Distant Stars Mod Blog


Feedback of any kind is always welcome. Ideas, balance changes, and bug reporting of any kind is always useful!

Version 1.00 Released!

Make sure to ask for permission before republishing any part of this mod to the public!

Downloads

Rebellion Logo

1.05 + DLC Compatible:

0.12 ALPHA Release:
Full Download:
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/rebellion/Distant_Stars_(R)_ALPHA_0.13_[45189661].7z

Full Download MIRROR:
http://www.moddb.com/downloads/distant-stars-rebellion-alpha-013

MD5: 69486D2FCD3F35E46E6F5EF8C9F1634A

Diplomacy Logo

1.34 Compatible:

1.01 Release:
Full Download:
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/diplomacy/Distant_Stars_(D)_1.01_[45685832].7z

 

Entrenchment Logo

1.051 Compatible:

Beta 0.9951 Release:
Full Download:
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/entrenchment/DS_Entrenchment_Beta_0.9951_[36672852].7z

SoaSE Logo

1.14 - 1.181 Compatible:

Version 1.01:
Full Download:
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/soase/Distant_Stars_v1.01_[453701567].7z

Make sure to ask for permission before republishing any part of this mod to the public!

Multiplayer Games:
We've setup a thread for everyone to organise their multiplayer games in and also setup example times and dates for most people to meet up and start games. These are what we hope to be the main times for people to be around and want to play games together.

The times are:
4pm EST (9pm GMT) Saturdays & Sundays
9pm EST (2am GMT)
Saturdays & Sundays

If you want to organise other games please go ahead using the same topic to consolidate all the information in one place and hopefully get more games together within our community. These games are for PvP, PvAI & PvPvAIso come along and we'll get some games going!

Screenshots:
We've setup a thread so you can all post your screenshots to share with us the Distant Stars team and its players. Im sure we're all intrigued to see what kinds of battles and events you've all been having on the mod aswell.

Lore:
We know some of you guys love to role play whilst using Distant Stars, and here's a topic for you guys to post all of your role playing stories, character profiles and anything else you can imagine.

Maps:
Some of you avid map makers out there have produced some great maps but never really had them recognised because they've got lost. Well here's a topic for you to post a link to the download (we can even provide mirrors if necessary) a screenshot or two of the map for us all the preview and if enough people like it we'll even include the map in with the actual mod!

Please visit our website and for more information, change logs, downloads, and to report bugs. Our website can be found here: http://distantstars.mmobase.com

Bug Reporting

If you want to report a bug please use the Bug Report feature on our website:
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/?m=reportabug

Please include as much information as possible, if you have an error log feel free to post it on these forums and we'll take it from there. If you can reproduce the error please include the error log (read below to find out how to enable error logs) and include as much detail on how to reproduce the problem.

To enable logging:
Windows Vista/Windows 7:
C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Windows Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Setting
or
Windows XP:
C:\Documents and settings\<Your Windows Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Setting

Open the user.setting file (using Notepad, Wordpad or any text editor) and scroll down to the bottom 7 lines from the bottom is the line:
LogOutput FALSE
Change FALSE to TRUE
LogOutput TRUE

and from then on any Log files will be saved to the debug folder:
Windows Vista/Windows 7:
C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Windows Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Debug
or
Windows XP:
C:\Documents and settings\<Your Windows Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Debug

If you get these log files to us (you can just paste them in to a forum post) we can hopefully get your issues sorted.

Frequently Asked Questions

All files are compressed using 7Zip to shrink the download filesize. To extract these files you must use WinRAR or 7Zip.
Any Patches should overwrite the original install directory, either by extracting over the original folder, or cut/copy & pasting over the existing file/folder structure.

1) My game keeps crashing, is there anything I can do to stop it?
i) Are you running the game on maximum (highest) settings? if so, lower them to High or Medium, there is a known issue with the game using up too much memory, there is nothing we can do about this, also no matter how powerful your pc is, it is affected by this issue no matter the pc it is not above this crashing issue, it is a game problem not a hardware one, so quite simply lower your settings. If you still have an issue with crashing see point two.
ii) Give us as detailed information as possible about the crash, what was happening at the time of the crash, what races, ships, abilities were involved. If you can supply a Debug Log (see above for more information about logging) and post a bug report on our website.

2) The loading screens and portrait pictures dont appear properly, whats wrong?
i) This is an issue with ATI based graphics cards (rarely affects Nvidia based cards) we're looking in to the issue.

3) Why dont you support converting Distant Stars in to TXT format?
i) Quite simply many things can go wrong with converting your mod to TXT, we cant help you with something you've probably broken yourself.

4) Can I mod Distant Stars for myself?
i) Yes you can however please do not distribute our mod or our mod that you have edited to the public. You must ask for permission to do so, we will regrettably stop distributing our mod to all if users abuse our work.

5) Your mod is in BIN format I can't edit the files, what can I do?
i) You can convert the mod to TXT format however we wont offer any support to versions of the mod that have been converted to TXT.

6) Why is Distant Stars distributed in BIN format?
i) Mods load faster in BIN format and are less likely to have issues in this format.

7) I'm having trouble installing the MOD, do you have any more instructions?
i) Carbon was kind enough to do some more advanced instructions out here.

8) Is there any way to make new maps for Distant Stars using GalaxyForge?
i) Within the Distant Stars Extras folder there is a folder called Galaxy Forge, Copy and Paste this folder (or its contents) over your original Galaxy Forge folder (or its contents) replacing any files if it asks you to. When you start Galaxy Forge next you'll be able to use all of our planets.

Or, the DIY approach (without custom icons):

ii) The GalaxyForge supplied by the devs will still work with our Mod, however to be able to access all of our planetary bonuses, templates, planet types and stars you will need to take our GalaxyScenarioDef.galaxyScenarioDef (found in the GameInfo folder of the mod) and place it in to your GalaxyForge folder, overwriting the original GalaxyScenarioDef.galaxyScenarioDef (if you still wish to make maps for the original game keep a backup of the original file). This will allow you to use all of the Galaxy changes included in our mod.

Note: Any maps made for Distant Stars will not work with other Mods. See #8.2 for DIY instructions for map making or take the appropriate files from Entrenchment, they're cross-client compatible.

Some statistics...

Since August 2009 to February 2011 we have had over...

400,000 Unique visits to the website
12,000GB (12TB) of data transferred from our website

That equates to over 60,000 Unique downloads of the entire mod, excluding the excess of 20,000 Patches downloaded. 

Thanks to everyone that has supported us this far and making our mod as popular as it is!

dyMRNwSFh9gw

Comments (Page 15)
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on Mar 15, 2009

Well, given some of the changes and bugs, I wanted to do some strategic testing on medium. Still hard. Although I scrap the cap first, I find that either they start retreating when it's already a mop up job or when I bring more reinforcements. Either way, it seems more logical than the old "Enemies here, gotta leave" AI.

 

Btw, Nacey, you thinking of increasing the starbase range for Advent and TEC?  I was thinking about the mobile starbase suggestion and it struck me that architectural stresses, even in space, are usually at their highest when being pushed upon, making it likely that a human structure would tear itself apart. The Vasari have more advanced tech, so they might have some means of compensating. So what do you think of extending missile and beam range for the other stations to compensate for lack of mobility? If possible, maybe you could limit the range of the smaller beam weapons to make that stations better at close range.

on Mar 15, 2009

Just a minor point.

The research for Improved Destabliazation for the TEC lists this research for the Orkulus the Vasari Starbase. It should be for Argonev the TEC starbase.

And yes I checked the original unmodifed and it is correct.

on Mar 16, 2009

May have found the issue with Tunneling research. I researched everything I could with the exception of tunneling for obvious reasons. I then noticed that the flask button used for research was grayed out indicating that there was nothing left to research. The problem maybe that this research is not even recognized by the game. I hope this helps, cant wait for completion of next phase.

on Mar 16, 2009

You know I had an idea for a change to the mod and I was wondering what you guys thought of it. Random abilities for Capital ships. Make a couple of different abilities and as the ship advances in level random abilities become available. Just an idea I had to change how capital ships work.

I was thinking of making them more and less generic. Like have generic Armor or weapons upgrades and then have a possibility based on research or something for a better type sheild or an awesome weapon. 

I don't know just an idea.

 

on Mar 16, 2009

Had a funny  thing happen to me recently (Entrenchment, 0.4)

I had a fleet in SystemB, and a newly built Marza in SystemA. I regrouped the fleet in SystemB to include the Marza in SystemA, while the Marza still had the construction yard waypoint set to SystemB. The Marza then proceeded to SystemB by ignoring it's ability to phasejump and just flew over there.

And I was wondering why it took so long.. anyways, just wanted to mention that

on Mar 17, 2009

Wow thats alot of replies, I'll reply to everything in order so this may take some time! Sorry about not being around all weekend guys to reply to your posts & concerns. As I mentioned in my previous post real life has been really hectic this last weekend, I'am on the case though and will have a bug fixing patch out asap.

Thanks for all of your reports, it really helps cut down the development time, and im glad your all really enjoying the mod by the sounds!

Yokushin
I must say, out of of all the mods I tried, your mod is the most enjoyable experience I have had. It is very intense and finely crafted. There are a few graphical bugs I noticed, few of the plantery bonus icons and certain reseach upgrade icons seems to be having clipping issues and are not showing up correctly. If it helps, I am using 1024 x768 resolution. I was also wondering if you would consider making all the starbase and not just the vusaris' movable. Personally, I believe a static StarBase kinda defeats the purpose, considering enemies can sneak around its range.

The graphical bugs are a known issue I honestly dont ever think of cosmetical problems like these as being a problem due to obviously their cosmetical nature aslong as the gameplay works fine it doesnt really cause an issue hence why they werent fixed however they will be changed to correct & working icons once I remake the appropriate files & edit the coding for the buttons.
I do have some changes in mind for the starbases, more on those to come in future updates!

Yokushin
Sorry for the another post, but the edit post function seems to be broken.

I was also wondering if you would consider a Phase Inhibator ship for all sides. something along this line:

- Phase Jump Inhibator ability only last for a short peroid of time

- The ship will be offline when the ability is active and its shield will be drained

- Its armor rating will be weak along the range of 3-4 maxed with research etc.

- Make it a late tech research

Just my two-cents, you have done a great job so far, I hope you will keep it up.

I'll certainely take your PJI changes under advisement and see if I could come up with a better way to use them, as I must admit at the moment the AI can be a little bugged with them.

Mooster
Let say i m going to use another mod, is there a priority system, like photoshop?

all I can say to that is, "eh?" lol

Hey Nacey the mod is looking good so far. One curious note is the TEC and the new Beam Weapon tech they have for entrenchment. I have noticed that nothing has been done to it and am wondering if you were going to change it. I recommend setting it to the same as TEC laser tech.

Hey Ryat, thanks for the suggestion. I do plan on changing all of the research for entrenchment to be equivalent to the original researches however I havent worked this in to the mod yet, however I will do in the upcoming patches (probably 0.5)/

ollibert
hey, we tried 0.4 last night, and it was a blast. one thing is, my mate (playing vasaari) noticed that the phasegates he build didn´t work. could it be a bug??

on an unrelated note, where can i find infos on how to merge mods? i would like to include some nifty things i found here on the forum...

olli

That is an interesting one, thanks for the report Olli, I'll definetely be looking in to that one asap and it will hopefully be fixed within the next patch. It's definetely one of my main concerns that you mention it though i'll have it fixed asap!

Generally merging mods you'll want to decrypt the files you wish to change (mentioned in the "nifty things" you found) and then add the changes there.

walkers64
I just played a game and i could colonize gas giants but they did not have any slots to build any thing around them. Just curious if this is a bug or if i may have done something wrong installing the mod.

This is fixed internally and should be going live in a bug fixing patch soon!

ags19
mod good, 1 problem, the tunneling upgrades is saying that i need to research barren planet, there's no barren planet research tab...... thats the only problem that i can seee..... on tec side so far.....

BTW, a deadly secret that kills my planet...... wtf...... i have control of a useless barren piece of wasteland.... anyone want it for 10,000 Credits????? LOL!

Tunneling has been fixed internally & will be going live in the next patch also.

Yeah deadly secrets are rather evil, it remains unchanged from the original Sins Plus Mod

walkers64
Just played two games with this mod. I believe it is really close.

I think it has these problems.

1. Gas Giants have no logistic/etc slots and the upgrade technology isn't working.

2. I do not think that the AI is working right as far as ships attacking. I have noticed my starbases for example sit there and not attack until I select a target for them. Now, after I select a target the AI seems to work fine.

3. Someone already said this but the tunneling tech is not selectable because barren colonization is not present to select and get the prerequisite for tunneling.

On another note. I suggest going and getting the small mod that allows all races starbases to move. It definitely makes that game interesting.

Thanks for the great mod Nacey!

1. Fixed!

2. I'll take a look in to it, sadly I dont know of anything that could be causing the AI to do this however you can be assured im looking in to it!

3. Fixed!

As I mentioned in a reply to Yokushin I do have some changes I plan to make to the starbases however until then I ask that you hang in there

Just a minor point.

The research for Improved Destabliazation for the TEC lists this research for the Orkulus the Vasari Starbase. It should be for Argonev the TEC starbase.

And yes I checked the original unmodifed and it is correct.

Thanks Ryat i'll fix that asap

walkers64
You know I had an idea for a change to the mod and I was wondering what you guys thought of it. Random abilities for Capital ships. Make a couple of different abilities and as the ship advances in level random abilities become available. Just an idea I had to change how capital ships work.

I was thinking of making them more and less generic. Like have generic Armor or weapons upgrades and then have a possibility based on research or something for a better type sheild or an awesome weapon. 

I don't know just an idea.

Sadly I dont think random capital ship abilities is possible, although it may be worth looking in to if anyone has any ideas on how to accomplish it. Definetely a good idea because lets face it, generic caps can get a little boring.

Flexomatic
Had a funny  thing happen to me recently (Entrenchment, 0.4)

I had a fleet in SystemB, and a newly built Marza in SystemA. I regrouped the fleet in SystemB to include the Marza in SystemA, while the Marza still had the construction yard waypoint set to SystemB. The Marza then proceeded to SystemB by ignoring it's ability to phasejump and just flew over there.

And I was wondering why it took so long.. anyways, just wanted to mention that

Lol you've gotta hate it when that happens >.<

 

on Mar 17, 2009

Not sure if this is noticed, or is it mine?

on Mar 17, 2009

Just to my post above, for some reason edit won't work...that is the research for the gas gaints as you can see, that isn't the right images

on Mar 17, 2009

And in reply to Nacy quote on, like in photoshop layers...

on Mar 18, 2009

Mooster
Not sure if this is noticed, or is it mine?


Yes Nacey has noticed this. He wants to lock down the working aspects first before the cosmetics.

on Mar 18, 2009

Another bug report:

           The repair bays in the pirate system (an area not for the faint of heart) do not operate. Just sit like a bump on the log.

on Mar 18, 2009

(an area not for the faint of heart)

really...

I want to know what is the name of the song on the opening page?

on Mar 18, 2009

Nacey, the AI and my starbases are working properly. I have not noticed any delay in weapons fire. So, walkers64 might have a problem of his own.

Mooster, mods can be stacked in Entrenchment, the one on top taking priority. But if the first mod changes the tech tree and you want any tech tree additions from the second mod, the game uses the first only. That means you have to merge the mods the old fashioned way to get the affect. If one mod changes graphics and the other changes tech, they should work when stacked.

on Mar 19, 2009

I just got done with a 3v1 battle with unfair AI. it was a intense battle. But some notes i want to add. It seems the AI is weak on researching, I watch a recorded game and looked at how they were doing and they barely do any research. They would only research ship prototypes and defenese/starbases. Most other researches were put into 1-2 points. This actually hurt the AI later games because without then being as upgraded as me, their firepower and protection is weak and they end up dying alot. I put the Advent as a researcher and the most they done on the civillian tree was just grab the temple of communion, they never went to farther than that.

Idk if this is something you can fix or not but something to look into. The AI was just sititng with 1mil credits, 80k metal, and 80k crystal and would not spend it on anything but ships.

And is there anywhere i can get some of the songs from this mod? most of them are amazing and makes the battle much more intense.

on Mar 19, 2009

Comrade_Commissar
And is there anywhere i can get some of the songs from this mod? most of them are amazing and makes the battle much more intense.

Get a ogg player.

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