A while back we gave our visitors a chance to ask some questions for the developers of Homeworld: Cataclysm. Well, we received the answers, along with a few awesome exclusive screenshots for you. So here they are!

Question: Will there be "pain" skins for damaged ships so that such ships actually look damaged beyond flames shooting out of otherwise pristine-looking hulls? Cataclysm doesn’t have a damage decal system, but it uses a dynamic Gouraud shading system to indicate hull damage. The hull will darken when hit with weapons fire. Question: Part of the problem with Homeworld is that people become expert on specific maps - any possibility of a Random Map Generator? The Homeworld engine will not support a random map system, so Cataclysm doesn’t have a random map generator either, but it does have random start points in multiplayer missions, which makes in impractical to create maps weighted in favor of the game host. Question: One thing that annoyed me about original HW was the ship AI. They would fly into space debris, but avoid ships. Will you improve on the AI and fix this problem? Ships in Cataclysm will move to avoid collisions with asteroids as well as other ships. Fighters have no problem dodging debris, however slower moving capital ships, being larger and less maneuverable, occasionally run into problems, so a fleet commander should keep an eye on capital ships when ordering them straight through moving asteroid fields. Question: How many Races will there be in Multiplayer mode? Two - The Beast and Kiith Somtaaw. Technically the Somtaaw aren’t a new race, as they’re a Kushan Kiith. We refer to them as a new fleet and in multiplayer mode both fleets are very different. Players should have a lot of fun with them. Question: Who are you getting to do the music and are there any set pieces like Agnus Dei for background acoustic wallpaper? Paul Ruskay, who did the music for Homeworld, did the music for Cataclysm. He, along with Greg Sabitz (another Studio X composer, who did the battle tracks for the game), created a totally original soundtrack for the game. Homeworld had a majestic feel to it and so Agnes Dei was perfect and beautiful for it. Cataclysm however is much darker in tone and style and Paul and Greg have created some amazing music to suit that tone.