1.3.0.3 Public Beta Update Available

[MaximKI]

Hi everyone,

Please try this new beta and let us know if it helps your game. We encourage you to start a new game as there may be changes that only take effect upon starting a new game.

To facilitate frequent beta iterations as needed, this beta is only available for now on Steam and GOG. All Matrix customers also have a free Steam key available (through your My Page) which can be activated if desired to install DW2 via Steam and test this Beta there.

On Steam, you can switch to it by going to Distant Worlds 2 in your Steam Library, right-clicking on it, choosing Properties -> Betas -> then choosing the latest beta branch from the drop-down list and allowing Steam to update your game. If it updates correctly, you should see the latest beta version listed as your version in-game on the bottom right.

On GOG, you can switch to it by going to Distant Worlds 2 in your GOG Library, selecting Distant Worlds 2, then clicking on the button next to "Play" that looks like two horizontal lines with small offset circles, choosing Manage Installation -> Configure then picking the latest Beta from the Beta channels drop-down list and allowing GOG to update.

The Core game engine has been upgraded to use newer versions of Stride and .NET. We now include .NET in the game executable, so no additional external .NET redistributables are required.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you still experience crashes with 1.0.6.4 or later, especially crashes in battle, please try the new DXVK rendering option in the game settings. This can be found under "Rendering Mode", which can be switched from DirectX 11 to DXVK. DXVK is only guaranteed to work with the SDR (Standard Definition Rendering) option in your game settings. It may work with some HDR (High Definition Rendering) settings, but we do not advise trying those at this time. The DXVK option willl likely resolve many issues caused by driver bugs or incompatibilities.

If you try this setting and the game does not launch, please note the command line option in the changes below to switch back to DirectX 11. (To force DirectX on launch, add --use-dx11 as a command-line argument to DistantWorlds2.exe)

Changes in 1.3.0.3 (April 14th, 2025)

CRASH FIXES
- fixed rare crash when resolving message images

SHIP AUTOMATION
- automated ships will now escape/retreat (when tactics specify) even when loading cargo (e.g. Fuel Tankers) as long as not docked inside base

FLEET AUTOMATION
- automated fleets are now more careful about avoiding attacking a threat to a fleet ship when the fleet ship is not at the fleet location or within the fleet's engagement zone. This can especially happen with Fuel Tankers as they obtain fuel at distant locations- changed default value for new Fleet Templates to Allow Auto-Upgrading

Changes in 1.3.0.2 (April 11th, 2025)

CRASH FIXES
- fixed rare crash when determining fastest construction yard for retrofit

FLEET IMPROVEMENTS
- FLEET TEMPLATES
- added new option Fleet Templates List screen to allow/disallow Auto-Upgrading for each fleet template. Click on column to toggle
- changed default value for new Fleet Templates to Allow Auto-Upgrading
- automated fleet creation now strictly follows Fleet Template setting for Role Up/DownGrade, i.e. will not select ships of different role if turned off for template
- increased number of Fuel Tankers in default Attack Fleet Template
- added Fuel Tankers to default Invasion Fleet Template
- FLEET TOPUP
- fleet topup now considers existing fleet ships as matching the template, even when using specific designs in the template, as long as the ship will retrofit to the specified design (Retrofit Path). Thus it is usually best to first Retrofit a fleet, then Topup
- FUEL TANKERS
- Fuel Tankers in a fleet will now respond to 'Refuel from Tankers' mission even when the tankers are set to manual control

UI IMPROVEMENTS
- when your empire has reserved funds (saving up for Colony Ships, etc) then indicate by changing color of cash amount to yellow in header bar (hover for details)

RESEARCH
- added Extremely Slow Research speed option in Start New Game screen. This new setting is half the speed of Very Slow research speed

GOVERNMENTS
- ensure Refugee Fleet factions (e.g. initial Shakturi arrival) can always establish outposts, even when suitability at target planet is extremely low
- feudalism average time between change of leaders set to 25 years instead of 20

RACES
- mortalen received a minor buff to their race bonuses

BOMBARDMENT
- plagues and other colony events no longer block bombardment from completely eliminating the population at a colony or outpost

FACTION DLC FIXES AND CHANGES
- ikkuro received a minor buff to their race bonuses
- quameno received a buff to their research bonus and a decrease to integration unhappiness
- increased frequency of Gizurean Tribal Conflicts event
- turning off Race Victory conditions in game setup now also properly turn off Atuuk Great Direction victory objectives. The Great Directions will still occur, but there will be no related victory objective for each direction

Changes in 1.3.0.1 (April 9th, 2025)

CRASH FIXES
- fixed rare crash when setting image for new random character

FLEET IMPROVEMENTS
- FLEET TEMPLATES
- changed fleet engagement ranges: FuelRange50 is now FuelRange40 (40%), FuelRange33 is now FuelRange30 (30%)
- added unit range details to description of Nearby engagement range setting (5000 units)
- fixed Set Fleet Role buttons not working in Fleets list
- auto-generated fleets now select better fleet template based on highest available military ship role
- improved fleet template selection to also consider total number of ship roles covered (in addition to highest ship role in template)
- changed automated fleet template upgrading to only apply to starting fleet templates (e.g. 'Attack Fleet - Escorts'). Thus any player-created fleet templates will not auto-upgrade
- FLEET POLICIES
- added new empire policy settings to control maximum auto-response range for Manual and Invasion fleets. By default these are set to 'Nearby' threats, but can be increased to Location- or System-level. See Fleets section of Empire Policy screen for details
- FLEET BEHAVIOR
- fleet ships now exit hyperjump in formation, even when jumping to non-specific target (e.g. galaxy coordinates)
now exclude fleet ships that cannot jump (e.g. damaged hyperdrive) when synchronizing fleet jumps while waiting for fleet fighters to board their carriers. This ensures that fleet jumps do not get held up by damaged carriers. This can especially be a problem when Fleet Ship Management is manually-controlled and the player chooses not to remove damaged ships from the fleet

FLEET TOPUP
- fixed Fleet Top Up process sometimes mistakenly removing too many ships when Trim Excess is enabled for fleet template
- Top Up Fleet button tooltip now also shows ships that will be removed (by role) when Trim Excess is enabled for fleet template
- Top Up Fleet button tooltip now also shows unaffordable ships that will not be built, along with cost
- Top Up Fleet button is now properly disabled when will not change fleet composition (no ships added or removed)
- fixed minor text layout issues in Top Up Fleet button tooltip
- manually-initiated fleet topup now forces removal of any excess ships (as defined by the fleet template)
- improved automated fleet topup logic when fleet template items use 'Latest Design for Largest Hull for Role'

FUEL TANKERS
- increased willingness of automated Fuel Tankers to refuel ships (higher fuel threshold)
- Fuel Tankers in a fleet are now excluded from following fleet override tactics, thus allowing them to behave differently and avoid engaging in battle

DIPLOMACY
- fixed diplomatic trades and gifts from advisor suggestions not reaching recipient
- fixed sometimes getting duplicate acknowledgement messages after giving diplomatic gifts or trades

TOURISM
- ensure independent colonies properly display scenery bonuses in the New Resort Locations list

ATUUK AND WEKKARUS DLC
- fixed Atuuk Great One event sometimes incorrectly sending notification message to player empire

QUAMENO AND GIZUREAN DLC
- fixed Gizurean Rivalries event not occurring

Changes in 1.3.0.0 (April 4th, 2025)

CRASH FIXES
- fixed crash when determining construction resources
- fixed some modding-related crashes

FLEET IMPROVEMENTS
This update includes some major changes to Fleets, Fleet Tactics and Fleet Templates, in an attempt to make it easier for new and experienced players to manage their fleets, both in manual and automatic play. Please read through the changes below carefully to understand what has changed.

- FLEET TACTICS
- simplified Fleet Tactics dialog to only show essential settings, with other settings hidden by default
- Manual and Invasion fleets will now only auto-respond to Nearby threats (within 5000 units) instead of any threats within the same System (regardless of Fleet Engagement Range)
- updated Fleet Posture description to more accurately describe engagement settings for Manual and Invasion fleets (Nearby)
- improved Fleet formation layout
- generally made fleet formations tighter
- set default Fleet formation to Very Tight

- FLEET AUTOMATION
- Defense fleets now more careful about auto-responding to incoming enemy fleets at other locations when target location already has enough defending strength
- automated fleets are now more careful about investigating dangerous locations with higher enemy ship strength than the fleet
- automated fleets are now more careful about attacking strong enemy ships, bases and fleets, and are now more willing to coordinate multi-fleet attacks against these strong targets
- ensure automated fleets always honor engagement range when selecting attack targets

- FLEET DOCUMENTATION
- updated all tooltips and Galactopedia topics relating to fleet engagement range to reflect recent changes

- FLEET POLICIES
- Fleet Posture automation settings: now have separate settings for Attack Fleets (Attack, Raid, Invade) and Defense Fleets

- FLEET TEMPLATES
- default Fleet Templates now disable Role Up/Downgrade, thus improving behavior of fleet topup
- fleet templates will now be automatically upgraded to use the most relevant template for the role, i.e. when new ship roles become available then a better fleet template containing that new role may be selected for the fleet. Can enable/disable using new Automation setting in Empire Policy screen (Fleet Template Upgrading)
- added Default Formation setting to Fleet Template screen

- FLEET UI IMPROVEMENTS
- when Fleet is selected in Selection Panel, now show icons for Military Attack Automation status and Fleet Role, along with explanatory tooltips
- added Switch Fleet Role button to Fleets List to allow directly changing the role of each fleet in the list

- FLEET TOPUP
- Topup fleet button tooltip now shows breakdown of existing ships and newly built ships that will be added to the fleet, including total cost for new ships
- fleet topup now better at building new fleet ships at construction yards near the fleet

CONSTRUCTION
- fixed manually-assigned Construction Ships continually building Defensive Bases at colonies

UI IMPROVEMENTS
- fixed filters in Mining Locations list so that properly consider Fuel/Construction/Luxury Resources filter options
- fixed display of Scenery bonuses in Resort Locations and New Resort Locations Lists so that now also includes bonuses from Ruins definition, not just Ruins directly
- added note to Known Locations tooltip in Resources List to explain that some of these may be in foreign territory

NOTIFICATIONS
- prevent message popups for several delayed story events when Supress All Popups enabled in game settings

ZENOX FACTION REFRESH
- fixed Zenox Preserve the Ruins event sometimes not changing the ruins

ATUUK AND WEKKARUS DLC
- prevent message popup for Atuuk Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly when Supress All Popups enabled in game settings
- ensure Wekkarus Deep Labyrinth event properly sends notification message to empire who loses spy

[MaximKI]

A new public beta is live now! See OP for details.

Note - this version is not available on GOG. We're aiming to update GOG public beta by end of the week.

[MaximKI]

A new public beta is live now! See OP for details.

[Cauldyth]

- added Extremely Slow Research speed option in Start New Game screen. This new setting is half the speed of Very Slow research speed

Wow

[DeSade]

Guys, please, if you have touched fleet UX, don't forget about:
1. Merge fleets button (same functionality as add ship into fleet)
2. Set fleet flagship on fleet screen

[MaximKI]

A new public beta is live now, addressing final issues before going live as official later this week! See OP for details.