WC4 Mod For Homeworld 2 In The Works (June 5, 2006)

Good to hear that the AI is working and that the Black Lance will be accessible in the next package. :D The models look menacingly impressive as always!

Had some time a week or so back when I was home to try and get a network match going between the PCs in the house. Here's what happened. Prior to the first attempt, the mod was already installed as followed on each system, connected to an ethernet router:

Desktop 1 (standard HW2 install --> V1.1 Patch --> 1.1 NoCD --> WC4 Mod Release)
Desktop 2 (standard HW2 install + other mods --> V1.1 Patch --> 1.1 NoCD --> WC4 Mod Release)
Laptop (standard HW2 install --> V1.1 Patch --> WC4 Mod Release)


Individually, each system could run the mod and create/host a LAN multi-player game, but attempts to connect/join either of the other's hosted games was unsuccessful, with the typical error message being that the particular HW2 version (presumably the executable file and perhaps also the directory structure) did not match.

I then uninstalled the mod and HW2 on each system and reinstalled in the following order:

Standard HW2 install --> V1.1 Patch --> 1.1 NoCD --> WC4 Mod Release (setup as per L.I.F.'s instructions)


I needed to use the NoCD fix, as I only have one copy of HW2. During the install process and setup as per L.I.F.'s method on each system, I would sometimes have to exit HW2 and restart again a couple of times before the mod was detected, i.e. even though the same order was followed, the normal HW2 game would load rather the mod, so for those having problems getting the mod to run: keep trying to run the executable or modified HW2 shortcut and failing that, uninstall HW2 and reinstall in the order above. Incidentally, you can install multiple instances of HW2 on each system, so if you have other mods installed which may cause conflicts or are having trouble running the WC4 mod and want to reinstall, simply setup another installation elsewhere (e.g. $:\WC4HW2Mod\) with the modifications as above.

Once the mod was initialising successfully on each system, I was able to host a game on either PC and the others were able to join. Performance was reasonable given the variation in hardware, although a 3-player match was noticeably laggy versus a 2-player match on either system, which was very smooth. I wasn't able to try out an online match via Direct IP connect or GameSpy at the time. The critical factor appears to be the HW2 executable file (and perhaps the HW2 directory structure and content?) being the same file (whether modified or not) for a multi-player connection to be made.

Has anyone had any luck getting an online multi-player match going recently? If so, how was HW2 and the mod installed and configured on your system?

Cheers,

Bryn
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BrynS said:
Has anyone had any luck getting an online multi-player match going recently? If so, how was HW2 and the mod installed and configured on your system?
Click to expand...

Recently? No. I had success with mercury / Wild Weasel some time ago, but have recently come across a problem where I cannot connect to any multiplayer games for HW2.
 
Do you plan on making the ships, and aircraft just a slight bit faster? I was playing the mod and realized my carrier moved some what slowly, any plans on upping the speed? It's just some friendly criticism (or you would know other wise, because the list would go on and on.) The pictures look great though :).
 
I just thought about something for the mod, which could give carrier a greater role :

When a fighter squadron is in space, there could be progressive EMP damage :

Fighters won't have any possibility to "repair" this "damage" alone, so, they won't be really damaged, but if they stay too long out of a carrier, a cruiser or any other support ship, they'll become useless, like ships hit by an EMP attack in the original game : no movement, no weaponry, just easy targets.

For example, if a fighter squadron can withstand 400 EMP damage before being a piece of junk floating in space, and the environment is dealing 2 EMP damage/second, this fighter squadron would have to take off, find its target, engage it, and get back to its support ship in 200 seconds, because after that, they'll be out of "fuel". But during this time, they'll be fully operational.

With this, fighters would have some kind of a fuel level, and each player should monitor his fighter and order them to get back to the carrier when they get too slow, because if they continue to attack, they won't get back home.

Also, carriers would be more important, if fighters cannot cross the whole map : they would absolutely need the carrier to get in position to strike the others.
Arrows could also have a new role : they would have far more "fuel" than other fighters, and then would be the only fighters able to perform long-range recons, while Excaliburs would be better suited for short intensive battles.
 
hell dude thats a cool idea! this would really intense the gameplay and make carriers much more important....but I would introduce some more "fuel ships", like mobil platforms or something like that, so if your carrier is destroyed your whole fighter fleet doesn't become useless.
Without a carrier your fighters could only concentrate on defending your homebase...but it's defenetly an idea to think about!:)
 
If your carriers are destroyed, then your fighter forces would be forced to stay close to your HQ, since it can host them, but you won't be able to resume offensive actions until you have another carrier.

So, in order to defend yourself from an enemy strike, you'll have 2 options :
-Fighters Vs Fighters, and hope to destroy all those ****ing bombers before they get you.
-Or follow them when they get back to their fleet to refuel, and then launch a strike at this fleet, during docking operations : Without carrier, the enemy force won't last long against your defensive force.



Also, when you attack, you'll need to keep your fleet far from the battle, to prevent the loss of your carrier, which would mean the end of the attack.

But, I don't know if fuel ships would be appropriate, since the HW2 maps aren't so big. If there is those ships, then your carrier could be able to stay at home, well protected, while its vulnerability during an attack would be a part of the gameplay.

Also, It could be interesting to choose the starting fleets :
-A HQ if you want big fleet actions
-A Task Force (1 carrier, 2 destroyers, 1 cruiser and 1 refinery ship), if you want a fighter-based skirmish : Both forces are always moving, and as soon as your Arrows find the other, you send a full wing of fighters and bombers to punch them.
 
yeah...the more i here this idea the more i like it...let's see what czacen thinks about it^^

but i agree...the rather small maps could be a problem, ähm btw is there some kind of map editor for hw2? or how do all the modders make their maps?

oh and one more thing: for everybody of you who would like to take seat in a fighter cockpit himself instead of ordering around you should watch this: http://www.wcsaga.com

Its a pretty cool standalone fighter simulation...its still under developement but there is already a damn impressive prequel campaign.
 
Keim_Seimn said:
oh and one more thing: for everybody of you who would like to take seat in a fighter cockpit himself instead of ordering around you should watch this: http://www.wcsaga.com

Its a pretty cool standalone fighter simulation...its still under developement but there is already a damn impressive prequel campaign.
Click to expand...
Thats nice of you to share, but most of us are allredy aware of the project.:rolleyes:
 
its a pretty cool idea homeworld 1 worked with the concept fuel but they decided to leave it out of hw2 many mods have experimented with this but couldn't get it to work.

i still think that this would made he2 a lot better
 
I love this mod and all, even voted for it as my favorite mod, just wondering when the next alpha will be made. (Although I'm sure the answer will be, "when it is ready for another alpha, is when the next alpha comes.")
 
Adding on to the idea of "fuel" how about you start of with all your fighters with little "fuel" capacity, and you could research "improved fuel tank" that is required to build bombers, since they consume so much fuel. Just a thought. :)
 
i know its a work inprogress but i want to have a update where i can have those neat ships and a enemy to fight. i am useing the preview and it does not fully extract or launch right it is no fun when you have no battle.

i here alot about the wc4.exe on filefont on relic but i follow the link i get a dead end where can i get the better version and i keep getting the upgrades.
 
i am drawing a wing commander ship, it it is not from price of freedom it is from heart of the tiger. but if he makes a multi wing commander mod that blends all together it will be perfect.

by the way when the update is posted where can i download it?
 
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