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 420)
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on Nov 06, 2011

[quote who="Stant123" reply="6275" id="3020284"]


There are certain things that will cause the mod to crash, most have been weeded out, but a few still exist.  If it happens excessively, it's possible you got a bad download.  Redownload it and give it another go.  Also check your graphics settings.  As DS is an enhancement mod, it pushes the game to it's limits and sometimes beyond.

 
thanks stant

on Nov 06, 2011

found a bug  it appears to be possible for vasari spacemines to spawn at the inside edge of terran dwarf planets, preventing any enemy ships from getting near

on Nov 06, 2011

AseOfSpadez
found a bug it appears to be possible for vasari spacemines to spawn at the inside edge of terran dwarf planets, preventing any enemy ships from getting near

 

on Nov 06, 2011

AseOfSpadez
found a bug  it appears to be possible for vasari spacemines to spawn at the inside edge of terran dwarf planets, preventing any enemy ships from getting near

That happens even with the regular game from time to time.

on Nov 07, 2011

For some reason it didn't show me there being a reply here until 6 hours later. Nice.

As for Ryat saying 'sounds good' to an either/or question, I'm guessing he means he's happy with the first idea. So, I'm going to reduce the markers to dots that hover over the planet icon. That means the faction icons will have to be made to hover slightly higher than normal over the planet. I'm still assembly the materials, so if there's any objections, let me know.

on Nov 07, 2011

Aww...I missed the whole gang it seems.

Oh well.

Though Carbon will be live almost all day today and tommorrow with your calls and answers, on Carbon's Pew Pew Fun Zone.

on Nov 07, 2011

Carbon, I'll be there after about 6pm EST.

on Nov 07, 2011
Stant123
I did say IF it doesn't work.


Quoting joshuader6, reply 6280does anyone know where the dynamic movement mod is gone ?

I made a quickly updated version available not too long ago.

http://sites.google.com/site/steelers086/gamefiles/DynamicMovement0.99B4.rar

It'll work for B5 since none of those files were changed between B4 and B5. Mooster has since completely remade the minimod and the new version will be released with 1.00


Quoting joshuader6, reply 6280EDIT : and whats with the Flagships mod ?

That one as well will be released with 1.00. Not sure when the last version of that was released, but you should be able to go back through the thread and find a link or two for it.

 

ah thanks ........ that sounds like 1.00 will get a really big update 

on Nov 07, 2011

If I get on, it'll be late.

on Nov 08, 2011

it minidumps every time i exit a game without saving

on Nov 10, 2011

Are deep space territories supposed to be colonizable?  

 

Also, the pirates are wreaking havoc on everything again as if I were back in the bad 'ole days of the super pirates from Entrenchment [I shutter to think of the terrible slaughter and countless empires lost to those super pirate hordes].  With their capital ships pirate starbases, its nearly impossible for me to take out the system to stop them from causing problems. Lol, I saw a level 2 Pirate Battleship only halfway through my last game that had over 12k Health and over 300 damage for each of its three attacks.  Are the pirates gonna be nerfed down a bit by any chance?  In the meantime, now that I've figured out how to modify entity files on my own, what files are responsible for the pirates receiving the uber upgrades to weapons and hp?

on Nov 10, 2011

justinian66
Are deep space territories supposed to be colonizable?

One type is, maybe two.  The reason is because of the neutral capturable trade port.  The Vasari and Advent can lay mines in any gravity well of their choosing, the TEC need a builder unit.  So by making it colonizable, albeit, a single point of health, a builder unit is spawned so all three factions can mine up around the neutral port.

justinian66

Also, the pirates are wreaking havoc on everything again as if I were back in the bad 'ole days of the super pirates from Entrenchment [I shutter to think of the terrible slaughter and countless empires lost to those super pirate hordes].  With their capital ships pirate starbases, its nearly impossible for me to take out the system to stop them from causing problems. Lol, I saw a level 2 Pirate Battleship only halfway through my last game that had over 12k Health and over 300 damage for each of its three attacks.  Are the pirates gonna be nerfed down a bit by any chance?

In one of the latest patches to the core game, the pirate system was reworked to take into account several factors like target planet strength, bounty put up on the raid, fleet strength of their target empire, as well as their own fleet supply.  This has made the pirate raids more dynamic in the sense that if everyone is just outright ignoring them, not funding them with missions, no bounties being put on anyone, you will only see weak raids even if you're 5 hours into the game, unlike in the past where it was a steady increase in raid strength until they maxed out.  The unfortunate part about this is that for some reason, the first spawned raid is just out of control.  Every raid following behaves relatively within their designed parameters.  A lot of effort has gone into trying to control this for the 1.00 release from a few people.

justinian66
In the meantime, now that I've figured out how to modify entity files on my own, what files are responsible for the pirates receiving the uber upgrades to weapons and hp?

Look for the pirate research entity files.  They'll say RESEARCHSUBJECT_PIRATE_************.entity  The stars being the name of the specific research subject, of course.

Alternatively, you may want to check out the PlayerPirate.entity file and in the ResearchInfo section, just remove the lines of the research items you don't want them to have (not leaving any gaps) and reduce the count from 22 to 18 if you removed 4 items for example.  It'd be simpler to use this method if your end goal is to just keep the final numbers down rather then trying to mess with the per level value adjustments in each research subject.  Then if you decide to put them back in later because maybe you end up like me and think the pirates suck because you've learned how to manipulate and deal with them far too easily, it's as simple as re adding the research lines back in rather then messing with multiple files trying to remember the original numbers.

on Nov 10, 2011

Sup guys, did you know there were updates to both vanilla and entrenchment... 

on Nov 10, 2011

Yes, updates were released for all three versions.  I didn't post anything because I haven't had the time to look at them in detail.  I wanted to wait until I was able to make hotfix patches for DS to continue to allow it to be played if it was necessary.  I'm updating right now so when I get done forum lurking, I'll be reviewing the changes and seeing what's needed.  Stay tuned!

on Nov 10, 2011

I do think its just changes to how the game connects to ICO.

 

Sins 1.192, Entrenchment 1.052, and Diplomacy 1.33
-------------------------------

+ This patch updates the games to use a new host for the Ironclad Online server which is now hooked into a more powerful backend system for improved performance.
+ Updated product registration for fresh installs. Right-click the game in the Impulse and select View Registration to find the serial number associated with your purchase.

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