Distant Worlds 2 Formal Announcement

[FarAway Sooner]

If you're not a fan of the pre-Warp start, the game lets you very simply select out of that.  I think it makes a good starting point for the first play-through, as it gives you a chance to familiarize yourself with what's going on.  It also gives me the time to savor stuff happening in the early game, such that it makes it more of an immersive role-playing experience for me.

For folks who want to jump right through it, the game gives you that option readily.  The customization options at start-up are rich.  I'm enjoying it so far, although I've only played an hour or two.  The slow pre-warp starts feels much more plausible to me than the "sprint out of the gate to explore your solar system and move beyond" pacing of most such games. 

For my first play-through, I'm pretty much automating everything and just observing.  I feel more like I'm cheering for my civilization than actually governing them!   <:-)

[Geezer]

1.0.2.2 is out:

Changes in the 1.0.2.2 build:

CRASH FIXES
- fixed some further DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED errors
- fixed crash when calculating population defend strength at a colony
- fixed crash in Abandoned Ship and Bases list when use sort 'Distance from Spaceport'
- fixed rare hang when ship attack mission gets stuck

RENDERING
- IMPORTANT CHANGE: Changed default back buffer format to use Standard Range rendering. This may help some who are experiencing black screens at startup, but it will also reduce the quality of some visuals. If you were not previously having problems with black screens or crashes then you can revert to High Dynamic Range rendering in the in-game Game Settings to restore the visuals to their previous quality.
- improved performance when long range scanner map overlay enabled

TROOPS
- changed meaning of colony automation setting 'Automate Infantry Recruitment and Garrison' to now include all troop types, i.e. 'Automate Troop Recruitment and Garrison'
- lowered attack troop recruitment levels, especially for large empires
- added automation icons to Selection Panel to indicate colony automation status for troop recruitment and resource stock levels

HIVE AND PLANET DESTROYER
- added diplomatic incident and reputation impact from using planet destroyer against colonies
- improved movement of planet destroyer ship to better avoid clipping planet surfaces
- capped maximum bonus levels for Hive ships when salvage debris or raid colonies and bases

OTHER
- improved calculation of optimal attack range against targets based on weapon ranges (ship/base attacks and bombarding colonies)
- reviewed policy setting for intelligence mission caution so that aligns with revised mission difficulties. Tooltip explains success chance per level
- empire systems no longer start inside nebulae
- fixed occasional faulty ETA display for transferring artifacts
- fixed population policy window not scrolling with mouse wheel when colony detail panel also open
- fixed blank or incorrect startup colony and base stock levels when colony stock level automation is manually controlled
- Additional data fixes for a few missing weapon sounds, certain missing component/hull resource costs, a few event fixes

[devoncop]

Just for info...as part of the solution for the folk who have been getting crashes (I still haven't had one) the default settings now disable HDR so graphical quality will be lower but it can be restored by going into game settings if like me you jave had no crashing issues.

[W8taminute]

Thankfully I've had no crashes so far. 

I'm really digging this game but find I can only play it in small chunks at a time.  I started a pre-warp game and for the first 4 hours or so there wasn't too much to do.  I'm playing with everything set to automatic.  However I just discovered my first colonization module and colonized two worlds now.  Things are starting to pick up and I'm slowly turning off some of the automanaged stuff so that I can get a more hands on experience. 

I think this game has great potential and will stay on my hard drive for some time.

[solops]

This game is my nomination for "Disappointment of the Year."  Every game I play ends the same way - about four hours in, when the third tier of tech is just starting to be researched, the game shuts down and reboots my PC, even after reinstallation and updates. My machine is also updated and trouble free. Every other game runs fine, including TW Warhammer 3. Big, big disappointment.

[W8taminute]

^It's a shame but I agree with you solops.  Quite frankly I never made to the stage where the game crashed on me because I stopped playing it after being bored to tears beyond recognition.

Perhaps someday, I'll revisit this game again, especially if it gets support from the devs to work out the bugs. 

[Jarhead0331]

^It's a shame but I agree with you solops.  Quite frankly I never made to the stage where the game crashed on me because I stopped playing it after being bored to tears beyond recognition.

Perhaps someday, I'll revisit this game again, especially if it gets support from the devs to work out the bugs.

Regretfully, I feel the same. The only tech issue I had was having to mess with the dpi settings in order to get it to run in 4k. The bigger problem for me was that it just wasn't all that good. It did not grab me like the original did. I struggle with the UI and game mechanics and it just wasn't enjoyable enough to want to make me suffer long enough to learn what is supposed to be a refined system.

I'm sure I'll pick it up again and maybe I'll end up liking it, but for now...also, very disappointed. Was probably my most anticipated release in years.

[devoncop]

^It's a shame but I agree with you solops.  Quite frankly I never made to the stage where the game crashed on me because I stopped playing it after being bored to tears beyond recognition.

Perhaps someday, I'll revisit this game again, especially if it gets support from the devs to work out the bugs.

Regretfully, I feel the same. The only tech issue I had was having to mess with the dpi settings in order to get it to run in 4k. The bigger problem for me was that it just wasn't all that good. It did not grab me like the original did. I struggle with the UI and game mechanics and it just wasn't enjoyable enough to want to make me suffer long enough to learn what is supposed to be a refined system.

I'm sure I'll pick it up again and maybe I'll end up liking it, but for now...also, very disappointed. Was probably my most anticipated release in years.

+1

I didnt mind the UI which I thought was a big improvement on the first game but it was basically released unfinished which something I associate with Paradox rather than Matrix so very disappointed.
More races,fleshed out mechanics and better AI behaviour for things like fuel tankers, player fleets etc may get me back but for now I am out.

I have high hopes for the Steam release of Old World and maybe Wartales to brighten up my summer so fingers crossed.

[Ian C]

This game is my nomination for "Disappointment of the Year."  Every game I play ends the same way - about four hours in, when the third tier of tech is just starting to be researched, the game shuts down and reboots my PC, even after reinstallation and updates. My machine is also updated and trouble free. Every other game runs fine, including TW Warhammer 3. Big, big disappointment.

Something is very wrong here and I think Matrix needs to know about it. Any app that causes system instability is a liability.

[solops]

This game is my nomination for "Disappointment of the Year."  Every game I play ends the same way - about four hours in, when the third tier of tech is just starting to be researched, the game shuts down and reboots my PC, even after reinstallation and updates. My machine is also updated and trouble free. Every other game runs fine, including TW Warhammer 3. Big, big disappointment.

Something is very wrong here and I think Matrix needs to know about it. Any app that causes system instability is a liability.

Oh yeah. I've been screaming about it for several patches. Even posted a save game and dxdiag and a game session log in  a dedicated Matrix thread. No substantial reply.

[ArizonaTank]

Maybe they should have just released it as early access. 

[bobarossa]

I didn't have any of the crashing problems that some people experience but it might be that I never played to far into the game.  It simply felt like a reskinned DW:U with a better UI.  Quit after a week.

[RedArgo]

I didn't have any of the crashing problems that some people experience but it might be that I never played to far into the game.  It simply felt like a reskinned DW:U with a better UI.  Quit after a week.

Same experience for me, only 10 hours in, but no crashes and I'm bored.  It has been a few years, maybe more, since I played DW, but this really feels like the same game, whatever game play changes were made are lost to me since I end up automating so much stuff to keep from getting information overload.

I'll keep checking in on it, but maybe this style of 4x just isn't for me anymore.  Interstellar Space: Genesis, while not at all perfect, has been the most fun for me recently and I see they have a new DLC in the works.

[solops]

I am getting the game to run, but it has taken a bit to figure out (again) how to play. I remember DW1 had a "fun" problem on release. It took them a while to get that ironed out. Most of that is, I think, already in DW2, but I am having to rediscover how to play. For some reason, the MM seems a bit heavier than I remember. I also have figured out that you REALLY want to start  "later", i.e. NO to Pre-Warp.  Starting with a bit of tech and even more than one planet really does help get past the early thumb-twiddling of building up to the point that you can actually DO something.

[FarAway Sooner]

I am not as down on the game as some of you.  I'm being very patient with it, and took a break for a few weeks to let them work out a few issues.  I think expecting a game this complex to be ready to handle like an Italian sports car straight out of release is, errrr, optimistic.

It's not a home run, and at this stage, it is quite representative of the old game.  That said, the only reason that I stopped playing the old game was because of UI challenges and an AI that was frustratingly brain-dead on occasion.  The verdict on this one as a finished work is still months away (or years, if you're comparing it to the end state of DW:U after numerous expansions and DLC).

I'll be curious to see where they take the game from here.