1.1.6.7 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.

As of the official 1.0.6.4 update, the Core game engine has been upgraded to use the latest version of Stride. (4.1.0.1 and a newer version of .NET. As of the recent 1.1.0.9 Aurora Update, we now include .NET 7 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)

IMPORTANT NOTE: We have a new public beta update today on Steam and GOG. This update will go official on Thursday this week, so the list below is the consolidated 1.1.6.6 + 1.1.6.7 change list. This is expected to be the at release official update for the new DLC as it fixes some issues that got through the Discovery update testing.

Changes in 1.1.6.6 + 1.1.6.7 (August 29th, 2023):

PERFORMANCE
- important fix for a major memory usage and stability issue; this fix should reduce memory usage significantly as well as increasing stability

SHIP BEHAVIOR
- fixed military ships sometimes still attempting to refuel at dangerous locations
- fighters are now more active in attacking target of parent carrier, even when not at war with target empire
- point defense weapons now more responsive to intercept incoming weapons fire
- automated exploration ships will now explore/survey asteroids with hidden resources when there are no other missions to perform (more thorough exploration of - entire system without getting waylaid by often inconsequential asteroid resources) individual ships in a fleet with Prepare and Attack mission will now auto-commence attack against target at waypoint even when rest of fleet have not yet arrived. This covers an edge-case where the target ends up being at the waypoint (which is usually a different location). In those cases the ships that had already arrived sometimes did not engage the target, because they were waiting for the rest of the fleet. So now they will engage the target if it happens to be at the fleet waypoint. No need to wait for the entire fleet in that case, because they are already at the target and likely under attack from it.

FUEL TANKERS
- ensure fuel tankers always completely deplete fuel cargo when refuelling nearby fleet before obtaining more fuel

CONSTRUCTION
- ensure Construction Yards list properly updates ships incoming for repair or retrofit
- when cannot afford to build new base, can no longer right-click on locations to assign build missions to construction ships
- now allow retrofitting bases when at colonies of other factions (e.g. independent colonies)
- ensure spaceport construction always follows colony population limit set in empire policy (do not build before reach required population level)

SHIP DESIGN
- ensured Ion Bomb (Teekan) and Ion Pulse weapons have component families assigned for preferred weapon policy purposes

COLONIZATION AND MIGRATION
- fixed colony ships sometimes loading wrong population when some colony population policies are using Resettle policy
- fixed bug where colonies that somehow got zero-population could break various things (e.g. Kasim)

PIRATES
- pirates now unlikely to cancel a protection agreement when relation trend is positive, thus less likely to get protection cancelled soon after being accepted

RESEARCH
- improved AI research prioritization in various areas (weapons, planetary defense facilities, colonization, ship hulls, etc) to avoid queueing excessively long research projects
- fixed excessively high priority for Administrative Facility research projects

PLANETARY FACILITIES
- no longer build Terraforming Facilities at colonies that are already at 100% quality

DATA
- minor updates to various data file values for artifacts, game events, planetary facilities and troops to fix a variety of reported issues
- ensure Mortakosh battleship stays at starting location instead of roaming the galaxy

[jaweknee530]

Started a new gamea nd my survey ships on auto won't leave the home system until every single asteroid is surveyed. They all had the capability and I could set them to auto-scout and they'd jump off to explore right away, just were stuck looking at space rocks instead of other systems.

[KarayaMan]

"now allow retrofitting bases when at colonies of other factions (e.g. independent colonies)"

Yes!!

[jaweknee530]

I have construction set to build spaceports with a minimum of 200 million pops but it seems that the game is building them before that. Attached is two screenshots and a save.

[Buio]

Seeing there are some important fixes in the post-Discovery beta, is it possible to get a quick patch to the Discovery update as non-beta release? Perhaps in time with the Quameno and Gizurean DLC?

[MaximKI]

Seeing there are some important fixes in the post-Discovery beta, is it possible to get a quick patch to the Discovery update as non-beta release? Perhaps in time with the Quameno and Gizurean DLC?

We are planning to release 1.1.6.6 as an official update before the DLC launches this week.

[MaximKI]

I have construction set to build spaceports with a minimum of 200 million pops but it seems that the game is building them before that. Attached is two screenshots and a save.

Thanks for the report!

[fruitgnome]

I think every colony profits from a spaceport cause of medical and recreation center, higher development and this results to a higher born rate.

[MaximKI]

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