Heroes and Dawn of War games are sufficiently similar that having a sequel of each would be somewhat redundant in terms of gameplay. I think it would be of greater interest to see what else Relic can concoct. I have confidence that they would be able to provide something original of interest.
15/02/2011 at 17:51 Mr Chug says:
August 2011 seems far too far away to be announcing that they’ll be announcing something. I’m going to make an equally meaningless prediction that it’ll be a new IP with less shootybangs, since they probably want to try something different. We’re about due a new RTS set in the ancient era if you ask me.
15/02/2011 at 17:52 Heliocentric says:
I want a homeworld game, but since they can use the 40k license they can make a Battlefleet Gothic game. The story can be a dynamic campaign following a Tyranid Hive fleet who go about fighting everything, and then eating everything down to bare rocks. Just like you would harvest everything in homeworld.
15/02/2011 at 18:06 mcnostril says:
YES.
Homeworld style battlefleet gothic.
Oh god.
An idea so awesome it will never be made.
15/02/2011 at 18:18 Commisar says:
Argh, and I have to wait until August to find out if that is true!!!!
16/02/2011 at 11:40 Zephro says:
No it’d be rubbish as it would be battlefleet gothic with home ships that build units for you during battles and ships that can turn on the head of a pin. BFG is basically an age of sail style board game as the ships all have momentum, poor turning arcs and fire broadsides at one another. I think Empire TW has shown us that noone has the balls to actually make a game which represents that, instead everything will rotate on the spot and be naff.
15/02/2011 at 17:52 Kelpie says:
Mmmm seems like many here want a worthy successor to Homeworld, while others love the Dawn of War games and 40k in general.
So…
Homeworld + Warhammer 40k = Battlefleet Gothic!
There everyone’s happy :)
Edit: Beat me to it Helio :)
15/02/2011 at 19:11 Heliocentric says:
A silver in the best-idea-ever olympics is still great.
15/02/2011 at 17:55 Njordsk says:
HOMEWORLD §
(caps for excitement)
15/02/2011 at 17:55 Neut says:
Impossible Creatures 2! Make it happen Relic!
15/02/2011 at 18:33 GT3000 says:
THIS. ALL OF THIS.
Impossible Creatures had such potential. FLYING SCORPANTS GO!
15/02/2011 at 19:59 Jason Attard says:
Impossible Creatures 2 would be awesome! Oh no, wait a second, that game was kind of rubbish…
Warhammer 40K Battlefleet Gothic in some updated version of the Homeworld engine?
Nah, I think I’ll just get on the Homeworld 3 bus instead.
15/02/2011 at 17:59 tikey says:
I’m another one for the “We want Homeworld 3″ crowd.
15/02/2011 at 18:01 Andrew Dunn says:
Homeworld 3 or Company of Heroes 2 would both be amazing. As long as they don’t model CoH2 after CoH: Online, because it was crap.
15/02/2011 at 18:01 Zephro says:
They should make a 40K/Epic game based on the mechanics and difficulty of Combat Mission.
Something with actual pitched battles rather than any base building or resource/location control. I’m such a dreamer.
15/02/2011 at 20:40 Quine says:
I’d love to see a tactical miniature manfights game that let/made you pick your units before the fight began.
All this runtime calling down forces and stuff makes them feel a bit too disposable for me. Combat Mission was all about the loadouts and scraping a surprise victory with the last units you had.
15/02/2011 at 18:06 Dreamhacker says:
How about a sci-fi game with the COH-engine? That would rock.
15/02/2011 at 18:23 Neut says:
Yeh, something with like, marines, in space!
15/02/2011 at 18:32 Dougal McFrugal says:
Marines? in Space?
That’s just crazy talk and you know it
15/02/2011 at 19:30 Armitage says:
@Dreamhacker
They are ridiculing you because Relic has already done that.
15/02/2011 at 22:29 liqourish says:
Are you sure?
I’ve never heard of any such things.
16/02/2011 at 01:30 ulix says:
Maybe they could even add Aliens to the mix. How groundbreaking would that be?
If it’d use an existing SciFi-license it would make it so much more awesome.
16/02/2011 at 14:37 Koozer says:
They could get rid of the base-building somehow, it doesn’t make sense anyway and lets you focus on the battle more too.
15/02/2011 at 18:23 Dominus says:
HOMEWORLD 3 PLEEAAAAAAAAASE!
15/02/2011 at 18:27 tomnullpointer says:
Please please let it be homeworld!
The talk of outcast and sacrifice would make me put homeworld in the same pot. Games of slightly off-centre genre twists but with unique vision that has really not been bettered.
15/02/2011 at 18:30 Ginger Yellow says:
My money is on CoH 2, which would be awesome. It fits with their comments after CoH:O was pulled. But if it’s Homeworld 3, that would arguably be even better.
15/02/2011 at 18:31 Coxswain says:
Personally, I’m hoping for BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC done in the style of homeworld.
15/02/2011 at 18:31 coldvvvave says:
Homeworld 3 is going to be FPS.
15/02/2011 at 21:56 MisterT says:
If that meant you were playing as a space-based marine trying to capture ships in the middle of huge battles, then I think that could be a winner, especially if there were fighter sections.
Make it semi-open in terms of how you capture them, in that you chose the point where your shuttle can breach the hull, and you fight through what looks like a functional ship on the inside, securing engine room, bridge, main computer system, comms, etc.
16/02/2011 at 09:08 Cinek says:
yep, there was once a dispute on how to make a good Homeworld FPS.
Step one: Forget you’ve seen Dead Space and the Homeworld: Cataclysm. ;)
Step two: Allow 3D combat – meaning: Let us fight in no-gravity environments and make an AI that would do it (kinda a breakthrough for the FPS)
Step three: No stupid aliens. But use the HW techs, so: lots of kinetic guns and give Vaygr their pulsed beam.
Step four: Give freedom of commanding the squad (using system similar to RepCommando though with bit more tactics) and let player choose the way of capturing ship, don’t create super-specific objectives like it’s in all other FPSes – linear and lack of thinking == boring.
Step five – allow player to control the approach to the ship and picking the point where to breach the hull.
Step six: Profit from creating most awesome FPS ever! :D :D :D ;)
15/02/2011 at 18:36 Dougal McFrugal says:
Homeworld would be awesome, however i’m not convinced they could make it homeworldy enough, get the right atmos etc. Gothic on the other hand hasnt been done so could be genius.
Am also enjoying the concept of epic 40k RTS BUT come ON its been AGES since we’ve had a decent space RTS
i’ll stop whining now
15/02/2011 at 18:57 zergrush says:
Sins of a Solar Empire hasn’t been out for that long, has it? oO’
15/02/2011 at 19:24 Andrew Dunn says:
No, but Sins isn’t even ‘decent’.
15/02/2011 at 18:37 Pijama says:
Homeworld I think it’s a no-go. Perhaps something new in the 40K universe?
I wouldn’t mind an original IP again though. :)
15/02/2011 at 18:41 liquidsoap89 says:
A Warhammer Classic with Tomb Kings and I’m sold. For once maybe they could shy away from the ridiculously common Empire/Chaos/elves/orks, space marine/chaos/eldar/ork moulds.
I WANNA SEE TOMB KINGS AND LIZARDMEN! Or an expansion to DOW II with Tau… That would suffice.
15/02/2011 at 18:56 zergrush says:
Both Skaven and Beastmen would be pretty cool too.
15/02/2011 at 18:46 rubberpants says:
The only thing we can be sure of is that it’s a sequel to something in a existing genre. Large game companies and movie studios don’t do creative risk taking. Hopefully they’ll add a new game mechanic or a heavy-handed “social online community subscription” kludge in there somewhere. Yes, I’ve given up on hope and love.
15/02/2011 at 18:56 SwiftRanger says:
It’s got to be a Saints Row RTS, no doubt.
15/02/2011 at 19:16 Navagon says:
Relic are just one of those so called triple A developers who still manage to get me interested in a title just because they’re behind it. Looking forward to finding out what this is.
15/02/2011 at 19:17 bascule42 says:
Something new? ha haaa ha haaa haa haa *cough*. Maybe…
15/02/2011 at 19:27 Cinek says:
If it’s gonna be Homeworld 3 I’m gonna sell my kidney and buy 20 packs of collector’s edition just to wallpaper my room with pure awesomeness!!!!
Relic, god damn it, how can you not release the HW3 after THQ buying the rights to series?! I want to play it before the end of world, which means: before end of next year, or death in flames gonna seriously sux… after going through whole game though I’ll be ready to face it in a glory a pure happiness!
15/02/2011 at 19:38 Lord_Mordja says:
Guys, guys, it’s clearly their long awaited Forestry Simulator. They’ve been working on it for so long and now it will finally see the light of day.
15/02/2011 at 19:39 Jake says:
An epic scale 40k strategy game would be great, it’s been ages since Final Liberation. I was always a bit disappointed that Dawn of War II was at a skirmish scale, I’d like to see a few titans stomping around.
But then a new Company of Heroes would also be amazing, even if the original still somehow doesn’t seem very dated.
I also wonder if a Warhammer Fantasy skirmish game – in the DoWII mould – could work. Doing away with units of infantry and having gangs or bands of heroes.
15/02/2011 at 19:48 Kevin says:
I seem to recall from a Shacknews interview where the interviewee told Jeff Lydell that he had some questions from the community, to which Lydell asked:
“You don’t have a question about Homeworld 3 in there, do you?”
“Well actually, yes.”
“Yeah, we’re still not making it.”
Goddamn you, Relic.
Source: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/67204
15/02/2011 at 19:52 Armitage says:
@Kevin
You have shattered my dreams. :(
15/02/2011 at 19:48 Armitage says:
It should be Homeworld 3 with Taiidan, Hiigaran, and Beast as playable races. Make sure that the multiplayer server browser doesn’t suck. Include a BlackOps style theater mode so we can record and post “Lets Plays” and commentaries to YouTube.
Any chance this will happen? No. Am I still hopeful? Yes!
15/02/2011 at 20:46 Teddy Leach says:
Do you know what I’d like? A remake of Chaos Gate. But that’ll never happen…
15/02/2011 at 21:00 Rath says:
Is it possible that at some point in the future they could do a sort of three-tiered RTS based on WH40K, the first tier being planet based action on the order of Epic 40K, the second tier being starship combat as per Battlefleet Gothic, and the third tier being inter-ship boarding like Space Hulk, on the same scale as current Dawn Of War? With that kind of scale, they could do a complete re-telling of the Horus Heresy.
Imagine the kind of co-op play you could get if those missions were happing at the same time. “Dude, seriously, quit the friendly fire with the orbital bombardment already!”
15/02/2011 at 21:15 Mr_Hands says:
Everything I’m about to say has already been said, but:
I’d like to see a 4X or large-scale WH40k game. That would make me super happy.
Given the recent closure of COHO, though, you’d think they’d want to re-establish traction for the CoH brand, yeah? I mean, that game still holds a warm place in most peoples’ hearts. Plus it sold well, I think.
15/02/2011 at 21:52 PearlChoco says:
I’d be very happy with a spiritual sequel to Dark Omen.
15/02/2011 at 21:57 Diziet Sma says:
i don’t care whether it’s something new or another Homeworld (although new homeworld would edge it). It’s a new Relic game! YAY!
15/02/2011 at 22:20 Jimbo says:
My money says non-WW2 CoH. Could follow the FPS genre and go modern?
15/02/2011 at 22:29 Miker says:
From Relic’s Facebook:
“Rumor has it we’re announcing a new RTS game in August. What could it be? Maybe..
- 100 Years War (English vs. French)
- Man vs. Machines
- Plants vs. Frankensteins
- The People vs. Larry Flint
- Man vs. Animals
- Rappers vs. Robots
- Man vs. Everytype of Animal but Bees
- Sharks vs. Dolphins
- Jocks vs. Nerds
- Chuck Norris vs. Chuck Norris
- Man vs. Food
- Sharks vs. Bees
- Jocks vs. Man”
Good to see they have a sense of humor :)
15/02/2011 at 22:33 liqourish says:
Chuck Norris vs Chuck Norris would be impossible balance, though…
can’t really see the multiplayer working.
So, I’ll hold out for Sharks vs Bees.
15/02/2011 at 23:01 Jake says:
Hmm, I wonder if SyFy have thought of Mega Shark vs Giant Bees yet. Only a matter of time I expect.
15/02/2011 at 22:51 Kakrafoon says:
Obviously, there’s not too many people here who want a new Company of Heroes. I do. I really do. Maybe they could give the Eastern front some attention… don’t get me wrong, the CoH Eastern Front Mod is quite nice, but it lacks the Relic treatment with gorgeous visuals, an epic campaign and outstanding voice work.
16/02/2011 at 16:09 Dances to Podcasts says:
Or how about moving a bit further in the spacetime continuum? Spanish civil war?
16/02/2011 at 18:19 GenBanks says:
I’m also really hoping for a CoH sequel.
I reckon they’ll follow in the footsteps of just about every other WW2 franchise and make a modern warfare version though.
15/02/2011 at 23:30 Iskariot says:
I would love a new Homeworld game, but I fear that it will go down the same road to simplification Relic also took with Dawn of War 2. The single player of DoW2 was repetitive, tedious and boring. Unlike many, who keep repeating that something was wrong with HW2, I personally liked that game very much.
What I would like to see in Homeworld 3 are
- At least 2 more factions (but the more the merrier). No need to make up new ones. There is more than enough already. Build on the existing fluff. Existing races could easily be expanded upon, like the modding community has done.
- Return of the Somtaaw, Taiidan Empire, Hiigaran, Vaygr, Turanic, Kushan, Bentusi etc.
- The same superb ship design philosophy. Great attention to detail. Carefully animated spacebattles with cool effects and sounds.
- The detailed battles should be the core of the game, they should be a joy to watch and almost make you forget to issue orders. I used to lock onto a ship and fly through my fleet formations and just watch and enjoy the beauty of the ships :).
- Larger maps,
- Space stations and other structures,
- Large meteorite fields and other space ‘anomalies’ that have tactical value.
- Multiple sectors that are connected through jump gates or something like that.
etc.
etc.
I have tons of ideas.
16/02/2011 at 00:03 Freud says:
Announcing announcements is so tedious. It can only be made more tedious when they create a website with a clock ticking down.
16/02/2011 at 00:29 Retribution says:
Where was the simplification in game-design from Dawn of War to II? I wouldn’t exactly call the original deep, beyond being a strategy game.
16/02/2011 at 11:21 DarkFenix says:
They removed base building, they removed the variety of units, they removed anything resembling scale. In other words they removed everything that made DoW special just so they could make smaller scale CoH in space.
16/02/2011 at 00:59 Hatsworth says:
I actually want a direct competitor to Starcraft 2′s competitive multiplayer. If for nothing else, to hopefully lessen Blizzard’s exploitation.
16/02/2011 at 02:29 markcocjin says:
PUBLIC SERVICE FOR MAJOR WINTERS ON MARCH 19TH
by Linda on Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:42 pm
A memorial service for Major Richard D. Winters, who died Jan. 2, has been scheduled for March.
The service will be held Saturday, March 19, at 2 p.m. at the Hershey Theatre, 15 E. Caracas Ave., Hershey.
The public is invited to attend the celebration of the life of Winters, who gained recognition as commander of Easy Company during World War II.
Author Stephen Ambrose turned the story of Easy Company into “Band of Brothers,” which was published in 1992 and later turned into an HBO miniseries.
Col. Cole Kingseed, co-author of Winters’ memoirs, will open the service. He will be followed by four friends of Winters: Bob Hoffman, Herm Clemens, Bill Jackson and Dick Hoxworth.
http://www.majordickwinters.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=113&t=4638
16/02/2011 at 02:31 kibayasu says:
Ok, well, assuming for a moment its a Homeworld game (and I’d bet on it not being, as much as I love it), I see a problem with my limited view of copyright law.
THQ owns the name “Homeworld.”
Activision owns the games.
If it was a new Homeworld, would it even be possible to use any elements of Homeworld 1 through 2?
16/02/2011 at 05:12 Dave L. says:
THQ owns the entire Homeworld IP, including the games.
16/02/2011 at 02:59 Grey says:
Please, let it be World of Home!
16/02/2011 at 22:07 tikey says:
World of Homecraft!
Brilliant!
16/02/2011 at 03:33 Gundato says:
While an epic-scale 40k game could be fun, I find it doubtful.
Pretty much every “modern” Relic game (ie. anything past Dawn of War) has been about being fun to watch. Relic understands they can’t beat Blizzard (as far as the fans are concerned) in terms of “balance”, so they stick to it being fun to watch (blood pinatas!).
As the Supreme Commander games showed us (since TA actually was still small-scale enough it wasn’t an issue), when you have a large scale game, players just don’t give a damn about the zoomed-in view. It is detrimental to victory, and it is more about watching the flow of combat. So seeing one Commander crush a Kbot in a sync-kill would be pointless.
That being said: I also want Homeworld.
16/02/2011 at 03:44 Tetragrammaton says:
If it turns out to be DOWIII I will die a little inside.
Really THQ, you own so many awesome IPs. Make us happy little gamers.
16/02/2011 at 05:32 Grey says:
Homeworld: Total War will be nice.
16/02/2011 at 05:57 Barman1942 says:
As much as I love Homeworld, it would be interesting to see them bring in a NEW game, not a sequel. Give us something new, Relic.
16/02/2011 at 10:04 Blinck says:
It doesn’t matter what it is, only that it is.
Relic + RTS….my body is ready.
16/02/2011 at 11:24 DarkFenix says:
Relic’s track record for sequels in my books is thus far not good. Homeworld 2 was barely a shadow of the first game and expansion. DoW2 is frankly an insult to DoW1. If the upcoming game is a sequel to something (very likely considering today’s market) it’ll almost certainly be a dumbed down desecration of a franchise.
16/02/2011 at 11:38 CMaster says:
I’d also like to see them do something new and non-warhammer.
I mean, new homeworld-alikes would be great, but I think very few of the Homeworld team are still there and as said elsewhere, HW2 was not a good sign. Company of Heroes I only discovered a year ago but now play most days – but again, don’t really think a sequel is what it needs.
Of course, with Relic being the only developer to do anything good with THQ’s Warhammer liscence, odds are it will be another one of those.
16/02/2011 at 14:03 Werthead says:
Since they already said (linked above) that they’re going to be working on a multiplayer-focused DAWN OF WAR III, it’s probably that.
Second likelihood is COMPANY OF HEROES II. They have the CoH team not doing much except monitoring the still-popular multiplayer and helping out mod teams (they recently reworked some code to make it possible for the EASTERN FRONT Russian side to recrew weapons, which was badly needed). THQ have said that CoH under-performed compared to DoW, but it still sold a lot, it made a significant profit and picked up substantial critical acclaim. A CoH 2 is therefore viable.
HOMEWORLD 3 is less likely, but the argument is that if THQ weren’t going to make it, why spend presumably thousands of dollars recovering the name from the previous rights-holders? So they clearly want to do something with it eventually. Unfortunately, Relic said in an interview a while ago that even HW and HW2 got complaints about their ‘complex’ interfaces so they’d have to dumb it down even further to make HW3 viable, which to me is ludicrous. My guess is that HW3 is not possible unless it’s being done as a low-budget, testing-the-waters project or unless it turns out that some other space RTSes (like SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE) have sold a lot more than previously expected and THQ wants in on the action.
“but it lacks the Relic treatment with gorgeous visuals, an epic campaign and outstanding voice work.”
True, but EASTERN FRONT has excellent units and superbly balanced gameplay, something lacking from OPPOSING FRONTS and TALES OF VALOR to such an extent that I worry Relic are no longer capable of providing it.
16/02/2011 at 16:56 Iskariot says:
“Relic said in an interview a while ago that even HW and HW2 got complaints about their ‘complex’ interfaces so they’d have to dumb it down even further to make HW3 viable, which to me is ludicrous. ”
It is my greatest fear, Werthead. HW 1 and 2 and HW Cataclysm had excellent, practical interfaces as far as I am concerned. It was and still is a joy to play these games.
Perhaps Relic could create a scalable HW3 interface with a setting for gamers with one braincell in which excessive mindless clicking anywhere on the screen will win any game.
If Homeworld 3 would turn out something like Sins of a Solar Empire with its vastly inferior ship design, poor storytelling and uninteresting battles I will enlist in the Vaygr Foreign Legion.
16/02/2011 at 18:27 GenBanks says:
CoH… critical acclaim, has made a name for itself, profitable, but could still use more sales.
It sounds ripe for a ‘modern warfare’ sequel to me… A proven mass-market friendly setting plus the ability to reuse many of the mechanics that make CoH such a great game (my favourite RTS tbh).
I’d prefer a WW2 era CoH2 with a better sense of multiplayer progression taken from lessons learnt from COHO, but my feeling is that the MW setting would be attractive to them.
18/02/2011 at 05:29 Dave L. says:
Do you know what I would love (but is almost certainly not happening)? If it were CoH II, and they were layering Volition’s building destruction tech from Red Faction: Guerrilla onto it.
Imagine being able to just plow tanks straight through those French farmhouses, or splash damage from explosives knocking out the load bearing members of a building you had a squad in, and it collapsing, instead of the static ‘Building has taken X amount of damage and is falling over.’