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    Maelstrom New Horizons


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Finishing Build 14 Final

Ok, I will make sure If I got any new things that will be uploaded here before 6PM GMT+1
 
I have done a lot of further modding work for the next Beta 3.5 WIP update and do have the update files ready.
But it is by now too late to compile the installer, test it all and upload it. So I'll try again tomorrow.
If anyone has any further fixes or improvements before that time, of course please post them! :cheers

In the meantime, this is a list of all the stuff that is new since the previous update:
Code: 
- New Features:
  . Improved Privateer Gameplay by Pieter Boelen:
  > Different promotion titles
  . Improved Merchant Gameplay by Pieter Boelen:
  > Carrying a "Merchant Passport" prevents your crew from becoming envious of the amount of money you have
  > Starting as a merchant gives you a "Merchant Passport"
  > Possible to buy a "Merchant Passport" from the WIC office on Curacao and the EITC office on Jamaica
  . Improved Pirate Gameplay by Pieter Boelen:
  > Distinguished promotion ranks from fame level
  > Pirate governors avoided where necessary for quest purposes
  . Improved Smuggling by Levis
  > Your actions towards the smugglers may lead them to like/dislike you by Levis
  > "Smuggling for Thomas O'Reilly" unlocked only after a certain amount of smuggling
  > Possible to buy opium from the Jamaica Opium Den
- Code Updates:
  . Dialog order code updated by Levis
  . Custom promotion code and special blade for Francis Drake by Grey Roger
  . Three new abilities added by Levis
  . Tortuga Tailor added in Early Explorers by Jack Rackham
  . DeleteCharacter function expanded to completely erase all traces of deleted characters by Pieter Boelen
  . Early Explorers corsairs given better items to defend themselves against the Spanish by Grey Roger
  . Alternate curse added at game start for Davy Jones by Pieter Boelen
  . Allow gambling even after playing a lot by Pieter Boelen
  . Ship location code replaced in several places by Pieter Boelen
  . Safe Port Leave code rewritten to simplify use by Pieter Boelen
- Bug Fixes:
  . Smuggling fixes by Levis
  . Error log entry due to equipping promotion officers fixed by Pieter Boelen
  . Nation for promotion rewards fixed for Emisarries by Grey Roger
  . Fast Travel issues in Guadeloupe and Charlestown fixed by Pieter Boelen
  . No Blackbeard on Isla de Muerta if you are Blackbeard yourself by Pieter Boelen
  . Musket/Musketoon on Back code completely rewritten and improved by Jack Rackham
  . Fixes to smuggling by Levis
  . Delete unhired officers from tavern upon leaving by Pieter Boelen
  . Shipyard Interface upgrade exploit fixed by Levis
  . Error in boarding code fixed by Pieter Boelen
  . Display spelling improved for navy officer titles by Pieter Boelen
  . Distance factor in Escort Quest pay fixed by Levis
  . Fetch Quest errors fixed by Levis
- Storyline Updates:
  . Sidequests:
  > "Smuggling for Thomas O'Reilly" made independent from Standard Storyline by Pieter Boelen
  > Artois Voysey quest loop error fixed by Pieter Boelen
  > Vigila Mendes quest rewritten to improve reliability by Pieter Boelen
  > Patric Cardone quest bypass fixed by Grey Roger
  > Sword at the end of the Moulin sidequest corrected for Early Explorers by Grey Roger
  > Governor Ship Hunting quest expires after a month so you get a new one afterwards by Pieter Boelen
  . Standard Storyline:
  > Black Pearl boarding deck texture fixed by Pieter Boelen
  . Jack Sparrow Storyline:
  > Appearance of Pintel and Ragetti as officers fixed by Pieter Boelen
  > Montanez code corrected by Pieter Boelen
  . Free Play Storyline:
  > Availability of Artois Voysey sidequest fixed by Pieter Boelen
  . Assassin Storyline:
  > Repeated rewards exploit fixed by Grey Roger
- Model and Texture Updates:
  . Golden Hind ship model with extra details added by Jack Rackham, Hylie Pistof and Armada
That is quite a huge list of things, especially consider this is all new since last week! :shock
If at all possible, I'll try and add some more to this before this version is posted tomorrow.
 
To all and especially @Levis: Perhaps it is time to start limiting our scope for what we want to achieve still within Build 14 and what we can put on the long-term Build 15 wish-list.

My suggestion would be to use the "Planned Feature" marked to indicate things we do want to do, but are not intending to include in a final Build 14 release.
"Feature Request" is anything that isn't technically a bad idea, but is not something we are intending to do from our side so anyone who wants to have it done should be prepared to do most of the work him/herself.

Anything indicating something else, including "Low/Medium/High" priority, would be things we do still want to accomplish for Build 14.
I would hope that we can soon establish what it is we do want to do so that we can focus on that and hopefully complete this as a stable modpack release before the end of the year.

We will, of course, have a public Beta 3.5 prior to that point.
I'll have my holidays in August, so that is probably a good time for me to either do some extra work on it prior to release or do some proper testing with it after release.
Which one will depend on how things go and also on what our members here think, of course. What is better? An earlier Beta 3.5 or a later one?
 
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I'd say we try to finnish as much as bugs as possible and some of the WIP content for 3.5 and try to have that one done before your holiday. So we can release that publicly. This will probably cause more bug reports so we can fix those.
By then we should have a list of all stuff remaining which we still want to do.
We might need to fork the project at one point before the 3.5 release so we can have a version with new stuff but more untested and the more stable version for the public release.
After 3.5 we want to get everything done which is on our list so we are going to aim for an RC B14. This one will be release publicly also so we can fix the last issues with it. So that means more bug fixing but most importantly making sure everything is in order. So checking all gameplay tips, making sure all documentation is in order again. Improving perforamnce where possible. Making sure all ingame menus are up to date and stuff like that.
After all that is done we can do the final B14 release.
 
Incase people want to know how much still has to be done for build 14.
We recently cleaned the brainstorming forum. In here you will find everything still planned for build 14. We got a seperate subforum for future planning.
So its very simple. Build 14 will be here if both the brainstorm forum and the bug tracker have no more topics in them.
 
I've got to admit that I'm wondering if it might be worth porting mods to the stock game at some point.
There are SO many things in the Build right now, some well-done, some not so much. And everything affects everything else, which often complicates matters.
 
I see where you are comming from. Altough I wonder how much trouble that will give us ....
 
Levis said:
Altough I wonder how much trouble that will give us ....
Click to expand...
LOTS! So I don't think it is quite feasible right now.
But with that whole false flags thing, there are so many systems built on other systems with fixes on fixes that it has all become quite cluttered.
I suspect there is a lot of superfluous code in there with other code being added to override the effects of the first code. :facepalm
 
Pieter Boelen said:
LOTS! So I don't think it is quite feasible right now.
But with that whole false flags thing, there are so many systems built on other systems with fixes on fixes that it has all become quite cluttered.
I suspect there is a lot of superfluous code in there with other code being added to override the effects of the first code. :facepalm
Click to expand...
Same for the XP system. That's why I decided from the start to just rewrite te whole system.
 
Pieter Boelen said:
I've got to admit that I'm wondering if it might be worth porting mods to the stock game at some point.
There are SO many things in the Build right now, some well-done, some not so much. And everything affects everything else, which often complicates matters.
Click to expand...

If we are dreaming then I would dream of a situation where you have the stock game and a modular mod system. where you can enable and disable certain mod added content to your liking. But thats just dreaming. Getting that to actually work would be nearly impossible :p.
 
That's what we've got our various mod toggles and settings for.
You do have to install everything of course, because maintaining compatibility with separate sections of code is a royal pain.
I'm already noticing it again with the Unfinished Storylines" option. Maybe I'll stick that in the main installation option again, because it is a bit risky while we're still making large updates.
 
Long overdue; but this is officially happening as per January 1st 2022 after all.
Better late than never, right?

I myself am completely exhausted; and just severely need a ton of rest and help.
The final Installer EXE is currently compiling; and will not be changed unless anyone notices errors; or anyone has last-minute submissions after all.
That means, effectively, I have done what I can; and can put it out of that overloaded mind of mine at last.

What does still need doing is to publicly announce this release with the maximum amount of fanfare.
Think articles, Facebook posts, Twitter coverage, YouTube-ing like mad; that sort of stuff.
That all sounds very epic, as indeed it should; but our usual way of doing it was just through a simple release article on ModDB.
See here for past examples: Articles - Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons mod for Pirates of the Caribbean

While I would like to make something beautiful out of the release process, I cannot honestly promise I'll succeed in time.
In other words, if somebody else feels more inspiration to put their creativity into this,
it would be a great relief to me to pass that into someone else's capable hands.

For details relevant to mention, have a look here:

We'll be needing screenshots of the most visually-catching new features.
NON-Maelstrom screenshots to be clear; as this is just a regular "Storm 2 mod for that 2003 Akella game".
@Grey Roger, @Jack Rackham, @Bartolomeu o Portugues, @The Nameles Pirate, @Bathtub-pirate; what are you the proudest of?
What would you most like to show off?
 
Pieter Boelen said:
YouTube-ing like mad
Click to expand...
Out of all you mentioned, I can help with that.
I will try to personally record some gameplay and upload it.
From Linux, no less, as I have fixed OBS! Well... At least if I don't find issues with compatibility that is, as it isn't the intended use case.
 
Pieter Boelen said:
What is this you say?
You ARRR on our Public Relations team?
Click to expand...
It seems as I indeed am now!:rofl
I will record and edit one today for sure, maybe even 2.
And I will schedule them to release on January 1st, midday for me.
They should be somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes long, but I don't exactly know how it's going to turn out. (And how OBS may decide to use all my free storage, which is 70 gigs.)
 
Sand 2 Go said:
It seems as I indeed am now!:rofl
Click to expand...
Apparently you are what you say you are.

Sand 2 Go said:
I will record and edit one today for sure, maybe even 2.
Click to expand...
DOUBLE even? :shock

Sand 2 Go said:
And I will schedule them to release on January 1st, midday for me.
Click to expand...
Do you have access to post directly to our 'Tube channel?
If not, see here: http://piratesahoy.net/threads/piratesahoy-community-promotion.18391/

Sand 2 Go said:
They should be somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes long, but I don't exactly know how it's going to turn out. (And how OBS may decide to use all my free storage, which is 70 gigs.)
Click to expand...
Well, there's only one way to find out!

And thank you.
Never in a million years would I have expected to be able to post some new "Storm 2: New Horizons" to our YouTube on THIS short term!

I was considering starting to make videos myself.
But I haven't done much movie-making just yet; so I would most certainly be REALLY slow at first.
 
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