Distant Worlds: Shadows

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game which models a "living galaxy" with incredible options for replayability and customizability. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. Now greatly enhanced with the new Universe release, which includes all four previous releases as well as the new Universe expansion!

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Cruis.In
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Cruis.In »

nah, the kind of models we're talking about would probably be like 100-300 polys, even 500 of them on screen couldn't slow a 3d card today. Remember the 3d card we all have is inefficient at running 2d things like DW. Processing power/ram is more important for running the renderer which DW is using. A 3d engine will use the full power of the card what it was made to do. (note that a 3d engine doesn't mean 6degrees of movement or freedom)
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MartialDoctor
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by MartialDoctor »

Erik, thanks for all of your detailed responses! I came back to check on the forum just to see how things are coming along.

If the AI improvements are really what I am hoping them to be, Distant Worlds will finally achieve the kind of potential I have always seen it to have [8D]

Good luck with the expansion. I'm very much looking forward to it!
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MartialDoctor
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by MartialDoctor »

ORIGINAL: dejagore

@Erik - please do tell me that there will be some tweaks in the 'colonization' aspect of the game. It's really too easy that You can just setup a colony and take no penalties from it at the beginning. There should be some serious maintenance costs!

+1

I also am big on this one!
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ASHBERY76
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by ASHBERY76 »

ORIGINAL: dejagore

@Erik - please do tell me that there will be some tweaks in the 'colonization' aspect of the game. It's really too easy that You can just setup a colony and take no penalties from it at the beginning. There should be some serious maintenance costs!


With a changed and tweaked economy which is promised this hopefully will not be needed.The majority of new colonies make little money your empire anyway as they developed slowly and stay a 0 tax for 20 years.
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adecoy95
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by adecoy95 »

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

ORIGINAL: dejagore

@Erik - please do tell me that there will be some tweaks in the 'colonization' aspect of the game. It's really too easy that You can just setup a colony and take no penalties from it at the beginning. There should be some serious maintenance costs!


With a changed and tweaked economy which is promised this hopefully will not be needed.The majority of new colonies make little money your empire anyway as they developed slowly and stay a 0 tax for 20 years.

its more of an issue with how many 0 tax colonies your able to support, which is as many as you want. at least with the way it is right now
Cauldyth
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Cauldyth »

in Shadows each colony consumes strategic resources based on its size and development. If it doesn't get enough, it won't grow and it will keep demanding those resources even if nothing is being built there.
Maybe the above will help balance it a bit. If colonies are consuming resources, and resources are harder to come by, that could be a natural throttle for expansion speed. Hopefully they consume enough that it's noticeable, but I can't imagine them going to the trouble of implementing this if it's not going to be a significant factor.

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Darkspire
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Darkspire »

ORIGINAL: Cauldyth
in Shadows each colony consumes strategic resources based on its size and development. If it doesn't get enough, it won't grow and it will keep demanding those resources even if nothing is being built there.
Maybe the above will help balance it a bit. If colonies are consuming resources, and resources are harder to come by, that could be a natural throttle for expansion speed. Hopefully they consume enough that it's noticeable, but I can't imagine them going to the trouble of implementing this if it's not going to be a significant factor.


So lets get this right, they are now implementing resources being used on new colonies when we already are suffering 'bottlenecks' on the introduction of the reduced and poorly balanced resources in Legends?

Great idea, add more problems on top before fixing the ones the game already has.

Darkspire
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WoodMan
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by WoodMan »

ORIGINAL: Darkspire

ORIGINAL: Cauldyth
in Shadows each colony consumes strategic resources based on its size and development. If it doesn't get enough, it won't grow and it will keep demanding those resources even if nothing is being built there.
Maybe the above will help balance it a bit. If colonies are consuming resources, and resources are harder to come by, that could be a natural throttle for expansion speed. Hopefully they consume enough that it's noticeable, but I can't imagine them going to the trouble of implementing this if it's not going to be a significant factor.


So lets get this right, they are now implementing resources being used on new colonies when we already are suffering 'bottlenecks' on the introduction of the reduced and poorly balanced resources in Legends?

Great idea, add more problems on top before fixing the ones the game already has.

Darkspire

I've never had a bottleneck. [&:]
Well... once, Cromium, long time ago!
"My body may be confined to this chair, but my mind is free to explore the universe" - Stephen Hawking
Cauldyth
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Cauldyth »

Yeah, can't say resource shortage has ever been a problem for me.
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Kayoz
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Kayoz »

ORIGINAL: Darkspire
So lets get this right, they are now implementing resources being used on new colonies when we already are suffering 'bottlenecks' on the introduction of the reduced and poorly balanced resources in Legends?

Great idea, add more problems on top before fixing the ones the game already has.

Darkspire

Really depends on how it's implemented; how well it's balanced.

That said, it would make it more interesting to have resource usage regardless of one's shipbuilding activities. It seems that mid-game, my freighters are shuffling resources from one planet to another and never really using them. At least till the Shak show up, and I go on a shipbuilding bonanza.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” ― Christopher Hitchens
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Noble713
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Noble713 »

Not in the major areas, the amount of work those require makes opening them up a lot of work. However, all new work keeps modding in mind and we currently plan to make a modder-focused release after Shadows that should make some major strides forward on the modding side rather than incremental ones.

Regards,

- Erik

I think I'll just wait for that expansion. The only thing that has caught my attention in Shadows is the expanded ground combat model, but I'm not sure that's enough for me to fork over $$$ this time. I already haven't played DW in several months because the absence of component modding finally got to me. I'll be sticking with Aurora for the foreseeable future, but dropping in occasionally (like now) to check on DW's progress. Good luck!
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feelotraveller
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by feelotraveller »

ORIGINAL: WoodMan
I've never had a bottleneck. [&:]
Well... once, Cromium, long time ago!

Expand faster and you will see them. Playing on something other than a harsh homeworld start facilitates this.
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feelotraveller
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by feelotraveller »

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

snip

you will be able to start with a planet, with no stations or ships or the tech to build all those possible types, no hyperspace drive and start exploring your own system, building your first space port, mining stations, etc. and trying to defend those and keep growing until you can start to explore the galaxy beyond your own system.

I am very excited for this. Guess I'll never get 4X out of my system.

(Beware the wandering Ardilus. Caused a heap of havoc for several people in one of the clean sheet starts I made with the editor. Probably significant enough of an issue to include code to prevent for these sorts of starts.)
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Darkspire
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Darkspire »

ORIGINAL: feelotraveller

ORIGINAL: WoodMan
I've never had a bottleneck. [&:]
Well... once, Cromium, long time ago!

Expand faster and you will see them. Playing on something other than a harsh homeworld start facilitates this.

Thank you. It has more or less caused me to give up playing DW at present, which considering I bought the complete set in August Im none to happy about. Ill watch to see what happens with Shadows and how it changes things, really was enjoying DW Pre-Legends which is even more annoying.

Darkspire
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Kayoz
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Kayoz »

ORIGINAL: feelotraveller

ORIGINAL: WoodMan
I've never had a bottleneck. [&:]
Well... once, Cromium, long time ago!

Expand faster and you will see them. Playing on something other than a harsh homeworld start facilitates this.

He probably plays races which aren't plagued with this. It's far less likely to be a problem for races that start on continental or marsh worlds.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” ― Christopher Hitchens
Mad Igor
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Mad Igor »

btw,there will be planetary weapons ?like lasers or missiles ? (like SOTS)
without them,sometime one can stuck forever on one planets (pirates,creatures etc.)
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WoodMan
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by WoodMan »

ORIGINAL: Kayoz

ORIGINAL: feelotraveller

ORIGINAL: WoodMan
I've never had a bottleneck. [&:]
Well... once, Cromium, long time ago!

Expand faster and you will see them. Playing on something other than a harsh homeworld start facilitates this.

He probably plays races which aren't plagued with this. It's far less likely to be a problem for races that start on continental or marsh worlds.

Yeah overwhelmingly Human and Harsh homeplanet is what I use. I have played on Normal a couple times though. I personally find the resources part of the game way too easy and always have but I generally play a more relaxed game, not sure what would happen if I played like my life depended on it [:D]
"My body may be confined to this chair, but my mind is free to explore the universe" - Stephen Hawking
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adecoy95
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by adecoy95 »

i get the problem often with the desert starting securian (my preferred race), fortunately they usually have a moon with some of the resources i lack, like steel
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feelotraveller
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by feelotraveller »

ORIGINAL: Darkspire

ORIGINAL: feelotraveller

ORIGINAL: WoodMan
I've never had a bottleneck. [&:]
Well... once, Cromium, long time ago!

Expand faster and you will see them. Playing on something other than a harsh homeworld start facilitates this.

Thank you. It has more or less caused me to give up playing DW at present, which considering I bought the complete set in August Im none to happy about. Ill watch to see what happens with Shadows and how it changes things, really was enjoying DW Pre-Legends which is even more annoying.

Darkspire

Don't give up. Just change your play style a bit.

The primary resource drain is the demand for civilian ships. Civilian ships are generally ordered at 23 per colony if your private sector has the money and lacks the ships (at least in the early game, later game I'm not sure as other limits impinge and I've never been able to keep an exact count...). 4 large freighters, 6 medium freighters, 8 small freighters, 1.5 mining ships, 1.5 gas miners, 2 passenger ships.

So to avoid resource drains avoid building too many, and too large, civilian ships (you can control the public sector construction rate directly). Do this by having the private sector lack the money - harsh homeworld or raising taxes are the easiest ways - or by not adding new colonies. Note that building new spaceports also adds to resource demand as they try to stock up on supplies.

If it is specific resources which are hard to get quantities of later game then change your ship/base designs. Generally, for instance, in a carbon fibre poor galaxy I will have slower ships and use more fuel inefficient engines (more thrust per unit of carbon fibre) and a different mix of weapons.

I look forward to having scarcer resources personally but get the impression that their scarcity may well be controlled by a slider which should keep the maximum amount of people happy. [:)]



Cruis.In
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RE: Distant Worlds: Shadows

Post by Cruis.In »

why is it that sometimes I am stuck building a starport or a larger ship at like 5 modules not built for many months? perhaps a year or more? I have an abundance of resources.
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