@salemonz: thanks a lot! :)

@LEGIO_XXX_ULPIA -- not to worry, I don't plan on taking this down. I just wanted folks to know I won't be updating this mod anymore :D

Luckily it shouldn't go out of date. All this mod does is add flags. No game files to sync with or anything.

@salemonz: please don't take it down this version. I have a beautiful campaign going on!

@Teranoc -- sure. The easiest way to get questions answered is probably the Discord. There's a whole channel there were people talk about DW2 modding.

DW2 modding is a challenge. Adding ships takes TONS of work in multiple 3D and texturing programs. There's not much we can do to change the galaxy (can't force layouts, can't force names to be used for star systems, can't dictate what planets are in what systems, etc). Can't change the UI. Can't even have multiple images for character types (all leaders will look alike, all generals look the same, etc).

So...not to be a downer, but FYI, three years after release and DW2 is still a beast to mod :D

@ salemonz Hi! =) I send you a invitation. Maybe you could help me with a few questions about modding! I have so many ideas (The Expanse, W40k, Star Lancer and some of my stuff). Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your answer , yeah breaking the flags into race - parts its a very good idea imho.

@Amartovoros -- Yeah, I'm at the mercy of the game UI. I've asked the DW2 to make the flag-selection screen scroll-able or scale-able or something. They say they've taken it under consideration for a few months, but I'm unsure if it will get fixed.

It does bring up a larger point...since I've included so many flags, i can't really add any more without making things worse. In the past I've looked at pruning down the number of flags, but folks like the choice. So I'm stuck a bit :D

I might break this mod into various race-focused mods (Refreshed human flags, Refreshed Ikkuro flags, etc), so people can pick and choose the races they want. It's a bit of a pain for users to subscribe to a bunch of new mods...but I'm open to other suggestions :(

Hello , icant seem to make the mod work right , when i get to the point to choose a flag i dont see them all the flag screen is split (not 100% on screen)

@NeonHaggis -- Thanks, friend! Yeah I'm taking a look at things. This mod seems to be fine, but yes I haven't added new flags yet :D

I'm planning on adding new flags and seeing if the UI can handle it. If so...I'll just leave it. If it tips us over the edge and breaks the UI, I'll look at potentially breaking out new flags per race.

Seems to work fine with latest DLC/patch - probably missing any new ones they added but honestly you provide so many it's not a big deal. Cheers

Since we're about to get another set of races...I'm worried that this mod will just break the UI.

Updating this mod after the April 3 DLC might take a tad longer.

@IIMATIRiX -- Not sure. You've subscribed, launched the game, activated the mod then exited/restarted the game?

@Teflon -- There could be a mod that does that, yes. I've avoided that up to this point b/c I've been hoping the dev team would improve the flag selection overall...but as that might not happen, i'm starting to consider a "vanilla swapout" flag mod for variety.

doesnt seem to work for me i have no other mods installed and i have all dlc :(

I love this mod! I understand that the AI does not use the flags in this mod. But is there a way to just to replace the flags available to the AI with the most distinct flags in your mod? Basically replace the stock flags with this mods flags? Im ok with just having better flags in general

Thanks, that saves me time from attempting it. At least until they fix the code's use of the xml files. I put in a request a long time ago to allow setting of the flags at game setup time but nothing yet.

@Quvano -- It SHOULD be possible, but right now I don't think DW2 plays along.

My mod used to attempt to add more flags for the AI empires, but the game only picks from the original flags supplied from the game.

The possible flags that the game will assign to AI empires are listed out in the Races.xml files (there are separate files for the DLC races). In theory, someone should be able to list out more flags there (referencing where flag images are in the DW2 asset bundles). But no matter what I did, the game only picked from the original 7 flags per race. This leads to tons of empires looking exactly the same.

So until the DW2 dev team double checks their code...we're stuck with new flags just for player empires (we can't even use the game editor to re-assign flags after starting a game...boo!)

Selemonz, question before I attempt to mod this myself: I would like to reduce the number of colors/flags in the game to prevent similar ones from being used as I am tired of two empires being indistinguishable. Possible?

Thanks a lot salemonz!

Released 1.2.2

I'm keeping old flags in the mod for the time being. The empire-creation flag-selection UI is starting to get cluttered But it's fine for now. I'll keep bugging the DW2 team to add a scroll window to that UI.

I also tried to minimize the number of flags with dark backgrounds. While I think those flags look better, the game auto-picks your empire color...and flags with dark backgrounds usually make your empire color (and galactic overlay color) very faint. People were (rightly) complaining they couldn't see their empire. So I've tried to swap out the backgrounds of many dark flags to help with that.

Those changes WILL be brought in to old saves. So if your flag suddenly has a red background when it used to be black, for example, this is what happened.

Thank you, salemonz!

@salemonz: thanks. This is a slow game. And free time...is a problem.
Unfortunately the changes are not compatible with save.
I trust you. :)

@Legio_XXX_ULPIA -- but i'm not in a hurry to get rid of the old flags. I'll see what I can do.

@Legio_XXX_ULPIA -- I'll look at maybe keeping them. I'm also trying to juggle people who have said the old flags don't look good. Now some are saying the UI can't support this many flags.

Whew! I just wish DW2 was easier to mod and/or could handle many flags :(

Is possible let also this version on workshop for people,like me,use red border flag?

@salemonz. I still using a red border flag. What can i do for use this flag after new version?
I have few free time and surely you'll update this mod before i terminate my campaign. Please,i don't want loose this campaign... :(

@Thorrbert -- I re-added the old flags back in and added a thin border to denote which flags are being trimmed in future mod versions. Sorry for the disruption.

You know that your recent changes (replacement of flags) affects save games? Means: the replaced flag disappears and you have no flag at all in your save.

Released v1.2.0

After testing, it turns out DW2 doesn't use my modded flags. So, there's really no reason for me to maintain edited .xmls that 1) makes DLCs required and 2) makes this mod interfere with other mods/betas.

So I took out the .xmls. This means this mod will only provide flags to players. But it will maximize compatibility.

I don't have the DLCs. Just got the main game the other day. Thanks. Will download when I get the DLCs.

@Simurgh -- Do you have the DLCs? I had to list them as "required" since the game seems to expect them when I try and get these flags to show up in game.

this is the only mod that I have installed, but it crashes the game.

have all the dlcs including shakturi, activated mod and restarted game, tried unsubbing and resubbing mod. None of that worked

@Demiurge -- You have the other DLCs (all but the Shakturi)? Make sure you restart the game after activating the mod via the main menu. If you've done that, maybe un-subscribe/resubscribe?

not working for me. when i go to flag selection, none of the new flags show up. just the standard default ones

I think things have been updated correctly. Let me know!

@Decam -- I was not able to replicate the jumbled order. The only thing I can think of is that the DLCs are in fact required. I have put this requirement on the mod itself. Sorry about the issues.

Normally with my mods I just try to replace vanilla assets...that way it maximizes compatibility with other mods...but for this one I have to edit the race file xmls, otherwise these flags aren't used by AI empires.

In doing that, it creates all sorts of fun little quirks like dependencies on the DLC...versioning as the game is updated, etc.

So until DW2 processes flags differently, this mod will probably be quirky/unusable for folks with the base game and no DLCs :(

@Decam -- I'll take a look. Might be that the mod needs the DLCs. I'll see if I can reproduce it by trying to not load the DLCs or something.

I do not have any of the DLCs, just the base game and your mod

re: the selection order being jumbled, I am experiencing that as well on the race selection screen. I will click on for example the rat people but the description will be humans. I have confirmed it is your mod by having it be the only one active

Somehow I couldn't select any flag at all.
Not sure if it's about resolution. I'm running on 3440x1440

Yes, I'm subscribed to all of your mods. Plus Sector Flagships. So might be that one.

@sicario -- Hrmm...do you have other mods installed? I knocked my resolution down to 1920x1080 and tested out a few others ... i wasn't able to reproduce the select-shift behavior.

Anyone else run into the situation where selecting a flag actually picks another one? Happy to look into it, but I'm not able to get it to happen on my end :(

Tried running with 1920x1080. While the flag layout changes. The same problem remains unfortunately.

I also have the issue that when I select one flag. Another one is being selected instead. I have 4k resolution. So could be a resolution issue.

@Igór -- Hrmm...not sure about that. My mod only edits the races.xmls to assign flag graphics during galaxy creation. It doesn't touch stuff listed there.

My game keeps crashing with this mod...
In Event Viewer i have this line of code

C:/Users/Elliot/Documents/DistantWorlds2Stride/DistantWorlds.Core/RentingList.cs:220
at DistantWorlds.Core.RentingList`1.GrowDuringAdd(T[] items)
at DistantWorlds.Types.WeaponBlast.DoTasks(DateTime time, Galaxy galaxy, Location location, Boolean inView, ComponentStats weaponComponentStats, Single speed, WeaponFireType fireType, Single assaultPodStrength, Single assaultPodShieldPenetration, Single damageFalloffRatio, Single range)
at DistantWorlds.Types.WeaponBlast.DoTasks(DateTime time, Galaxy galaxy, Location location, Boolean inView)
at DistantWorlds.Types.Location.DoNonOrbTasks(DateTime time, Galaxy galaxy, Boolean inView, ParallelOptions parallelOpts)
at DistantWorlds.Types.Galaxy.ProcessPriorityLocations()
at DistantWorlds.Types.GameClient.<>c.<UpdateGameAsClient>b__62_1(Object o)


It happens during fights with stations.

Yes , thank you .

@Gopher -- Haha! I think it's a case of Mordachai trying to give me kudos :D XL incorporates this mod, so you don't need this if you already have XL. I'll ask him to maybe tweak his "collection". If you had this mod AND XL, so long as you load XL last, you're all good...but it is confusing :D

@Amartovoros -- the flags in the description are posted on Imugr, so you should be able to right-click, copy URL and then open it in a new window to save the image. Does that help?

@Jebus -- Hrmmm...that's an odd one. What resolution are you using? I have seen some quirks as I tried to pack in a lot of flags but the UI struggles to display all possible flags. That might be it. Apologies that you're having issues!

The idea is great - new flags are definitely needed! This mod doesnt work for me though. Whenever I select a flag during game config I end up with something else once game starts. Ex when selecting top-left Human flag (mod description) I end up with bottom-left Haakonish flag, or when selecting bottom-left Human I get mid-left Human (gray bg, yellow sun behind dark moon, horizontal stripes). Maybe an addressing offset issue?