No Homeworld Cataclysm? Here's what i found.

[Dragonborn]

The Homeworld franchise would definitely be incomplete without the Cataclysm chapter which was a completely separate release, and not an add-on which required the base game. I still have my original boxed copy of Homeworld Cataclysm and i can't stress enough on the quality of the game, especially at the time of release. There was simply nothing like it back then and even today, decades later, i have not been able to find another space RTS game that came even close to the atmosphere that Homeworld created with his amazing soundtrack and distinctly gorgeous and original cut-scenes.

For those who don't know or might not remember, here is the release dates for all Homeworld games in the series:
1. Homeworld - First Released Aug 31, 1999
2. Homeworld: Cataclysm - First Released Sep 7, 2000
3. Homeworld 2 - First Released Sep 16, 2003

Now, there is a significant difference between Homeworld Cataclysm and the other 2 games since there are new ships and different (amazing!) story in Cataclysm which should not be missed.

I went ecstatic when i just read about Homeworld being re-released after 15 years since it's original release. But the missing of Homeworld Cataclysm from the collection is a HUGE disappointment since the re-release is incomplete.

From the research i've done by reading through all articles and comments about the remastered version, it seems like Cataclysm's development was outsourced to another company called Barking Dog Studios which is no longer in business and apparently the source code was "lost"?? Surely, the code must still be preserved in a backup disc or hard-drive sitting in a cardboard box in one of the developer's garage.

What are you doing, Gearbox?! I will pay more for the whole collection, so bring it back and release Cataclysm as a DLC or in a separate remastered release if that's what you need to do!

Gearbox is now working on the next Homeworld game, titled "Shipbreakers" so let's hope they do the series justice by acquiring and re-releasing Cataclysm as a bonus when the next game ships.

[Feallan]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Gabby:

Correct me if I am wrong, I am no programmer or such and maybe a bit computer illiterate, but can't they just grab a copy of the old catalysm, hack into it for the source codes? I mean theres bound to be a copy out there somewhere or even download a copy from torrents etc.

You're wrong. It's impossible to extract the source code from .exe.

Think of it this way. Here's a simple equasion: 40-19=21. Let's say that 40-19 is the source code, 21 is a compiled code.

Can you guess the source code having only compiled code ? :)

[Gabe]

The main issue I think is who or what companies acquire Catalysm at current and is it possible for them to hack into a copy of the game to get the source codes, as I mentioned I don't know much about computer stuff and plus even if they could hack into it, we or I still don't know whom has the full copyrights to Catalysm.

[Gabe]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Feallan:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Gabby:

Correct me if I am wrong, I am no programmer or such and maybe a bit computer illiterate, but can't they just grab a copy of the old catalysm, hack into it for the source codes? I mean theres bound to be a copy out there somewhere or even download a copy from torrents etc.

You're wrong. It's impossible to extract the source code from .exe.

Think of it this way. Here's a simple equasion: 40-19=21. Let's say that 40-19 is the source code, 21 is a compiled code.

Can you guess the source code having only compiled code ? :)

Thx for the correction. Fine then, I'll give up. lol

:D

[VolnuttHeroP64]

Help Gearbox bring Homeworld Cataclysm to Steam +1

[Tyrranus]

Im hoping sales will point out there is enough demand to get cataclysm as a DLC myself. I found it far superior to 2

[Mr. Collins JuJu]

Make no mistake, GB has plans to sell you a remade version of the decade old game. Probably for full price.

[BT]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Dragonborn:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Derangel:

As has been stated by people in the five billion other threads on the topic there is no source code for Cataclysm, it was lost. Gearbox and Blackbird would have to remake the game pretty much from the ground up.

As for Barking Dog, they were bought by Rockstar and became Rockstar Vancouver.

Then... Wait for it... Why not ask Rockstar Vancouver? Honestly, the thing about "source code being lost" is just a lazy lie, since Homeworld Cataclysm is no little indie game - it was a major and successful release of a highly acclaimed title in the Homeworld franchise! It doesn't take much to read between the lines and realize that Gearbox just didn't want to spend the extra money and time to acquire the Cataclysm source code and remaster it. In a way, it does make sense since it's a re-release of a game more than a decade old and Gearbox can't be sure if the remastered game will sell enough copies to cover the costs of development and is likely not expecting to make millions of dollars out of it, depending if the original fanbase is still alive or will still bother to buy it again for that matter. I think it all came down to a limited budget, so Cataclysm was dropped. If we think about it, the upcoming release of Homeworld 3: Shipbreakers is most likely the reason why the re-release of the classic games was made in the first place. I mean, why wait now to release a remastered version? I'd say, it's simple marketing to rally the fans for the next big title in the franchise... Probably coming at the end of 2015 or sometime next year.

Duh ... storage costs money. Stupid mistakes happen.

If a company change hands, the staff will change quite often as well. So how could it not happen that a junior sysadmin replacing the previous sysadmin make a mistake and lost the backups ?

At this time cloud storage was not prevalent, it is easy to lose stuff if you do not have proper procedures.

[BT]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Gabby:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Feallan:

You're wrong. It's impossible to extract the source code from .exe.

Think of it this way. Here's a simple equasion: 40-19=21. Let's say that 40-19 is the source code, 21 is a compiled code.

Can you guess the source code having only compiled code ? :)

Thx for the correction. Fine then, I'll give up. lol

:D

To explain in details, people do not program in the same language than the machine understands, they usually use higher level language which is compiled (i.e. translated) in code machine.

The closest would be assembly but not many people would be able to figure out the code out of assembly since it is extremely complicated as it is exactly what the machine would do tiny instruction by tiny instruction.

In particular it will not be what the programmers of Cataclysm typed as they probably programmed the game in a higher level language like C++ and their code was compiled and optimised in an executable.

So you are not wrong: you can get some kind of code out of the executable but it would not be useful because too hard to understand as it would not be the original code that the Cataclysm programmers typed but a series of low level instructions that your computer execute.

[Gabe]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von BlueTrin:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Gabby:

Thx for the correction. Fine then, I'll give up. lol

:D

To explain in details, people do not program in the same language than the machine understands, they usually use higher level language which is compiled (i.e. translated) in code machine.

The closest would be assembly but not many people would be able to figure out the code out of assembly since it is extremely complicated as it is exactly what the machine would do tiny instruction by tiny instruction.

In particular it will not be what the programmers of Cataclysm typed as they probably programmed the game in a higher level language like C++ and their code was compiled and optimised in an executable.

So you are not wrong: you can get some kind of code out of the executable but it would not be useful because too hard to understand as it would not be the original code that the Cataclysm programmers typed but a series of low level instructions that your computer execute.

Thx for the info, now I learn something. cheers.

[Ananace]

I'd love to see a community project to remaster the Cataclysm assets, creating new mission scripts and coding up the Kiith Somtaaw as well as The Beast races.

[Jim (Lucky seven)]

As I recall Cataclysm, unlike HW2 was based on the original HW1 engine.
So when this original code was given to BarkingDog they then tweeked it to some degree for their own requirements. One of the people involved suggested maybe 2 itterations from the original source. Which begs the question. how much mileage could be gotton from using the original HW1 code as a sort of Rosetta stone to help decompile the Cataclysm executable.

[Feallan]

It's probably 90% the same, the other 10% being stuff like mimics, siege canon, infection beam etc.

It's possible to simply code these things again to remake Cataclysm. The mechanics would be very close, but not completely true to the original. Not that it's a huge issue, given how they changed up HW1...

But don't count on classic Cataclysm release. Not really possible without source code. The best they could do is cracking the exe and putting the game on GOG or something. Nothing would be fixed or adjusted to new systems.

[Mabs]

I'm hoping someone will at least approximate the ships in a mod or maybe a DLC for skirmish/multiplayer.

[Sharlatan]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von johncage:

the next homeworld game is developed by blackbird interaction. gearbox is doing homeworld 3.

and you could do some simply reading on the first page to realize catacylsm is lost forever, so stop aksing it. everything about it was sub par. good riddance

apart from the superior story to HW2, the more original ships, the more interesting missions, the better use of the mothership, the most distinctive faction separation......

I prefered Cata to HW2, to be honest I think they could make it again pretty damm easily using the HW2 engine if tey have to (if tehy ever fix the damm formations). Cata was a great game I really loved that one and probably played it more than the other 2 combined.

[Kurayami]

Ugh just torrent it and play already. Source code lost so no dice here since i highly doubdt they will spend time and money on programming it from scratch so yuo can either torrent original or wait for modders to create one here. Story is not so good and not canon anyway.