I saw VibroAxe's comment in the HW2 event this evening and started to write a response via PM. I realised that it might be a better response to give to the board in general, though...
Broadly, HW2 is a RTS in 3D space, so units are maneuverable through x,y,z coordinates allowing from attacks from below or above as well as the traditional front-side-back arrangement. This makes building defensive lines much more complex. It also can increase the importance of scouts/probes to discover where the enemy is and what they are doing, possibly more so than other RTS I've played.
Stock HW2 plays very much as a paper-scissor-stone game, with strike craft being trumped by corvettes being trumped by frigates being trumped by capital ships being trumped by strike craft again... Broadly, though, if you've got a decent mix of craft (or enough capital ships and cover for them) then you can lay waste to your opponent.
There is a resource gathering element and technology research, very much as any other RTS. There is only one resource, some sort of ore gathered from asteroids. Everything is paid for using this one resource.
There is a population cap, but it is broken down by unit type so you can only have so many resource collectors or fighters or whatever. This tends to prevent insane flooding of uber-units.
I only really play the game multiplayer, even if all my opponents are bots. The game works well team-based, so you can get a 3v3 space engagement, which can be very cool.
Stock, the game is pretty good, looks okay despite being a bit older, and runs decently (though you may need to enable v-sync on some systems to work around some weird issue where the camera runs like a dog).
However, I prefer to play with the Point Defence Systems modification, which substantially changes the way the game plays.
First, there's no research. You start with all systems built, all research notionally done. Sounds odd, but let me explain...
PDS is more of a space naval engagement simulator than an RTS. Resource gathering does still occur but that seems to be about creating an escalating scenario rather than a prime focus.
If you will, the huge change in PDS is the inclusion of, well, point defence. In HW2 stock, if a missile is launched ship-to-ship then it either hits or misses... usually hits. In PDS, ships have point defence capable of shooting down incoming munitions. Think Battlestar Galactica's or Babylon 5's defence guns. Same thing.
Now, that's all well and good but the cool stuff comes out when you start to understand that ships in your fleet cooperate to provide overlapping point defence. Let's say you field a battlecruiser; it's a mean monster but can be overwhelmed by multiple squadrons of bombers. Now escort that battlecruiser with anti-strike corvettes and their point defence will start to cover the cruiser as well as themselves. Throw in a fighter wing to tie up the bombers some more and your battlecruiser becomes free to maneuver. It adds an extra dimension to the game.
Ships tend to move faster but the capital ships can be really slow to turn. Much of the game actually is about placing your ships not choosing what to fire on; there's an issue with the HW2 engine that the point defence system engine stops working if you deliberately target specific ships. Instead, the AI does an excellent job of managing targeting for you, you just need to ensure you have the right ships in the right place.
Also, PDS makes the game look cooler. There's many more munitions in play, you can see the effects of the point defence guns eliminating incoming missiles, it just feels more awesome.
My main criticism of either is that you can arrive at a situation where you or your opponent has lost but the game hasn't ended yet. Imagine a guy running round with his last carrier, out of resources, but out of sensor range... that can be crap. Similarly, you can end up committing your forces to a battle that turns against you badly and your capital ships are pushed too deep to escape. Your forces are wiped out, you've barely got any resources left, and you're left in a situation of "sit and wait 'til he kills you" or "run around the map and hide". Recovering from when you've really screwed up or just been massively outdone is very hard and pretty demoralising.
Still, when you win you watch the directed energy weapons of your battlecruisers carve your opponent's shipyard into pieces that's pretty exhilarating too...
I don't play a lot but some days the only game that works for me is HW2 + PDS.
VibroAxe said:
Broadly, HW2 is a RTS in 3D space, so units are maneuverable through x,y,z coordinates allowing from attacks from below or above as well as the traditional front-side-back arrangement. This makes building defensive lines much more complex. It also can increase the importance of scouts/probes to discover where the enemy is and what they are doing, possibly more so than other RTS I've played.
Stock HW2 plays very much as a paper-scissor-stone game, with strike craft being trumped by corvettes being trumped by frigates being trumped by capital ships being trumped by strike craft again... Broadly, though, if you've got a decent mix of craft (or enough capital ships and cover for them) then you can lay waste to your opponent.
There is a resource gathering element and technology research, very much as any other RTS. There is only one resource, some sort of ore gathered from asteroids. Everything is paid for using this one resource.
There is a population cap, but it is broken down by unit type so you can only have so many resource collectors or fighters or whatever. This tends to prevent insane flooding of uber-units.
I only really play the game multiplayer, even if all my opponents are bots. The game works well team-based, so you can get a 3v3 space engagement, which can be very cool.
Stock, the game is pretty good, looks okay despite being a bit older, and runs decently (though you may need to enable v-sync on some systems to work around some weird issue where the camera runs like a dog).
However, I prefer to play with the Point Defence Systems modification, which substantially changes the way the game plays.
First, there's no research. You start with all systems built, all research notionally done. Sounds odd, but let me explain...
PDS is more of a space naval engagement simulator than an RTS. Resource gathering does still occur but that seems to be about creating an escalating scenario rather than a prime focus.
If you will, the huge change in PDS is the inclusion of, well, point defence. In HW2 stock, if a missile is launched ship-to-ship then it either hits or misses... usually hits. In PDS, ships have point defence capable of shooting down incoming munitions. Think Battlestar Galactica's or Babylon 5's defence guns. Same thing.
Now, that's all well and good but the cool stuff comes out when you start to understand that ships in your fleet cooperate to provide overlapping point defence. Let's say you field a battlecruiser; it's a mean monster but can be overwhelmed by multiple squadrons of bombers. Now escort that battlecruiser with anti-strike corvettes and their point defence will start to cover the cruiser as well as themselves. Throw in a fighter wing to tie up the bombers some more and your battlecruiser becomes free to maneuver. It adds an extra dimension to the game.
Ships tend to move faster but the capital ships can be really slow to turn. Much of the game actually is about placing your ships not choosing what to fire on; there's an issue with the HW2 engine that the point defence system engine stops working if you deliberately target specific ships. Instead, the AI does an excellent job of managing targeting for you, you just need to ensure you have the right ships in the right place.
Also, PDS makes the game look cooler. There's many more munitions in play, you can see the effects of the point defence guns eliminating incoming missiles, it just feels more awesome.
My main criticism of either is that you can arrive at a situation where you or your opponent has lost but the game hasn't ended yet. Imagine a guy running round with his last carrier, out of resources, but out of sensor range... that can be crap. Similarly, you can end up committing your forces to a battle that turns against you badly and your capital ships are pushed too deep to escape. Your forces are wiped out, you've barely got any resources left, and you're left in a situation of "sit and wait 'til he kills you" or "run around the map and hide". Recovering from when you've really screwed up or just been massively outdone is very hard and pretty demoralising.
Still, when you win you watch the directed energy weapons of your battlecruisers carve your opponent's shipyard into pieces that's pretty exhilarating too...
I don't play a lot but some days the only game that works for me is HW2 + PDS.
