RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek!

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RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 6:57:02 AM

xan2622

Posts: 70
Joined: 6/12/2011
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About the star field shown on the screenshots: there are way too many stars. I hope you'll lower the number of stars to make the background more realistic.
It currently makes your background image look like it has "grain" on it.

You should also make some stars more bright (a few of them).

Also, nebulas are a bit shy.. I hope you'll make them bigger and more colourful, more vivid.

I know that everything is subject to change, that this is an Alpha preview of the game, but I just wanted to share with you my first impressions about graphics.

(in reply to Erik Rutins)

Post #: 121

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 11:41:58 AM

Webbco

Posts: 682
Joined: 2/6/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: xan2622

Also, nebulas are a bit shy.. I hope you'll make them bigger and more colourful, more vivid.

Everything is so subjective...I happen to love the 'shy' nebulas. Gives a greater sense of being in the void of interstellar deep space. So many games over-do it on nebulas, making them all the colours of the rainbow. Guessing for fear of being 'boring'. Homeworld, for eg, is far too orange for me, it's off-putting!

< Message edited by Webbco -- 12/21/2019 11:45:35 AM >

(in reply to xan2622)

Post #: 122

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 12:33:27 PM

BlueTemplar

Posts: 887
Joined: 4/29/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hanekem

Same goes for the cheap 3D, I prefer a more pleasing 2D than something that looks out of, dunno 2005? that wouldn't have been out of place from Space Empires 5

What's wrong with Space Empires (4/)5 models (or other games from circa [strike]2005[/strike] 2006 ?)
It's funny, wasn't Distant Worlds also criticized, when it came out in 2010 as "something that looks out of 1998" ?

< Message edited by BlueTemplar -- 12/21/2019 12:34:15 PM >

(in reply to Hanekem)

Post #: 123

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 1:22:18 PM

Erik Rutins

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Katarkus87
- Will there be new Components to increase Empire Influence over nearby Systems? (for Starbases)
- Any Plans for an Ammunition System (Railguns,Torpedoes,Missiles) to increase importance of Resupply Ships and Ammo Storage Components for Ships and Starbases?
- Will it be possible for Colonies to Revolt against Player or AI because of Government Type? (f.E Colony X wants a Socialist Revolution instead of living under a Monarchy of the Player/AI)
- Can Player/AI charge Fee for Trade with other Empires to steer Relations in a Economic Way? (f.E as Ackdarian set 5% on Humans and 20% on Gizurean in Empire Policies)
- Can Player/AI enslave Minorities (or worse) in the Empire to Boost Construction Speed in General or field cheap Slave Armies? (Would be a nice Mechanic for a Evil Race like Dhayut or Boskara)

Very interesting questions! Unfortunately, I can only answer one of them at this point. We do not track ammunition for ships. This idea was brought up very early on in development but we decided against it for various reasons, among which the fact that "fuel" is already used up faster in combat and effectively represents the cost of firing your weapons and the need to resupply well enough for our purposes. We may revisit this at some future date, but not for this release.

The other questions are in areas I simply can't discuss yet. I realize we've opened the flood gates with our preview, but we are still working on a few final features and we're not yet in beta, so there's really a lot we are not yet prepared to discuss. Feel free to fish, but be prepared for this type of reply.

_____________________________

Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC

For official support, please use our Help Desk: http://www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk/

Freedom is not Free.

(in reply to Katarkus87)

Post #: 124

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 1:23:34 PM

Erik Rutins

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: xan2622
About the star field shown on the screenshots: there are way too many stars. I hope you'll lower the number of stars to make the background more realistic.
It currently makes your background image look like it has "grain" on it. You should also make some stars more bright (a few of them).

Also, nebulas are a bit shy.. I hope you'll make them bigger and more colourful, more vivid.

I know that everything is subject to change, that this is an Alpha preview of the game, but I just wanted to share with you my first impressions about graphics.

Thanks, ultimately the final look on these will come together during testing, based on the feedback of customers like you. If we get sufficient feedback that folks don't like a particular part of the visuals, we'll change or improve that part.

_____________________________

Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC

For official support, please use our Help Desk: http://www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk/

Freedom is not Free.

(in reply to xan2622)

Post #: 125

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 1:24:51 PM

Erik Rutins

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: BlueTemplar
It's funny, wasn't Distant Worlds also criticized, when it came out in 2010 as "something that looks out of 1998" ?

Well, this is true.

It's probably not surprising and it's feedback we're used to getting because it's just not possible for a team our size to really be on the cutting edge graphically. With that said, I do think DW2 looks much better than DW1 did and I think once folks get a chance to play it they'll agree.

_____________________________

Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC

For official support, please use our Help Desk: http://www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk/

Freedom is not Free.

(in reply to BlueTemplar)

Post #: 126

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 1:41:33 PM

Cauldyth

Posts: 752
Joined: 6/27/2010
Status: offline

Gameplay first, graphics second.

That being said, whoever designed that Ackdarian space port, give them a Christmas bonus!

(in reply to Erik Rutins)

Post #: 127

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 2:43:59 PM

xan2622

Posts: 70
Joined: 6/12/2011
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Webbco
Everything is so subjective...I happen to love the 'shy' nebulas. Gives a greater sense of being in the void of interstellar deep space. So many games over-do it on nebulas, making them all the colours of the rainbow. Guessing for fear of being 'boring'. Homeworld, for eg, is far too orange for me, it's off-putting!

I also agree (to your opinion about the very colourful nebulas in some games).
What I would NOT like to see: https://www.google.com/search?q=nebulas&sxsrf=ACYBGNQaxzOZQPO2m8Xgl2W5nmPMtz_xkw:1576940671942&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUydTkgcfmAhWk4YUKHbSnCVEQ_AUoAXoECA0QAw&biw=2128&bih=1303

Examples of star fields and nebulas that I like:

From Celestial Command:
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/7217616/21bc2d0342e7a59b2d30958d4c6c74a40a286046.jpg
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/7217616/eaddf5c7d19dc7456860bfd1c4fb0e285eb1b35b.png
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/7217616/854ee0d0fa09bb87e64c606dd419e0f26222d17d.png

From Stellaris:
https://www.wargamer.com/assets/BlogPosts/_resampled/ScaleWidthWzExNDBd/FillWzExNDAsNjAwXQ/screenshot3-f95d51a1fb530163ae99ff5b1a8dd526.jpg
https://i.redd.it/6gcrbofw18ly.jpg
https://i.redd.it/1l4cuwyisy541.jpg

(in reply to Webbco)

Post #: 128

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 3:28:43 PM

Webbco

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Joined: 2/6/2010
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Yeah, I like all those examples too

. Still quite subtle but there's a bit more oomph to them.

(in reply to xan2622)

Post #: 129

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 3:28:52 PM

BlueTemplar

Posts: 887
Joined: 4/29/2010
Status: offline

Too bright nebula can distract from gameplay indeed...

Homeworld gets more orange as in your quest you get closer to the center of the galaxy, so there's a good reason there !

Also Relic did an impressive job by making their ships legible both against a dark or light background !

(in reply to xan2622)

Post #: 130

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 4:34:46 PM

Katarkus87

Posts: 10
Joined: 4/21/2018
From: Switzerland
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Very interesting questions! Unfortunately, I can only answer one of them at this point. We do not track ammunition for ships. This idea was brought up very early on in development but we decided against it for various reasons, among which the fact that "fuel" is already used up faster in combat and effectively represents the cost of firing your weapons and the need to resupply well enough for our purposes. We may revisit this at some future date, but not for this release.

The other questions are in areas I simply can't discuss yet. I realize we've opened the flood gates with our preview, but we are still working on a few final features and we're not yet in beta, so there's really a lot we are not yet prepared to discuss. Feel free to fish, but be prepared for this type of reply.

Thanks for the swift answer

(in reply to Erik Rutins)

Post #: 131

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 5:45:35 PM

stuart3

Posts: 193
Joined: 9/4/2014
Status: offline

I get that we have to research hull sizes and that's good, but are ship hulls still infinitely expandable via retrofitting? That was always one of the most "gamey" aspects of DW1. In real life once a vessel's hull has been built then it's fixed. Retrofitting can cram it with advanced weaponry and other technology until it becomes inconveniently overfull, but eventually you have to build a bigger new vessel and relegate the obsolescent one to a secondary theatre and eventually scrap it. Triremes didn't morph into Napoleonic ships of the line and on into Dreadnoughts while remaining the same original ships. It would be nice if DW2 recognised this reality.

(in reply to Katarkus87)

Post #: 132

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 6:40:55 PM

Drumline2

Posts: 66
Joined: 12/10/2018
Status: offline

Hey Erik, love the quick responses to everyone's questions! We really appreciate it. Not sure if you'll be able to answer it because you've only gotten into the Ship Design but here goes.
Are there any plans for Megastructures? With the scale of the galaxy being what it is for DW2, Megastructures would be truly impressive to see/build. I know DWU had the Mega Shipyards buildable on planet but would be really cool to have it be an actual build-able project in space. Would introduce more interesting tactical/strategic value to these objects that could make for interesting scenarios

(in reply to stuart3)

Post #: 133

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 9:06:58 PM

Dipluz

Posts: 52
Joined: 6/5/2010
Status: offline

Thank You very much for the update Erik! I am really looking forward to play this long missed next chapter in the Distant Worlds :

(in reply to xan2622)

Post #: 134

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 10:49:28 PM

darkriot

Posts: 32
Joined: 7/5/2014
Status: offline

That�s awesome! Another question will we be able to customize the ships any other way besides components? To be able to tweak colors or such?
And will the weapons look differently the ship depending on the types of weapon in the slot?

(in reply to Dipluz)

Post #: 135

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/21/2019 11:01:50 PM

WinzLer

Posts: 3
Joined: 12/20/2019
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

quote:

ORIGINAL: WinzLer
also I guess I had two questions... Can you finally build star bases that act like trade hubs out in space rather than having to use the planets as the hubs only?

In DW1 you could build stations out in space, could you please elaborate on your question a bit?

Yes you could build star bases out in space but, if I wanted to build a star base out close to resources and have the private sector ships use that star base to drop those resources off they would ignore my star base and still transport those resources to the planet trade ports. Will D2 have the ability to use star bases in this way?

(in reply to Erik Rutins)

Post #: 136

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 4:03:38 AM

Katarkus87

Posts: 10
Joined: 4/21/2018
From: Switzerland
Status: offline

Hey Erik,

Did you think of it, to set up an official Distant Worlds Discord Server for General Interaction with the Community?
You could reach more People nowadays and stuff like Bug Reports, Mod Discussions and Patch Notes could be handled over there.

(in reply to WinzLer)

Post #: 137

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 8:16:34 AM

drillerman

Posts: 455
Joined: 2/11/2010
From: Blighty
Status: offline

Hi Elliot,
Nice to hear from you again. I gotta say you haven't changed much in the last few years! You still look exactly the same, maybe a touch "greener".

_____________________________

Huh?

(in reply to elliotg)

Post #: 138

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 8:39:07 AM

OnePercent

Posts: 73
Joined: 12/12/2019
From: Australia
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Katarkus87

Hey Erik,

Did you think of it, to set up an official Distant Worlds Discord Server for General Interaction with the Community?
You could reach more People nowadays and stuff like Bug Reports, Mod Discussions and Patch Notes could be handled over there.

This is something the devs should seriously consider, Discord is an excellent means to draw a community together towards any game project in real time.

It would also be a very wise method of allocating play testers, as you can set private sections of the discord purely to play testers etc who can report directly to the devs.

< Message edited by OnePercent -- 12/22/2019 8:40:13 AM >

(in reply to Katarkus87)

Post #: 139

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 8:46:44 AM

xan2622

Posts: 70
Joined: 6/12/2011
Status: offline

I second the idea to have a dedicated Discord server to discuss about the game.

To begin with, why not using the official Matrix Games Discord server ? https://discord.gg/dpyxJx

(in reply to OnePercent)

Post #: 140

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 12:17:26 PM

garion333

Posts: 1
Joined: 12/9/2016
Status: offline

Fwiw, I think it looks miles better than DW1. I'm surprised to see anyone complain about the look considering DW1 was functional at best, graphically.

Thanks for the info! Been waiting and waiting for this!

Post #: 141

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 1:04:12 PM

OnePercent

Posts: 73
Joined: 12/12/2019
From: Australia
Status: offline

About the discussion on Nebula;

If you really think about it, DW1 and 2 are set in top down views of spiral arms, or slice of pies zoomed in on galaxies for irregular maps or clusters.

If we talk about the point of view that our camera is zooming in on a slice of a galaxy, or just a really really small spiral galaxy, wouldn't that mean that, from completely zoomed out state the nebula be basically tiny points on the map? AKA, the nebula now becomes PART of the playable area of the 3D galaxy in the case of DW2. I think the nebula system should be implemented in a way to dynamically change based on where the camera is, zoomed out all the way, it should appear as tiny points of interest (and depending on exposure settings, they can be vibrantly colored from afar, similar to supernova remnants and clouds in DW1) but when you zoom in on nearby systems right down into interplanetary space the texture of these nebula can then be baked into the background view as a diffuse and, subtle gas clouds which would then look like the examples of subtle nebula posted by forum posters in this thread.

As for the views when fully panned out of the galaxy? remember that your camera is now 'outside' of the galaxy, other galaxies should then, come into view from afar similar to the game spore. I know it's asking a lot but the whole thing would look like a scene out of space engine as you zoom out.

< Message edited by OnePercent -- 12/22/2019 1:07:28 PM >

(in reply to garion333)

Post #: 142

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 8:27:52 PM

ehsumrell1

Posts: 2529
Joined: 8/17/2010
From: The Briar Patch Nebula
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: btd64

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

quote:

ORIGINAL: Thrake
What is the difference beetween components and design bays?

A design bay is effectively a "slot" in the ship that accepts a component. Each Design bay has a type and a maximum size. Some design bays are also external, meaning they have a 3D Mesh associated with them and when a component is placed in that design bay, it actually appears on the ship (the ship's 3D model changes to show it). External bays thus also have a specific position. In some cases, such as weapons, these external design bays also have an arc within which they can fire and when that weapon fires, you will see it actually firing from that particular place on the ship where you put it.

Design bays (I also call them component slots) are divided into the following general categories.

Weapons (pretty much everything from point defense to long range heavy weapons)
Defenses (shields, armor and other handy defensive components)
Engines (engines and maneuvering thrusters)
Sensors (small and large and of various kinds)
Hangars (from docking bays to starfighter hangars)
General (pretty much everything else, including your reactors, life support, crew quarters, cargo bays, fuel cells, etc.)

Regards,

- Erik

Erik, Sounds like it will be easier to mod with. Excellent....GP

Well GP, looks like we'll be getting the band back together!

< Message edited by ehsumrell1 -- 12/22/2019 8:28:55 PM >

_____________________________

Shields are useless in "The Briar Patch"...

(in reply to btd64)

Post #: 143

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/22/2019 8:41:39 PM

btd64

Posts: 9973
Joined: 1/23/2010
From: Mass. USA. now in Lancaster, OHIO
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ehsumrell1

quote:

ORIGINAL: btd64

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

quote:

ORIGINAL: Thrake
What is the difference beetween components and design bays?

A design bay is effectively a "slot" in the ship that accepts a component. Each Design bay has a type and a maximum size. Some design bays are also external, meaning they have a 3D Mesh associated with them and when a component is placed in that design bay, it actually appears on the ship (the ship's 3D model changes to show it). External bays thus also have a specific position. In some cases, such as weapons, these external design bays also have an arc within which they can fire and when that weapon fires, you will see it actually firing from that particular place on the ship where you put it.

Design bays (I also call them component slots) are divided into the following general categories.

Weapons (pretty much everything from point defense to long range heavy weapons)
Defenses (shields, armor and other handy defensive components)
Engines (engines and maneuvering thrusters)
Sensors (small and large and of various kinds)
Hangars (from docking bays to starfighter hangars)
General (pretty much everything else, including your reactors, life support, crew quarters, cargo bays, fuel cells, etc.)

Regards,

- Erik

Erik, Sounds like it will be easier to mod with. Excellent....GP

Well GP, looks like we'll be getting the band back together!

Yes we will

....GP

_____________________________

Intel i7 4.3GHz 10th Gen,16GB Ram,Nvidia GeForce MX330

AKA General Patton

WPO,WITP,WITPAE-Mod Designer/Tester
DWU-Beta Tester
TOAW4-Alpha/Beta Tester

"Do everything you ask of those you command"....Gen. George S. Patton

(in reply to ehsumrell1)

Post #: 144

RE: Distant Worlds 2 Christmas Sneak Peek! - 12/23/2019 4:02:39 PM

OnePercent

Posts: 73
Joined: 12/12/2019
From: Australia
Status: offline

Finally, I have a question;

The designs I've currently seen are nice, are all the 3D designs inspired by the 2D art from DW:U of the specific race designs for stations and starships, in order to keep with the DW aesthetic? I'm not familiar with Mortalan or Akdarian 2D designs so maybe other posters could weigh in on what we've aready seen.