A major Homeworld: Remastered update is on the way

We gave Homeworld Remastered a glowing 92 score in our review last year, which is as it should be. The original Homeworld was a brilliant piece of space opera, and so “Homeworld, but prettier” is about as close to a sure thing as you're going to get in this business. But it turns out that Gearbox isn't done with it yet: An in-depth Fists of Heaven report says a team at the studio has spent the past six months working on a major update, which is now close to completion.

The update will address one of the biggest player complaints by completely reworking formations to allow them to be more “intelligent,” especially in large groups. Different mixes of ships will form up in different ways based on a number of factors, including race: The ion cannons on Kushan destroyers require line-of-sight while the missiles fired by their Vaygr counterparts do not, and their formations will reflect that difference. Some existing formations are being changed to improve their firing arcs, and modders will be able to create their own unique formations for different ship classes, races, and tactics.

Projectile weapons are also being changed to use “true ballistic behavior” rather than relying on the vagaries of RNG. Weapons will sometimes (presumably very rarely) misfire, and missed shots will continue along their path and could even strike other ships, both enemy and friendly: One way or another, as the man said, if you pull the trigger, you are ruining someone's day. Targeting behavior is being overhauled and will better prioritize targets, and tactics settings will have a much more visible impact on combat.

Beyond that, there will be plenty of bug fixes and tweaks, major changes to gameplay balance, and even some graphical improvements. There's no indication of a release date, but the Fists of Heaven report says it appears to be “just about there.”

Thanks, PCGamesN.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.