Homeworld 3 is continuing the series' long tradition of innovation, this time introducing usable terrain in the game's 3D environments. Just as notably, it is bringing single and multiplayer roguelike gameplay into the realm of real-time space strategy. Homeworld 3's roguelike mode, known as War Games, will task players to choose among a handful of starting fleets before embarking on a series of increasingly challenging missions leading up to a cinematic final battle. Players can earn Artifacts during missions which drastically change how certain ships perform, and additional options can be unlocked for subsequent runs.
Game ZXC spoke with Homeworld 3 Senior Designer Andrew Oatway about the new War Games mode, and he broke down exactly how progression works in roguelike terms. He spoke about how Homeworld 3's progression won't be based on persistent power upgrades between matches, but rather on making meaningful Artifact choices throughout each mini-campaign while opening up new decisions to kick off each run.
Homeworld 3 Progression Is About Choices, Not Persistent Power-Ups
Although Oatway expressed his love for roguelike games like Hades, he felt that persistent power unlocks such as "+5% health to shields" for ships was not the direction he wanted to take for the War Games mode. By making the roguelike progression more focused on opening up new options, players have a chance to master a growing arsenal of strategies and fleet compositions. He felt that persistent power upgrades would also hinder the cooperative aspect, as there could be a disparity between new players and those who would have vastly more powerful fleets at their disposal from the start.
I didn't want your passive power to just increase. I wanted to offer a wider breadth of options as you play the mode and as you unlock things. We want meta progression because that is a thing that makes the dopamine happen, keeps people excited and playing the game. It also means we can do things like start you off with more simple things and onboard you into the experience, and then unlock things as you demonstrate levels of mastery and understanding.
I specifically have tried to avoid doing things where you can passively get +5% health to all of your ships because you have invested five power-up points into this thing. One, because I think +5% health is the sort of bonus that puts myself and others to sleep, and then it also just means that while there are definitely people who do new runs and beat Hades on their first run with no bonuses, that's not most people.
Essentially, Homeworld 3's War Games will progress in a fashion more similar to roguelikes like Slay the Spire, in which the player generally starts at the same power level each run but with a few new tools at their disposal. As players level up their profiles, they'll gain access to additional starting fleets with unique build lists, so cooperative players will be able to fill in gaps among their respective build lists and coordinate meaningful tactical decisions.
Players Can Have Overpowered Runs In Homeworld 3's War Games
One of the most satisfying moments in roguelike games is the coveted "god run" where luck is on the player's side and they've acquired a perfectly synergistic combination of upgrades that allows them to utterly steamroll through challenges. Homeworld 3 actively seeks to enable power curves like this in War Games, though they obviously won't happen all the time.
I tried to balance them in a way so that there are combinations that will just smash the rest of a run, because the great thing about a roguelike is I can sit back and say, “Okay, now do it again. And now do it again. And now do it again.” Letting you have the “stars aligned” run where you get really excited and you feel really strong and powerful, that's fine. I definitely don't want to cheapen that, I want powerful synergies to feel powerful. I think those are going to be ways that we keep it feeling fresh, and that we keep people hopefully playing and enjoying the mode for hours and hours and hours.
At one point during Game ZXC's time checking out the War Games mode, we managed to stack several upgrades that massively increased the damage both dealt and received by assault frigates. This led to a focus on amassing a devastatingly effective armada of assault frigates backed by a fleet of healing support craft to keep the vulnerable "glass cannon" frigates in the fight. Each upgrade feels impactful, and they help guide players' fleet compositions as well as how they coordinate with the rest of the team.
Homeworld 3 is scheduled to release on PC in February 2024.