Distant Worlds 2 News

Welcome back explorers, 

The wait is finally over. The Aurora update, the biggest update ever made for Distant Worlds 2, is out now and ready for you to explore.

This update brings new features and improvements to the game, including a greatly upgraded engine, enhanced automation, improved fleet management, and much more. With these new additions, players will be able to experience Distant Worlds 2 like never before.

But that's not all. For those of you who want to know every detail of the Aurora update, a detailed changelog is available at this link. This document outlines all the changes made in the update, from major new features to minor bug fixes. Additionally, a list of highlighted changes since release is also available here for those who want a quick overview.

To celebrate the release of the Aurora update, we have organised a special sale for Distant Worlds 2 and Distant Worlds: Universe.

And if you missed Erik's stream on what's new in Distant Worlds 2, don't worry. You can rewatch the stream here.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

During the stream, Erik Rutins, producer and co-designer of Distant Worlds 2, previewed the Aurora update and discussed the future of the game. 

So what are you waiting for? Get ready to experience the ultimate version of Distant Worlds 2 and take your empire to new heights.

The galaxy lives on

Hi everyone,

We have some exciting news for you: tomorrow, February 28th, on our channel there will be a special streaming event with Erik Rutins, producer and co-designer of Distant Worlds 2. Get a reminder here. 

During the stream, Erik will be previewing the upcoming Aurora update, releasing on the March 2nd, which brings new features and improvements to the game. He will also be discussing the future plans for Distant Worlds 2 and what players can expect in the months to come.

This is an amazing opportunity to get an exclusive preview of the new update for Distant Worlds 2, straight from the source. You won't want to miss it!

The streaming event will be taking place on February 28th, so be sure to tune in and join us for what promises to be an incredible showcase of Distant Worlds 2.

See you there!

Changes in 1.0.8.6 (November 25th, 2022):

This new official update includes some very important bug fixes and performance improvements as well as further improvements across a wide range of gameplay areas.  It also allows you for the first time, using the Game Editor, to switch the empire you are playing during the middle of a game.

You can download the update here

CRASH FIXES

• fixed crash when reviewing fleet escort ships
  
• fixed rare crash while fleet performs patrol mission
  
• fixed rare crash while querying display adapter
  
• fixed rare crash when resolving ship jump path location
  
• fixed potential crash when use faulty string formatting placeholders in colony event descriptions
  
• fixed rare crash when determining jump exit point
  
• fixed crash when editing resources at planet in Game Editor
  
• fixed rare crash when ship escorts another ship
  
• fixed rare crash when reviewing fleet lead ship
  
• fixed crash when loading character animations
  
• fixed rare crash when making research breakthrough
  
• fixed crash when calculating construction yard wait time
  
• fixed crash when ship enters hangar
  
• fixed crash when rendering exploration section header
  

PERFORMANCE

• improved performance, especially in large battle scenes
  

FLEET AND SHIP BEHAVIOR

• reduced delays when carriers (and fleets) are waiting for fighters to board before jumping
  
• improved ship collision avoidance to better allow missions where target is close to planet or other large body
  
• improved fleets investigating and clearing dangerous locations: now better focussed on priority locations for colonization, research and mining
  

FUEL TANKERS

• improved fuel tanker evaluation of when to refuel fleet ships versus load more fuel: more likely to refuel fleet ships, even when have to wait for them to exit their current jump
  

COLONIZATION

• automated Colony Ships no longer pre-load colonists for non-queued colonization targets when target does not meet minimum suitability threshold defined in empire policy. This eliminates repeated load/unload of colonists in some situations
  
• fixed bug where maximum colonization range was sometimes being applied incorrectly, improperly excluding some colonization targets
  
• automated colonization now more willing to colonize independent colonies even when have unsuitable race
  

EXPLORATION

• exploration ships now better at prioritizing planets and moons before asteroids when exploring a location
  
• ensure exploration countdown always reset between exploration targets, especially when performing Explore System mission
  
• ensure correct message shown when investigate ship that explodes
  

ABANDONED SHIPS AND BASES

• ensure construction ship repairing abandoned ships or bases now take ownership of ship when complete, even when other ships are nearby
  

DANGEROUS LOCATIONS

• improved logic to review and remove Dangerous Locations where threats are no longer present
  
• now indicate dangerous locations in additional lists, e.g. Abandoned Ships and Bases, thus helping player to avoid queuing construction/repair at locations with threats present
  

RESEARCH

• changed research project prerequisite path minimum count to default to 1 instead of total prerequisite path count (can override with PrerequisiteProjectsMinimumPathCount)
  
• empires now less likely to crash research higher level research projects (instead use money for other items)
  
• improved research project selection in various areas
  

DIPLOMACY AND EMPIRE REPUTATION

• when an empire is vassalized it will immediately end all wars with other empires unless those other empires are already at war with subjugating empire
  
• ensure diplomacy trade offers always exclude special locations where abandoned ships or bases have already been claimed by other empires
  
• updated some empire reputation incident amounts and decay rates
  

SLAVERY

• slavery population policy now properly adds to colony unhappiness ('We are enraged at your enslavement of our population')
  
• increased unhappiness impact on other colonies from slavery and extermination population policies at any colony ('ENSLAVED RACE are unhappy being part of our RACE empire')
  
• slavery population policy now severely slows population growth and assimilation
  

CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR

• fixed bug where bases built at independent colonies could not be retrofitted unless the colony had adequate resources
  
• increased range at which bases and colonies will auto-construct/repair damaged or incomplete ships
  
• altered automated ship and base construction to give higher priority to initial research station over additional exploration ships and military ships
  
• 
  

FACILITIES

• AI now properly also considers income increase from improved quality when determining whether to build terraforming facilities at a colony
  

USER INTERFACE

• Enemy Targets list filter options now show correct list items even when warring empires change (e.g. a war starts or ends)
  
• ensure Mining Stations list shows mining stations at locations with no known resources when sorting by priority
  
• ensure system summary (bottom-middle of screen) refreshes when zoom to selected ship
  
• fixed bug where tour window was sometimes not properly displayed
  

EMPIRE COLORS AND FLAGS

• improved empire color selection to minimize similarity between empires
  
• fixed bug where empire colors could sometimes be white (should only be for independent colonies)
  
• changed Flag selection dropdown in Start New Game screen to display available flags in grid layout instead of vertical list
  

GAME EDITOR AND TESTING

• added ability to play as any standard empire in the game. Can switch player empire in Game Editor (Edit Empire > switch button). This is included for our own testing to help us improve the AI, but you may also find it a fun option. If you spot a problem with the AI decision-making while using this, please do report it to us.
  
• ensured that Suppress All Popups game setting always works, even for initial pirate encounter. With this change and usine Rule in Absence and the "Always Investigate" exploration policy settings, fully automated games without interruption should now be possible.
  

SOUND

• ensured sound effect volume always applies for button clicks, etc, even in main menu
  

DATA

• Reduced costs for Diplomacy tech projects
  
• Corrected some typos in game events
  
• Added additional late game research paths from Haakonish and Zenox unique weapons
  
• Corrected a research bonus issue with the Koloros Medical facility
  

OTHER

• fixed debris fields often being generated at home planet
  
• fixed Hive ships sometimes not mining fuel properly
  
• added missing automation setting in race policy files
  

Slitherine Next is approaching: only few days left and you will get to know more about our greatest 2023 releases and big updates for already released franchises.

Join us at 4 pm UK time to celebrate the launch of Master of Magic for the pre-show of #SlitherineNext, where Mila “Yuuki” from Muha games, Alberto & Edmon will stream the game.

Are you ready?

Slitherine Next, the spiritual successor of our Home of Wargamers events, is coming soon.
Save the date: December 13th at 4 pm GMT on Twitch

It'll be the perfect occasion to learn more about upcoming games and get an insight directly from the developers.

It will be 100% live: there will be no pre-recorded segments and we'll have a level of interaction with the players like never before. You'll be able to ask us anything and be answered directly by the developers.

Stay tuned for the full schedule!