Need Help Sink the Pirate Corvette Quest

[Kevin the Seasick]

Build: 14 Beta 3.1, Tales of a Sea Hawk.
Quest: Sink the Pirate Corvette
Problem: I cannot find the ship.

I didn't place this in the bugs section, however, since I don't see anyone else having much of a problem with it and I think it may be my own silly fault anyway. I took the mission long ago and am only now trying to complete it. However, since accepting the quest, I had since become hostile with France. But now I've mended fences with them once more and the governor still acknowledges that I haven't yet completed the quest. So I can see how I may have wrecked the quest. But I set sail anyway from Saint Pierre expecting to see a message similar to the usual ship-hunting missions, but nothing. And not even a pirate ship or corvette. I've tried a bit north of the area before Guadeloupe as the walk-through instructs, but nothing. I even go to the world map and attack pirate ships around that area, but still no dice.

Is it possible that this quest can be salvaged, i.e. y'all may know something of its whereabouts that I don't? Or did I pretty much wreck the quest with my nation-swinging, procrastinating ways? If the latter, I can at least close the quest by telling the governor I can't do it, but I'd much rather find that dastardly pirate!

Oh! Almost forgot. When I go to tell the governor I can't do it, my reasoning is something about not wanting to fire on a British ship. I thought I was going after a pirate?

 

[DavyJack]

There was an issue before ('bout Pirate Hunting Quests) and I think was fixed in Beta 3.2. Download the latest already , it includes more fixes and new stuff(s).

Anyway, yes, it may be caused by yer "nation-swinging, procrastinating ways". You have to complete the quest immediately before the target ship runs away.
The quest mentions 'bout a ship sailing around or near the area so when you delay that for even a day, that ship may not be around anymore.

And I find that last part you've mentioned weird though. (Pirate=British Ship? )
The story and quests may have tangled up and may explain why you've become hostile to that nation after accepting the quest.

 

[Kevin the Seasick]

You all want me to join the 3.2 cult, but I won't do it! You can't make me! 3.1, for me, is like that wine you get used to even though it's bitter every now and then. As much as I want to reach for that sweeter, more full-bodied bottle, I'm stubbornly clutching the bottle of the old vintage. Seriously, though, I'm just too far in my savegame to jump to 3.2 just yet.

Well, I suppose there's no recourse but to indiscriminately sink every ship near Saint Pierre, sack the town, then drag the governor to the cliff edge and point at the bay of wreckage below, fervently proclaiming "Thar's yer bloody corvette, guv'na... jus stare hard 'nuff." Then have some wine. 3.1 vintage. Maybe cry a little.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

If I recall, I changed that ship to be English on purpose and changed all dialogs to refer to her as such; mainly to prevent confusion with the regular "sink pirate" quests.

The ship should be somewhere around Martinique. If she's not anymore, then probably it got broken somehow.

As for Beta 3.2, apparently you might want to not use that. Best use Beta 3.3 once that is released, because we've got some issues to iron out first.

 

[Grey Roger]

I've never tried that side quest under Build 14 due to being permanently hostile to France, whether as a result of the story or by choice. But when I'm doing more regular ship-hunting quests on behalf of other governors, I choose "Sail-to", pick a random ship, sail to it, see if it's the one I'm after, then attack it anyway if it's hostile. Repeat until I find the target ship. The same method may work to find the corvette, unless it really has disappeared. The corvette certainly won't appear on the worldmap - either it's on the sea somewhere near Martinique or it's gone. Quite possibly the latter if you've gone to worldmap since taking the quest. Do you have a saved game from before you left Martinique, preferably one from before you took the quest in the first place? Even if that's too far back to be worth losing progress in the main story, it may still be worth loading up an old saved game just to try the corvette quest and see if it works at all for you.

I did try this quest once, a long time ago when I was playing Build 13. As I recall, the governor wanted me to sink a British corvette, but when I found the ship it was flying a pirate flag. The same may have been true in early versions of Build 14 - if you look through "Joseph Claude Le Moigne_dialog.h", you find a few lines referring to a Pirate Corvette and comments saying "Changed to avoid confusion". There's also a line which says "That English warship is too much for me to handle" - that's probably what you got to tell the governor when you didn't want to complete the quest, apparently has not been changed, therefore still causes confusion.

3.2 introduces new stuff such as locked perks, "fetch" quests which are necessary to unlock some of them and which don't work, a modified encounter system which means pirates never appear on the worldmap, and a modified economy which makes it next to impossible to make a profit as an honest trader or smuggler. I tried it, then went back to 3.1.

 

[Kevin the Seasick]

Well, I've kept it open in hopes of coming across her some day, so maybe I'll just rapid-sail around the entirety of Martinique. If not, I at least have the ability to close out the quest, so cheers to that. I'm a stubborn one, though.

Good to know about the English part. I'm not going crazy after all! I mean my game isn't. Sorta. If I could just get Bridgetown to stop firing at me, especially considering my Marque Captaincy. I just go it on foot from Speightstown, since they're quite the friendly Brits. But that's a whole other issue.

3.3, huh? You've been busy! You'll probably on 4.1 by the time I finish my game... I'm so slow! Anyway, thanks y'all! Off I go!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

3.3, huh? You've been busy! You'll probably on 4.1 by the time I finish my game... I'm so slow! Anyway, thanks y'all! Off I go!

Well, I still have to make that. Only just getting started on it.

 

[Kevin the Seasick]

Perfect timing, then, Pieter. For me at least. I'd say you have about a month to get it done. Meet you on the Amsterdam deck in a month.

Grey: I didn't even want to look at my old saves for fear of actually having that file and thus feeling like I missed out. Hah. And ya know what? The only really old saves I have are exactly before and after receiving the quest, so I must've planned to get back to it and just said to heck with it. That was two and a half months ago! And now I know why... I was afraid of the big bad "corvette" word since I was still cruising around the lugger. Figured I'd get back to it. What I did was finish the card girl's quest, which gave me neutral relations with France, and the I accepted the corvette quest, but I did something right after that made them hostile again. I can only assume I went looking for that ship and instinctively sunk a French one instead. Dunno! Anyway, I'mma jump on that now and see what happens. At least get some peace of mind and closure.

 

[Kevin the Seasick]

So, I loaded that savegame and went at it again. Well, it appears that finishing the card girl's quest gave me no improvement whatsoever in French relations either time, even though in-game dialog and the walk-through said it did. So no wonder I was still hostile with France, and this probably interfered with the quest when trying to leave a hostile French port. This time, I paid the governor off and went to work immediately to find the corvette. Still no dice. And this time with no "nation-swinging, procrastinating ways." Seems that quest is just doomed in my game. Though, I bet there's some kind of clever workaround like we worked out with that Father Bernard/Artois Voysey issue you helped me with. But this time, I'll just sail on. I'll keep it open in my current game for a little bit longer just in case, though...

Anyway, consider this "resolved," since I've resolved to likely fail the quest eventually. S'all good. Thanks as always, you noble and ignoble pirates!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Well, it appears that finishing the card girl's quest gave me no improvement whatsoever in French relations either time, even though in-game dialog and the walk-through said it did. So no wonder I was still hostile with France

I remember that being reported before. Have to remember to check that when I get the chance.

 

[Grey Roger]

Good to know about the English part. I'm not going crazy after all! I mean my game isn't. Sorta. If I could just get Bridgetown to stop firing at me, especially considering my Marque Captaincy. I just go it on foot from Speightstown, since they're quite the friendly Brits. But that's a whole other issue.

Now that's odd. Which flag are you flying? And how far has the main story progressed? Early on, Speightstown is held by the French, so if you're flying a French flag then Speightstown won't attack but Bridgetown will. Otherwise there's something very peculiar happening if one British fort fires at you and the other one doesn't.

Talking of flags, if you raise the French flag before approaching Martinique then you should be able to enter port safely, unless you've been recognised. Or you can sail to the beach and walk to town, and leave the same way.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I've done that quest many times and it always works. But then I wait until after I steal that flushdeck frigate from the French and then beg forgiveness, and then immediately go do it. I sail South out of port and then turn East (left) and it is out there every time. I then "sail to" and start shooting. If that corvette is not out there then you waited too long.

 

[Kevin the Seasick]

Now that's odd. Which flag are you flying? And how far has the main story progressed? Early on, Speightstown is held by the French, so if you're flying a French flag then Speightstown won't attack but Bridgetown will. Otherwise there's something very peculiar happening if one British fort fires at you and the other one doesn't.

Talking of flags, if you raise the French flag before approaching Martinique then you should be able to enter port safely, unless you've been recognised. Or you can sail to the beach and walk to town, and leave the same way.

I'm quite used to raising French and Spanish flags to enter ports since I'm at continual war with them as I enjoy aligning myself with the British, Dutch, and Portuguese. I don't enable changing relations since I don't want the main quest to possibly be tampered with.

Ever since my thread that included you and Hylie talking about quests sometimes overlapping, I immediately started knocking out the side quests one by one. That's been working fairly well, but I bring it up to address the Bridgetown issue and possible causes. In order to simply not worry about my flag, especially with the highest fame level, I bought peace with the French and Spanish and now only sink Pirate ships. Maybe the British don't like that I'm neutral with the others now? But Port Royale, Cayman, and the currently British Speightstown are all quite welcoming, as is Governor Silehard, whom I visited after Bridgetown to see if I needed to apologize and give him some money. We were old buds as usual.

Another possible cause was that I did something I rarely do: I raised the Pirate flag. I did so in order to enter the Turks settlement and complete that mission. A couple British ships exchanged fire with mine, and my second ship opened fire on them, but the fort commander sunk one and the other slipped away, so I docked and immediately checked my relations, which were fine. I went to Port Royale with my personal flag and had no problem. Went to Bridgetown shortly thereafter and BOOM went the fort cannons. Exited the game, restarted, reloaded, and still BOOM! Maybe Bridgetown took umbrage with my momentary pirate-y ways. But again, the other English ports were cool with me and my personal flag. Even the Bridgetown guards are hospitable, though I don't recall guards being affected by international relations anyway.

To answer your questions specifically, I've tried entering Bridgetown with both my personal flag and the British flag, but they don't care. I may just try a French flag to see if they're just super confused! As for my main story progress, I just got out of prison, Speightstown was recaptured, and I've yet to begin the Rheims quest until finishing a few more side quests. So Bridgetown is quite British, and this is all quite peculiar indeed. I figured it may just resolve itself once I get another promotion or a part of the main quest will reset the town somehow. I'd hate for this to affect my main quest going forward, the future plot of which I've kept myself in the dark about due to enjoying the element of surprises and twists of a storyline.

I've done that quest many times and it always works. But then I wait until after I steal that flushdeck frigate from the French and then beg forgiveness, and then immediately go do it. I sail South out of port and then turn East (left) and it is out there every time. I then "sail to" and start shooting. If that corvette is not out there then you waited too long.

Wow... really?!? I just recently obtained that flushdeck frigate and begged French forgiveness not too long after to avoid molestation during side quests. But I sailed North while you went South. Hmm... I will go back there and try what you just said. I went to bed after my previous post, so I haven't yet given Martinique that rapid-sail tour I promised. I'll give it a whirl soon and report back.

EDIT: Wait... when do you accept the quest? Did you accept it a long time ago or only after obtaining the frigate and forgiveness?

 

[Kevin the Seasick]

I've reloaded and revisited Bridgetown. It's no longer firing at me anymore. That's good. I reme mber it did this to me before about a month ago when I was trying to leave the port. It seemed to coincide with some crazy graphical anomaly that was spinning my game world in sort of fast motion and I'd sink rather quickly. I could reload one of my very first saves out in the open sea and that same graphic anomaly was there. This time, the graphic anomaly was occurring at Port Royale just after I had left Bridgetown via Speightstown. Except instead of sinking me, it was spiraling my ship into the air as the game world became but a square beneath me and then nothing but blackess and fort cannons firing that couldn't hit me, since I apparently was the first frigate to achieve space flight, and thus out of cannon range. Maybe it's just my aging laptop that simply needed some rest and another good defrag since Bridgetown is friendly once more and I'm no longer spinning like a record baby (right round right round).

As for the corvette, I followed Hylie's directions, but no one but some Dutchmen arrived, who I inspected and then proceeded to circumnavigate the whole of the island. I conclude there's no corvette for me to find. That, or he/she is simply the most elusive pirate I've ever encountered. Or perhaps they, too, went into outer space.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Er umm, what?

First, when I steal that flushdeck frigate I take it straight to Port Royale and get rid of it. Then go to Martinique and beg forgiveness, take that assignment and immediately go get that corvette. If I wait it is gone.

I have never ever heard of going into outer space in this game before although I have done that and also dropped down underneath the game world in many other games.

There is so much wrong with your game that probably the best thing to do is just delete that whole install and start over with all new everything.

 

[DavyJack]

There is so much wrong with your game that probably the best thing to do is just delete that whole install and start over with all new everything.

Or you know, try taking out the options file first and then do the re-install part if it still doesn't work/messy.
The thing is, whenever you have a Ship Hunting assignment or mission, do it immediately. Don't procrastinate.

 

[Kevin the Seasick]

Yup, I usually do the ship hunting quests immediately, but they're usually pretty on-par with the ship I'm sailing. But I wasn't about to face the corvette with a lugger. I was a newbie and still was pretty awkward with ship battles back then. Lesson learned: Don't accept the corvette mission until you're ready for it. And yes, mom, no procrastinating.

I kept the Flushdeck Frigate, Hylie. I find it to be a nice support ship until I get a better one. I may or may not reinstall since I'm pretty certain it's something with my graphics card, while the side quests just need to be done a certain way. I'm otherwise happy with my current game.

Thanks as always, y'all!

 

[Grey Roger]

Yes, the flushdeck frigate is my favourite too. I don't use it as a support ship; once I've got one, that's the ship I use for general pirating until I've completed the main quest. Incidentally, have a hunt through the forum for a thread involving the Black Pearl. There's a bug which was fixed in 3.2 but still present in 3.1 whereby you're stuck with the cursed version of the Black Pearl after you capture it, and the cursed version is rubbish. If you can find the bug fix, which simply involves editing a file and does not require starting a new game, you'll be much happier with the proper, uncursed ship!

Incidentally, for some reason France became friendly with me. I don't know why - I'd still been attacking their ships and in fact had recently taken Port au Prince off them and given it to Britain. But it meant I got the chance to try the "Sink the corvette" mission. As with regular ship-hunting quests, I used "Sail-to" to pick a random ship - actually not that random, I took a guess that it would be the last one along the row of ships to choose from, being the ship most recently placed in Martinique's waters. Then I boarded it.

Like you, I tend to fly the British flag unless I want to enter a French or Spanish port on peaceful business. French ships don't like that, which suits me as they're richer targets than pirates. France isn't friendly with me any more.

I'm fairly sure there's a beach on Turks Island where you can land and then walk into town. If so, you can land there without having to face the fort. There's also a beach very near the town which is in range of the fort's guns, so get yourself a map of Turks Island and make sure you go for the right beach!

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Off topic, but how do you keep the flushdeck frigate? When I sail to Jamaica it disappears.

 

[Grey Roger]

I get the flushdeck frigate the same way I get all my ships - I steal it. Sometimes there's one in a group of French ships which I'm attacking. The first time that happens, I capture it and keep it.