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!
A. He asked for it.
B. I'm the only team member doing it.
C. Demotivationals are just so much fun!
If I'd had something handy, I probably would have joined in. Alas, I did not, so I opted to take the "moral high ground," whatever that is.
So Sivcorp, you work out whatever was up with that ship?
Btw: I didnt see the postings so its okay - my fault.
Go back, they're funny.
Yup, I passed it on to myfist0
He will hopefully get it game worthy.... I just didn't have the time to figure it out. But it looks BEAST in 3D Max
I have to figure out what textures go with what clusters. There are 4.
Also no weapon or ability mesh points yet.
Siv, where is your Sins root? Program Files, Program Files (x86)? I can connect the textures from the root so when I send you the scene you can see whats what.
Do you have XSI?
Edit: renamed clusters and Material Sets
Pew PEW pEW!!!!
My game root is - Local Disk C:/Program Files (x86)/Stardock Games/Sins of a Solar Empire
I had saved the textures with labels, it looks like the .obj doesn't save that info.... But it looks like you figured it out.
I have not installed XSI yet. Anything too involved with doing that, or is it easy enough?
The weapon and ability points are dependent on what the DS team want it to do. I can obviously put in the beam, missile and hanger points, but the others are up to the discretion of the Mod Team. Thoughts from the DS Team???
I just messed myself, it's so beautiful!
Oh, Ryat might have a better idea. His project and all.
nothing at all to installing XSI <-download here
Once you have XSI I can give you a couple scripts that will automate a lot of the tasks for SoaSE
For stock textures all you should do is drag and drop from the root dir because the mod will not need them anyway. My root is also x86 so as soon as you load the scene the textures will be connected.
I will add the hangars, lights, buff points (above, aura and center) and a couple weapons and start testing.
I'm in love.
Will the Flagships stay as Addon or will they be in DS in the Future?
And has the Vasari one a good Phase Missile DMG?
Love the Effect when a big Swarm of them is flying to the Enemy.
Here are my thoughts on the point layouts.
I'll get XSI installed ASAP. Are any of the scripts available on the moding site?
An ability point between the horns please. I believe I called it 4 in file but if you change it please let me know so I can recode.
After that all is good.
Watch me take a model from mesh to 3ds max to xsi and connect tangents and show materials and mesh points done with the script. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYhkVPhz1Qg&feature=player_embedded
EDIT: No the scripts are not shared yet but I recently compiled an add-on for XSI that has a bunch of scripts included but the script used in that video is to large for a button and needs to be loaded to the script editor and run from there.
I know how to run the scripts. I've used many scripts in max before
Lookin good. And thanks again myfist0
LOL. Look at the layout pic. I actually already labeled it #4! Now that is a funny coincidence....
Good Christ that thing is amazing. Turned out a hell of a lot better than I thought it would. Fine work, Sivcorp.
That actually looks very intimidating. Well played sirs.
Looks fantastic in-game SivCorp. OMG - No Planet Bombs
Your diagram was a great help but I am not sure about the 18 Beams. Did you want 3 beams at each location?
Weapon-0 is Beams Weapon-1 is Missiles Weapon-2 is Waves
Ability 4 is in the requested location but all mesh points start at 0 so your Abilty-1 is my Ability-0.
Abilty-1 is my Ability-0 Abilty-2 is my Ability-1 Abilty-3 is my Ability-2 Abilty-4 is my Ability-4 Abilty-5 is my Ability-3
hellion.mesh SoaSE Model txt hellion.exp XSI Scene
Tangents are done. Glossiness set at 30. The mesh points seem to be off a little. I will fine tune them soon unless someone beats me to it using the scene file. Someone can start to write the new entity for this beast. Please post the strings. Who is good at icons? I can soon if no one else can make good ones.
EDIT: I think I figured out why my mesh points are off. They're not, the model is. The model was not center to zero so I moved it -14.75 on the X axis but for some reason the damn thing will not zero out when freezing. Must have something to do with the clusters. I might end up having to put the model back off center and moving all the mesh point +14.75 on the X axis.
Great work. The entity file is the one from the Flagship mini-mod, Phasebattleship2.
@ Siv and Fisto, well done guys, truly amazing. Both of youts are coding masters..
Wait wait, hold up. It lacks planetary attack weapons? Isn't that going to massively unbalance the other races, seeing as how they'll start with free planet attack weapons in their flagships? Or did I misread MyFist's post?
OOPS!
Yeah it does have planet bombing..... It goes where the planet bombing of the Vas siege ship is - The 6 front beam holes at the front pinchers. It is in front of ability #4.
And the beam count is wrong. It should be 12 ---> 2 per bank on the sides.
And I suppose I could make an Icon. Where are the Icons for the main game located? File name? I'll use that as a reference.
I believe Zombies R Us has a nifty program for that. If not, I have all the .tga materials.
hellion.mesh with Bomb port and 12 beams.
I zeroed out the model but now its off center a bit which might mess up the shield a bit. Do we have a shield that fits?
hellionv2.exp is the new XSI scene with all the mesh points lined up with the off center model.
Maneuvering this beast in game isn't going to be 'funny' looking if it's off axis will it?
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