Devlin Opera for the 65742th time

[Jack Rackham]

Sure, but if it isn't blue it would be the original Cavern retextured?

 

[Grey Roger]

True enough. I was looking through location models in GM viewer, thought "cavern_blue" looked interesting, and didn't notice that it literally is a blue version of the cavern behind Bonaire waterfall!

Which I'll still try to retexture for this purpose. Even that should look better than the Speightstown dungeon lookalike currently on Aruba...

 

[BathtubPirate]

Yes, it would be the cave that leads from the waterfall to Nigel Blythe's wreckage. The @Jack Rackham version also has a door and a chest mechanism.

I've always had a rough story for Aruba, but it would have to be resolved by performing a series of smaller "cultural" tasks for the Arawak to gain their respect and exploring the "Tunnel of Love" could easily be one of those! Thinking about this part, I always envisioned to really brush up the Arawak world on Aruba with new locations (at least for the Devlin storyline) and when I get to it, I'd have to search VCO for forests, beaches etc. that maybe could be imported to make this part more explorative, distinctive and mysterious.

But I'm still in the middle of the chapter before that...

 

[Grey Roger]

Yes, it would be the cave that leads from the waterfall to Nigel Blythe's wreckage. The @Jack Rackham version also has a door and a chest mechanism.

You won't need the door or chest mechanism. I'm going to try to make this version darker as the stock cave has no torches and the Arawak probably wouldn't put any fixed lighting in there to help would-be grave robbers! So, make it dull and dark, and possibly move the "monster" locators around so that instead of one big gang attacking you when you approach the main chamber, there will be some hiding in the side chambers waiting to ambush you as you try ot through the cavern...

@Jack Rackham: since I'm going to be modifying all the texture files anyway, would you like a blue version of "StalSmall.tga.tx"? That's for the stalactites, which are still yellowish in your otherwise blue cave.

I've always had a rough story for Aruba, but it would have to be resolved by performing a series of smaller "cultural" tasks for the Arawak to gain their respect and exploring the "Tunnel of Love" could easily be one of those! Thinking about this part, I always envisioned to really brush up the Arawak world on Aruba with new locations (at least for the Devlin storyline) and when I get to it, I'd have to search VCO for forests, beaches etc. that maybe could be imported to make this part more explorative, distinctive and mysterious.

If you have access to VCO and can import some new locations, do it! We could do with some more distinctive jungles and shores to replace the multiple copies of the stock game locations - not just for Aruba.

 

[Jack Rackham]

@Jack Rackham: since I'm going to be modifying all the texture files anyway, would you like a blue version of "StalSmall.tga.tx"? That's for the stalactites, which are still yellowish in your otherwise blue cave.

Yes thanks that would be nice!

 

[Jack Rackham]

The @Jack Rackham version also has a door and a chest mechanism.

@BathtubPirate Forget the chest but use the two doors if you like. The only thing is that you'll need doors in the two adjacent locations as well to make it look good.

 

[Grey Roger]

Yes thanks that would be nice!

Try this.

@BathtubPirate Forget the chest but use the two doors if you like. The only thing is that you'll need doors in the two adjacent locations as well to make it look good.

Location 1 is somewhere on the shore. It's not supposed to be obvious - the Arawak probably didn't signpost their ancient burial site so that it wouldn't be easily found by the first pirate to land at the beach.

Location 2 doesn't exist. At present the "burial ground" is a copy of the Speightstown dungeon; you enter through the passage that leads from the sea in Speightstown, and the door up the stairs doesn't link to anything.

@BathtubPirate: when you've decided what you want the player to accomplish in the cave, let me know. I can add a "randitem" locator to place an item for the player to find; or you could have the unused "reload" lead to a quest location. Or you could spawn a character in the cave, in which case I'll probably need to add a "goto" locator for him to use.

 

[BathtubPirate]

If you have access to VCO and can import some new locations, do it! We could do with some more distinctive jungles and shores to replace the multiple copies of the stock game locations - not just for Aruba.

I don't have access right now, but even if I can't download it, I have a backup folder on my old computer. Navigating through VCO in GM viewer is a bit of a pain, as there are many locations, all named after seemingly random numbers, going back one step you always lose track of where you were in GM viewer and with many locations, you need to zoom closer for quite a while to see anything. But I remember a slightly desert-like landscape with some huts and hovels that would be perfect for Aruba, forests (although I think some of them are adjacent to a town wall like outskirts) and a cove with a wreckage that would all be quite intriguing to use.

I haven't decided anything yet except for a rough outline that dictates probably 4-6 smaller quests/tasks, one of which could use the tunnel cave. I feel like in this case the locations would dictate the quest at least the same amount as the quest dictates the location, because seeing what locations can be used and in what arrangement would trigger the imagination and show what can be done.

 

[Jack Rackham]

@BathtubPirate when you have imported a VCO location I can help you with making a walk patch for POTC.
Shores, jungles etc are more likely to work than cities as the stairs almost everytime create stops in the patches.

 

[Jack Rackham]

@Grey Roger that really improved the Blue Cavern.
No idea why I never did it years ago.

 

[BathtubPirate]

@BathtubPirate when you have imported a VCO location I can help you with making a walk patch for POTC.
Shores, jungles etc are more likely to work than cities as the stairs almost everytime create stops in the patches.

I would clearly depend on your much appreciated help! Another thing that comes to mind: If there's a new location, I'll probably need a locator to actually enter it and figure out the coordinates with console to make all the other locators.

But I'm not there yet. The "Hermit and the Frogs" quest is taking shape and so far it all works, even though there are a lot of possible variations especially for dialog files (two main routes plus questions like: Is Annie with you at this point? Where is your ship right now?). Right now I'm starting with the sea battle. Maybe I should read a chapter or two of the book I'm reading these days, to get in the right mood. It's called "The Happy Return"

 

[Grey Roger]

I haven't decided anything yet except for a rough outline that dictates probably 4-6 smaller quests/tasks, one of which could use the tunnel cave. I feel like in this case the locations would dictate the quest at least the same amount as the quest dictates the location, because seeing what locations can be used and in what arrangement would trigger the imagination and show what can be done.

You can get some idea of what I'm working on by going into the cavern on Bonaire. The new version will probably be less brightly lit and the attackers will start in different places, but the basic shape should be the same. You'll enter down the same passage as you do on Bonaire; the exit to the shipwreck beach is the one which will be unused unless you link it to a quest location.

Right now I'm starting with the sea battle. Maybe I should read a chapter or two of the book I'm reading these days, to get in the right mood. It's called "The Happy Return"

And then you can start a FreePlay as Commander Hornblower, do a bit of random raiding to get promoted to Post Captain, and get a mission which may look a bit familiar.

 

[BathtubPirate]

I mean not only the cave. I feel like I can only figure out the bigger pucture of the chapter when figuring out what and how many locations I can use or import.

Even better than your suggestion is playing the Hornblower story with the Natividad mission at the end, which I have done before. But a replay is due, I thought I remembered El Supremo and Lady Barbara appearing earlier in the story, but now that I started the series ("The Happy Return" is my first, as it was written first) I realise this can only have been adapted as late as the Natividad quest.

"The Happy Return" is fabulous by the way. Now PotC NH has gotten me into reading both Poe and Forester.

@Grey Roger speaking of Hornblower, what do these three lines mean in case "French_Battle_Setup"?

if(GetRMRelation(Pchar, PIRATE) > REL_WAR) SetRMRelation(Pchar, PIRATE, REL_WAR);
if(GetRMRelation(Pchar, FRANCE) > REL_WAR) SetRMRelation(Pchar, FRANCE, REL_WAR);
UpdateRelations();

There's already another line that defines an enemy relationship between the player and the enemy captain.

 

[Grey Roger]

Lady Barbara does appear earlier, in "Tunnel of Trouble". She reminds you of this during "The Natividad Incident". You won't have seen El Supremo earlier in the story but you have been to the fort twice before.

Are VCO's jungle locations, or that desert with huts, as big as its town locations? If so, just one location could probably be suitable for two or more of your quests.

 

[BathtubPirate]

They're pretty big I think. If there are 6 smaller quests there don't have to be six huge locations of course.

What about those lines in the Hornblower battle?

EDIT: More about sea battles. As you know I decided against an immediate attack when you go to sea, because storywise, the pirate ship is supposed to be mooring somewhere and the player is the one who goes attacking it. Thus I didn't set a locked "attack player" task for the enemy ship. But especially for testing, this decision turned out to be a masive pain. Mostly because for some reason, direct sail is disabled. Half of the time I don't even find the enemy ship when testing. So I commented out the line that sets the locator for the moment, and used one from the "Mefisto" battle which I thought makes the pirate ship spawn right next to me when I go to sea, but it doesn't. That's the quest case:

        case "Cayman_sea_battle_begins3":
            Pchar.quest.Cayman_sea_battle_begins3.over = "yes";
            bQuestDisableMapEnter = true;

            Group_CreateGroup("Bonamy_ship");
            Group_AddCharacter("Bonamy_ship", "Godefroi Bonamy");
            Group_SetGroupCommander("Bonamy_ship", "Godefroi Bonamy");
            //Group_SetAddress("Bonamy_ship", "Cayman", "Quest_ships", "quest_ship_4");
                        Group_SetAddress("Bonamy_ship", Characters[GetMainCharacterIndex()].location, "", "");
            Sea_LoginGroupNow("Bonamy_ship");
            characters[GetCharacterIndex("Godefroi Bonamy")].nosurrender = 1;
            SetCharacterRelationBoth(GetCharacterIndex("Godefroi Bonamy"),GetMainCharacterIndex(),RELATION_ENEMY);
            Character_SetAbordageEnable(characterFromID("Godefroi Bonamy"), true);

            pchar.quest.Cayman_sea_battle_won.win_condition.l1 = "NPC_Death";
            pchar.quest.Cayman_sea_battle_won.win_condition.l1.character = "Godefroi Bonamy";
            pchar.quest.Cayman_sea_battle_won.win_condition = "Cayman_sea_battle_won";
        break;

 

[Grey Roger]

To prevent the ship from sailing away before you get to it, you could put this into the character definition for Godefroi Bonamy:

ch.Ship.Stopped = true;

But that won't do anything unless you start a new game. Alternatively, in either case "Cayman_sea_battle_begins3" or the quest case which triggers it, try adding this:

characters[GetCharacterIndex("Godefroi Bonamy")].Ship.Stopped = true;

You could also try adding these to "Cayman_sea_battle_begins3":

Group_SetTaskNone("Bonamy_ship");
Group_LockTask("Bonamy_ship");

That, plus putting the enemy captain onto a genuine "Quest_ships" locator somewhere near Peninsula de Zapata ("reload_6" on Cuba), is how I arranged for an enemy ship to be moored and waiting for you in "Ardent".

If you want to make sure the enemy ship spawns next to you, try 'Group_SetPursuitGroup("Bonamy_ship", PLAYER_GROUP);'. That's the command which makes Mefisto spawn next to you, and also makes the Montanez and the lesser Satanist ships spawn near you in the earlier battle.

I'm not sure if 'SetCharacterRelationBoth' does anything these days, though it does no harm to leave it there in case it does. To make sure he is hostile:

characters[GetCharacterIndex("Godefroi Bonamy")].recognized = true;

'bQuestDisableMapEnter = true;' may be responsible for preventing sail-to. There's one in "quests_side.c", case "birdhunt3", and I know sail-to is blocked there because you have to sail from Port au Prince half way round Hispaniola to find the Vogelstruijs near the end of the quest to sink it. Otherwise, do you have 'Island_SetReloadEnableGlobal("Cayman", false);' anywhere?

This line:

characters[GetCharacterIndex("Godefroi Bonamy")].nosurrender = 1;

... means he won't surrender at sea but can surrender after you board the ship. You can take him prisoner and ransom him. If you want to make sure he can't surrender at all, change that to 2. (If you want to be able to recruit him as an officer, add 'ch.canhire = true;' to his definition. Of course, you can't recruit him unless he surrenders!)

Depending on exactly what you're doing in "Cayman_sea_battle_won", you may want to add this at the end of "Cayman_sea_battle_begins3":

pchar.quest.Cayman_sea_battle_won.win_condition.l2 = "SeaEnter";

That means you have to defeat the enemy captain and then be at sea - it won't trigger while you're still in his cabin. The battle in Bridgetown port against Silehard's battleships used to crash if you tried to capture the last one until this was added. It's not critical if you're just adding a questbook entry, but if you want to do anything more, add that line just to be safe.

 

[Grey Roger]

@Jack Rackham: any objection to me using "CavernMedium" instead of "Cavern"? Although "Cavern" looks big in GM Viewer, it's not that big when you go into it. "CavernMedium" is definitely bigger and has more passages and chambers to explore. It's used in "GoldBug" but is also in general use on Eleuthera. And it can be customised in various ways.

There are three chests. These can be removed in TOOL, they're a separate component. There are torches all over the place, which can be extinguished by removing their locators in TOOL or removed entirely by leaving out a line in the location definition as well. (And then put back again if you happen to be in a storyline in which you've just made friends with the local tribe, who could then decide to help you by sending someone ahead of you to light the cavern. )

I'll not use any of the extra stuff specific to "GoldBug" such as ladders and bottles, partly to avoid duplicating the quest version and partly because they have no reason to be in an Indian burial ground.

 

[Jack Rackham]

No objection - it's not quest unique.

 

[Grey Roger]

In that case, @BathtubPirate, this cavern gives you some options. The first is, do you want the treasure chests in there? The shore is a copy of the one at Leviathan Rock on Camahogne; you swim round from the beach to find the cave entrance. So it's a reasonable place for pirates to have hidden their treasure, assuming they survived contact with whatever is guarding the burial grounds - though if they didn't, the guardians might have moved the treasure chests into the cave. Or, if you want the player to find something, I could remove the chests and add locators onto which objects could be placed.

The other is lighting. I'm hoping to reduce the ambient light so that almost the only light will be from the torches, except I'm also planning on removing the torchlight locators. So the place will be dark, hard to find your way around, and you'll be ambushed from various places by Indians similar to those you see in the Cozumel temple. Assuming I can manage that, all it would need to put the torchlight back is a single line of quest code to change the cavern back to using the file containing the torchlight locators - and if the village Arawaks really want to help the player, whoever went to light the torches could also do something to placate the guardians, who therefore don't appear because you put a 'vcskip' line in the quest code. Or not. It's up to you...

If you want to see what "CavernMedium" looks like, go to Puerto la Cruz on Eleuthera and rent a room in the tavern - the "room" is a cellar, from where you may be able to find your way to the cavern.

 

[BathtubPirate]

Otherwise, do you have 'Island_SetReloadEnableGlobal("Cayman", false);' anywhere?

No, I had taken that out already.

It's not critical if you're just adding a questbook entry, but if you want to do anything more, add that line just to be safe.

Cayman_sea_battle_won adds a quest book entry and sets the next win condition for you to return to the beach. I'll make sure to add that line.

EDIT: @Grey Roger once again I couldn't find my enemy ship. I'm going to remove bQuestDisableMapEnter now for testing to see if it re-enables sail to.

How can I visually look at the sea locators around an island in TOOL? I just picked a locator for the enemy ship without knowing where it really is.

If you want to see what "CavernMedium" looks like

I know what it looks like, I've spent enough time in there, trying to get that ladder out from under the bridge. It's a bit simpler in terms of textures and has no hole in the roof, but offers more space and options. But what I want to do with it exactly, I can't say yet. Is it still supposed to be the "Tunnel of Love" from the folk legend about two lovers?