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 515)
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on Sep 02, 2012

Hey, I just figured it out.  Pirates aren't broke, they're just sending their idiots into the meat grinder to get rid of them.

"What?  Oh, sure, sure.  We'll be right behind you..."

"Well, alright.  Phase drive online."

"Oh, I just remembered...I think I left something in the oven back home...don't want the whole base burning down while we'e gone.  I'd better bring the rest of the fleet with me..."

-Twi

on Sep 02, 2012

*The three capital ships warp in*
'Sir, most of our fleet are back at our base?'

Captain Ramius glares at his lieutenant.

'What did you say? What do you mean back at our base?!'

Hesitating slightly, he walks over to the communications relay and plays back the message.

"Oh, I just remembered...I think I left something in the oven back home...don't want the whole base burning down while we'e gone.  I'd better bring the rest of the fleet with me..."

After the recording was over, Captain Ramius looks up at the planet they were supposed to be pilfer, strengthening his resolve he picks up his headset and grins at the lieutenant. The Lieutenant, nodding runs to the ship controls, enabling their Laser Systems.

'Alright ye scurvy dogs! Most of our lads keehauled ye back to base! It is up to us now to pilfer it and call the riches our o-'

The alarm system goes off, as on visual scanners, multiple Gauss turrets appear into view, more than twenty platforms locking the Three pirate ships, before Captain Ramius could respond. The turrets began firing at the ships, tearing through them. Watching the Vindictus to his left explode, snaps him back into reality.

'Johnson, get us to warping now or i'll batten your hide to my sails!'

The Lieutenant frantically types away at the computers, he looks up. His expression ashen.

'The guns have knocked out our warp drives, no one in engineering is responding.'

Cursing, Captain Ramius looks up at the gauss turrets turning to his ship, sitting down in his chair he pours himself some Cognac.

'Come get some you bastards.'

 

on Sep 02, 2012

Are you guys saying you want the Powerful Pirates back?

on Sep 02, 2012

No, I'll be good.

-Twi

on Sep 02, 2012

On Sunday, I'll be updating my mod.  If all goes well, and there are no major issues, I'll see about doing a compatibility patch for the rebellion DS release.  Of course, it's 100% unofficial, and only intended to hold you over until they do their next update.

No promises, though.

on Sep 02, 2012

Shindowleanne

Lore

 

Ever think about posting in the DS lore?  I know it's pretty inactive right now, but all it takes is one interested person to start the wheels spinning on the old stories.

on Sep 02, 2012

A whole post, and that's the only word you saw? 

-Twi

on Sep 02, 2012

Twilight_Storm


A whole post, and that's the only word you saw? 

-Twi

LORE.

on Sep 02, 2012

on Sep 02, 2012

Ya know, he kinda does.....

-Twi

on Sep 03, 2012

He's got the pedo smile thing going on too.

on Sep 03, 2012

Maybe updating DS to 1.04 would require less than I think, but doing my mod seemingly took forever.  Dunno if I'll bother with this considering I want to focus on implementing new ideas and incorporating more content.  I need to get it done by Friday.

When do you think you guys will be pumping out a 1.04 version or are you holding out until the next regular release?

 

on Sep 04, 2012

If I wanted to join in on the Lore thread, how far back would I need to read to be enough in the loop of the main story?  It looks good and all, but 43 pages with 25 posts each...I value my sanity, thank you.

I intend to start of in a small side story that exists in the same universe, and slowly get involved, so I need pretty much the big details to be accurate.

-Twi

on Sep 04, 2012

Well, I plan on (eventually haha) reinitializing the lore to Rebellion stage. That might be a good start point. The other reading might be nice just to know the background going on.

on Sep 04, 2012

Yeah, but about how far should I go back to get the "Modern" details?

Basically, my idea is to start off as something like a minor noble or something, banished from his homeworld for secretly consorting with advent and vasari in an effort to forge peace.  He'll know about the vasari enemy(Not what it is obviously) but was overthrown by a xenophobic faction.  I intend to have 1 ship(Something small, haven't decided what, but not a capitol.) and eventually gain a fleet much later.  If I HAVE to choose a faction, I'd say I'm somewhere between VR and Pirate.

-Twi

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