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I'm still failing to even set up a game of Aurora properly. At least I got farther in C# Aurora then in the old version. In better news, my continued failure to deal with Aurora motivated me to try Distant Worlds again and suddenly it turns out my multiple frustrated attempts at understanding Aurora made it click between me and DW! Though that doesn't mean I'm a good player, my blind fumbling now just results in me having fun, instead of confusion. After twenty in-game years, my space empire has just begun building their very first colony ship. Also, nearly all of my ships (both private and state owned) need a costly refit. Seems my last design upgrade underestimated how much fuel you need to reach nearby star systems by a huge amount, causing most of them to be stuck in my home system. Also  apparently I forgot a couple designs, I recently found some ships that still had no FTL-drive because I never upgraded the designs.The only good news in all this mess is that for some reason the first two alien empires I've met aren't really doing that much better. Makes me feel better about doing dumb poo poo like sending explorers to stars they can't actually reach before running out of fuel. Multiple times. 
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Apr 26, 2020 01:37
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Caconym posted:The first ftl-engine in a pre-warp game is pretty much an intra system engine. Useful for some fuel heavy explorers to plan future expansion, but for the love of god don't actually expand mines or colonies to other systems before you get the gerax(?) drive. Your freighters will run dry and bottleneck everything. Also mining ships need a lot of fuel and extra cargo space to make each run more effective. Man, looks like slow-paced games really influenced me, because I didn't think warp bubbles were all that bad. I just thought I was stupid to not immediately research standard fuel cells and put enough on every ship to reach at least 1 sector range (all my currently explored stars are less than half a sector away, so a range 1 ship can easily reach nearby systems and get back again). Right now my civilian ships are busy building stations in system B while freighters are trading with the Mechanoids in system C, all close enough that this poo poo kind of works. It's just really, really slow.  I kind of had to let them expand because there's only one source of Caslon in my home system, and that slowly turned out to not be enough to keep every ship fueled. The shortage became serious when my explorer accidentally unleashed three Kaltors in the system where we finally found some more Caslon. I had to design a special long-range escort and build a small fleet of them just to get to there and clean up, as the Kaltors kept attacking the constructions ships arriving. Though don't worry, I've already queued up the next (true) hyperdrive. That thing is like 6x faster than my bubbles. At that point I'll also be able to colonize the third planet in my home system, and from then on it's smooth sailing. To be extra-careful after this early game experience I've designed a new type of star base for refuel and repair, which will be set up in the barren systems surrounding my home system to extend range even further. Though that plan will depend on how much income I can build up with my new colonies in the future, as the maintenance costs this plan will produce are distressingly expensive.
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Apr 26, 2020 15:19
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That poo poo looks like it was used in the Dune-universe to train mentats
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Apr 27, 2020 14:18
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SIGSEGV posted:Aurora has an option for real system names that pulls real stars with real names from real nearby systems. It will also ensure you'll never deal with a nebula or black hole because there aren't any of those in the close enough star file. I'm not so sure about that. Some of those stars are 11k+ light years away. I'm pretty sure there's at least some nebulae and black holes in that volume. But depending on how you set up your game, that'll make it at least very unlikely to hit one.
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May 26, 2020 19:28
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Saros posted:Be nice guys we are all friends here. Aww. Now I wish I had enough money left over this month, because this guy is tempting me to spite buy and spite having fun with blatantly posting screenshots of tanks while spite-describing them as infantry or whatever this kind of guy thinks is the most annoying
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Jun 4, 2020 18:18
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SIGSEGV posted:NATO symbology standards neglect to provide symbols for units of hoplites, halberdiers, powered armor infantry and armored core next, it is predictable that as it rigidifies thinking such, it will eventually cause many a downfall. Looks like you could just use the symbols for infantry, infantry, marines and tanks. Close enough!
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Jun 9, 2020 12:17
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Saros posted:Remember in like, I wanna say early 2000's when every program would try install a custom web browser taskbar? Yeah. Does it also pull the advanced tricks like asking "Do you not want this installed? Yes/No" or switching the position of the Yes/No-buttons around to scam you into accepting?
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Jun 11, 2020 13:02
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TheDeadlyShoe posted:[...] Aurora's default empire spawn is 500 million; having multiple billions on earth gives you ridiculously more industry and research than you can even do anything with. That is kind of interesting. I still have this plan in mind where I put a NPR of United Earth on Terra with a "realistic" population of 6-8 billion and then play as an alien race that developed differently, and therefore only has 2 billion people at roughly the same level of technological development. Would this mean the NPR is vastly more powerful, or just 3-4x as powerful? Also then I got sidetracked when trying Ironseed. Man, it took me an hour to even understand the menus I was looking at, and all I managed to do was running away from some aliens and accidentally recycling my only factory. I guess I can always go back to my first save if I end up stuck, but wow, this is even worse than Aurora, considering at least Aurora uses conventions that are easier to parse then Ironseeds ultra-transhumanistic approach. I think two of my crew members are almost insane already, just from me hanging around the same planet for so long. I don't even know if you can pause the game or if I'm loving myself harder the longer I take to read crew backstories! I think I like this game.
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Oct 29, 2020 13:23
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Travic posted:Ok. I just remember from the LPs of Aurora I've seen on the forums every time they go exploring they get completely wrecked by NPRs. So I'm being very cautious and trying to min/max it like a game of Stellaris or Distant Worlds. Have you considered that maybe, they're just really bad players?
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Oct 31, 2020 15:47
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Private Speech posted:I'm the type that installs all the "remove AI bonuses" mods for TW:WH2 or Stellaris or what-have-you even if it makes the game less challenging, because I find it better when I know we're playing on an even ground and that I can learn from what the AI was doing - I think that in particular is key for me, I want to be able to follow what the AI does and get the same results. I'm the exact opposite, especially if I know in advance the AI is too stupid to survive without bonuses. In SEV I burned myself this way pretty badly when I finally broke down and installed a mod with vastly improved AI but left the AI-bonus settings on their old, insane levels for my first new game. In Stellaris, I tend to play on medium ("Commodore") but with a mod that very mildly makes the AI play better. The bonuses the AI gets on Commodore are an added secret bonus for me, you see: I've learned what kind of goods the AI really likes and just trade them to friendly AIs for absurd amounts of alloys* the AI only has because of its huge bonus production. *"alloys" in Stellaris are a very important resource, it is needed for space ship and star base construction. Re: Other games, did Shadows of Empire come out for Steam at some point? When the game was released, I remember the devs promising a later Steam-release so I held off on buying it immediately.
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Dec 29, 2020 18:27
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Saros posted:Do you mean Shadow Empire? wait poo poo how did I miss this Thanks for the link!
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Dec 29, 2020 19:15
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There was this game called Sun-something-or-other and it allowed up to 12 mechs per engagement. I think. Could have been 8 instead. It was some weird mech game set in a completely different fictional world than Battletech and had mech tonnages running up to 200 or something. A light scout mech was "only" 40t, for example. It had a lot of weird and unusual equipment, like energy shields, meson cannons and "cold ray" beams. You could also slowly train up your pilots RPG-style. I lost the CD long ago, but it stopped working eventually anyway. Would be interesting to see if it can run on a Win10 PC nowadays. Edit: Wait a minute, I just found it on my shelf. It's actually called "Titans of Steel" and now I remember that it's not the CD I lost, but the manual with the CD-key on it. Welp, so I have the game but can't play it. Copy protection is such bullshit
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Jan 30, 2021 22:24
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Taintrunner posted:You can find it for free on MyAbandonware. Matrix Games gave it out for free a long time ago, but lost the download link on their site. Hey sweet, thanks! I even got my manual back. But, why are the patches only going up to the public release in terms of version number? Does that mean the 1.21 "public release" that is for download doesn't need the patches?
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Jan 30, 2021 22:44
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Grevlek posted:Its outside the theme of historical, but as someone who walked into the thread with the same question 4 months ago, I was recommended Shadow Empire and it's fantastic. What I really like about Shadow Empire is how you can make the most hosed-up worlds to play on. Like, my very first map was a tiny dead moon with nothing on it, and then the history simulator killed almost everyone left. When I took the reigns, I got the tiniest map and the combined population of this moon colony could fill maybe half a city. It's impressive how varied your maps can get.
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Mar 15, 2021 12:21
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Neophyte posted:EXCUSE ME, Aurora 4X is now C# spreadsheets tyvm Recently, I've tried my hand at Aurora again. After an entire day of trying, I had two custom systems with custom non-player empires ready. Also, I'm slowly turning Sol into an alien system, since last time I tried to set up an alien start Aurora really didn't like me making Sol-Humans a non-player empire and started constantly crashing. The only problem left before I can eventually start playing is Aurora getting confused about its ","s and "."s. For some reason Aurora wants to use a point for decimals, but replaces it with a comma when the interface updates, leading to poo poo like a species suddenly having 10000 production speed instead of 100, just because I clicked "save species" twice. This drives me nuts. How can you even program a game in 2021 and gently caress this up so badly???  I could understand if Aurora just used one or both number systems consistently, but this is just dumb
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Jul 31, 2021 11:46
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Saros posted:That's Definitely something I saw a warning about once, it's to do with UK/EU/US language settings in windows handling numbers differently. You can fix it by forcing windows to not use the comma or something. Now that's a new solution! Years back with old Aurora, the go-to solution was always something like "Switch your OS to UK/US from your filthy third-world country, you knave" and then switching back after you closed down Aurora, which always felt pretty clunky. Where exactly can I find the setting in Win10 to make it not change all my points back into commas? (I'm graciously assuming here that's what is happening, instead of possibility two: That's something in Aurora itself doing the switching, in some kind of crazed attempt at a work-around to the OS-issue by the developer)
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Jul 31, 2021 14:55
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Private Speech posted:It should be in the same dialog where you switch the country settings, "Region" or something like that. Oh yeah thanks, I found the settings. This is definitely easier then changing my entire OS back and forth!
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Aug 1, 2021 09:46
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Since we don't have an Aurora-thread, I thought I should try asking here instead: When assembling a new empire, I noticed I can assign System themes (naming scheme for stellar objects, e.g. planets etc.), Class themes (names for ship classes) and a general name theme which I assume is character names and ranks. Playing around with the options, I was suddenly confused because while Aurora allows adding in custom everything, naming themes seem to be the exception. Since this is a game which includes a loving medal editor for making your own custom medals, I'm assuming I'm just not finding the right option. How can I add my own e.g. custom rank theme to Aurora?
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Aug 6, 2021 20:20
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uPen posted:Create a .txt file that has the names you want to add to a new theme, I save them to the Aurora directory but I don't think that's necessary. Launch Aurora, on the left hand side menu (the menu with Body Info/All Bodies/Display/Contacts/etc) select Miscellaneous and then add theme. Thanks, that's helping a lot! Does the game expect any special formatting, or is it just one name, one line like I've seen in other space 4x games with custom lists? I'm asking because Aurora apparently knows how to differentiate ranks from names from a naming file, so I'm forced to guess it's not that simple. Also, sorry for more dumb questions, but is there a maximum amount of names I can put in, or would Aurora just shrug and accept an entire novel's worth of names if I go off the deep end?
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Aug 7, 2021 10:45
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Travic posted:I want to learn how to make better sensors in Aurora. What is a good goal to aim for when it comes to active sensors? I built my basic sensors so they'd detect a 10,000 ton ship at 100 million kilometers. What should I be doing instead? Uh, wouldn't sensor drones be a lot less wasteful than entire ships dedicated to special sensors? After all, losing a couple cheap drones at least doesn't leave your fleet crippled, like with what would happen if your dedicated sensor ships buy it
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Aug 27, 2021 23:34
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Popete posted:Just found out about Sea Legends a new game from Game Labs the developers of the Ultimate Admiral/General games, Naval Action. Looks to be a single player RPG about being a smuggler/privateer/pirate. Looking at the price, this sounds like a re-boot of Pirates! for rich people, no thanks. Edit: Suddenly I have this odd urge to play Hanse again. Sailing and trading! Mayor of Lübeck in 250 turns! I wish someone would add Hanse to GOG, 
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Oct 20, 2021 10:40
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Pharnakes posted:The patrician series is on gog I think isn't it? It is and I think I even have the games in my account, but Hanse is even more about being a Hanse-trader than Patrician. The game is so centered around the Hanse, the author even spend half a year doing research in the library of his hometown, Lübeck. That's the kind of dedication I think sets the game apart. It's kind of sad that neither the original game nor the 1994-remake is on GOG. It's a huge omission, imho.
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Oct 20, 2021 14:34
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Huskalator posted:I see you haven't played Stellaris yet. Recently I breached 2800 hours in Stellaris. I'm now officially an addict.
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Dec 17, 2021 19:20
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Armauk posted:How has the game kept your attention for this long? It's mostly for these reasons: 1.) I'm a writer, so I keep inventing new space species with unhealthily long and complex backgrounds just for the fun of writing, then putting them into games like some hosed-up AI experiment 2.) Paradox keeps adding new poo poo to try out and changes stuff, so the game keeps feeling fresh 3.) The game is sometimes incredibly buggy. The Grey Tempest event for example spawns super-fleets which only well-prepared players can defeat. Even the recently improved AI can't do this, at least not always: Set up your game in the wrong way, and the AI is too weak and since the GT-fleets can just delete planets, every game run with them often turns into a nightmare realm of you surviving in a sea of death. And the AI is programmed to rip out the gates releasing them on their own if you wait long enough. So every game randomly spawning them better also have high difficulty, or the run will just one day end with endless spawns eating up everyone. The rest of the bugs is kind of boring in comparison, and Paradox keeps fixing them. But boy oy boy, the amount of time I've wasted by playing for hours, only to win by default when the GT showed up. That and other aborted runs due to bugs or me just losing interest in my own scenario probably accounts for most of that time. In those 2800+ hours, there's just one singular game I ever managed to play through to the end. But as long as the game is fun, I keep going back
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Dec 22, 2021 13:02
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habituallyred posted:I say this with love Libluini: A 1000 page MOO3 LP playthrough is a valuable service to the community. A historical record of man's reach exceeding their grasp. A documenting of the first faltering steps toward a 4X that doesn't require micromanagement. A chance to comment on how that ultimately circles back to the sliders of MOO1. To be fair, some kind of cosmic force seems to agree with you, considering all the IRL-bullshit happening since September, forcing my LPs into endless hiatus My current plan reads "resume updates after Christmas", but today the eyesight on my still functioning eye dropped a bit again and now I'm not sure if I can hold to this plan. Next appointment to look at my eyes is on January 3rd, after that I'll know more. Hopefully. The water damage in my apartment is also still not repaired. loving landlords
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Dec 23, 2021 16:36
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Saros posted:Nebulous is inching close to release and from the beta players releasing videos it looks legitimately great. This looks like a mash-up of Nexus and Homeworld. Which means I immediately put it on my wishlist for later, thanks. Also, Distant Worlds 2 is coming out in March and looks nice, too. Now I just need more free time... lots and lots of free time.
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Feb 3, 2022 19:45
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William Henry Hairytaint posted:I've been avoiding learning much of anything about Distant Worlds 2 but now that it's close to release I decided to check out DasTactic's vids on it and apparently you can only play 7 of the races in the game? Is that permanent or are they going to increase it later? Cuz I gotta be honest it's almost a deal breaker, one of the things that made the original so great was the number of default races. And then DW Extended made it even better. More importantly, can you add your own portraits? I still have fond memories of doing poo poo like adding the electron microscopic picture of a virus to SEV to make a hivemind gas giant species. 
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Feb 22, 2022 16:08
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Foo Diddley posted:played some distant worlds 2 and it does a lot of things better than the first one, such as: it does load faster, too bad it doesn't launch correctly, at least not on my machine, I think I'll give up trying soon and also uninstall Edit: -Settings menu doesn't work correctly, making the UI "Extra Large" makes it actually impossible to leave the settings if you restart, so you can't ever change things back, oops (maybe a confirm keyboard shortcut could help here, if it existed) -The game refuses to properly launch after the first start, it now only covers maybe 2/3rds of the screen in fullscreen, which probably causes the other issue or makes it worse How do you get basic UI stuff like this wrong? Edit2: OK, so setting my main Windows UI back to 125% for some reason restored fullscreen on Distant Worlds 2 to normal, but the settings screen is still a trap you can't get out of, and after trying my entire keyboard, there really is no way to confirm besides clicking on the now invisible buttons. Welp. I guess I'll never change those settings ever again.  Edit3: Trying to play without changing my settings back is even rougher then expected: -approx. 90% of the UI is either unusable due to invisible elements or due to the UI covering loving everything on the highest setting, great testing you did, guys -Apparently if you click stubbornly forward on game select screen because you can't really see anything makes you start as the Mortalen? Huh, either that's RNG or a very odd default -Trying to change the settings from inside the game traps you, you can't even click on the still open system menu to exit the game, the open settings window simply blocks you from doing everything. This oversight I really did not expect from a game released in 2022 Welp anyway, that's it for today. If the support doesn't have a solution over the next few days, I'll guess I'll ask for a refund next, and re-buy in a couple years after the kinks have been hammered out, because holy poo poo that was a bad experience By the way, a complete re-install did nothing. But there seems to be no place anywhere where the game saved the settings, so I've no idea what is happening here, besides brazen incompetence. Libluini fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Mar 10, 2022 |
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Mar 10, 2022 20:59
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Squiggle posted:If you disable app DPI scaling in the Properties of the .exe entirely, does that unfuck it? According to the helpful posters of the 4x-thread, going into the "data"-folder and deleting the game settings file forces DW2 to start with the default-settings. I can confirm this works! After some trying around, I noticed that the game apparently thought my Windows-UI being set to 125% scaling was the normal scaling and got confused when I tried unfucking the "too big UI"-problem by downscaling again. Now it's fine, the in-game UI is set to normal and my OS is back to 125% -the latter solves the fullscreen-issue, the first leaves all buttons on-screen in clicking range. Now of course I've ran out of time to actually play much today, but I set-up a game to come back to tomorrow. So far I like it! (Ironically, if it weren't for the eye problems I've developed last year, I probably wouldn't even have walked into this trap! )
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Mar 10, 2022 23:29
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