Newbie questions please help

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game which models a "living galaxy" with incredible options for replayability and customizability. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. Now greatly enhanced with the new Universe release, which includes all four previous releases as well as the new Universe expansion!

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hyperstork67
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 9:45 am

Newbie questions please help

Post by hyperstork67 »

Hello, I imagine a lot of you are off playing DW2, but hopefully someone can help me with a few questions for DW:U.

1) Is there a way to be notified of every single battle/encounter so I can zoom in to watch/participate? I just had an "automatic" frigate go blow up an enemy gas mining station and would have liked to have been told a fight was happening.

2) Any way to knock traveling hostile ships out of hyper? I've tried gravity wells on stations and ships (used the editor to put them right in the path of the enemy freighter as it's zooming along), and they just cruised on by without being affected. Can I stop them, or is combat an in-system only thing?

3) If a role you've made for a ship in the designer (where you set combat tactics etc) turns out to be a mistake on your part, is there a way to change that for your current ships, or does one have to make a new model and upgrade them to it so that they change their stance properly?


God I wish this thing would into a slower mode when there's a battle (so another doesn't start until the first is over, even if the combat itself isn't turn based but still real time), as I imagine several fights are happening at once and I can't see them all. Often the only notification I get that there was a fight is a message saying my ship has had the sh*t kicked out of it and needs to be rescued/repaired.

I love designing ships and graphics for them with Photoshop, so am hesitant about buying DW2 (at least for awhile) as the move to 3D will mean I have less ship hulls to play with. And the early reviews are bad, at least on Steam. I was going to get it after some patches anyway.
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Retreat1970
Posts: 1125
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 11:09 am
Location: Wisconsin

Re: Newbie questions please help

Post by Retreat1970 »

Like you I am waiting for DW2 to "mature" before I fully commit to it.

1) Yes. Hit Esc-options-show message settings. Configure for scrolling or pop up window or both. You still may miss some messages (scrolling is slow), but you can pause and check the messages every once and awhile (message button top main screen).

2) No

3) Yes sort of. You can change options for stronger/weaker opponents, invasion and flee when. The game will give a warning pop up message saying you can't edit a ship in use but you can edit those four things and save. You can't change the name or role, but role doesn't matter much.

Try using the stored items hotkeys (ctrl 0 through ctrl 9) to quickly move view to different fleets/planets. Select a fleet, hit ctrl 0. To move back to the fleet hit 0 once to select twice to move to.
hyperstork67
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 9:45 am

Re: Newbie questions please help

Post by hyperstork67 »

Thanks for the reply!

I have to admit, despite not always getting warned of battles, there have been some white-knuckle moments that are very satisfying. The frigate who got himself into trouble, the HMS Pimpernel, was dead in space, I have a construction ship rushing to repair him as three enemy fleets head his way. I'm vectoring four of my own warships to the scene in case it becomes a battle.... and it is clear they won't arrive in time. But then PImpernel is up and running and he and the repairer vacate the area with all haste- just as the baddies arrive. Whew! Yeah, I love moments like that.
Chris21wen
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Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2002 10:00 am
Location: Cottesmore, Rutland

Re: Newbie questions please help

Post by Chris21wen »

1. Under game options you can set which messages are displayed in the scrolling message bar and/or pop ups.

2. The problem witht he game is it's 2D, space is 3D. They are not going through the system as such but flying in fornt ot behind it which is why it doen't work.

3. You can go back into the design and change any of the top left options except for role. I'm assuming they have an effect otherwise why allow it.

The slowest mode is pretty slow on my machine x0.25 but the gme is real time in battle. So if you watch one you can't watch another also, other stuff is happening and the messages don't stop, easily missing one.

You can pause and go into the message history screen but although it tells you want happened finding it's location is no always successfull.
hyperstork67
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 9:45 am

Re: Newbie questions please help

Post by hyperstork67 »

Thanks!
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