[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 414)

6196

-Ue_Carbon

on Oct 19, 2011

Draakjacht

reply 6194

Carbon, you bleeding-heart Advent.

6197

XATHOS

on Oct 19, 2011

Stant123

reply 6185

Quoting XATHOS, reply 6184
I'm a cockbiting ass who hates rather then appreciates. Suck me, beautiful!

I feel the releases have been worthwhile, even the minor compatibility updates since you get to continue playing with it, and the fact that you come here and take the time to post as well as change the mod on your own end rather then just making your own mod from scratch proves to me that you don't really believe yourself when you say it's not worthwhile.

As for interesting, by that I assume you mean adding extra races since that's what your other posts talk about. Well, to be honest, DS has never and won't ever add in extra races as it's an ENHANCEMENT mod. It only takes what's there and makes it better. DS will never add in things like another race as that breaks away from Sins canon. It would also take what little bit of time everyone has to work on these things and cram in a shit ton of balancing issues that would need to be worked out. You're bitching about the year and a half it's taken to get to 1.0 as it is now... Imagine if we delayed things to add in a race.

Also just so you know, there have been at least seven internal releases for DS diplo 1,0, probably more, but I've only seen up to RC 7 which will not be the final because there are still lots of little issues with it being worked out. So it's not like nothing is going on. I suppose there could have been DS 1.00rc1, rc2, rc3, rc4, rc5, rc6, rc7, rc8....releases, but those would really be unnecessary releases since they're all crash and error fix releases. We all have lives. Maybe you don't, and I pity you if you don't, but we do this for free, in our spare time, and while my posting here may sometimes make it seem like I have a lot of time, that's only because I'm either giving up my lunch, giving up my sleep, giving up doing something that's much more fun, and/or giving up spending time with my daughters... Just to make people like you happy... Don't like how things are around here? You don't have to be a part of it. It's as simple as that.

I'm talking about the other mod releases, dipshit. You took my meaning out of context before you went on a rampage. If I didn't like DS, I wouldn't have been working on a internal compilation mod, based on it, since this last summer. I've had threads and posts up on it asking for help in getting the various works compliant.

6198

LimeyMan

on Oct 19, 2011

XATHOS

reply 6197

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Whaddya mean "that's not helping?"

6199

XATHOS

on Oct 19, 2011

Oatesy03

reply 6198

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Whaddya mean "that's not helping?"

This isn't much of a drama. Content was merely misunderstood. Eh, it happens from time to time on the internets. I've done the rage reply, myself.

To clarify what I said earlier before somebody else throws a shitfest: we haven't seen any other original work in quite awhile. Many of the releases since August have been updates on existing work or a TC (which I'm not really interested in). Invasion, Black Sun Salvation, and DoV are the only ones I'm aware of with original work that haven't been released yet (even then, they've been WIP for awhile now) If I'm blind and missed one, by all means, somebody throw up the link, til then, my statement holds true.

6200

Draakjacht

on Oct 19, 2011

Noun confusion. Nothing new.

6201

Stant123

on Oct 20, 2011

XATHOS

reply 6197

I'm talking about the other mod releases, dipshit.

First of all, let's just clear it up here that you're the dipshit, not me. Allow me to explain. Someone goes about asking how the version 1 release is going clearly referencing the DS mod... To which you, I assume in a smart ass manner pop off with a comment saying 6 years of development left, meanwhile enjoy 2 more expansions and Sins 2. Being that this is a comment in reply to a quoted comment about the DS mod, I have to assume that your comment is also about the DS mod. Now, me, with my assumptions that you were just trying to be funny, and referencing the pace of the mod's development, followed that up with a comment saying at least there has been stuff released for you to play with in the mean time, with the obligatory smiley face letting you know that I understood the sarcasm and was feeding some of the good natured fun back. We correct on that progression of the story so far? Now you come back quoting me and saying some bullshit about it not being worthwhile. This, if you're following the progression of the quoting, is still in reference to the DS mod since I was referencing your comment which was referencing someone elses comment about the DS mod, not all of the other mods out there like you're trying to back pedal and now say that's what you meant. It's actually extremely insulting to hear someone say that their work, and the time they've put into it isn't worthwhile, especially when you factor in the things given up to give you this stuff. If you didn't intend it that way, maybe you should go back and read what the fuck you wrote, because you sure as hell didn't write it that way.

XATHOS

reply 6197

You took my meaning out of context before you went on a rampage.

To the person with at least an elementary school reading comprehension level, you outright insulted this mod and the work put into it, and those who are doing the work. I would so dearly love to see how you can prove to me that your comment was clearly demonstrating your distaste for 'the other mods' rather then DS and that I was taking your comment out of context before getting pissed off that I was being insulted. Please, do me this favor and show me where in the progression of the quoted text does the focus shift away from DS and to other mods? I guess you're right, I am a dipshit because I just can't see where the shift happened... So in the nicest way I can possibly say it so as not to hurt Ryat's feelings too much... Go fuck yourself and your excuses, because I don't buy them.

Oh and good luck on that compilation.

6202

Draakjacht

on Oct 20, 2011

It's funny that in another thread, Swicord tried to argue that the written word demands that we be more precise about our wording and that it leaves a sure record to be argued. If Xathos is correct, then Swicord's first assumption proves folly. If Stant is correct, then the second assumption proves true only for half of those involved.

6203

Draakjacht

on Oct 20, 2011

so...

----

Alright folks, the first round of Q/A for the Sins team is done. We've selected some of your questions to answer, so here they are.

From: Christopher Santine
Question: If I told you that I love you dearly, Stardock, would you hold it against me?

... Answer: Absolutely not. ♥

From: Steve Mills
Question: Will there be more enjoyable achievements to gain and with the tutorial be improved?

Answer: Yes on both counts (way to sneak in two questions, btw).

We’re looking to add a number of new achievements suggested by the community and also update the tutorials for the new content.

From: Jacob Stephens
Question: How often do you guys start to fall victim to “feature creep,” and what are some thinks you do to avoid it?

Answer: We don’t fall victim too often but it does happen on occasion. Usually we end up looking at our development timeline to see if something is feasible, or more often, are brought back to reality by our development head.

From: Michal Kalas
Question: Do you plan to, somehow, replace the old wormhole effects with those that are fit for the particular ship?

Answer: In fact we have! Each race now has its own unique phase jump particles and we’ve created multiple sizes in order to cover each class of ship.

From: Brandon Rogers
Question: Will there ever be a campaign?

Answer: Yes, just not in the Sins 1 series.

We are looking to add some more interesting scenarios in Rebellion, however.

We will be doing Q/A periodically until the release of Rebellion. If you didn't get your question answered this time, don't worry, we will be back for more!

----

So there might be one question, at best, that was worth a damn here. Anyone else feel like they really just want to play cat and mouse with us?

6204

-Ue_Carbon

on Oct 20, 2011

I like the fact that half the questions asked when they were asking for some where things that have been answer before in the FAQ's and on the fourms.

Another large chunk were bitching about when is beta...

there were only a few good solid questions IMHO.

But any info is cool to learn.

6205

Meradanis

on Oct 20, 2011

Stant123

reply 6131

If you have an ATI graphics card, then there's really not much we can do other then to tell you to make sure your card's drivers are all up to date, your directX is up to date, and have you use the TGA version of the portraits rather then the DDS version... But I misplaced the link so unless someone wants to do me a favor and find it, you'll have to wait until I have the time this weekend to dig back and look for it.

I have the same problem, latest ATI drivers and directx version, the player portraits and planet pictures are misplaced. Does anyone have a link for those TGA portraits ?

6206

Stant123

on Oct 21, 2011

Draakjacht

reply 6203

Question: Will there ever be a campaign?

Answer: Yes, just not in the Sins 1 series.

That's the only answer I was interested in. Not so much because they say they will add a campaign at some point, but because they're pretty much saying there will be a Sins 2.

EDIT:

Meradanis

reply 6205

Does anyone have a link for those TGA portraits ?

http://sites.google.com/site/steelers086/gamefiles/DSPortraitsTGA.rar

Let me know if the quality is lacking, like images not showing up, pixelated or otherwise blurry. I can try and upload them unrar'd or do a different setup when converting them over. The instructions are, drop them into your DS mod texture folder and delete the dds files of the same name and the game should revert to using these files.

These ones are for the planet icons if those are the planet pictures you're referring to, not the close up planet textures.

http://distantstars.mmobase.com/other/Icons_planets.tga

http://distantstars.mmobase.com/other/Icons_planetsPictures.tga

http://distantstars.mmobase.com/other/Icons_planetsSmall.tga

If you're referring to the close up images, you can try to delete the textures for the original planets, since those should be the only one's affected.

6207

TheChronicToast

on Oct 23, 2011

Stant, Ryat, Draak, Carbon & the DS crew. I have a suggestion to improve the mod!

In all seriousness, I have been thinking about how to best counter strike-craft / bomber spam in 'addition' to what has already been proposed for your internal builds etc. Is it possible to allow research in the tech tree to unlock abilities in ship classes? (I'm pretty sure it is but I have to ask just in case). Could we have on all Capitals and Cruisers (maybe not frigates, but it could be included) research that allows a weak flak ability (20% of a Lvl(1,2, or 3) Flak style ability) for each of the three races? It could further be handicapped so as not to be a game breaker by being only able to target one (could be upgradable either in targets, cycle time, and damage [further upgradeable with effects added on]) strike craft / bomber?

I know there are limitations to the number of weapons a ship, that is why this ability could be done via effects.

Just some thoughts on the subject as to how to add a little bit more defense against a strategy that can quickly become over powered.

I'll leave my comments re-working Trade-Ports to function more like Refineries to another day.

6208

Ryat

on Oct 23, 2011

It is something to consider though with caps it maybe bit difficult as the fifth ability has its own issues. I know I am working on something for the flak to be stronger versus SC through abilities. If I ever get off my butt and do it.

6209

XATHOS

on Oct 23, 2011

The pirates got broke in DS with the last update, yes? How did you guys fix it? I'd like to know so I can fix it on my end.

6210

Stant123

on Oct 23, 2011

Removed the random numbers and made the first level all required.

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