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
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
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
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 & Sundays9pm EST (2am GMT) Saturdays & SundaysIf 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\SettingorWindows 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 FALSEChange FALSE to TRUELogOutput 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 website12,000GB (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!
I certainly still see the texture issue, at least I think it is what you are talking about. It's like the top and bottom poles of the planets have one texture (the same one at each pole) and the middle is a seperate texture that makes it look like a stripe.
I think that is the only issue I've noticed except the, forgive me I don't recall the name, new advanced Fighter Squads, their text in the menus all say "String Not Found"
Its a known issue with the Gunships (?).
And for the Pole Caps the Hotfix didnt work now because all Planets are gone with the New Update so i cant use it anymore.
Hopefully will be able to get in contact with Nacey today and get them in the offical DS. And other issues.
Cool and definatly see the Pole Caps issue!
Love the "Swarm of Ants" bit with the 2x speed! lol Hmm, I wonder if I dug around in that DBS mod if there is a way to make it work on ships like cruisers and the attack frigs but not with the missile and carriers... Has me thinking now. It definatly would be useful and more realistic to have the smaller ships kinda of form formations and such as well as swarm as appose to stand and pretend they are a battleship that can take a pounding.
Haven't come across that string not found issue yet... will keep an eye on it
Also have to wonder what the script engine of the new SINS: Rebellion is going to be like! (have it pre-ordered already )
Change this
usesFighterAttack FALSE
to
usesFighterAttack TRUE
note this line was pulled from the capital ship entity file so that should let you know if its possible for cruisers as well
and so I have returned bearing the fruits of our labour...
The Distant Stars team is proud to release Distant Stars 0.99 B2 fixing... well... pretty much everything to date!
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/diplomacy/Distant_Stars_(D)_0.99_B2_Patch_[73571136].7z
The patch file is for download as above and the full download currently uploading ready for you all to use. Now this release includes a .bat file (a windows batch file) to delete all of the old low resolution textures from the mod, now just so you know everything is on the up and up you can right click on the file and select the edit option.This will allow you to inspect the coding of the .bat file and see that all it does is delete some of the texture files from the new Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B2 directory. If you dont want to run it then i'll post manual instructions on what to delete.
I'm sure by now you've all seen "Rebellion"s announcement and you guessed it, Distant Stars will be there! I personally can't wait for its release and to bring you Distant Stars (R) 1.0 soon after its release Q4 this year!
Anyway enough of my ramblings, enjoy the patch
p.s. The Distant Stars "Extras" are back in this release!
*stands in for Carbon*
HUZZZZZZZZZZA!
I'm lost, the bat file is to remove textures from the B2 folder but the B2 file hasn't been uploaded yet and we are suppose to use the B1/B2 Patch... so we still have the B1 folder, are we not suppose to run the BAT until the B2 mod if uploaded?
Ok, easiest way for you to do this may be to wait until the B2 full is uploaded then delete your old B1 and copy in the B2 full and run the batch. I'm guessing that Nacey on the full has already removed the low res items from the full so there will likely be no need to run it.
If you can't wait, simply rename the "Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B1" folder in the mods folder to "Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B2", copy the "Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B2 Delete Extra Textures.bat" file into the MOD main folder, not the distant stars folder. Copy the contents of "Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B2 Patch" into the now named "Distant Stars (D) 0.99 B2" folder over writing anything it wants to over write. Now, run the BAT file, then delete the BAT file.
All done. =] Enjoy!
@Ryat
Thanks for the info, will look into that now. I noticed there was NO reaction from the DBS Mod with it installed above Distant Stars... as if it wasn't even intalled. I'm thinking however I've missed something within the "Extra" folder that I am now looking at. Is the Dynamic Movement the same or related to Dynamic Battle System?
@Nacey
I kinda like the sound of "Distant Stars: The Rebellion!"
Thanks!
yes in the sense that it has been adapted for Distant Stars.
The DS Lore already has that in spades.
So the Tachyon Generator string will be polished after the beta patch?
Sorry if I seem rude for insisting that the description be polished.
lol
we will look into it
Will we get snub-fighters?
No, we're not borrowing from other lores.
The full download is now available
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/diplomacy/Distant_Stars_(D)_0.99_B2_[73571136].7z
Apologies for my miscommunication on this, if you rename the previous folder from B1 to B2 and run the .bat file to then delete the old texture files it will work as intended.
@DavidFalcon: Thanks for describing the process for using the .bat file for Bazkur, I should have desribed it better myself. You are indeed correct the full download doesnt have the old textures in it to remove nor does it include the bat file.
The Dynamic Movement mod as Ryat mentioned is our version of the DBS mods that are out there.
I'd entirely forgotten about it to be honest with you lol, we shall have to take a look at sorting it out shortly, not a bad way to start the patch up to B3 / v1.00
I shall call it mine, and mine it shall be!
Oh the glorious horror that awates you...I mean us...when modding all the new shiny things. Bwhahhahahahah!!!!
Atta boy, step up that plate! So sad I missed it. Yall gotta keep me in the loop more, you I have email on a phone
Btw the way boss sir, you gonna talk to me, Mr. Im on MSN but not!?! or have we finally hit the ignore Carbon stage b/c I cant say I blame your after all this time LOL Anyhow found a way to reduce the download...or at least add more for the same space..hehehe
Your string count if off again. You've got 7112, but you should be having 7217. I don't know if it's causing any bugs (at least from what I've seen so far), but you're gonna wanna fix that.
Keep getting a minidump when i activate the full version u sure this is compatible with 1.19 f.
Could be because the string count is off (not a guarentee, could be a miilion different things). All I applied was the patch, not redownload the whole thing.
Downloading it to check it. I'll get back to you if I can get it done in 30 minutes.
No, the string count won't crash the game, you'll just see "string not found" in the game for the items either missing the string, or not counted by the count at the start of the file.
Edit:
Downloaded and checked, the patched version and the full download match up exactly, the full version does not crash. Maybe you got a bad download. It does happen, so does a bad unzip. If you still have the archive, unzip it to your desktop and then move it over, if it still crashes, then redownload a new copy with your fingers crossed.
Also checked the string count and can confirm that 7112 is the correct count, so there shouldn't be any issues.
Interesting every count I do of the lines no matter the version I always get 7112. As Stant mentioned if there is an error in the string file it wont cause any crashes but would report an error to the log files I've not personally had any with quite a few hours of testing.
Thanks for confirming the count also Stant, I thought I was going crazy there lol.
Seems your download / unzip has been corrupted (again as Stant mentioned your on the ball lately Stant ) try unzipping the mod again or try re-downloading it to see if it downloaded incorrectly by mistake.
I fubared on my string count method. I use Word to count string entries and forgot to tell it to match case in the search parameters. That's why it came up with 100+ more. I should of known something was up. You boys couldn't of screwed up by that much without it showing in game.
At least I'm trying to help you out. That's, in part, how I found and fixed the Gunship problem.
No worries. It's better to have people checking then rechecking rather then just playing and complaining.
I'm always on the ball, I'm just not always nice about it. =D
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