Fixed Correcting "Early Explorers" Period

[Grey Roger]

All ideas sound good to me. Please do!

How? I've found the "Angelique Moulin" side quest code so I can probably do that bit, and editing text files isn't hard. But I don't know how to change which sword and equipment is given to corsairs in general and Francis Drake in particular.

And you didn't answer the question about the Sword of Triton. Because that looks like the sort of thing to hide at a certain road junction on Antigua while Francis Drake is using his own sword...

 

[Pieter Boelen]

How? I've found the "Angelique Moulin" side quest code so I can probably do that bit, and editing text files isn't hard. But I don't know how to change which sword and equipment is given to corsairs in general and Francis Drake in particular.

The starting equipment is given for each player type in PROGRAM\Characters\characters_init.c .
Shouldn't be too complicated to figure out. The period and name-based tricks from your earlier work in NK.c should work here too.

And you didn't answer the question about the Sword of Triton. Because that looks like the sort of thing to hide at a certain road junction on Antigua while Francis Drake is using his own sword...

Forgot about that, because it keeps confusing me. There are three items:
- Trident of Neptune
- Sword of Triton
- Poseidon's Hand

The trident is obvious, of course. The Sword of Triton is indeed Blackbeard's special one and Poseidon's Hand is Johan Elting's sword that is unique to him.

 

[Grey Roger]

If you're going to include Poseidon's Hand then there's another one, Sword of Bartolomeu. And there's Sword of Cortes, which you get for killing Amerigo Vieira as part of "Hard Labours of an Assassin".

But Poseidon's Hand has possibilities. Again, the existing description specifically mentions Elting, but it says Elting took it when he killed a famous pirate many years ago. Perhaps make a duplicate with similar stats and a different description. It's a bit early for you to be the pirate in question, but you could be the sword's previous previous owner... And Elting certainly won't be needing it in "Early Explorers"!

 

[Jack Rackham]

Pieter, no I'm not really finished yet but 1 or 2 days more. Had to do other things today.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Grey Roger, I think @Bartolomeu o Portugues would need to approve that.

@Jack Rackham, no worries. I'll wait with the next update until later then.

 

[Bartolomeu o Portugues]

For the "Angelique Moulin" side quest, I think the Sword of Cortes would be a better choice.

 

[Grey Roger]

The snag there is that the Sword of Cortes is already a reward for killing Amerigo Vieira during "Hard Labours of an Assassin", and as that quest ought to work unmodified during "Early Explorers", you could potentially end up with two Swords of Cortes. Whereas Poseidon's Hand has no existing use in "Early Explorers" and its description hints that it's had at least one previous owner.

 

[Bartolomeu o Portugues]

As you said Elting took it when he killed a famous pirate many years ago. This sword belongs to a pirate of the Spanish main period not of the Early Explorers period. We have the Maltese order in POTC right? Why not doing a slightly POTC modified sword (something that could be related to the Templars ).

 

[Pieter Boelen]

At the moment I have set up that Francis Drake does get his sword now at game start.
This obviously still needs tweaking though. From what I understand, the following still needs to be done:
- Rewrite Moulin sidequest to use a different sword in Early Explorers
- Rewrite Drake's sword item description or make a lower-level copy of it for game start

Hopefully @Grey Roger can finish that up over the next few days or so?

 

[Grey Roger]

As you said Elting took it when he killed a famous pirate many years ago. This sword belongs to a pirate of the Spanish main period not of the Early Explorers period.

Maybe he stole it from someone who dug it up in the 16th century.

We have the Maltese order in POTC right? Why not doing a slightly POTC modified sword (something that could be related to the Templars ).

For the time being I'm just using the stock Dragon's Head, which is a bit better than the Knights Templar sword and looks fancier.
The "Angelique Moulin" quest is going to be a bid odd anyway. When you go to find the officer who's been embezzling funds from the fort and killing anyone who finds out, he's going to be easy to spot as he'll be the only one wearing a French uniform in a Spanish fort.

 

[Grey Roger]

Having done some more "Early Explorers" privateering, I'm having second thoughts about needing an awesome sword to start. There are, in fact, smaller targets than Manila Galleons and Treasure Galleons; caravels of various types, carracks and the occasional light fluyt are still challenging but not as bad as the big beasts. Pick your fights and don't be too ambitious in the beginning!

So I've set all "Early Explorers" corsairs to get a fine quality Falchion and a blade care kit; the Falchion isn't quite as good as the Bosun's Choice but the increased quality and the improved durability thanks to the blade care kit makes up for that. Meanwhile, Francis Drake can get his own sword upon promotion to Lieutenant, replacing the English Officer's Sword which, again, doesn't belong in "Early Explorers".

And that raised another problem, one which will affect all Dutch and English privateers and naval officers in "Early Explorers", and also Portuguese privateers and naval officers in "Revolutions" and "Napoleonic", which implies nobody has been playing a late period Portuguese character as it hasn't been reported before. Take a look at "Nk.c", in which various functions depend on "LocationNation", defined thus:

int LocationNation = GetCurrentLocationNation();

LocationNation is the nation in which you're standing, not the nation of the emissary, so if I'm in La Tortue town hall talking to the English Emissary, he's going to try to give me rewards based on my rank with France!

So here are:
A new version of "Nk.c" in which "GivePromotionReward" now takes a parameter "iNation", and all references to "LocationNation" now look at "iNation" instead;
New versions of "CharacterUtilite.c" and "Freeplay\StartStoryline.c" with their calls to "GivePromotionReward" modified to supply that parameter;
A new version of "characters_init.c" which gives corsairs in "Early Explorers" and "Spanish Main" the Falchion and blade care kit;
A new version of "quests_side.c" in which you get a Dragon's Head at the end of the "Angelique Moulin" side quest in "Early Explorers";
And a new version of "RESOURCE\INI\TEXTS\ENGLISH\QUESTBOOK\Moulin.txt" with modified text to support the updated "quests_side.c".

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The "Angelique Moulin" quest is going to be a bid odd anyway. When you go to find the officer who's been embezzling funds from the fort and killing anyone who finds out, he's going to be easy to spot as he'll be the only one wearing a French uniform in a Spanish fort.

If I recall, his model is linked to France, but perhaps that can be made dynamic to look at the actual nation of the town.

So I've set all "Early Explorers" corsairs to get a fine quality Falchion and a blade care kit; the Falchion isn't quite as good as the Bosun's Choice but the increased quality and the improved durability thanks to the blade care kit makes up for that. Meanwhile, Francis Drake can get his own sword upon promotion to Lieutenant, replacing the English Officer's Sword which, again, doesn't belong in "Early Explorers".

Very nice! Did the item description still need to be changed?
One other thing I thought of: What if Francis Drake found his sword right there where it is in the Moulin sidequest and he buries it again in the exact same spot at some point later in his life?

And that raised another problem, one which will affect all Dutch and English privateers and naval officers in "Early Explorers", and also Portuguese privateers and naval officers in "Revolutions" and "Napoleonic", which implies nobody has been playing a late period Portuguese character as it hasn't been reported before. Take a look at "Nk.c", in which various functions depend on "LocationNation", defined thus:

int LocationNation = GetCurrentLocationNation();

LocationNation is the nation in which you're standing, not the nation of the emissary, so if I'm in La Tortue town hall talking to the English Emissary, he's going to try to give me rewards based on my rank with France!/QUOTE]Ah, GOOD CATCH! Hadn't thought of that, but indeed that would of course happen. Thanks for catching!

So here are:
A new version of "Nk.c" in which "GivePromotionReward" now takes a parameter "iNation", and all references to "LocationNation" now look at "iNation" instead;
New versions of "CharacterUtilite.c" and "Freeplay\StartStoryline.c" with their calls to "GivePromotionReward" modified to supply that parameter;
A new version of "characters_init.c" which gives corsairs in "Early Explorers" and "Spanish Main" the Falchion and blade care kit;
A new version of "quests_side.c" in which you get a Dragon's Head at the end of the "Angelique Moulin" side quest in "Early Explorers";
And a new version of "RESOURCE\INI\TEXTS\ENGLISH\QUESTBOOK\Moulin.txt" with modified text to support the updated "quests_side.c".

And thanks even more for fixing!

 

[Grey Roger]

Very nice! Did the item description still need to be changed?

Yes, I still need to duplicate the sword and give the duplicate a different description. I was more concerned with getting the mechanism working, e.g. putting code in place to give corsairs a different sword plus blade care kit in earlier periods, getting the Moulin side quest to do something different in "Early Explorers", and getting promotions via emissary to work properly. Exactly which sword corsairs get, what you'll find at the Moulin excavation site and what you'll get after promotion are negotiable - at least the system now works.

One other thing I thought of: What if Francis Drake found his sword right there where it is in the Moulin sidequest and he buries it again in the exact same spot at some point later in his life?

And then the Moulin family are resurrected, so is the corrupt officer, then someone else gets to find the sword again. Francois Moulin subsequently clonks the new owner over the head, recovers the sword, buries it again and the whole cycle repeats.

That would just about work if it had been impossible to modify the Moulin quest to put something else there for "Early Explorers". However, assuming my modification works and doesn't break anything else, it should no longer be necessary.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Yes, I still need to duplicate the sword and give the duplicate a different description. I was more concerned with getting the mechanism working, e.g. putting code in place to give corsairs a different sword plus blade care kit in earlier periods, getting the Moulin side quest to do something different in "Early Explorers", and getting promotions via emissary to work properly. Exactly which sword corsairs get, what you'll find at the Moulin excavation site and what you'll get after promotion are negotiable - at least the system now works.

Very much agreed.

And then the Moulin family are resurrected, so is the corrupt officer, then someone else gets to find the sword again. Francois Moulin subsequently clonks the new owner over the head, recovers the sword, buries it again and the whole cycle repeats.

Of course we've got a bit of the same "logic" with all sidequests and a lot of them persistent characters.
I don't think we can reasonable do anything about that though and it is probably not worth it to try.

That would just about work if it had been impossible to modify the Moulin quest to put something else there for "Early Explorers". However, assuming my modification works and doesn't break anything else, it should no longer be necessary.

Indeed.

 

[Bartolomeu o Portugues]

We have the Maltese order in POTC right? Why not doing a slightly POTC modified sword (something that could be related to the Templars ).

Here's a new sword, @Grey Roger.

Could you write a description for it and also adapt the side quest texts ?

 

[Grey Roger]

That's a picture of a new sword. I'd need the actual files before I can use it anywhere. And if I'm to write any sort of description, you'll need to tell me something about it. Meanwhile, the Moulin questbook text now merely refers to "an ornate but surprisingly well preserved sword" if you play the quest during "Early Explorers", so it can work with any sword - at the moment I'm just using the Dragon's Head.

Meanwhile, I've added the duplicate Francis Drake sword to both "initItems.c" and "ItemsDescribe.txt", and altered "Nk.c" so that Drake gets it instead of the English Officer's Sword. Next, I'm considering giving him the Revenge as a promotion reward for rank 8 instead of the Corsair's Pride, partly because he already has a better sword and partly because in reality Drake did get the Revenge later - he commanded it during the battle against the Spanish Armada and the subsequent unsuccessful Drake-Norris expedition.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That's a picture of a new sword. I'd need the actual files before I can use it anywhere.

@Jack Rackham already has it in the game. I'm sure @Bartolomeu o Portugues will get the files to you when they're ready.
You shouldn't need to do anything on the modeling/texturing side though.

Meanwhile, I've added the duplicate Francis Drake sword to both "initItems.c" and "ItemsDescribe.txt", and altered "Nk.c" so that Drake gets it instead of the English Officer's Sword. Next, I'm considering giving him the Revenge as a promotion reward for rank 8 instead of the Corsair's Pride, partly because he already has a better sword and partly because in reality Drake did get the Revenge later - he commanded it during the battle against the Spanish Armada and the subsequent unsuccessful Drake-Norris expedition.

Do Privateers still usually get ships upon promotion? I vaguely remember we disabled that.
But especially for Drake, I have no problem with an exception to that rule. He's a famous character and deserves something special.

 

[Grey Roger]

The mechanism to have the Moulin side quest use a different sword for "Early Explorers" is in place, anyway, though I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Assuming it works, slotting in a different sword in place of the Dragon's Head shouldn't be difficult.

Privateers don't normally get new ships any more; that's part of what distinguishes privateers from naval officers. But the Golden Hind has a very small crew and, while most privateers will probably have helped themselves to something bigger long before they reach rank 8, it might be nice to give Drake something better if he's managed to stick with his proper ship that long - Revenge is also a proper ship for him! (By using the same 'case' structure for named exceptions as is used in the promotion ships section, we can make it possible for other specific characters to do different things from normal privateers. Different swords from default, a new ship, some other reward...)

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Privateers don't normally get new ships any more; that's part of what distinguishes privateers from naval officers. But the Golden Hind has a very small crew and, while most privateers will probably have helped themselves to something bigger long before they reach rank 8, it might be nice to give Drake something better if he's managed to stick with his proper ship that long - Revenge is also a proper ship for him! (By using the same 'case' structure for named exceptions as is used in the promotion ships section, we can make it possible for other specific characters to do different things from normal privateers. Different swords from default, a new ship, some other reward...)

Sounds like a good idea to me! Especially considering that we have a ship in the game that actually was historically captained by Francis Drake, I very much like the idea of ensuring that he is ensured to get her at some point.

Which reminds me.... Eventually we're going to have to look into the various rank names. Francis Drake needs to chance to become SIR Francis Drake too!
We can do something with a custom title for now; that has also been applied to Sir Edward Pellew in the Hornblower Storyline, for example.
Perhaps that can go in the same 'case' structure.

 

[Grey Roger]

At the moment, the only way to do that would be to change his first name from "Francis" to "Sir Francis". Possibly have privateers use noble titles instead of naval ranks, though by the time you finish playing you'd probably be a lot higher than a mere "Sir"...

What's Pellew doing in the Standard Storyline? He's in "Hornblower", isn't he? I think he's Sir Edward Pellew throughout but his rank changes at an appropriate time. (He'd better be Sir Edward throughout because otherwise his introductory speech just before you go to attack the Temeraire makes even less sense. "My name is Captain Sir Edward Pellew. And I'm here to tell you your days of idling are over!") Even then, I'm not sure his name changes, he may just remain "Sir Edward Pellew" but get a new model with an admiral's uniform instead of a captain's.