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 can tell you've only played as Advent.
(these numbers are accurate as of version 0.7 so they may have changed, but not by much)
The damage value for each faction Fighter vs. Gunship and Bomber vs EWS
Advent -F/G - Laser 1 (Anti Light) vs Laser 5 (Anti Very Light)B/EWS - Beam 4 (Anti Very Heavy) vs Beam 1 (Anti Very Heavy)
TEC -F/G - Auto Cannon 2 (Anti Light) vs Auto Cannon 8 (Anti Very Light)B/EWS - Missile 5 (Anti Very Heavy) vs Missile 1 (Anti Very Heavy)
Vasari -F/G - Phase Missile 3 (Anti Light) vs Pulse Gun 4 (Anti Very Light)B/EWS - Phase Missile 6 (Anti Very Heavy) vs Phase Missile 1 (Anti Very Heavy)
The EWS bombers do different things depending on the faction.
Advent - Nano Disruptioncool down 25 secondsrange 2500 * 4250 * 7000duration 20 secondsHull/Shield regeneration disabled
TEC - Targeting Disruptioncool down 25 secondsrange 1500 * 4250 * 7000duration 20 secondsenemy weapon range -25% * -30% * -40%enemy hit chance -15% * -20% * -30%
Vasari - Phasic Manipulationcool down 25range 2500 * 4250 * 7000duration 15 * 20 * 20max speed / acceleration / jump charge up rate -110% * -115% * -125%
The Gunship abilities are also different for each faction.
Advent - Instill Fearcool down 25 secondsrange 1500duration 15 secondsenemy hit chance -15%
TEC - Defensive Screencool down 10 secondsrange 1500duration 7 secondsenemy damage output -15%
Vasari - Targeting Nanitescool down 50 secondsrange 1500duration 30 secondsenemy damage -20%
EWS bombers have a slight damage weapon but not much. They work better paired with other support ships like Vasari Marauder and its Distort Gravity ability that makes your fleet faster and the EWS which slows down the enemy.
In addition to what Stant posted, Gunships also seem to prioritise fighters over bombers (or at least they did two versions ago for me. I took it as a given, they behaved the same in the new version and thus didn't check again).
In short:
Fighters intercept bombers, to protect your big ships.
Gunships hunt down enemy fighters, thus protecting your bombers so they can deliver their damage.
Bombers hurt ships and stations.
EWS Bombers do very little damage, but have usefull support abilities. I suggest building only few of them.
Thanks for the explanation guys! Most appreciated!
Have you seen how much the interface has been changed in the DoV mod?
http://youtu.be/xZy86v4a5ek
Not bad. Its a nice total conversion.
Ive wanted to redo the menu and UI for over a year. But Im no graphic artist so Ive been limited in my experements.
Nothing like what they did though, I just wanted a slightly different feel for when you play DS. *shrugs*
Good to see this mod is still up and running. Keep up the good work guys
Lol. It has changed quite a bit since you had it.
I'm really happy to hear that.
Its a ghost of mods past!?!?!
Yep
TEC Rebel Titan taking on an Advent fleet.
...
"THE MONOLITH! IT FLIES! Bear us to the heavens oh mighty Monolith!"
"Get out of here Stalker..."
Supposedly the Titans have a big gun. Not sure if it's like the fourth ability you have to lvl up to like with caps or if it's a high lvl tech add-on. Just calling it as the devs described it.
TBH that thing looks like you could fit a huge railgun into it. Ideal for leveling continents and stuff, if that's what takes you fancy.
Oh, sorry I'm not particularly Lore-active at the moment, I've sort of progressed into the next phase of British education, just two years before I'm going to University. Tons of work and whatnot.
Would LOVE to play this mod having read so many good thins about it. But, for the life of me I cannot get it to work.
Im trying to use the mod in Diplomacy 1.32 I have the mod placed in the 1.32 mods folder. Ive enabled in-game, but when I hit apply, moments later it gives me a minidump. I've re-downloaded a few times and re-applied, went over the instructions at least 3 times to be sure I didn't miss something lol. Still no go... Any help? I wanna play it so bad! lol.
Also, I noticed the instructions available don't seem to coincide well with the new releases of this mod. Maybe it's time to update them?
Some of the instructions do need to be tweaked. First thing I have to ask is are you doing a 1.32 full download or a patch?
If you're getting the full download (and you should), then have you tried downloading it again? Sometimes you get a corrupted file.
Keep in mind that you should give it at least a couple of redownloads before you completely abandon it. Some of us have gotten repeated corrupted files for no rhyme nor reason.
I'm doing the full download. Ive tried twice now, but Ill give it a few more and see what happens.
Not to patronize you, but I want to make sure that you're using the right source.
http://distantstars.mmobase.com/diplomacy/Distant_Stars_(D)_0.99_B5_[73603744].7z
and do keep in mind 7z has its ssues too. Make sure you're current on their version. I've had to unzip the same the same file before to get it right.
Yup. That's the right one. I'm using WinRar though.
But, guess what? 3rd time is the charm apparently. Did my 3rd download, installed the mod as usual. Applied. Bam, Distant Stars time. I am happy camper now.
Thanks for the help! Im about an hour into my first game. very interesting so far.
Glad to hear it. Just remember, especially on big maps, not to keep the graphics at their highest. For SP, I usually go High, High, Low. And a lot of the stuff is random, so you'll find more and more goodies as you go. If you want to play with black holes, you'll need to get the Map Editor, which I think we're working on now.
We do have many more toys in store, including Flagships and Powerful Pirates coming soon to a system near you.
Thanks for playing and throw us some karma in thanks. I hear if you get 1000 points, you get a free IC tote!
hahaha. Free IC tote.
Glad you like. I figured for once I would chip in with the IT.
I think we all deserve a tote for that.
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