Distant Worlds -- A new 4x space strategy game

[Martok]

Am continuing to have a grand time playing this game. The latest patch does indeed seem to have fixed the vast majority of the remaining bugs (at least the most egregious ones), and the game is definitely running a bit more smoothly now.

Better yet, Matrix has announced their plans for the next update already, and that the public beta for it should be available in just over a week! Here's what's on the menu:

Hi everyone,

Time for another preview of what's on the way. I just synced up with Elliot to make sure we were on the same page and I think you will be happy with the upcoming improvements and fixes.

Below are the items that will be in the next patch. Because of the rebalancing, we will have this in testing a bit longer, so we expect it to go to a public beta around the 19th.

BALANCE FACTORS

* Rebalance number of colonizable planets and abundance of resources
* Racial bonuses apply in more gradual manner for multi-racial empires
* Trade valuations for colonies, bases and tech rebalanced
* Decrease likelihood of empires colonizing in other empires systems
* Reasonable limits on arming civilian ships. AI allows for defensive weapons, with no negative impact on relationships
* Enforce size limits on Resupply Ship. Also enforce minimum percentage of space as cargo storage, etc to limit how many weapons can be on board
* Limit negative effects of poor reputation on your empire's colonies, i.e. citizens less concerned about your reputation, especially for certain races


NEW FEATURES

* Add auto-refuel option for all ships, even when manually-controlled
* Manually-controlled military ships automatically engage enemies, no need to manually select targets
* Add mass-retrofit option from Ships and Bases screen
* Allow turning off display of ships at galaxy- and sector-zoom level (fleets, bases, military ships, civilian ships, etc)


BUGS

* Fix bugs where fleets may have missions cancelled
* Fix bug with 'ghost ships' and defeated empires
* Fix other minor bugs


There may also be other items included in the patch, but this is the minimum list.

Personally, the new features that I highlighted in bold are the changes I'm looking forward to the most. However, the rebalancing work will be very welcome as well. (The abundance of colonizable worlds and resources does seem to be a bit....overly generous, for example.)

Now I just hope I can get at least one whole game in before then....

Oh man, this looks cool, I'll probably get it in the summer. Can we have some screens, pretty please?

Sadly, I'm a total ignoramus when it comes to capturing screenshots and posting them. Rest assured, I would do so if I knew how.

That being said, there's some screenshots over at Matrix. Check 'em out!

Thanks Martok, I'll keep that in mind.

Maybe I'll see if I can find some gameplay videos and such. :Smile:

There's certainly no shortage of gameplay videos, all of which can be found on Youtube under Codeforce.