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!
yeah, thanks again guys, you all are always amazing in every way.
Please tell me there isn't about to be a patch or something soon, 'cause if there is, i'm definitley ignoring it. Enough is enough
Oh yeah! I always get first reply on new pages! I'm magic. And a ninja. Ooooooooo... A magic ninja. BEWARE MY POWER!!
Btw, this has gotta be the largest post on the forums. Really? 7126?
You know?, i think it might be a good idea to make a massive map for the next update. You could put the entire distant stars sector in it. Like on the map in the lore section, but playable. Just an idea.
Is Kingdom of Heaven not big enough?!
NO!
We are awaiting completion of Rebellion.
PM Stant, I think he made one.
He's got holes, iirc. Lore needs to move forward for some systems still.
There is already one out there that you may be interested in... See this post and download the efficiency pack. https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/335474/page/271/#3055017 It has fixes for the mod, includes the mini mods, as well as has the galaxy forge icons... And has the other more awesome music.
Already done, please see the Distant Stars Map thread https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/372059 Specifically reply number 14 for the link to the DS sector map. You can also get individual systems from the thread.
A black hole, yes.
Actually it is pretty complete based on the posted information. Some people have claimed systems but have yet to post a map for me to use and integrate into the big map, so while it's technically 'out of date', it's got almost the most recent available information. The only one I can think of is the group of maps that Siv posted hasn't been added. It also already makes good systems grind to a crawl so I recommend turning pirates off and working on search and destroy pirate missions... With Powerful Pirates enabled of course. >=]
Yes, the pirates should be representative of the pain they are in the lore and I meant the holes you were mentioning. No one's fault, just that we haven't played over every inch yet.
Just wait, the pirates will get worse.
Maybe in Rebellion, but that's not my issue.
oh god...
... and so they came, innumerable dreadnoughts came out of the jump, making no attempt at subtlety they tore the Trancendia in half... without their satellite network the populace did not know what was happening until the pirates assembled in orbit. Fire rained down, melting cities and obliterating continents. And the planet was riven asunder...
Im afraid...
DON'T LET RYAT AT THE FILES!!!!!!
(god i doublepost too much)
Map "The AI Horde" is completely messed up. Very buggy when you zoom in on many of the planets for the AI's. You can't see anything even though you should be able to see things--even your own ships.
(By the way... whats the point of the two other stars?)
Edit: Post removed for oversight and blah moment
The AI Horde doesnt work right, b/c Galaxy Forge hates it. Ive reworked it a dozen times. Or maybe Im just stupid.
And what other stars?
k, so I found the skybox.manifest, apparently it got deleted at some point in my mod files because when I checked my backups it was there.
Remember kids, when you've lost a file, check backups, and ALWAYS HAVE BACKUPS, or you end up making embarrassing posts highlighting your silly mistakes ...like I did
Moving on, I tried slipping in some skyboxes from Novus Universum, and only the skyboxes. I took out DS' 2 added(the environment cubes are just a tad too bright for me, makes me feel like I'm lookin at their uneffected skin in gimp). Anyhow, I threw in all the files associated with the skybox files(yes I looked through the properties file in the game info folder, yes I nit picked and grabbed each and every file listed in the manifest and properties files) but all I get when I upload them are empty backdrops and the "blank" environment cubes.
So in the end I just removed all things related to skybox alterations out of DS' mod folders and thought "eh,w/e I give up" and now, somehow, DS' skyboxes remain
I have deleted all skybox/skybox environment mesh files, altered manifest and properties to use ONLY vanilla skyboxes, so I am quite confused on how the game is pulling these out of it's ass when I have surgically removed them x.x
there's two stars that connect from the companion to your empty space areas near the companion sun, to the asteroid and the clouds. I edited it myself and removed the suns and connected the same spots to the empty space areas. And the problem with not seeing your ships and stuff is caused by the suns themselves, their "circle of influence" or whatever you wanna call it, the gray ring in the forge, is becoming your fore ground and the icons of another system won't show up. The game registers you as zooming into the system of one of the other suns, not the one you're actually seeing...if that makes sense.
Just open the map in forge and edit it like I did and it will solve your error and your questions =3
p.s. I only learned about this error 'cause I made a "pillar of suns" and the planets were inter connected and I had that problem ALL the time, made it kind of challenging. Try stacking a few things in Galaxy forge, has some interesting results sometimes, but stack them off center a bit, or you'll have a lot of issues with phase jumping.
p.s.s. Damnit....double posts
Why make a map and not have a phase lane to the main star?
Ah I understand the questions at hand. and yes changing the suns would fix the issue presented. However the suns are there for a reason.
The whole point of this map is to defend against stupid odds. As you expand toward the AI area, you get the jumbled mix of grav wells you see. Its like this to promote forming a single wall of defenses beyond your Military Planet, and provide you a mix of grav wells to fight and such over. I originally had it all in the mid set to Random, but opted against it.
Could I expanded the grav a bit and made it not close. But that would give you the effect much like Kingdom of Heaven. Where you have these super long phase jumps.
I already used that idea more or less, and I tried to make each map a unique experience, each with a different set of challenges and fun factor.
For example, the main theme behind Black-5, was a map that just isnt nice. Alot crappy planets, alot of pirates...etc etc. The map was another enemy more or less.
The AI Horde was an experimental map. Ive had some issues through out each version Ive made(Like being on the right starting position when you set teams up, GF and SINS like to put the Player on the side of the map with the bigger team. So you would start in an AI slot and not the intended slot.). The theme is obvious, and again tries to provide a set of challenges. Like how to defend several Star grav wells with phase lanes entering on different sides. To provide the AI with a choice of attack options to maximize its attacks(AKA, so it doesnt have the one phase lane to use and you just turtle behind it as you expand).
Orion's Belt, was another fun map based on using the chance to spawn mechanics in GF. Its a very small map outside the Asteroid Belt area. Inside that area is a clusterfuck of grav wells and phase lanes all with a chance to spawn at start of game or not. Aside from the guareenteed one way through I pust to keep the map from sucking on bad spawns, the center area is never the same, each time you play it. The theme here was replayability much like a Random Map.
I could go on but I hope everyone gets the point of my maps. They are strange, they are odd, but thats the point. I go for theme based map creation with the over point of creating an unique fun experience.
Why? B/c I wanted it that way.
Why you ask...to make something different.
Dont like it?
Make your own maps. Make your own Map pack, Share with the group.
I really want to try playing this mod on a balanced or mirror map, but all the maps originally made for this game will only use the same default planets for it, right? I think I remember someone saying that you only get to see the new planets and other stuff if you plan on randomly generated maps. Is that right or wrong? The reason I want to try it out on a balanced map is because, due to the large number and variety of planets and types of gravity wells, the randomization can sometimes be very unforgiving for the player, and fail to give him nearly enough nearby resources to compete with high difficulty AI's.
OR the map has ANY of the randoms ie random, random colonisable etc, but when a map ONLY lists fixed planet types then you will ONLY get the fixed planet types.
harpo
EDIT
See Ryat's comment below!
/EDIT
In addition to that, the random options all benefit from the new planets because of work done on the galaxy scenario definitions file.
This is true. Only the maps that specifically designate a planet type will have that type. All of the other options were changed up from the original to include the additional content in DS via the galaxy scenario definitions file. Some of the non random options were added to as well. For example, in the original, if you select gas giant, you get a gas giant. In DS, if you select Gas Giant, you get either a stable or an unstable Gas Giant randomly picked. This is something that you cannot choose between like many of the other options even if you use the forge to create your map.
They were updated with the variant of sizes that we introduced but we never added any of the new planets.
Beat you by 2 seconds. I fixed.
lol
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