Homeworld - Design

Design

In Homeworld, there are five classes of combat ships, in the order of size, armor, speed and maneuverability: Fighter, corvette, frigate, destroyers and heavy cruisers. Fighters are the smallest, the fastest, the weakest and the most maneuverable ships. Heavy cruisers are the largest, the slowest, the toughest and the least maneuverable combat ships. Apart from the combat ship there are several non-combat vessels, including mothership, carrier, resource collector, research and sensor class ships.

Fighters and corvettes are small crafts. They run on conventional propulsion and have limited fuels. They must "dock with" (enter or attach to) a mothership, carrier or support frigate to refuel, receive repairs or travel long distances. Whereas fighters are equipped with fixed guns, corvettes have one or more rotating turrets. In addition, not all the corvettes are armed: Salvage Corvettes (which can capture other ships) and Repair Corvettes (which can repair other ship and refuel fighters) are not armed.

Frigates, destroyers and heavy cruisers are all heavily armed. They are also equipped with their own power generators and hyperspace engines; therefore, they can enter hyperspace independently. All three can move while attacking. While frigates have only one type of weapon, destroyers and heavy cruisers are equipped with both guns and ion cannons. Each player may have no more than a handful of destroyers and two heavy cruisers.

Mothership is the largest, the slowest, the toughest and the least maneuverable class of all ships. Each player has only one irreplaceable mothership. With the exception of the Bentusi's and the Kadeshi's, motherships are lightly armed. The mothership can produce all other ships. Fighters and corvettes may enter and "dock with" their mothership. Resource collectors can also drop gathered resources inside their mothership.

Carriers are smaller versions of motherships. They have less dock sites for ships or resource collectors and cannot produce destroyers, heavy cruisers or other carriers. They are also not as tough as a mothership but they are faster and more maneuverable.

The spaceship designs in this game bear a strong resemblance to the designs popularized by illustrators Chris Foss and Peter Elson, who are both mentioned in the special thanks section of the game's credits, and the latter being referenced in game by the leader of the Taiidan rebellion during the Homeworld War.