Mod Release Build 14 GAMMA [Last Update: 31st December 2021]

[Grey Roger]

The March update is now available:
http://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/potc/Grey Roger/post_25May_updates_190321.zip

New to this version:

• More fixes to "Woodes Rogers" from @Jack Rackham
• "Cooking With Albatross" allows you to cook an albatross
• Raoul Rheims' house in Smugglers' Lair is guarded to prevent you from entering during "Tales of a Sea Hawk". Ever wondered why the guards are still there in other storylines?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

So Nexusmods says that the new file is suspicious.
New Horizons

Any idea what could be causing this?

Edit: Maybe it is "Config.exe"?
I uploaded a ZIP containing only it and it was marked as suspicious.

I also uploaded the "Documentation" folder too, if for some reason it had blacklisted me.
But this passed the safety check.

 

[Grey Roger]

No idea. The message on that page says "This file has been quarantined and may be unsafe. Please contact a moderator or email us." Ask them why they think it's unsafe.

I've scanned both my development folder and the same zip file which I uploaded to the FTP site using McAfee, and it reports no threats on either. Perhaps other people could download the zip and scan it with other antivirus software to see if it finds anything? Downloading a zip ought to be safe, it's not a .exe which extracts itself. You should even be able to unzip the file and scan the unzipped folders without running anything from them.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

I edited the older post.

Edit: Maybe it is "Config.exe"?
I uploaded a ZIP containing only it and it was marked as suspicious.

I also uploaded the "Documentation" folder too, if for some reason it had blacklisted me.
But this passed the safety check.

Seems like it's the "Config.exe" file.
I will email them later to make sure.

 

[Grey Roger]

"Config.exe" is dated 2nd May 2019, and is unchanged from the 13th January update which Nexus presumably accepted.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Yep, something must have changed on their end.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Okay so I sent an email; the file has been reviewed and approved by the NexusMods staff.
You should now be able to download it from there too!

 

[fjx]

Just to clear things up, if I download New Horizons from Nexus, then I don't have to download any other files from PA or ModDB, right?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Yes, all of the main files are up to date.

The only difference is that you need to change the file extension of part 2 to ".tar" on Nexus.

 

[Capt. H.M. Murdock]

Wow, was going through an old hard drive, and found my long since abandoned POTC game files - which got me thinking - I wonder if the mod community is still around, and how far they got with it? It's been..gosh, 7 or 8 years... no more like 12 or 13 years since I'd last looked?

Well SHIVER ME TIMBERS!! You guys are fantastic! And a new update just last month?!?!? I couldn't believe my eyes. I reinstalled the game (still have the original discs buried in a box!) and figured I'd give it a go for old times sakes.

My goodness, I am so impressed. Wow - Pieter is still at it, and has clearly had a ton of help from many good people - Build 14 is fantastic, I've been playing it all weekend. Last time I had played, Build 12 had just come out (that was quite a while ago!!) and the changes are significant, and the game really plays very well. I am astounded, cheers to everyone who has kept contributing to this effort over the years, your hard work REALLY shows. Very well done!

I wish I could buy you all a few rounds of Rum, the Mod team has created a much fuller and larger POTC experience than I'd ever thought possible. New Horizons Build 14 is excellent!!

Cheers guys, and thanks for keeping this alive.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Welcome back to the Caribbean then!

 

[Grey Roger]

Welcome to the new Caribbean, @Capt. H.M. Murdock!

Build 12, eh? You must have disappeared from the forum shortly before I found it - you say you last played shortly after Build 12 was released, whereas the first mod I downloaded was Build 12 shortly before it was replaced by Build 13.
On behalf of all who have contributed to Build 14 over the years, thanks for your kind words.

 

[Grey Roger]

The latest update is now ready:
http://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/potc/Grey Roger/post_25May_updates_190521.zip

New to this update:

• The cursed Flying Dutchman now looks like the Caleuche from TEHO, with an improved cabin to go with it, thanks to @The Nameless Pirate.
• FreePlay character José Joaquím Almeida now has a new quest, "A French Companion", from @Bartolomeu o Portugues. Meet a famous privateer and sabotage a large British warship.
  
• Players who like to work for Sweden should go to Marigot, where they can meet a Swedish emissary. (If the game begins with Sweden at war with France, try Philipsburg instead.)
  
• The starting quest for FreePlay Rogue and Gambler player types is now optional. Though the quest is still highly recommended, it does deprive you of your choice of starting ship, so you can run away to sea instead of facing the duel.
• @Jack Rackham has provided FreePlay Engineers with a new quest. Visit Cartagena's new library, collect parts and build a new type of weapon. You can also look at various books, but do not try to walk off with them - the Librarian does not like book thieves!

 

[Jack Rackham]

Very good and thanks for including Coastbrothers.wav!

 

[Levis]

Downloading this one now hopefully soon (tm) I will have time to merge some of the stuff I have still laying around.
@Grey Roger I still have mutliple improvements, what do you prefer? Have them all in one big zip or have everything seperated? (things like interface improvements, performance improvements for leveling system, special perks to show what gunners etc do extra and the hearden your heart sidequest (unfinished at this point))?

 

[Grey Roger]

Have separate zips, please. That makes it easier to pick and choose among them, and also to test them separately.

The easiest way to show what the gunner does is to change the on-screen message when you get free ammunition. Indeed, I believe it used to say "The Gunner has provided you with ammunition", and the text is still in "interface_strings.txt", but for some reason it was changed to the current "Your shore party has been resupplied with Ammunition". It could easily be changed back.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Pieter is still at it, and has clearly had a ton of help from many good people

So, SO many good people!
Really, most of the credit goes to them.

And especially the past few years, it's really been @Grey Roger and @Jack Rackham, helped by @Bartolomeu o Portugues and @The Nameless Pirate keeping the flame alive.
Hopefully one of these days I can also get back into supporting a bit again.
It's about time, don't you think?
Maybe whip up a new Installer EXE, for example...?

Build 14 is fantastic, I've been playing it all weekend. Last time I had played, Build 12 had just come out (that was quite a while ago!!)

Wow, you went from 12 straight to 14? That IS quite the jump indeed!
You might even barely recognize what you were so familiar with.
But I hope you'll find that we didn't lose the good old stuff; our aim has always been to add more, but not subtract anything (unless for VERY good reason).

I wish I could buy you all a few rounds of Rum, the Mod team has created a much fuller and larger POTC experience than I'd ever thought possible.

I'll consider your heartfelt compliment quite the shot of rum in and of itself!
You might even have inspired me to watch "At World's End" tonight, with some rum in my hand for real.

Cheers guys, and thanks for keeping this alive.

Thanks to you too!
Without fans like you to enjoy our work, it only ever really feels half-alive; so thank you for your enthusiasm!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

My next step is to modify the config-file, but when trying to run it, I'm informed, that engine.ini or options files are missing. Engine.ini is present, so what went wrong.

I see you already solved it, but just for the sake of it...
Did you have the game in "Program Files" by any chance?
That's one of the most consistent causes for inexplicable behaviour.
We've got Windows Security Stupidity (WSS) to thank for that one.

I wouldn't put the installer in the game installation folder for organization purposes.

Older versions of the installer actually messed up bad if you did that, but thankfully I managed to solve that.
It's still not what I would do myself, but these days it doesn't much matter.
So whatever floats your boat, eh?

Right now everything seems to work. Because the build 14.4 contains new things for me, it's difficult to determine, what comes from the build, and what comes from the update.

Easiest is to check the version number and "last update date" at the bottom of the main menu.

I have just discovered, that I can modify certain character things by clicking over the icon/picture. So I can actually make a load of changes to my character, when starting the game. Let's just say, that at the moment I'm overwhelmed by the amount of options.

I hope that is "overwhelmed in a good way"; and not "overwhelmed to the point of of making you freeze".
The general idea is that there ARE a lot of options; but they're all optional.
You CAN use them. But things should be perfectly enjoyable even if you don't.

Change the 1 to a 0. This will work with a saved game; you do not need to start a new game. Never worry about locked perks again! I never liked locked perks from the day they were first introduced and always set that to 0

I do love them toggles!
No two people are alike and I'm glad we can offer so many different people what they do like without (hopefully) sacrificing too much.
As we say in these waters (even if it's a different game: To Each His (or Her) Own.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The latest update is now ready

Good timing!
I was just about to look into finally upgrading my game version from my birthday release from last year.
And sounds like there's some nice new stuff in there too!

The cursed Flying Dutchman now looks like the Caleuche from TEHO, with an improved cabin to go with it, thanks to @The Nameless Pirate.

I know I caused that to happen I the first place, but I do wonder now...
Do we want to keep our original one in any way at all...?
Maybe name THAT one "the Caleuche"? Because the TEHO one is reeeaaally basically the Disney version.

FreePlay character José Joaquím Almeida now has a new quest, "A French Companion", from @Bartolomeu o Portugues. Meet a famous privateer and sabotage a large British warship.

Ah, he finished!
EXCELLENT work.

Players who like to work for Sweden should go to Marigot, where they can meet a Swedish emissary. (If the game begins with Sweden at war with France, try Philipsburg instead.)

Missing feature finally added? VERRRY nice!
Should make our Swedish Privateers very happy.

The starting quest for FreePlay Rogue and Gambler player types is now optional. Though the quest is still highly recommended, it does deprive you of your choice of starting ship, so you can run away to sea instead of facing the duel.

Ah; so you didn't really remove anything; you just gave an extra bit of freedom to the player.
Makes sense to me.

@Jack Rackham has provided FreePlay Engineers with a new quest. Visit Cartagena's new library, collect parts and build a new type of weapon. You can also look at various books, but do not try to walk off with them - the Librarian does not like book thieves!

That definitely sounds like a ton of fun too!
Very "engineer-ey".
I REALLY want to try my hand at actually playing some stuff in the not-so-distant future.
There's so much COOLNESS to go around!

Which makes me wonder: Is @The Nameless Pirate's PDF with sidequests and requirements updated and included?
That was a good idea of @Bartolomeu o Portugues' to make sure players can know about all these exclusive bit of extra content.
Otherwise the chance is just too big players will never run across the gameplay; because the chances to do so by accident may be rather small...

And...
Ah, the Librarian(s)...
SO much fun too:

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Downloading this one now hopefully soon (tm) I will have time to merge some of the stuff I have still laying around.
@Grey Roger I still have mutliple improvements, what do you prefer? Have them all in one big zip or have everything seperated? (things like interface improvements, performance improvements for leveling system, special perks to show what gunners etc do extra and the hearden your heart sidequest (unfinished at this point))?

Nice to see you back in these waters, matey!
And I'll be very curious what kind of hidden treasure you've had lying about.

The easiest way to show what the gunner does is to change the on-screen message when you get free ammunition. Indeed, I believe it used to say "The Gunner has provided you with ammunition", and the text is still in "interface_strings.txt", but for some reason it was changed to the current "Your shore party has been resupplied with Ammunition". It could easily be changed back.

Hmm... Since "having a gunner" IS a requirement, it makes sense for me that the log message would say that he's indeed doing the job.
Makes it clearer to players how those gameplay elements are linked together...