Solved I smell mutiny .... (my comrade ships shooting each other)

[Bathtub-pirate]

So that is a non-issue then? It is true that there's a bit of a timer between missions.

Then this timer has to be in effect for the entire island. Because I fullfilled a mission for the governor in Alice Town and both, he and the governor from Governor's Harbor (the other Town on Eleuthera), would not give me a new mission.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

It would affect all governors in the game.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Those LoM issues should be fixed in here: http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-progress.20686/

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

Alright,

time for some feedback and reports about general weirdness of the enemy/bugs. Let's get the ugly stuff out of the way first:

1.) Pre-reloading and Rush made a surprise return. Both definitely weren't there after starting a new game. But somewhere in the process of it, they came back. I noticed it when I went up to level 4. Maybe these are reactivated as soon as an ability is picked or as soon as one goes up to level 2.

2.) I again witnessed some weird travels back in time (as reported earlier). These never extend a frame of several minutes. But they happen and they are awkward. I assume it may have something to do with the open sea mod, since that one alters how time goes by.

3.) Recently I had a weird experience, where the stores were open all night. I'd hope it was a promotional action but I am afraid it is a bug.^^ This happened in the Dutch settlement of Isla de St. Martin.

4.) I relatively often get error reports when AI controlled ships are spawned at sea. I' ll try to hunt these down, so that I can give details about error messages and save them.


On to some feedback.

The biggest new things for me where the alternative level system (I never used it in Build 2.3) and the open sea mod. I am mostly positive about the first one and have mixed feelings about the latter.


Alternative Level System

The Good
Feels overall more natural and makes more sense. You learn what you do. Also that making fat deals as a trader adds exp is a nice touch and makes playing as trader more of a viable option, since one is not exclusively limited to cargo jobs to gain exp. The starting attributes of the officers seem also more varied and they are not as cookie cutter anymore. All in all the officers seem to be more versatile.

The Bad
It is definitely far easier for the player to gain exp. and to improve skills than for the officers. Is it just me or are the officers taking profoundly longer to improve their skills than the player? That is the impression that I have and it can provide a problem, since the opponents level with the player, making the limping officers relatively weaker as the game goes on.

The Ugly
Talking to your average Joes on the streets is too much of a possible exploit. You can easily hammer up your leadership and luck stats by talking to some random lad or lady. Just seek one out and spam the hell outta the space bar. I would go back to the old system of handing out some little exp. for these conversations below Lv. 4-5 and that's it. Leadership should be gained only by paying your crew, winning sea battles/taking prizes and getting jobs done. And luck should be increased .... completely at random. Whenever someone gets exp for whatever I would install a minor chance of luck increasing. Since that is essentially what luck is about. Treading luck as something that one can "learn" misses the point.

All in all I like the new system clearly better than the old one. But there is room for improvement by getting rid of the exploit and by balancing things a bit out in favor to the officers.


Open Sea Mod

The Good
Traveling feels more realistic now. The wind does change more often. Not only one time a day. Also one has to pay more attention to his surroundings, since a distant ship may easily catch up long before a new area is reached. This opens up the possibility for exhausting chases over sea. I already experienced one where I had to flee in a fully loaded Armed Schooner being chased by three pirates. They caught up after a while. After some cannonballs were exchanged, I decided to discard everything that was expandable to live and fight another day.
All in all the open sea mod improves the pacing in the gameplay of the iron man mode experience.

The Bad
As much as the actual pacing is improved, as much this mod feels a bit like disbalancing the in-game travel time. I have reached some of my destinations in record time. Sure, it took long enough for me in real time. But in-game I made some insane trips where I would cross the Caribbean east to west in like two or barely three days. Pre open sea mod I wouldn't have pulled that stunt of with a Gaff Schoner and perfect wind.
Notice that this does not have to be per se a bad thing. Since - for all that I Landlubber know - that might be more accurate. Share some wisdom about that, Pieter!

The Ugly
The following issue, in contrast to the previous one, is one that I am quite certain of. Due to the increased dimensions of the various water areas, many ships often engage in combat looooong before I am there. This is especially a problem during ship hunting missions. When I reach my target ship, they often are either out of ammo or gun powder, since they wasted it all on some neraby coastal traders. And when I reach them - all they can do is run for the hills. This seems especially bizarre when my opponent happens to have a profoundly stronger ship than me, which can often be the case in ship hunting quests. One easy workaround would be to stack target ships up in ammo. So that they are more likely to have something left in the tank, since it can take far longer to find them.

All in all I have really mixed feelings about the open sea mod. It sure enough adds realism and increases the required attention. You have to keep a keen eye on your fleet to not spread out too far, since reaching the next screen can take a while and being attacked while scattered is highly undesirable and could very well cost you a ship. That is all fine and well.

BUT - once you are caught in really sloppy wind and are on the mid of the ocean, things get very tedious. Because for what easily can stretch to 10 minutes plus all you do is compress time and adjust your direction to at least make some headway in the more or less right direction, working with whatever humble breezes the sea gods may mock you. Sure, it's again realistic and normally I am a complete sucker for realism in video games. But if it goes to the degree where realism overshadows the fun in gameplay - that's a problem. I lately felt the urge to go back to worldmap mode. And I certainly NEVER felt that before playing open sea mod. So take that for what it's worth.

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

I happen to have a savegame available, right from the night of opened stores. Uploaded it, in case you want to take a closer look at it.
Time to update to WIP 10.

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

Yikes, them bugs keep coming.

I upgraded to Build Beta 3 Wip 10 (used 8 before). The following occured:

1.) I couldn't choose diffifulty for ANY of the campaigns. All was predetermined and varied from campaign to campaign. Some Apprentice, lots of Journeymen, some Adventurer.
2.) I again started in Iron man Mode - this time around with Johan Elting. Initially Rush and Pre-Reloading were not available. But this time I looked closely and as soon as I climbed to level 3, Rush was added to the very low of the ability list - again with no info text on it. Pre-reloading has yet to show up ... but I am afraid, it will.
3.) I can't hire officers! Be it when approached on the street or actively seeking in the tavern. I get no positive dialog option. Only"You're wrong, goodbye!" (I am Johan Elting and I am several magnitudes too damn badass to need officers .... bitch!)

Jeez, what were these coders and programmers from Akella thinking .... or drinking?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

1. That's really weird. This is the code that prevents them from showing up:

    if(iRealismMode<2 && !REALISTIC_ABILITIES)
    {
        ChrPerksList.list.Rush.descr = "perkRush";
        ChrPerksList.list.Rush.TimeDuration = 30;
    }

The only way that code should be executed is if you switch to Arcade/Realistic Game Mode AND press F11 to Reinitialize.

2. Strange indeed. Not sure where that'd come from.

3. You're right; looks like that island is missing its close_for_night lines. Should be easily fixed. Good catch!

4. You mean companion ships or random ships? Indeed error logs would be welcome.

Auto Skill System:
That mod is deliberately coded to give you FAR more XP at the lower character levels than later on.
This is to simulate that your early actions in the game define who you are later.

And indeed I'm rather miffed on how Luck is handled too. Why is there even a skill for that at all? In the code, it is known as "Sneak" which actually makes more sense to me.
Then it can define how good you are at illegitimate operations, such as pickpocketing and smuggling and the like.
And that is something you CAN learn.

Open Sea Mod:
Only 2-3 days? I just used this site to double-check: http://www.searates.com/reference/portdistance/
Havana to Cartagena would be 9 days at 14 knots and it's not like those sailing ships would manage THAT one.
Could you periodically check your [M]-key Map Interface? Perhaps the new worldmap is making your coordinates jump around.
You are using Beta 3 WIP 10 with the new Worldmap, right? I'm not sure if this issue is related to the Open Sea Mod itself or more to the new Worldmap.

As for those pirates, I wonder if I can set them to never surrender, never flee and to actually SEEK YOU OUT.
Would that help?

If you want to use most of the Iron Man Mode, but not all, open PROGRAM\InternalSettings.h and find this:

// ======================================
// REALISM OPTIONS:
// ======================================
// Included in Realistic Game Mode:
#define REALISTIC_SHIP_INERTIA    0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Ships require counter-rudder and don't sail as if on rails
#define SHORE_DANGER_ALARM        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Red flashing icon and danger music do not start until enemies draw their blade
#define DISCOVER_SAIL_TO        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Shores and ports must be discovered by sailing there manually before you can use Sail To
#define DISCOVER_FAST_TRAVEL    0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Town locations must be discovered by finding them manually before you can use Fast Travel
#define NAVIGATION_EQUIPMENT    0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Items required for certain navigational information to become available
// Included in Iron Man Mode:
#define OPEN_SEA_MOD            0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Worldmap enlarged for realistic DirectSail
#define WORLDMAP_DISABLED        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - DirectSail enforced
#define SAILTO_DISABLED            0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Cannot Sail-To any ships at sea
#define ONSEA_DATA_DISABLED        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Spyglass and compass additional information disabled, cannot move camera to non-player ships
#define REALISTIC_ABILITIES        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Rush, Immediate Reload and Instant Boarding disabled
#define ITEM_REALISM            0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Items like rubies, diamonds and inca statuettes give no skill bonuses (books and items like compass etc. still do)

Set everything to 1 that you do want, then switch to Realistic Game Mode.

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

1. That's really weird. This is the code that prevents them from showing up:

    if(iRealismMode<2 && !REALISTIC_ABILITIES)
    {
        ChrPerksList.list.Rush.descr = "perkRush";
        ChrPerksList.list.Rush.TimeDuration = 30;
    }

The only way that code should be executed is if you switch to Arcade/Realistic Game Mode AND press F11 to Reinitialize.

Maybe (Hopefully) it doesn't cause trouble, as long as the player doesn't activate any of the two skills. The A.I. doesn't use any of the two anyway methinks.

2. Strange indeed. Not sure where that'd come from.

Yeah, but so far it seems to be nothing to lose sleep over.

3. You're right; looks like that island is missing its close_for_night lines. Should be easily fixed. Good catch!

At least one time around my bitching leads to something.

4. You mean companion ships or random ships? Indeed error logs would be welcome.

If my observations don't betray me only random ships. One Error mesage, that I encounterd fairly frequently already in 2.3 always refered to "no boxsize" (whatever that means).

Auto Skill System:
That mod is deliberately coded to give you FAR more XP at the lower character levels than later on.
This is to simulate that your early actions in the game define who you are later.

And indeed I'm rather miffed on how Luck is handled too. Why is there even a skill for that at all? In the code, it is known as "Sneak" which actually makes more sense to me.
Then it can define how good you are at illegitimate operations, such as pickpocketing and smuggling and the like.
And that is something you CAN learn.

Yeah, the skill makes a whole lotta more sense when thought about it as sneak. Couldn't it be renamed ingame? After all you guys were able to even add new abilities.
What about the officers? So was my impression right, but it was only because of the "player advantage" early on? If so, then there is little to no incentive for getting officers early in the game. Not a bad thing but fundamentally different from the old system, where you would start forging your officers asap.

Open Sea Mod:
Only 2-3 days? I just used this site to double-check: http://www.searates.com/reference/portdistance/
Havana to Cartagena would be 9 days at 14 knots and it's not like those sailing ships would manage THAT one.
Could you periodically check your [M]-key Map Interface? Perhaps the new worldmap is making your coordinates jump around.
You are using Beta 3 WIP 10 with the new Worldmap, right? I'm not sure if this issue is related to the Open Sea Mod itself or more to the new Worldmap.

As for those pirates, I wonder if I can set them to never surrender, never flee and to actually SEEK YOU OUT.
Would that help?

If you want to use most of the Iron Man Mode, but not all, open PROGRAM\InternalSettings.h and find this:

// ======================================
// REALISM OPTIONS:
// ======================================
// Included in Realistic Game Mode:
#define REALISTIC_SHIP_INERTIA    0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Ships require counter-rudder and don't sail as if on rails
#define SHORE_DANGER_ALARM        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Red flashing icon and danger music do not start until enemies draw their blade
#define DISCOVER_SAIL_TO        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Shores and ports must be discovered by sailing there manually before you can use Sail To
#define DISCOVER_FAST_TRAVEL    0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Town locations must be discovered by finding them manually before you can use Fast Travel
#define NAVIGATION_EQUIPMENT    0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Items required for certain navigational information to become available
// Included in Iron Man Mode:
#define OPEN_SEA_MOD            0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Worldmap enlarged for realistic DirectSail
#define WORLDMAP_DISABLED        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - DirectSail enforced
#define SAILTO_DISABLED            0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Cannot Sail-To any ships at sea
#define ONSEA_DATA_DISABLED        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Spyglass and compass additional information disabled, cannot move camera to non-player ships
#define REALISTIC_ABILITIES        0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Rush, Immediate Reload and Instant Boarding disabled
#define ITEM_REALISM            0                // BOOL - 1=ON - Items like rubies, diamonds and inca statuettes give no skill bonuses (books and items like compass etc. still do)

Set everything to 1 that you do want, then switch to Realistic Game Mode.

Yeah, I thought that this was a tad too fast.^^ It's ironic that I can be far more efficient as a trader, accomplishing more cargo jobs in a month's time .... but actually I have to sit way longer in front of my PC to do it.^^ Thanks a ton for all these internal settings. Will sure help me a lot to modify the game to my liking.

Was the new world map NOT a result of the open sea mod???? Because the new, bigger worldmap is mostly responsible for both - the praise and critizism - I shared about the Open Sea Mod.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Yeah, the skill makes a whole lotta more sense when thought about it as sneak. Couldn't it be renamed ingame? After all you guys were able to even add new abilities.
What about the officers? So was my impression right, but it was only because of the "player advantage" early on? If so, then there is little to no incentive for getting officers early in the game. Not a bad thing but fundamentally different from the old system, where you would start forging your officers asap.

I'm sure we could rename it, yes. The main challenge though would be to check all instances where it is used so it'll make sense as being "Sneak" and no longer "Luck".

Was the new world map NOT a result of the open sea mod???? Because the new, bigger worldmap is mostly responsible for both - the praise and critizism - I shared about the Open Sea Mod.

All the Open Sea Mod does is to make voyages at sea without using the worldmap take longer than with regular DirectSail.
However, the new Worldmap is still somewhat experimental and seems to cause its fair share of unexpected side-effects, such as weird teleportations from here to there.
Armada changed the island radius values here, which hopefully helps: http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/updating-the-worldmap.20710/page-11#post-455192
I did include that in Beta 3 WIP 10, but only in the second and fixed version that I had to upload because the first one missed out on a file.
If you're not sure you have that fix, get it from the post I linked to and save to PROGRAM\WorldMap .

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

Have you seen my posts previous to your latest one (with the internal settings and all)? Since they slipped between our two walls of text, you may have missed them.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

No, I hadn't! Thanks for mentioning that!

1.) I couldn't choose diffifulty for ANY of the campaigns. All was predetermined and varied from campaign to campaign. Some Apprentice, lots of Journeymen, some Adventurer.

I did that on purpose:

Difficulty choice locked as this is intended more as an indication of the intended difficulty of the story, can still change ingame

Actually, the MAIN reason for that is to lock the Standard storyline in Apprentice for game start so that you won't have Strong Town Guards there.
But other storylines are frequently also coded with an intended difficulty level in mind.

2.) I again started in Iron man Mode - this time around with Johan Elting. Initially Rush and Pre-Reloading were not available. But this time I looked closely and as soon as I climbed to level 3, Rush was added to the very low of the ability list - again with no info text on it. Pre-reloading has yet to show up ... but I am afraid, it will.

They don't even show up at the same time? WA? But all their if-statements are EXACTLY THE SAME!

3.) I can't hire officers! Be it when approached on the street or actively seeking in the tavern. I get no positive dialog option. Only"You're wrong, goodbye!" (I am Johan Elting and I am several magnitudes too damn badass to need officers .... bitch!)

Oops! That would be my mistake. That's supposed to happen ONLY in the Woodes Rogers storyline.
But it looks like I reversed the coding so that it only happens in EVERY OTHER storyline. Oops. Easily fixed though.

Jeez, what were these coders and programmers from Akella thinking .... or drinking?

Hmm, not sure if we can put the blame solely on them. A LOT of people have modded the code over the years. Most of it good, some of it... uhm... not so much.
And I'll admit of having made my fair share of mess-ups as indicated above. That's why we need people like you testing though; so the problems don't slip through!
So thanks a lot for your help!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

3.) I can't hire officers! Be it when approached on the street or actively seeking in the tavern. I get no positive dialog option. Only"You're wrong, goodbye!" (I am Johan Elting and I am several magnitudes too damn badass to need officers .... bitch!)

This should put things right again!
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-progress.20686/page-8#post-455317

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

Thx for that. Weird, I just started a campaign with Mr. Aubrey, cheated his lazy ass up to the humble level of 35 and nothing is to see of Pre-Reloading and Rush.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That's how I tested as well with Assassin. Couldn't make it happen either.

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

BTW - I absoloutely love the new and accurate world map with the Caribbean islands on their authentic positions and even some continental areas. Absoloutely awesome! Especially Latin and South America bring loads of potential for further locations to the table.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Same here! We just have to make it work a little bit better still.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Open Sea Mod:
Only 2-3 days? I just used this site to double-check: http://www.searates.com/reference/portdistance/
Havana to Cartagena would be 9 days at 14 knots and it's not like those sailing ships would manage THAT one.

Hum; I just noticed that site now adds all sorts of transit times.
It would be closer to 7 days at 12 knots, which is what I just did with my RN_Corvette between Martinique and Guadeloupe.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

As much as the actual pacing is improved, as much this mod feels a bit like disbalancing the in-game travel time. I have reached some of my destinations in record time. Sure, it took long enough for me in real time. But in-game I made some insane trips where I would cross the Caribbean east to west in like two or barely three days.

Indeed you're absolutely right. And there are no weird teleportation effects going on either: that is EXACTLY what it does.
I just did Havana to Aruba in 11 hours 15 minutes at an average speed of less than 10 knots in the game. Real life would put that at.... maybe 100!?!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Open Sea Mod fixed: http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-progress.20686/page-9#post-455363
Good luck sailing around the Caribbean in a few hours anymore!

 

[Bathtub-pirate]

Awesome! So what was the problem? Was it a matter of altered relations between speed and time. It would make sense, because as soon as you have strong wind, you benefit far more from it, when it remains constant for a few in-game hours - as far as the "travel efficiency" goes. At least that's my impression.