[MOD] Distant Stars - Rebellion Alpha 0.13 Released! [17/06/13]

Published on January 5, 2009 By Nacey In Sins Modding

Article Link

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

1.051 Compatible:

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

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 252)

3766

Ryat

on Oct 17, 2010

Most like he does yes. And I think you have a good max out for our current run. I hope our next update (so far the playtesting has shown a lot of promise) will run better. There will still be a max out point but it should be higher.

3767

Star Dragon

on Oct 17, 2010

Awesome news, Ryat. I know sevearl people who are eagerly looking forward to the next version. Keep up the good work, guys, and know that what you're doing is appreciated far and wide.

3768

Jihad110

on Oct 17, 2010

Sweet, i was getting the imression that everyone was playing the game perfectly on full graphics and i was getting problems for some reason. Thank you all, you'e all been a great help and i can't wait untill the update gets released. On another note, what have you guys found to be the threshhold on full for you personally?

3769

-Ue_Carbon

on Oct 17, 2010

You cant run the mod in highest due to the updated graphics. They use a super resolution for planets and such. It increases the RAM usages by a staggering amount.

With that said, you can run on high ok, but I suggest Med.

I run with planets on low unless Im attempting to video a fight.

Trimming your Empire tree to the bare min you need to be effective will be a huge boost to your FPS. HUGE!

There was a time where I was getting ~5FPS with and without the mod. Its b/c your computer is trying to keep track of evertyhing twice. I killed everything from my Empire tree, I dont even use it anymore. And Ive seen a massive difference. The only time I lag badly is when Im zoomed in on a battle with 3-4 end game fleets duking it out. And that is with my personal version that increases max fleet supply by 3x.

I usually run everything on high or med. Remove trade ship icons and planet elevators. No bloom.

Also if your someone who love to use SC...well, lol dont. SC are the single biggest source of issues due to sheeer massive number of them mid to end game. 1000's of things your computer must draw, track, etc etc. Double that if you have not trimmed your Empire Tree.

Anyhow, please know we are working on the next version. But given the fact we all work jobs that require us to work ALOT. We have lost alot our mod time. Hell, I dont even get to play anymore. Any SINS time is directed to doing what I can to the mod, lore, or other DS stuff. I know yall are excited for the next build for obvious reasons *Cough* our attempt to optimize the mod *cough* but we have been trying hard to polish the mod elsewhere also. Your patience will be rewarded young ones

3770

Jihad110

on Oct 17, 2010

Sweet, thanks for the tips are you guys going to incorporate the reduced SC and trade ship minimod? Does removing the planet elevators make that big a difference? One last question, how can you remove trade ship icons?

3771

Ryat

on Oct 17, 2010

As for the reduced SC and trade ships, we actually already have that incorporated long ago and actually go farther then they do I believe. Yes the removal of the planet elevators is big. As for the trade ship icon removal, I believe it is in the same menu as that which you modify the empire tree, 'Options' I believe.

3772

Jihad110

on Oct 17, 2010

Thankyou, goodnight much love, i'm going to bed its 20:20 over here and i have a Uni lecture tommorow

3773

Stant123

on Oct 17, 2010

Jihad110

reply 3765

Stant said he dosent have any problem running any map mith max players, does that mean he has the quality set to low?

No, I actually run them at high most of the time when I'm playing solo (no skyboxes or bloom), and definitely low on everything for online play just to be courteous to everyone else trying to play. I also did say I deal with slowdowns in later stages, though never to the point I get frustrated and quit. I'm an extremely tolerant person for certain things (not people obviously ) so it's possible we're dealing with the same late stage slowing but I'm just playing through it and dealing with it. Being experienced at modding and working with DS, I know that every reduction I can do only helps, so I do things like scuttling all of my tactical structures and starbases not on the front lines. If another player HAS to go through 5 planets as the shortest route to get deep into my empire, only the first two have defenses, the other three are just farms providing me with resources. That in and of itself reduces a huge amount of resources freed up since you have to consider the game is no longer tracking the values for hull/shields/antimatter/experience in real time for all of those structures and strike craft, easily a thousand or more addresses. And then I go on a tank rushing kill frenzy and fight all of my ships to the death taking out as much of my opponent as I can in one slash and burn campaign. Granted, I don't always do that, but if I find myself getting frustrated, you can tell at the end of the game by looking at the built structures count and you'll see a massive drop in numbers.

3774

Jihad110

on Oct 17, 2010

Yeah thats what i tend to do, but its the retarded AI that does everything in its power to prevent the game from running smoothly, tactical defences everywhere, bloody spacemines galore....not to mention the vast amount of SC they do love to build light carriers! As for the extent of slowdown in an intense battle it would go down to 9FPS normally about 25-30 but it kept sticking, it can't have been 30 fps. Anyway that was on a 4v4 on a 67 planet map with everything on very high with planet elevators and all that crap. I'm playing the star trek mod atm and granted it is a far less demanding mod due to low SC and basic attack effects, i have made several adjustments like disabling trade ships and space elevators and the game runs fine well into the first 1.5 hours. BTW what do skyboxes do?

3775

harpo99999

on Oct 17, 2010

the skyboxes are the pretty colour backgrounds.

harpo

3776

Jihad110

on Oct 18, 2010

Yeah, i know i'm retarded.....skyboxes were kind of obvious.

3777

mike2h

on Oct 22, 2010

just wanted to thank you(again) guys for all your hard work. this mod is the reason i just reinstalled sins & am playing it again.

3778

mike2h

on Oct 22, 2010

well, minidumps. first time for that. u less someone gas a suggestion(pls:)) i think ill wait till u guys are able to free up some time. hopefully your next update fixes? not saying its your guys issues(its not) just hopin u can fix it

u would think their would be an official patch for some of the more common problems by now.

3779

Stant123

on Oct 22, 2010

Minidumps are because you're running out of memory. Turn your graphics settings down. The next update will adress that somewhat, but because of the nature of 32 bit programs and the way sins operates, this mod will always be walking the line on causing minidumps.

There haven't been any official patches to Sins lately because of the development being focused on other projects, but we've been told to possibly be expecting one around mid to late November depending on time.

3780

mike2h

on Oct 22, 2010

i already turned everything down to med. but ty for suggestion & especially the info.

it happened very early in the game- only 2 planets colonised & very small fleet.

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