Discussion New Horizons Promotion

[Pieter Boelen]

Originally Hornblower did not end "with Hornblower landlocked without a command". He was rank Commander and had the Hotspur.

Even in Beta 3.4? I thought we added that Hotspur command somewhere during Beta 3.5 WIP development, didn't we?

You may want to rename the picture "hornblower_voltigeurs2". The name is a bit of a spoiler for the question "But wait... Why are Hornblower, Sharpe and Harper fighting against British soldiers?"

I have to upload the screenshots somewhere else, so I should be able to rename it then too.

About the only treasure Ardent is going to find is whatever he loots from the bodies of the Indians around Hispaniola temple. I don't have any plans for a hunt for buried treasure as there's plenty of opportunity to do that through the normal treasure hunt side quests. At the moment the high points of the storyline are the kidnap and the payroll ship. Kidnap - two possible ways in, two possible ways out, and what are you going to do with the abductee afterwards? Payroll ship - a blatant act of piracy right under the nose of a fort!

Thanks for correcting me. How is this instead?

From an exciting few opening scenes, to deals with the Indians of Isla Mona and a visit to a Temple on Hispaniola too.
At the moment one of the high points of the storyline is a kidnapping with two possible ways in and two possible ways out. And what are you going to do with the abductee afterwards?
There will also be a blatant act of piracy involving a payroll ship; right under the nose of a fort!
There is plenty to enjoy in this storyline, with more to come later.

You're also welcome to rewrite that yourself so that it actually says what you want it to say.

 

[Grey Roger]

Even in Beta 3.4? I thought we added that Hotspur command somewhere during Beta 3.5 WIP development, didn't we?

Hornblower gets Hotspur and his promotion back up to Commander before going on the Guadeloupe missions. The switch to Atropos at the end was added more recently. Initially it just happened without any warning - you went into Mrs. Mason's house single and in command of Hotspur, and came out married and in command of Atropos, making it look as if Mrs. Mason had given you a new ship as a wedding present. So I knocked up a quick, simple ending which had you report to Bridgetown Naval HQ where Admiral Pellew would formally give you Atropos along with orders to switch to free-play. And then I expanded a bit further...

Thanks for correcting me. How is this instead?

From an exciting few opening scenes, to deals with the Indians of Isla Mona and a visit to a Temple on Hispaniola too.
At the moment one of the high points of the storyline is a kidnapping with two possible ways in and two possible ways out. And what are you going to do with the abductee afterwards?
There will also be a blatant act of piracy involving a payroll ship; right under the nose of a fort!
There is plenty to enjoy in this storyline, with more to come later.

You're also welcome to rewrite that yourself so that it actually says what you want it to say.

Perhaps too many spoilers. How about:

From an exciting few opening scenes, to deals with the Indians of Isla Mona and a blatant act of piracy involving a payroll ship, right under the nose of a fort!
There's also the possibility of a kidnap - how you carry it out is up to you, and what will you do with the abductee afterwards?
There is plenty to enjoy in this storyline, with more to come later.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The switch to Atropos at the end was added more recently. Initially it just happened without any warning - you went into Mrs. Mason's house single and in command of Hotspur, and came out married and in command of Atropos, making it look as if Mrs. Mason had given you a new ship as a wedding present. So I knocked up a quick, simple ending which had you report to Bridgetown Naval HQ where Admiral Pellew would formally give you Atropos along with orders to switch to free-play. And then I expanded a bit further...

That I do remember. I added the straight "switch to free play" at the ending, which seemed totally wrong in the story.
So then you took care of a LOT of the polishing there.

Do you reckon you could do a slight rewrite of my Hornblower text as well?
At the moment I'm having a hard time thining of what to change it to, but indeed it could do with some further updating.

Perhaps too many spoilers. How about:

From an exciting few opening scenes, to deals with the Indians of Isla Mona and a blatant act of piracy involving a payroll ship, right under the nose of a fort!
There's also the possibility of a kidnap - how you carry it out is up to you, and what will you do with the abductee afterwards?
There is plenty to enjoy in this storyline, with more to come later.

Works for me! Shorter too. Updated now.

 

[Grey Roger]

Do you reckon you could do a slight rewrite of my Hornblower text as well?
At the moment I'm having a hard time thining of what to change it to, but indeed it could do with some further updating.

Change:
And while the original version ended with Hornblower landlocked without a command,
now that situation lasts only long enough for our heroic main character to make probably the most difficult choice of his life.

to:
And while the original version ended with Hornblower's proposal of marriage being accepted, now our heroic main character has his day in church.

And change:
Once the knot has been tied, Hornblower is promoted and given command of a brand new ship.

to:
Once the knot has been tied, Hornblower is given command of a brand new ship.

because he's not promoted. (He does receive a LoM so that he can earn future promotions the normal way, but that's a game mechanism and not something for a publicity article.)

The bit about the updated French fleet could perhaps go out into the main section as it does not just affect Hornblower (though admittedly it started because I wanted a distinctive French Napoleonic period 6th rate frigate for Hornblower to fight and there wasn't one). Any game in the "Revolutions" or "Napoleonic" periods will feature the new ships and any game in "Napoleonic" will show the tricolour on warships as well as merchants. That's "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" for you, particularly "Equality".

Other than that, I already looked through the "Hornblower" bit, and it seemed fine.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Change:
And while the original version ended with Hornblower landlocked without a command,
now that situation lasts only long enough for our heroic main character to make probably the most difficult choice of his life.

to:
And while the original version ended with Hornblower's proposal of marriage being accepted, now our heroic main character has his day in church.

And change:
Once the knot has been tied, Hornblower is promoted and given command of a brand new ship.

to:
Once the knot has been tied, Hornblower is given command of a brand new ship.

because he's not promoted.

Thanks! Updated accordingly.

He does receive a LoM so that he can earn future promotions the normal way, but that's a game mechanism and not something for a publicity article.

Indeed players are not intended to actually notice that happening.

The bit about the updated French fleet could perhaps go out into the main section as it does not just affect Hornblower (though admittedly it started because I wanted a distinctive French Napoleonic period 6th rate frigate for Hornblower to fight and there wasn't one). Any game in the "Revolutions" or "Napoleonic" periods will feature the new ships and any game in "Napoleonic" will show the tricolour on warships as well as merchants. That's "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" for you, particularly "Equality".

Indeed it is pretty likely I'll move that section as you suggest. I'll need to think what else to say about "Periods" though.
Definitely something regarding your Early Explorers updates as well. Anything else that springs to mind?

Other than that, I already looked through the "Hornblower" bit, and it seemed fine.

Cheers.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Grey Roger: If you happen to have more to say about your own work, don't hesitate to make a post here detailing the specifics.
As you know, I quite happily use the contents for the article I'm writing.

 

[Grey Roger]

Indeed it is pretty likely I'll move that section as you suggest. I'll need to think what else to say about "Periods" though.
Definitely something regarding your Early Explorers updates as well. Anything else that springs to mind?

The most visible thing I did in "Early Explorers" is already on display, at 1:16 in the video. Beyond that, just some tweaking of side quests.

 

[Jack Rackham]

Test if this Sao Feng works or if he got too bright.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Test if this Sao Feng works or if he got too bright.

Only a bit pixelated perhaps. With the brightness, at least you can now SEE him.

 

[Jack Rackham]

Here are some things I have added if you want to use them in your article Pieter.

Weapons: more muskets, pistols, the bow, the whip and rockets.
Weapon functions: muskets on back, flaming/poisoned arrows, bayonets.
Character models for other quests.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I'll definitely fit as much of that as possible in there.
Except probably the whip, because it is unavailable anywhere in the game.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Never before in the history of the Build Mod have I been this slow with writing the release article.
I simply don't feel like doing it and it just feels like a massive chore.
And as I said elsewhere today, I no longer intend to do stuff that needs doing unless I actually feel like it.
In other words: Everything will probably be dead slow from my side for the foreseeable future.

A start for the article has already been made here: Notice - Build 14 Beta 4 Release Article (WIP) | PiratesAhoy!
"Build Info.txt" in the main game folder contains plenty of details about all the new stuff as well.
And the Wiki does too: New Horizons | PiratesAhoy!
So plenty of details available. And I am of course around to answer any questions.

Anyone who can write could do this. It does not actually have to be me.
And if it isn't necessary for it to be me, I vastly prefer for it to NOT be me.
So once more, here is an opportunity for community members to help out!

 

[Robert Nutter]

I got back to the modpack thread with more details, but I'd be quite happy to take the reigns on this one provided I know roughly what it is I need to write about

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Basically I still need some article sections about the main parts mentioned in Build Info.txt .
For example time periods/ship models, the new play styles, nation relations, Leveling, etc.

 

[Robert Nutter]

Will get on that now, so just new features/additions which will attract and excite players, and not so much finer points like being able to continue main quest after declining Davy Jones's offer for example. Shall I post the sections up here for feedback as I go, like you were doing?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Will get on that now, so just new features/additions which will attract and excite players, and not so much finer points like being able to continue main quest after declining Davy Jones's offer for example.

Indeed just the big changes. For the smaller stuff, we can always say "for more details, see Build Info.txt".

Shall I post the sections up here for feedback as I go, like you were doing?

Please do!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Robert Nutter: If you write something about the new Play Styles, please refer to this text instead of that in Build Info.txt:

  . Distinguished between Player Types by Grey Roger, Levis and Pieter Boelen
  > Current Player Type is indicated by your captain type in the bottom of the Character Interface
  > Commissioned Player Type:
  - Triggered by choosing "Naval Officer" at game start
  - Gain appropriate ships, officers and uniforms as you are promoted
  - Only gain land after rank 6 (Commodore)
  - Can only give Captured Towns to your Served Nation
  - Free Crew Hire in towns of your Served Nation
  - Cannot Swap Ships until rank 7 (Commodore)
  - Cannot Buy ships and cannot Sell player ship
  - Cannot Sign Articles
  - Receive 20% prize money on sale of legally captured ships
  > Improved Privateer Gameplay by Pieter Boelen:
  - Triggered by buying a Letter of Marque
  - Different promotion titles
  - Receive 50% prize money on sale of legally captured ships
  > Improved Merchant Gameplay by Pieter Boelen:
  - Triggered by carrying a "Merchant License" (choosing "Merchant" at game start gives you one)
  - Possible to buy a "Merchant License" from the WIC office on Curacao and the EITC office on Jamaica
  - Selling cargo skips skill effects
  - Carrying a "Merchant License" prevents your crew from becoming envious of the amount of money you have
  - You lose your "Merchant License" through any unrespectable act (the first time provides a warning only)
  > Improved Pirate Gameplay by Pieter Boelen:
  - Can join the pirates if you have no LoM and are not hostile to them
  - Pirates sell their design ships if you have no LoM OR you are not hostile to them
  - Can gain ranks with pirates after joining them
  - Improved Nevis blacksmith functionality after joining them
  - No land given upon promotion
  - Distinguished promotion ranks from fame level
  - Receive 90% of the value of any pirated ships after joining them

I just noticed the information in there was a bit outdated.

It is probably worth writing something good about this soon, because there have been a fair few questions related to this on the forum lately.
About the new Nation Relations too, for that matter.

 

[Robert Nutter]

Will try and get at least a draft of this on here by tomorrow!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The Article thread is locked, so I'll post here. Will add pics soon once I've done nation relations. also let me know if this isn't enough or anything needs changing/adding. I'm just trying to keep it reasonably short!

Thanks a lot!

Indeed the Article thread is locked on purpose, to prevent random discussion inbetween the article sections. It could get rather messy otherwise.

Anyway, I moved your post there now. I think by editing your own post, you can now update it with more stuff.

I'll read it through properly later and maybe make some small changes here and there.
First impression is very good though! Sounds very excitable, which is exactly what a promotional article should be like.

 

[Robert Nutter]

Thanks Pieter! Just posted nation relations, will get onto skills and abilities/levelling next. But not before I've done some pics!