Homeworld: Cataclysm

Homeworld: Cataclysm

Developers
	Barking Dog Studios
Publishers
Retail	Sierra Entertainment
Digital	Gearbox Software
Release dates
Windows	September 12, 2000
Reception
Metacritic	89
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Themes	Sci-fi, Space
Series	Homeworld

Homeworld
Homeworld	1999
Homeworld: Cataclysm	2000
Homeworld 2	2003
Homeworld Remastered Edition	2015
Homeworld 2 Remastered Edition	2015
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak	2016
Homeworld: Vast Reaches	2024
Homeworld 3	2024

Homeworld: Cataclysm is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view RTS game in the Homeworld series.

The game is a standalone expansion to the 1999 Homeworld, and does not require the original to play.

It was re-released on GOG.com as Homeworld: Emergence due to "Cataclysm" being a registered trademark of Blizzard Entertainment. Aside from the different name shown in the main menu and game version text, the gameplay of this version is identical to the original.

Since June 2024, a community engine fix is in development to address the game's decade-long bugs and incompatibility issues.

General information

Homeworld Shipyards - A fairly old but big Homeworld fan site

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 4 DRM.
GOG.com

Demo

A free demo version is available from GameFront.

Essential improvements

Cataclysm Engine Tweaks

A DLL hook providing several enhancements and quality-of-life features for Homeworld: Cataclysm.

Increases the default universe update rate up to 128 fps.

Unlocks the selection of any resolution in the in-game video options.

Renders objects at maximum detail and removes active effects cap.

Configurable autosave interval for SP/MP games.

Disable NLIPS (Non-Linear Inverse Perspective Scaling).

Edit CataclysmEngineTweaks.ini for change graphics settings and improvements.

Patches

The latest official patch is 1.0.0.1, available from SierraHelp.

Notes

The GOG version is already patched to 1.0.0.1 and does not require any further patches

Hardware acceleration fix for Windows 8 and above

For Windows 8.x, 10, and 11, use the Homeworld hardware acceleration fix

This solution force-enables compatibility mode for Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 5) which is not a selectable option in newer versions of Windows, but is still present in the backend.

Not necessary if using the Engine Tweaks.

Alternatively, this process can be completed manually.

Manual fix
Depending on whether the program is installed for one user or the whole machine, navigate to either: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers Double-click the Homeworld registry entry. Type NT4SP5. Save changes.

Skip intro videos

Move, delete or rename intro videos
Navigate to <path-to-game>\Movies Delete or rename the following files: sierra.bik, bdogintro.bik

Use the launch argument /disableAVI
Notes Despite the name of the parameter, mission briefing cutscenes are still functional while using this method.

Restore original title (GOG.com release)

Delete or rename files
Go to <path-to-game>. Delete or rename the folders feman and credits.

Alternate Windows 10 fix (GOG.com release)

Delete or rename files
Go to <path-to-game>\3dfx\WinNT. Delete opengl32.dll. Run nglide_config.exe in <path-to-game>. Run game. Change the renderer to OpenGL and then change the resolution to the desired value

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Sierra On-Line\Cataclysm

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\SavedGames

Separate folders are used to store Singleplayer saves, Multiplayer saves, Recorded games (replays), and saves from the Training mode.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy

Video

Video settings.

Effects settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Determined by the aspect ratio. See Widescreen resolution.
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Use the command line parameter /triple
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate cap. Ships and other elements move and update at a locked frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Widescreen resolution

Use Cataclysm Engine Tweaks

Modify the game registry keys
Navigate to the Configuration file(s) location using RegEdit. Change the ScreenHeight and ScreenWidth registry keys to the desired width and height. Notes On 64-bit versions of Windows, the configuration files may be in a different location if the game is not run in Administrator Mode. See the Game data article or the Configuration file(s) location tooltips and notes for more information.

Windowed

Use launch arguments
For windowed mode, Use the launch argument -window. For borderless fullscreen windowed mode, use -window -noBorder. Notes For standard windowed mode, the game must be set to less than the screen resolution. Otherwise, the game will crash. Alternatively, use the borderless command.

Input

Gameplay settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

• 

  Action keybinding options (1/6).

• 

  Special action keybinding options (2/6).

• 

  Tactics/Formation keybinding options (3/6).

• 

  Camera/selection keybinding options (4/6).

• 

  Views/Misc. keybinding options (5/6).

• 

  Grouping keybinding options (6/6).

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		An in-game equalizer is also available.
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output with DirectSound3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		DirectSound3D.
Royalty free audio

• 

  Advanced settings (Audio).

• 

  EQ custom settings.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Retail only; download for GOG.com release
German				Retail only; download for GOG.com release

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Versus
Online play		8	Versus The official WON service has been shut down.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues fixed

Black screen/game window not appearing in GOG.com re-release

Some users may find that the game window will stop rendering correctly as the video intros end, with only the desktop visible as the menu is supposed to appear.

The issue appears to be an incompatibility with nGlide.

Remove and/or replace nGlide

Remove or move the following files: glide.dll, glide2x.dll, and glide3x.dll (nGlide related DLLs) nglide_config.exe (nGlide configurator) 3Dfx (folder, contains a DLL that links 3DFX OpenGL support to nGlide) Optionally, the following files can be removed as well: nglide_readme.txt (readme file for nGlide) 3DfxSpl.dll, 3DfxSpl2.dll, and 3DfxSpl3.dll (3DFX animated splash screens) Notes After removing these files, the game may default to software mode. This can be changed in options. The OpenGL renderer(s) are recommended. 3DFX-enhanced OpenGL mode may be unusable after applying this fix. If desired, it can be restored using dgVoodoo 2; otherwise, standard OpenGL will still be available.

Severe lag in menus

Use OpenGL rendering. If running Windows 8 or above, see Hardware acceleration fix for Windows 8 and above.[citation needed]

Run the game with the following command line arguments: /nofastfe /noglddraw

Game runs on wrong screen (multi-monitor setup)

Use Windows key shortcuts to move the window
Use ⊞ Win+⇧ Shift+← or ⊞ Win+⇧ Shift+→ to move the game to another window. Notes This may cause the game window to render incorrectly/off-center from the screen, or cause the mouse cursor to be caged to the wrong monitor. Pressing Alt+Tab ↹ and returning to the game should fix mouse cursor bugs. Change resolutions once to fix off-center screens. This fix should only be necessary once.

Game crashes after company logos (retail)

Edit registry key[citation needed]
Run the Registry Editor Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Sierra On-Line\Cataclysm Locate key gltoselect and set its value to opengl32.dll Notes Windows NT 4.0 compatibility mode may still need to be enabled, see Hardware acceleration fix for Windows 8 and above.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6, 9	A new D3D9 renderer is exclusively provided by Cataclysm Engine Tweaks, replacing the original D3D6 renderer.
OpenGL	1.1
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video	Version 0.8i
Multiplayer	Sierra.com, World Opponent Network

Command line parameters

The following command-line parameters may improve quality on newer systems, or enable extra functionality:

Parameter	Description
/triple	Enables OpenGL triple buffering, improves graphical quality and removes flickering at higher resolutions. Use unless it causes problems.
/enable3DNow	Enables the 3DNow processor instruction set if available. Use unless it causes problems.
/enableSSE	Enables the SSE processor instruction set if available. Use unless it causes problems.
/disableAVI	Disables the intro movies when the game starts.
/nofastfe	Disables the fast graphical frontend. Use this only when having graphical problems like flickering
/noglddraw	Don't use DirectDraw to setup OpenGL renderers. Try this if you're having problems getting OpenGL to work.
/safeGL	Don't use possibly buggy optimized features of OpenGL for rendering. Try this if you're having problems getting OpenGL to work.
/heap BYTES	Allows the game to use up to BYTES bytes of RAM for the heap since by default the game isn't allowed to use much. 256 MB should suffice: /heap 268435456 but if you have more, try raising it to 1 GB: /heap 1073741824

A list of all recognized command line options (can be viewed by passing an invalid option)

SYSTEM OPTIONS
    /heap <n> - Sets size of global memory heap to [n].
    /prepath <path> - Sets path to search for opening files.
    /CDpath <path> - 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.
    /noCPV - do not use vertex CPV.
    /nilTexture - don't ever load textures at all.
    /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 <dev> - select an rGL device by name, eg. sw, fx, d3d.
    /nohint - disable usage of OpenGL perspective correction hints.
    /aiplayerLog - enable AI Player Logging
    /SaveMPGames - periodically save multiplayer games
    /LoadMPGame...

TEXTURES
    /nopal - disable paletted texture support.

Mods

Graphics mod

SAAAfarVIEWmod by SAAA - Increases draw distance

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, NT 4.0 SP4		98, Me, 2000
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 266 MHz		Intel Pentium II 350 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB		64 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	250 MB		600 MB
Video card (GPU)	4 MB of VRAM		12 MB of VRAM