Distant Worlds: Universe gets new update

[Martok]

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3862291


Glad the game is still having work done on it, even though Elliot is almost certainly spending the lion's share of his time on DW2 by this point.  Here's the change-log: 

CRASH FIXES
- fixed crashes on some systems when drawing text in Hover Panel (the hover info for planets, ships, etc - this was incorrectly showing up from GDI+ as an Out of Memory exception)
- fixed crash when drawing empire colony summary (Empire Summary screen) and have no capital colony
- fixed rare crash when fighters checking for nearby threats
- fixed rare crash when ship performing escort mission
- fixed rare crash when fleet checks for next mission assignment
- fixed occasional crash in game editor when editing a planet with special ruins
- fixed crash when using custom mod with more than 256 components

BUG FIXES
- fixed bug when attempt to start new custom pirate game without any other empires
- fixed bug where loading premade designs allows premature building of colony ship (advisor suggestion)
- fixed bug where civilian pirate ships would not always get upgraded component values when researched
- civilian pirate ships will now properly retrofit as needed
- pirate civilian ship maintenance reduction bonuses from leaders, etc now properly applied
- fixed bug where victory condition progress sometimes shows NaN%
- fixed some Achievements for pirate factions (raiding)
- fixed 'Defeat Ancient Guardians' achievement
- further fixes for some achievements so that properly *retained* upon review: OwnOperationalPlanetDestroyer, JoinTheFreedomAlliance, JoinTheShakturi
- fixed bug where pirate factions would sometimes accept own attack missions
- further fixes to ensure pirate factions do not accept own attack missions

GENERAL AI AND GAME BALANCE
- AI more likely to offer trades of tech and maps when relations good between empires
- AI builds more construction ships in early game
- Freighters now less likely to be idle - when no transport orders to fulfill freighters are now more likely to bulk transport resources from mining stations and small colonies to spaceports
-reduced chance of newly conquered colonies switching empires, especially when have strong troop garrison present
-slightly reduced likelihood of empire splits and civil wars

USER INTERFACE
- fixed problem where could not respond to multiple simultaneous diplomatic messages, e.g. multiple requests to honor mutual defense pact in alliance. These are now presented sequentially so that player can respond to all messages
- fixed Enemy Target List closing when have target without empire


OTHER
- bases will now launch fighters at attackers even when have no other weapons
- now allow populations with colony population policy set to 'Exterminate' to be completely wiped out at colonies (do not stop at 1 million)
- Achievements screen now shows your empire when playing as a pirate faction - thus can see pirate achievements (e.g. raiding)

[Yskonyn]

Indeed nice to see.
Still one of my go-to 4x games!

[sandman2575]

Still one of my go-to 4x games!

+1 -- my No. 1 go-to space 4X game

[RooksBailey]

I was surprised to see the beta for these changes a few weeks back.  I joined but never got a chance to try it.  Glad to see it is now released.  Maybe I will start a new campaign.  It's been too long since I played DW!

If they are making DW2, I hope it is 64-bit only.   :)

[bobarossa]

If they are making DW2, I hope it is 64-bit only.   :)

So it can have "billions and billions" of stars?

[bbmike]

If they are making DW2, I hope it is 64-bit only.   :)

So it can have "billions and billions" of stars?

I doubt it Mr. Sagan.  :P

[sandman2575]

Has Codeforce said anything about the possibility of DW2 being in 3D?

[OJsDad]

Have they said anything about DW2 at all. 

[RooksBailey]

If they are making DW2, I hope it is 64-bit only.   :)

So it can have "billions and billions" of stars?

Yeah, pretty much that.   ;D

Have they said anything about DW2 at all. 

Not to my knowledge.  I would be surprised if they didn't follow up their magnum opus with a sequel, but you can never tell with the smaller devs.  Sometimes they (wisely?) like to put a period and move on.

[FarAway Sooner]

This is the best space 4x title I've played in 5-10 years.  For those who like deep learning curves and a sense of total immersion, it's an absolute winner.

I eventually quit playing because I couldn't figure out some of the more subtle but important interface issues (e.g., when I've home-designed a particular class of ship to feature Impact Assault Blasters and Plasma Torpedoes, why is that a decision to upgrade all my spaceships to use a Mk II air conditioner resets that same class of ship to using Phasers and Missiles?).  But I got a good 50-100 hours of quality play out of it first, which is far longer than almost any other recent game has held my attention...

[Kushan]

Has Codeforce said anything about the possibility of DW2 being in 3D?

If they do go 3D, I hope they keep the 2D view top view and make the planets, ships, and bases rendered in 3D from above. I hope they just stick with it being in 2D. 2D images make the game much simpler to mod without having to have the knowledge or software to make 3D models.

Have they said anything about DW2 at all. 

Eric has made several hints over the last few years that DW2 will probably happen. The real question seemed to be if they would do one more expansion for DW1 or move straight to DW2.

If they are making DW2, I hope it is 64-bit only.   :)

So it can have "billions and billions" of stars?

I'd love what this could do for galaxy size but I like what the AI could be like with the game being 64-bit even more.

[sandman2575]

I'd settle for "2.5D", somewhat along the lines of the original StarDrive.  Anything to give a more convincing illusion of 3-dimensionality. For all its glories, DW is a little too 'flat' in its presentation. It detracts slightly from a feeling of epic deep-space expansiveness. And I hate how cluttered it gets around your space stations when your civilian economy starts to kick into full gear, with all those ship sprites overlapping one another.

[OJsDad]

Couple of items on my wish list;

1.  Being able to have multiple designs of each ship type active at the same time.
2.  Fleet formations.

These two things would really change the whole game from a combat point of view.

[Yskonyn]

True. The pileup of ships in a big blob when attacking is the only big point about DW I find dissapointing. It kills immersion and makes you feel like playing an early 90s game at times.
Otherwise is pretty close to my perfect space 4x!

[Ian C]

I hate how cluttered it gets around your space stations when your civilian economy starts to kick into full gear, with all those ship sprites overlapping one another.

Did you know you can fade or disable civilian ships graphics entirely in the options?