Included in Build Custom Pre-Defined Character Choices

[Hylie Pistof]

Well, I am done with this ship. The main mast can not be read. That means it can not be changed.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Here's a first version for a Laurens de Graaf starting character:

  model.description =  "The outfit of a tall, blond, moustached and handsome Dutch corsair, if you please.";
   model.id    =  "Laurens_de_Graaf";
   model.FaceId   = 566;
   model.nation    =  HOLLAND;
   model.assigned   =  true;
   model.name = "Laurens";
   model.lastname = "de Graaf";
   model.storytitle = "Scourge of the West";
   model.storytext = "'A great and mischievous pirate' according to Henry Morgan and thought to be the Devil in person by some Spaniards, this Dutch corsair is ready to wreak havoc on the Caribbean!";
   model.playertype = PLAYER_TYPE_CORSAIR;
   model.ship = "NL_WarGalleon";
   model.shipname = "Princesa";
   model.Flags.Pirate = 3;
   model.Flags.Personal = 32;
   model.date.month = 9;
   model.date.year = 1682;
   AddCharacterModel(model);

Suggestions for improvements would be welcome!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

And something for Francis Drake:

Again, suggestions welcome:

  model.description =  "Now take Sir Francis Drake, the Spanish all despised him. But to the British, he's a hero and they idolised him!";
   model.id    =  "FrancisDrake";
   model.FaceId   = 211;
   model.nation  =  ENGLAND;
   model.assigned   =  true;
   model.name = "Francis";
   model.lastname = "Drake";
   model.storytitle = "Disturb us, Lord";
   model.storytext = "'It isn't that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better.' As privateer in the service of Elizabeth I of England and with the Spanish owning nearly the entire Caribbean, it is your job to make life as difficult as possible for the Dons.";
   model.playertype = PLAYER_TYPE_CORSAIR;
   model.ship = "PiratFastGal";
   model.shipname = "Golden Hind";
   model.Flags.Pirate = 8;
   model.Flags.Personal = 17;
   model.date.month = 9;
   model.date.year = 1578;
   AddCharacterModel(model);

And the ship model is due to be replaced as soon as a real Golden Hind is ready.

 

[Jack Rackham]

Just a detail maybe queen Elizabeth not was called the first when there was no second?
Like world war I.

...as soon as a real Golden Hind is ready

It's on its way.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

LOL!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

List of all storylines and pre-defined character available now:
- STORYLINE: Nathaniel Hawk, English "Merchant" in Colonial Powers
- STORYLINE: Howard Pyle, Pirate Corsair in Golden Age of Piracy
- STORYLINE: Johan Elting, Dutch Army Veteran in The Spanish Main
- STORYLINE: Bartolomeu o Portugues, Portuguese Social Climber in The Spanish Main
- STORYLINE: Beatrice Devlin, Spanish Explorer in Early Explorers (UNFINISHED)
- STORYLINE: William Legrand, American Land Owner in Napoleonic (WIP)
- STORYLINE: Horatio Hornblower, English Naval Officer in Napoleonic
- STORYLINE: Jack Sparrow, Pirate Adventurer in Colonial Powers
- FREE PLAY: Julian McAllister, English Rebel in Golden Age of Piracy
- FREE PLAY: Laurens de Graaf, Dutch Corsair in Golden Age of Piracy
- FREE PLAY: Francis Drake, English Corsair in Early Explorers
- FREE PLAY: Jack Aubrey, English Naval Officer in Napoleonic
- FREE PLAY: Hector Barbossa, Cursed Pirate in Colonial Powers
- FREE PLAY: Blackbeard, Pirate Corsair in Colonial Powers
- FREE PLAY: Jean Lafitte, French (American) Agent in Napoleonic
- FREE PLAY: Horatio Nelson, English Naval Officer in Revolutions
- FREE PLAY: Danielle Greene, English Adventurer in Golden Age of Piracy
- FREE PLAY: Davy Jones, Cursed Pirate in The Spanish Main
- FREE PLAY: Blaze Devlin, Spanish Corsair in Early Explorers
- FREE PLAY: Jean de la Croix, French Rogue in Golden Age of Piracy
- FREE PLAY: James Norrington, English Navy Officer in Colonial Powers
- FREE PLAY: Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch Navy Officer in The Spanish Main
- FREE PLAY: Sao Feng, Pirate Corsair in Colonial Powers
- FREE PLAY: Robert Fulton, American Engineer in Napoleonic
- FREE PLAY: Will Turner, English Sword Master in Colonial Powers
- FREE PLAY: Cutler Beckett, English Merchant in Colonial Powers


Overview per Nation:
- England: 8 characters, 2 storylines
- France: 1 character
- Holland: 2 characters, 1 storyline
- Pirate: 4 characters, 2 storylines
- Portugal: 1 storyline
- Spain: 1 character, 1 storyline (unfinished)
- America: 1 characters, 1 storyline (WIP)

For France we have only 1 character (Jean de la Croix) and one semi-French character (Jean Lafitte).
For Spain, there are only Beatrice and Blaze Devlin. That is also a very clear gap in our storyline/character availability.
And America is also only 1 WIP storyline that doesn't allow free play plus Robert Fulton with his Steam Frigate.

I'd definitely appreciate some thoughts on extra characters to add here.
"John Paul Jones" as Navy Officer for America might be nice. But we need some good stuff for France and Spain too, I think.

Portugal also has only 1 item on the above list, but thankfully that is an amazing storyline.
Still, having an extra Portuguese Free Play character would not be a bad thing, I reckon.


Overview per Period:
- Early Explorers: 2 characters, 1 storyline (unfinished)
- The Spanish Main: 2 characters, 2 storylines
- Golden Age of Piracy: 4 characters, 1 storyline
- Colonial Powers: 6 characters, 2 storylines
- Revolutions: 1 character
- Napoleonic: 3 characters, 2 storylines

It seems we are pretty evenly distributed on the periods we use, with one clear exception.
The ONLY thing we have in "Revolutions" is Horatio Nelson.
Does anyone have any thoughts on any other appropriate characters to add during those years?


Overview per Player Type:
- Adventurer: 1 character, 1 storyline
- Agent: 1 character
- Army Veteran: 1 storyline
- Corsair: 5 characters, 1 storyline
- Cursed: 2 characters
- Engineer: 1 character
- Explorer: 1 storyline (unfinished)
- Land Owner: 1 storyline (WIP)
- Merchant: 1 character, 1 storyline
- Naval Officer: 4 characters, 1 storyline (4 x England + 1 x Holland)
- Rebel: 1 character
- Rogue: 1 character
- Social Climber: 1 storyline
- Sword Master: 1 character

For player types, we also have a pretty wide distribution. Though clearly Corsair and Naval Officer are by far the most popular.
We have Pirate, Dutch, English and Spanish Corsairs so that is a pretty good selection.
But for Naval Officers we have only one non-English one. If possible, I think it would be quite fair to have at least one for each nation.


So.... thoughts, anyone?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The below code should show how the different Free Play starting locations are chosen now:

          switch(CharNation)
           {
             case PERSONAL_NATION:   lidx = FindLocation(arstart.port);            break;
             case ENGLAND:       lidx = FindLocation("Oxbay_port");           break;
             case FRANCE:       lidx = FindLocation("Falaise_de_fleur_port_01");   break;
             case SPAIN:         lidx = FindLocation("Muelle_port");           break;
             case PIRATE:       lidx = FindLocation("QC_port");             break;
             case HOLLAND:       lidx = FindLocation("Douwesen_port");         break;
             case PORTUGAL:       lidx = FindLocation("Conceicao_port");         break;
             case AMERICA:       lidx = FindLocation("Eleuthera_Port");         break;
           }
           // PB: Player Type -->
           NavyLockShipSelection(false, model);
           if (NationNoIsland(CharNation, curPeriod))
             lidx = FindLocation("QC_port");

           bool LocationOverride = false;
           if (slno == FindStoryline("FreePlay"))
           {
             switch(curPlayerType)
             {
               case PLAYER_TYPE_REBEL:
                 lidx = FindLocation("QC_port");                     // Rebels always start at Nevis
               break;

               case PLAYER_TYPE_ROGUE:
                 lidx = FindLocation("Cuba_shore_03");                 // La Croix opening scene
               break;

               case PLAYER_TYPE_GAMBLER:
                 lidx = FindLocation("Cuba_shore_03");                 // La Croix opening scene
               break;

               case PLAYER_TYPE_AGENT:
                 id += "Hostile Port";
                 LocationOverride = true;
               break;
               case PLAYER_TYPE_CURSED:
                 id += "Random Port";
                 LocationOverride = true;
               break;

               case PLAYER_TYPE_CORSAIR:
                 if (NationNoIsland(CharNation, curPeriod))
                   lidx = FindLocation("Tortuga_Port");               // Island-less corsairs start at Tortuga, not Nevis
               break;

               case PLAYER_TYPE_NAVAL_OFFICER:
                 if (CharNation == ENGLAND) lidx = FindLocation("Redmond_port");     // Speightstown isn't much of a navy base
                 NavyLockShipSelection(true , model);                 // Navy assignment is pre-defined
               break;
             }
           }

Does that sound OK?

I'm also still hoping for some feedback on my previous posts above. Any thoughts?


Questions about Standard Storyline Customization
Also I'm not 100% sure on what to do with the Standard Storyline. As there is a Free Play one now, we can certainly decrease the amount of freedom for that one.
So I have already locked the starting date as otherwise the various ships used in the Main Quest could be very period-incorrect.
I also removed the link between player model and ship type/name so you wouldn't be starting with the Flying Dutchman, for example.

What about character models? Should that be locked for the Standard Storyline too?
I'm not quite convinced that is a good idea, but it seems a bit weird to allow starting as the same specific Free Play characters.
Perhaps we can just decide again that it is up to the player to let his/her choices make sense?

 

[Grey Roger]

Just a detail maybe queen Elizabeth not was called the first when there was no second?
Like world war I.

That briefing is for the benefit of the player, who presumably will be active in the 21st century when there is indeed a second. On the other hand, "periods.c" could perhaps be edited so that Elizabeth I (and José I of Portugal in "Colonial Powers") lose the "I" so that their names appear correct in the game.

I'm also still hoping for some feedback on my previous posts above. Any thoughts?

This being "Pirates of the Caribbean", it's hardly surprising that there are a lot of corsairs. The other character types are primarily to give the player some choice of background when defining your own free-play character. Also, since the characters in the film "Pirates of the Caribbean" are almost all either British or pirate, it's hardly surprising that, with so many game characters drawn from the film, they're mostly British or pirate as well.

But anyone who wants a French, Spanish or Portuguese character is welcome to do the basic research and supply data such as name, date and ship, then it should be relatively easy to add that character. (Portugal's main problem is that its interest was more towards the East so their heroes are more likely to have been sailing the Indian Ocean than the Caribbean. And that's because of the treaties of Tordesillas and Zaragoza, which divided the world between Spain and Portugal, giving the west to Spain and the east to Portugal.)

Also I'm not 100% sure on what to do with the Standard Storyline.
...
What about character models? Should that be locked for the Standard Storyline too?

It would be a bit odd playing the Standard Storyline as Michiel De Ruyter, about a century too late and (at least initially) serving Britain; or as Horatio Hornblower, about 20 years before he was born. But if players want to do that, I see no reason to stop them, unless anyone starts a game as De Ruyter and then complains that it's silly. To which the answer is "Yes, and it's your fault for making that choice. "

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That briefing is for the benefit of the player, who presumably will be active in the 21st century when there is indeed a second.

True.

This being "Pirates of the Caribbean", it's hardly surprising that there are a lot of corsairs. The other character types are primarily to give the player some choice of background when defining your own free-play character. Also, since the characters in the film "Pirates of the Caribbean" are almost all either British or pirate, it's hardly surprising that, with so many game characters drawn from the film, they're mostly British or pirate as well.

Indeed surprising it is not. And I don't object to what we have. I'd just want to add some more variety if possible.
And for player types there isn't much of a concern anyway. It is mainly the lack of certain nations/periods.

But anyone who wants a French, Spanish or Portuguese character is welcome to do the basic research and supply data such as name, date and ship, then it should be relatively easy to add that character. (Portugal's main problem is that its interest was more towards the East so their heroes are more likely to have been sailing the Indian Ocean than the Caribbean. And that's because of the treaties of Tordesillas and Zaragoza, which divided the world between Spain and Portugal, giving the west to Spain and the east to Portugal.)

Indeed adding the characters is easy enough. I just hope somebody will care enough to post some suggestions on appropriate ones.
Even fictional characters would be OK.

It would be a bit odd playing the Standard Storyline as Michiel De Ruyter, about a century too late and (at least initially) serving Britain; or as Horatio Hornblower, about 20 years before he was born. But if players want to do that, I see no reason to stop them, unless anyone starts a game as De Ruyter and then complains that it's silly. To which the answer is "Yes, and it's your fault for making that choice. "

At least the Standard Storyline does allow different starting nations, so there isn't necessarily any "serving of England" as long as you don't actually play the Main Quest.
Perhaps the character name doesn't need to be linked with the model for the Standard Storyline.
So all characters will be named "Nathaniel Hawk" and you just choose the model itself.
Wouldn't make much sense for female characters though.

Begins to sound like it is more trouble than it's worth to modify this behaviour....

 

[Grey Roger]

What's the point of playing the Standard Storyline except to play the main quest? If you just want to do the side quests, you can play anyone you like as free-play. Even if the start-up for Standard Storyline doesn't allow you to change your character name, you can change it as soon as you start the game. (Though it's going to get silly if you pick both the model and the name Danielle Green. She, incidentally, should probably be character type Rebel, given her attitude to England within the game.)

As for characters for other nations, in the absence of anything better and since fictional characters are allowed, how about picking NPC's from any storyline and making them playable? Off the top of my head, for no reason other than that I've recently played "Bartolomeu o Portugues" and am now replaying "Assassin", Spain could get Enrique Padilla and Portugal could get Augusto Queiroz. Starting dates for both are between 1660 and 1665; Padilla gets "SP_Galeon50" named Gloriosa, Queiroz gets "PO_FastNavy" named A Faisca. Other data can be found in "PROGRAM\Storyline\Assassin\characters\init\TempQuest.c" and "PROGRAM\Storyline\Bartolomeu\characters\init\TempQuest.c" respectively.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

What's the point of playing the Standard Storyline except to play the main quest? If you just want to do the side quests, you can play anyone you like as free-play.

Now that the sidequests are available in ALL storylines and there is a seperate Free Play storyline, that is indeed very, very true.
The main reason for all the customization options being enabled for the Standard Storyline is because we didn't have all that in the past.
But now we do!

Even if the start-up for Standard Storyline doesn't allow you to change your character name, you can change it as soon as you start the game.

Right again. Which begs the question: SHOULD it even be possible to change your name in the game?
Oh well, I suppose it does no harm. And it IS important to change the names and outfits of your officers, just so you can get whichever ones you want.
(Even if it doesn't make sense to swap the genders of your officers, that is totally possible. )

Though it's going to get silly if you pick both the model and the name Danielle Green. She, incidentally, should probably be character type Rebel, given her attitude to England within the game.

I thought about that, but that would give us two English Rebels, so there isn't too much added value in that.
Plus I set Danielle to start a good several years earlier than Nathaniel, figuring that you start right after the break-up.
So perhaps whatever got Danielle so pissed off at England may not have happened at that time yet. Maybe?

As for characters for other nations, in the absence of anything better and since fictional characters are allowed, how about picking NPC's from any storyline and making them playable? Off the top of my head, for no reason other than that I've recently played "Bartolomeu o Portugues" and am now replaying "Assassin", Spain could get Enrique Padilla and Portugal could get Augusto Queiroz. Starting dates for both are between 1660 and 1665; Padilla gets "SP_Galeon50" named Gloriosa, Queiroz gets "PO_FastNavy" named A Faisca. Other data can be found in "PROGRAM\Storyline\Assassin\characters\init\TempQuest.c" and "PROGRAM\Storyline\Bartolomeu\characters\init\TempQuest.c" respectively.

Good thinking! Those two are already named in initModels.c anyway so that just requires adding a few more lines.
They're both navy characters, right?

 

[Grey Roger]

Right again. Which begs the question: SHOULD it even be possible to change your name in the game?

Yes! At least until the bug which changes your name to double second name is definitely fixed. And in case any bug in a quest messes up your name. ("Hornblower" has a lot of name and model changing near the end so you can watch some dialogs which don't involve Hornblower, and until I fixed it, you ended up as Lt. Bush.)

I thought about that, but that would give us two English Rebels, so there isn't too much added value in that.
Plus I set Danielle to start a good several years earlier than Nathaniel, figuring that you start right after the break-up.
So perhaps whatever got Danielle so pissed off at England may not have happened at that time yet. Maybe?

Yes, that can make sense. Danielle becomes hostile to England as a result of Silehard's actions. So does Nathaniel, somewhat later.

Good thinking! Those two are already named in initModels.c anyway so that just requires adding a few more lines.
They're both navy characters, right?

I'm not sure about Padilla. Queiroz certainly is - that ship is the one which Bartolomeu is temporarily given for the "Hunter" chapter, with Queiroz becoming his first officer for the voyage. Padilla uses the galleon to get to Oranjestad and when he's supposed to collect Roxanne Lalliere, otherwise he generally appears on land, so he could be either army or navy. And looking at your stats above, you have more need of another army character than another navy character.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Yes! At least until the bug which changes your name to double second name is definitely fixed.

I'm hoping that one IS fixed already. But we won't find out until somebody runs into that problem again

And in case any bug in a quest messes up your name. ("Hornblower" has a lot of name and model changing near the end so you can watch some dialogs which don't involve Hornblower, and until I fixed it, you ended up as Lt. Bush.)

True. Of course any such instance should be fixed properly, but there is no harm in maintaining the name-change functionality so players can at least set it right again if it goes wrong.

 

[Grey Roger]

Looking back at Laurens de Graaf, perhaps the Heavy East Indiaman is a bit large for a starting ship? From Wikipedia:

During the late 1670s, de Graaf is reported to have captured a number of vessels, converting each in turn to piracy. Starting with a small vessel he would capture a larger one, then use that vessel to capture a larger one again. Finally, in the autumn of 1679, de Graaf attacked the Spanish Armada de Barlovento and captured a frigate of 24-28 guns, which he renamed the Tigre (Tiger)

Perhaps start him off earlier with a smaller ship, then the player can capture and use something larger.

Also from the same article:

At the same time, the Spanish saw their chance to get revenge for the loss of their frigate and the Armada de Barlovento was also sent to hunt de Graaf down. During a brief stop in Cuba, de Graaf was made aware of the plan to seek him out. Rather than waiting for the Armada, de Graaf sailed immediately in search of it. After a running gun battle that lasted several hours, the Princesa struck her colors (surrendered), having lost 50 men to de Graaf's eight or nine.

Sounds like my kind of privateer! Seriously, that's exactly how I usually play - start with something small, work my way up by capturing larger ships, ultimately challenging enemy battle fleets.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Looking back at Laurens de Graaf, perhaps the Heavy East Indiaman is a bit large for a starting ship? From Wikipedia:
Perhaps start him off earlier with a smaller ship, then the player can capture and use something larger.

I couldn't remember what ship we originally had him when he was used as stand-in for the Bartolomeu o Portugues sidequest.
A smaller one would certainly be OK by me. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[Grey Roger]

That Wikipedia article indicates that the earliest record of de Graaf's activities put him in command of a French privateer, so possibly FR_Sloop. If you want something a bit bigger and Dutch then maybe NL_NeptunusE.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

If you want something a bit bigger and Dutch then maybe NL_NeptunusE.

Sounds good. Though isn't there another character that also starts with that ship? Which one does Michiel de Ruyter start with again?
Also, were you able to find an accompanying ship name or do we need to make something up?

 

[Grey Roger]

Wikipedia doesn't mention a name for ships that early in de Graaf's career, and threedecks.org doesn't mention de Graaf at all. In the absence of solid information, make something up.

Michiel De Ruyter does indeed start off with NL_NeptunusE. Alright, any of Brig1, Brig2, Brigantina1 or PiratBrig50. Or some sort of sloop, as it's supposed to be a starting ship for someone with a reputation for starting with small ships and working his way up.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I like the "PiratBrig50"; that is quite a nice ship. It is also the player worldmap ship.

 

[Grey Roger]

Something for you to read...
Amaro Rodriguez Felipe, alias Amaro Pargo
Jose Gaspar
Henri Caesar
The first two are Spanish pirates - the stories are highly apocryphal and contain no specific data about ships used, and the one about Amaro Pargo is written in somewhat irregular English that indicates it is not the author's first language. The story about Jose Gaspar is suitably colourful for a pirate character and puts his career between 1783 and 1821.

Henri Caesar was born to a slave family on Hispaniola, joined the revolution which saw the island become independent from France in 1804 (and, incidentally, plays merry havoc with our "Revolutions" and "Napoleonic" periods), then captured a Spanish ship in 1805 and pursued a successful pirate career until 1830. He'd probably count as French Rebel for game purposes and would therefore simultaneously give us a second French character, a second Rebel character and a second non-white character.