DW2 Beta Update - 1.0.3.1 (How to Access and Change List)

[Erik Rutins]

Hi everyone,

April 4th - Added the 1.0.3.1 beta update. This replaces the 1.0.2.9 and 1.0.3.0 on both existing beta branches and should go official tomorrow. Both previous beta branches are now updated to 1.0.3.1

This is the first of our beta updates which we hope will become an official update on April 5th. This is focused on critical crash issues and we think we've made significant progress on them.

If you are having any issues, please try this new beta and let us know if it helps you.

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 "beta2 - v.1.0.3.1" or "beta - v.1.0.3.1" from the drop-down list and allowing Steam to update your game. If it updates correctly, you should see 1.0.3.1 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 "Open Beta 2" or "Open Beta" from the Beta channels drop-down list and allowing GOG to update.

Changes in 1.0.3.1:

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

Changes in 1.0.3.0

CRASH FIXES

- 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

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

- improved rendering performance when in research screen

OTHER CHANGES

- additional data fixes for certain small troop transport ship hulls and certain artifacts

Changes in 1.0.2.9:

CRASH FIXES

- 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

ADDITIONAL LOGGING

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

OTHER CHANGES

- 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


Regards,

- Erik

[Carewolf]

Colony City Night Lights?

Is that a spoiler thing, or when are colonies supposed to render cities, let alone day/night cycles.

[Erik Rutins]

Colony City Night Lights?
Is that a spoiler thing, or when are colonies supposed to render cities, let alone day/night cycles.

They've been doing that all along (night lights on populated worlds which adjust in pattern and density with the population size), you just need to look on the dark side of the planet. However, we found a serious bug with that system that could cause some of the crashes, hence this fix.

[alexman91]

- fixed cluster galaxies sometimes generating star systems outside playable area
this should be a game feature. like L cluster in stellaris. have rouge planets or system flung out of the galaxy u can only reach or see at high tech with sensors and warp/fuel giving extra rare luxuries

[rxnnxs]

Colony City Night Lights?
Is that a spoiler thing, or when are colonies supposed to render cities, let alone day/night cycles.

They've (the night lights) been doing that all along (night lights on populated worlds which adjust in pattern and density with the population size), you just need to look on the dark side of the planet. However, we found a serious bug with that system that could cause some of the crashes, hence this fix.

I will try to look into this one, because I wrote earlier (here) about this circles/crosshair (night lights) at the dark sides of the planets that were always shining through at a certain distance. Even if not populated. Every planet, every moon, all of them.

TLDR: WOW, first of all, all of what I wrote abnout the night lights is obsolete, the nightlights are not even shown in the 1.0.2.8.
Well done!!
BUT, what I really feel is, the GPU has much less work to do. The fan stays quiet, the pop up windows are way faster (in galaxy as well as in research tree and also at the overlays like drawn arrows regarding resource flow and such), everything is smoother and faster.
Here the compared same save game left up to the first marker 1.0.1.9 and from the second line, 1.0.1.8.
Notice the fan in percentage:
1.0.1.9: 14%, regardless what happens in game (the fan is not as load as the cpu fan)
1.0.1.8: 42%, you hear it, it is annoying.
Please view next answer of mine, more than 4 pictures are not allowed!

So, whatever you did, it has done a good performance increase.
But still, the windows are drawn still on a wrong spot, before being moved to the right position where they belong.
So it is still viewable that they are first drawn at false coordinates, and then are brought to the correct position where then they are drawn again.

Here you see what I mean, but in the research screen it happens the other way around:
When leaving the research field, the popup is drawn at a wrong coordinate:

mortalen_helptext.jpg (35.1 KiB) Viewed 4253 times

then after leaving:

mortalen_helptext_leaving.jpg (82.37 KiB) Viewed 4253 times

The other way around in the galaxy view:
wrong rectangle:

first rectangle here.jpg (8.42 KiB) Viewed 4246 times

then correct:

than here.jpg (6.07 KiB) Viewed 4253 times

I hope (I have the game on GOG) that the galaxy manager is not needed to patch it up to 1.0.2.9..

OK, galaxy is needed, took me a bit to install..

[OrnluWolfjarl]

So far not a single crash in the 1.0.2.9 beta. I do experience severe frame drops in the Research Screen (with all tech paths revealed), but no other issues. Most importantly, no stuttering or crashing when zooming.

Here is my DxDiag

[rxnnxs]

read my previous post regarding GPU usage

usage.jpg (93.58 KiB) Viewed 4235 times

P.S.: Somehow the animation in the research window is behaving different. I liked it better before, somehow slower than before going to the specified research field.
Maybe the animation speed can be selected in % from 0 to 100 or lets say, speeD: instantly, ultra fast up to slow..
for all menues.

[StormingKiwi]

- Defensive bases can now be research one Tech Level earlier on the Research Tree

Can we get more granularity for ships/troops/facilities/bases that the advisors suggest? I want them to auto build mining and research stations, but not to bankrupt me by building defensive bases.

[Justus2]

Steam is asking me for a Beta access code? I don't see one listed above.

EDIT: It appeared to install without entering a code, when I launched the game it showed 1.0.2.9.

Started a brand new game, played about half an hour before it crashed. I did see one pop-up for the Auto-save, about 20 minutes after I started (but it's set at 5 minute interval). Still in opening system, had explored a moon and 2 planets, finished a mining station and when I clicked on 'take me there' I got the spinning blue circle, then crash to desktop. I opened the launcher to trigger the auto-send on the log (which seemed to work), however I have never seen an actual crashlog file, just the session log that lists a page and a half of Valid Display Modes and Setting up Custom Renderer etc, and based on the timestamps doesnt add anything once the game is loaded.

[SirHoraceHarkness]

No crashes on the various games I loaded up but nebula performance still tanks on my 1080ti along with long range sensor overlay. Zooming completely out on the galaxy map also cuts performance in half. But other than those issues everything is running smooth and Ai fleets are working much better.

Also do we need to opt out of the beta once the live patch hits for it to update?

[jaweknee530]

No crashes on the various games I loaded up but nebula performance still tanks on my 1080ti along with long range sensor overlay. Zooming completely out on the galaxy map also cuts performance in half. But other than those issues everything is running smooth and Ai fleets are working much better.

Also do we need to opt out of the beta once the live patch hits for it to update?

5950 with a 3080ti here and the only thing that tanks performance more than the sensors or nebula for me is the discovery/exploration overlay.

[Erik Rutins]

Updated the first post to reflect the new 1.0.3.0 beta branch. If you are still having issues with 1.0.2.8 or 1.0.2.9, we strongly recommend trying 1.0.3.0.

[solops]

"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."

This is pretty shabby treatment of your loyal Matrix customers. I buy direct from Matrix for two reasons: (1) To get more money into Matrix's pocket and less into Steam's and (2) because I detest Steam and the dependency it embodies. I will NEVER buy or play via Steam if I can go direct to the publisher. For Matrix to cut me out of the betas without going through Steam is a betrayal that has me literally shaking with anger.

[Erik Rutins]

"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."
This is pretty shabby treatment of your loyal Matrix customers. I buy direct from Matrix for two reasons: (1) To get more money into Matrix's pocket and less into Steam's and (2) because I detest Steam and the dependency it embodies. I will NEVER buy or play via Steam if I can go direct to the publisher. For Matrix to cut me out of the betas without going through Steam is a betrayal that has me literally shaking with anger.

I'm very sorry that this has so profoundly affected you. We released 14 updates, including betas, everywhere including Matrix over the course of a little over two weeks since release. That's normally a year's worth of update work for the Ops team for a single active game.

You know from years here that we normally release all betas here as well. In this case, we simply had to give the Ops team a bit of a break as the stand-alone betas for Matrix/Slitherine take much more time than a beta branch on Steam or GOG. We could not have released the last two betas if we also had to do the Matrix version. As all Matrix customers have access to a Steam key and these beta versions have no guarantee of improving anything, we figured it was a reasonable compromise for now. Every week, all stores including Matrix will receive a new official update that has the benefit of more testing.

In the future, DW2 betas will return to Matrix as well. I hope this helps you take this as less of a personal betrayal.

[JWW]

"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."

This is pretty shabby treatment of your loyal Matrix customers. I buy direct from Matrix for two reasons: (1) To get more money into Matrix's pocket and less into Steam's and (2) because I detest Steam and the dependency it embodies. I will NEVER buy or play via Steam if I can go direct to the publisher. For Matrix to cut me out of the betas without going through Steam is a betrayal that has me literally shaking with anger.

As a loyal Matrix customer, I see it as an attempt to fix the problems with the game in the most expeditious way possible, even if it means this beta is not available to Matrix customers who don't use the Steam or GOG purchase or play options. The speed of the updates has been quite remarkable. I commend the team for its unprecedented in my experience speed in responding and attempting to fix the issues.

[solops]

Erik,
Thank you.
Very much.
I have been a customer of Matrix for a long time, longer than my forum membership indicates. I had been a customer for some time before a problem with my account caused everything, including membership date, to have to be "re-set" in 2002. I guess I have just come to take for granted superior service and performance from Matrix, regardless of difficulty.

[Erik Rutins]

Erik,
Thank you.
Very much.
I have been a customer of Matrix for a long time, longer than my forum membership indicates. I had been a customer for some time before a problem with my account caused everything, including membership date, to have to be "re-set" in 2002. I guess I have just come to take for granted superior service and performance from Matrix, regardless of difficulty.

I think it's important to always remember that there are human beings on the other end of those updates who do have limits. We hit ours while delivering that superior service and at a certain point you have to respect those limits and do the good enough instead of the perfect.

[jaweknee530]

Erik,
Thank you.
Very much.
I have been a customer of Matrix for a long time, longer than my forum membership indicates. I had been a customer for some time before a problem with my account caused everything, including membership date, to have to be "re-set" in 2002. I guess I have just come to take for granted superior service and performance from Matrix, regardless of difficulty.

I think it's important to always remember that there are human beings on the other end of those updates who do have limits. We hit ours while delivering that superior service and at a certain point you have to respect those limits and do the good enough instead of the perfect.

"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good" is a great saying that I try to remember.

[DrWolfsherz]

Can you add a "beta-latest" branch, so you always get the bleeding edge if you chose to?

[Spidey]

A couple of quick notes on my experience with 1.0.3.0

1) Key binding issue appears to be back. Had to set keys from main menu, then exit game right away. That seemed to do the trick. Setting keys and then loading into existing save resulted in ignored new bindings.

2) The research screen initially has great performance but it drops off over time.

2022-04-02_05-23-08.png (353.66 KiB) Viewed 3421 times