Hello everyone and thank you for your interest in Distant Worlds 2!
One of the principles of Distant Worlds 2 from the start has been to add more “guided automation” to find a better middle ground for players between full manual play and fully automated play. Ship Design and Research are two of the key areas where we heard a great deal of feedback from players who wanted more guided automation.
In Ship Design, players have the option to fully automate this area, design all of their ships manually, or mix things up by assigning some ship roles to manual design and keeping others automated. The fully automated and mix and match players wanted more influence over how those automated designs looked and we agreed that this would be a good thing.
In order to fully achieve this goal, we also needed a way to better guide research (when it is automated) because the ships and bases that you can design depend in large part on the research you have done in terms of what components are available to you. It made sense to connect the two systems in order to achieve the desired end result.
We added an entirely new section to the Empire Polices to accomplish this goal and you can see a screenshot of that section above.
There are tooltips in the game to help explain the choices, but I will summarize how the system works here. For close-in weapons and stand-off weapons, you can choose a weapon category to prefer for research prioritization and ship design.
The automation will then focus your weapon research in those weapon categories and use those weapons in its automated designs. When a faction has a faction-unique component within these categories, it will be further preferred and weighted for research and design.
For example, you can see in the Mortalen ship below, that it has Blasters and Torpedoes as the preferences state, but in the choice of which Torpedo to use, the automation has researched and included the Mortalen-unique Pulse Torpedo.
There are other categories where the player can also choose the priority of a particular weapon type, which ship role should be the smallest to try to fit those weapon types in its designs and even state that he does not want that type of weapon used at all to free up space for other priorities.
For example, see the screenshot below of the choices for Ion Weapons. These three options give you maximum flexibility – if you don’t want Ion weapons on your ships at all, or you do want them but only on your Battleships, or you want lots of Ion weapons on all of your ships, you can achieve that through these automation policies. The same flexibility now applies to Intercept Weapons (Point Defense and Fighter weapons), Area Weapons and Bombard weapons.
Near the bottom of this new policy section are a few sections that are not about weapons. The first deals with Fighters and as with the above lets you pick how much you would like to prioritize Fighter Bays on your designs and which should be the smallest ship role with Starfighters.
The rest give you some choices on Reactors, Shields, Hyperdrives and Engines. In each of these component areas, the research tree offers you different paths. For example, you can see below the choices for Hyperdrives – you can choose to focus on Energy Efficiency, Jump Initiation Time or Speed. In the game, these are represented by the Kaldos, Calista-Dal and Equinox hyperdrive branches. Once you’ve picked one of these preferences, it will guide your automated research and design to focus on those components without manual involvement.
We plan to build on this system further in the future, adding additional preferences for Fighter designs and Civilian ship and base designs, as well as other requests the community may have.
We hope this feature review helps you understand how to use these new policies and that they make your time in Distant Worlds 2 more enjoyable!
Operators, we would like to inform you of an upcoming major maintenance that will happen on March 12.
First, current status update:
The transfer of the entire project infrastructure, including code, assets, licenses and development servers, has been completed by our development team. During this process, we've already started working on improving the overall performance of the game and our testing environment. We are currently deep into code reviews, both client-side and server-side.
The only remaining task is the migration of the live servers, which will take place on Tuesday March 12 and may take up to 24 hours. We will complete the migration as quickly as possible and will provide you with updates throughout the process to ensure a seamless transition.
This maintenance will complete the project transfer itself, but the real work is just beginning. We are committed to improving the game based on your feedback. We will continue to work on technical improvements to the game and hope that players will see the results of our work in the near future.
We appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience this maintenance may cause. This is a big and important step for us, and we hope that these changes will breathe new life into the development of the World War 3 project.
We thank you so much for still being with us, for still believing! Log off Operators!
Hey everyone! A new update is available, bringing the whole of Chapter 7 on Steam! It took a while, but it's the largest Chapter yet. I hope you'll enjoy!
The update includes 20 new scenes with: - over 42000 words - over 1600 new images - 19 new animations - 7 new achievements - various bug fixes
Maybe you already had a few peeks at the new Power Coupling Block from the handful of videos put out by our Content Creators but now the time has finally come for all of you to play around with it and traverse the desert dunes like Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars (before he became a robot pirate).
That is of course not the only thing 1.7.4 has to offer. The blocks got cleaned up, there is now glow and chrome support on all blocks, and we have improved network performance and stability.
Big Stuff
Added the Power Coupling Block
New block rendering
Color, glow, and chrome can be added to all blocks
Improved network performance and stability.
Bug Stuff
Fixed a bug where the size of the Build Bounds in Stranded Sandbox was incorrectly the same size as Stranded Campaign. Now it’s the same size as other Sandbox modes!
Fixed the floating block glitch (sorry lukkram)
Fixed a bug that would cause the Server Region drop down to not populate with available regions.
Fixed a bug where loading into a server with Banned Blocks when you didn’t already have a save file for that game mode causing the banned blocks to incorrectly persist across sessions.
Fixed an issue with tire tracks not cleaning up memory correctly.
Fixed the 4x8 Frame offset.
Fixed disabling the Reticule on a weapon also incorrectly disabling the ammo UI.
Fixed a case of being able to get stuck inside the Builder when opening the Transformation Menu as you entered it.
Fixed bugs around enabling auto build and leaving the Builder at the same time.
Fixed cases of being able to create ghost blocks if copying a block and leaving the Builder at the same time.
Fixed issues with late joining clients not being able to complete missions that had already been completed by other players in that session in Airborne Campaign and Sandbox.
Fixed a bug where no icons for a Chirpo pick up/delivery location would appear for already completed missions.
Fixed a bug where trying to spawn a blueprint with a lot of locked blocks, skins and decals would lock up Builder.
Fixed an audio bug where the reverb would persist into other sessions if the player quit to menu whilst standing inside a reverb zone.
Fixed an issue where a player would see no error message when trying to spawn in a Workshop upload that had a missing .png
Fixed some cases of incorrect terrain being rendered without collision in Stranded when playing on specific quality settings.
Fixed an “Entering area” message incorrectly appearing in game modes it shouldn’t when toggling invincibility on in some Sandbox gamemodes.
Fixed an issue with Hull Blocks getting LOD culled much earlier than other blocks.
Fixed an issue with the Large Propeller going invisible if set to 0.125 speed.
Fixed Dispensed objects not using the zone gravity in Space Sector.
Fixed the trail from the Quantum Rudder not being rendered when the game was paused.
Fixed a bug with the rotation UI remaining in position if selecting another block whilst inside the Rotation menu.
Fixed a bug with the Block Input Overview UI showing some blocks with incorrect bindings when a lot of them were being displayed at once.
Fixed a bug with the bounding box of a block remaining in place if deleting a block after nudging it.
Fixed Decals not being placed correctly on the Steering Hinge.
Fixed the Bomb Bay incorrectly not having a disable reticule toggle.
Fixed cases where Center of Thrust position would visually shift after taking a broken structure into the Builder.
Fixed various localisation issues across different languages.
Fixed Large and Small Propellers not having a correct slow down animation
Purrfectly Hidden Cats - Kittenrock - Gemcraft Games
Hello, Adventurers and Puzzle Solvers of the Kittenrock Community!
We're over the moon to announce an enchanting addition to our exclusive sales event for the "Purrfectly Hidden Cats" series. The spotlight this time shines brightly on the magical realm of Kittenbay, inviting you to a captivating adventure filled with secrets waiting to be discovered.
🌟 Dive into Kittenbay: Join Startail in the beautifully crafted 2D seaside town of Kittenbay, alive with vibrant charm and hidden wonders. This unique installment elevates the hidden object genre with its interactive storytelling and dynamic day-and-night cycle, offering distinct experiences and secrets to uncover at every turn. Now available at a 30% discount, there’s never been a better time to explore its delightful secrets, interact with locals, and uncover the mysteries that Kittenbay harbors under both the warm sun and the starry night sky.
And let’s not forget, the mysterious world of Kittenwood continues to beckon the most curious adventurers at a 30% discount as well! This charming journey is brimming with elusive cats and captivating mini-stories set in a picturesque town, offering a relaxing yet stimulating puzzle-solving experience.
Embrace these special offers to immerse yourself in a world where curiosity and exploration are rewarded with delightful surprises and engaging stories. Whether you’re a seasoned explorer of the "Purrfectly Hidden Cats" series or looking to embark on your first adventure with us, Kittenbay and Kittenwood promise an unforgettable journey.
Thank you for your unwavering support. We eagerly await your discoveries in the enchanting worlds of Kittenbay and Kittenwood!
With heartfelt appreciation, The Gemcraft Games Team
Hi all, it is with immense pleasure that we announce the completion of the Ratmen faction, which will be introduced to the Age of Fear series on April 12th!
Hidden beneath Sorodon, the Ratmen are a clever faction that excels in stealth. In the dark corners of their territory, these elusive creatures have perfected the art of staying unseen and unheard. Though their units may seem weaker than those of similar factions, the Ratmen make up for it with their unmatched skills in backstabbing and surprising attacks.
Living in an underground world full of tunnels, the Ratmen can move quietly and strategically. Their expertise in covert tactics and surprise makes them a strong force, capable of turning the tide of battle unexpectedly. Emerging from the depths of Sorodon, the Ratmen create uncertainty and fear, establishing themselves as a unique and unpredictable presence in warfare.
We're absolutely ecstatic to announce that Chants of Sennaar has reached the 10,000 Steam reviews stonemile while maintaining its Overwhelmingly Positive score of 98%! Thank you to all players for this wonderful reception, it truly warms our hearts. ❤️
To continue your journey throughout Chants of Sennaar’s enchanting universe, we’re glad to announce that the vinyl version of the game's OST is out now!
Immerse yourselves in the mesmerizing soundtrack of the game with its unique bundle, featuring the magnificent musical compositions by Thomas Brunet, the game itself, and a limited-edition numbered lithograph!
Additionally, for those who prefer a digital experience, the game's OST is also available as part of a bundle with the base game on Steam!
Players can now create more complex electric networks. When placing an electric structure it automatically connects to all electric nodes within range. If the total power consumption in a grid exceeds the total generation, the flow of electricity is interrupted. Players can restore the flow by switching off individual consumers or increasing the power generation.
energy generation
energy usage
generator
10
defense turret
3
solar panel
up to 6
interior & exterior light
1
Solar Panel
The solar panel is a new type of passive power generation. After construction, the solar panel must be mounted with two panels before it can start generating power. The efficiency of the solar panel varies with the time of day and reaches its maximum at midday. Solar panels can be found at outpost locations.
Battery Rack
Players can store energy using a battery rack. Similar to the solar panel, the battery rack must first be mounted with car batteries before it can store energy. The energy capacity increases by 1000 per added car battery. Car batteries can be found at the new hut POI. Connected battery racks automatically charge and discharge according to the power grid requirements.
Fuse Box
Using the fuse box, players can get an insight into the current grid power generation, load and total stored energy.
Power Relay
Players can use power relays to transmit electricity over greater distances.
Exterior Light
Exterior lights were added to illuminate the outside of your base.
New POI: Hut
The hut is located next to the lake in the northeast of the map. Here players can collect car batteries for energy storage.
Other Notable Changes
updated the tutorial images displayed when starting a new game