Nope, it's a clean hi-res beta screenshot. The camera can be unlocked and moved more freely, though I don't recall how offhand.

Aah. I even went before I posted that and looked through the keybindings to see how to move the camera so that it "twists" from the default horizontal, but I didn't see anything there that leapt out at me, although there was a "Z-axis" command that might do it. That the screenshot was from Beta also explains the planetary civilization looking markedly different. Thanks for the clarification, kryo.

-- Retro

Retroboy,

ive never seen HW have that many

HW2 does look better.

Not from a technical standpoint, but from a "looks better" stand point.

But what game am I playing now?..

Homeworld was epic beyond belief. Nostalgia or not, i love that game with a passion.
Now if only they could release more than higher res textures, and maybe have decent particle effects a la Balknight's mod.
And don't say, omg for slow computers it would be bad!! Because I play with those particles on a bunch of different computers, and the game runs BETTER.
Specifically, balknight dealt with the iconis shield projection making it easier to see through and less taxing on pcs.

the only thing i remembered about the homeworld arts and graphics were the ships look very japanese anime influence. But that is neither bad or good, it just set it apart to be different and very memorable. Sins's ship is kinda like looking at Nexus the jupiter incident. Playing Nexus felt like watching a sci-fi movie at times. Playing Homeworld felt like watching a japanese anime.

Apknullare: pretty as they are, some of those screens are modded and do not come from vanilla Homeworld 2, so they're also not quite "fair". Destroyers shoot projectiles, not beam weapons. The ships in your second and fourth screen do not exist in canon, and the ones they're derived from don't have nearly as many weapons. To be on a level playing field, wait a year until some good retooled Sins ships and weapon mods are released from creative modders, and post their screenshots in comparison.

Homeworld 2 self-shadowing was awesome although it killed your computer, but combat could get quite ball-of-light-ish. The reflective hulls of Advent and Vasari are equally sexy, and a fleet of Advent bombers focusfiring on an enemy flagship can be incredible if you grab the screenshot just at the right second, and watching a capship explode is a bit of a treat. So both games have their strong points.

-- Retro

Retro,

Those Homeworld 2 screens are from the Complex 6.8 mod, but Sins of a Solar Empire is currently my favorite.

Apa

Multianna, nobody said they did. But they had a cute bald chick on the cover of their game box, so there.

BTW, those screenshots are hilarious. Imagine seeing that fleet warp into your home system, even if it IS just scouts! OMG MALICE MALICE WHERE IS MY MALICE CAPSHIP???

Seriously though - HW2 was the kind of game that doesn't lend itself well to giant megauberfleets like the one you posted. It was a fleet-vs-fleet RTS combat game that focussed more on tactical elements in a single map that required hands-on management more than Sins. Because Sins provides many more "4x" elements including the concepts of planets, phase lanes, fixed infinite resourcing, capship levelling, and diplomacy, there will be a number of differences in the depth of the combat gameplay, particularly including shipcaps.

-- Retro

hehe was sorta of a funny, just to explain the 2 games are very different.

Sins might not be the prettiest game out there, but i believe that allows for bigger scale.

check out the 20,368 ships post i did back in beta 3. Lots of images.

The 20,000 ship shots is probably the one I link to most often