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    Maelstrom New Horizons


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Mods and Game Difficulty

This is the current list of presentation blades as suggested by Ron Losey's item description changes:<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><i><b>England</b></i>
blade24 {English Officer's Saber} - major command
blade22 {Corsair's Pride} - knighted

<i><b>Holland</b></i>
blade23 {Dutch Admiralty Sword} - captain
blade26 {Solingen Rapier} - nobility

<i><b>France</b></i>
blade9 {French Admiralty Rapier} - presentation from the French Crown
blade25 {French Nobility Sword} - knighted

<i><b>Spain</b></i>
blade33 {Moorish Saber} - gift from the Spanish Crown
blade14 {Spanish Nobility Longsword} - nobility

<i><b>Portugal</b></i>
blade29 {Portugese Officer's Sword} - high-ranking naval officers
blade32 {Damascus Shamshir} - gift from the Portuguese Crown

<i><b>Pirate</b></i>
blade34 {Dragon's Head}<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Question: On which ranks should the blades be awarded? And how would you get the pirate blade?

<!--quoteo(post=229825:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM:name=a simple virtual sailor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a simple virtual sailor @ Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM) [snapback]229825[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->- minor change on the quality of swords, so that it'd really be quality (so 'poor' in stead of worn, etc). That allows a lot of variability from one blade to another<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->That'd just be a matter of renaming the quality. I already did that with Badly worn > Broken, so that's easy.

<!--quoteo(post=229825:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM:name=a simple virtual sailor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a simple virtual sailor @ Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM) [snapback]229825[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->- change to the sword-break mod so that blade of any quality can break (depending on what sword it is, and how poorly it was made, etc.)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->This could potentially make this mod as annoying as certain people fear it is though. In any case: If we keep the bladedamage mod, perhaps the heavier blades should break less quickly than the very fragile ones.

<!--quoteo(post=229825:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM:name=a simple virtual sailor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a simple virtual sailor @ Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM) [snapback]229825[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->- change to blacksmiths ; they should now only be able to repear broken swords and actually make new ones. A kind of specialisation could be good (one's better in doing rapier, another saber, etc) but it shouldn't be tiresome (like damn I want a rapier and the only one that's making good one lives in FdF and I have -160 with the French)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->If they repair only broken blades, to which quality do they repair them? Perhaps the quality to which they repair them depends on the blade they're best at. FdF blacksmith repairs rapiers up to excellent, but sabers up to average and Redmond the other way around, for example. Problem: If you repair your saber at FdF, you get an average one. When you bring the average one to the Redmond blacksmith, he can't increase the quality until you have it break again.
What I would definitly like is a box-life interface for the blacksmiths, so you can do batch repairs. Much quicker than the REALLY annoying dialog-based repairs we have now. Wouldn't be very easy to code in though. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />
How would the making of a blade work by a blacksmith work?

<!--quoteo(post=229825:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM:name=a simple virtual sailor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a simple virtual sailor @ Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM) [snapback]229825[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->- time era applying for weapons as well, not only for ships.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->That won't be easy. For ships the code was pretty much already in place, but not for weapons. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

<!--quoteo(post=229825:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM:name=a simple virtual sailor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a simple virtual sailor @ Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM) [snapback]229825[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->- I'm against that idea of preventing the player to use a sword if he doesn't have a correct fencing skill. It would be more revelant to change the way damages are increased depending on your fencing skill, in order to add which type of weapon you are using. So that some blades are doing aproximativly the same damages whatever fencing skill you have (cutlass), and other start from very low and highly increase with your fencing skill (rapier) -that was Captain Fitzpatrick idea. It'll be good if the menu would tell you the actual min/maw damages you'll do with that sword takling into account your fencing skill.
- You're talking about changing the character fighting speed depending on what kind of weapon he's using. That need to be done. For now it's clearly related to fencing skill, we have to find where it is coded.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->That's an interesting idea! Should be possible. So some weapons are just as effective no matter your fencing skill and some weapons become more effective with improved fencing skill.

<!--quoteo(post=229825:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM:name=a simple virtual sailor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a simple virtual sailor @ Jan 1 2008, 03:45 PM) [snapback]229825[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Now about the Windmill Slayer... It's name and the description of that sword really made it clear that it was supposed to be the sword of the most famous Don Quijote de la Mancha, even if in Cervantes mind it was supposed to use just an old rapier and we don't quite see why his sword would end up in the Caribbean. But why not, who cares...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Perhaps we can rename one of the Spanish presentation blades back into Windmill Slayer and change it back into Don Quijote again? I think it's a little funny aside. I like little funny asides. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=229826:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM) [snapback]229826[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The updated list is pretty much in the text file. Most of the presentation blades are renamed to obviously suggest they are a presentation blade and from whom. The others have a line like "A gift from (x)" in the description. I could re-copy it here, but you can likely read it from the file just as easily.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Done. See above.

<!--quoteo(post=229826:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM) [snapback]229826[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The joke credits will be fine ... I wasn't looking for credit, specifically. I just saw an opportunity to interject on his hit list: " Also some college professor named Losey who apparently once gave him a bad grade." (I am actually better known for giving bad grades than I am for computer programming.)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->You'll be needing an official Build 14 development credit now though, as do many others. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

<!--quoteo(post=229826:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM) [snapback]229826[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I also cleaned up some descriptions on the guns, fixed some grammar mistakes, and other such niceties in various places ... which I did not document, so do use the entire text file.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Using WinMerge, I have been able to spot all of your changes. I put most of them into my game now, though I kept some of the original weird remarks that were in there, such as the one-eyed one-armed gunsmith and the reference to Cortés.

<!--quoteo(post=229826:date=Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Jan 1 2008, 03:46 PM) [snapback]229826[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->However, as soon as this is done, we can start on the REAL fun ... which is cleaning up the ship combat. That's going to take some code. I can fabricate the formulas, but the code itself is beyond me. I'm trying to come up with formulas for exactly what we need, but it's not going to be easy.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I am not at all familiar with that code, so I won't be of as much help there. We'd need to attract some coding help from elsewhere for that, I think. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />
 
i still don't understand the range issue. for as far as i've seen, the range is just fine most of the time. but i guess that's just because i press space at the right time when looking for a battle on the worldmap. there is a minimum range at which you automatically engage, and this is indeed too short. pressing space anywhere earlier than that turns out just fine. the minimum range should just be increased, i guess.

differenced in speed, in my experience, are pretty important with the current system. however, the AI doesn't use it's advantage in speed to it's full potential, and that could be improved. for instance, they give you the time to close in on them in certain instances. what they should actually do is maintain their advantage. if you have ever used realistic sailing mode, you'll see that your vessel's sailing characteristics are very important. however, it's too easy to lure to enemy into the trap of sailing against the wind. they should be aware of the actual wind direction and also use your ship's bad sailing traits to their advantage. for instance, if the enemy uses a schooner, and you're in a manowar, the enemy should escape upwind, where you can't follow him. it sometimes happens now, but only purely by coincidence.
 
I cut some of the strange remarks because the items were not unique. I'm all for adding unique items with comical quirks in the description, but not for one of the most common items in the game. It just looks funny.

Although I did like that line. We should have a custom pistol somewhere that uses that comment. The line about Cortez also seemed odd for a non-unique item, unless Cortez owned more swords than Portugal. Also, one for Don Quixote's rapier would also be funny, but just copy the common rapier and add it as a unique "Windmill Slayer" ... don't use a standard-looking presentation blade for it. Not until somebody wants to make a bunch more models.

Let's go with "Fix problems first, add content later." Just remember your favorite lines, so we'll be sure to add them back in, along with any new jokes that we can write between now ant then. But first, the game. Comedy relief later. too confusing otherwise.

The ship code changes shouldn't be that hard, for anybody who is a programmer at all. I think Hook got the hard parts back in Build 13.
 
In that case I am no programmer at all. Which I would agree with. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

For now I kept the funny remarks in my own game so they won't be forgotten. We'll see what we end up doing for Build 14. Perhaps by that time we have some new unique items that can use these comments instead.

As for the Windmill Slayer: It should then be a unique item, possibly gotten through a quest then.
 
<!--quoteo(post=229843:date=Jan 1 2008, 11:29 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pieter Boelen @ Jan 1 2008, 11:29 PM) [snapback]229843[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->In that case I am no programmer at all. Which I would agree with. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Sorry, I'm used to working with the mod team over on "Mount and Blade", and some of those guys are among the best in the world. I can drop an idea like that, no matter how impossible, and somebody can code it.

But wait until I describe what we need before you get so sure you can't do it.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->For now I kept the funny remarks in my own game so they won't be forgotten. We'll see what we end up doing for Build 14. Perhaps by that time we have some new unique items that can use these comments instead.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

There are enough backup copies around, we won't forget.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->As for the Windmill Slayer: It should then be a unique item, possibly gotten through a quest then.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Obviously. Make it +5 to luck, minus 2 to both melee and leadership. (That about covers Don Quixote.)
 
could be interesting to implement penalties too. some items already have things like that, although i've never actually found out which items these are and what they do.
 
<!--quoteo(post=229834:date=Jan 1 2008, 04:09 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pieter Boelen @ Jan 1 2008, 04:09 PM) [snapback]229834[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Question: On which ranks should the blades be awarded? And how would you get the pirate blade?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->As soon as I get this one answered, I can do some work on this. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whistling.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wp" border="0" alt="whistling.gif" />
 
i've been with the pirates once, and hoisting the jolly roger in battle jacked my relation up to 0 with them, but after i was officially a pirate, i couldn't get my relation with them higher than 0 by sinking their enemies. at least, i think not.
 
<b><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->To Ron:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></b>

I have found a WHOLE bunch of weapons from an AOP mod. It contained lots of medieval weapons and fantasy weapons, but also some good models. It contains 3-4 decorative axes, a whole bunch of daggers and some long cavalry sabers.

It is on the POTC FTP in Thomas the Terror files: more Weapons
 
<!--quoteo(post=229933:date=Jan 2 2008, 02:24 AM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pieter Boelen @ Jan 2 2008, 02:24 AM) [snapback]229933[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=229834:date=Jan 1 2008, 04:09 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pieter Boelen @ Jan 1 2008, 04:09 PM) [snapback]229834[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Question: On which ranks should the blades be awarded? And how would you get the pirate blade?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->As soon as I get this one answered, I can do some work on this. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whistling.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wp" border="0" alt="whistling.gif" />
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


How the devil should we know? Throw something together. If one seems like it's too early or late, we'll change it later. Just make them different from country to country.

As for the pirate blade, there needs to be some quest or objective built around it. Say, if you commit acts of piracy until your relations with the pirates are up to zero, you can visit the pirate lord on QC and get the blade and the equivalent of the LM from the pirates. (They say that you are admitted into the brotherhood of corsairs or something.)


Thomas the Terror:
Got a link on those? We'll add them eventually. Although, for the moment, let's balance what we have. I'll look through them meanwhile, and see what we can use.

Medieval weapons are not all bad either. A lot of that stuff was still in use.

Edit: Also ... Do we actually have permission from their makers to use them?
 
uhm permission. Not sure about that, but it is from a unoffficial russian mod. Not a gaming company. I always think, if you release a mod, it is certain other people will use it.

Some of those medieval weapons are more fantasy than real.
 
<!--quoteo(post=230394:date=Jan 2 2008, 05:01 PM:name=Thomas the Terror)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Thomas the Terror @ Jan 2 2008, 05:01 PM) [snapback]230394[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->uhm permission. Not sure about that, but it is from a unoffficial russian mod. Not a gaming company. I always think, if you release a mod, it is certain other people will use it.

Some of those medieval weapons are more fantasy than real.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Just because it is non-commercial, it is still considered extremely bad manners to use someone's work without their permission.

We can get away with using bits of other Akella productions (i.e. stuff from AoP) because we are using it on one of their games anyway. Sometimes you can get away with using commercial stuff on free mods just because the company in question doesn't want to expend man-hours of their corporate lawyers to run stuff like that down, especially if the credit given actually serves to provide them free publicity. However, using other independent modder's work without permission is a good way to offend people in modding communities. Usually if asked, those people will agree provided appropriate credit is given, and sometimes their mod releases state this in the documentation.

And of course, we wouldn't want to offend anyone. When people get offended, it gets blood all over the place... and blood is really hard to wash out of clothing. (At least that's what happens when people get offended in the places where I hang around ... if you came from one of those sheltered environments where things didn't go that way, you might as well get used to it.) In many parts of the world, bad manners will get you shot.
 
Nope, we don't want to offend anyone. Unfortunately sometimes it's hard to contact those Russian modders and/or find out who actually made the stuff we found. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />
 
well, they sometimes just take our stuff as well. and i've never really heard any complaints from them either, actually. i usually just see it as exchanging modding work.
 
exactly, they used some build material (like kazeites Pearl, our main attraction <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />) and we had NEVER complaints. and if I saw a screenshot of the same makers of these swords, they took Vanderdecken's Vanderdecken model (whole mouth full). So don't worry. And a forum can't go all bloody <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />)
 
actually, i think the main reason why we never heard any complaints is because they can't speak english. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=230449:date=Jan 2 2008, 09:55 PM:name=Morgan Terror)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Morgan Terror @ Jan 2 2008, 09:55 PM) [snapback]230449[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->actually, i think the main reason why we never heard any complaints is because they can't speak english. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

And/or didn't even know that this project existed until just a little bit ago.
 
i don't know about that. as thomas and i said, they've used content from our mods too, so they knew that it was around, and that was already quite some time ago. they really did know we where here, as some of use have had contact with them for a long time. i'm not sure, but i think we have some members over here like maximus (which aren't online recently though) who regularily visit those forums and CAN speak russian. they would have told us if they russians didn't like us suing their content.
 
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