My best talents revolve around entity files and error messages, so if I don't have a working copy of the game, then I can't work on it.  For me, it's pretty cut and dry.  I mean, just prior to the public release of version 1.00 for Diplomacy, I worked it all out so that the only errors that showed up in DS were the errors caused by the core game, and in some cases, even fixed a few of those errors.  Aside from the occasional random crash who's cause is still eluding us, I think that's a pretty massive accomplishment even if the casual player has no idea that any of that was even done.  To me, the simple fact that they don't have any idea means I did a damned good job and I'm happy to have been able to do it for everyone.  Read that as I was doing it for myself and decided to share. 

This is very true, but considering the dislike that many of us have expressed about Steam in the past is fairly well known, I feel that the opportunity would have been given to us to get a refund if we were charged and weren't told.  The simple fact that both Yarlen and Frogboy both came on here and said Steam will be used, regardless of if it was in response to community created threads or one they created on their own, to me anyway, is at least an effort on their part to tell us prior to charging all of us.  It's not like they're saying they don't know yet or just outright denying it and dragging it all the way out until right at the end of the beta months after the fact.

Now, personally, I get it.  Some of you have already read my thoughts on this, but for those that don't browse that particular thread, this is my reasoning.  This isn't some anti Steam rant or anything like that, not even anything close to that, just my particular feelings on the issue.  I understand that the bottom line is this is a multiplayer game and you need to cater to the multiplayer community and go where the multiplayer community is at, and Steamworks is great for accomplishing all of this.  I don't have a problem with that at all.  I also understand that the potential alternative being developed, Impulse::Reactor, was killed off when Impulse was sold off to GameStop.  I completely understand the reasoning behind both of those moves.  Impulse, while being a revenue generator, was also a corporate resource hog that was taking away from everything else, and Reactor was mostly an advanced feature filled form based off of that.  Killing off the whole reactor project though is a bit of a mystery to me considering Brad has on many occasions expressed that there should be a competitive alternative to Steamworks (which Impulse::Reactor would have been).  Should the day come where the reactor project is completed and Rebellion is offered on that, I'll probably buy a copy of it at that point.  (I say that because over the course of the hours typing this, being on the phone, chasing my older daughter all over town, chatting with the neighbors, chatting with the paper delivery guy, and everything else, I found the time to send a pre-order cancellation email to Stardock Sales.)

Believe me, I do like most of the things that Steamworks does for games, I just won't be a part of it due to my dislike of how Valve (Steam) has treated its legitimate customers.  Assuming everyone is a criminal right from the start and treating them as such might be a good way to protect one's property, but when one's property is stolen and released to the public without all of that treat everyone as a criminal bullshit, so that the real criminals are enjoying, and in many cases having a better experience then those who are legitimate customers, someone at Valve needs to sit back and say "Look, this just isn't working." and then move on to something else while still keeping all of the features that make it such an attractive package.  But they don't.  They see people buying the games and as long as there is a profit to be made, and a villain to blame for their practices, they continue on, business as usual.  Most people are unaffected by Valve's treat everyone as a thief policy, but someone like me who likes to tinker and mess with everything ends up getting blacklisted and banned pretty quick.  I've been fortunate enough to have only gotten a couple friends banned by playing with their stuff, even more fortunate that I wasn't asked to pay for all of the games they lost.  But the fact remains, I paid for something, I should be allowed to mess with it all I want.  I'm not distributing anything, and if in the event I create a 'mod' for a game that wasn't designed to be moddable, or create a 'mod' for a portion of a moddable game that isn't supposed to be moddable and distribute that, I'm not making any money on it, so why should I get punished?  (For example, I'm talking about worthwhile stuff like a hacked exe that allows the Sins AI to be scripted, or rewrote as a 64bit exe, or adding new character classes to Dungeon Siege III, not anything that could be considered objectionable like the 'hot coffee' patch or topless hookers for GTA, or anything like that.)  Why should I be blacklisted and banned from playing everything I've purchased through them?  It has happened to me twice technically.  It will happen again if I ever went back, it's only a matter of time.

You can put anything in front of me and I will play with it.  Cell phones, calculators, musical instruments, clock radios, finger paints, car engines, unbuilt model planes, anything...  If it's broke, I will fix it.  If it's in good working order, make sure you tell me not to screw with it because if you don't, when you get it back, it will work differently.  It's just who I am.  Stifling the way I artistically express myself and treating me as a criminal because of it is just down right unacceptable to me.  I just can't be a part of that.  I won't support Valve, nor will I buy anything off of Steam until there is a fundamental shift in their ideology on customers.  For everyone else, buy on Steam or don't, it makes absolutely no difference to me.  If you've never had a problem, fantastic, I'm genuinely happy for you.  I'm not on a crusade to end Valve, I'm not spreading hate, I think the features are great and worthwhile features.  Don't be posting comments bashing Valve, or trying to convince me to support them or why Steam is better then anything else.  I just don't care to hear it, and anyone who doesn't respect my wishes on this will suffer all of the verbal vengeance I can muster up and post here...  Even if I really do like who you are.  And you all know, I can be quite thorough with my abuse, so just don't do it, okay?  This thread isn't about that.  =]

When my time modding here comes to an end, and if the reports of the beta starting in March are true, that will be sooner rather then later, I can walk away knowing I accomplished quite a lot here.  More then I have for any other game.  I'll probably just linger around for a little while as nothing more then a player from back in the old days once the majority of the modding changes over to Rebellion, but probably mostly just in a friendly chat with the boys and carry on with the DS lore sort of way, nothing competitive or even relevant to the community at large.  I'm happy with everything that I've done, I've never said anything that I didn't mean, I've tried my best to keep my promises...  That's about the best you can expect from anyone these days.  So...  You know...  Whatever.  It's been a long night. 

Ire haryalyë handë... 

Wow slant you are already horribly out of date. Beta started today. So I think the modding kits will be out very soon.

Note to all: Now that Sins has pre-order with Paypal, and I will be picking it up tomorrow. I will get around to putting together the first beta testing of dynamic movement. Obviously as Distant Stars research facilities come back online, I will be working with the team closely to make sure that dynamic movement isn't looked as a aside but rather part of the core gameplay mod. With that being said, it will be a while since I am currently completing my final semester and will be focusing most of my energies on that.

I'm not out of date considering I'm not modding Sins anymore.

*shrug*

Sad Panda.

Agreed.

NOOOOOOOOOO!  STANT!!!!!!  DONT GO!!!!

Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au' Heruamin...  Lle quena i'lambe tel' Eldalie, mellonamin? 

And by the way, uuma ma' ten' rashwe, ta tuluva a' lle. Aa' menle nauva calen ar' ta hwesta e' ale'quenle

i hope steam stops bothering you so you can rejoin us.  Or is it you who is annoying them?  and tell them auta miqula orqu

and i only know a little grey elven, no high elven   it really is impossible in my opinion

but i like to think i have wisdom

*ahem* anyway...been tinkering with the mines, case testing the TEC only atm. BUT in the mean time, anyone wanna take a stab at looking for the icon meshes for them and reducing them to possibly a speck?

Amendment: Also, so far everything I try to alter either results in crash upon detonation. Or they just become floating hulks of phased out nothing....they lose their ability basically. Additional targets through the abilities also seems a no go. Did manage to get them to attack my own stuff, briefly. had to take out the "target enemy" all together, but they do nothing to one another...phased out = invulnerable....so I've been phase blocked >.>

Not sure if this is a DS bug or a Diplomacy bug but...

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Pretty sure this isn't supposed to happen

*goes back to lurking* 

That would be a core game bug. Happens from time to time.

Take THAT ice planet!......what.....no explode?...*sigh* I'm goin back to playing space invaders*pew pew sounds come from command console of Vasari captain*

Working on icons and all. For ships, is it better to have unique shapes designating each race or should I just make icons by class?

I might be able to combine the ideas, keeping in mind that the shapes turn with the ships.

Btw, just got a message from Brokenguns and I figured to share and see what everyone thinks.

"Love your mod, my friends and I play the hell out of it.

We were wondering if you could add in or mini mod a few thing from Enhanced 4X mod. The main thing we like is the new artifacts. Embassies and the culture improvement was cool too, but we'd really love to see those new artifacts in DS because it's our favorite mod.

I know you're probably busy but I'd donate if you do it."

I know this may sound noobish and the information is probably in this thread, but anyway. I've just downloaded this and it is an amazing mod!

I want to create some of my own maps in Galaxy Forge and would like to add the planets, I have been able to add the planet names into the editor but cannot see the actual icons.

I copied the GalaxyScenarioDef.galaxyScenarioDef from the mod folder and put it in the Galaxy Forge folder, and I was wondering if there was anywhere I could get the icons? As it's annoying just seeing grey planets on the Galaxy Forge screen.

Just so you're aware, I read the FAQ's and it states:

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

However, there wasn't a Galaxy Forge folder in the download.

It wasn't included in the latest download for some reason. I can't find my files so I will bug Nacey for them.

We will see what we can do. Right now we are seeing what Rebellion is bringing us.