WIP Officer perk contributions

[ANSEL]

In which way does it not work?

I don't get the perks or the don't work. Anyway I'm quite satisfied with the system as it are now.
I don't think I will test the new system right now,maybe another time.

 

[Levis]

I don't get the perks or the don't work. Anyway I'm quite satisfied with the system as it are now.
I don't think I will test the new system right now,maybe another time.

HOw do you mean you don't get the perks? did you do F11?

 

[Levis]

havent played with a whole lot of officers yet so cant give much feedback yet, but one thought I had was that I think I preferred the old colors for costs. the green and dark red are very clear but I find they clash a bit with the rest of the aesthetic. personal preference of course, Ill get used to the new ones if they stay

The red and green are also used in the passengers and character interface to skills to show if they are increased or decreased, that's why I also used them here.

 

[DeathDaisy]

The red and green are also used in the passengers and character interface to skills to show if they are increased or decreased, that's why I also used them here.

no problem, just a preference, but Ill get used to the new ones

 

[Levis]

Untill I can get my own topic edited again I'll just hijack this one .
What is included:
- Captain generation centralized
- Right clicking on a skill in the character interface will show what is boosting the skill
- Some perks are added (still need to do the thing in the church dialog and tailor dialog)
- Cannoneer and Doctor have their own special perk which gives you an ability
- Some optimization tweaks (hopefully)
- Quests ships are generated within a certain range
and probably much more

For now almost everything is just restoring stuff from earlier updates which are taken out.
Please test it and let me know if something is not right.

 

[DeathDaisy]

Untill I can get my own topic edited again I'll just hijack this one .
What is included:
- Captain generation centralized
- Right clicking on a skill in the character interface will show what is boosting the skill
- Some perks are added (still need to do the thing in the church dialog and tailor dialog)
- Cannoneer and Doctor have their own special perk which gives you an ability
- Some optimization tweaks (hopefully)
- Quests ships are generated within a certain range
and probably much more

For now almost everything is just restoring stuff from earlier updates which are taken out.
Please test it and let me know if something is not right.

havent had a chance to try it out yet, but checking with winmerge you should update these two files, otherwise the scaling with skills when smuggling will be reversed and Å wont work Ive merged them with your fixes!

 

[DeathDaisy]

I seem to be missing Loc_ai\LAi_CreateCaptain.c?

 

[Levis]

Ah damned that one isn't copied ofcourse because the change date is lower (I use an automated script to generate these zips).

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I use an automated script to generate these zips

Brilliant!

 

[Levis]

Brilliant!

it's very simple:
in commandprompt:

ROBOCOPY [source] [destination] /S /MAXAGE:YYYYMMDD

so for example if you have potc installed in D:\POTC and you want your fixes to be in D:\Fixes\Fixes20171123
And you want all files which are changed since november 18th 2017 (I installed the things at november 17th) you just do:

ROBOCOPY D:\POTC\PROGRAM D:\Fixes\Fixes20171123\PROGRAM /S /MAXAGE:20171118

This will only copy the contents of the program folder. You could remove the program part to get everything. note that you will need to remove some stuff like the savegames and compile logs etc then.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Wow, that IS simple! Nice one, @Levis.

 

[Levis]

When boarding a ship I noticed these errors:

RUNTIME ERROR - file: MAXIMUS_Functions.c; line: 2542
missed attribute: name
RUNTIME ERROR - file: MAXIMUS_Functions.c; line: 2542
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: MAXIMUS_Functions.c; line: 2543
missed attribute: lastname
RUNTIME ERROR - file: MAXIMUS_Functions.c; line: 2543
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 240
missed attribute: name
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 240
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 392
missed attribute: name
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 392
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 645
missed attribute: name
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 645
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 645
missed attribute: name
RUNTIME ERROR - file: interface\ransack_main.c; line: 645
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Loc_ai\LAi_events.c; line: 3568
missed attribute: sex
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Loc_ai\LAi_events.c; line: 3568
no rAP data

And when loading a location on sea I noticed these errors:

RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 423
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 214
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 423
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 214
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: characters\characters.c; line: 135
missed attribute: animation
RUNTIME ERROR - file: characters\characters.c; line: 135
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: characters\characters.c; line: 137
missed attribute: animation
RUNTIME ERROR - file: characters\characters.c; line: 137
no rAP data
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 423
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 214
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 423
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 214
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 423
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 214
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 423
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 214
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 423
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: utils.c; line: 395
integer function return float value
RUNTIME ERROR - file: Characters\skills\skill_utils.c; line: 214
integer function return float value

So I will look into them.
Any more errors I would love to get, or problems you encounter

 

[Levis]

Okay most of the bugs I've fixed. but trying to figure out why I get a CTD sometimes when trying to hire a captain as officer. This seems to be related to the problem of hireing enc walkers.
Also improved the performance on the perks interface.
Probably I will upload some new files tonight or on sunday. This should make the changes pretty good tested. I'm still trying to find other bugs in it but for now the game seems to behave quite well. But after I've uploaded these files I will need some help because I'm testing it on a quiet overkill computer, so I need someone with lower speced hardware to see if there are any performance issues which I might not notice.

---

Now let's discus the special perks.
These are the suggestions I have:
Boatswain = Cooky: Food consumption is lowered by 10%
Cannoneer = Reloader: reloads your pistols if you are on the ship (already implemented)
Quartermaster = Bookkeeper: Crew salary is reduced with 10%
Navigator = Forecaster: Storms are 10% less likely to appear.
FirstMate = Charisma: Moral is up by 10% (just like with iron will)
Carpenter = Builder: Ability to build builings anywhere
Doctor = Cure Injuries: Less deaths during ship battle (already implemented)

These are passive abilities which the officer will always have. By having this type of officer you get this "bonus".
Any ideas about these or suggestions?

 

[Hylie Pistof]

This is just a general observation.

In the real world it takes a change of at least 3% before it becomes noticeable and a 10% change is big. I don't know if there are any perks that only make a 10% change. There are perks that make 20,30, and even 40% changes. 40%! The only reason to have a 40% perk is:
1) The base system is broken and the huge change is needed to balance it out.
2) Someone wants to play in godmode without actually turning on godmode.

I would suggest that all perks be limited to no more than 10% and any imbalances that surface should be addressed individually.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Fair point, @Hylie Pistof.

 

[Levis]

This is just a general observation.

In the real world it takes a change of at least 3% before it becomes noticeable and a 10% change is big. I don't know if there are any perks that only make a 10% change. There are perks that make 20,30, and even 40% changes. 40%! The only reason to have a 40% perk is:
1) The base system is broken and the huge change is needed to balance it out.
2) Someone wants to play in godmode without actually turning on godmode.

I would suggest that all perks be limited to no more than 10% and any imbalances that surface should be addressed individually.

So just to be clear you sugest this rebalance will be done with every perk. So for example the defense perks in combat now can give you up to 50% more blocking chance. You sugest to tone this down a lot? (I also still believe the numbers are not correct here so it would give me a chance to figure out of the numbers are actually correct).

I think in some cases a 20% increase could be warrented, but only on higher perks. Say you have 1 perk to increase your blocking chance I agree it shouldn't add more then 10% blocking, but if you got a second perk then this one could also increase it by 10% again, so in total it would be a increase of 20%.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Why not every perk? Make them all smaller so they do not radically change the game. As it is the game starts off challenging but playable and when the perks start kicking in it gets boringly easy. I go for the commerce and repair perks and forget about the rest.

Is stacking perks desirable? As it is I don't use any special swords anymore as they are not needed. They collect dust in the ship's chest. The Spanish rapier is sufficient.

 

[Levis]

Why not every perk? Make them all smaller so they do not radically change the game. As it is the game starts off challenging but playable and when the perks start kicking in it gets boringly easy. I go for the commerce and repair perks and forget about the rest.

Is stacking perks desirable? As it is I don't use any special swords anymore as they are not needed. They collect dust in the ship's chest. The Spanish rapier is sufficient.

I like the idea and will look at it later.

First here is a new zip with a lot of fixes.

Fixes:
- Fetchquest now expires
- Surrenderd Captains will always appear
- Being able to get perks if you don't have the freepoints yet
- Some perks don't show hints on how to unlock them
- Officers sending to scout for smuggling will now dissapair and return right
- CTD when trying to hire captains as officers
Improvements:
- Centralized captain generation
- Now show the doctor and gunner ability in the perks interface
- Better colors for perk interface to show which perks you can take and which you can't
- Both on Sea and on land the update functions are now called based on time instead of with every frame update. This should increase performance, especially on lower configurations
New Features:
- Passenger interface shows who will join during boarding
- You can now buy the books to unlock perks in the library on Turks
- Right clicking on a skill in the character interface shows what is contributing to this skill
- Questships can now be generated in a certain range

That's it for me for now. I would like to ask people to test these new things. I've tested them pretty good myself already and think they are stable. So please if you find any errors let me know!

@Grey Roger I think this is fit to be added to the general zip. But you could keep it out of it a bit longer if you want. But please try to test it yourself too.

If you download the zip also download the LAi_boarding.c and place it in \PROGRAM\Loc_ai , this fixes a problem with officers not appearing during boarding. This will be included in the zip file later

 

[Grey Roger]

The mention of "centralized captain generation" brings back some very bad memories. That alone is sufficient to make me wait until at least three other people have tested this and confirmed that there are no problems. As for myself, I'm afraid I don't have time to test this as I have other projects under way.

The fix for surrendered captains should not be necessary - or, rather, it's already in place. I do a lot of boarding and capturing and have never seen a surrendered captain fail to appear in any game since at least 7th January.

I've already incorporated the fix for officers sent to scout for smuggling into my own fixes collection.

Perks: if you reduce their effects to the point where they have no significant effect on the game, you may as well scrap them entirely. They become next to useless.

 

[Levis]

The mention of "centralized captain generation" brings back some very bad memories. That alone is sufficient to make me wait until at least three other people have tested this and confirmed that there are no problems. As for myself, I'm afraid I don't have time to test this as I have other projects under way.

It's the same code as before but improved and fixed, but I agree it needs more testing. @DeathDaisy , @salonikasurf and @ANSEL could you guys install it and fight some ships too see if anything weird happens?
I myself have boarded about 30 ships without any problems.

The fix for surrendered captains should not be necessary - or, rather, it's already in place. I do a lot of boarding and capturing and have never seen a surrendered captain fail to appear in any game since at least 7th January.

There seemed to be a edge case during surrendering if the captain had specific models. That was a problem in the generation, which should be solved now. But I remember that only from when I was making the captain generation function. Maybe it was fixed later on. At least after 30 or more boarding attempt I had no problems.

Perks: if you reduce their effects to the point where they have no significant effect on the game, you may as well scrap them entirely. They become next to useless.

this isn't done yet and I first need to look into the numbers more. The general idea is to make the perks still impact full but less op.