Well, this has to be the best week in Homeworld since HW:R was announced! For those who’ve been very busy living under a rock the past few days, Blackbird Interactive and Gearbox have officially announced the date for the Shipbreakers release. Did I say Shipbreakers? What I meant to say is Deserts of Kharak, the prequel.
For those who waited for this game as long as I did (since the days of Hardware: Shipbreakers), the fact that this story is going to be a prequel to the Homeworld franchise is old news. Utterly exciting news, I can’t argue with that, but still something that I’ve been following and impatiently waiting for since 2013 when this game was announced.
The dust hasn’t settled yet, I figure it never does in the Desert, but already there are a lot of misconceptions, false announcements by burnt out fans (I don’t blame you guys, it’s an emotional roller coaster, this waiting on Homeworld news) and what is more important to us, devoted followers – actual exciting news and Easter eggs about the Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak.
The New BBI Website
Before we start discussing the actual protagonists of the game and some hush-hush info, let’s give a shout out first to the Black Bird Interactive and their new website which is officially online since this week.
You will find some awesome additions on the new website and the BBI forum. Some of the actual art from the HW: DOK, the official trailer for the game as well as the first ones from back in the day when this game was still called Hardware: Shipbreakers, and had nothing to do with the Homeworld as we know it.
Rory McGuire, the lead designer of HW:DOK is one of the forum’s admins and I would like to share his words and open invitation to the entire HW community to join the BBI DoK forum and gain insight on the latest projects, news, development and more:
Without our fans, we wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t have this job, we wouldn’t be making this game. We are super excited to announce the game but also talk with all of you about what we are building, what you expect to see and together make this an incredible game! You guys aren’t guests of our forums, you are our forums.
There is also some great news for the mods. Rory shared the info on the forum that BBI
…won’t be putting up any legal or code based blocks for modding. We are in support of modders and people experimenting with our game to make it their own.
It’s really great to find out that BBI is this supportive to the HW community, so if you have any questions regarding DoK or any future projects this is definitely the place where you want to be. The Homeworld modding community has been alive and well since the original game’s release in ’99, and it’s awesome to see Rory and the BBI team ensuring that tradition continues. Now for some insights from the actual game!
Deserts of Kharak: Easter Eggs
Probably the most exciting piece of info that I’ve stumbled upon is that we can expect an art book along with our copies of the game. We’ve already shared the news that HW fans who own the copy of the Homeworld Remastered will get a 20% discount on the Deserts of Kharak, and those who don’t will get a free copy of HW:R Collection instead. However, the Homeworld Art Book is going to be a great addition for all of us and I know that I’m not alone in this opinion. Will it be the same book that’s currently available on amazon and that we reviewed here? I’m not 100% sure, hopefully we’ll know more soon.
We also had an opportunity to witness a total of two characters in the official trailer. If you too were wondering who those characters might be here, is what we know and what we assume.
This beautiful thing is Rachel Sjet. A predecessor of Karan Sjet (the only daughter of Huur Sjet-Sa) and in direct line for the leadership of all Kiith Sjet. Speaking of, do you know who our next character might be?
Allegedly, this is one of the members of the Kiith Gaalsien clan. Although this information isn’t verified yet, the design is quintessential Homeworld. I’m looking forward to the usual excellent voice acting for this guy/girl’s cutscenese!
I don’t wand to spread speculation, so anything unconfirmed I’m not going to discuss, but in the meantime be sure to subscribe on FoH and we will keep you informed about the DOK and the Homeworld franchises (as they’re my personal favorite)
It feels like the entire community is waking up after a decade long sleep and we are all thrilled to be a part of this rising!
In closing, here is a holiday card from the BBI team to all the fans out there who are continuously following their work. In return, I want to say thank you guys from the FoH community. Can’t wait to get my hands on that copy, I hope to be able to bring a preview to everyone, but if not, well, I’m counting the days until release!
