Refreshed Base Game Factions Welcome to a new Developer Diary and thank you for your interest in Distant Worlds 2. This diary focuses on the upgrades and updates we’ve been making to the base game factions since the release of the first Distant Worlds 2 Faction DLC. We’ll discuss the key new features for each refreshed faction and what’s coming in the future.
Faction Gameplay When we released Distant Worlds 2, we had already differentiated our factions from each other more than they ever were in Distant Worlds 1, with far more unique 3D ship sets, faction exclusive storylines and artifacts and gameplay features. However, it quickly became clear that players wanted us to make the faction themes stronger and call out their differences even more. With the first Faction DLC, we set a new benchmark for Faction gameplay and differentiation with the Ikkuro and Dhayut factions. We also promised the community that as time allowed, we would upgrade the base game factions to that same new standard in our free updates.
In most cases, this means that we added new conditional gameplay features, revisited unique techs and tech trees, refreshed ship textures and fixed any model issues, added some new features and abilities and character traits and so on. The design process is very similar to what we go through for the DLC factions, just building on an existing base. We also periodically tweak factions and make fixes to issues we find with them over time and that will continue going forward.
Humans
The Humans, as the most played faction, were in the first group of two to get a refresh, in April, 2024. Humans are designed to be a faction that is decent at many playstyles, to be friendly to new players who are exploiring all parts of the game. First, we took the old faction events that were just on a timer and turned them into conditional events which are based on gameplay and then we added some new ones.
The Great Art Exposition now gives you a boost to Trade and Tourism and Income when you sign a Free Trade Agreement or build a new Resort Base. Heightened Security gives you the option to “spend” a spy in exchange for a significant boost to counter intelligence when your enemies complete intelligence missions against you. Hero of the Hour gives you a free quality Admiral or General if another empire declares war on you. Perhaps the keystone feature for Human is New Worlds, which helps incentivize early exploration and colonization towards the Human goal of colonizing all Continental worlds, by granting a free Colonization tech advance (once per planet and only up to Tech Level 4) when you colonize or conquer a new Continental world.
The tech tree was also revisited, rationalizing the tech paths for the unique Human Hail Cannons, Bulwark Missiles and Gyrfalcon Interceptors, removing redundant tech in the process. A new facility, the Foundation for Galactic Cooperation, reinforces more peaceful playstyles, while a boost to the size of Human Carriers emphasizes the theme that they do like to build towards Carrier-centered fleets.
As you can see, however you like to play your Humans and with whatever government, there’s something new there for you. As a last bonus, we upgraded the textures on all the Human ships and stations.
Mortalen
Unlike the Humans, the Mortalen are much more specialized towards war, but are a more disciplined and honorable faction than many other warlike factions in the game. We also noticed that in general, they were lagging a bit behind the other factions in terms of their actual performance.
Their military theme focuses on having the best military leaders, the best troops and generally being better at actually successfully fighting a war than other factions. As part of this, they gained the following new conditional gameplay features, some new and some converted from older timer-based faction events.
Warrior Wave: When you declare war obtain a 2 year boost to Mortalen Population Growth along with your choice of either a large Troop Recruitment Rate boost or a Troop Attack Strength boost Patriotic Wave: When war is declared on you obtain a 2 year boost to Mortalen Population Growth along with your choice of either Colony Coruption Reduction or War Weariness Reduction Know Your Enemy: When you invade and conquer an enemy world choose a 2 year boost to either Espionage and Counter Espionage or Targeting and Countermeasures Prove Yourself: Periodically choose between 2 characters (from Leader, Admirals, Generals) to undergo a trial by arms. If successful (about 75% likely) the selected character gains a positive trait, otherwise a negative trait.
Mortalen also love armor, so we increased their Armor Research, gave all their ships and spaceports +1 to their Hull Reactive Armor and gave them a new tech tree and armor component called Block Armor which is a bit tougher than standard armor components. We also rationalized their existing unique techs, which are a unique Pulse torpedo and a better maneuvering thruster, to make sure they were accessible earlier. Their troop experience gain was also boosted across the board and their ships and stations received a new coat of paint.
Finally, there were a number of issues with the at release Mortalen victory conditions. We fixed all of these issues and made sure they could compete well with other factions when it came to faction-specific victory conditions.
Boskara
The Boskara were already a fairly strong faction before their refresh and they are also typically the chief allies of the Shakturi and the most aggressive faction in the galaxy. We decided to give players more of that aggressive warlike theme, so that if you want to thrive in a near-constant state of ruthless war, the Boskara would be for you. Unlike the Mortalen, they care little for honor or discipline, but they excel at driving themselves into an aggressive frenzy.
Along with the bonuses in the direction of war, there are some limitations. The Boskara build quickly and aggressively, with little focus on Damage Control – pretty much all of their focus is on Damage Output. As a result, once their ships start taking damage they are not as sturdy as those of most other factions. If they are at peace, they also run the risk of turning on themselves in a bout of Crazed Cannibalism which will cause a 10% population loss at the affected world.
They also gained a small economic advantage due to their nature, revealing an additional resource on the Volcanic colonies they love best as a result of their extensive tunneling and getting a mining-focused leader trait. Similarly, they can build a unique Weapons Lab that is linked to the planetary core, boosting their Weapon Research further than most factions, but at the cost of damaging the planet (not something the Boskara typically care much about).
Their main advantages relate to the ability to obtain a “Warspawn” admiral or general when declaring war. Though this also effectively puts other empires on guard against you, it lets you very rapidly trigger a War Spawning, which immediately converts some of your population to troops, a unique advantage no other faction has. The Total War ability also speeds both ship construction and troop recruitment, though again at a cost to the planet itself due to unchecked military industry.
Finally, if they Boskara succeed in conquering an enemy homeworld, they gain a massive 20% boost to their happiness for 10 years, helping fuel their next war. Along with all this, we did give the Boskara ships a texture refresh to both fix texture issues and make them a bit more menacing.
Zenox
The Zenox are a very unique faction in the galactic lore and we had previously called out those aspects in their faction story and some bonuses, but never as much as we really would have liked or as much as players wanted. In addition, their ships and stations were nice to look at up close, but at the zoom level most players uses, they looked bland and uninspiring. We decided from the start that the Zenox would get a major effort on the art side to improve the look of their ships and stations, inspired by the Zenox mega-ship that released in the Return of the Shakturi expansion. We also wanted to really bring out their efforts as galactic lore keepers along with their cunning nature. All Zenox ships and stations now begin with +10 Stealth built-in, which reduces the range at which they can be identified and detected and stacks with Stealth components, such that they can be the most sensor-evading faction in the game should you choose to play to that strength. They also gain faster exploration and better hyperdrive jump accuracy as a result of their ancient star charts.
When they investigate an ancient ruin, a bunch of things can happen now, which can boost happiness, research, diplomacy or intelligence depending on the player’s choices. If you establish a colony on a planet with ancient ruins, you can now choose to Preserve the Ruins, either converting them to a free Governance facilty or gaining a boost to the existing Ruin bonuses.
Zenox also now have the ability to mount an expedition to search through their ancient archives to see what new information they can find when they have money to spare. This can give a variety of benefits, including revealingn previously unknown important galactic locations. We recommend doing this as often as your budget allows, especially in the early and middle parts of the game. The Zenox unique techs were also rationalized and made accessible earlier in the tech trees, as well as adding in a new improved Megatron Planetary Shield facility and a much extended Crystal Sensors tree that now includes both short and long range sensors.
New possible character traits such as Archivist, which gives a boost to research and can be gained from investigating major ruins, round things out. If you want to focus on galactic lore, exploration of ruins, stealth and the manipulation of your enemies, the Zenox may be the right faction for you.
What’s Next? Next up we have the Teekans and the Haakonish, coming by the end of this year. The Teekans are due for a significant ship and station texture refresh, the Haakonish more just some fixes to texture issues. Both are trade-oriented factions, with the Teekans being much more nomadic and the Haakonish more xenophobic and mercantilist. These elements will be features in their refreshed gameplay.
The last to be refreshed will be the Ackdarians who don’t need much help in terms of their ships and stations but their skills as the galaxy’s master architects (especially of ships and stations) will get much more attention. When they arrive in 2026, that will complete our tour of the Base Game Factions, though we’ll continue to revisit all factions all as time goes on for tweaks, fixes and improvements based on player feedback. If you read through all of this, thank you again for your interest and let us know if you have any questions regarding the factions in Distant Worlds 2.
We're excited to announce that a major update, the Tactics Update, is releasing today.
This update brings significant improvements to fleet management, making your tactical decisions easier and more effective than ever. Here's what's new:
More intuitive fleet tactics settings
Improved default fleet tactics;
The ability to upgrade fleet templates;
Smarter and more efficient fleet top-up mechanics;
Plus: various fixes and improvements based on your feedback following the Control Update and its manual play enhancements.
Don’t miss the stream with Erik Rutins, producer and co-designer of Distant Worlds 2, who will showcase the new update at 6:30 PM UK time. Watch it here.
If you haven’t picked it up yet, now’s the perfect time: the Legacy Bundle is currently 20% off, instead of the usual 10%!
On April 3rd, we released the new Atuuk and Wekkarus DLC. Did you miss it?
To celebrate the release of the new DLC Factions Atuuk and Wekkarus we are hosting a special Ask Me Anything (AMA) with members of the Distant Worlds 2 development team: Erik Rutins – Producer and co-Designer, Max Klose-Ivanov - Associate Producer, Elliot Gibbs – Developer and Designer, and Edmon Jenkins – Community Manager of Slitherine.
Distant Worlds 2: Factions - Atuuk and Wekkarus is out now
The galaxy just got even more diverse. The Atuuk & Wekkarus DLC has officially launched for Distant Worlds 2, introducing two brand-new factions with unique abilities, mechanics, and playstyles. It is now your choice whether to join them, ally with them, or fight them.
THE ATUUK
The youngest starfarers of the galaxy, the Atuuk are highly sociable and thrive under their cyclical Great Direction, a powerful societal focus that grants immense benefits in research, combat, and more. They are also the first faction to be completely immune to psychic effects, making them an invaluable ally against factions like the Shakturi.
Unique Features [expand type=details expanded=false]
Unique mechanics tied to the Atuuk Great Direction – a cyclical change of focus for Atuuk society that greatly improves their abilities in a singular area of their empire, ranging from improved research to greatly enhanced combat strength, and many more, while also providing an increasing number of victory objectives to prove their greatness to the galaxy. Periodically, Atuuk will need to choose a new Great One from a pool of their own marked with Great Potential to lead them on their Great Direction. Some Atuuk may have reservations on the direction the Atuuk are taking with Direction Doubt, though this is only temporary.
The Atuuk are a happy faction that plays well on the galactic diplomatic stage, though they are naïve, gullible, and quite dim-witted, which means they don’t excel in any particular area when not following one of their special Great Directions.
Additional and surprising bonuses and effects when pressing the big glowing Red Button on their science stations.
Atuuk construction standards aren’t quite up to snuff compared to the other galactic players, so their ships will experience unexpected malfunctions while traversing the galaxy.
Bonuses to combat when outnumbering their opponents when fighting on the planet surface. There are a lot of Atuuk!
The Intergalactic Welcome Center makes the Atuuk empire more attractive for all migrants and tourists, thus strengthening the bonds of interstellar understanding.
Collection of Great Things – a unique facility that gathers all the wondrous things the Atuuk have gathered in their travels and exploration that improve their overall happiness and research.
Special thematic Character Traits for their entire lineup of characters bringing out the flavor of the Atuuk faction.
Their unique story gives them an advantage when dealing with some of the factions in the galaxy to help them form strong bonds and long-standing treaties.
Atuuk are the first faction to be completely immune to psychic effects, making them a useful ally for anyone fighting psychically-capable factions.
THE WEKKARUS
Ancient and enigmatic, the Wekkarus draw upon the strength of their ghostly ancestors, summoning spectral ships and troops to aid them in battle. Their deep knowledge of the galaxy grants them superior research, mining capabilities, and access to unique technologies such as the devastating Pulse Wave Cannon and enhanced defensive systems.
Unique Features [expand type=details expanded=false]
In times of stress, during combat in space and on planet surfaces, as well as certain character actions, the Wekkarus summon their ancient Ancestors for aid. In combat, these ancestors will manifest as “ghost” ships and troops that can tip the scale in the Wekkarus’ favor. Character Ancestors will either manifest at a location that most requires their aid or will provide boons to strengthen diplomatic ties or protect their spies from danger.
Due to their ancient mastery of space travel, their ships are faster and harder to hit, but are more delicate and fragile when taking hits. This also makes them more adept at new engine technologies.
The Wekkarus have a slew of unique technologies for their ships, including their signature Pulse Wave Cannon, the high-powered Constrictor tractor beam, and special shield enhancement component – the HydroCore Capacitor.
Living in the dark depths of Ocean and Deep Ocean planets, the Wekkarus have bonuses to counter-espionage and mining rate. Their unique habitats allow them to dig into the cores of the planets they live on and discover previously hidden resources.
Defensive Caverns facilities make the Wekkarus a tough nut to crack for any invading force, while unwelcome spies will find themselves lost in the labyrinths of Wekkarus cities.
The special Wekkarus connection to their ancestors will occasionally improve the skills of their scientists, letting them uncover hidden knowledge more quickly.
Special exclusive Spy and Scientist traits accenting Wekkarus secrecy and otherworldly wisdom.
Powerful unique artifacts will reveal themselves in the Wekkarus story, which directly strengthen the connection to their ancestors. The artifacts have basic effects for any faction that lays claim to them, though only the Wekkarus can utilize their true power.
Due to their mysterious origins and unique biology, Wekkarus are more resilient to the effects of psychic weapons and abilities than most other factions of Distant Worlds 2.
Join the Associate Producer for Distant Worlds 2, Max Klose-Ivanov for an in-depth DLC showcase stream and see these powerful factions in action:
We began our expansion of the galaxy with the release of our first DLC on March 16, 2023, introducing the Ikkuro and Dhayut factions.
The first of two factions to be added were the Ikkuro. The Ikkuro prize life and harmonious coexistence above all else. This philosophy of peace gives the Ikkuro an edge in colonization and terraforming, letting them get more out of the planets they settle compared to other factions of the galaxy. They can become an economic powerhouse, with highly developed planets and large boosts to happiness, especially when paired with their unique Harmonious Utopia government.
While the Ikkuro may be averse to conflict, they are certainly not toothless when it comes to defending their peace-loving ways. Once they really get going, the Ikkuro have some of the most durable and imposing ships. Unlike the usual space fleets of metal warships, the Ikkuro utilize organic materials to, in part, grow their ships with self-repairing hulls. This makes Ikkuro fleets tough nuts to crack as they shrug off more punishment than most.
IKKURO
Key features
Harmonious Utopia Government focuses on happiness and increases immigration, recreation and medical capabiltiies
Bonuses to Damage Control, Plague Curing and Troop Recovery
Consensus Diplomacy means they are slower to agree to treaties, but value long-term relationships more
No access to Bombardment weapons
Biome Shaping facilities replace the default Terraforming Facilities
SF27 Organic Hull (best self-repair of all ships), Fusion Beams (increased rate of fire beam weapons), Splinter Pods (longer range assault pods)
Larger Colony Ships
Special exclusive Leader and Ambassador traits focused on happiness, diplomacy and growth
Special conditional events Respect for Life, Secrets of Life, Protection of Life and Disharmony reward non-aggression and colonization, but punish war, bombardment and extermination
Larger than usual Colony Ships and improved suitability across most planet types.
Unlike the Ikkuro who strive to live in harmony with the various players of the galaxy, the Dhayut prefer to impose their will and enslave the peoples they conquer. Paired with their unique Surveillance Oligarchy government and facilities, the Dhayut become masters of exploitation. Their spies are second-to-none in espionage with additional unique missions and they can extract more value from their enslaved colonies, letting them fuel their war machine for further conquest and profit.
Dhayut ships themselves while quite cool are not exceptional in terms of their bonuses, but there’s a distinct technology that makes Dhayut fleets on a level of their own - the Velocity Drive. This is the fastest hyperdrive component, giving Dhayut empires unprecedented levels of speed and responsiveness. Their conquering fleets move swiftly into unexpected positions to strike out at vulnerable colonies while their security forces quickly form up to repulse interlopers and other threats. Be wary of nearby Dhayut empires as you may find that out of nowhere your colonies are besieged by their fleets!
DHAYUT
Key features
Surveillance Oligarchy Government focuses on sensors and adds a unique Internal Stabilization intelligence mission which reduces war weariness and corruption
Bonuses to Hyperdrive Research, War Weariness and Ground Attack Strength
Special Enslavement Control Facility improves the Slavery Population Policy
Special Terminal Operations Center Facility improves success chances on difficult Intelligence missions
Access to two special Intelligence Missions: Influence Empire and Capture Base.
Influence Empire allows them to shift the relationship of two other empires relative to each other
Capture Base allows them to take control of another empire’s space station
Velocity Drive Hyperdrive (fastest hyperdrive in the galaxy)
Larger Monitoring Stations
Special exclusive Leader and Spy traits focused on counter-espionage, slavery and assassination
Special conditional events Disinformation and Network Effects mean succeeding at Deep Cover missions makes the target like the Dhayut more and succeeding at any of the more difficult Intelligence Missions gives them a bonus to other missions against that same faction for the next year
Their paranoia leads to periodic purges of disloyal members of Dhayut society.
But we didn’t stop there. Next, we launched the Quameno & Gizureans DLC, bringing two more unique factions into the universe.
The Quameno are perhaps the most specialized faction yet that we have added to the current Distant Worlds 2 roster. Their singular purpose is to solve the puzzles and mysteries of the galaxy through research specialization, even at the expense of other areas of their empire or when interacting with neighbors. They may not grow or expand as quickly as other factions, but you can bet they will have an edge in whichever technology areas they set their mind to.
The Quameno focus on research in itself is a massive advantage to their fleets, as they will likely have the latest weapons, defense systems, and sensors to overpower opponents who may only be scratching the surface of their potential. The Quameno also bring with them the best reactor in the game - the NovaCore reactor, which directly powers their highly resistant Bubble Shields. This powerful pair of components gives the Quameno an added layer of resilience and efficiency in designing their ships to punch above their weight class.
QUAMENO
Key features
Geniocracy Government starts with better Research Labs and provides the largest research bonus of all government types, at the expense of other areas, including being unable to fund bonus colony growth. Also has the option for additional benefits whenever a research breakthrough or research critical failure happens.
The Quameno also are the most gifted researchers in the galaxy, though their single-minded focus also means that they are limited when it comes to concurrent research
Additional bonuses when they find new research locations or build new research stations
Some temporary penalties due to distraction when treaties are signed or populations are unassimilated, preventing the Quameno from focusing as fully as they are normally able on their research puzzles
Novacore Reactors, the best reactor in the game, along with Bubble Shields which have the highest Shield Resistance of all shield types
The Transcendence Hub, an end-game victory condition wonder which allows the Quameno to transcend their physical forms
Larger Research Stations
Special exclusive Leader and Scientist Traits focused on Research
Special conditional events Alien Distractions, Integration Studies, Puzzle Solved, Building the Future, A Piece of the Puzzle and The Answer reward them for thematic play
Their unique story gives them an advantage when it comes to finding the new Ancient Guardian Vaults scattered throughout the galaxy and recovering the knowledge and artifacts within.
Finally, the Gizureans are the definition of a swarm faction with the sole goal of propagating and expanding their ever-hungry population across the galaxy. They don’t need to be particularly intelligent to succeed - their ability to take apart ships they capture and extract resources and knowledge from the colonies they conquer and scour is enough to keep their unstoppable machine going. Take care to manage the occasional tribal conflicts that will inevitably flare up and may lead to the loss of important characters amidst the bloodshed.
Gizurean fleet tactics and strategy center on having the largest fleets in the galaxy that directly benefit from their unique Swarm Targeting component. The more ships you have in a fleet, the deadlier their overall firepower becomes. Each individual Gizurean ship may not necessarily carry the day, but the sheer amount of them will ensure they can give any opponent a run for their money. Their unique Hive Hangars keep their swarming fighters in the field to add more firepower to their already massive fleets.
GIZUREANS
Key features
Cell Hegemony government type is a form of limited shared consciousness, which includes some of the benefits and fewer of the disadvantages of a full hive mind. Starts with better sensors and command control, more inspiring characters and a generally reduced rate of luxury resource needs.
Excellent at boarding combat and gain extra bonuses from salvaging and retiring captured ships
Swarm Targeting systems make their ships more accurate the more ships there are in a fleet.
Hive Hangars and Hex Armor allow them to build and repair starfighters more quickly and cover their ships with partially organic armor that is stronger than normal alloys.
Hive Fighter Bases are available to defend their planets from the very early game
Internecine Tribal Conflicts can hold them back at times and they will need to supplement their slower research through reverse engineering and conquest
Larger Carriers
Special exclusive Leader and General traits focused on improving their collective consciousness and increasing the size and resiliency of their armies
Special conditional events, such as Waste Nothing and The Scouring, give them extra bonuses when retiring ships or conquering planets. The Rivalry event means that their characters periodically engage in power struggles to eliminate the weak and Breeding World allows them to choose to boost their own growth rate further by using other species as food.
And we’re not stopping yet! The galaxy is about to become even more intricate. Get ready to explore our next DLC, arriving tomorrow, on April 3rd, which introduces two new factions:
The Atuukare a young species that only recently discovered faster-than-light travel before the Cataclysm stopped their expansion. They are very social and eager to prove themselves within the galactic community. Although small and not the brightest, they compensate with rapid population growth and the ability to focus their entire society on a single goal, called the Great Direction. Their leadership comes in the form of a Great One, a leader chosen to guide them toward their current Great Direction. As goals shift, new leaders with Great Potential emerge to take over.
The Wekkarus are an ancient, secretive faction with a mysterious past. It is said their ancestors fled an eternal threat. They isolate themselves in fortified Deep Ocean cities and use Defensive Caverns and Deep Labyrinths to protect themselves. Their most unique ability is summoning the “ghosts” of their ancestors for help in times of danger or crisis. These spirits can directly assist them or grant powerful benefits. Their ancient knowledge grants them never-before-seen powerful weapons and components build out their ship with.
Welcome back explorers, the Control Update, now available, is a major free update that refreshes the Zenox and Boskara factions as well as improvements to make manual control of the players’ empire easier.
This major update is focused on improvements to manual control of your empire, including Queued Missions, UI Improvements, Policy Improvements and a new Galaxy Search feature to make empire management easier when you turn off most of the automation. There is also a full refresh of the base game Zenox and Boskara factions to bring them up to the same level as the DLC factions, including a significant update for the look of the Zenox shipset. Finally, there are many other fixes and improvements, including to ship and fleet behavior, AI improvements and a major adjustment to economic and research bonus funding.
Don’t miss the preview on our channel with Erik, where he showcases and explains all the new features of this major update: https://www.youtube.com/embed/iBp-6q6A2NM
For those of you who want to know every detail of the Control Update, a detailed changelog is available below: [expand type=details expanded=false] CRASH FIXES - fixed crash when applying Migration or Tourism settings while starting game - fixed crash when fulfilling resource order - fixed rare crash when selecting random ship component to damage when weapon strikes ship - fixed rare crash when drawing facilities at a planet - fixed rare crash when generating new ship design - now prevent the game from crashing when mod bundle loading fails for any reason. Instead now add error message to Session Log - fixed crash when transferring artifacts discovered in ruins - fixed some rare crashes - fixed rare crash in Character screen - fixed crash when generating XML schema - fixed rare crash when loading game - fixed rare crash when fleets check for threats - fixed rare crash when progressing Shakturi rift destabilization
ENGINE IMPROVEMENTS - upgraded to latest version of .Net random number generator
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS - performance improvements, especially in large games with much ship debris - improved performance when editing a ship design where there are already very many ships of the same role (e.g. fighters) - improved performance when opening Research screen in large games with many Research Stations
GALAXY SETUP - added new settings in Start New Game screen for Your Empire Starting Situation step: Homeworld Situation allows setting whether start at planet or moon. Home System Critical Resources allows setting whether all critical construction resources are ensured to be available in your home system - made small improvement to empire color distribution (making each empire color different)
QUEUED MISSIONS Queued missions have been a long-requested feature and this is their first appearance in Distant Worlds 2. We hope this implementation will improve manual play and give more options for better control of fleets and ships. - added queued missions for Ships and Fleets. To use, hold down Shift key while right-clicking on a target to queue a mission (instead of immediately assigning it). Use Shift key with hold-right-click to popup a menu of available missions that can be queued. When a ship or fleet has queued missions, the popup mission menu will also have an option to 'Clear Queued Missions'. Missions that subsequently become invalid will be automatically removed from the queue, just as already happens for the current mission, e.g. when an attack target is destroyed or changes ownership, when you end a war against another faction, etc. Note that the Distance measurement system is now activated using the Alt key instead of the Shift key - Queuing most mission types also switches the ship or fleet to manual control, with the exception of Refuel, Repair and Retrofit missions (as with normal mission assignment). Stop button now also clears all queued missions (not just the current mission). Alternatively, the player can hold down the Shift key when clicking the Stop button to just clear the current mission and proceed to the next queued mission. Assigning a new mission to a ship or fleet will also clear all queued missions - Changed Stop command for automated ships and fleets so that pause before reassigning mission so that player can see the effects of their action
ZENOX FACTION UPGRADE This update includes the Zenox faction refresh. This adds several new gameplay mechanics for the Zenox as well as an updated and improved shipset. For details, see 'Special Features' section of the Zenox race description in Start New Game screen (or their Galactopedia topic) - This build also includes a number of changes to Zenox components, research projects and planetary facilities, including the new Megatron Planetary Shield facility, expanded Crystal Sensors and Star Beams. - upgraded models and textures for Zenox ships and bases - added Zenox Search the Archives event - added new event and loading art
BOSKARA FACTION UPGRADE This update includes the Boskara faction refresh, including new gameplay mechanics and features. For details, see the ‘Special Features’ section of the Boskara race description in the Start New Game screen (or their Galactopedia topic). - includes a number of changes to Boskara research projects and planetary facilities, including the new Core-linked Weapons Mega Lab. - minor graphical updates to models and textures for Boskara ships and bases - added new event and loading art
EXPLORATION AND GALAXY SEARCH - added new screen to Exploration section: Known Stars, Planets and Moons. Can use various filters and sorts to find all known galactic locations - added new screen to Exploration section: Search Known Items. Can search for any item by name. Type text to filter what is displayed in list. Will look for any known/visible stars, planets, moons, asteroids, ships, bases, ruins, facilities, characters, troop units and artifacts - Pinged locations from galaxy map now show up in Special Locations list in Exploration section (until explored)
UI IMPROVEMENTS - Main view header bar at the top of the screen will now automatically extend onto additional rows when content is too wide (e.g. lots of events and war scores) - fixed combat icon in galaxy map sometimes failing to clear for a system - fixed race bias display in Select Your Race screen so that includes zero-rated races - added Resource Abundance sort option in New Mining Locations list. Sorts by total abundance and includes total abundance of all asteroids within mining range - in Selection Panel, sub-selected facilities and troops at a colony can now be deselected by clicking on them again - added section line dividers when displaying detailed stats for all components and planetary facilities - fixed Migration and Tourism flow map overlays to show flow lines for correct selected race - fixed very long lists sometimes being truncated, e.g. Ship Designs list - added tooltips to relevant sections of Start New Game screen to explain how to completely disable pirates (e.g. story-related, etc) - hovering Fleet posture description in Selection Panel now previews Tactical Settings window, clicking the Fleet posture description opens Tactical Settings window - hovering Fleet posture description in Selection Panel now previews Tactical Settings window, clicking the Fleet posture description opens Tactical Settings window - improved mouse up/down operations in various areas to help avoid mistaken clicks: Population Policy screen no longer closes when click between policy settings buttons for each race, Research screen no longer registers mouse-up event on Queue Suggested Project button immediately after opening screen - added new filter options to New Mining Locations list: Fuel Resources, Construction Resources, Luxury Resources - added new sort option to New Mining Locations list: Safe Locations First (Dangerous Locations at bottom) - added title to colony bonus tooltips in Selection Panel to clarify that Empire Bonuses listed in the colony selection dialog are *from* the colony (NOT a comprehensive list of all empire bonuses that apply to the colony – to see all empire bonuses that apply throughout your empire look at the Bonuses tab under the top left Empire overview)
EMPIRE POLICIES - added new empire policy settings to control whether your empire will auto-scrap military ships and troops when have serious economic shortfall. For player these are off by default
WEAPON POLICIES - A new weapon policy for shield enhancement components has been added. You can now set a priority level for your faction to use the shield enhancement component.
PLANETARY FACILITIES - Terraforming facilities now take into account planet damage when considering whether suitability is below buildable level, i.e. planet damage is excluded when calculating build suitability. This will allow building terraforming facilities on damaged planets that would otherwise be suitable for terraforming. - further reworked how planetary facility construction automation categories relate to specific facilities. Galactic Wonders are now clearly indicated in all situations. Added further automation categories for facility building: Construction, Research, Recreation - extended criteria for determining planetary facility automation type so that Interstellar Trader's Bazaar and Holographic Network properly follow automation settings
SHIP AND FLEET BEHAVIOR - automated fleets now more careful to include other threats at location (e.g. other creatures) when evaluating attack against creature - fleets now actively review lead ship while under construction, thus improving ability of fleet to move directly to new home base without first gathering to lead ship location while it is still under construction (which could be at a location different from the fleet home base) - improved Fleet retreat evaluation to better handle unusual situations where attack target starts at one location but then quickly moves to another well-defended location in same system, thus triggering a retreat from the attacking fleet - fleets now prefer non-dangerous locations when refuelling, but will fallback to include dangerous locations if no other option (helps avoid Kasim and other dangerous locations) - Defense fleets will now auto-attack fixed targets (i.e. bases) when needed, so that their behavior is better aligned with investigating Dangerous locations - automated fleets will no longer assign attack (clear defenses) or blockade missions against independent colonies - automated 'Refuel and Attack' fleet missions will no longer use attack target for refuelling, e.g. when attacking/invading an independent colony - improved automated fleet troop loading so that attempts to load larger groups of troops even when load colony is further away - improved display of Fleet posture in Selection Panel, especially for Manually-controlled fleets, thus giving better visibility to when the fleet will auto-engage targets - fixed rare issue where fleet undertaking invasion mission with staging point may become indefinitely stalled
SHIP DESIGN - changed Upgrade Design button so that now selects best upgrade component for each existing component, retaining the same component family. Previously the Upgrade Design button simply selected the highest tech level component for the category. See button tooltip for more info - rebalanced component selection logic so that automated research and designs much more strongly guided by preferred weapon families from empire policy, even when faction also has preferred weapon components - ship and base designs are now refreshed much sooner when you change preferred component families in the Empire Policy screen (when Ship Design is automated) - in Ship Design screen, left-clicking on an empty bay in the model in the main view will now popup a component selection list (same as left-clicking on an empty bay in the Design Bays list) - rebalanced some component and research project scoring to improve research pathing and ship design for some factions (take better account of their preferred component families) - Capped maximum damage reduction for a ship from all sources to 90% (prevent invulnerable ships) - ensure automated ship and base design always follows policy settings for Weapon preferences, even when evaluating weapon fallback options (when do not have a weapon of the desired category). This means avoiding selection of fallback weapons where policy specifies that particular weapon category should be 'Do Not Use'
RESEARCH - non-specific research progress and breakthroughs from story events, abandoned ships/bases and ruins will now try to avoid selecting projects that are explicitly disabled for the discoverer race, i.e. when disallowed for the faction on the tech tree
VISIBILITY - adjusted visibility level when have direct presence at location (e.g. ship or base) so that high-level Stealth components do not make items completely invisible
BOARDING AND RAIDS - slowed down boarding assault rate to improve Capture and Raid missions for ships and bases
EMPIRE BONUSES - fixed empire bonuses being applied twice to ships in a fleet
TROOPS - ensure that Special Forces troops defending a colony are never invulnerable to attack
TARGETS LIST - Fixed Enemy Targets list filter sometimes not working for some empires
ECONOMY - adjusted ratio of empire funding (Research + Colony Growth) down from 50% to 25% of total Research and total Growth, thus ensuring higher baseline research and growth rate even without full bonus funding - fixed rare issue where empire cash on hand value becomes NaN
ESPIONAGE - ensure target empire is still active (not wiped out) before auto-populating new spy mission from previous mission
DIPLOMACY - in Alliance list, for each Alliance show all their wars with other alliances and empires - fixed last diplomatic gift date rarely not being recorded, resulting in too frequent gifts - Bases in diplomatic trade deals (e.g. Mining Stations) now also include the value of any cargo onboard (at 25% of normal price) - Vassalized empires may now accept peace offers from other empires when their parent empire is not at war with the offering empire, this fixes some corner cases where vassals could not exit wars - fixed bug where advisor suggestions to offer diplomatic gifts could sometimes be implemented without player approval - added totals to Offered Items section of Diplomacy trade screen
COLONIZATION AND OUTPOSTS - Automated Colony Ships now also check whether the system of a queued colonization target has subsequently become part of another empire's territory and thus can no longer be colonized (avoid load/unload passengers cycle) - Adjusted AI evaluation of Outpost viability at a planet or moon so that give less priority to some lower-importance bonuses and so that automated Colonization does not establish Outposts at planets with empire bonus levels that are too low. - fixed bug where independent colonies with races with very poor bonuses would sometimes not appear in New Colonies list - further improvements to colonization target selection for Colony Ships, especially to avoid multiple colony ships targeting same planet
DOCKING - refuelling and cargo load/unload are now much slower (10%) when ship is not docked inside a hangar bay at a base, i.e. when parked outside base, or when loading/unloading from a colony - fixed bug where docking bay components were not working when they were the only hangar-style components in the external bays of a design
GOVERNMENTS - fixed data bug in governments that allowed factions to exist with zero colonies, thus blocking empires from being removed when they lose their last colony
CHARACTERS - made negative character traits from passive activity much less likely for Generals and Admirals (Drunk, Poor Recruiter) - when Spies complete a mission to Steal Tech from another faction, they now remember the details of the last mission, allowing easy one-click reassignment to the same or similar mission (same target faction, same mission type, same research project if not already researched) - reduced amount of characters as empire grows larger, but with slightly higher amount at start of game - added new sort options to Spies screen: sort by each spy skill type (Counter Espionage, Espionage, Sabotage, etc) - fixed Prisoners list filters showing characters for wrong role - automated Spies will now avoid selecting research projects to steal that are disallowed for their empire's race
ARTIFACTS - fixed artifact location transference so that always properly changes empire as needed
PLANETARY FACILITIES - ensure planetary tractor beam facilities properly review stats on game load so that function properly
GAME EVENTS - prevent pirates from triggering EmpireRelationChange events for independent colonies - fixed 'Return of the Ancient Guardians' story event missing message title and text - fixed initial Ancient Guardian vault techs sometimes not unlocking for player - fixed Kasim story event for Dhayut so that Exterminating or Enslaving the population now properly removes the colony instead of just reducing the population to zero - fixed some facility and story images to use Crashed Ancient Ship - improved some faction story events relating to independent colonies - extended message game event actions to allow forced aggregation of all message output for the event, even when the event has delayed execution - added EmpireRelationChange game event trigger type for independent colonies to support various story events - added new game event condition types to allow better story event options when have no available characters for a role
GALAXY GENERATION - Slightly increased some bonus values for randomly-generated ruins
SHAKTURI CRISIS - ensure Freedom Alliance forms without player after player rejects diplomatic story option to form Freedom Alliance themselves - ensure Shakturi Beacon facility is properly removed after researching 'Destroy Shakturi Beacon' project
PSYCHIC RESISTANCE This is a new feature that will be used to support the next content expansion for DW2. - Implemented Psychic Resistance value in various areas: intelligence missions, psychic weapons, psychic troop defection. Races with high Psychic Resistance (Shakturi) are less susceptible in these areas
GAME EDITOR - allow changing color for any standard empire in Game Editor (Edit Empire > Primary Color). This affects the color of empire territory and ship/base symbols, among others - improved overall lighting in Ship Design screen
MODDING AND LOCALIZATION - Added support for zero-width spaces (Unicode 200B) as valid line-breaks when rendering multi-line text. This better supports localization for some languages (e.g. Japanese) - added improved support for zero-width characters for Chinese/Japanese/Korean character sets (now rendered with zero-width in long text with word-wrap) - added further improvements to zero-width character support for Chinese/Japanese/Korean character sets - added Psychic Resistance to Empire Bonuses list with tooltip showing sources and amounts (e.g. race and any relevant artifacts) - added new command line option to load a custom font bundle for localizing languages that use non-Latin character sets. Please see modding sub-forum for details.
SHIP MODELS - fixed some minor issues in the Zenox small spaceport model - updated Human ship and base models with fixed running light positions - small updates to fix minor issues with some Ackdarian ship models - various other model fixes
DATA - Various adjustments to component and ship hull values - Various ship hull fixes - Various minor spelling and event fixes - changed Teekan Ion Bomb category to Ion Weapon instead of Area Weapon
IKKURO AND DHAYUT DLC - Added missing Artifact descriptions - Various event fixes
The Wekkarus are the most ancient and mysterious of any of the current factions in Distant Worlds 2. Due to their unique origins and history, the Wekkarus tend to keep themselves in the dark depths of their deep ocean planets.
Their preferred habitats and unique origins give the Wekkarus several key advantages, such as improved research, due to their ancient knowledge of the galaxy, as well as improved mining rate and access to secret riches of their ocean planets. However, the Wekkarus truly come into their own due to their unique ability to manifest “ghosts” of their ancestors to help them survive the chaos of the galaxy.
The Wekkarus signature Ancestors Among Us ability, allows “ghost” ships, troops, and even some characters to appear in moments of stress to help their fellow Wekkarus in various combat situations and matters of state, including research, diplomacy, and espionage. In fact, the Wekkarus story will delve into the nature of this ability and also reveal a frightful connection to one of the galaxy’s greatest threats. The Wekkarus’ ancient knowledge also grants them a variety of faction-specific technologies, including the powerful Pulse Wave Cannon, a high-powered tractor beam, and a unique shield enhancement component.
Wekkarus victory conditions tie directly into their distrust of invaders, as well as their unique “ghost” characters. More precisely, the Wekkarus have three unique ancient and powerful artifacts scattered across the galaxy they seek to reclaim to restore a portion of their former glory.
Players can expect the following unique features for the Wekkarus when they purchase Distant Worlds 2: Factions – Atuuk and Wekkarus:
In times of stress, during combat in space and on planet surfaces, as well as certain character actions, the Wekkarus summon their ancient Ancestors for aid. In combat, these ancestors will manifest as “ghost” ships and troops that can tip the scale in the Wekkarus’ favor. Character Ancestors will either manifest at a location that most requires their aid or will provide boons to strengthen diplomatic ties or protect their spies from danger
Due to their ancient mastery of space travel, their ships are faster and harder to hit, but are more delicate and fragile when taking hits. This also makes them more adept at new engine technologies
The Wekkarus have a slew of unique technologies for their ships, including their signature Pulse Wave Cannon, the high-powered Constrictor tractor beam, and special shield enhancement component – the HydroCore Capacitor
Living in the dark depths of Ocean and Deep Ocean planets, the Wekkarus have bonuses to counter-espionage and mining rate. Their unique habitats allow them to dig into the cores of the planets they live on and discover previously hidden resources
Defensive Caverns facilities make the Wekkarus a tough nut to crack for any invading force, while unwelcome spies will find themselves lost in the labyrinths of Wekkarus cities
The special Wekkarus connection to their ancestors will occasionally improve the skills of their scientists, letting them uncover hidden knowledge more quickly
Special exclusive Spy and Scientist traits accenting Wekkarus secrecy and otherworldly wisdom
Powerful unique artifacts will reveal themselves in the Wekkarus story, which directly strengthen the connection to their ancestors. The artifacts have basic effects for any faction that lays claim to them, though only the Wekkarus can utilize their true power
Due to their mysterious origins and unique biology, Wekkarus are more resilient to the effects of psychic weapons and abilities than most other factions of Distant Worlds 2
The Atuuk are the youngest starfarers of the galaxy. They are highly sociable and are eager to take their place amongst the other factions in the galaxy and prove that they too can be great.
While the Atuuk don’t excel in any particular area of empire building, in fact, they are a generally a bit worse, they more than make up for it with their high population growth, overall higher levels of happiness, and affinity for diplomacy. However, the Atuuk’s greatest strength is their society’s ability to mobilize and organize around the Great Direction – their faction’s flagship mechanic.
Whenever the Atuuk choose a Great Direction, a general focus for their society, they become extremely proficient in one area of their empire and can even surpass some of the other factions, though only temporarily. Alongside the Great Direction, the Atuuk forego the normal leadership mechanics of Distant Worlds’ governments and instead their leaders will change occasionally based on the constantly shifting Great Directions the Atuuk pursue. The Atuuk yearn for a Great One to lead them on their Great Directions, and this Great One, in turn makes Atuuk society all the more inspired and motivated. It is possible that these Great Ones may turn out not to be true Great Ones, which will lead to a new selection of Great Ones until a true Great One is found.
Atuuk victory conditions also flow from their Great Directions. There are seven Great Directions in total, each providing a unique objective that thematically fits with the Great Direction’s features. As such, the Great Directions are there not only to provide bonuses to your faction, but to challenge you to truly take the Atuuk to galactic greatness.
Players can expect the following unique features for the Atuuk when they purchase Distant Worlds 2: Factions – Atuuk and Wekkarus:
Unique mechanics tied to the Atuuk Great Direction – a cyclical change of focus for Atuuk society that greatly improves their abilities in a singular area of their empire, ranging from improved research to greatly enhanced combat strength, and many more, while also providing an increasing number of victory objectives to prove their greatness to the galaxy. Periodically, Atuuk will need to choose a new Great One from a pool of their own marked with Great Potential to lead them on their Great Direction. Some Atuuk may have reservations on the direction the Atuuk are taking with Direction Doubt, though this is only temporary.
The Atuuk are a happy faction that plays well on the galactic diplomatic stage, though they are naïve, gullible, and quite dim-witted, which means they don’t excel in any particular area when not following one of their special Great Directions.
Additional and surprising bonuses and effects when pressing the big glowing Red Button on their science stations
Atuuk construction standards aren’t quite up to snuff compared to the other galactic players, so their ships will experience unexpected malfunctions while traversing the galaxy.
Bonuses to combat when outnumbering their opponents when fighting on the planet surface. There are a lot of Atuuk!
The Intergalactic Welcome Center makes the Atuuk empire more attractive for all migrants and tourists, thus strengthening the bonds of interstellar understanding
Collection of Great Things – a unique facility that gathers all the wondrous things the Atuuk have gathered in their travels and exploration that improve their overall happiness and research
Special thematic Character Traits for their entire lineup of characters bringing out the flavor of the Atuuk faction
Their unique story gives them an advantage when dealing with some of the factions in the galaxy to help them form strong bonds and long-standing treaties.
Atuuk are the first faction to be completely immune to psychic effects, making them a useful ally for anyone fighting psychically-capable factions
We're thrilled to announce that Distant Worlds 2: Atuuk and Wekkarus, the third Faction DLC for the acclaimed 4X space strategy game Distant Worlds 2 is coming on the third of April. This new DLC brings two brand new playable factions: the naive and energetic Atuuk and the mysterious Wekkarus.
The Atuuk were one of the last races to develop faster-than-light technology and make their first steps into interstellar travel before the Cataclysm hit the galaxy. They are not a particularly smart race and were only able to develop faster-than-light technology after ships from a faction they call The Long-Ago Friends crashed on the Atuuk homeworld. The Atuuk make up for their diminished intellect with a great sense of wonder, excitement at trying new things, and an overall friendliness towards other factions. Although the Atuuk aren’t particularly great at anything, their strength comes from the ability of their society to unify and focus on a particular area for a limited time. This is encapsulated in their central feature of choosing a Great Direction every few years which provides a set of objectives and bonuses for their society. The Atuuk narrative centers around their desire to find these Long-Ago Friends who gave them faster-than-light travel and to take their place in the wider galaxy to show everyone and to prove to themselves how great they are. During this journey, they face difficult and challenging truths about the galaxy and who their friends really are.
The Wekkarus are the most alien faction to inhabit the galaxy. Some among them even say they did not originate in this galaxy. Their legends speak of a timeless, ancient war that left them far diminished from what they once were. As such, they keep to themselves and live in the deepest darkest caverns of ocean planets, preserving what remains of Wekkarus society. Their story centers around rediscovering lost artifacts, outposts, and ruins to learn of their origins and the secrets of their ancient war with a dangerous enemy. The Wekkarus highlight feature is their mysterious connection with their ancient ancestors – a manifested collective memory of the Wekkarus. This ability can trigger whenever Wekkarus find themselves under heightened stress. In such times they connect with the echoes and vestiges of their ancestors for both guidance and direct support.
Each of these new factions also comes with their own special storyline and unique story locations, adding to the possible exploration events and to your knowledge of galactic lore. The Atuuk will take you on a path of discovery and revelation as the Atuuk are introduced to the wonders of starfaring and realize who their friends are, while the history of the Wekkarus will take you on a quest to find powerful ancient artifacts that will lead to earth-shattering truths about their origins and a terrifying connection to the greatest threats to the galaxy!
CONTROL UPDATE
But that’s not all, we have some other exciting news for you the Control update is coming soon.
Control Update Highlights:
Boskara and Zenox factions refreshed with new gameplay and improved ship and station textures
Queued Mission support added for Ships and Fleets to help with manual playstyles
Galaxy Search added to allow players to easily find any star, planet, moon, station, ship or any other item on the galactic map
UI improvements to help with information management:
Exploration now tracks pinged locations in the Special Locations section
Improvements to top header bar
Additional sort and filter options for various lists
Improvements to Migration and Tourism map overlays
Additional tooltips
Additional Galaxy Setup options for your starting system
Improvements to Upgrade Ship Designs and Design/Research Policy AI
Improved management of Planetary Facilities
Save/Load Fleet Templates
Improved Fleet and Ship Behavior
Improved Colonization behavior, especially with Outposts
Improved modding support for localization.
Keep an eye on our channel because there will be a lot of special streaming event with Erik Rutins, producer and co-designer of Distant Worlds 2. Get a reminder here.
Hello and Happy New Year to everyone in the Distant Worlds 2 community. As before, Elliot and I would like to thank our players for their patience and support since Distant Worlds 2 was released. 2023 saw our first two expansions for Distant Worlds 2 along with four Major updates (Aurora, Hyperspeed, Discovery and Fleet). We continued improving DW2 with the Stellar, Game Faction and Maintenance updates in 2024, along with the release of our first feature expansion, Return of the Shakturi. Thus in 2024 customers received faction refreshes and many, many game improvements and fixes for free along with the one big Shakturi expansion. We hope you have been enjoying Return of the Shakturi and we’re excited to share with you what’s coming next for Distant Worlds 2.
The Current State of the Game
We’ve continued to put a large part of our effort into ongoing free updates for the DW2 community to keep improving the game, rather than just focusing on DLC content or locking everything behind expansions. As a result, the base game is much improved and continuing to improve over time. We continue to improve almost all gameplay areas as well as the AI, which saw major improvements as part of the work on Return of the Shakturi and would run circles around the empire AI at release. There has been a lot of positive feedback about our free base faction refreshes and I’m glad to say that these will continue, with the next two just around the corner. We have the Boskara and the Zenox due to be refreshed in the next official update by the end of Q1 2025, which includes some texture fixes for the Boskara ships and stations and a major overhaul of the look of the Zenox ships and stations. The Teekans and Haakonish should follow by the end of 2025, leaving the Ackdarians as the final base game faction to refresh, likely next year. Return of the Shakturi took a great deal of our time, but we think the results were worth the effort. As a result of that, we are already planning our next Feature Expansion while we finish the upcoming Atuuk and Wekkarus DLC, which we expect to officially announce soon. Both of these factions have some very unique gameplay which we think you will enjoy and they also have some unique lore and gameplay that interacts with the Return of the Shakturi expansion. While we are a very small team, we are committed to both expanding the game with new DLCs and expansions but also continuing to update and improve the base game through our ongoing free updates. We want to make sure everyone who purchased DW2 can enjoy it to its fullest on their system and for their playstyle.
Roadmap 2025
We are happy to share our journey with you, along with the roadmap outlining the next steps for this year.
Our next areas to focus on:
Update the base factions in the game, one by one, to a similar level as the recently released DLCs when it comes to faction and government gameplay differentiation. Completed for the Humans and Mortalen, Boskara and Zenox are almost finished. Teekan and Haakonish should follow late this year and the Ackdarians are last in line, probably in 2026 to complete the base faction refresh.
Continuing improvements on fleet and ship behavior. There have been major improvements and fixes for the fleet and ship AI as part of the Return of the Shakturi, which was in the base game updates, though it always seems that there’s another corner case or two to address. We still plan to also add more guidance for fleet and ship tactical settings as well as more detail in the galactopedia to help players understand how to use their fleets.
Further improvements to pathing issues as well as pathfinding performance. We made some significant improvements here during 2024 and the more recent reports suggest that pathfinding issues are far less frequent now, but some remain especially when starting a path from deep space and near nebulas. Additional improvements are planned after the next official update.
Improve the AI further. As part of the Return of the Shakturi work, we greatly improved the AI in many areas including economic management and diplomatic/military strategy. As always, there’s more that can be done. We still need to improve the population policy side, specific to slavery but also other policies. We plan to revisit the design of these in the future and also improve the AI’s management of population policies.
Improve quality of life for manual players further. We have just added support for queued orders in the first public beta update for 2025. We’ve also added a map search function to the exploration menu along with a few other features to help with manual exploration. We have a list of additional improvements for manual play which we will be working through as the year progresses.
Improve message handling and awareness further. We added a new much more detailed message filtering system with separate message centers in 2024, including a new combat overlay to help with spotting battle activity during wars and a separate message center for advisor messages. We are still working to add the ability to tell an advisor “do not suggest this again” or to tell a Pirate or an Empire “do not contact me again with this offer” to help further reduce message spam.
Adding a Galactopedia and Galaxy map Search function. We now have a galaxy map search aand a distance measurement tool. The Galactopedia search will be coming in an update this year.
Modding support will continue to be a priority. We’ve expanded this greatly since release, including the addition of an in-game mod manager, Steam Workshop support and much better handling of multiple mods. We also recently added support for code modding and deobfuscated more methods to better support localization mods for more complex languages.
There are also other reported issues beyond those above which we will also address as we go forward, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are our current highest priority goals. We have been compiling master lists of all issue reports by category and as our time allows, we work our way through these areas to make sure we continue to improve the player experience with DW2.
Future Expansions
As always, the Content and Art teams are not heavily involved in most of the game fixes we’ve been working through, so they have been spending most of their time working on future releases. Our first priority is the Atuuk and Wekkarus DLC, which will release in early Q2 2025. Stay tuned for our official announcement in Q1 which will reveal the exact release date and more details about these new factions. Each of them has unique new gameplay features and interesting lore that ties into the DW2 and Shakturi storylines. The Wekkarus are among the most ancient and mysterious aliens in DW2 with possible connections to the Shakturi. The Atuuk are space lemmings of a sort who were just barely smart enough to figure out FTL. This DLC will work fine whether you have “Return of the Shakturi” or not, but will have some additional features/content related to that expansion if you have it. If you don’t like what the Shakturi psychic abilities can do to you when they show up, you will probably love playing as the Atuuk, who are almost entirely resistant to psychic effects. We are also in the planning stages for the next feature expansion and I can tease that it will at last bring playable Pirates to DW2. We won’t be announcing that officially until much later this year as we are still working through the design. We expect it to be a 2025 release. Work has also begun on the fourth "Factions" DLC. All we can say about that now is that it includes the Securans and the Naxxilians and will likely release in 2026.
Update Schedule
It will generally take 6-12 weeks of public beta updates to get to an update that is stable enough to become official. For 2025, we expect to release public beta updates roughly every two weeks and new free official updates every 3 months or so, though there may be a slow down in that schedule once the Pirate expansion work gets into high gear.
Our Thanks
Thank you again if you took the time to read all of this and for your support of Distant Worlds 2. Please check in regularly going forward and try the newest beta updates if you’d like to see how things are shaping up. Please stay tuned for more information on Atuuk and Wekkarus DLC in Q1 and more on the Pirate Expansion and future DLCs later this year.
Sincerely, Erik Rutins and Elliot Gibbs Matrix Games and CodeForce
