Distant Worlds: Return of the Shakturi

[Erik Rutins]

One more pic of the policies for today...

[Erik Rutins]

And a little more information on Ion Weapons...

[Erik Rutins]

And a little combat shot...

[Texashawk]

Son of a @#$%&$!!! Erik, how can you keep this away from us for ANOTHER MONTH!!!

You are a bad, bad man.

[caerr]

Love the new tech tree! You guys are doing awesome work. [:D]

[Igard]

The fighters look great! Obviously not very clear because they're so small, but that's what I was hoping for. Can't have the fighters too big.

The tech tree looks to be the biggest improvement, so many new components. I see that there's 2 tech emphasis options on the policy screen. So we can set our empire to focus on certain areas, that's very cool.

Couple of questions; Some of the techs fork in different directions. Can we still research High Power Blasters if we have researched Long Range Lasers first?

Also, can you confirm yet if we'll have more ship families to play with? Even there are no new ships inside them, it would still be extrememly useful for modding.

And, is there any chance of seeing the Ion weapons in action next?

Awesome work Codeforce and Matrix. Thank you.

[Fenroo]

I hate to spoil all the love but there's a question I have to ask...price?

[Simulation01]

I hope that Product Page goes up today.  I have a load of questions and I hate to nag Erik.

[gmot]

I just started playing DW last week and have been enjoying it a lot. Does a lot of things right in the 4X genre. I always found GalCiv2 good, but not really engaging - I usually would abandon my games in boredom after a certain point.

I have to admit I've been finding some things can be frustrating in DW, and I'm happy to see this expansion will address many of them. I particularly like the research changes, and the fine-tuning of automation. I love how you can automate so much in DW, but right now I find automation too automated, as I can't direct the AI precisely enough for my liking. The UI changes look good too - right now it can take too many clicks/zooming to get to what I want to see or order something built. Fighters and planetary defenses are a great idea too. Right now seems a little odd that a planet is essentially helpless once the ships/bases have been cleared.

Now of course I don't want to play DW right now but wait for this expansion!

[arrozal]

Sorry if I missed it, but is there any additional optimisation coming with this pack? Loading/saving times have been greatly reduced since the earlier versions, but it still chugs a little once I've discovered most things and have a full galaxy moving before me. 

[RooksBailey]

I really can't wait for this expansion!  It really sounds wonderfully ambitious!  Please tell us the release date is next week!  [:D]

[Wade1000]

What are some mega constructions, like population centers such as enormous ship city/factory modules, Orbital Habitats, Ringworlds, and Dyson Spheres/Sphere worlds?

[ASHBERY76]

Research and new weapons for battles might be a popular choice but I think DW is never going to compete with SOTS,MOO2 in that area due to the nature of the real time game..I think DW stands out for resources,exploration and politics and these were the areas that should have been expanded in my view.

I also think the fighters in the screenshots look very out of place at that scale too.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76
Research and new weapons for battles might be a popular choice but I think DW is never going to compete with SOTS,MOO2 in that area due to the nature of the real time game..I think DW stands out for resources,exploration and politics and these were the areas that should have been expanded in my view.
I also think the fighters in the screenshots look very out of place at that scale too.

Keep in mind that this is not the only planned expansion for DW and we have a VERY long wish list. [;)]

With that said, more coming once the full product page is ready. The fighters really needed to be big enough to see and one fighter bay at size 50 is about the most you really want to fit on a small ship, which is about four fighters and is believable. Once you get into larger ships and bases, you can have full squadrons and more. I'll comment a bit more on fighters too... your ships will automatically outfit their bays with an even mix of fighters and bombers so that you can build ships with fighters and they'll just work without any more involvement from you. However, if you want you can specialize. There are several different types of fighters and bombers you can research and you can actually customize the load-out for each ship or base with fighter bays to have the exact mix of each that you want.

Regards,

- Erik

[RooksBailey]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
I'll comment a bit more on fighters too... your ships will automatically outfit their bays with an even mix of fighters and bombers so that you can build ships with fighters and they'll just work without any more involvement from you. However, if you want you can specialize. There are several different types of fighters and bombers you can research and you can actually customize the load-out for each ship or base with fighter bays to have the exact mix of each that you want.

Regards,

- Erik

Wow! That's a lot more detail than I expected. It sounds almost like the fighter/bomber system in Sins of a Solar Empire. Actually, it sounds far more detailed what with the different types that you can research!
Starting to drool here....

[martok]

As I anticipated, this looks like another "must-have" for me. Gah!

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Keep in mind that this is not the only planned expansion for DW and we have a VERY long wish list. [;)]

With that said, more coming once the full product page is ready. The fighters really needed to be big enough to see and one fighter bay at size 50 is about the most you really want to fit on a small ship, which is about four fighters and is believable. Once you get into larger ships and bases, you can have full squadrons and more. I'll comment a bit more on fighters too... your ships will automatically outfit their bays with an even mix of fighters and bombers so that you can build ships with fighters and they'll just work without any more involvement from you. However, if you want you can specialize. There are several different types of fighters and bombers you can research and you can actually customize the load-out for each ship or base with fighter bays to have the exact mix of each that you want.

Regards,

- Erik

This whole post makes me happy. [:)]

[Wade1000]

Fighter combat is cool and all but it's based off of modern times.

1. What are some uber futuristic advances for this science fiction game, beyond merely better levels of damage of various weapons and strength of defenses?

2. Again, what are some mega constructions, like population centers such as enormous ship city/factory modules, Orbital Habitats, Ringworlds, and Dyson Spheres/Sphere worlds? These could be thought of as "wonders" like in the civilization series game.

A future, or any time period, civilization can be measured by their military, economy, happiness, and great mega construction projects that stand the test of time. These projects are often above and beyond the level of grandness comonly known for their time.

In a science fiction, or any, civilization/empire game I like to feel like I am progressing through different ages or epocs in advances instead of merely incremental advances like months throughout a World War 2 game.

3. Oh yeah, also, can we destroy and create mega constructions, planets, and stars?

If the answers are "no" then simply say so. I can take it and still enjoying playing this game and others similiar to it.

[tornnight]

no [:D]

[Wicky]

those fighter bays are cool!
Does anyone remember the Perry Rhodan books, they describe how capital ships could load smaller ships into their hangar. For example, in the hangar of explorers were resource probes, small enough to analyze planets on their own. In the huge hangars of cruisers there were like a dozen of frigates, though capital ships could even load a couple of cruisers.
Needless to say that this concept is a tough nut for computer games and nobody has yet managed to do it.

[Canute0]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

And a little combat shot...

Oh i see rockets now, good choise to come away from these homing energy balls

Btw what happen to the fighters when the ship warp away during fight, i bet the ship got endless fighthers then