Distant Worlds: Universe annouced!

[Darkspire]

Okay, this is getting weirder:  The music plays just fine when I run Universe on the Win7 half of my hard drive.  It's only the copy of Universe on the XP half where I'm having trouble getting the music to play.  ???

And I am still on XP, that figures  ;D

Darkspire

[Nefaro]

Total Conversions - if so, which ones?

Warhammer 40k  O0

That would be pretty awesome.

[Nefaro]

Set Tech to Very Expensive makes for a more drawn out game that doesn't feel like a click fest.

I regularly did this with the previous DW games I started.  Wanted to make the techs relevant for a longer period instead of just being quick stepping stones.

[Kushan]

You guys might already have noticed, but I saw a couple of UI improvement while watching Larry Montes Universe LP I thought I'd share.

You can now scale the images of ships and bases in game. In the design menu, right above the ship/base image is the scaling option.

When you right click on a planet, the planet itself is now included in the list with the ships/bases.

Set Tech to Very Expensive makes for a more drawn out game that doesn't feel like a click fest.

Even with the tech set to normal, DW is hardly a click fest.

[Yskonyn]

I've got an interesting starting position!
I've just got the first Hyperdrive tech and started venturing beyond my system's borders, only to find the homeworld of the Ancient Guardians on my doorstep!
I hope the screenshot is big enough; Take a look at their facilities on their homeworld and notice they have Loros Fruit (which they will never trade)! I guess Utopia is a great name for the colony indeed! :D



Better keep them close and don't piss them off.

In case you're wondering which mods I am using;
A custom galaxy backdrop that was posted on DW forums way back. It has a purple center and nice blueish border. Easy on the eyes and looks fantastic.

Das123's UI mod (blue version) with cursors and flags.

A custom shield hit mod which was posted way back (not visible on the screenshot)

Manually edited weapons effects mod, originally by Tyrador. It makes some weapons have a much more glowy effect.

Manually edited exhaust effects (cannot remember the original author) where I have changed the colours back into the scheme used by default to avoid confusion. The effects themselves are much sharper and better scaled.

Apart from Das' mod (which can be found here: Das Chrome Mod thread I can offer my custom graphics collection with some hard to find sprites for those interested.

[Ian C]

This is a superb game.
Every move I make has to take careful diplomacy and future ramifications into account. I'm really thinking on a grand strategic level, as opposed to merely playing on it, as most games do. I'm planning years ahead, forming contingencies and creating plans, forging relations and alliances.

One hell of a space battle just occurred with my best fleets against the enemies' (Boscara Conformity) combined forces. I had to pull two fleets away from defending pirate raids and left those systems open for attack. War Weariness was running through my empire after 5 years of war and then the Boscara sued for peace after one final spectacular battle. I took their peace offer. Now they've started a war in the northern sectors against another empire.

Their attention and resources are diverted and I could strike a deep blow against them but this would ruin my overall trust and relations with the other empires who would place trade sanctions on me...

Freaking great game. Totally immersive.

It's my first game: Ancient Universe custom game,  Pre-warp. Largest galaxy size, Human, no space monsters.

[Rayfer]

My feelings exactly Ian C....I love this game!

[JasonPratt]

Let's go back a second: prior versions can be registered on Steam? (I have everything up until Universe.)

That would be handy for autopatching at the very least.

[FlickJax]

My feelings exactly Ian C....I love this game!

I try to but so far my attempts make me feel like the game is playing me and not the other way around.  Also I never could seem to win a planetary battle, no matter how many fleets i committed.

I think it may be down to my non ability to read PDFs and instructions on screen; I miss paper :)

[steve58]

Let's go back a second: prior versions can be registered on Steam? (I have everything up until Universe.)

That would be handy for autopatching at the very least.

I think only DW: Universe can be registered on Steam. (Universe includes the base game plus all previous DLC plus new stuff).

(If you have everything pre-Universe (the base game+DLCs), register them on Matrixgames.  That'll give you a discount code to use to get up to $40 off Universe.  You can then buy Universe for $10.  Then you go to Slitherine and register Universe there to get a Steam code for Universe.  Go activate Universe on Steam. Kinda convoluted, but it worked)

[Rayfer]

I have it all including Universe, all on my computer through Matrix.  I have the Steam key but haven't used it.  Other than ease of patching....is there any other reasons why I should delete the games completely and reinstall them on Steam?

[Yskonyn]

I have it all including Universe, all on my computer through Matrix.  I have the Steam key but haven't used it.  Other than ease of patching....is there any other reasons why I should delete the games completely and reinstall them on Steam?

No not really. Unless you care for your friendslist, an hours played counter and in the future the Steam overlay (which isn't supported yet AFAIK ).

Jason, you can only get a Steam key from Universe. The other expansions do count towards a hefty discount on Universe in the matrix store, though.
If you register All your keys on there you just buy Universe with a nice discount (automatically checked by the store, so be sure to verify you registered All titles before ordering ). After that you can go to a link given on the DW forums to get a Steam key with your DW:U serial.
After this its up to you what you want; keep running the matrix version or run the Steam version.

[Nefaro]

I think it may be down to my non ability to read PDFs and instructions on screen; I miss paper :)

I solved this problem by getting a Kindle Fire tablet.  It's almost exclusively used for reading PDF manuals and some books, although I do have a few games on it that I almost never play.  So many damn PDF manuals, I have a ton of them loaded up.  :)

[Ian C]

I solved this problem by getting a Kindle Fire tablet.

Ditto. Highly recommended. PDF manuals are now a pleasure to read.

[Darkspire]

I solved this problem by getting a Kindle Fire tablet.

Ditto. Highly recommended. PDF manuals are now a pleasure to read.

I have toyed with the idea of going all TNG, do you have any idea how many PDF's you can store on the default medium? Did you upgrade the memory to hold more? I have hundreds and hundreds, would be good to to be able to access them easier than a second monitor.

Darkspire