"The
story involves the Hiigarans and details their struggle
against a raging warrior race, the Vaygr. While they hope
and work for peace, fate is [not] so kind. The story begins
approximately 100 years after the exiles returned home. The
story is epic in scope. The player will unravel some of the
secrets of the Homeworld universe such as the origins
of Hyperspace and the fate of the Bentusi. Homeworld
focused on a single planet, Homeworld2 blows open the
doors to the whole Galaxy." - Dan Irish,
Executive Producer
An important
thing to keep in mind when viewing these screenshots and
concept art is that HW2 has had two distinct
development phases, and a great deal seems to have changed from the first
abortive E3 shots in 2001 up to now. Some things we have seen in
older screenshots no longer exist in the game
today.
There are
currently two known sides in Homeworld 2: first is the Hiigarans (the
returned Kushan exiles from Homeworld), who are the player race in the single-player
campaign, and
the Vaygr, described as the primary
opponents of the Hiigarans. These two sides are also the two
races available in multiplayer. See the section for each race
for details.
Although
numerous references have been made to the Bentusi, it
appears that other "supporting races" from the
first game (including the Taiidan, Kadesh and Turanic
Raiders) will not have significant roles in Homeworld 2.
According to Josh Mosquiera, there will be at one new race
(other than the Vaygr).
"Homeworld
2's story takes place a century after Homeworld. During the game,
events will take the player from Hiigara across the inner rim and into the
galactic core itself. Through their trials, the Hiigarans will discover the true
cause of their exile, the origins of hyperspace, and their relationship to
Sajuuk, whom they have worshipped as a god for as long as they can remember.
This is the main story arc of the game." - Geoff Thomas, Assistant
Producer
"Homeworld
2's epic story draws the player into the conflict on the side of the
Hiigarans. We're saving the other side of this story for an expansion pack. The
persistent-fleet concept is still used, but we've modified the implementation so
you won't have to go back a few missions if you're unsuccessful in preserving
enough ships from mission to mission. We found it was important to the gameplay
since it created a sense of ownership and familiarity in the single-player
experience." - Dan Irish, Executive Producer
"...there
is only one playable race in Homeworld2 single player but the game will
ship with 2 playable races for multiplayer... After the game ships, we have some
exciting things planned but we're not ready to talk about them yet..." - Alex
Garden, Relic CEO
"Homeworld2
uses
two distinctly different races. There are some similarities in a few ships, but
the races are distinctly different in terms of appearance, capabilities,
technology, and tactics. Obviously, this adds complexity to the overall strategy
that the players employ, as well as depth to the choices they have. Homeworld2
supports up to 6 users in multiplayer mode. ... As
for the Vaygr, the antagonists, they have very distinctive
ships that draw few parallels to anything that's been seen
before in Homeworld. There are some functional
similarities in certain units, but we're hoping to
surprise the core fans with the sinister design of this
fleet." - Dan
Irish, Executive Producer
"The
two sides are different in terms of technology so you won't
even be able to research the other's type of tech. They
share basic stuff like resourcing, but that's it. Hiigarans
are more well rounded with their fleets where the Vaygr are
much more specialized in their uses. ... Both
races have their own playing style, with the Hiigarans
focusing on sturdy capital ships and the Vaygr preferring
faster, more agile ships." - Josh
Mosquiera, Lead Designer
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