Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Simulation01
Awesome! Sounds like it's gonna be fun! At the risk of exceeding my question quota [;)] .... how does the sphere of influence and prate empires interact? Do prate factions also have their own sphere of influence (here there be pirates! Argh!)?

Pirates empires only have influence within their own systems rather than a sphere of influence, unless they manage to be very successful and transition to planetary empires through the full control of colonies. In that case, they get a normal sphere of influence that works like that for the other empires.

They get annoyed with you if you are interested in the same systems and colonies they are interested in, but they don't have "borders" the way a normal empire does until they actually get full colonies (they start out entirely space-based, think tens of thousands of survivors per faction, rather than the millions on the planets).

Regards,

- Erik

Thanks Erik! I relinquish the question baton to others now....[;)]

How is the actual battle simulated.Do you control units.Does the army land in random spot intervals on the planet grid or in a formation.What makes the A.I decide to choose which targets.How long is does a standard invasion last ingame time.Does planetary defence effectively become obsolete with special forces.

Why are Sluken infantry fighting in the ocean[:D]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76
Why are Sluken infantry fighting in the ocean[:D]

The truth is revealed! They're not insects, they're lobsters!

Love all the new stuff, and... interface scaling! Woo!

The interface scaling looks better. Do the resource (and other) icons in the selection box scale too?

Has there been a rebalancing of strategic resources so it isn't as easy to get everything that is needed?

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

Why are Sluken infantry fighting in the ocean[:D]

Probably not the reason but remember that, according to the Galactopedia, Sluken take body parts from other species and attach them to themselves...maybe this is how they are able to launch an amphibious attack?

Thanks for the updated screenshots, this expansion sounds great but you already had my cash at the words "expanded ground combat." I had/still have high hopes for StarDrive to iron out the kinks in their ground combat model but we will see...

One question that I haven't seen answered yet - with the advent of combined arms, etc. Will we be able to choose particular ground combat units to load into transports (not just % of force picks)?

Thank you for the huge info dump. Been spreading the word around. Can't wait to get it. [:)]

Also classes are done end of April and my birthday is May 8. That would be a good time to launch. [:D][;)]

But seriously take your time and thank you! [&o]

Hi Ashbery76,

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76
How is the actual battle simulated.Do you control units.Does the army land in random spot intervals on the planet grid or in a formation.What makes the A.I decide to choose which targets.How long is does a standard invasion last ingame time.Does planetary defence effectively become obsolete with special forces.

It's similar to space combat in Distant Worlds. You don't fly individual ships and you don't tell individual troops what to do, but you setup the force you want and send it into combat. Ground combat in DW was originally extremely simplified. Every unit on each side shot at one unit on the opposite side and the last side with units remaining won. There was only one troop type.

There are now multiple troop types. Each have differences in terms of attack vs. defense, transport size and maintenance and how they target. Generals now also have skills and bonuses related to specific troop types, so you may have a "Patton" type general who is great with Armor and build a specialized army around him, or another who is better with Special Forces, or Planetary Defense. In addition, there are bonuses related to superiority in certain categories, for example having much more armor than your opponent can give you an armored breakthrough which increases the effectiveness of your entire force, similarly unopposed special forces, overwhelming numbers of infantry or control of local space around the planet can all influence combat. Trying to land on a planet without taking out the space defenses and planetary defenses ia also much more difficult now, your force will get hammered during the landing phase.

If you see an enemy force with lots of armor, be sure to bring some of your own. Similarly if you see Planetary Defenses or Special Forces, bring some Special Forces of your own. There's no "one size fits all" solution, you need the right force for each battle if you want the best chance of success, just as you have to counter advantages in ship design and technology in your planning and execution of space combat.

The tech tree lets you decide where to focus. The ground combat tree is pretty large, though there are branches that don't directly boost each troop type, they give you other advantages. Each troop type does have a branch so if you want to have the best infantry, or the best srmor, you can do that. Being the best at all areas of ground combat requires a very significant commitment, but it can make taking enemy worlds intact much easier.

The value of an intact world is much, much greater than that of a damaged, "bombed back to the stone age" planet, but bombardment tech is also less expensive to pursue (and also doesn't help you with your own defense against planetary invasion) so choose carefully which route you take.

One other thing you'll notice in Shadows is that the total number of troops is about half what it was in previous versions of Distant Worlds. Troops are much more interesting and important, but also more expensive. The number of troops you have to manage will be closer to the number of ships rather than the vast numbers they could at times reach before. There is one branch, improved logistics, that can significantly decrease troop maintenance for those who believe in mass quantities.

Special forces do not make Planetary Defenses obsolete, but an invasion against Planetary Defenses is definitely easier if you bring along some Special Forces. The best counter to them is to have some Special Forces of your own, but any units on the planet will try to defend your facilities and planetary defense units against attacks by enemy Special Forces. They make your success against Planetary Defenses more likely, but they do not completely neutralize them.

Why are Sluken infantry fighting in the ocean[:D]

The water's nice, come on in. [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: robc04
The interface scaling looks better. Do the resource (and other) icons in the selection box scale too?

Yes, everything in the selection box gets larger when you increase its size.

Has there been a rebalancing of strategic resources so it isn't as easy to get everything that is needed?

Many, many changes have had many effects on the overall economic and resource balance and which era you choose to play in and how many pirates and empires are competing with you (and what you have the new difficulty slider set to) makes a big difference. For the best experience with limited resources, play in the Age of Shadows as either a planetary or pirate empire on the Hard difficulty (or higher) after release and let me know how you find it.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

One other thing you'll notice in Shadows is that the total number of troops is about half what it was in previous versions of Distant Worlds. Troops are much more interesting and important, but also more expensive. The number of troops you have to manage will be closer to the number of ships rather than the vast numbers they could at times reach before. There is one branch, improved logistics, that can significantly decrease troop maintenance for those who believe in mass quantities.

This is a great change, I always felt the scale was a bit off and less units to micro on both sides is always better. This way a unit that gains experience and participates in several campaigns can be meaningful and rewards the player.

ORIGINAL: Tampa_Gamer
One question that I haven't seen answered yet - with the advent of combined arms, etc. Will we be able to choose particular ground combat units to load into transports (not just % of force picks)?

Between the load-outs and the garrison/ungarrison feature, I haven't had any trouble getting the exact troops I want onto my transports.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: Tampa_Gamer
This is a great change, I always felt the scale was a bit off and less units to micro on both sides is always better. This way a unit that gains experience and participates in several campaigns can be meaningful and rewards the player.

The new Ship Captains also give an interesting new bit of ship detail if you enjoy keeping track of individual units and as they gain experience they can transition to Fleet Admirals as well.

Regards,

- Erik

Clearly a lot has been added in this expansion, but one thing I would love to see is some further diversification in terms of gameplay between races. Is there any significant differences in e.g. ground combat in this respect?

ORIGINAL: Webbco
Clearly a lot has been added in this expansion, but one thing I would love to see is some further diversification in terms of gameplay between races. Is there any significant differences in e.g. ground combat in this respect?

The species/government combination already has an effect on base troop strength, maintenance costs, recruitment, etc. That difference is magnified with the other changes to ground combat and the new ground combat tech options. In addition, each species (and the pirate raiders) have their own unique species-specific art for each troop type (you can see some of these variations in the screenshots). I'd like to give special thanks to Kalthaniell, who is also known in our mod forum here, and is the artist who worked with us on the new ground combat art.

Regards,

- Erik

Can't wait to play around with ground combat and gravitic beams. Awesomeness.

Only issue is that this:



Is 1997 Geocities levels of eye searing, hopefully it gets tweaked before release. (edit: nevermind, someone brought this up in the other thread)

I note that Garn 2 in the planetary facilities screenshot has 6 resources!  So this is possible now, I haven't seen it before.  Is it standard(ish) or does it need a special event adding an extra resource?

Thank Erik for the infos, it looks very promising! Cant wait

Thanks for the images and information, can't wait to play the new expansion!

Sounds good. I've got a top tier PC, but DW starts slowing down considerably in mid-game. Has the game got significant improvements in this area?

ORIGINAL: Velihopea
Sounds good. I've got a top tier PC, but DW starts slowing down considerably in mid-game. Has the game got significant improvements in this area?

According to the product page and other posts on the forum, the engine is optimized and faster. How much, I guess we will have to wait and see.

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/466 ... s-.Shadows
"Distant Worlds: Shadows also includes an updated and improved graphical engine that allows for much better performance in the epic 1,000+ star galaxies that many Distant Worlds fans enjoy."