Distant Worlds 2

[Undercovergeek]

For the whole game? That’s pretty swish

[Martok]

Been dipping my toes back in this past week.  Haven't decided how much fun I'm having yet, but at least it's fairly relaxing when you're playing full auto (more or less).  And yes, that's generally how I roll when playing DWU/DW2, especially in the early game; unlike most folks who apparently want to manually do everything, I actually enjoy sitting back and watch my empire do its thing. 

I forget sometimes just how bloody slow things start out in this game.  I can see the appeal, but it really does take some getting used to.  I did notice that asteroids get surveyed much more quickly now, however (I kinda recall that change being made a while back), which is definitely welcome. 

The pop-up notifications on the right side get damned annoying:  They don't automatically go away once I've made a choice (approve, decline, etc.) when I choose to view them.  In addition, pop-ups automatically open whenever you mouse over them; when most of the time, I'm just trying to right-click to dismiss them.  Grr.  There has to be a better way. 

The game needs better feedback/notifications for the player:  I ordered a construction ship to build a mining base at a moon, but it went all the way back to the spaceport instead...and then it went back out and constructed the mining base.  (This took a good five minutes in real time, on the fastest speed setting; I spent those five minutes yelling at my monitor and almost rage-quitting.)  I finally realized -- after the fact -- that my constructor had needed to return to the spaceport to get the requisite resources for building said mining base first.  Getting some sort of notification informing me of this would have saved a lot of frustration.  (If there *was* some sort of notification that I missed, it wasn't obvious.) 

There should be a way to mark things -- such as a pirate station -- as off-limits, so that my ships don't repeatedly stumble into their weapons range.  (I guess Stellaris has spoiled me in this regard, but I think it'd be a good idea for DW2 have something similar.) 


Despite my complaints/critiques, I'm enjoying the game enough at the moment that I'm continuing to play it an hour or two here & here. 

[ojsdad]

Thanks for the update Martok.  I think all that you pointed out are quality of life improvements that they should have addressed already, as they all existed in the previous version.  I've been playing Stellaris a lot again, and it's amazing how smoothly it handles notifications compared to DW2. 

[Martok]

Yeah, it's kinda sad -- though not surprising, given DW2's launch state last year -- that it's taken this long just to get the game up to a point I would consider (more or less) acceptable:  It's not even great or amazing, but merely "all right" IMO. 

Those who never really played the first game will probably enjoy DW2 just fine.  But for those of us who *did* play (and enjoy) the original Distant Worlds, I suspect most would still find the current experience somewhat underwhelming.  It'll be interesting to see what the game looks like a few years from now with multiple DLC/expansions added to it; maybe/hopefully by then, it will feel like the more fleshed out product we were used to with Distant Worlds: Universe. 

[Martok]

The latest roadmap: 


https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10151&t=394862





The highlights: 

1.)  The next major update (dubbed "Hyperspeed") should be released sometime next month, and will apparently provide a major boost to performance (hence the name). 

2.)  The second faction DLC will feature the Quameno and Guizerians, and is due out late summer. 

3.)  The major expansion the devs are working on is (no surprise) focused on the Shakturi.  No release date at this point has been announced, however. 

4.)  Existing factions will gradually be updated to a similar level as the Ikkuro and Dhayut (in regards to faction differentiation). 

5.)  Going forward, public betas will come out every other week on average, with major updates being released approximately every 2-3 months. 

[Martok]

The new "Hyperspeed" update dropped Friday: 


https://www.slitherine.com/news/distant-worlds-2-hyperspeed-update-out-now

[Undercovergeek]

Booted it up to check it updated earlier - I might start a new run next week

[Martok]

Matrix is looking for more beta-testers to help out with their upcoming DLC: 


https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10151&t=396153




I'm guessing this is for the Quameno and Gizurean races, though I suppose it could also be for the Shakturi expansion. 

[Anguille]

Man, I still have to complete a full game of Distant Worlds before that 

[Martok]

So do I.   

[Undercovergeek]

when you wait 6 months to start a new game and the day after they release a massive update, the last final amazzzzzzzzzing update

sigh

start again

All the goodies here - TLDR - new game set up options, new guardians of ancient knowledge, new hive - like the big bad guys in stellaris

https://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/DistantWorlds2/whatsnew.pdf

[Huw the Poo]

After that "Hyperspeed" update (which was the "it definitely works now guys" update that the Aurora update before it was supposed to be) I have to admit it's finally starting to come together. Still needs loads of QoL improvements that have been discussed a lot in this thread but I haven't been forced to abandon my current game yet, which is a first.

[Martok]

Return of the Shakturi is releasing October 24. 



https://www.slitherine.com/game/distant-worlds-2-return-of-the-shakturi
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2926560/Distant_Worlds_2_Return_of_the_Shakturi/


Devlog #1

For as lackluster as my experience with DW2 was in the months after launch, I really should give it another go.  By most accounts, the game is finally in a good place, and it would be nice to get a sense of how it feels before its first major expansion drops. 

[Martok]

Return of the Shakturi - Dev Log #2


The expansion is adding Outposts, Alliances (ala Stellaris-style federations), and the option to play as Refugees looking for a new home.  Sounds interesting. 

[Martok]

Return of the Shakturi - Dev Log #3




This one covers features coming with the free update accompanying the release of the expansion.  The main highlights are: 

*  Expanded Enemy Target lists -- sounds like the AI has been greatly improved to handle & better coordinate automated fleets as a part of this. 

*  A new War Missions system

*  A major re-balance to economy, planetary suitability, and the colonization &terraforming research trees

*  Overhauled message and notification system



A beta branch is now available to anyone interested in checking out the new/improved features before Return of the Shakturi drops in two weeks.