Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2

buzzvang wrote:

As long as it doesn't fall into the Homeworld trap. I never liked having to mine the entire map after finishing the mission, just so I'd have a decent enough fleet for the next scenario.

I think Relic learned their lesson from Homeworld. After you completed the mission objectives in Homeworld 2, you automatically gathered all available resources and went on to the next mission.

Dunno if they're using the same mechanics as in DoW but there was never any resource gathering in that. Each side had their own way of increasing population cap and other than that you got your money by controlling and holding points. No little peons running back and forth.

Just reinstalled DoW in anticipation for DoW2. There is resource gathering (Power & Requisition) though, except you rely on nodes to generate it vs. having peons to collect.

Dr._J wrote:

I think Relic learned their lesson from Homeworld. After you completed the mission objectives in Homeworld 2, you automatically gathered all available resources and went on to the next mission.

That's good to know. I stated my case incorrectly, though. What I meant to focus on was the pitfalls persistence between missions can present, rather than resource gathering. I hate losing a mid/late game mission because I didn't max out my carryover units properly in one of the earlier scenarios. That was my worry.

New DOW II website is up!

Edit: don't miss the "Introducing the people behind the game" section little ways down the page.

CoH did a kind of unit carryover in the campaign, in that you could re-purchase your veteran units from mission to mission. Perhaps this is what they mean for DoW2?

Also, in all three Homeworlds, the strength of enemy forces scaled depending on the number of units you managed to carry over from the last mission. However, this scaling did have an upper limit, and so a sufficiently powerful force would still wipe the floor with the enemy. Losing your entire fleet was bad. Losing maybe half of it was manageable.

There was also the "honor guard" system from Dark Crusade. (I never did play Soulstorm.) It was never strictly necessary to purchase an honor guard, it was just frequently very, very helpful to start each mission with (say) a Dreadnought.

New Gameplay Trailer! 3rd race is revealed to be Eldar.

Holy shit.

Now this is the game I want to make sweet, sweet love to.

Edit - I was hoping that the Eldar would be sitting this round out to make room for some new races, but it's all good. While I would love to see the Imperial Guard return, my prediction is that the last race they will reveal will be the Tyranids.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you thought the previous cinematics in Dawn of War 1 were good, then prepare to get your socks blown off:

Dawn of War 2 Intro Movie

Absolutely amazing IMHO. Relic has spot on captured the feel and atmosphere of WH40K.

Thanks for the link Dr._J!

Here are some new info about MP of DOW II:

Q & A
What is being announced at E3?
Dawn of War II will offer free multiplayer and will be using Games for Windows – LIVE.

But Microsoft charges for a gold subscription for GFW-LIVE. How is that not the case with Dawn of War II?
There will be no subscription fee for any multiplayer gaming features using the Games for Windows – LIVE service in Dawn of War II.

Does this include full matchmaking, multiplayer achievements, etc?
Yes. This includes achievements, TrueSkill® multiplayer matchmaking, voice and text chat, a friends list that is consistent across both Windows and XBOX 360, and all other features of the Games for Windows – LIVE service.

Will you have a marketplace or other in-game content?
We will be distributing additional content for Dawn of War II through Games for Windows - LIVE. We’re keeping the details under wraps for now, but stay tuned!

Dr._J wrote:

Dawn of War 2 Intro Movie

Absolutely amazing IMHO. Relic has spot on captured the feel and atmosphere of WH40K.

Can't hold a candle to the awesomeness that was the DoW1 intro, IMO.

Warp Spiders!!! I see warp spiders!!!! There are tears in my eyes right now...

And about the ending of the intro, darn I say that the "witch" is referring to Tyrannids!?

I am literally shaking in excitement right now... And I have a meeting in 5 min... This is going to be a interesting meeting...

lethial wrote:

Thanks for the link Dr._J!

Here are some new info about MP of DOW II:

Q & A
What is being announced at E3?
Dawn of War II will offer free multiplayer and will be using Games for Windows – LIVE.

But Microsoft charges for a gold subscription for GFW-LIVE. How is that not the case with Dawn of War II?
There will be no subscription fee for any multiplayer gaming features using the Games for Windows – LIVE service in Dawn of War II.

Does this include full matchmaking, multiplayer achievements, etc?
Yes. This includes achievements, TrueSkill® multiplayer matchmaking, voice and text chat, a friends list that is consistent across both Windows and XBOX 360, and all other features of the Games for Windows – LIVE service.

Will you have a marketplace or other in-game content?
We will be distributing additional content for Dawn of War II through Games for Windows - LIVE. We’re keeping the details under wraps for now, but stay tuned!

I'm wondering if this is a hint to wards a change in GFW Live as a whole. From recent interviews MS seems to have a relaunch or some fundamental change in mind.

Darth Nader wrote:

I'm wondering if this is a hint to wards a change in GFW Live as a whole. From recent interviews MS seems to have a relaunch or some fundamental change in mind.

If they add an external client for Live on top of those features, I may just stop hating it.

lethial wrote:

And about the ending of the intro, darn I say that the "witch" is referring to Tyrannids!? :shock:

She really could be referring to any race. Every race has some kind of iconic "Drop from the sky" aspect to it. But I will say, Tyrannids need their due.

Tkyl wrote:
lethial wrote:

And about the ending of the intro, darn I say that the "witch" is referring to Tyrannids!? :shock:

She really could be referring to any race. Every race has some kind of iconic "Drop from the sky" aspect to it. But I will say, Tyrannids need their due.

Though that does look like spore clouds

lethial wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
lethial wrote:

And about the ending of the intro, darn I say that the "witch" is referring to Tyrannids!? :shock:

She really could be referring to any race. Every race has some kind of iconic "Drop from the sky" aspect to it. But I will say, Tyrannids need their due.

Though that does look like spore clouds

So I downloaded the HiRes trailer, and yeah, it does look like spore clouds.

Tkyl wrote:
lethial wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
lethial wrote:

And about the ending of the intro, darn I say that the "witch" is referring to Tyrannids!? :shock:

She really could be referring to any race. Every race has some kind of iconic "Drop from the sky" aspect to it. But I will say, Tyrannids need their due.

Though that does look like spore clouds

So I downloaded the HiRes trailer, and yeah, it does look like spore clouds.

I took a look at the HiRes trailer, and while it could be spore clouds (I have never seen any in print before), I was thinking that it could be the feeding tendrils from a hive ship.

My prediction is that the next race announced will be Chaos, and the last will be the Tyranids.

Dr._J wrote:

I took a look at the HiRes trailer, and while it could be spore clouds (I have never seen any in print before), I was thinking that it could be the feeding tendrils from a hive ship.

Either way, it would still be Tyrannids. The only reason why I would think it wouldn't be the hive ship, is because typically those are seen from a great distance. The other races know when and where a hive ship is headed (they are just powerless to do anything to stop it). However, they can be caught unaware by the spores that are released ahead of the hive fleet.

Edit: My biggest question is this: If Tyranids are going to be a playable race, how does Relic plan to implement the Hive Mind and its control over the rest of the fleet. They could simply say the Hive mind (and its supporting creatures) are near enough to control all your units across the entire map. But that seems like a cheap way out of a genuinely different game mechanic the Tyranids have to deal with on the table top game. I'm wondering if they are going to force Tyranid players to keep Queens or Tyranid Warriors nearby the smaller creatures for the player to be able to control them.

Tkyl wrote:

My biggest question is this: If Tyranids are going to be a playable race, how does Relic plan to implement the Hive Mind and its control over the rest of the fleet. They could simply say the Hive mind (and its supporting creatures) are near enough to control all your units across the entire map. But that seems like a cheap way out of a genuinely different game mechanic the Tyranids have to deal with on the table top game. I'm wondering if they are going to force Tyranid players to keep Queens or Tyranid Warriors nearby the smaller creatures for the player to be able to control them.

I think they might go with the first-Relic has shown that they're perfectly willing to bend the game rules in favor of both lore and playability.

Although, a race that needs more macro-management skills would be interesting, considering how every race in DoW requires extremely hefty micromanagement to succeed.

The gameplay trailer excites me terribly. Especially how the initial Orcs and SM fight looked almost like a tabletop diorama from Games Workshop. The inidividual unit movement also was pretty cool-it looks like they're taking a lot from what they learned with CoH for this one.

Just a heads up there is a IGN livewire stream coming up in 8 minutes! It is supposed to have spoilers from a campaign walkthrough!

edit: ummm are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is this demo going to AN HOUR AND HALF LONG!?

edit2: sigh another foobar-ed DOW II interview... They ended up showing Warhamer Online footage instead of Warhammer 40k DOW II :(...

At least this is better than the Gamespot interview yesterday... That interviewer is just bad...

Dr._J wrote:

Now this is the game I want to make sweet, sweet love to.

Okay, now you're freaking me out...

Well, they have the ability to create auras. All they'd need to do would be to create an appropriate set of responses for any unit that doesn't have the "Hive Mind Aura" on them.

Gamespy has put up some new information about the experience system. Link.

Every level players will receive points that can be dropped into a squad's ranged abilities, health, speed or various other characteristics to improve a squad's abilities in that area. Every five points or so, though, the player will get access to a specialized ability unique to both that branch and that particular soldier. Adding five points to Cyrus' ranged abilities for example, results in a skill that temporarily increases his firing range for a few seconds. Doing the same for the force commander, though, would result in a skill that increases everyone's range for a brief time. According to Ebbert, the idea is for the player to have to make some difficult decisions about exactly what they want each squad to focus on.

Interesting stuff!

I am so looking forward to this game.

I absolutely loved the first series becasuse the atmosphere was great like the table top game material and the game play was fun to boot.

Tyranids confirmed.

I wonder what their battle gear will be like. New mandibles? I would not envy the guy in charge of 'equipping' those.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Tyranids confirmed.

I wonder what their battle gear will be like. New mandibles? I would not envy the guy in charge of 'equipping' those.

I'm waiting for the first twit who claims they're ripping off Starcraft.

IMAGE(http://community.dawnofwar2.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/edited_final3.jpg)
OMG that new shot of Starcraft 2 looks awesome!!111

buzzvang wrote:

IMAGE(http://community.dawnofwar2.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/edited_final3.jpg)
OMG that new shot of Starcraft 2 looks awesome!!111

i dunno if i like the kerrigan changes

Dr._J wrote:

Ladies and gentlemen, if you thought the previous cinematics in Dawn of War 1 were good, then prepare to get your socks blown off:

Dawn of War 2 Intro Movie

Absolutely amazing IMHO. Relic has spot on captured the feel and atmosphere of WH40K.

That gave me goose bumps! I so wish I knew what was going on with the 40k mmo... Only way it could have been better was if they had Harlequins bouncing through.

They should make a 40k movie.