Distant Worlds – Return of the Shakturi
Read me File – 28 January 2011
Version 1.5.0.4 Beta
Welcome.
Thank you for playing Distant Worlds – Return of the Shakturi™! We are always looking
for ways to improve your gaming experience. For the latest information on the game,
please go to the Matrix Games web site at www.matrixgames.com.
Below you will find the latest and greatest information on Distant Worlds – Return of the
Shakturi™. Information in this document supersedes that in the official game manual.
Troubleshooting:
Ensure that your system meets the minimum system requirements. These are found in
the game manual. Also, ensure that you have the latest video and sound drivers available
for your system and that you have upgraded to the latest versions of .Net Framework and
DirectX from Microsoft. The vast majority of reported problems are resolved by
upgrading all drivers, .Net Framework and DirectX to the latest versions.
If you are still experiencing problems with the game, please use our Help Desk at
www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk or post in the Distant Worlds™ Support Forum at
www.matrixgames.com. Please provide as much detail on your issue as you can.
To obtain optimum game performance, close all other applications before beginning
a game.
Change History:
v1.5.0.4 Beta – January 28, 2011
• Balance and Gameplay
o Further refined number of colonizable planets and moons in galaxies
based on Colony Prevalence setting in game startup. By default, there are
now less colonies available in galaxies, slowing expansion a bit
o Ancient Guardians no longer take ownership of lost colonies
o limit resources (cargo) at new colonies to small amount of Caslon and
Hydrogen fuel
o fixed problem where AI empires sometimes not researching construction
tech enough to build larger ships
o fixed exploit where you could right-click on an unexplored system and get
“Colonize” command in right-click pop-up menu
• Bug fixes
o fixed bug where fleets sometimes move to top-left corner of galaxy when
assign queued missions
o fixed rare crash when colonize planet
o fixed crash when edit planet with ruins for super weapons tech bonus
o fixed bug where can obtain multiple bonuses from destroying pirate bases
o fixed issue with incomplete message when offering info on story location
o fixed rare crash in Empire Navigation Tool when viewing enemy targets
• Others
o Allow scrapping of privately-owned bases in the Ships and Bases screen
o Altered colony rebellions so that do not begin during invasions. Also
ensure that colony will join empire of invaders if present instead of
becoming independent or joining another empire
v1.5.0.3 Beta – January 17, 2011
• Colonization and Balance
o balance of colonizable planets - now more colonizable high-quality ice
and volcanic planets (with appropriate tech)
o more independent colonies than previously
o greatly increased capacity of passenger transport components
o increased number of passenger ships and freighters
o improved how passenger ships respond to migration needs
• Bug fixes
o fixed rare crash at colonies when population drops due to invasion
o removed duplicated components in 'Latest Components' list in Design
screen
o fixed crash when remove planets in game editor
o fixed crash when switch themes (to a theme with less ship-sets than the
previous one)
o fixed bug in Start New Game screen when start game after switching back
from theme with races not in current theme (if missing races set in Other
Empires grid)
o fixed bug where AI fleet formation would often disband and reform fleets
• Other
o in nebula clouds movement speed is now 75% of normal (from 50%)
o automated fleets now do not auto-respond to attacks if more than a sector
away and another fleet is closer
o space creatures are now shown in mini-map as dark red diagonal crosses
o can now have more starting empires (Start New Game screen) when have
more than 20 races for galaxies with 700 stars or more
o now always reset research slider to "Starting" in Edit Empire screen of
game editor
o special super-weapon techs set for a race in races.txt file now apply for the
race at game start
v1.5.0.2 Beta – January 12, 2011
• Troops and Invasions
o AI now attempts to assign fleets or strike forces to defend critical colonies
when you are at war (automated fleets when Fleet Formation is also
automated)
o improved troop levels so that there are normally sufficient troops to
defend colonies
o orbital bases (space ports and defensive bases) now damage invading
troops if not cleared prior to invasion
o planetary shield facilities now damage invading troops
o doubled time duration to conquer colony (troops fight at half previous
speed)
o increased colony unhappiness factor 'At War With Our Race' so that
invading and taking over a large world of an enemy is now more likely to
result in a rebelling population
o colony rebellions now raise more militia troops, especially when at war
with the dominant race of the colony
o increased population deaths from colony invasions, especially at larger
colonies
• Bug fixes
o fixed bug where auto-retrofit message allowed upgrading to larger ship
sizes than tech currently allowed
o fixed bug where ships not completing construction or retrofit because
could modify designs while ships under construction
o fixed bug in Expansion Planner and Empire Navigation Tool where some
items not shown in green when in your system
o fixed exploit where filtering in Expansion Planner allowed you to exclude
unknown resources and unexplored super ruins
o fixed bug where Research locations were disappearing in Empire
Navigation Tool when system was colonized
o fixed rare crash when viewing construction ship in Ships and Bases screen
o fixed rare crash when fleet moved to location
o fixed crash when view new colony without population
o fixed other rare game crashes
o fixed rare crash when pirate base destroyed
o fixed bug where newly built colony ships were start off without fuel
o fixed bug where empires with Mutual Defense Pacts were sometimes
attacking each other
o fixed bug where ships were sometimes invisible
o nearest construction ship now properly gets repaired abandoned ship in
debris field
o fixed bug where Shakturi were sometimes not appearing in game
o fixed 'ghost' navigation directions (ping) without item at location
o fixed bug where ships were sometimes doing same action twice
o fixed bug where ships were sometimes still blockading colony after it was
conquered
• Other
o rodent races now properly disike insectoid races in biases.txt file
o doubled capacity of passenger transport components to increase migration
rates between colonies
o added more weapons to default small space port design
o dramatically lowered damage from bombardment weapons
o blockading fleets now properly respond to attacks, even when not at war
with attacker
o 'Latest components' in Designs screen now properly obtaining latest
components - may have more than one component in each area if equal
tech level
o Ancient Guardians no longer investigate ruins or investigate and acquire
abandoned ships and bases
v1.501 – January 11, 2011
• Bug Fixes
o Fixed crash where deleted default designs broke Action buttons when
selecting uninhabited planets and moons (e.g. designs for resort base,
monitoring station, etc)
o Fixed crash when view design of pirate ship or base (via Trace Scanner
component)
o Fixed crash when view components for some resources in Expansion
Planner screen (e.g. Iridium)
o Fixed crash when viewing galactic storms while zoomed in to system level
o Fixed bug where construction ships sometimes would not retrofit
o When take ownership of base or carrier, now also take ownership of
fighters at base or carrier
o Fixed crash when no colony ship design and 'build and send colony ship'
in Expansion Planner screen
o Fixed rare crash when planets/moons/asteroids had been added/removed
from the galaxy
o Fixed resource transporting so that mining stations properly have excess
resources taken to nearest space port
o Fixed 'Load Troops' Action button for individual military ships
• Modding Support
o Added new racial biases text file for controlling natural biases between
races (biases.txt)
o Default in-game racial biases now applied when no biases file (biases.txt)
present in a theme
o Fix to allow more than 22 race images in custom themes
o Prevent unplayable races from showing up in Start New Game screen or
Quick Start screen after change themes
• Game Editor
o Fixed crash that occurred after adding new stars or systems in game editor
o Added following new options when editing planet/moon/asteroid in game
editor:
Toggle planetary rings on/off (for non gas-giant planets)
Add/remove resources
Edit planet quality
Edit planet scenery bonus and description
Edit planet/star research bonuses
• Empire Policy
o Prevent military ships of another empire from refueling at your colonies
and bases unless have Free Trade Agreement or better (Empire Policy
setting)
• Interface Improvements
o Added mass-fighter upgrade button for each carrier (Action buttons)
o Added mass fighter upgrade for entire empire (Empire Policy setting)
o Added separators for thousands in numbers (money values) in Trade
screen, Diplomacy screen, Build Order screen and Advisor messages
o Added list of new techs that triggered mass-retrofit to advisor pop-up (so
that can better determine whether to retrofit)
o Adjusted Selection Panel layout so that info does not 'fall off' bottom
when colonies selected
o Excluded non-playable races from displaying in victory conditions screen
(Ancient Guardians and Shakturi do not count towards victory conditions)
o No longer prepopulate build amounts in Build Order screen (from advisor
suggestions) if Ship Building automation is set to manual
o Build Order advisor recommendations now limited by empire cashflow
and cash on hand
• Gane Balance Improvements
o Reduced flee/escape distance until begin warp jump (escaping ships jump
sooner)
o Increased military ship-building levels for AI empires
o Ancient Guardians better defend their home colony with troops
o Ensure Ancient Guardians generate intelligence agents
o Ensure some intelligence agents always assigned to counter-intelligence
for AI empires
• Performance Improvements
o Ship movement in galaxy map much smoother on multi-core machines
v1.50 – December 16, 2010
• Initial Release
