A Message from Gearbox Software
We sometimes get comments, mails or other reactions to our work, but one of the greatest compliments we have received lately came in the form of two messages from Gearbox. One came from Gearbox Senior Programmer Bitvenom, who posted the following to our FXmod thread on the Gearbox forum the other day:
Click for full-res.
Source: Forums.gearboxsoftware.com
Another message came to us via email, and was written by Gearbox Senior Producer Brian Burleson:
Greetings from Gearbox!
Brian Burleson 发给homeworld_9ccn
2014年07月04日 00:14 (星期五)
详情
Hi guys!
I just wanted to say that your work is really good. You’ve been able to do many things that really stand out in the community and impress the guys here. I was wondering, how many people are on your team and what tools you are using?
As we get closer to launching the remastered versions of Homeworld, I want to make sure that you guys are looped into how we are improving mod support in the engine. Let’s just say that a lot of stuff has changed which will allow you guys to do even more amazing stuff
With that said, we have some questions to answer:
What's in the works?
Q: How are the new releases coming along?
9CCN wrote: I know that you and many other fans are eager to see some news about the next version of FX, but I'm sorry -- there has not been much progress on that. The 9ccN MOD team was established more than 10 years ago, and the very same members who used to be energetic university students back then all have their own jobs now -- some of them even have a son or daughter. They don't have much time to spend on the mod, so the progress is rather slow. In fact, because our project leader is busy earning money to feed his baby daughter, the new release is put on hold, and we don't know when it will come out.
Q: Anything about the new releases that you'd like to share with the community?
9CCN wrote:As far as I know, they have made several new models for Progenitor Pyramid units. The new survival mode I have told you will come out. There're also some other things but, as I have mentioned, we don't know when we can release them.
Q: What kind of race will the Bentusi be like? Also, will you guys be using the models from HW1 or will all their ships be completely new designs, like the Ben Destroyer that Unit_X posted?
9CCN wrote:Unit_X is still making more new models for the Bentusi. Details about the race are still undetermined, but chances are that we won't try to balance it with other races, which means it can be quite different from other races.
Q: What kind of upgrades/changes will the Hiigaran / Vaygr get?
dreadnought9ccn wrote:The HGN will take advantage of increased mobility. The VGR capital ships will be slower but more powerful. They will also have additional auxiliary capabilities.
On Homeworld:Remastered and Other Matters..
Q: Anything you guys are looking forward to or are excited for in HW:R?
9CCN wrote:The most important is the support of new hardware, such as multicore processor. Another thing we hope to see is a more powerful engine which would make it possible for us to make more exciting features.
Some of us, however, also fear that HW:R will make the game lose its unique appeal. Many agree that the new remastered CG gearbox released lost its original style.
Q: What are you guys' favorite races in the mod?
9CCN wrote:Mine [liuruoyang1995] is Hiigaran, Ux's is Bentusi, both our project leader 唯一 and dreadnought9ccn like the Taiidan Empire the best. I will ask the other members about their favorite race.
Other Questions
Q: Hello, your mod is great :) Your concepts of Bentusi ships are astonishing ! I would like to ask, if you will add in future big Progenitor mothership please? and in Kadesh race, some smaller kind of battlecruiser/destroyer, for example, something like this. -freakyplayer
There may not be a larger mothership. In fact, we plan to make it smaller. The one in the mod now is too large, making progenitor's resources collectors work less efficiently than other races. I don't know if there are any plans about that for Kadesh, but there are plans to remaster the Khar-Toba.
Q: The RPG mode sounds interesting. I have some questions concerning it. How will ship building be handled? Like in skirmishes; but with different prices, or maybe by purchasing the ships at a shipyard? Since it is an "RPG" will the ships gain exp and be upgradable (new weapons, subsystems, etc.)? -Firebird1985
Purchasing is most likely the method we will choose. The ships are likely to be upgradable. You may even have the opportunity to give an unique name to each of your ships. Anyway, the RPG system is still far from complete, everything can be changed before it comes out.
Q: Does your team do "requests"? Like, if some of your members of art and modelling had spare time on their hands, would they be able to create new Somtaaw models for public use? -Pcmaster
dreadnought9ccn wrote:As you see, I am model maker for FX. So yes. Personally i have so like Somtaaw dreadnought and kuun-lan. But now we still have some ship need be complete.I'll think about make somtaaw dreadnougt MK2 later. PS: I like to call it "mooncake" haha
Thanks for reading!
Indeed it's cool it's always a good thing is a dev takes notice of some modder. Lets hope Brain sticks true to his words that we can do a lot of more amazing stuff with it. My personal dream would be a SP story map editor but I guess I will go out empty handed.
gearbox taking notice
wicked
Well, if it eases your fears somewhat, Gearbox was apparently hesitant to remaster Homeworld 1 and 2; it wasn't something they had inherent experience with, and this series was LEGENDARY.
They technically owned the Homeworld IP, sure, but they at least had more tact and common decency than, say, EA. If they screwed up a remake of a series that still boasted a significant following and modding community, that could easily BREAK their delicate reputability as a game developer; that's how strong Homeworld support still is.
So they were a bit stumped on how to go about this massive undertaking, until they found Blackbird Interactive, which is a game design studio that has a bunch of members from the old Homeworld development teams, including a few founding members of Relic Entertainment. They were apparently developing a spiritual successor to the Homeworld series, called "Shipbreakers".
Thankfully for the remakes, Gearbox approached Blackbird Interactive, and offered the opportunity to breathe new life into an old legacy, as well as allowing them to turn Shipbreakers into an actual Homeworld title.
And that's how we ended up with the current buzz about the Remastered Homeworld games. Gearbox may technically own the Homeworld IP, but they've handed the reins of development to Blackbird Interactive. A smart move, I'd wager; not many are better qualified than members of the original teams themselves.
Take your time, there is no rush :)
Howdy guys - I want to correct the statement from 'Pcmaster' that Gearbox turned development of Homeworld Remastered over to Blackbird. That's... not really accurate. There's an in-house team doing HW:RM - Blackbird's doing HW:Shipbreakers - and many of the founders of Relic, original developers of HW are actively part of our process. Their feedback/input is extremely important. But Blackbird isn't _making_ HW:RM. Gearbox is.
Well, learn something new every day!
Even if Blackbird isn't completely in control of the project, can you really say that the endeavour would even be possible without their support and know-how?
I don't want to dismiss their involvement in the least. Nor do I want to go into too much detail - as that's a story to be told by others (Brian, etc). That said, I think their ongoing input on various things, certainly some of their direct involvement on some art/assets - these are all very good things. But 'know how' - it needs to be said (and likely will be in detail eventually) that the initial project was bootstrapped with tools that were mostly (entirely?) public - stuff the community had authored, often. Now, with the new graphics engine, etc - I've created tools that we'll make available. The vast majority of the credit regarding 'know how' MUST be given to the community and mod teams - who we both learned greatly from, and in some cases have worked directly with. I think without the community around this franchise, the remastered version would have been nowhere near what it is now (and will be when we release it).
Indeed. I mean, the fact that the community has even survived this long with such a persistent following just shows you how well the Homeworld series has aged.
Though they were designed to be compatible with less capable machines of their era along with the 'high end' builds of the day, they are still quite functional on the more powerful system averages of today. Homeworld is just THAT awesome of a game, and to be honest, I can't see the following dying off any time soon, :)