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Feedback from Ardent playthrough

Tingyun

Corsair
Storm Modder
@Grey Roger Just want a place to leave feedback as I enjoy your wonderful work!

I played through the opening part, and it was great. Some feedback (please note this is from the last edition of the storyline, as I haven't had time to merge your latest update in with my version as there seem to be a few edited files, but I wanted to try the start real quick to see if I liked it--which I do, very much! I will be installing the proper version now that I know I love it of course :) )

Other than loving it, here is feedback (sorry if some of this has already been fixed in latest version):

1) I lost a lot of reputation stealing the key by sandbagging the guard. Not sure if there would be a way to block that, but it doesn't make much sense in this context. He called for help a couple of time, -3 each.

2) The two crewmembers who immediately joined me seemed cool, but sadly they got themselves immediattly killed by being suicidal. They had no weapons, but just calmly walked forward without drawing any defensive weapon as the guards cut them down. They just kept trying to walk past the guards, obvlivious until they were killed.

3) Should the native have such a strong Spanish accent? Seems not to fit with his dialogue style.

4) upon exiting havana, there were what appeared to be random bandits in the outskirts. But the native who had joined me didn't assist in fighting them at all, he just calmly walked past them on his planned route as they attacked me.
 
@Grey Roger As for general impressions, it was a very exciting start! I liked the spanish inquisition method of asking me about what sort of character I want to be, and I loved being able to customize the start, so I could choose the sort of person I wanted to roleplay. Thank you for making it so customizable!
 
@Grey Roger Also, we chose the female Helena Ardent (my wife and I were trying it out together), and my wife said she loved the character model. She said it was very beautiful and she'd love playing as her. :)
 
You don't need to merge the files in. Just copy the entire installation into place and let it overwrite everything. The only Winmerging you may want to do is for those files which aren't in the storyline folder, in case someone else has been doing things to dialogs for non-story NPC's.

1: Nothing I can do about that, it's part of the standard code for mugging someone. You get some reputation back if you are playing the action/adventure/romance hero and don't kill the warden. It's right at the start so if you're caught too many times, just restart.
2: Odd. They do move forwards but I've never seen them get killed as the guards concentrate on the one who is attacking them - the Indian, and you if you choose to join in.
3: There are no voice files for Indians. But since most Indian settlements in the Caribbean were conquered by the Spanish (including his, as you'll find out if you take him home), he probably learned English from Spanish teachers. Or at least, the tribe did.
4: If I program him to join in fights then he won't resume doing what he needs to do, which is point you in the direction of the slave camp. (I might put 'vcskip' lines at all points between Havana and the camp so you don't run into bandits. And then cancel them so the bandits can get you on the return journey...) Otherwise, although there's no way to make him take evasive action, pretend he's sneaking past them. Or the bandits aren't interested in him because they don't think he's carrying any money.
 
@Grey Roger As for general impressions, it was a very exciting start! I liked the spanish inquisition method of asking me about what sort of character I want to be, and I loved being able to customize the start, so I could choose the sort of person I wanted to roleplay. Thank you for making it so customizable!
I wonder if anyone will ever guess where the Inquisitor got his lines - perhaps he's been on a Crusade in the far future...
 
Yep, I meant the non-storyline parts. It won't take me long (I think quests common changed and such in recent updates), I just wanted to take a quick look first. ;)

2) I am using Levis's new improved fight AI. It occurs to me that might cause the difference. Or maybe I fell behind them and they ended up too far ahead.

3) I was thinking that, but all the "me want to" kind of text is sort of jarring in comparison. Maybe his dialogue could be a little more spanish accent oriented than improper english oriented? Just a thought.

4) I like the idea of skipping bandits in the initial journey. They kind of distract from the fun action anyway, it's about escaping the guards, not getting mugged by locals.

Thanks again! This will be fun. :)
 
Try this revised version of "quests_reaction.c". The initial two officers now hang back during the fight with the guards, then resume normal officer behaviour if you survive the fight. ("Improved AI" has the guards attack the unarmed opponents rather than the enemies who are actually going to hurt them? xD) Havana outskirts and several jungle locations are now protected by 'vcskip' on the way to the slave camp so you can't have random encounters, then the 'vcskip' is removed after the slave camp battle so the bandits can get you on the way back. I tested this - there were no bandits at all on the way there, then after the battle I left the camp, went to the first jungle location and met a gang of highwaymen.

I generally don't want to change from normal gameplay except when really necessary. Random bandits in jungles are part of normal gameplay, so they stay. The point about them looking odd when the Indian wanders off by himself and they ignore him is valid, though. There are a couple more occasions when an NPC has to detach from your party and go off alone. On one occasion, there's lots of extra vegetation around so maybe the bandits didn't see him, or maybe they're his mates - he double-crosses you later. On another occasion it looked even sillier if the NPC wanders past the bandits and the excuses I'd made for the Indian don't apply, so I'd already disabled bandits there by 'vcskip'.
 

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  • quests_reaction.c
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@Grey Roger I will certainly try it out! Thanks for releasing an uodate for this so soon, it will be nice to have those guys around!

On the prison slaughter, Not sure if it was improved AI, or if I was simply confused since I hadn't played before and hung back in the earlier section of the prison too long. It is possible I did so, and the guys got ahead of me, and then the guards cut them down to be able to get to me. Improved AI has the AI do a lot of intelligent things to avoid getting trapped and just running endlessly in space, and given the narrow corridors, I think that might be what happened. Or maybe it was the standard AI thing where they are trying to hit me, but my guys are so close and bunched up they hit them instead.

Makes sense, I love random bandits as well. I'll bear that in mind for the future scene with the extra vegetation. :)

Thanks Grey Roger!
 
Hi Grey Roger,
Just doing the Ardent storyline for the first time. I think your work is fantastic.
I have completed up to where the Port Royal governor makes Piers a wanted man. I am not able to find Gilbert though - can you give me a clue as how to proceed?
 
Have you been to Port Royale dungeon? The house of Gilbert Downing is next door. You've probably already been there: either because you got a couple of letters from Piers to deliver to Lucia; or because you rescued Lucia from the dungeon, in which case you've met Gilbert already.
 
Yep,
Playing as a good guy in this first run through. So didn't encounter the dungeon as part of game play - have been through it and killed everyone in it but couldn't find any passageway to the residence of Gilbert. Will try again.
Thanks for your help. Much appreciated - I think your storyline is well planned, well thought through and executed - congratulations.
 
The passage from the dungeon to the prison, and thereafter to the house of Gilbert Downing, only becomes available at a certain point in the story.

Am I right in thinking that you've married Lucia? That's the only way I can imagine for you to have reached the point at which Piers Downing is wanted for treason without having been through the prison (*), because to get to that point you'll have had to deal with the French on Isla Mona, which happens after the convoy quest, which happens in retaliation for something Piers has done to Lucia. Most routes through the game involve you rescuing Lucia from Downing's prison before the convoy quest, but the marriage leads to a different route.

I'll add an extra line to the code which sets things up for the meeting with Gilbert Downing to make sure the door is unlocked. Meanwhile, put this into "console.c":
Code:
Locations[FindLocation("Redmond_town_03")].reload.l9.disable = 0;
Press F12, and that ought to unlock the door.

(*) This isn't the regular Port Royale prison. Piers Downing has his own, but you only find out about that if you've followed a certain route through the story...
 
Thanks Grey Roger - That worked
Found an error in the Antigua Admiral dialogue file preventing the dialogue from working. Line 202 is missing a closing bracket on the if statement.
 
Selected the "I surrender" option with Piers at PoP town. Black screen with date only??? will investigate.

My game is having a glitch with a gm file. See the attached system file.
 

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  • system.7z
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Grey Roger,

Tried this with fighting, not surrender option, but ended up in prison again - black screen - cannot proceed.

Looked for both gm files in my installation - both missing and I don't have them in any other version I currently have.
You may be able tho help with these.
 
@Pieter Boelen: the first of the .gm files mentioned in that "system.log" file is:
Code:
resource\models\locations\Inside\Tavern02\..\back\inside_back_m.gm: can't open geometry file
I've seen that before. It doesn't seem to cause any trouble and is almost certainly here caused by "Pointe_a_pitre_Tavern", which is set up by function "void InitTavern02(string locationID)" in "MAXIMUS_Functions.c".

@salonikasurf: how long ago did you download "ardent.zip"? The current version certainly has "RESOURCE\MODELS\locations\inside\prison\Pri_l_GR.gm" - I've just downloaded it again and checked in case anything odd happened during the upload. If that's missing from your install then something funny is going on and you may have more problems with missing files. Anyway, here it is.
 

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  • Pri_l_GR.zip
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@Pieter Boelen: the first of the .gm files mentioned in that "system.log" file is:
Code:
resource\models\locations\Inside\Tavern02\..\back\inside_back_m.gm: can't open geometry file
I've seen that before. It doesn't seem to cause any trouble and is almost certainly here caused by "Pointe_a_pitre_Tavern", which is set up by function "void InitTavern02(string locationID)" in "MAXIMUS_Functions.c".
It says that WITH that ".." in there, right? Must be a slight coding error, because of course that should be skipped.
Please make a bug tracker entry. For the time being, there is nothing I can do to investigate anything. :oops:
 
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