Today is June 7 and that means the Homeworld Remastered 2.0 update is live, and the full list of patch notes is now available to the public. The complete list of changes can be seen here, but highlights include a rebalancing of the entire game—both single and multiplayer—and a complete overhaul of the formations system “to better support Homeworld 1 formations.”
“Formations will break on combat into combat groups based on the ships that are part of the formation. This is to more closely emulate HW1 and to make sure that ships perform as optimally as you would expect,” the patch notes state. “Formations have a unit cap depending on the ships and formation used. This is to ensure formations are as effective in combat as possible and so that the game performs at a reasonable speed.”
All ships in the game have been rebalanced to work more effectively in the new formations, and have also had their flight dynamics and “engagement behaviors” improved. Weapons may now use ballistic rules rather than RNG to determine hits, and tactical settings have been split into separate “Rules of Engagement” and “Stances,” to simultaneously emulate Homeworld 1 and 2 gameplay.
One important thing to be aware of is that pre-2.0 saves will not be valid after the patch is installed. Campaign progression will remain in place so you won't need to start over from the beginning, but mid-mission saves are out.
Homeworld Remastered also debuted on GOG today, and is currently available for half-price.
