The extra planet textures will make it back in to DS before the final release. As previously stated they were removed to lower the memory usage of the MOD see'ing as we added many more planets to the mix the game the variations while nice don't particularity add much to the game so they were removed until the devs did something about the memory usage. Now they have we can re-include them.

I have been away from Sins for a long time and was lured back because a friend started playing. I reinstalled Sins and updated to the current version of Diplomacy than downloaded the current Distant Stars version .99b2 followed the most helpful install instructions in the FAQ, fired up Sins enabled the mod, and started a new game and nothing.

It's all vanilla Sins all the time and I can't figure out what I've done wrong. Any ideas?

thanks in advance

Did the checksum match, and did you click the apply button after the enable button?

Where would I check the checksum and yes apply button was clicked.

If you downloaded the full version you should see a checksum of 73571136.

Anything other then that and there is a mistake with your folder set up or you got a bad download.  You can check easily by running the game in windowed mode (pressing Control+Shift+Tab will put it in windowed mode) and comparing it here.

Ignore my number shown in the image because I run the game in a text format so I can modify files to fix problems as I find them or they're brought up here, plus a couple other modifications and extras, so my number is different then the official which again is 73571136.

Ahhh ok, huh my checksum is 0 going to guess that something is seriously wrong then Let me see what I can figure out

Probably a folder issue, most likely you unzipped and now you're an extra folder deep so your mod folder is reading Distant_Stars_(D)_0.99_B2_[73571136] with more folders inside of that, one being the real Distant Stars folder you need with the extras also being shown.

lol Slant, I want your mods*stares at the list* at least the active ones that are DS compliant

They're all DS compliant in that list.  I used to have more, like an unaltered release version of DS, different particle effects, and even more sounds, but each game update I lose a few and don't bother to update them.  They've all been posted here, all of them except the modified flagship, which is me just toying with making capital ships have to be researched before you can use them, and the meshy stuff one...  That is my own personal not to be released Frankenstein experiment for my amusement, because I made it all work out like Sins meets the 60's so everything is psychedelic and distorted and trippy as hell and I play it when some drunk ass or high as hell fool crashes on my couch and I don't want to throw them out in the middle of the night.

EDIT:

Went looking for them, here's Boshimi's Multiple Stars mod: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/348205

And the flagship mod is here: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/335474/page/183/#2914326

And the Mass Effect sound one can't be downloaded anymore, though hooahguy probably still has his files uploaded somewhere.  (though in it's state that I have it actually is a step back from DS, but that's just my opinion and I do run it from time to time just to mix the sounds up, so bug him for updates if you're really Jonesing for it.) 

lol damn, the flagship one is what I had my eye on. Oh well, got MSGM and DS (apparently I still had B1 and didn't notice since it did still work. Anyhow, thanks for the reply.

My modified flagship is not out, the other flagship one is, just view my previous post, I was editing it when you posted.

You are exactly right hadn't realized I'd done that thank you

No worries, that's why they keep me chained up around.

Just a head's up; that problem I had a few days ago installing the mod seems endemic to WinRAR, as even with a fresh download it failed to unlock everything. So I got 7z (it's been a long time since we swiped WinRAR), and it opened the file and installed fine. So that solved that...

So, first time playing Sins for a while, playing with mod, and about four systems (one of which is a dead dwarf asteroid) in I ran into a pirate system complete with four pirate capitals and a pirate starbase, completely blocking my way*. I've got, like, three crystal extractors and I've capped out my temples at 5 hostility and 4 harmony. Roughly how much do I need to take out the pirates (with this mod's changes), or should I just write that game off? (As sitting there for several hours trying to upgrade everything with a tiny crystal creep is a tad...unsatisfying.)

What little I've seen of the mod in action is marvellous though.

*I'm having a bad day, it would seem; I was playing Sword of the Stars all week until today I ran into a consistant crash bug in around turn 420...

Yeah that can get a little monotonous. Aside from speeding up the game (using the - and + keys) I would say restart if you don't want to trudge through. Flip side, with the pirates there the AI can't really break through very well which would give you time.

I've when zoomed out the planet seems shifted down (covers part of the lower info bar) and the planet is cropped at the bottom.  I do have an ATI card with the shifted portraits issue.  This may be an extension of the ATI issue, but previous versions of DS didn't have this issue.

Let me know if I'm not making any sense (won't be the first time).

I took a quick stab at the preliminary Advent Flagship....

The front I'm not sure what to do with, and the whole thing would need to be tied together much better.  But I'm liking the direction it is going.  It has the the Carrier Top, the Battleship sides and body, and the Battlecruiser wings.

This is just a rough sketch, but what do you all think of it?  Moving in the right direction?  (Remember, it was just put together in 15 mins....)

Thats...alright, but I prefer the Flagship currently being used for the Advent. To me, the ship you posted suffers from the same problems your Kol 3.0 did - it just looks overdone. Too many random protrusions and needless spaces, especially for a race whose whole aesthetic is smooth, flowing lines.

If you really want to continue with it, I would close up the dead space between the wings, and get rid of the talons on the front, as well as the towers on the underside. I would also set the wings back a bit further, but thats less important than making it actually look advent.

The cuttlefish of doom!!!

Interesting.

As a model in general, I like it. As an Advent vessel, I can see blobness' argument. The protrusions and engine complex I can argue are fitting, as they are components of other models, although the protrusions are give or take. The wings might benefit from closing the space, but most certainly removing the lances that stick out on the front of them is a good idea. With the protrusions gone and the wings merged into a solid whole, it would make it more unique and smooth out the top even more. The Advent are typically fine with complex underbellies as long as one side is smooth as butter.

Honesty on my end requires that I say that I like what SuperZERO0 did for the Advent better. Its an interesting ship but it just doesn't fit (IMHO) with the vision of the Advent.

Thanks for the input, guys. 

I guess I'm still in Vasari mode and making things too menacing

I'll stick to finishing the Vas model before I try the smooooooth technique.

I like it much better than that mishmash from earlier. This one actually flows with itself.

Go to the textures folder and find the images starting with "Icons_planets".  Convert them from DDS to TGA with an image editing program (I use GIMP personally).  Save the DDS versions to a backup somewhere and delete them so the game is forced to use the TGAs.

ok i dont know if i have a setting in the graphics set wrong or installed it wrong but the tec capital ship factory looks all messed up

Need a little more info than "all messed up."