Homeworld: Revitilization

[MechWarrior001]

This is a idea for a exe mod for HW1, heres the main concepts:

Multithreading for multicore systems:

CPU0 - Main game execution
CPU1-8 - Controls AI player 1-8 (Variable, depends on AI controlled players)
CPU9+ - Physics, extra coding

Multiple bit support:

32bit - standard gameplay with enhancements
64bit - larger environments with bigger multiplayer matches (6-8+ players)

Visual enhancements:

support for higher resolution and rendering functions
multi-monitor support
bloom
HDR effects
parallax and normal mapping

Physics enhancments:

multiple engines (you can choose which one you like from the adv. options tab)
Objects can move on their own (like asteroids on a belt)
Support for dedicated physics processing units

Mulyiplayer enhancements:

More players (64bit)
Expaned maps (64bit)
Dimplomacy Features (server optional)
Imp. Chat system (cant remember if one existed at all)

These are some ideas I have for modding Homeworld. what do you think?

[Ultraxwing]

I would enjoy this, indefinetely yes, hell yes actually, but how? I forget the code so don't ask me.

[MechWarrior001]

I forget the code so don't ask me

Do you mean you forgotten which language it's written in? Or know the language but have just forgotten how to code in that language? For the former, it's written in C. HW2 is (most likely) written in C++.

Expanding on the multi-monitor support feature, I want it so that if a person has at least two monitors, they can have each one dedicated to a certain screen. For example, lets say you have 4 monitors. If you set them up in a cross/plus sign pattern, you could have the following configuration:

Center Screen - Main game view
Left Screen - Build Menu
Right Screen - Research Menu
Top Screen - Launch Menu

And I was thinking, since Relic had to remove the Bink video code from the game, would it be plausible to use Quake's open-source Roq movie format?

[Kapyrna]

Is there a way to use DivX video formats in-game, as well as use standard WAV audio instead of AIFR/FDA?

[TON_Viper]

This project would be a lot of work. If you can pull it off, it would definitely be worth it, but I suspect that it will be a long time before significant changes can be implemented.

One of the first changes that I would propose working on would be to fix the texture corruption issues, and eliminate the need for the textures.ll texture database.

Your main goal should be to make it easier to mod, because as long as HW2 is easier to work with, you probably won't see many teams change to this "older" engine.

[MechWarrior001]

The question is can HW compile cleanly right out of the source code package download. After that, I would need to find out how modding for HW1 is done compared to HW2. (I never modded content for HW1, just played it)

As for audio improvements, I was thinking of adding support for the Ogg Vorbis audio format, in addition to the ability to play oggs, mp3s, wavs and possibly wmas in "...\My Documents\My Music" folder; and maybe even add support for M3U playlists.

[Kapyrna]

For your purposes, I'd think simply OGG and/or WAV support would be more than enough.

[MechWarrior001]

I was also thinking of adding a VOIP feature for multiplayer games. Determined by host settings, players can voice-chat to team and enemy players during matches (and possibly pre-game and post-game lobbies)

In addition to that, I also wanted to add the ability to where the singleplayer campaign could be played in Coop mode (with options to increase difficulty). The host would control the Mothership while the other players would control a Carrier. If a player gets defeated and loses his or her Carrier, him or her can be "resurrected" as long as the mothership is capable of producing another carrier and transferring it to him or her. If the host loses his or her mothership, he or she is out of the game until either a enemy carrier is captured or another, unoccupied carrier is found. The game is not over until all players have been defeated, so as long as 1 player is still in, all other players have a chance to get back into the game. As for ship IDs, each player will be given a fleet name and a color. Any ships produced by one player can only be controlled by that player, unless transferred to another players fleet. The Host can choose whether to have resources shared among the fleets or require each fleet to establish its own mining and resourcing operations. This can be used to assign roles to players or encourage players to be self-sustaining.

[Overmind5000]

Can you also check to see if you can make build options moddable?

[Kapyrna]

How far are you along in this process? This sounds to be all conjecture. Not to be a downer, but what's actually possible of what you want to do?

[Axatar]

Don't try to eat more that you can digest, do something small, and step by step go for something bigger.

[MechWarrior001]

To be honest, I havn't started it yet. I'm still thinking of ideas I want to implement. I have started to learn C using a tutorial on Cprogramming.com, but I've only gotten to If statements. Does anyone here know C and would be willing to help?

I was thinking on adding the ability to pan the camera outside the sensors manager. However, it can still be disabled in options if the player desires so. Also, improved support for Dynamic Lights will be added, allowing players to attach spotlights and various other lights to ships, including missiles, projectiles, engines, and etc.

[Captain Pierce]

The question is can HW compile cleanly right out of the source code package download

No, it cannot. The source code download contained only Relic's code, not any of the code that they licensed from other companies. So the source code does not compile into a playable .exe. A few people have tried to reconstruct it using open-source replacements for the missing code, but I don't know that anybody ever got it playable in its original form, let alone adding things to it. (Although I could have missed something, I got depressed and stopped looking. )

[MechWarrior001]

Alright, how hard would it be to comment out or remove the sections referencing to non-Relic code without causing errors? That way, you could still play the game, but unless you found replacements, videos would not play, netcode would not work, sound (possibly) might not exist, and etc.

By the way, does anyone know of a replacement for the WON online network? (if I remember correctly, WON shut down.) I was thinking FSGS (Free Standard Game Server), but I don't know if that's doing any better.

[lmop]

The original C source code does compile out-of-the-box but you have to use a specific compiler and some major subsystems either weren't included (video playback - Bink licencing issues; multi-player WAN) or would only work on Windows (sound engine required a pre-compiled Windows library).

All of these issues have been solved (or at least worked around) in the Homeworld SDL version of the source code whose primary focus is cross-platform compatibility (although I'm not sure about multi-player WAN play now that I think about it). It can be compiled with gcc and runs on the three major OS platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X. There are people attempting to port it to lots of other ones too such as PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, Pandora, Amiga, as well as 64-bit ports too. The code also contains lots of bug fixes.

The main "problem", no matter which codebase you start off with, is that there is a lot of functionality that is hardcoded. It was Relic's first game and were under a lot time-pressure, so making it extensible or community-friendly was not top of their agenda. Putting in more moddable subsystems (particularly whilst making sure that current functionality/behaviour is preserved) is a lot of work but that's not to say people aren't working on that. If you're interested it's worth checking out.

[doci7]

Hey, a Mac-Homeworld guy! Glad to see that project didn't cease to exist a while ago. My sincere thanks for making playing Homeworld possible on a Mac; I just recently discovered that this was possible, and needless to say it made my day. You guys have done an awesome job!

[lmop]

No MacHomeworld is definitely not dead but, personally, I haven't worked on Homeworld for a while thanks to some heavy work commitments. I expect I'll (finally) upgrade my PowerPC Mac when Apple refresh their iMac line, or maybe a PowerMac if I really feel indulgent! When I do so, I'll definitely be playing with the source code again because it should be possible to get the sound working for Intel Macs. I understand some other Mac contributors have had some success on that front already.

[MechWarrior001]

I have some more ideas for multiplayer modes:

Skirmish
All players start with carriers with unlimited resources, and everything is initially researched. The goal is to destroy your enemies carrier. Great for battle enthusiates who wish to focus more on combat that resourcing and research.

Custom Co-op campaigns
Custom campaigns designed specifically for multiplayer. Players can team up and assign roles to specific tasks, or maintain their own fleets and customizations. Certain objectives will require teamwork to accomplish. (Ex. One player capturing a series of ships while the other two players defend it and the capturing forces)
Expanded Coop Campaign Feature

[doci7]

I'll definitely be playing with the source code again because it should be possible to get the sound working for Intel Macs.

Dang; no plans to get sound working for Power PCs? Or no hope of it? Personally I have a Power PC with no intention or expectation at present of upgrading within any conceivable length of time, so I find this news disheartening.

[Captain Pierce]

Wow, I (obviously) didn't realize you guys had gotten that far, lmop. Well done.

[lmop]

Dang; no plans to get sound working for Power PCs? Or no hope of it? Personally I have a Power PC with no intention or expectation at present of upgrading within any conceivable length of time, so I find this news disheartening.

I feel your pain. I don't want to give people unrealistic expectations but I do have sound code that "works" on PowerPC but it's so unstable there's no point in releasing it. I've spent lots of time debugging it but I've had a devil of a time doing so. I do go back to it now and then but always hit the same brick wall. So I'm not saying "never" but I'm definitely not saying "soon" either... Anyway, the reason why this isn't an issue with Intel Macs is because the pre-compiled sound library that came with the original source runs on Intel natively so it's plug-and-play (once you've hacked together a suitable interface for it).

I have some more ideas for multiplayer modes:

Skirmish
All players start with carriers with unlimited resources, and everything is initially researched. The goal is to destroy your enemies carrier. Great for battle enthusiates who wish to focus more on combat that resourcing and research.

I'm pretty sure you can set up a skirmish like that with the original game. Although rather than infinite resources at the start, you may have to set it so that you are given lots of resources on a regular basis.

Feel free to try this on hard against with seven opponents. Some of my more memorable games are ones like this! It's perhaps a more realistic interpretation of the game's story line: "happily roam around the cosmos in your brand new civilian starship whilst being pursued by the military fleets of an entire galactic empire which wants you dead..."

[doci7]

I see. Well, I do hope it can be made to work, but if it can't, or it just proves too troublesome to keep bothering with it, I'll understand.