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 334)
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on May 05, 2011

Wait wait, hold up. It lacks planetary attack weapons? Isn't that going to massively unbalance the other races, seeing as how they'll start with free planet attack weapons in their flagships? Or did I misread MyFist's post?

on May 05, 2011

OOPS!

 

Yeah it does have planet bombing..... It goes where the planet bombing of the Vas siege ship is - The 6 front beam holes at the front pinchers.  It is in front of ability #4.

 

And the beam count is wrong.  It should be 12 ---> 2 per bank on the sides.

 

And I suppose I could make an Icon.  Where are the Icons for the main game located?  File name?  I'll use that as a reference.

on May 05, 2011

I believe Zombies R Us has a nifty program for that. If not, I have all the .tga materials.

on May 05, 2011

hellion.mesh with Bomb port and 12 beams.

I zeroed out the model but now its off center a bit which might mess up the shield a bit. Do we have a shield that fits?

hellionv2.exp is the new XSI scene with all the mesh points lined up with the off center model.

on May 05, 2011

Maneuvering this beast in game isn't going to be 'funny' looking if it's off axis will it?

on May 05, 2011

boshimi336
Maneuvering this beast in game isn't going to be 'funny' looking if it's off axis will it?

It's minimal and most would not have noticed if I did not write about it.

on May 05, 2011

I didn't build a shield mesh.  Do I need to, or can we use an existing one that will fit ok?

 

And thanks myfist0 for the scenes and mesh files.... It will help with my learning this annoying program

 

 

on May 05, 2011

A quick way to fix it;1) select the polymesh (hellion) in the explorer ( press 8 on key board ,only the mesh should be selected) not any nulls.

                              2) "Freeze all Transforms" (located in the transforms Tab - upper right side)

                              3) Save and Export

on May 05, 2011

SivCorp
And thanks myfist0 for the scenes and mesh files.... It will help with my learning this annoying program

Yeah, lol I think that of the others too. And very nice job done by you and myfist0.

on May 05, 2011

Awesome SZ0, thats exactly what I was looking for. I had the command in a couple old scripts and forgot where the hell that was. Now I need to fix up the model again.

Siv, I have been trying existing mesh obj imports on the hellion and have not found 1 that fits yet. Give me a bit to find the best fit and I will adjust it to fit. Unless you beet me to it.

Any questions on XSI feel free to ask. I am definitely not an expert but can help you getting your model from 3ds to XSI to game.

on May 06, 2011

Thanks again myfist0.  I probably won't get it done before you do.... not enough time in the day, and too many life projects to deal with first.

I still need to get the feel of this program first... it feels so clunky compared to 3D max 10.

 

I will definitely pick your brain after I go through the tutorials on the mod site and this forum.  I just have to get the time first....

 

 

EDIT:  Did a quick swap and put the model in game.... and had to share a picture mash-up of the ship, enjoy!

 

on May 06, 2011

Soo... Can I see more of the Advent flagship? It might be entering the Lore soon, and I'd like a quick reference point, ie not going into the game everytime I need a refresher on the thing.

on May 06, 2011

If you want a better one let me know.

on May 06, 2011

In all honesty, concerning the Advent ship, the wings facing upwards seem to detract from the flow of the design IMO.

Because the tip of the Battleship section's nose pointing downwards, if the wings followed suit and pointed downwards it would look better i think. And the 'bottom' section of the Rapture (i think that's what it's called?) could act as like a bridge structure on the ship as it comes out the top.

 

The hellion looks freaking amazing though. I'm loving every moment of it.

The Phoenix looks awesome too i think. Can't wait to wreck fleets with it.

on May 06, 2011

Yeah, definitely digging the Hellion, or whatever its called now. Looks beautiful in game.

 

Regarding NHD-151's post, I can kind of see where he's coming from, but I don't believe making the wings slope downward would make it look better in the slightest. In fact, that sounds downright hideous and would make the model look massively out of place, IMO anyway.

 

Now, if you were to simply eliminate the downward curve on the nose of the Rapture, turning into a straightforward point, that might make the model flow better overall, though it already looks quite good as far as I'm concerned, and I dont even know that you're willing to change anything about it anyway.

 

Just, please - never mess with the Phoenix. It works so well right now.   

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