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 381)
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on Jul 30, 2011

You know, the pirates are much easier to deal with when they jump straight into a couple mines...  Just for those having problems...

on Jul 30, 2011

You'll all be glad to hear that version 1.0 of Distant Stars (for Diplomacy) is going out to be tested later on tonight to the testing group. All going well it should be released in the very near future. In it includes a couple of GalaxyScenarioDef fixes that I have been hunting for nigh on a year!

Ofcourse fixes for the current mission bugs, pirates being over powered, Relic Planets and a few other bits here and there too. Oh and Compatibility with 1.31 ofcourse. Oh and I forgot for a second there... Draakjachts new images will also be included in the final 1.0 version (this is what im currently working on making perfect... these images are more fickle to code than the entity files I swear! lol)

Initially 1.0 will be released on its own as we obviously want to get the final (hopefully) bug free version to you as soon as is possible. The minimods will be released separately once those are tested thoroughly. Once they have all be released a complete package will be released also.

Then we can await Rebellion and start the whole process over again!

p.s. Version 1.0 will only be released as a Full Download to avoid patching errors and minidumps etc, it may take longer to download but atleast we are then 100% certain you have the correct files and no old files are lying around.

on Jul 30, 2011

I think I might know what is wrong. A little experiment I did a while back (Entrenchment days) may have come back to haunt me.

 

LOL!! I bet I know what it is now, silly fleet becons!

on Jul 30, 2011

You'll all be glad to hear that version 1.0 of Distant Stars (for Diplomacy) is going out to be tested later on tonight to the testing group. All going well it should be released in the very near future. In it includes a couple of GalaxyScenarioDef fixes that I have been hunting for nigh on a year!

Ofcourse fixes for the current mission bugs, pirates being over powered, Relic Planets and a few other bits here and there too. Oh and Compatibility with 1.31 ofcourse. Oh and I forgot for a second there... Draakjachts new images will also be included in the final 1.0 version (this is what im currently working on making perfect... these images are more fickle to code than the entity files I swear! lol)

Initially 1.0 will be released on its own as we obviously want to get the final (hopefully) bug free version to you as soon as is possible. The minimods will be released separately once those are tested thoroughly. Once they have all be released a complete package will be released also.

Then we can await Rebellion and start the whole process over again!

p.s. Version 1.0 will only be released as a Full Download to avoid patching errors and minidumps etc, it may take longer to download but atleast we are then 100% certain you have the correct files and no old files are lying around.

 

 Oh snap. 

on Jul 30, 2011

You'll all be glad to hear that version 1.0 of Distant Stars (for Diplomacy) is going out to be tested later on tonight to the testing group. All going well it should be released in the very near future. In it includes a couple of GalaxyScenarioDef fixes that I have been hunting for nigh on a year!

Ofcourse fixes for the current mission bugs, pirates being over powered, Relic Planets and a few other bits here and there too. Oh and Compatibility with 1.31 ofcourse. Oh and I forgot for a second there... Draakjachts new images will also be included in the final 1.0 version (this is what im currently working on making perfect... these images are more fickle to code than the entity files I swear! lol)

Initially 1.0 will be released on its own as we obviously want to get the final (hopefully) bug free version to you as soon as is possible. The minimods will be released separately once those are tested thoroughly. Once they have all be released a complete package will be released also.

Then we can await Rebellion and start the whole process over again!

p.s. Version 1.0 will only be released as a Full Download to avoid patching errors and minidumps etc, it may take longer to download but atleast we are then 100% certain you have the correct files and no old files are lying around.

 

<--- throws a wild party!..in spaaaaaaace

on Jul 30, 2011

Hi,

Is there anyway to use the graphics modifications without using the rest of the gameplay changes? I'm new to the game and still learning. I really love the graphics, but the added complexity is a bit much for me right now.

on Jul 30, 2011

crgenovese
Hi,

Is there anyway to use the graphics modifications without using the rest of the gameplay changes? I'm new to the game and still learning. I really love the graphics, but the added complexity is a bit much for me right now.

You can try to find bailknight and other mods that have intergrated into the mod seperatly. They might need updating to latest patch which I think can be done by a few community tools. Prime example is Harpo's set of tools to update the manifest and such.

on Jul 31, 2011

Version 1.0 will only be released as a Full Download to avoid patching errors and minidumps etc, it may take longer to download but atleast we are then 100% certain you have the correct files and no old files are lying around.

So I started making a list yesterday of all of the files that can be removed from DS because they are either no different from the originals or their changes aren't necessary since they're the same thing just done a little differently, as well as some other little recommendations that fix error messages...  (as per the last public release)

Is that something I should still be doing or would I just be wasting my time?

 

The clear advantage is obviously a much smaller download.

on Jul 31, 2011

Stant123

Quoting Nacey, reply 5702Version 1.0 will only be released as a Full Download to avoid patching errors and minidumps etc, it may take longer to download but atleast we are then 100% certain you have the correct files and no old files are lying around.

So I started making a list yesterday of all of the files that can be removed from DS because they are either no different from the originals or their changes aren't necessary since they're the same thing just done a little differently, as well as some other little recommendations that fix error messages...  (as per the last public release)

Is that something I should still be doing or would I just be wasting my time?

 The clear advantage is obviously a much smaller download.

Sounds like a great idea to me, I had already started removing a few files but if you plan on doing a complete list that would be fantastic. Obviously now with v1.0 around the corner alot of the error messages have been fixed along with hopefully all of the minidumps we know about. Although one may have crept in with a minor adjustment I made last night.

Either way a new internal test version is going to be going out today to see if we can find any more errors

on Jul 31, 2011

Okay then.  Sent the list to you via PM.  It's pretty long.  Over 1100 items on the hit list.    Enjoy the read.

on Jul 31, 2011

You can try to find bailknight and other mods that have intergrated into the mod seperatly. They might need updating to latest patch which I think can be done by a few community tools. Prime example is Harpo's set of tools to update the manifest and such.

 

Well I gave it a shot, but didn't succeed. I found all the files and such but wasn't able to really make it work without a minidump. If anyone has any guidance on how to try again that would be great, otherwise, oh well

on Jul 31, 2011

If you have the most recent diplomacy patch (version 1.31), none of the community tools are going to help you out very much.  Things were done (files deleted) that require human intervention (for the entity manifest) to make it all work properly.  I believe if you've updated it properly, including the manifests and delete these lines from the entity manifest:

entityName "QuestKillCivilianModulesLow.entity"
entityName "QuestKillTacticalModulesLow.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTBONUS_METAL.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTBONUS_MISSILE.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTBONUS_SHIPSTRUCTUREMAX.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTBONUS_SHIPSTRUCTUREREGEN.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTBONUS_STRIKECRAFT.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTUNLOCK_METAL.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTUNLOCK_MISSILE.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTUNLOCK_SHIPSTRUCTUREMAX.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTUNLOCK_SHIPSTRUCTUREREGEN.entity"
entityName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PACTUNLOCK_STRIKECRAFT.entity"

and reduce the entity count by 12, you should be more then well on your way to playing with the good stuff.  Any other errors and crashes and I'd need to know specifics of what you were doing, clicking on, zooming in on, etc. when it crashed to be of any better help.

 

Your best bet is to just dive in head first and play DS though.  I have a site set up here http://sinsdistantstars.wikia.com/wiki/SoaSE_Distant_Stars_Wiki   that is for a slightly older version of the mod that goes into detail of what the new things DS adds are so you're not empire building blindly.  Mind you the formatting sucks because wikia changed things on me, but once version 1.0 is out and there are only hot fixes left, I'll get back to updating it properly.  The learning curve to Sins is one where it's really tough at first, but once you learn how to handle the AI, it becomes extremely simple and you have to play against other people to get any sort of a challenge in the game.

on Jul 31, 2011

Oh the horror, THE HORROR!!!!!! So much space junk, oh the JUUUUNNNKKK!!!!!!

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hehehehe....silly Advent scum, your SC are useless to you now.

on Jul 31, 2011

Woo Hoo!

 

DS version 1.0!!!!

 

 

and smaller files   EXCELLENT!

on Jul 31, 2011

-Ue_Carbon
Oh the horror, THE HORROR!!!!!! So much space junk, oh the JUUUUNNNKKK!!!!!!

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 hehehehe....silly Advent scum, your SC are useless to you now.

... I don't get it...

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