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!
Well, I keep having a problem where my frigate factory disappears for no apparent reason as if it were destroyed. I was playing Advent Rebel, on the fastest game settings, and it happened 3 times between 2 games...
-Twi
It maybe due to the change in models in Rebellion. As soon as I can get a hold of SZ0 I plan on asking him to look those things over unless I can grab another modeller to help.
Still some issues going on but not too bad. We are thinking of upgrading them to what Krdxkhn has done.
Ask Nacey. He was the mastermind behind that.
There have been a lot of changes made here through our work and Starclad. Not sure what got done where.
@ Twi - that is odd, will look into it.
It's all setup in the templates Sinperium ... if I get some time I could go over it with you. I've done some pretty rad things with those. Just need to write a short documentation file and I'll be able to upload my templates expansion mini-mod that was based on GoaFan77's.
Thanks for the replies. Glad to hear your mod is near Boshimi.
Set the ability to passive as well. If it has a cost, they don't like to build, especially right at the game's start.
I hate to be "that guy", and if it's not too much trouble, could you be a bit more specific? I'm going through the files right now; just opening them up with notepad++, and don't really see any values to change.
I'm a complete idiot when it comes to modding, and I'm not afraid to admit that. I usually bash people like me on forums, and now for the first time, I find a game I actually WANT to mod, and I of course have no idea where the hell to start.
Which of harpo99999's programs do I need? The only things I really want to change are # of strikecraft per squadron, the damage output of some capital ships, and increasing the level of research for a couple of things for all races.
@ J Brown : For harpo's tools, you can get them from a quick search from that little box at the top of the page, just look for "Harpo's Txt binner" but you'll have to look into it being up to date.https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/353296 Or click this link and read up on it, and look for the latest version.
Who did the gravity wells this time 'round? x.x it's a pain in the ass to maneuver around a sun or gas giant. reminds me of those "stacked system" maps I used to make(the trick is to move them to the farthest possible edge in the direction you want to go, then shift+click the destination)
If you guys want, I can probably run through the planet files and tweak the well radius of each for you, just might take a few days between having work and life, but I do so enjoy tweaking the planets . Changed my copy of ds for diplomacy have rings on every one =3 only takes a grand total of about 20 minutes to change when ya use Notepad++
On the premade maps? I did, and as I don't have Rebellion, I was unable to know what was going to happen by simply porting over the values from Diplomacy. See my reply on the previous page for values that do work.
That's what I hear. That's why I changed the values, had a kind soul test for me, and I posted the new values for all to see.
The thing about Rebellion is that the values listed on the entity files don't matter anymore. The values that got added for every single planet/star entry in each map overrides anything the entity for the planet/star says to use, so to fix it, one has to go back though every single map and change the thousands of values. Be advised it took me a few hours to go through with a script to add in the lines in the first place and that was a fairly hands off approach. Changing each entry to appropriate values should be expected to take at least a few days of dedicated time, most likely longer.
I used a semiautomatic script to add in the values and it took hours. Going to each value individually to change them to appropriate values should take days to a week of dedicated hands on work. Again, the problem is in the maps themselves, not the entities. Have fun.
If I could spare the cash, I'd give you a copy Stant. The reality is my wife will kill me if I start buying games for people.
You don't "need" harpos tools, though they do make it easier (or so I heard, I am comfortable enough with the "bare necessities" that I havn't tried them yet).
The number of strikecraft per squad are not in the ships entity files, those only contain lines for how many squads (and which) a ship can have.
For the number of units within a squad you need to edit the "Squad<Faction><type>.entity file, (for example "SquadTechBomber") and search for the line "baseMaxNumFighters".
If you want to edit the number and kind of squads a ship can start you'll need these lines:
squadTypeEntityDef:0 "Squad<race><type>" (like SquadTechBomber)squadAntiMatterCost:0 0.000000
CommandPoints StartValue 0.600000 ValueIncreasePerLevel 0.200000
The first two lines determine the kind of squads the ship can build and how much antimatter is used up per strikecraft. The other three lines determin the starting value of command points and how many the ships get's per level-up (this was taken from a cap-ship file. Small ships and stations only have one value called "baseCommandPoints" or somesuch). This particular ship can only build it's first squad at level 3 (once the command points are >= 1.0)
Damage output is in the ships entity files. Each weapon has it's own values for each angle (front, left, right and back):
DamagePerBank:FRONT 64.959999 DamagePerBank:BACK 0.000000 DamagePerBank:LEFT 0.000000 DamagePerBank:RIGHT 0.000000
And for the level of research you need to edit the "Researchsubject<name>" files (like "RESEARCHSUBJECT_WEAPONDAMAGE_BEAMTECH0.entity"). In there you have the line "MaxNumResearchLevels".
In this context you might also be interrested in this paragraph:
Prerequisites NumResearchPrerequisites 1 ResearchPrerequisite Subject "RESEARCHSUBJECT_WEAPONDAMAGE_BEAMTECH0" Level 4 --> especially this line RequiredFactionNameID "" RequiredCompletedResearchSubjects 0
The line I marked with the red comment, determins how many levels the prerequisit research must have unlocked, to allow you to research this tech.
Unfortunately each race has their own techs, so you can't just change one research file and be done with everyone.
....one more executive decision that was made with no thought process behind it. Thanks for the reply Stant, I'll go find those values then but it seems harpo's txt binner doesn't wanna work with your mod, just get a massive fails count and all the files remain bins =/
edit: and now I found the values, and I have to figure out where to put them all. Every map needs personal attention for the change you said? Can this be done through altering the .galaxy into another format or does it require the galaxy forge? Or insert other method I'm ignorant of here_____________...
I do have a rebellion, dip,entrench & vanilla workable in beta (due to the changed path for the mods in rebellion in non-english windows(does work fine in english windows)).
harpo
I downloaded the latest listed off that forum thread for it. The mod folder is in my documents/my games/etc..
Edit: yeah, was my fault, a tiny oversight on my end. Fixed the mistake, works like a charm again, thanks again for the tools harpo, I have to try to put them together right in the future.
*tries to thread a pin back into a grenade...keeps missing* x.x
It's not the money, I have plenty. It's Steam (Valve) I have issues with. See I forget how many pages ago for my reasons behind that. As long as Rebellion forces me to use Steam, I will not buy it. And don't say pirate it either because that won't happen, nor do any real gamers condone such activities.
As soon as there's a version without it, assuming the game is even still relevant, I'll buy it.
-=Notice=-
Before any more of you fanboys come here again trying to put me on blast for not liking Steam, do yourselves a favor and read back a some pages on how the others were handled and then just shut the hell up and keep your thoughts to yourselves. Trust me, you'll be doing everyone a favor. Fair warning.
Yes, every single map needs personal attention and lots of it. I use a text editor... Doesn't really matter which one, just search for the radius values and change accordingly.
Wow...had no idea the .galaxy files could be edited strait out with a txt editor. Oh well, less steps for me, and alot of search and replace for me
I see now the task set out before me and I am humbled by it's magnitude......
This is gonna take a long time, if anyone's got them finished...or some of the maps finished I'd appreciate an upload. though I guess I could do one or two maps a day
LOL Stant...I recall. Apparently they also got a gag order for your intellectual property case too.
It's not totally inconceivable that a way may appear one day to do this. You never know. I bet Google does.
Are the Alpha particles used in this taken from Trinity or Rebellion?
Thank jebus ds is in rebellion now! I find it very difficult to play sins without this mod
Just a few pointers from the alpha, i have random minidumps on startup and during game, random ie; often the first time i try to start sins it will dump out, then work the 2nd time, weird eh? Feel free to message me if i can help at all by sending crash dumps or w/e.
Other thing was I think someone needs to have a real good look at the particle effects because i noticed quite alot arent up to scratch with the new rebellion ones, most of the explosions still look good but quite alot of the gunnery effects seem off. If i get time this weekend ill do some side by side screenies to illustrate which ones
Thx for the hard work guys, much appreciated making this game better
Here is the thing. This dynamic movement will not be part of the main mod but rather as a separate addon to it. Completely optional, however, if you have the mod the files, so will the other person. I am surprised personally that no one said the light frigates should have fighter movements, we should agree on that front. In respone to maybe bombers have movement, bombers don't have movement when it comes to bombing planets, but when it does fight other ships is where I am looking it from.
My thoughts exactly when I first started in on them.
It's literally thousands of values.
Every so often I'll jump in and do a few of them, though I'm going to start on the lore maps first which aren't included in the DS releases yet, and considering the big map has more then most of the others combined... It'll be a while before I get there. =P
Yeah, bastards! I was sad when the hate mail stopped.
Only the developers can read the minidumps and they don't support mods, so don't bother hanging on to those, we can't use them. It would be great if we could because we could pinpoint some of the more elusive crashes... As for the random crashes there are a couple of known things that cause these but since they're sort of built into the core of the mod, eliminating them is out of the question. For example, would you play without the ship grave yards, deep space trade ports, and autobuilt starbases for the pirates and other gravity wells? Probably, but the removal would definitely affect the experience. These things don't always cause problems, but they create much more then other things. (Actually, I think the deep space trade ports got removed from the official diplomacy release. I don't recall exactly, I run my own version that has extra stuff in it. Something in the 0.7 release got yanked out because it was causing just too many issues.) Rebellion is probably picking up on other errors that diplomacy didn't really care about and is creating some of its own problems, so you're getting more minidumps then usual. When the Beta release comes out (meaning a version actually designed for Rebellion as opposed to the current Alpha port over from Diplomacy) this 50/50 chance of crashing I keep reading people talking about should be more like the 1 out of 15+ games that Diplomacy is averaging.
Basically, if you come across a situation that causes the game to crash every time it happens, report it. Give us as much info about what is going on that leads up to the crash, and what happens that actually causes the game to crash, and if at all possible, a link to the last saved game prior to the crash so we can download it and play it ourselves without having to take all of the time to set up the situation you're describing. Even if it's a situation that happens more times then not, or rarely happens but still can be forced, report it.
Actually we do know and had a fix for it for a while but Rebellion brought new issues.
Rebellion brought new effects into the equation and Bailknight's fx pack is now hopelessly out of date. We will be incorporating new effects soon.
Correction:
"We will be incorporating new effects SOON™."
Sorry for the bad translation, I'm from Russia. The mod you have just a wonderful, guys, but it looks like Alpha as there is a problem. I want to know how to solve a problem with it: Slot ActionSetRallyPoint can't be setup over ACTION_CAPITALSHIP_ABILITY_4. I just can not play. Error is constant. Or I'll just delete the files from the ability of the planetary "entity" of the planets, until problem is solved?
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