Distant Worlds 2 News

A new update of Distant Worlds 2 (1.0.3.7) has been released, here's what's new:

CRASH FIXES
- reduced likelihood of hangs before autosaving
- added fix for rare memory corruption when animating space creatures
- fixed crash when adding diplomatic incident
- fixed crash when updating ship engine exhaust
- fixed crash when calculating ship collision avoidance
- fixed crash when resolving character mission location description
- fixed crash when drawing troop summary
- fixed crash when determining resource prices
- fixed crash when determining fleet systems within engagement range
- fixed crash when evaluating threats to ship or base
- fixed crash when fixing ships in a location
- fixed crash when updating location for fighters onboard a carrier
- fixed crash when rendering message
- fixed crash when firing weapons
- fixed crash when rendering character traits
- fixed crash when determining retrofit resources for a ship or base
- fixed crash when finding nearest refuelling point
- fixed crash when drawing empire relation in diplomacy screen
- fixed crash when determining empire mining targets
- fixed rare crash when loading some older savegames
- fixed crash when switching camera modes
- reworked some rendering to further minimize DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED crashes
- fixed crash when evaluating threats
- fixed crash when calculating location visibility level
- fixed crash when rendering research screen
- fixed crash when examining recent trade deals
- fixed crash when extracting resources
- fixed crash when identifying independent repair bases
- fixed crash when fulfilling resource orders
- fixed crash when sorting items while determining mining targets
- fixed crash when executing action
- fixed crash when calculating construction yard wait time
- fixed crash when identifying refuelling points
- fixed crash when rendering ship or base summary
- fixed crash when drawing construction yard summary
- fixed crash when updating ship engine exhaust
- fixed crash when preparing ship for retrofit
- fixed crash when changing ship empire
- fixed crash when obtaining fleet template designs per role
- fixed crash when auto-assigning scout mission to exploration ship
- fixed crash when launching assault pod
- fixed crash when updating user interface controls
- fixed crash when refreshing graphics setup
- fixed crash when checking whether ship is in battle
- fixed crash when checking for appearance of hive threat
- fixed crash when completing ship command
- fixed crash when planet removed in game editor
- fixed crash when calculating ship collision avoidance
- fixed crash when drawing system exploration data
- fixed crash when drawing system summary
- fixed crash when editing bonuses in game editor
- fixed crash when drawing research button
- fixed crash when updating tourism/migration/resource flow data
- fixed crash when adding diplomatic relation incident
- fixed crash when rendering creature effects
- fixed crash when rendering map overlay buttons
- fixed crash when reviewing army templates
- fixed crash when updating character bonuses
- fixed crash when processing ships and bases
- fixed crash when inflicting ion damage from nebula storms
- fixed crash when removing weapon blast from location
- fixed crash when ship unloads passengers
- fixed crash when generating new character
- fixed crash when building facility
- updated Harmony library to resolve some problems


PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
- improved general performance, especially in very large games
- further adjustments to some map overlays to improve performance (long range scanners, exploration, diplomacy)
- added new default system badge mode (Basic) with smaller, simplified badges when zoomed out to galaxy level. Extended mode is same as previous Basic mode
- improved general performance relating to fleet operations
- fixed occasional hang when fleets bombard colonies
- fixed occasional performance 'stuttering'
- fixed ship movement sometimes being jerky when zoom into same location
- improved rendering performance for map overlays: exploration, diplomacy long range scanners


SYSTEM BADGES AND MAP OVERLAYS
- fixed clickable regions for new basic system badges
- ensure map buttons retain highlight state when apply changes to graphics settings
- altered map overlay buffer format (long range scanners, exploration, diplomacy) to improve overlay opacity and visibility


SAVEGAMES
- updated autosave timer logic to ensure save at specified intervals. Reminder that paused time does not count towards autosave interval
- now check for low disk space when saving game and send warning message if needed
- more graceful handling of savegame failures for whatever reason


OTHER CHANGES
- fixed slow initial zoom-in when start new game
- now purge old low-priority empire messages
- altered texture streaming memory budget to be more generous when no shared system memory allocated
- waypointing ships now properly slow to a stop while waiting for other fleet ships to arrive
- fixed bug when performing jump pathfinding
- fixed colony bombardment ship range when colony has long range defensive weapons (previously ships were too cautious to approach colony when tactics were Evade)
- updated values for planetary shield facilities
- data fixes to allow planetary destroyer to be built again
- fixed Load Fleet Template dialog to properly load from FleetTemplates sub-folder (same folder as Save Fleet Template)
- exploration and diplomacy map overlays now auto-enable when in relevant UI area
- long range scanner, exploration and diplomacy map overlays now more opaque
- The resource and credit discount on Planet Destroyer hulls has come to an end
- Ship hull fixes for certain freighters and transports
- Fixes to component data typos and some tweaks some of which affect the permissible slot sizes for certain late game weapons
- Additional story event fixes
- Fixes for some facility upgrade issues due to incorrect IDs in the facility data

Hello everyone,

a new update for Distant Worlds 2 went live, here is the changelog:

CRASH FIXES

- fixed crash when ship performs collision avoidance
- fixed crash when ship determines large items to avoid
- fixed crash when completing spy mission
- fixed crash when finding nearest refuelling point
- fixed rare crash during rendering
- fixed rare crash when generating tool tips
- fixed rare crash when investigating abandoned ships or bases
- fixed crash when drawing animated characters
- fixed crash when creature moves to new location
- fixed crash when evaluating threats
- fixed crash when rendering system badges
- fixed crash when ship destroyed
- fixed crash when assigning ship mission
- fixed crash when rendering ship and base symbols
- fixed crash when updating empire territory
- fixed crash when ship exits hyperjump
- fixed crash when rendering effects
- fixed crash when identifying refuelling points
- fixed crash when reviewing fleet escort ships
- fixed crash when ship is refuelling
- fixed crash when finding fastest construction yard
- fixed crash when determining blockaded locations
- fixed crash when artifact changes location
- fixed crash when notifying empire of attack
- fixed rare crash when add display effect
- fixed rare crash when rotating stars and planets
- fixed crash when moving weapon blast
- fixed crash when updating nebula storm clouds
- fixed crash when ship or base destroyed
- fixed crash when showing message
- fixed rare crash when ship fires weapons at attackers
- fixed crash when adding resource/tourism/migration flow data
- fixed rare crash when generating tool tips
- fixed crash when drawing nebula storm clouds
- fixed crash when ship or base destroyed
- fixed crash when directing fleet escorts
- fixed crash when updating nebula cloud rendering
- fixed crash when resolving trade offer description
- fixed crash when getting fleet jump speed
- fixed crash when processing ship
- fixed crash when processing location effects
- fixed crash when checking for active hyperdeny at a location
- fixed crash when generating task to queue construction of a base at a location
- fixed rare crash when evaluating collision avoidance factors
- fixed rare crash when assigning ship mission
- fixed rare crash when determining whether to accept treaty
- fixed rare crash when checking whether a fleet should retreat from a battle
- fixed crash when obtaining ruins and wonders at a location
- fixed crash when drawing research project summary
- fixed rare crash when ship or base fires weapons at attackers
- fixed rare crash when colony conquered by invasion
- fixed rare crash when selecting random resource
- fixed rare crash when determining diplomatic strategies with other empires
- changed how colony city night lights are handled to minimize video memory usage
- improved game update cycle to eliminate possible threading issues during game saves
- fixed crash when evaluating ship boarding status
- fixed rare crash when ship or base fires weapons
- fixed rare crash when finding nearest refuelling point
- fixed rare crash when colony wiped out
- now more careful with handling missing game settings files
- fixed bug where economy line items were often not being updated (introduced in 1.0.3.1)
- added fixes to greatly reduce number of DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED crashes
- fixed crash when fleet evaluates whether to invade colony
- fixed crash when ship fires intercept weapons
- fixed crash when determine empire migration sources
- fixed crash when getting native creature habitats
- fixed crash when updating user interface controls
- fixed crash when updating ship engine exhaust
- fixed crash with sorting when finding nearest refuelling point
- fixed crash when drawing empire relation
- fixed rare crash when drawing troops and characters
- now handle access denied error when saving game settings or game start settings files

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

- improved rendering performance when in research screen
- slightly improved general performance

ADDITIONAL LOGGING

- added functionality to automatically send crash logs to dev team (prompts player to send in next game session)

OTHER CHANGES

- additional data fixes for certain small troop transport ship hulls and certain artifacts
- now display message to indicate when auto-saving the game
- fixed cluster galaxies sometimes generating star systems outside playable area
- data fixes to certain ship hull data typos for troop transports and some stations
- data fixes for various story event issues
- research project tree fixes for various fallback and prerequisite paths, mainly to fix the armor tree
- Defensive bases can now be research one Tech Level earlier on the Research Tree

ADDITIONAL CHANGES
- added Harmony modding support to DW2

[h3]Distant Worlds 2 - Latest Update (1.0.2.8)[/h3]

Latest Troubleshooting FAQ HERE

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are still having any crash or launch issues with DW2, we recommend taking the following steps prior to playing with 1.0.2.6 to make sure corruption from previous crashes is not causing any ongoing issues:

1. Delete the gamesettings and gamestartsettings files in the /data/ sub-folder of your installation directory (In Steam right-click on the game in your library, then choose Properties -> Local Files -> Browse. On GOG you can find this through Manage Installation -> Show Folder).
2. Delete any old saved games in the /data/savedgames sub-folder of your installation directory.
3. Verify all installation files (in Steam right-click on the game in your library, then choose Properties -> Local Files -> Verify Integrity of Game Files. On GOG it is Manage Installation -> Verify/Repair).
4. If you still experience issues, please check in on the tech support sub-forum at Matrix Games or Steam and follow the reporting procedures there to share your log files with us.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is now a new SessionLog.txt log file in the /data/logs sub-folder of the Distant Worlds 2 installation.

This is also where any crashdump logs are located. If you are experiencing an issue, please share both your SessionLog.txt and any Crashdump logs for us along with the issue report.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a new GameSettingsOverride.txt in the /data sub-folder of the Distant Worlds 2 installation.

The settings here may help some players experiencing a black screen on load issue. Details on this are in the Troubleshooting FAQ above.

Do you ever find yourself explaining how best to approach a game, but still failing to take that approach yourself, and getting frustrated with it?

After spending far, far too long trying to obsessively control every detail of Distant Worlds 2, I've accepted that I need to take my own advice and work with its macromanagement systems instead. They are, after all, the reason its ludicrous scale is workable at all beyond the opening hours, and a major reason its predecessor was so interesting and forward-thinking to begin with. But they are also a source of great friction and confusion, especially if you don't take the time to learn how they actually work.

Distant Worlds 2 is, ultimately, a game that you need to meet in the middle. Consequently, it's one that I can only partially recommend. But I really do recommend it for that part.

Read more

[h3]Distant Worlds 2 - Latest Update (1.0.2.6)[/h3]

Latest Troubleshooting FAQ HERE

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are still having any crash or launch issues with DW2, we recommend taking the following steps prior to playing with 1.0.2.6 to make sure corruption from previous crashes is not causing any ongoing issues:

1. Delete the gamesettings and gamestartsettings files in the /data/ sub-folder of your installation directory (In Steam right-click on the game in your library, then choose Properties -> Local Files -> Browse. On GOG you can find this through Manage Installation -> Show Folder).
2. Delete any old saved games in the /data/savedgames sub-folder of your installation directory.
3. Verify all installation files (in Steam right-click on the game in your library, then choose Properties -> Local Files -> Verify Integrity of Game Files. On GOG it is Manage Installation -> Verify/Repair).
4. If you still experience issues, please check in on the tech support sub-forum at Matrix Games or Steam and follow the reporting procedures there to share your log files with us.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is now a new SessionLog.txt log file in the /data/logs sub-folder of the Distant Worlds 2 installation.

This is also where any crashdump logs are located. If you are experiencing an issue, please share both your SessionLog.txt and any Crashdump logs for us along with the issue report.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a new GameSettingsOverride.txt in the /data sub-folder of the Distant Worlds 2 installation.

The settings here may help some players experiencing a black screen on load issue. Details on this are in the Troubleshooting FAQ above.