Improving gameplay for female player characters

[Pieter Boelen]

Odd thing, though - if you kill the warden, you get his key; but the quest case to move you out of the cell, which is supposed to be triggered when you have the key, fails to trigger. If you then press F2 to enter the character interface, the quest case triggers as soon as you exit the interface.

Quest triggers aren't checked continuously.
They're checked at specific points.
"Closing dialogs" and "closing interfaces" are some of those points.

I think the "item checking quest update" was originally written, assuming you'd get that item either through an interface (which you'd close and then it updates) or through a dialog).
I don't believe GiveItem2Character triggers such an update. But it could easily be updated.
You'd need to find where 'GiveItem2Character' is defined; then add, I believe, QuestsCheck(); (or something very similar).

The main quest does acknowledge that you're playing as Danielle instead of Nathaniel, but the rest of the game (free play) has not been modded to do that yet.

I thought a lot of the game should pick up your character's gender by now.
Where is it still missed?

 

[Kara Korsan]

I thought a lot of the game should pick up your character's gender by now.
Where is it still missed?

Aside from pronouns, pretty much everywhere, I'm afraid. Even when your character is female, she's still supposed to court governors' daughters and nieces, play it like Don Juan (or act just plain rapey) inside mansion bedrooms, and then there's stuff such as, "As long as that mast has a place in your harbour, toots."

I'm aware that this is a risky discussion, and I hope I won't be mistaken for a homophobe or something. The only problem here is that the game is a period piece, however long said period may be, and during that period gay courtship was a capital offense. Wouldn't mind the whole thing getting handwaved with the excuse of pirates being rebellious in nature anyways, but then most of the time it's not the player character, it's the NPCs. Like, governors, you know?

Not a dealbreaker by any means, mind you. Just mentioning it in passing.

 

[Grey Roger]

That line "As long as that mast has a place in your harbour, toots" is in "wenched_dialog.h". The only characters I can see who use that dialog file are the occupants of a brothel. What is a respectable female captain, or even an unrespectable female captain, doing in there?

Inside mansion bedrooms, there is also the option to steal the occupant's jewels. (And possibly a different option if you have recently encountered a criminal wanting to leave his gang, somewhere out in the jungle...)

The models for governors' relatives are chosen in function 'FindMRModel', defined in "PROGRAM\Dialog_func.c". After working out where you are, it starts with default models:

   if(rank<3) return "towngirl2";
   modelch[0] = "towngirl2";
   modelch[1] = "towngirl2_1";

After that are a whole load of selections based on your rank. You could encase this whole lot in a condition:

if (PChar.sex == "man")
{
   if(rank<3) return "towngirl2";
   modelch[0] = "towngirl2";
   modelch[1] = "towngirl2_1";
<all the rest of the model selection code>
}

...and then write a whole new set of model selection code for female player characters using male models:

else
{
<new model selection code>
}

If you're willing to do that bit, I'll see about making the duel adapt to the player character's gender.

 

[Kara Korsan]

Tried doing what you said, but the game is refusing to run now. No idea where I messed up.

 

[Grey Roger]

There is probably a file "error.log". Could you please post that?

 

[Kara Korsan]

Sure.

 

[Grey Roger]

Ah, I see. I'm so used to using "PChar" to refer to the player character that sometimes I forget that it needs to be defined. This is one of those times.

Add this right above the 'if (PChar.sex == "man")' line:

ref PChar = GetMainCharacter();

 

[Kara Korsan]

Well, the game is running. Time to create a female character, I guess.

 

[Grey Roger]

For test purposes, edit "PROGRAM\InternalSettings.h". Right at the bottom is "ENABLE_CHEATMODE". Set that to 1. The numeric keypad keys now activate various cheats - I believe 9 is the one for instant promotion. If not, try each one in turn and check your international relations.

Select a FreePlay game. Choose your character - there should be some suitable "Named" ones. Set your nation to be anything other than Britain or Pirate - if you choose Britain then you start at Speightstown which has no governor. Set your player type to be Corsair, which gets you a free Letter of Marque and allows you to be promoted. Start the game, do the preliminaries to get to shore, press numeric keypad 9 a few times, then go and see the governor.

 

[Kara Korsan]

It's a boy!

The girl keeps calling him "m'lady," of course. Fun times.

 

[Grey Roger]

Yes, dialogs and the duel for marriage will need to be next...

 

[Kara Korsan]

I also wish to invite absolutely anyone else here with actual taste to check the male models and switch them out with whatever they deem appropriate. No more than ten minutes was spared for their selection, so they're little better than placeholders.

 

[Grey Roger]

Moving to a new thread in "Build Beta and Brainstorming" as this is no longer restricted to the "Ardent" storyline and will benefit wider gameplay...

I've done a bit more work on this. A male character being introduced to a governor's niece still gets the usual dialogs:


A female character sees more appropriate dialogs:


The whole system for governors' relatives is a mess! It seems to have been written by a committee, everyone had their own way of doing it, and they were all implemented together. The governor's dialog is run by function 'GenerateMR' in "MAXIMUS_Functions.c", which does not in fact generate the MR - that is done in function 'SetupMR' in "Dialog_func.c"; the actual text is in "RESOURCE\INI\TEXTS\ENGLISH\common.ini", translated from keywords such as "MR_1". The lines for chatting up or proposing marriage to the relative are in "PROGRAM\DIALOGS\Conversation.c", while what you actually see on screen is in "RESOURCE\INI\TEXTS\ENGLISH\interface_strings.txt". The rest of what you can say to the relative, as well as dialog for the duel before marriage, are in "PROGRAM\DIALOGS\ENGLISH\Gov MR_dialog.h". So I've got as far as the governor presenting his relative and you introducing yourself. Next phase: new lines for flirting and proposing marriage.

@Kara Korsan: your next mission, should you choose to accept it, is to invent alternatives for the following:

My dear, I'm totally enchanted!  May I spend a few moments of your precious time?
You take the wind right out of my sails!  Would you do me the pleasure of some conversation?
I am delighted to have the opportunity to be here with you.  Might you indulge a lonely sailor?
You are as radiant as a summer's sunset out at sea!  May I become better acquainted with you?
This lowly seaman is at a loss for words.  Speak, I pray, that I might know you better!
I would be honoured and delighted to share a few moments of time with you, dear lady!
I must leave with the tide, dear one...  But until then, might we share some companionable moments?
The sea calls, and I must build a future.  Until the next tide, would you indulge a weary sailor?
My dear, I'm just a master and commander.  Tell me about yourself, everything, I'd love to know!
There are many wondrous things at sea, from mighty ships to flying fish. But none so lovely as your smile!
I hesitate to be so bold, but I am lost without you.  Would you complete me by consenting to be my bride?
I used to think that I was happy at sea, but I would be much happier knowing that you waited at my home port.  Would you be my wife?
I...  I'm at a loss for words... Ha'hmmm...  I have this ring here, you see, and I...  Would you marry me?
Dear lady, I have trod decks riddled with shot without the depth of fear I feel now.  Please ease my soul and tell me that you'll marry me!

Some of them do not need to be changed. The first few work well enough for either a niece/daughter or a nephew/son, unless you want to create new lines in keeping with the general idea of a different experience for female player characters. Anything referring to "lady", "bride" or "wife" obviously needs to change, and some of the compliments could perhaps change.

I also wish to invite absolutely anyone else here with actual taste to check the male models and switch them out with whatever they deem appropriate. No more than ten minutes was spared for their selection, so they're little better than placeholders.

Yes, I did notice that some of them are perhaps not appropriate. Not as a matter of taste, but as a matter of gameplay.

"Blaze" is Nathaniel Hawk - it's going to look a bit odd if you're playing "Tales of a Sea Hawk" as Danielle, the actual Nathaniel has joined you, then a governor presents his clone for you to marry! "Blaze_NB" isn't so bad; though based on the original "Blaze", he's lost his beard so he looks different, and he's not one of the "Blaze" variants which may be randomly used by Nathaniel in Danielle's game.

"Lucas" and "Lucas2" are Lucas da Saldanha from the "Missing Son of Spanish Admiral" sidequest. "Lucas" is the original model with armour and helmet. It was felt that this Conquistador-style armour was not suited to later periods, so from "Colonial Powers" onwards, he uses "Lucas2" instead. "Maltese" is Jaoquin de Masse from the "Strange Things Going On in the Caribbean" sidequest. (Mind you, "50_Rachel" is used for Elizabeth Shaw in the "Elizabeth Shaw's Disappearance" sidequest and I included her as a female option, mainly because someone had played the quest and wanted to marry either the actual Elizabeth Shaw or someone who looked like her. Maybe reduce the probability of them appearing so that you won't normally see them but you might get lucky.)

"ShkiperM_UH_a" is one of the models created by @Jack Rackham for his "Woodes Rogers" story, while "hub_por2" is my creation for the "Ardent" story.

Other "hub" and "huber" types are likely to be used by governors. It's going to look odd if the governor introduces a clone of himself. It's going to look even odder if his son looks older than him!

The reason a few female models are conditional on being Spanish or Portuguese is that "towngirl1" and "liz1" have fair hair and blue or grey eyes. Long ago I created "towngirl1_2" with dark hair and dark eyes as a replacement for "towngirl1" for a couple of permanent residents in San Juan and Sao Jorge, and "towngirl1_3" is a Spanish "towngirl1" variant imported from GoF. So Spanish and Portuguese characters may meet dark-haired, dark-eyed "towngirl1_2", "towngirl1_3" or "liz2", while others may meet fair-haired "towngirl1" or "liz1". Unless there are similar male models which are more appropriate for some nations, the male selection can probably be simplified by removing those conditions.

It would be normal for governors' daughters and nieces to sit at home doing things like embroidery, music or painting, while waiting to marry some presentable captain. Sons and nephews would more likely have careers of their own, especially in the military. So I've replaced "blaze" as a low-level default with "Nations[iNation].fantomModel.m1". This will automatically assign a soldier of the correct nation and period.

Attached is "Gov MR.zip", which is what I have so far. Extract it and copy it into place the same way as you would the "Extra Fix Archive".

Edit: "Gov MR.zip" updated 18/9/20

 

[Jack Rackham]

"ShkiperM_UH_a" is one of the models created by @Jack Rackham for his "Woodes Rogers" story

Yes, and that's max of how pimped Howard Pyle's outfit will be. So it would be nice if it stays in WR storyline only.

 

[Kara Korsan]

Wow, a lot of progress.

I humbly tried to alter the lines so they'd be better suited for a female character. First time I've ever tried anything like this, so be gentle, please.

I would very much like to spend a few moments with the gentleman's company, if he is willing.
My lord, I must admit, you do not fail to impress. Would you care to join me for some conversation?
I am delighted to have the opportunity to be here with you. Might you indulge a lonely sailor?
You are more thrilling than the fiercest storm of the seven seas!  May I become better acquainted with you?
I am enchanted by your grace and eloquence. Speak, I pray, that I might know you better!
I would be honoured and delighted to share a few moments of time with you, my lord.
I must leave with the tide, dear one...  But until then, might we share some companionable moments?
The sea calls, and I must build a future.  Until the next tide, would you indulge a weary sailor?
My dear, I have mastered the waves and commanded the winds, but you are the one puzzle I cannot solve! Tell me more!
There are many wondrous things at sea, from mighty ships to flying fish. But none so lovely as your smile!
I hesitate to be so bold, but I am lost without you.  Would you complete me by taking my hand as your bride?
I used to think that nothing could make me happier than the seas, but you proved otherwise, my lord. Would you be my husband?
I...  I do not know how to ask you this, but... Words elude me, I...  Would you...marry me?
My lord, I have trod decks riddled with shot without the depth of fear I feel now.  Please ease my soul and tell me that you'll marry me!

Oh, well.

Yes, and that's max of how pimped Howard Pyle's outfit will be. So it would be nice if it stays in WR storyline only.

I wasn't kidding when I called them placeholders. As a player who hardly ever visits tailors, I don't know much about the models in the game. A lot of swapping out will have to be done before calling this a job well done, I suppose.

 

[Grey Roger]

Wow, a lot of progress.

I humbly tried to alter the lines so they'd be better suited for a female character. First time I've ever tried anything like this, so be gentle, please.
...
Oh, well.

I'll rearrange the order of the lines, both the originals and yours, so that the lines which are common to male and female player characters are separated out. That makes it easier to put all the different lines into single blocks conditional on player character gender. Other than that, thanks, they're going in!

I wasn't kidding when I called them placeholders. As a player who hardly ever visits tailors, I don't know much about the models in the game. A lot of swapping out will have to be done before calling this a job well done, I suppose.

Yes, at this stage we're just setting up the mechanism. Final choice of models (and final choice of dialog lines, if you decide that any need to be improved) can be made later.

 

[Kara Korsan]

Other than that, thanks, they're going in!

Cool! My pinch of salt in the proverbial soup.

I just realized I've completely, and conveniently, skipped over the brothel bit in an earlier post. Why would a female character ever visit a place like that, indeed? I was, eh, gambling? You see, the one in Nevis pirate town has the tavern layout and...uh...

 

[Grey Roger]

On the other hand, @smrtwhkd commented that female characters should not have the option to sleep with tavern girls. That is now fixed - the zip file in post #13 has been updated, so if you've already downloaded it, download it again. Due to the way the dialog is structured, something had to replace the part for snogging the barmaid, so now female characters get an extra chance at the "don't start a drunken spree here" line for no reason other than it's the funniest.

Also in this version:
New lines from @Kara Korsan are in the dialog.


I also played with the marriage procedure. If you're famous enough, either by doing lots of brave things on behalf of the governor's nation (normal way) or by zapping up your fame in "console.c" (my way), the relative accepts your proposal but you have to duel a rival. Male characters have to duel a random soldier. Female characters now duel a random rich female opponent.

There are now different ship's log lines for marriage, both for female and male relatives. The original has two mistakes, both on the same word:

On this wonderful day I married my beautiful wife, <insert wife's name>, daugther of <insert governor's name>...

Someone can't spell "daughter". In any case, she might be a niece. The relative has an attribute "relationtype" which shows relationship to the governor, so the new lines both use it. The line for a male relative duplicates the one for a female relative, with appropriate replacements:


So now it just remains to finalise the choice of models. To help with that, I've simplified the code in "Dialog_func.c" - in fact, it's now fairly close to how the choice of female models looked before I recently expanded it. So you don't need to find as many models, though if you want to switch by nation or period, it can easily be arranged the same way I switched some female models by nation.

@Pieter Boelen: can you remember if "Animation View" needs to be installed or if "aniview.exe" can just be run straight from wherever it's located? The file repository is still empty, I don't have the original zip, and if there's an installer then I can't find it. But if it can just be downloaded, unzipped into a folder and run, then I can zip up my "Animation View" folder and put it on the FTP site. It will help a lot in choosing suitable suitors for female characters.

 

[Kara Korsan]

Never realized there's a log entry regarding marriage! The ending is hilarious.

I was going to propose reconsidering the word "suitor," but seeing as the ladies are the ones doing all the bidding and advances in this triangle, I guess it remains the best choice.

 

[Grey Roger]

I've done a bit more tweaking to the choice of models in "Dialog_func.c". The default at rank less than 3 and one possibility at ranks 3 or higher is "Blaze_NB" - clean-shaven, in a basic short vest, this could be a wayward lad whom the governor wants to dump on any passing captain in the hope that said captain will instil some discipline into him. The next few possibilities are in the relevant soldier uniform for the nation and period, e.g. "Nations[iNation].fantomModel.m1" - the son or nephew is in the army, as would be expected. Maybe he's on leave, or maybe the governor secured him a nice easy position in the local garrison where he can easily visit his family. From rank 7 onwards, you might meet one of the "9Jd" variants. These are the ones described as "I remember Jack Sparrow as a polished Officer of the <nation> Navy." A switch based on nation assigns the correct version depending on where you are. The quest-specific models are out - both the storyline-specific versions plus Lucas da Saldanha and Jaoquin de Masse.

The rest I've left alone. If @Kara Korsan (or anyone else, for that matter) has any suggestions for suitable husband models, they can easily be incorporated. Or if you think that one of the existing options is inappropriate, it can be removed.

Apart from that, I reckon this is ready to go.