Interface

Better than some 2D interfaces

Homeworld's interface is surprisingly simple and easy to use. We have to give the designers credit - many doubted that a simple interface could be created for controlling ships in a 3D environment, but from what we can tell, most RTS players should be able to pick up and learn things without any trouble. The tutorial included walks the player through all the major aspects of gameplay and control. Anyone familiar with two mouse buttons and handy with the shift/alt/ctrl buttons on their keyboard will be able to play Homeworld. Having a mouse with a wheel for zooming in/out will be a definite plus, or you'll have to hold both buttons and move up/down for zooming.

The galaxy map

Formations are quick to deploy

Camera, Action!

Homeworld's camera movement and placement is based on focus. It must always be focused on a ship or group of ships. Holding and dragging the right mouse button will turn the camera around its focal point, while left clicking or drag selecting will select ships but not change focus right away. Pressing F centers the camera on your current selection(s). It might sound convoluted, but one pass through the short tutorial and you'll be whizzing around the battlefield like a pro. Learning control is a short process but mastery takes some amount of practice.

Fighters in claw formation

The build screen

Other stuff

Menus and other pertinent info can be brought up with quick keyboard shortcuts or by clicking in the popup taskbar at the bottom of the screen. These include the build menu (for making more spacecraft), the research screen where you select new technologies to develop, and the galaxy map screen which you can use to move ships long distances or keep tabs on areas not within your vicinity. You can also bring up context sensitive commands by right clicking on your selected ships. Right clicking on resource collectors will bring up the harvest command for example. You'll also be able to put groups of fighters and larger ships into formation by using the right click menu.