Welcome to the MTL!

ALWAYS UPDATE YOUR GAME TO LATEST PATCH LINKED BELOW!

1.05 Patch Information - Download Here http://www.homeworldaccess.net/downloads.php?cat_id=3

Homeworld V1.05 - March 27, 2000
Changes to version 1.04

o 'Superscouts' problem fixed (Fighters not doing complete attack runs due to re-issuing of attack orders)
o 'Dancing scouts' problem fixed (Fighters dodging when switching between tactics settings quickly)
o Support Frigate repair rate decreased

This is a user to user board, the people that volunteer their time here don't get paid for it. Be Polite, ask nicely, and be part of the solution.
UberJumper
Command Line Switches are added to the Homeworld Shortcut to enable certain options that help to get your system running homeworld. You can get these options by adding /? to the command line and running it.
How to add a command line switch

To get this screen, right click on your Homeworld Shortcut and click Properties. Separate multiple switches with a space IE: /disableAVI /pilotview /enable3dnow.

Current Command Line Switches

SYSTEM OPTIONS
/heap - Sets size of global memory heap to [n].
/prepath - Sets path to search for opening files.
/CDpath - Sets path to CD-ROM in case of ambiguity.

PROCESSOR OPTIONS
/enableSSE - allow use of SSE if support is detected.
/forceSSE - force usage of SSE even if determined to be unavailable.
/enable3DNow - allow use of 3DNow! if support is detected.

SOUND OPTIONS
/dsound - forces mixer to write to DirectSound driver, even if driver reports not certified.
/dsoundCoop - switches to co-operative mode of DirectSound (if supported) to allow sharing with other applications.
/waveout - forces mixer to write to Waveout even if a DirectSound supported object is available.
/reverseStereo - swap the left and right audio channels.

DETAIL OPTIONS
/rasterSkip - enable interlaced display with software renderer.
/noBG - disable display of galaxy backgrounds.
/noFilter - disable bi-linear filtering of textures.
/noSmooth - do not use polygon smoothing.
/stipple - enable stipple alpha with software renderer.
/noShowDamage - Disables showing ship damage effects.

VIDEO MODE OPTIONS
/safeGL - don't use possibly buggy optimized features of OpenGL for rendering.
/triple - use when frontend menus are flickering madly.
/nodrawpixels - use when background images don't appear while loading.
/noswddraw - don't use DirectDraw for the software renderer.
/noglddraw - don't use DirectDraw to setup OpenGL renderers.
/sw - reset rendering system to defaults at startup.
/noFastFE - disable fast frontend rendering.
/fullscreen - display fullscreen with software renderer (default).
/window - display in a window.
/noBorder - no border on window.
/640 - run at 640x480 resolution (default).
/800 - run at 800x600 resolution.
/1024 - run at 1024x768 resolution.
/1280 - run at 1280x1024 resolution.
/1600 - run at 1600x1200 resolution.
/device - select an rGL device by name, eg. sw, fx, d3d.
/nohint - disable usage of OpenGL perspective correction hints.

TEXTURES
/nopal - disable paletted texture support.


Additional Switches
/disableavi - skips opening intro movies
/pilotview - allows you to hit the Q key to view Homeworld from a Pilot's Eye View

Beta Command Line Switches - I don't think these are operational anymore.
quote:

DEBUGGING OPTIONS
/debug - Enable debug window
/nodebugInt - Fatal errors don't generate an int 3 before exiting

SYSTEM OPTIONS
/heap - Sets size of global memory heap to [n]
/prepath - Sets path to search for opening files
/CDpath - Sets path to CD-ROM in case of ambiguity
/freemouse - Mouse free to move about entire screen at startup. Use F11 to toggle during play
/ignoreBigfiles - don't use anything from bigfile(s)
/logFileLoads - create log of data files loaded

PROCESSOR OPTIONS
/disableKatmai - don't use KNI even if support is detected
/forceKatmai - force usage of KNI even if determined to be unavailable

SOUND OPTIONS
/noSound - turn all sound effects off
/noSpeech - turn all speech off
/reverseStereo - swap the left and right audio channels
/waveout - forces mixer to write to Waveout even if a DirectSound supported object is available
/dsound - forces mixer to write to DirectSound driver, even if driver reports not certified

DETAIL OPTIONS
/noBG - disable display of galaxy backgrounds
/noFilter - disable bi-linear filtering of textures
/noSmooth - do not use polygon smoothing
/nilTexture - don't ever load textures at all
/NoFETextures - turns off front end textures
/stipple - enable stipple alpha (software renderer)
/noShowDamage - Disables showing ship damage effects

VIDEO MODE OPTIONS
/sw - reset rendering system to defaults at startup
/fullscreen - display fullscreen with software renderer (default)
/window - display in a window
/noBorder - no border on window
/640 - run at 640x480 resolution (default)
/800 - run at 800x600 resolution
/1024 - run at 1024x768 resolution
/1280 - run at 1280x1024 resolution
/1600 - run at 1600x1200 resolution
/d16 - run in 16 bits of color
/d24 - run in 24 bits of color
/d32 - run in 32 bits of color
/truecolor - try 24bit modes before 15/16bit
/slowBlits - use slow screen blits if the default is buggy
/device - select an rGL device by name, eg. sw, fx, d3d
/gl - select default OpenGL as renderer
/d3d - select Direct3D as renderer
/nohint - disable usage of OpenGL perspective correction hints
/noPause - don't pause when you alt-tab
/noMinimize - don't minimize when you alt-tab

CHEATS AND SHORTCUTS
/noCompPlayer - disable default computer players
/notactics - Disables tactics
/noretreat - disables the 'retreat' feature of tactics

VISUALIZATION
/dockLines - show dock lines
/gunLines - show gun lines
/lightLines - show light lines (Debug only)
/boxes - render bounding bowties on the ships
/textFeedback - enable text feedback for in game commands

COMPUTER PLAYER AND STATS
/aiplayerLog - enable AI Player Logging
/determCompPlayer - makes computer players deterministic
/gatherStats- enable gathering of stats
/showStatsFight= to show stats fight i,j
/showStatsFancyFight=filename.script

NETWORK PLAY
/captaincyLogOff - turns off captaincy log file
/captaincyLogOn - turns on captaincy log file
/logOff - turns of network logging file
/logOn - turns network logging file on
/logOnVerbose - turns verbose network logging file on
/statLogOn - generates game stats log file
/intOnSync - Generates an Int 3 when a sync error occurs
/syncDump=! X = size of SyncDumpWindow Y = granularity in universe Frames
/logFilePath=filepath.txt
/debugSync autosaves game frequently, records packets, logonverbose
/forceLAN - allow LAN play regardless of version

NIS OPTIONS
/testNIS - enables NIS testing mode using [nisFile]
/testNISScript - enables NIS testing mode using [scriptFile]
RECORDED DEMOS
/demoRecord - record a demo
/demoPlay - play a demo
/packetRecord - record packets of this multiplayer game
/packetPlay - play back packet recording

TEXTURES
/disablePacking - don't use the packed textures if available
MISC OPTIONS
/smCentreCamera - centres the SM world plane about 0,0,0 rather than the camera
/closeCaptioned - close captioned for the hearing impared

ÜberJumper

Few tips on finding whether problems are being caused by the video or the sound:
1. Be sure you are not running any other application. Terminate all programs through CTRL-ALT-DEL, leaving only Systray and Explorer.
2. Be sure that nothing is set to "always on top", even the taskbar.
3. Try running Homeworld using all the available renderers. If the problem persists even in software rendering mode, chances are, it's not video related. However if in SW the game runs without hitches, it's the video drivers.
4. Disable your sound card through the Windows Device Manager and run the game. If you still get crashes, it's not because of the sound card. If you don't, you probably need to find new sound drivers or lower the number of audio channels in the game.
The above steps are just in order to better isolate the problem.
You can turn on the D3D framerate counter withing DirectX by using the directx control panel http://members.home.net/thiggs/homeworld/directxcpl.zip.
Download that zip file and extract the contents to your windows directory. When you go into your windows control panel, you should see a DirectX control panel applet...open it and find the DirectDraw tab. On that tab, click the advanced button. On the window that opens put a check in the box for "Show Frame Rate". Once you turn that on, you can go into Homeworld, run the game in D3D mode and you should get a framerate counter in one corner.
Hope that helps!

UberJumper

How to do a clean install of your video card just in case it was futzed up:
If your video card drivers have an uninstall feature:
1. Uninstall it.
2. Install the preferred drivers.
If your video card drivers do not have an uninstall feature:
1. Go into the Windows Device Manager
2. Look for your display adapter settings
3. Change your display adapter to Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA)
4. Reboot
*You should boot into Windows at 16 colors*
5. If you know which dll's or files are part of your old video drivers, delete them. Be careful or you might delete a file which is not part of your video drivers. This is often not necessary since the new drivers usually replace all the old driver files. However if they do not replace the old files and by some Windows fluke, they load mismatched versions of the driver files, you have to delete the old files.
6. Install your new drivers, usually by an exe setup that comes with the drivers. If not, extract the driver files into a folder and go into Display Adapter settings again and have windows detect the drivers in the folder. Even if Windows says it has a newer version of the drivers, be sure that you end up with the drivers in the folder since they are the ones you want to install.
For super Socket 7 Motherboards: (K6-2/3 platforms)
Be sure you have the best AGP drivers for your board. If you don't know which is the "best" set, go for the latest set.
Ali chipsets: http://www.acerlabs.com
VIA chipsets:http://www.viatech.com
The AGP drivers have to be installed prior to the video drivers in most cases and as I have personally experienced being a previous owner of a ASUS P5A-B.
DirectX issues:
Install the latest DirectX version (7.0a as of this post) after you've installed your video drivers. It's always best to have the setup exe (DX7AENG.exe for DX7a) tucked in a folder somewhere.
While you're at it, you might want to be sure that your DX media drivers are also up to date.
http://www.microsoft.com/directx

Completely uninstalling Homeworld:
1. Save any files (saved games, recordings, screenshots, etc) by copying them to another folder (ex. C:Temp)

2. Uninstall Homeworld via the game's uninstall option. Do not use automatic uninstall, use custom uninstall and have the uninstaller remove every trace of Homeworld.

3. Run REGEDIT and check if the following keys are still there:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareSierra On-LineHomeworld
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareSierra OnlineSetupHW_USENG
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareWON
You might want to delete the keys if you still find them. Be careful about playing with REGEDIT, if you delete something you shouldn't, you might have to reinstall Windows.

4. Delete the entire Homeworld installation target folder.

A WAY TO INCREASE HOMEWORLD'S PERFORMANCE ON YOUR COMP, WITHOUT REDUCING GRAPHICAL DETAILS!

ÜberJumper requested that I post this message here, so more people could benefit from it:
The other day I found a way to make Homeworld run faster on my comp. I'm sure many people already know how to do this, but I though maybe there are other newbies just like me who could take advantage of this...
I have a 500 mhz AMD K6-II w/3Dnow! + 128 mb SDRAM + 3DFX Voodoo Banshee.
At first I put all the graphic options of the game on the highest setting possible (with a ressolution of 1024x768), and I didn't get any slow downs. But as I progressed through levels, and the number of units on screen increased, there was so much slow down that it seemed that I was watching a slide show rather than playing a game.
-I could have brought down my resolution and the graphical quality, but the graphix were too good and I didn't want to do that.
So if you are a guy like me, who doesn't want to lose the nice graphics and if you can't stand slow downs, here are some good solutions.
(*note; these solutions are only for those who meet the system recommendations for Homeworld stated by Relic, and still get slow downs - like me
1)--If you have a AMD K6-II or better, you should turn on the 3Dnow! support. Most games automatically detect 3Dnow! if your computer has it, but with Homeworld, you have to turn it on manually.
Creat a shortcut of Homeworld, right click and go to properties. In the target box Add the command:
/enable3DNow
2)--If you have a Pentium III, add this command instead:
/enableSSE
3)--Run the game, and in the menu go to the OPTIONS menu, then click on the VIDEO menu. There is a bar labled "detail treshhold". This bar determines the distance where the game will reduce the units details. For example, when you are zoomed in on a ship, the detail is 100 percent. But if you zoom out, since you can't see the units details from far away anywayz, the game will reduce the units details, to take some load off and increase the game's speed. If you want the best detail, increase the tresh hold detail, ---HOWEVER! do not check the circle labled "full detail". If you check this circle, the game will have 100 percent detail for all units, at any distance, even if you can barely see them. This will reduce the game's performance a LOT! So be usre it is unchecked; it's simply unnecessary to have it on. What's the point of having full detail of a unit, if you can barely see it???
This is very important, and I can gaurantee the game will run a lot faster.
-In addition, try running the game on OpenGL if possible. D3D is famous for being slower than Glide and OpenGL. That's why Quake games have always been on OpenGL
I recommend installing the GLsetup drivers that are included on the Homeworld CD (*note: install at your own risk, but it was fine on my Banshee)
-What is GLsetup? well it's basically the newest compatible drivers for many different cards. The point of including on the CD is that so you won't have to go searching all over the web for the newest compatible drivers for Homeworld. If you already have the newest drivers, then it's ok. But if you are not sure if you do, try GLsetup.
Again, do this at your own risk
-Get Direct 7.0a. I'm not sure if it increases performance, but won't hurt either. Only 222k! Get it at Windows Update.
Hope this helped all u Homeworld lovers with not so powerful comps. Enjoy!
If you still got questions, e-mail me at cydronate@hotmail.com
------------------

When You're Having Graphics Problems and you're using mods
If you've installed more than one mod (i.e. Kadeshi, Turannic, ST vs. SW, B5) and the graphics are looking wierd, here's what to do:
Go to C:SierraHomeworld (or wherever else you installed HW)
Delete all folders like "R1" and "R2"
Reinstall ONE mod.
I ran across this while running both the B5 and ST vs. SW mods, it makes harvester, support, and weapons effects display wierd.
Tallen[WON]
Member posted 05-04-2000 11:03 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following ports need to be open through the firewall to play Homeworld online:
TCP: 15001, 15101, 15200, 15300, 21000-21999, 30000-30999
UDP: 15400-15401


Hello everyone.....
I'll fill in some tips......
useful tweak programs, all free:
TweakUI, TweakAll, TweakRevisited, Cacheman,
x-teq's xsetup

find them at http://www.cnet.com or http://www.zdnet.com
strongly recommend: if you dont tinker with your computer for a hobbie (like I do practicly all the time I'm on, I enjoy it better than games ) spend some bux get yourself Nortn System Works
includes crash guard (er, its not gonna safe you from crashing in the middle of a game, btw)
norton antivirus !!!!!
norton utilities, including norton speedstart(for win95) norton win doctor (checks your registry, although not perfect, it'll do for most people) norton speed disk (defrag program) and norton registry editor etc etc....
anyways, its packed, and I think its definitely worth your money.
Things to do to your computer regularly:
scandisk (erm, probably no need to do that, windows crashes so much you'd probably just let it run when scandisk pops up automaticly)
full defragment, first configure your virtual memory, I would say put your minimum to at least 96-128 megs, I dont recommend putting a maximum, most of the time it overflows those temporarily. Tell defrag to put your swap file on beginning of your drive, and almost all the time when you check it'll stay at your minimum avoiding becoming fragmented blah blah. (if you get what I mean, not exactly grade A english explainations)
(you'd be surprised how many dont know about this one) if you are on your computer for a long time, make sure you set your refreshrate to your system's highest, ie 85hz instead of 60! go in control panel - display properties - settings click on advanced, under general check show icon in task bar that can serve as your quick'n dirty resolution/color depth switcher, however, be aware if you set refreshrate for certain resolution/color depth more than your monitor to handle and change to that with your icon int he tasktray, you're screwed, for a while anyway, since it wont go back after 20 seconds like you would if you do it in display properties. Anyways, now go under the adapter tab, for refreshrate pull it down check if 85 + is available (assuming your refreshrate is not that high) select it go okay, if it screws up your monitor cant handle just wait 20 seconds it should pop back. and do this only if you know what you're doing, but then you wouldnt be needing me to tell you.
Be aware that crashes happen to everybody once in a while......
Where are we, oh yeah, grab yourself free progs like regclean and oleclean(erm, oleclean doesnt exactly work for me, but it might work for you....) again from cnet or zdnet, run them once in a while.
Oh yeah, did you know if you press windows button + Pause|break it'll bring up system properties?
if you havent already, check to make sure your cache are all set to max in performance file systems, and your computer's role is set to network server. Despite how ppl complain Windows is ram hog, it actually puts it to good use, at least for me.
Last thing to recommend, PowerTweaks2, it optimizes your cpu and chipset (well at least its compatible with my chipset, I just found out that somehow my l2 cache was set at CA5 instead of 3 !!!!!!!!!, and for first time in a while I scored 132 on norton system info's benchmark, I scored 137 the first time I ran it, but since then it never got past 130 until now...... bad news is its gone down.... again!)
now.... take care of your computer like you would your 69 corvette........
I wouldn't even go into how many computers I've f***ed up when I know jack about computer and trying to tinker with them
With luck and DMA enabled on your harddrive, you should be able to run HW smoothly, or at least without stuttering of sound......
oh yes, before I go (if you find this educational, please send me your old pci video card, ie voodoo2, if not, well, someday I'll rewrite it when I'm not about to sleep and get organized, I usually end up with good copies that are completely different than
my first draft....
In the interest of fostering the Newbie community:
IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is a nice way to communicate with people around the world. The Homeworld community has a chat room, called #Homeworld (you'll probably hear about this a lot).
To do IRC:
1. Download mIRC (a chat program) from http://www.mirc.com
2. Install, then connect to irc.guidestone.com......Thanks Nyt
3. Once connected, join #Homeworld (you can do this by typing "/join #Homeworld" in the command line.
Useful IRC commands:
* IcecreamLtDan -- makes your user perform an action, it shows up in purple text... like "/me waves" shows up as "*ceejayoz waves"

/nick -- changes your nickname... like "/nick ceejay|away" changes my name to ceejay|away
Ctrl + B -- makes your text show up in bold... press Ctrl + B again to go to normal text
Ctrl + K -- makes colored text, do Ctrl + K and then type the number of the color you want...
Ctrl + U -- underlined text
If you settle on a username, you should Register your username so no-one can use it when you want to get on. To do this, type " /msg NickOP REGISTER "
Then, if someone is using your name, you can type " /kill " which will kick them off and force them to make a new username.
Anyone else, feel free to suggest...

According to the Master Troubleshooting List, there's also a #MTL where you can ask questions if you're having problems. But be polite!
Also, there's an #MTL channel where IcecreamLtDan, Uberjumper, Shin, Overflow and FoX hang out to help people with problems, so you can head there if you want help with something.
UberJumper
Credit for this goes to Stripe7:
quote:


General:
1. Read the manual. Some of the ships have special abilities and the manual lists them.
2. Record your games, especially when playing some of the more experienced players. It is a good way to learn.
3. Read the FAQ's. MajorFreak put a lot of work into his.
4. You can download custom HW maps at http://www.strategyplanet.com/hwmaps
5. Do not use cheats, the way the game engine is designed cheats causes sync errors and the game will get out of sync.
6. Network packet drops occur, you will get cheat detects and Universal Sync Errors. This means the game is asyncronous, or a 2 player game has broken down into 2 single player skirmishes against the computer.
7. Play at least a few games with the computer on Skirmish before playing on WON.
On WON:
1. !limit #, this will limit the number of players allowed into a game you are setting up.
2. !kick PlayerName, this will kick a player out of a game you have set up.
3. !ignore PlayerName, this mutes all messages from the offending player.
4. Be polite on WON, rude people will not get any help from experienced players.
5. If you want to highlight a character use & infront of the character. &Athexx will show a bright A.
6. /PlayerName to whisper to someone on WON.
Strategy:
1. Do not build to 6 Research Vessels in a map where you are given 1 or none. Each one costs 700 RU's. That is more than the cost of a collector or a controller per RV.
2. Build controllers. At 1 for every 3 collectors is usually optimal. Have each controller guard a different collector.
3. Every map is different, build the number of collectors and controller to suit the map.
4. Read up on strike craft formations, they can give you a huge advantage over someone who does not use them.
5. Do NOT chase strike craft with Capships. You will always loose that race.
6. Read the strategy forums, post questions and strategies there. If you get hit with something have not figured out, ask there.
7. Some maps, like Scattered have RU regeneration points. Find them and park your MS on one.
8. Caps lock down, right click on a name on bottom left to ally.
9. CTRL-T, control key down and press T to ally chat.
Stripe7

UberJumper
To listen to MP3's when playing homeworld:
1. Add the /dsoundCOOP command line switch to your homeworld shortcut (See above).
2. Start up Winamp (or whatever other MP3 Player you're using that's DirectSound Compatible), load your playlist
3. Start up homeworld, go into Options, and turn down the Music.
4. Play homeworld!
Watch this space for more information on how to extract the Homeworld tunes to MP3 format. Imagine, combining the goodness of Homeworld's tunes with your favorite bands or classical music!
UberJumper

This is really irrelavant, but if you need to know what the command line switches are for Homeworld and can't gain access to the MTL or you are just too lazy, you can get them by adding a bogas command line.
ie: C:sierraHomeworldhomeworld.exe /dogsareevil
A window will pop up saying that command line wont work with HW and will display a list of command line options that will work with the game.
Oh, one last note: (Uber has already pointed this out earlier on in the list, but I think I will say it anyway to benefit those people who haven't read it)
It is possible to run Homeworld with more than one command line switch on. I do it myself (I have 3DNow! Support enabled along with Pilot View)
Here is how it is done. Lets say that you want 3DNow Support and Pilot View. (like I have mine set) All that you do is add them one after the other leaving a space bettween each of the commands. Here is an expample:
C:SierraHomeworldHomeworld.exe /pilotview /enable3dnow
On a side note: Make sure that you enable processor optimizations for Homeworld. The game will run a LOT better.
Here are the processor options:
For you PIII users:
/enableSSE - allow use of SSE if support is detected.
/forceSSE - force usage of SSE even if determined to be unavailable.
And for us AMD nuts:
/enable3DNow - allow use of 3DNow! if support is detected
Well, since its middle of the night and not a mouse is stirring......
those of you still having problems with Homeworld / HW:C, try upgrading to DX8 final
http://www.microsoft.com/directx
those of you with nvidia cards using detonator drivers, 7.17 beta performances are being reported to be less than pleasant, with that thought, keep 6.47 for a while.
Also I would recommend this patch
http://www.voodoofiles.com/2576 Nvidia Registry Patch
Read the readme carefully to backup your registry before going ahead.
remember, when you ditch that PCI card of yours to play Homeworld 2, remember your buddy on integrated graphics with no AGP port