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lordnikon
rank 47
Posted:
Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:25 am
quote : #1
profile : pm
Posts: 1636
Type: NTSC-U/C
This morning I was browsing GameFront, and as soon as I saw the word Homeland I knew what the news would be. Homeland will have it's network functions terminated on April 30th 2007. After this date the only way you will be able to play the game is offline by yourself. This game does not have any independent networking functions and requires a master list and possibly other services to function online. I do plan on logging network packets for the master list, and some more videos. The one part I will not be able to log is a hosted server communicating with the list. To unlock god mode for hosting takes a lot of playing time beyond beating the game. Even if I talked the one person who knows the most about Homeland to try and unlock God Mode, it could not be done in less than 30 days.

While I am sad Homeland is going offline, I have made my peace with it. This game was a pretty intimidating game to play in its entirety before it went offline. Not only did you have to beat the single player game atleast once to play online, but you also had to play further to unlock "God Mode" which would enable you to host your own game server. Since this is a Japanese RPG, this is a lot of material to try and rush through if you just bought the game a few months ago. One would need to play this game since it was released to fully experience all there is to do online.

With that being said, the fact that the game is coming down should in NO WAY deter you from buying this game. Homeland is an amazing video game with charming visuals and spectacular music. If you thought PSO had great music that captured your imagination, wait until you play Homeland. I am proud to have bought this game and am going to encourage people to buy it and discuss their experiences with the game here at the GameCube area of Onlineconsoles. Homeland is probobly the coolest GameCube import available. Please don't miss out on this fantastic game!

The Homeland forum will be moved under the Legacy category when the game goes offline. None of the posts will be moved to the Archive because the community really only discussed offline related material, and did not have enough time to fully play the the game online. I am considering locking off some of the original early posts so they don't get bumped. I don't feel it is necessary to move many of the more recent useful posts to a locked off archive area.
  _________________
Homeland Character: トライジール (TRIZEAL)
PSOEP1&2 Character: lordnikon - Lv57 HUcast
JKKDARK
rank 4
Posted:
Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:48 pm
quote : #2
profile : pm
Posts: 21
Oh it's really sad, and I never got this game Sad Plus this is the last online game available on GameCube. Now I can understand why Nintendo didn't make the Wii compatible with the GameCube BroadBand Adapter Sad
 
Starwalker
rank 10
Posted:
Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:36 pm
quote : #3
profile : pm
Posts: 128
Type: PAL
Sad ...Sad! They closed it very soon in my opinion but we know some JP games going offline very soon. It's a shame because for us non-japaneses the game is very challenging and takes time to complete it.

I agree with all that lordnikon said. I didn’t play much yet since my Panasonic Q is on repair at the moment, but the game is very beautiful. Sound and graphics are sweet and it’s a pleasure to explore the world, well worth playing and shouldn’t be missed if you ready to face a bit of a challenge that is.
  _________________
PSO Ep I & II character: Starwalker (FOmar) - Lv 80
HomeLand character: ソニツク (Sonic)
lordnikon
rank 47
Posted:
Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:43 pm
quote : #4
profile : pm
Posts: 1636
Type: NTSC-U/C
Starwalker I am going to send you that save file this weekend so you can get online with it and check it out before it goes offline. We have all of this month. So maybe we can hook up and play a bit before the game goes down. However I am not sure if there is an account attached to the file. Which means we may not be able to sign online at the same time.
  _________________
Homeland Character: トライジール (TRIZEAL)
PSOEP1&2 Character: lordnikon - Lv57 HUcast
Starwalker
rank 10
Posted:
Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:50 pm
quote : #5
profile : pm
Posts: 128
Type: PAL
Heh, I just pm you! Razz . Yes hopefully we can get online for some pictures..etc. Thank you very much mate! Cool

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the official announcement:

http://www.chunsoft.co.jp/games/homeland/index.html


Sad
  _________________
PSO Ep I & II character: Starwalker (FOmar) - Lv 80
HomeLand character: ソニツク (Sonic)
TheMytho
rank 15
Posted:
Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:37 pm
quote : #6
profile : pm
Posts: 261
Type: NTSC-U/C
Seems like just as nikon and Starwalker are getting to grips with Homeland online, the carpet is pulled from underneath their feet. Confused

I still however would like to explore this game at some point in time.
 
Starwalker
rank 10
Posted:
Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:55 pm
quote : #7
profile : pm
Posts: 128
Type: PAL
Got my Panasonic Q working Very Happy ...so now I can play HomeLand with Japanese text and write in english online.


Yeah TheMytho was really bad news. But at least nikon spoted the news and we know when will close. Only 3 weeks though. Anyway enjoy the game offline, thats for sure.
  _________________
PSO Ep I & II character: Starwalker (FOmar) - Lv 80
HomeLand character: ソニツク (Sonic)
elph
rank 6
Posted:
Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:14 am
quote : #8
profile : pm
Posts: 43
Type: NTSC-U/C
Rats! My summer project was going to be to buy a copy of Homeland and put my computer science classes to use by writing a alternative server software for homeland, in case Chun Soft decided to do something like this. Nikon, if you can get logs from the God mode game... that would be fantastic, but I'd understand if you can't. Anyhow, I'd really hate for a seemingly great game like this to be added to the graveyard... log whatever data you can!
 
lordnikon
rank 47
Posted:
Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:26 am
quote : #9
profile : pm
Posts: 1636
Type: NTSC-U/C
Even if Homeland was still online, you still wouldn't be able to log the network data or make any progress with it over the summer.

To even get online you have to beat the game atleast once.

To unlock God Mode, you have to acquire the God Mode mascot which takes a rediculious amount of playing time beyond beating the game once.

This is a Japanese RPG, and is very heavy on the Japanese. While the game IS accessable to play for western audiences, it still moves at a snails pace at times because you won't understand what is going on in terms of the story, or what objectives you have to complete. So playing through the game will be an experiment in and of itself which will take a lot of time. It could take you the entire summer just to beat the game. Unlocking Godmode could take a year for the average non-japanese player.

I have made my peace with the fact that Homeland is going offline. I plan to log more video footage of the game, but beyond this, there is not much else I can really do. To fully log this game and understand everything that would even NEED to be logged, would require me buying the game on day one, and playing through it non-stop for the past 2 years. Maybe, just maybe I would have unlocked god mode in time to log network packets for it.

The possibility of saving Homeland is nigh impossible due to the extreme amount of playtime required to unlock the online functions, and the fact that it is a Japanese text heavy RPG.

With that being said, I cannot stress how good Homeland is as a videogame. While the game is heavy on the japanese, it's interface and sound effects make it more approachable for western players than other games in the genre. Homeland is probobly the best GameCube import game available, and features a fantastic world to explore, accompanied with amazing music.

Even though the game is going offline, I still recommend buying the game and playing through it. By limiting yourself to the games online possibilities, you are robbing yourself of an amazing game experience. Buy this game. Once you start poking around and exploring the game you will be glad you did.

There will still be a Homeland forum here under the Legacy category, which will serve to allow members of GCOC to share information or translations for the game. This summer I myself plan to spend quite a bit of time sitting back and enjoying this game for the great game that it is. I suggest anyone else to do the same.
  _________________
Homeland Character: トライジール (TRIZEAL)
PSOEP1&2 Character: lordnikon - Lv57 HUcast
elph
rank 6
Posted:
Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:32 am
quote : #10
profile : pm
Posts: 43
Type: NTSC-U/C
Well, the reason why I thought Homeland might be a good target for me is that I'm fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and I've taken college-level Japanese classes. Since most Japanese Kanji still carries the Chinese meaning, I typically can get the general idea from Japanese books, subtitles, and the like. When I don't understand stuff, I just ask my brother, who happens to be fluent in Japanese.

I'll still probably pick up the game. I suppose that I was just trying to encourage your best effort to find someone who can get you a gamesave that allows the full online capabilities to be unlocked and get the network traffic logged.
 
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