[MOD] Distant Worlds Universe Refreshed (Expanded Mod and and non-EM Version) Released

[salemonz]

Out of curiosity do you have any plans to expand or drastically alter ship weapons?

Not at this time. The recent balance patch jostled a lot of things and did modify a few weapons (the Keterov Krusher got brought in line with similar tier weapons for range/damage...it was nearly two tiers above other weapons...i didn't totally make it boring, but I reined it in a bit).

But no big plans at the moment for ship weapons.

At present, I'm looking to get DWUR-EM to a 1.0 status and update the DWUR NON EM version to incorporate as much fun stuff as I can.

Edit: oops...forgot to update OP with new stuff

v0.9.5 -- 18 March 2026 -- Refreshed all 194 components. New images (many pulled from my DW2 mods)
v0.9.4 -- 16 March 2026 -- Refreshed flags. 75 new empire flags. 75 new pirate flags.

[CaesarAug]

Ah, now that is interesting. Did not occur to me to consider pirate ship families. Your explanation provides insight into the workings of the game engine. Now that you mention this, I recall that another player chimed in something about pirate ship families as well. Fascinating. Will look into this as soon as I can. Thank you!

[salemonz]

Ah, now that is interesting. Did not occur to me to consider pirate ship families. Your explanation provides insight into the workings of the game engine. Now that you mention this, I recall that another player chimed in something about pirate ship families as well. Fascinating. Will look into this as soon as I can. Thank you!

For sure!

Yeah it took me thinking about it before I remembered we had run into this issue in the past as I was just starting to put in all the various shipsets. It's a parameter that's easy to miss in the race text files...there near the bottom

[CaesarAug]

YES!!! I think you've got it! There were four races which referenced non-existent pirate families, 47 and 49, just the ones reported "missing" in the error messages which crashed the game. This should correct the issues. Excellent find. THANK YOU! DWU is still an awesome game!

[Shogouki]

Out of curiosity do you have any plans to expand or drastically alter ship weapons?

Not at this time. The recent balance patch jostled a lot of things and did modify a few weapons (the Keterov Krusher got brought in line with similar tier weapons for range/damage...it was nearly two tiers above other weapons...i didn't totally make it boring, but I reined it in a bit).

But no big plans at the moment for ship weapons.

At present, I'm looking to get DWUR-EM to a 1.0 status and update the DWUR NON EM version to incorporate as much fun stuff as I can.

Edit: oops...forgot to update OP with new stuff

v0.9.5 -- 18 March 2026 -- Refreshed all 194 components. New images (many pulled from my DW2 mods)
v0.9.4 -- 16 March 2026 -- Refreshed flags. 75 new empire flags. 75 new pirate flags.

Just thought I'd check and see. I keep hoping that someone will as I think my only really big complaint about DW are the weapons but the only modder that I remember that was going to tackle this left in a huff years ago taking his mod offline with him.

[salemonz]

Just thought I'd check and see. I keep hoping that someone will as I think my only really big complaint about DW are the weapons but the only modder that I remember that was going to tackle this left in a huff years ago taking his mod offline with him.

I can take a look at some things for weapons. I do want to make sure each weapon family has some distinction.

Any particular pain points as far as weapons are concerned?

[salemonz]

YES!!! I think you've got it! There were four races which referenced non-existent pirate families, 47 and 49, just the ones reported "missing" in the error messages which crashed the game. This should correct the issues. Excellent find. THANK YOU! DWU is still an awesome game!

Great! I'm glad it was that easy. Usually I have no idea what's going on

[salemonz]

Did a weapon's balance pass.

v0.9.6 -- 19 March 2026 -- Component balance pass incorporated. 14 game files edited. Weapons/fighters changed. Tech research orders altered for 10 races.

All changes listed here

Component_Balance_Changelog.txt

(18 KiB) Downloaded 12 times

[CaesarAug]

YES!!! I think you've got it! There were four races which referenced non-existent pirate families, 47 and 49, just the ones reported "missing" in the error messages which crashed the game. This should correct the issues. Excellent find. THANK YOU! DWU is still an awesome game!

Great! I'm glad it was that easy. Usually I have no idea what's going on

You say you usually “have no idea what’s going on” yet you fixed my crash problems and you keep perfecting DWUR!

[salemonz]

v1.0 of EM version released!

24 March 2026 -- New engine exhaust graphics (last time!). New ground-unit icons. New race pics (group shots).
https://github.com/salemonz/DWUR-EM/releases/tag/v1.0

Enjoy!

[salemonz]

v.1.5 of DWUR (non-EM version) released!

24 March 2026 -- Now at parity with DWUR-EM 1.0
https://github.com/salemonz/DWUR/releases/tag/v1.5.0

[CaesarAug]

v.1.5 of DWUR (non-EM version) released!

24 March 2026 -- Now at parity with DWUR-EM 1.0
https://github.com/salemonz/DWUR/releases/tag/v1.5.0

It seems that DWUR v1.5 (non-EM) is not online for download. DWUR EM v1.0 is downloadable.

[salemonz]

It seems that DWUR v1.5 (non-EM) is not online for download. DWUR EM v1.0 is downloadable.

Can you try again with DWUR (non-EM)? I noticed a problem with my files (I didn't strip out the EM-only pirate stuff). I think you caught me right as I was trying to sneakily swap out the .7z file

[CaesarAug]

Yes, DWUR non-EM v1.5 is downloadable now. Many thanks for your modding!

[CaesarAug]

GREAT NEWS! Alvek has released the latest Expansion Mod v2.2.1.6 (as of 2 April 2026), which fixes the multiple shipset image selection bug (and also corrects the v2.2.1.5 game-start-up crash bug).

[02.04.2026]
Version 2.2.1.6
https://github.com/DW-UX/DistantWorldsE ... ag/2.2.1.6

Bugfix for player ships design selection. Manual selection of alternate image works too, no random selection like AI empires. Alternate ship images for AI should work too, haven't tested. Bugfix for 2.2.1.5 startup bug

[salemonz]

GREAT NEWS! Alvek has released the latest Expansion Mod v2.2.1.6 (as of 2 April 2026), which fixes the multiple shipset image selection bug (and also corrects the v2.2.1.5 game-start-up crash bug).

[02.04.2026]
Version 2.2.1.6
https://github.com/DW-UX/DistantWorldsE ... ag/2.2.1.6

Bugfix for player ships design selection. Manual selection of alternate image works too, no random selection like AI empires. Alternate ship images for AI should work too, haven't tested. Bugfix for 2.2.1.5 startup bug

I do love that it's all in one package

I did just release a minor update. Fixed race government preferences. Some races didn't have access to the right sets of governments for them, based on lore.

[salemonz]

Updated DWUR and DWUR-EM.

Removed TroopCompartment from all non-troop-transport ship designs across all 46 races. This includes capital ships, cruisers, and carriers (both regular and pirate variants). 126 design template files modified.

RATIONALE: The DWU AI does not load troops onto warships. It exclusively uses dedicated troop transports for invasions. TroopCompartments on capital ships and cruisers sat empty for the entirety of every game, wasting 6-8 size units per bay on dead weight. Every race already has a dedicated troop transport design with 6 compartments.

Troop transports (regular and pirate) are untouched. AssaultPods (ship-to-ship boarding) are a separate component type and are also untouched — those remain on the 5 races that use them (Ikkuro, Khemal, Naxxilian, Phaerax, Ugnari).

[CaesarAug]

Updated DWUR and DWUR-EM.

Removed TroopCompartment from all non-troop-transport ship designs across all 46 races. This includes capital ships, cruisers, and carriers (both regular and pirate variants). 126 design template files modified.

RATIONALE: The DWU AI does not load troops onto warships. It exclusively uses dedicated troop transports for invasions. TroopCompartments on capital ships and cruisers sat empty for the entirety of every game, wasting 6-8 size units per bay on dead weight. Every race already has a dedicated troop transport design with 6 compartments.

Troop transports (regular and pirate) are untouched. AssaultPods (ship-to-ship boarding) are a separate component type and are also untouched — those remain on the 5 races that use them (Ikkuro, Khemal, Naxxilian, Phaerax, Ugnari).

Are these the latest updated versions 1.01 and 1.5.1?

[salemonz]

Are these the latest updated versions 1.01 and 1.5.1?

The latest versions are now:
1.0.2 for EM Version
https://github.com/salemonz/DWUR-EM

1.5.2 for regular Version
https://github.com/salemonz/DWUR

I need to edit OP on this thread.

[CaesarAug]

Updated DWUR and DWUR-EM.

Removed TroopCompartment from all non-troop-transport ship designs across all 46 races. This includes capital ships, cruisers, and carriers (both regular and pirate variants). 126 design template files modified.

RATIONALE: The DWU AI does not load troops onto warships. It exclusively uses dedicated troop transports for invasions. TroopCompartments on capital ships and cruisers sat empty for the entirety of every game, wasting 6-8 size units per bay on dead weight. Every race already has a dedicated troop transport design with 6 compartments.

Troop transports (regular and pirate) are untouched. AssaultPods (ship-to-ship boarding) are a separate component type and are also untouched — those remain on the 5 races that use them (Ikkuro, Khemal, Naxxilian, Phaerax, Ugnari).

The rationale is actually a very interesting find. Thanks.

By the way, I have added these lines in the GameText file:

Line 5002: Allow building facility: Diplomacy Academy ;Allow building facility: Diplomacy Academy
Line 5009: Do not build Diplomacy Academy until population reaches ;Do not build Diplomacy Academy until population reaches
Line 5015: Planetary Facility Explanation Diplomacy Academy ;This planetary facility would increase the chance of new Diplomats and Ambassadors appearing in our empire

These correct a “data not found" error in the Colonies - Facility Building section of the Empire Policy in-game screen.