Simplified Code for Build 14 Beta 3.3

[Grey Roger]

Both already have toggles:

#define PERK_MULTIPLIER           0     // FLOAT - Default = 1, Perks are set to cost base value*multiplier. Set to 0 to have everything be cost 1
#define   ALLOW_LOCKED_PERKS         0     // BOOL    - Default = 1, If 1 perks can be locked. If 0 no perks can be locked.

The Beta 3.3 WIP version doesn't actually remove either feature; it just switches them off by default.

"Permanently blocked" perks are definitely unintentional. That'll have to be fixed properly some time soon.

When I first reported the problem of permanently blocked perks, I was told that this was part of the "improved" perks which is part of Beta 3.2 and therefore part of the reason why I switched to Beta 3.1. They aren't supposed to be controlled by either of those toggles but by this one:

#define REALISTIC_ABILITIES         0     // BOOL - 1=ON - Rush, Immediate Reload and Instant Boarding disabled

Beta 3.2 disregards that and disables them unless you're in Arcade mode. (It isn't "Immediate Reload" anyway, it's "Preload" which significantly improves your reload time. It's important when you're attacking a fort because you keep being set on fire, quenching the fire dumps the loads out of your cannons, and without that perk you're probably going to be on fire again before you've finished reloading after the previous one.)

Indeed, please upload those again. I may have included those already, but I can't remember now. Better be sure!

Here you go.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

When I first reported the problem of permanently blocked perks, I was told that this was part of the "improved" perks which is part of Beta 3.2 and therefore part of the reason why I switched to Beta 3.1. They aren't supposed to be controlled by either of those toggles but by this one:

#define REALISTIC_ABILITIES         0     // BOOL - 1=ON - Rush, Immediate Reload and Instant Boarding disabled

Beta 3.2 disregards that and disables them unless you're in Arcade mode. (It isn't "Immediate Reload" anyway, it's "Preload" which significantly improves your reload time. It's important when you're attacking a fort because you keep being set on fire, quenching the fire dumps the loads out of your cannons, and without that perk you're probably going to be on fire again before you've finished reloading after the previous one.)

There are a couple of different effects here:
1. Ability points cost more than 1 (toggle with PERK_MULTIPLIER)
2. Locked Abilities that actually show in the Interface, but have a "locked" icon: these should ALL be unlock-able during gameplay (toggle with ALLOW_LOCKED_PERKS)
3. Various abilities that are not shown at all for realism purposes (toggle with REALISTIC_ABILITIES; automatically enabled in Iron Man Mode)

I am getting confused on which one we are talking about. And which of these do and don't work as intended.

For #3, the InternalSettings.h toggle still affects only the ones mentioned in the InternalSettings.h comment.
However, there are now MORE abilities disabled as per originally @Hylie Pistof's suggestion.
The ones where this applies are set in PROGRAM\INTERFACE\Perks\perks_init.c with lines like these:

  ChrPerksList.list.Rush.disable.iRealismMode = 1; //Levis

Some disappear on Realistic Game Mode and some others only on Iron Man Mode.
If you have any comments or suggestions on this, let me know; it is easy enough to change.

Here you go.

Turns out they weren't in the Beta 3.3 files, because they were already in Beta 3.2. I forgot about that.

Build 14 Beta 3.2:
- Storyline Updates:
  . Hornblower Storyline:
  > Dialog spelling and factual errors corrected by Grey Roger

For some reason I can never easily extract your 7-Zip files. They're in a "new" format and I have to go about it in a roundabout way.
Proper bizarre. Must be something wrong on my end, but I have no time to try and fix it (probably have to reinstall my computer some time).
So would you mind posting future files as .zip instead of .7z?

 

[Grey Roger]

The problem is that Beta 3.2 does not obey "REALISTIC_ABILITIES" and all the perks which would be disabled by setting it to 1 are still disabled in Realistic mode even if that is set to 0. I've never tried Iron Man mode.

As for Hornblower dialogs, try this:

 

[Hylie Pistof]

The perks seem to be fine for now. Some cost more than others and that is fine. It slows down the progression of skills making the game last longer before one gets maxed out.

Originally I wanted a toggle to disable the ship related perks as they really are not needed. But things sort of spiraled out of control.

This game is coming along nicely and it is a real treat to be able to smuggle and pick and choose your cargo and destination instead of just hauling freight for others and just grinding along until finally getting the money to get the better ships.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The problem is that Beta 3.2 does not obey "REALISTIC_ABILITIES" and all the perks which would be disabled by setting it to 1 are still disabled in Realistic mode even if that is set to 0. I've never tried Iron Man mode.

Originally I wanted a toggle to disable the ship related perks as they really are not needed. But things sort of spiraled out of control.

Let's get it back under control then. As far as I can tell, those lines in perks_init.c do not make much sense.
So how do you gentlepeople here think it should be set up? Should there be two levels of realism here?
And if so, which perks should be disabled on the first and second levels?

The perks seem to be fine for now. Some cost more than others and that is fine. It slows down the progression of skills making the game last longer before one gets maxed out.

I disabled that one as well in the Beta 3.3 WIP. So I can enable it again?
How about that potential fort capture that became nearly undo-able since Beta 3? That may have been related to this as well.

As for Hornblower dialogs, try this:

That works perfectly fine.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

It seems everyone wants all the perks except me. Perhaps none should be disabled and I just refuse to enable the ones I don't need. In my beta 3.2 game I have something like 14 perky points unused.

I like some perks costing more than others but some may not like that. Let's see what other opinions are.

Forts are big stone buildings, right? They should be hard to capture. I have only taken the Bridgetown fort twice. With big ships that can take a lot of punishment it is easy. With flimsy little frigates and such it is suicide.

Has anyone taken the Santo Domingo fort? I just accidentally got too close to it and got half sunk before getting back out of range in a fastmerchantman.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

It seems everyone wants all the perks except me. Perhaps none should be disabled and I just refuse to enable the ones I don't need. In my beta 3.2 game I have something like 14 perky points unused.

We can even try to accommodate just you!
Just let me know what you have in mind.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Well, that could be a problem as I have hired officers that had perks and they contributed to the ship performance. I ended up with gunners as Captains in my last game just to get rid of them, so those perks would have to be completely disabled.

How would you disable Gunners perks for one and leave them in place for others?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Uh? You want to disable perks per character individually? That sounds VERY complicated.
Or do you want to disable all gunnery-related abilities?

If I understand correctly, with the current perk disabling system, NO characters will have the disabled perks and they also do not have any effect.
It is as if they truly do not exist. Is that what you had in mind? Or did you want enemies to still get them, just not the player?

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Hmm. I don't want them and I don't want my officers to have them, but how to do that? It's ok for enemies to have them but how to tell them apart? This sounds like a can of worms.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That does indeed become quite complicated quite quickly. Preventing everyone from having them is doable.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Well, I can work around this by only hiring officers early in the game when they have no perks and also not giving them to meself.

 

[Grey Roger]

You can already disable some perks by setting "REALISTIC_ABILITIES" to 1. What I want is the ability to have them not disabled by setting it to 0. That way everybody is happy, it's your choice as to whether they're disabled or not. That's what I object to in Beta 3.2 - not the fact that perks are disabled but the fact that you have no choice in it. By contrast, I don't like locked perks either but that does obey its toggle, so I can play without locked perks while anyone who likes locked perks can have them - win all round.

Has anyone taken the Santo Domingo fort? I just accidentally got too close to it and got half sunk before getting back out of range in a fastmerchantman.

Yes, though not in Beta 3.2. I did it in Beta 3 and will probably do it again in Beta 3.1 before I finish the current play through "Tales of a Sea Hawk". More recently, the forts which gave me most trouble were Point au Pitre (Guadeloupe) and Port au Prince (Hispaniola). I tried the latter in Beta 3.2 with two battleships and lost all my guns before I'd done much damage to the fort, but under Beta 3.1 with all perks available I was just about able to take them. A merchantman won't do, neither will a frigate. What you need is Sovereign of the Seas and repeated application of the "Emergency Repair" perk...

 

[Nightmare]

piter is it ok if you can send me a copy of the wip 3.3 its not working for me well it did but for some reason it staffs up the game if i edit some staff. do you think i might just have to wait till it comes out and go back 3.2.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

piter is it ok if you can send me a copy of the wip 3.3 its not working for me well it did but for some reason it staffs up the game if i edit some staff. do you think i might just have to wait till it comes out and go back 3.2.

Not possible. Just extract the EXE on a working copy of Beta 3.2 .

You can already disable some perks by setting "REALISTIC_ABILITIES" to 1. What I want is the ability to have them not disabled by setting it to 0. That way everybody is happy, it's your choice as to whether they're disabled or not. That's what I object to in Beta 3.2 - not the fact that perks are disabled but the fact that you have no choice in it. By contrast, I don't like locked perks either but that does obey its toggle, so I can play without locked perks while anyone who likes locked perks can have them - win all round.

"REALISTIC_ABILITIES" is set up to allow MORE realism (eg. less abilities) in Arcade Game Mode.
To accomplish what you describe, I would have to invert the way that function works.

Though we can do this even more easily by returning it to the Beta 3 state where Realistic Game Mode disables only Rush, Immediate Reload and Instant Boarding.
Any additional ability removals can be included in Iron Man Game Mode or perhaps a "REALISTIC_ABILITIES level 2".

Would that make sense?

 

[Grey Roger]

I thought the whole idea of Beta 3.3 was to return to Beta 3 state, then put back the bug-fixes without putting back the additions to turn it into Beta 3.2? Beta 3.1 certainly does not disable any perks in Realistic mode (unless you set "REALISTIC_ABILITIES" to do so) otherwise I'd be playing Beta 3 currently instead of Beta 3.1.

It's not that critical how perks are disabled and which ones. What is important is that it be controlled by a toggle, so you can enable or disable them as you like.

Personally I'd prefer disabled perks, expensive perks and locked perks all to be controlled independently by toggles rather than by the whole lot being set when you choose mode. I prefer Realistic mode to get the proper sailing model but want the full set of perks; I like expensive perks but don't want locked perks unless the unlocks (a) actually work and (b) make sense. But it would be interesting to try other combinations. "Chronicles of Horatio Hornblower" really doesn't want locked perks because you can't afford to go off doing your own thing to look for the unlocks, if you deviate from the plot then the quest is liable to break; the story doesn't go on long enough for you to be able to get many perks if they're expensive; but blocked perks could make it more interesting. Other people, of course, will have their own preferences, and the point is not to argue about which is best but that having everything controlled by toggles means everybody is happy.

Regarding unlocks making sense, why does "Trustworthy" require trust from the governor? The smugglers and storekeeper don't want to know that you're the governor's lackey, liable to report any criminal activity or deal with the criminals directly. They want to know that they can trust you before they'll trade dodgy goods with you right there in town. Perhaps the unlock could be that you must do a smuggling run the normal way. Maybe make it more difficult by requiring that a coastguard patrol shows up and you help the smugglers kill them. Or you must smuggle something to them and make the deal, then also buy their 1000 gold surprise package, showing that you trust them, which helps to establish trust the other way. "Toughness" represents your ability to heal rapidly from a wound - it's not something you'll learn from some random thug when he runs away, it's something you'll build up, so perhaps it could unlock after you've won a certain number of fights. I know the game keeps a count of how many people you've killed because it appears on the logbook screen.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Now this is how changes should be made. Talking about them and then adding them to the game instead of adding them to the game and then we play it to find out what happened and if we like it or not.

Yes "trustworthy" should be tied to the people you are dealing with. I'm not sure about tying it to fighting as a successful smuggler avoids fighting if possible.

Toughness. "If you're going to be stupid then you dam well better be tough." Old guys always say that to young guys that don't know how to work smart yet.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I thought the whole idea of Beta 3.3 was to return to Beta 3 state, then put back the bug-fixes without putting back the additions to turn it into Beta 3.2? Beta 3.1 certainly does not disable any perks in Realistic mode (unless you set "REALISTIC_ABILITIES" to do so) otherwise I'd be playing Beta 3 currently instead of Beta 3.1.

Even before, Beta 3 should have been disabling those specific three abilities.

Anyway, please try attached. Extract to PROGRAM\INTERFACE\Perks . This changes the perk availability to how I think it was supposed to be set up.
(As opposed to the way it was set up, which looks massively confused to me. )

REALISTIC_ABILITIES = 1 or Realistic Game Mode: Rush, Immediate Reload and Instant Boarding disabled
REALISTIC_ABILITIES = 2 or Iron Man Mode: Those three PLUS most sea-related perks disabled (based on Hylie's original suggestion)

Personally I'd prefer disabled perks, expensive perks and locked perks all to be controlled independently by toggles rather than by the whole lot being set when you choose mode. I prefer Realistic mode to get the proper sailing model but want the full set of perks; I like expensive perks but don't want locked perks unless the unlocks (a) actually work and (b) make sense. But it would be interesting to try other combinations. "Chronicles of Horatio Hornblower" really doesn't want locked perks because you can't afford to go off doing your own thing to look for the unlocks, if you deviate from the plot then the quest is liable to break; the story doesn't go on long enough for you to be able to get many perks if they're expensive; but blocked perks could make it more interesting. Other people, of course, will have their own preferences, and the point is not to argue about which is best but that having everything controlled by toggles means everybody is happy.

We can make certain settings storyline-dependent. For example how Changing Relations is always on in the general "Free Play" storylines.

Regarding unlocks making sense, why does "Trustworthy" require trust from the governor? The smugglers and storekeeper don't want to know that you're the governor's lackey, liable to report any criminal activity or deal with the criminals directly. They want to know that they can trust you before they'll trade dodgy goods with you right there in town. Perhaps the unlock could be that you must do a smuggling run the normal way. Maybe make it more difficult by requiring that a coastguard patrol shows up and you help the smugglers kill them. Or you must smuggle something to them and make the deal, then also buy their 1000 gold surprise package, showing that you trust them, which helps to establish trust the other way. "Toughness" represents your ability to heal rapidly from a wound - it's not something you'll learn from some random thug when he runs away, it's something you'll build up, so perhaps it could unlock after you've won a certain number of fights. I know the game keeps a count of how many people you've killed because it appears on the logbook screen.

Can we possibly discuss the specifics in the appropriate thread?
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/perks-mod-v2-6-unlockable-perks-readable-books.21355

 

[Hylie Pistof]

A question before I DL this adjustment. Shouldn't basic ship defense be allowed as that is the fire fighting perk?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Of course it should! But that one has no disabling code applied at all, so it will always be available.
My apologies if the phrase "all sea-related perks" threw you for a spin. That should have said "most sea-related perks".
Specifically the ones you had listed several months back.

Anyway, your post did lead me to find some mistakes of mine in the previous upload.
If you downloaded already, please do so again.