With the Homeworld Remastered Collection due Wednesday, Gearbox is in warp-drive, offering a new Homeworld Remastered: Behind-the-Scenes. This explains some things even veterans of the RTS series need to know, as they have made some changes to how some resources and mechanics operate in the remastered versions of the RTS games. Purists will be relived to learn the original game mechanics remain intact in the classic versions of the games included in the collection, but for the remastered versions, there are changes. Here's word, which also explains multiplayer will still be considered in beta when the game arrives:

Homeworld 1 was originally released in 1999, and Homeworld 2 followed a few years later in 2003 along with a new engine that added new features and functionality. For Remastered, we wanted to expand on that as it was the most technically advanced engine between the two games. But for Homeworld 1, that meant we needed to bring it into the HW2 engine. That meant a big challenge: creating a unified engine for Homeworld 1 and 2. Unifying the codebase enabled us to remaster both games at the same time, which provides a consistent gameplay experience between the two games, including a new user interface. The new user interface will allow for modern RTS advances, aligning it more with the original intent that wasn’t possible using the tools at the time. As a result, key commands old school Homeworld players may have been familiar with won’t work in Homeworld Remastered. As with all of the changes in Homeworld Remastered, this was done with the guidance of the original creators. Original mechanics have been preserved in the Classic versions included in Remastered Collection.

If you’re new to Homeworld, the experience will be easy to pick up and understand by playing through the tutorial. But if you’re a returning veteran, you may notice a few changes to certain mechanics stemming from what was essentially rebuilding the Homeworld 1 campaign in an enhanced Homeworld 2 engine. Fuel, for example, is no longer a resource you’ll need to manage in Homeworld 1. While fuel is still a factor in a particular mission involving the Kadesh, gameplay is now similar to Homeworld 2 in that you won’t be monitoring fuel throughout the campaign. Research has also slightly changed. In Homeworld classic, the more research vessels you had, the faster you could research. Now, in line with Homeworld 2, Homeworld Remastered instead focuses on cost, or RUs (research units). The more vessels you have, the faster you can get RUs.

Homeworld 2 has also inherited some of the original Homeworld’s features. For instance, formations from Homeworld 1 – such as Sphere, Wall, etc. – were originally automated in Homeworld 2, but now operate more like in Homeworld 1. In Homeworld 1, certain formations can offer certain bonuses – this is also the case in Homeworld 2.

In addition, the net code for Homeworld had to be re-written, as online services were originally powered by services that are no longer operational. This provided us with the opportunity to combine the maps, modes and ships of Homeworld 1 with those of Homeworld 2, along with some new modes and functionality from some of the modders we've been working with. As a result, in multiplayer, players will be able to choose between modes that encompass Homeworld 1, Homeworld 2, and Homeworld Remastered game types. One of the reasons we're calling multiplayer a "BETA" is because we want to work with the community to balance the game, so they understand this is something that we'll continue to update and iterate over time.