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Rewrite current main quest...

Pieter Boelen

Pieter Boelen

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Storm Modder
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I personally had the idea to rewrite the current main quest to mimic Jack Sparrow's story. This would include Jack's early life and him becoming a pirate, as well as his deal with Davy Jones, the mutiny and the whole Isla de Muerte story. Surprisingly enough, this would be quite doable without actually doing a major rewrite. We'd just need to replace some characters and change a couple of quest events and dialogs, but that's it. Isla de Muerte and Jack's compass have also already been added to Alpha 6. Mr. Gibbs and the Tortuga ladies are added to my latest modding files as sent to Pirate_KK. The player wouldn't really need to play as Jack Sparrow either. You could also play the same quest as Nathaniel Hawk or any other character. Just like it is now.

Replace Robert Christopher Silehard with Lord Cutler Becket. Then the player (Jack) works for Beckett for most of the game, until Becket brands the player a pirate. Beckett gives the player a ship: The "Wicked Wench" (the Black Pearl before she was the Black Pearl). When Beckett brands the player a pirate, he sinks the player's ship (could replace the current storm at Douwesen). Then Davy Jones comes into the story to raise the player's ship again as the real Black Pearl. The Flying Dutchman will replace the Black Pearl at the end of the main quest then. Or perhaps move the Manowar encounter to AFTER leaving the island, instead of encountering her before going to the island. That way Cutler Beckett will be the first "boss" enemy.

Once the main quest is finished, we could add a Pre-Curse of the Black Pearl quest, a Curse of the Black Pearl quest and a Dead Man's Chest quest. So first Jack finds out about the Isla de Muerte treasure (Isla de Muerte and the compass are already in Alpha 6, so not much work would be required) and tries to find a crew. This includes the mutinuous Barbossa. The mutiny then occurs, leaving the player alone on an island. Jack must then find a way to get off the island, pay back his debt to Davy Jones, regain his ship and take revenge on Barbossa. The quest could include Mr. Gibbs, Annamaria and the boat Jack "borrowed" from her (the sinking boat in which he enters the film) and both strumpets on Tortuga (already added in my files).

So that way we keep the current main quest and make it more Jack Sparrow piratey.

We can use the Affrica skin for Tia Dalma and one of the elaborate officers for Cutler Beckett. They might not BE the movie characters, but I think they'd be good enough to be used instead. Will Turner is already added and Liza can be Elizabeth. We would still need to following:
- Davy Jones
- A couple of Davy's cursed crew
- A reskin of the Black Pearl that isn't black for the Wicked Wench

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Sparrow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Sparrow</a>
 
yes, excellent idea! i'm not attached to the current main quest at all, in any way. in fact i'm getting pretty tired of it. besides, it sounds easy enough. quests have been made before, we have the pearl and the flying dutchman, jack sparrow, and davy jones. (i think the current one is very well good enough, until a better one shows up) basically all we need! the only important things left to do are the reskin for the black pearl and davy's crew, the latter of which could prove quite problematic. maybe skeletons as a temporary replacement?
 
Gets my vote too - added to the Caribbination (O.K. I know that's not a real word) of the islands I think it really would take the game up a considerable notch.

I am happy to help with dialog if needed - I know there are a lot of people well able to do this already though.
 
speaking of dialogue: maybe it's a good idea to let the text for female NPC's be written be female forum members? i noticed that although clair larrouse is now a woman, she still talks like a man. there's a noticable difference. and who else would know best what she would say?
 
When will the governor give The "Wicked Wench" ? because if The "Wicked Wench" = The Black Pearl (class 3) and the governor give the ship at the beginning of the quest : it would be a too big ship for a start. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />
 
yes, i thought of that as well. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" /> maybe the main quest should only start when the player is a certain level? i don't think that that's possible though, as the invasion will of course be triggered. however, i do see a gap where the main quest can be stopped for a while: how about the report of the attack on oxbay to the governor and not being able to help before you are a certain level? or will the invasion be removed althogether?
 
The ship should be given to the player at some point during the main quest BEFORE the Douwesen storm that would be replaced with the governor sinking the Wicked Wench and branding the player a pirate.

In any case: I won't be able to do much on this. But just about anyone would be able to write up a screenplay and change dialogs and questtexts. So somebody please write up a screenplay, trying to change as littleas possible to the main quest while still changing it to Jack's story.

Possible places for suggestions:
- My ideas above
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Sparrow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Sparrow</a>
- The comics at <a href="http://rejerito.livejournal.com/9934.html#cutid1" target="_blank">http://rejerito.livejournal.com/9934.html#cutid1</a>
- The PotC films, of course
 
what mark did jack leave on beckett? that could be a rather importatn thing to find out.

EDIT: ah! he ruined one of his deals! that first bit seems a very nice quest to me.

EDIT2: seems to me that the new starting ship would be the 'barnacle' then.
 
The WHAT? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":shock" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" />

What mark did Jack leave on Beckett? The capture of his Manowar, I should think. If we go with the Beckett = Silehard idea.

I had a different idea: We keep Silehard, but add Beckett as additional character. Some quests are given by Silehard, some by Beckett. Beckett is the REAL cause for the French invasion: Beckett wanted to cause the French invasion, then free Oxbay again and keep Oxbay for himself afterwards. The player does never see the liberation of Oxbay, so who says it ever took place? It never did take place! It was just a coverup for Beckett taking over! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":woot" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" />
 
pieter, did you actually READ the text at the link you posted? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/huhh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":eek:k" border="0" alt="huhh.gif" /> naming your starting ship the barnacle would be a good solution, as the ship type would be correct as well as the ship type in comparison to the flow of the story. (as in the text at the link you posted)

well, it seems like a good idea to me, but then it would be a rather odd mix of the movie and the game. nonetheless, if we would have come up with the initial story of jack, THAT would have been the correct one, so i figure than we can actually make up any storyline we want.
 
I don't care if our storyline is the exact storyline of the movie. It's fine enough if it is more-or-less the same. To make it the same, we would need to force the game into being a liniair game, which is not a good idea at all. Just some recognizable events are good enough. Though I would prefer to write up some backstory that doesn't actually conflict with the movies. But that seems to be a bit impossible; there will always be SOME conflicts.

So? Any takers on the task of writing up a screenplay for the changes nescessary for doing this? Anyone can do this. No coding knowledge required. Just knowledge of the PotC movies and the main quest.
 
I wonder if we have to resign from main quest. Maybe we could make a switch and load proper segment depending on selection? But that would require further inspection.
 
<!--quoteo(post=185501:date=Mar 13 2007, 07:23 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pieter Boelen @ Mar 13 2007, 07:23 PM) [snapback]185501[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
I don't care if our storyline is the exact storyline of the movie. It's fine enough if it is more-or-less the same. To make it the same, we would need to force the game into being a liniair game, which is not a good idea at all. Just some recognizable events are good enough. Though I would prefer to write up some backstory that doesn't actually conflict with the movies. But that seems to be a bit impossible; there will always be SOME conflicts.

So? Any takers on the task of writing up a screenplay for the changes nescessary for doing this? Anyone can do this. No coding knowledge required. Just knowledge of the PotC movies and the main quest.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I'm prepared to have a go at it if you're interested.
 
I'm interested. Go right ahead, I should say. Write what you think would be fun and won't require too many code changes. E.g.: Try to change as little quest events as possible, but do try to make it have to do with Jack's story instead. Once you post what you have, people might be able to make some suggestions.

I don't suggest removing the current main quest and/or writing a new one. The problem with that is that it's simply way too much work. If somebody would want to do that, fine, but I reckon nobody is going to. Changing the current main quest seems much more realistic to me.
 
note: do not change the name of edgar attwood, the prison keeper! he's needed in a quest. if you do, be sure to change his name in the quest files for that quest as well. it's a quest that you can get after you've hired him, a bit like the artois voysey quest in style.
 
<!--quoteo(post=185618:date=Mar 16 2007, 08:38 AM:name=morgan terror)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(morgan terror @ Mar 16 2007, 08:38 AM) [snapback]185618[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
note: do not change the name of edgar attwood, the prison keeper! he's needed in a quest. if you do, be sure to change his name in the quest files for that quest as well. it's a quest that you can get after you've hired him, a bit like the artois voysey quest in style.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Thanks for that - and feel free to point out any errors you may see as the project progresses (a note attached to a keg of rum will do nicely <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" /> )

I am traveling today, but should get some time through the weekend to make a start.
 
i'll see if anything else that you have to remember comes to mind. well, of course, if you want to change some of the names, you will have to change all those names in the other quests as well, but the changing of the names of the islands and the cities is already taken care of. maybe it would be a better idea to wait until that's done before you start changing things. oh, and here's the rum. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
That's strange, when someone asked for the main quest to be changed some time ago, everybody refused, and now...


Of course the best would be different main quests depending on the main character you chose. I would see four options :

- Main character = whoever you want. stock PotC main quest disabled
- Main character = Nathanael. Stock PotC main quest, but with little improvements. (like joining the French...)
- Main character = Danielle. (optional) By looking to the unused dialogs files coming with stock PotC, we can discover how this second main quest looked like before it was removed.
- Main character = Jack Sparrow, a completly new quest, without French invasion of Oxbay.

This would mean 3 differents characters at the begining (four if the Danielle quest is made). Like in stock PotC, Nathanael id would be 'blaze', but we would create other character.id possible for Jack Sparrow, and for the 'free style' main character. The ability of changing of clothes would be disabled if you play jack Sparrow, and limited to Nathanael-looking models if you play Nathanael. (same for Danielle - the default model would be the fine 'Proto Danielle' that was made some month ago by Kazeite)


Now, as you said Pieter, writing new main quests would be a gigantic job, no one is willing to do it - neither do I. That's why you are suggesting just some little changes to the main quest, if you're playing Jack Sparrow. I agree, and I would recommand using different id instead of a switch in build_settings.h: whatever character you want, stock potc main quest : id = blaze. Jack Sparrow as the main character, main quest with little changes : new id. That way it would even be possible to add id checks in other dialogs, as I had suggested long ago.
 
That would the ideal solution yes, but unfortunately ideal isn't always realistic. I was just thinking of rewriting the main quest without a toggle at all at first. My idea being that there won't be very substantial changes up until the end of the current main quest anyway. And I would like it if you could play Jack Sparrow's story while being Nathaniel Hawk as well. Why force the player to be Jack when playing the rewritten main quest? Perhaps they'd like to play the new quest as another character?

I also had the idea of just using a check if(pchar.model == "depp" && pchar.name == "Jack" && pchar.lastname == "Sparrow"); whereever a toggle is required. That way the player can even switch between the two versions in mid-game.

In any case: Writing completely new main quests is simply not going to happen. We don't have many modders at all and if we don't have anybody both capable AND willing to do it, it's not going to happen. That's why I suggest the most realistic alternative: Rewrite the current main quest without a toggle at all and while changing as little as possible. That is basically the least that should be done for this idea to be anything at all. If anything is done in addition, that would be great. I would definitly not say no to new main quests or anything. But that is just icing on the cake. And with the modding community in it's current not-overly-active state (or at least: not as active as it has once been), I don't dare asking for icing on the cake. Having the cake itself would be nice for the time being.

I also don't like the idea of making quests that can only be played by certain characters. So if you'd need to play a different quest, you need to start a whole new game. I personally prefer if every single quest is available to every single player at any point in any savegame. So if a seperate Jack Sparrow quest is made, I wouldn't limit the playing of that quest to players who play as Jack Sparrow. Why shouldn't Nathaniel Hawk be allowed to experience the same events? The same applies the other way around: Why shouldn't Jack Sparrow be able to play the current main quest? Perhaps "Jack Sparrow" is just a nickname for the captain once known as "Nathaniel Hawk". Who knows? I think it should be up to the player to decide. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":shrug" border="0" alt="dunno.gif" />

At least this is my view on it all, but feel free to disagree. I am happy with whatever modding is done, even if I have different ideas. So if you want to make a new Jack Sparrow main quest that can only be played if the player selects Jack at the beginning of the game: Go right ahead. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/doff.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":doff" border="0" alt="doff.gif" />
 
O.K.> here is my suggestion for first part of story - (holding back rest in case you don't like it) - For the most part it is mainly additional dialog until you meet Will Turner and Tia Dalma
I would appreciate your comments as to whether you feel this would take us in the direction you want to go.

Existing Story Outline <blockquote><i>Changes</i></blockquote>
In cabin for tutorial
Purchase Spyglass
Sell Goods
Get Crew
Repair Ship
Leave Island
Original Quest Triggered
Sail to Redmond
<blockquote><i>Talk to beggar (Henry)
knows Jack wants Davy Jones
Beggar tells Jack Tia Dalma
Knows where Davy Jones is</i>
</blockquote>
Inform Governor Silehard of Invasion <i>(Name now Lord Cutler Becket)
<blockquote>Told to look for Will Turner
In Oxbay Tavern for info on French
Jack forced to suspend search
for Tia Dalma till Oxbay quest completed</i>
</blockquote>Sail to Oxbay (Greenford or Beach)
Got to Oxbay Tavern
Landlord tells about French officer -OR- <blockquote><i>Meet Will Turner who tells Jack about French officer
Will Turner becomes officer </i>
</blockquote>Talk to French Officer
Find out about ammunition for French at Falise de Fleur
Report to Silehard (Becket)
Escort Ships to Greenford
Meet agent Tobias at Oxbay Tavern
Hide in Shipyard
Get Locked Chest –
Escape from Oxbay
Report to Silehard (Becket) at Redmond <blockquote><i>get “Wicked Wench” as reward</i>
</blockquote>Give Locked Chest to pirates
Go inside Redmond Tavern meet Danielle
Fight soldiers
Get arrested
Get released by Governor
Quest find Rehims
Sail to Quebradas Costillas (pirate island)
<blockquote><i>Man on beach says Tia Dalma in hut
Goto hut
talk to Tia Dalma about Davy Jones
promises more info on next visit</i>
</blockquote>Go inside pirate fort to look for Rehims
Two men fighting
Find out Rehims has gone to Isle Mulle
Sail to Isle Mulle
Go to Tavern
Get taken to Smuggler Leader
Break into Rehims house
Sail to Oxbay
Go to shipyard
Owner confesses about chest tells you to go to Falaise de Fleur
Sail to Falaise de Fleur – see Black Pearl
Goto house to hear Black Pearl story


I believe the above would allow the player to start at any location but THIS quest will only trigger by talking to Henry or the man on the beach at QC
 
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