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 66)
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on Sep 10, 2009

Garrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The pirates are uprising!!!!!! ARRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr.......

on Sep 10, 2009

Arrrr, rebell'n?!  Mateys be not havin' 'nough to drink?  Arrr!  We be raid'n the ner'est pub!  Drink up mateys! 

 

on Sep 10, 2009

Have a list of planet abilities (the set variety) that have description errors. Posting them here in case anyone is making a list.

Toxic Planet: says it causes weak shields, but no stat changing shields

Terran Planet (non origin): says fire slower due to civilians, but weapons cooldown +8%

Savannah Planet: says oveergrown and no reason to stay, but phase jump charge same as Paradise (-8%)

Huge Forest Planet: says fewer shore leaves, but increase in weapon cooldown inexplicable

Baren Planet: says repair and leave, but phase jump charge rate -8% (if correct, issue with Paradise Planet)

on Sep 10, 2009

Alright guys the time is finally here, 0.86 has finally passed internal testing... with the pirates being real gits near the end there!

However we have finally beaten their rebellion in to submission and hopefully thats the last we shall hear from them!

http://distantstars.mmobase.com/entrenchment/DS_Entrenchment_Beta_0.86_Patch_[34777913].7z

- All of Carbon's Latest maps have been included in the mod, including a fixed AI Horde map
- New planetary type "Graveyard", along with a new ability for the Colony ships to capture the new abandoned ships
- Pirate Platforms now repair correctly
- Pirate Gauss Cannons have had a graphical fix (they now have the upgraded cannon)
- Ice & Toxic Planet buffs now work as intended
- Pirate Orbital Hangar Defense now have anti-flak
- Race shield colours should no long be "black"
- Pirate related crashes have hopefully, been fixed once and for all
- Tunneling research has been re-worked, and so have anti-gravity research

Enjoy the patch!

We're now well on the road to v1.0 for entrenchment and have some fun things planned between now and then especially for the next patch which will hopefully introduce some new, welcomed things for you guys to try out. More on that once we have some final details worked out atm we have quite a few things flying around we'll see what makes the cut!

on Sep 10, 2009

Awesome job guys!

If it's not too much to ask, would it be possible to get a reference data set (i.e. text, not binary) for those of us who like more customizability? I can understand why you might not want to open up your work, but it'd be damn nice.

on Sep 10, 2009

I've noticed something... why is it... that the first capital ship I build that gets desinated FLAGSHIP, the title Flagship (insert capital ship type here) has the titled removed after a few minutes in the game?

on Sep 10, 2009

Flagship is based on the highest level capital ship you have. If you have a lvl 3 Akkan and then a Kol jumps from lvl 2 to 4, the Kol becomes the flagship. If you have more than one ship with the highest rank, the title disappears until someone gets ahead.

btw, thanks Nacey!

on Sep 11, 2009

Haven't played with the update yet, but noticed the graveyards were finally in.  Yay, derelicts!  I've had lots of fun with those in the past in other mods.  But I'm curious if you've had the same problem that used to exist with them.  That being that the AI fleets will get stuck in the graveyards trying to shoot at ships that they're not capable of shooting.  I believe it happens because of the fire-control buffs (the movement ones didn't seem to be a problem that I remember) that stop the derelicts from shooting at things like any normal neutral would also affected the player AIs.  It's "fixed" as soon as any enemy ship flies into the system, of course, and usually the derelicts suffer collateral damage from any AoEs, but goes right back to being a problem once the enemies are gone.  (And I've flown accidently into some very large fleets that were just stuck twitching in graveyards.)

So, yeah, curious if you've had the same problem, and if so, if you've found a way to fix it.  Sadly, the only way I've ever found that was effective was to remove the fire-control.  Which really doesn't make the derelicts feel as derelict.  (I just used the excuse of them being automated defense systems to put it out of mind, though, but it's still not as nice as them actually floating dead in space.)

on Sep 11, 2009

Orciencor
Haven't played with the update yet, but noticed the graveyards were finally in.  Yay, derelicts!  I've had lots of fun with those in the past in other mods.  But I'm curious if you've had the same problem that used to exist with them.  That being that the AI fleets will get stuck in the graveyards trying to shoot at ships that they're not capable of shooting.  I believe it happens because of the fire-control buffs (the movement ones didn't seem to be a problem that I remember) that stop the derelicts from shooting at things like any normal neutral would also affected the player AIs.  It's "fixed" as soon as any enemy ship flies into the system, of course, and usually the derelicts suffer collateral damage from any AoEs, but goes right back to being a problem once the enemies are gone.  (And I've flown accidently into some very large fleets that were just stuck twitching in graveyards.)

So, yeah, curious if you've had the same problem, and if so, if you've found a way to fix it.  Sadly, the only way I've ever found that was effective was to remove the fire-control.  Which really doesn't make the derelicts feel as derelict.  (I just used the excuse of them being automated defense systems to put it out of mind, though, but it's still not as nice as them actually floating dead in space.)

unfortunately no we have not been able to stop the AI from going nuts in the graveyards. It maybe a hard-code problem in that the AI just sees them as militia and not as derelicts so they get confused.

on Sep 11, 2009

"Flagship is based on the highest level capital ship you have. If you have a lvl 3 Akkan and then a Kol jumps from lvl 2 to 4, the Kol becomes the flagship. If you have more than one ship with the highest rank, the title disappears until someone gets ahead."

 

Is the flagship title purely aesthetic or does it serve a purpose?

on Sep 11, 2009

CurseUppl


Is the flagship title purely aesthetic or does it serve a purpose?

it is just aesthetic little piece

from original game stock pay it no mind

on Sep 11, 2009

what he said

on Sep 11, 2009

another blog, for what maybe next on our updates.

on Sep 11, 2009


unfortunately no we have not been able to stop the AI from going nuts in the graveyards. It maybe a hard-code problem in that the AI just sees them as militia and not as derelicts so they get confused.

Well, at least you've noticed it!  Pitty on not having found another way to fix it though.  I think they do see them as another militia.. it is kinda of what they actually are.  But I also think the buffs just don't have a way to distinguish between player AI and neutral AI either, which is what tends to keep the p.AI from just firing on everything in there.  Ah well, I'll probably just tweak out the fire-control buff then.  Not as nice, but I find the AI getting stupid more annoying then an "automated derelict".

 

*edit*: Just read the blog.  Yay, more piratey stuffs!  Can't help but wonder what you'll do to make'm more dangerous.  I still only ever look at them as easy xp for my caps when they come knocking, even with them bringing their own.

..Hmm, I wonder if it's possible to get them to actually research tech upgrades..?

on Sep 11, 2009

A thought I had a little while ago was: you can give the pirates capital ships to attack the player. Would it be possible to give the pirates capital ships of higher levels? I don't know how far you can stretch the elevation of their attacks, but it would be something to see them send higher level caps after you. I know they wouldn't compare to a cap that's benefited from a tech upgrade, but it would be something.

And what do you evil people plan on doing to that Ion Bolt?

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