History VideoGame / DistantWorlds

* SplashDamage: [[NamesTheSame Despite their name]], the "[[AreaOfEffect area]]" weapons in the game do this: they do incredible damage that falls off with distance from the point of impact.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Like all weapons in the game, railguns [[ZigZaggingTrope have their ups and downs]]: they have a chance to penetrate shields, and later versions can be used as [[OrbitalBombardment bombardment weapons]], however, they [[ArbitraryMaximumRange severely suffer in range]]. As a result, they aren't very useful on slow moving ships.

* ProudMerchantRaceGuy: The Teekan. They have bonuses to mining and trade, have access to the Mercantile Guild government, and half of their victory conditions are to amass the highest private-sector revenue and highest trade income in the galaxy. In-universe, the Teekan are thrifty merchants always collecting and selling odd technological knick-knacks, and are said to be {{Honest Corporate Executive}}s that make for extremely loyal friends.

** The Quameno are a FrogMen race with abnormally high intelligence, described as enjoying difficult mental challenges for recreation's sake. They enjoy a +40% bonus to all research and a 60% higher chance to spawn new scientists, and their native victory conditions include not only completing the most research trees in the galaxy, but simply performing the most active research, period. However, they're also isolationist, as their other victory conditions include [[HeroicNeutral starting the fewest wars, and being involved in the fewest diplomatic treaties]].

* ProudScholarRaceGuy:

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Mortalen are a [[HairTriggerTemper belligerent]] warrior culture recognized as the best fighters in the galaxy. Their very name comes from a rite of passage where young Mortalen must slay a monstrous creature called a mortak, as Mortalen means "slayer of the mortak". In-game, Mortalen have bonuses to troop and ship upkeep, and a 35% reduction to war weariness. Their victory conditions are ''exclusively'' military related, and include having the highest level admiral and general in the galaxy, slaying the most enemy troops, conquering the most enemy planets, and subjugating the most rival empires.

* PurposelyOverpowered: Among all of the the [[RagnarokProofing salvageable ancient relics in this game,]] there are ''[[UpToEleven many]]'' things that are deliberately designed to give the middle finger to CompetitiveBalance in the most horrible ways imaginable. You will spend much of the game fighting over them. These can range from [[AdvancedAncientAcropolis amazingly advanced cities]] that grant insane bonuses, [[note]]"insane" as in, [[GameBreaker passively boosting all trade income or weapons research by 50% just because you own them]][[/note]] to [[{{Unobtainium}} exceptionally rare]] trade goods that [[GreenRocks grant extreme bonuses to whomever has them]], to [[LostTechnology super-technologies]] that, once obtained, are immediately made unavailable to anyone else. The absolute kings of this trope, though, are the [[MeaningfulName World Destroyers]], which come with a self-recharging laser cannon that is powerful enough to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up ANY planet]] and [[SplashDamage everything else in the area around it]] ''once every 30 seconds...'' luckily, they take a [[NecessaryDrawback very long time to build]].

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The amount of horrific things you can do to other empires and even your own citizens is pretty incredible. You can [[MadeASlave enslave]] anyone that happens to be living on any of your planets, even deporting undesirables to a designated [[PenalColony penal colony]] if you wish. You can, as an official policy, [[FinalSolution kill all members of a certain species]], or even [[UpToEleven their entire racial family]] (such as, killing every humanoid being in the galaxy). You can [[OrbitalBombardment bomb any planet]] until it becomes a [[DeathWorld virtually uninhabitable waste]] - or, if you have the right tech, [[EarthShatteringKaboom blast it, and all it's billions of inhabitants into an asteroid field.]]

* EasyLogistics: Averted|Trope. Every single ship and space station in the entire game requires a sufficient supply of various (more than 40) differing materials for each individual component involved in its construction and maintenance. This includes different types of fuel, active and inert gases (argon, hydrogen, helium, caslon, krypton, etc.), different metals and building materials (steel, lead, chromium, gold, iridium, carbon fiber, polymer, aculon, etc.), various rare stones (osalia, emeros, nekros, dilithium, etc.) all of which need to be mined and then shipped across the empire to your construction yards, or stored in cargo holds until needed. There is no hard or soft unit limit to the number of ships, stations, or planets that you can support... ''except'' your ability to [[ResourcesManagementGameplay pay for them, fuel them, resupply them, and pay for any repairs in both time, money, and materials]]. Especially in the early game, this can be a real hassle.

A sequel, ''Distant Worlds 2'', is in development and planned to release in March 2022.

* ArchaeologicalArmsRace: With the extreme amount of of ancient, advanced, and [[RagnarokProofing still useful]] precursor technology lying about, this is bound to happen. These artifacts ''[[ButThouMust will]]'' have a huge effect on the balance of power, and unearthing these artifacts before other civilizations get them can be the difference between victory and defeat.

* TechTree: There are three technology trees, all of which are researched separately at the same time: [[LensmanArmsRace Weapons]], [[PowerSource Energy and Construction]], and [[ResourcesManagementGameplay High Tech/Industrial]]. The placement, aptitude, and specific expertise of your scientists determines which sectors advance faster. Additionally, those scientists may become targets for assassination.

* SpaceStation: "Bases" are stationary structures in planetary orbit that fulfill various roles, and can be customized just like ships. On top of having a larger maximum construction size than ships, bases built above inhabited worlds can waive the component cap entirely. The most straightforward examples are multipurpose shipyards equipped with construction bays, cargo holds for storing resources, weapons to protect their home, and (optionally) amenities like medical hubs and recreation centres to boost the happiness of their host colony. Other, smaller examples include resort bases placed near scenic locations to serve your empire's tourism industry, research bases that contribute to the sciences, defence bases that exist simply to protect territory with a mountain of weapons, and compact mining bases that harvest resources from planets and asteroids.

* UniversalTranslator: Oddly enough, everyone seems to start the game with these: there are no difficulties in interplanetary or interspecies communications at all.

* {{Utopia}}: The "Utopian Paradise" is a unique government available to only two races in the game, the [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Securans]] and the Shandars. The government provides for every single one of it's people's needs and wants at all times, no matter what they are. This creates an extremely content society that is highly unlikely to rebel against the state... at the notable disadvantage of everyone being [[LazyBum so amazingly lazy]] that upkeep costs ''drastically'' increase and the military [[OddlySmallOrganization basically doesn't exist.]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: As it turns out, people tend to gang up on megalomaniacal tyrants.

* WarForFunAndProfit: It's entirely possible to fight a war merely because you want someone else's stuff. Some civilizations are more inclined to do this than others, ''especially'' [[TheGeneralissimo military dictatorships]].

* WorkerUnit: Your empire will mostly be made of these: freighters, constructors, miners, transports, colony ships, and so on. They are vital to the stability and success of a civilization.