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 394)
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on Aug 23, 2011

First does the checksum equal 73603744?

If it does then attempt to reload. There is a small bug that pops up from time to time. We finally squashed if the next release but you may never see it again with this current version.

on Aug 23, 2011

Another possiblity is something may not have converted properly or there may have been some "lost bits and byte" in the dl, it happens. If you  have the following:

#1 Checksum listed by Ryat above

#2 Made sure the file is not in another folder Ex:

C:users/username/appdata/local/ironcladgames/sinsofasolarempire/mods-diplomacy v1.32/ distantstars_(D)_0.99_B5_[73603744]/ Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B5

(remove the red part, get that folder to vanish by moving Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B5 in it's place)

turn it into:

C:users/username/appdata/local/ironcladgames/sinsofasolarempire/mods-diplomacy v1.32/Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B5

#3 if all fails and minidumps continue, dl, and extract again

 

P.S. Will now go back to Anime and sipping tea

on Aug 23, 2011

SaintMina

I must be blind because I found no link for the updated Dynamic Movement.  What was the reply nunber?

That link would be this one: http://sites.google.com/site/steelers086/gamefiles/DynamicMovement0.99B4.rar

on Aug 24, 2011

I'm interested in adding some NPC starbases to 7DS Empire, Vasari, Advent, TEC, and Rogue militias -as well as the Pirate Base.  Problem, can't just add starbases via GSDEF, has to use a starbase constructor of some kind, but giving pirates one doesn't seem to do any good at all, even if the cost is 0.  Tried a few variations, but nothing working.  PS.  I'm not great with abilities, GSDef and ship related entity files are more my thing.

Could you PM me a TXT version of the abilities/starbases you use so NPC militias/PirateBases build/deploy starbases?  I think it a cool feature and you seem to have figured out how to get it working.

on Aug 24, 2011

Pirate version sent via PM.

on Aug 24, 2011

Stant123
Pirate version sent via PM.

Pirating, FTW?

on Aug 24, 2011

Not always.

on Aug 24, 2011

Any timeframe on next release? My Sins just crashes with a dump using 0.99 B5

on Aug 24, 2011

When it's ready it'll be released.  That won't be tomorrow but things are cleaning up and shaping up real nice.

 

As to your immediate problem, more info is needed.

You have the latest diplomacy release?  version 1.32
When you enable the mod, you see the proper checksum?  73603744
Have you redownloaded the mod since it's known that sometimes bad things happen to large downloads?

on Aug 24, 2011

Oh, now that I think about it Stant, there is one issue with the "planetary guns" of the advent. Some times the sfx of the weapon's hit (sound used for the beam platform's dmg I think) will stick and loop constantly which usually makes me reduce the sfx or mute them all together. If someone could look into that one, maybe there's a extra line or something caught in one of the files causing it to loop under certain conditions.

on Aug 24, 2011

Stant123
Not always.

In this case, yes.

on Aug 24, 2011

BadTune
Oh, now that I think about it Stant, there is one issue with the "planetary guns" of the advent. Some times the sfx of the weapon's hit (sound used for the beam platform's dmg I think) will stick and loop constantly which usually makes me reduce the sfx or mute them all together. If someone could look into that one, maybe there's a extra line or something caught in one of the files causing it to loop under certain conditions.

I've already noted and fixed this one, was just a minor change in the sounds file. Let us know again if you continue to have this same issue after the next release.

on Aug 24, 2011

Stant123
Pirate version sent via PM.

 

Got it and pirates now deploy a pirate starbase at their base of operations.  The next task is figuring out how to get militias to deploy a starbase of their own.  See PM, 4 other NPC starbases I'd love to get in.

on Aug 25, 2011

Could anyone help me, it seems that I can't figure how to get the mod check sum to match. I would appreciate any help.

on Aug 25, 2011

As per Carbon's advanced instructions:

HOW TO INSTALL THE MOD:

 

Ok. So you just downloaded Distant Stars. And your ready to kick SINS into overdrive. First things first though lets get that mod installed!

Our mod is in 7zip format. Which means you need to Google 7zip or WinRar. Im gonna take a stab and say you have got either one installed and ready to use. So, lets start by going to your desktop and creating a new folder. Name it Distant Stars for now.



Tada! Now comes the fun part. Open up your 7zip download. You should see this:


Now the version name and number might vary depending on what versions you working with but you will still see 2 folders. Distant Stars (whatever version) and Distant Stars Extra (whatever verision). For now just open the folder labled 'Distant Stars'.


As you can see these are all the modded files need to rock you world. So go ahead and extract these bad boys to that folder we made a moment ago(remember picture #1). Got it all extracted? Boss awesome lets continue then. Our next step is to put  our Distant Stars folder you made (now loaded with sheer awesomeness) into the correct folder so the game can see it. So here are the loacations:


Windows Vista/Windows 7:
C:\Users\<Your Windows Username>\Application Data\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\<Version of SINS Your Playing>
or
Windows XP:
C:\Documents and settings\<Your Windows Username>\Application Data\Local Settings\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\<Version of SINS Your Playing>


Remember that Appdata is a hidden folder by default. So you have to go into Exploer and allow hidden folders to be well unhidden. Found it? Here is a picture to help you know what it looks like:

 

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Original 499 x 513

 

Ok so we have our target destination now. So all you should have to do now is just drag your Distant Stars folder from the desktop to correct version of SINS your trying to mod. Here is a look at my current Mod-1.05 folder:

As you can see I got a bunch of version of Distant Stars. So this picture will vary depending on your Mods you installed.


Well all thats left is to start up the game, go to your options. Click on Mod tab, and enable the mod. REMEMBER!! After you move the mod over check the checksum! It shoudl match the number found on the end of the download. For example [36816020]. If it dont match something when wrong. Could be one to many extra folders, or a bad download. When it matches go ahead and click apply on the bottom right. Simple mistake many make is forget to click apply. Game will load the mod and you are then clear to rule the Distant Stars!!!!!

 

 


PATCHING THE MOD:



Your taking a break from your domination of the universe and you happen to see there a hot new patch for Distant Stars! Refrain yourself from crying out in pure pleasure...I know it hard, trust me. Anyhow so now your left wondering how to patch. Lets cover the details:


First things first, go ahead and load up the game and disable the mod.


The patch just like the full download is in 7zip. I can safely assume you have the proper program to open it. If not, refer back to the full install instructions. Go ahead and open up your patch.


Reduced 92%
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As you can see we have 4 items. Now the names of files might vary depending on the version your trying to patch but you will see the basic 4 items. The first thing you might notice is the rather bold DELETETHESEFILESFIRST.txt document. Im gonna say this is what throws people for the biggest loop. Also anything that needs to be deleted must be deleted from full install or what you currently been playing). Most of our recent patches have told you to delete everything execpt the Sound and Texture folders. I know you might be scratching your head as to why..so here is why.


As either the Devs change things, one of our merged mods is changed, or we change something some files are not used anymore. In the more recent patches ALOT of files fell by the way side. Since the game/mod doesnt use them anymore they need to be deleted to have a proper checksum and reduced the chance to crash something. We could tell you to go into each individual folder....find the outdated files...and delete them individualy. That seems like alot of work to me. Instead its easier to just delete the entire file completely.


So long story short, READ that text document and do what it say...no matter how crazy it may seem. Got those files/folders deleted? Good.


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Ok here is what the inside of the patch folder looks like. Alot like the full install. Select everything here. Drag it to your Distant Stars Mod folder. Whats that? You dont remember where that is? Not a problem just refer back to the full install instructions. Alrighty, we ready to Drag and Drop? Yup that simple.

Now most of the time you will have this pop up:



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Your gonna want to go with the option to Copy and Replace. This is overwriting the old file with the new one. Also might wann just check that Do this for the next XXXX conficts. Much faster that way

Alrighty so you got everything copied over from the patch to your Distant Stars Mod folder. Time to fire up the game. Go to your Mod tab, enable your freshly patched Distant Stars. Check the checksum. Make sure it matches.

Quick fun fact: If you hold down Ctrl+Shift+Tab it will window the game allowing you to easily check the checksum from the patch name. The checksum is at the end of ever patch and full download, always the number between the brackets. For example: [36816020]


If your checksums match, apply the mod...wait for it to load and start another game of epic!


Note: Patching might invalidate your saved games and/or cause crashes if you load older saves. Might wanna finish any importaint games before patching  just in case.

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