Solved Storyline Period Changes

[Pieter Boelen]

Just putting the Beta 2.3 ships_init.c back in should work, I think. Only the Beta 2.4 modified corvette-based ships wouldn't get their correct crew walk files loaded.

 

[Uberman7788]

I think I can deal with that I've only ever seen 1 Corvette, even back in 2.1.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Same for the FastMerchantmen. But we'll keep working on the 2.4 WIP and will hopefully have things working a bit better again soon.

 

[Armada]

I play only free play, I don't follow the story.

See, this is why I really think we need to add the ability to start a purely free-play game in any chosen period.
The way it is right now, with only certain storylines suitable for free-play, is limiting the freedom of choice quite severely.
For instance, I have a feeling you'd much prefer to play in period 3 (Jack Sparrow storyline) because of the types of ships that should be common then, but the storyline itself makes this quite difficult.

Armada, did you edit the Xebec encounter changes too?
Reducing the chances on other ships should make the ones that aren't touched more common.

I don't recall changing the xebec encounter chances...
In fact, I just did a WinMerge comparison of the Beta 2.3 and Beta 2.4 Ships_init files, and it looks as though I only actually changed the former Light Frigates' encounter chances.
I suspect the difference between Beta 2.1 and Beta 2.4 is the real cause of this reduction in variety, because that also includes the former Frigates' chances being changed, among others.

 

[Uberman7788]

The thing about the jack sparrow is that the campaign starts you out as...jack sparrow...and in a high tier ship.

I like the Sea Hawk campaign because you start out with nothing and become something.

 

[Armada]

Exactly. It would be nice if one could choose a time period and begin with very little.
The new Customise Character interface that is being worked on will allow players to choose their starting ship, character and many other things, but I'm not sure if it includes choosing the start date.

 

[Armada]

I just tested this storyline with Beta 2.4 WIP 2 and I can see what you're on about. The first bunch of ships I encountered were all luggers, sloops and caravels.


On a related note: while testing, I started to wonder... why is the Sea Hawk storyline set in 1690? Is that the date the original game used?
Watching the intro video about the Oxbay invasion again, it's clear to me that the storyline should probably be set sometime in the mid 1700s, judging by the types of ships it shows (brigs, frigates, and ships of the line).

Generally speaking, these types of ships seem to be more popular among players here (especially fans of PotBS).
So, theoretically, what's to stop us from changing the storyline's start date to, say, 1750, and moving a different storyline (such as the Chevalier one with no real quests) to the 1690 time frame?
That way, free play would be possible in periods 0 (Devlin), 2 (Chevlier), 3 (Sea Hawk) and 4 (Master and Commander), providing plenty of options.
What do you guys think? Would you approve of a change like this?

 

[Uberman7788]

I like it. Is that a major change or is it something somebody could DIY?

 

[Hylie Pistof]

How odd. The only ships I am not seeing are xebecs. I have seen corvettes, the Kreyser class frigate, brigs, sloops, sloop of war, even the FastNavy lateen rigged frigate. Oh, and I have yet to see any fastmerchantman. Am I in the wrong period?

 

[Skyworm]

Hi there!

The thing about the jack sparrow is that the campaign starts you out as...jack sparrow...and in a high tier ship.

No, you don't. The storyline-description is just wrong about that
You start with a naval Cutter at Cayman island, which is a fairly small ship in my opinion. But, you get a high tier ship very quickly if you follow the storyline to Barbados. After the Barbados quests done, you get that ship. But no one forces you to follow the storyline, free play is absolutely possible.

I like the Sea Hawk campaign because you start out with nothing and become something.

I absolutely sign this. Starting low and becoming something is far more interesting.

About the storylines:
I fully agree a free play option iny any era is a good thing to have. But before shifting the New Horizons storyline to another era, please note that what makes this storyline so really good is the "stormy start" option. At least in my opinion this is so. Would it be possible to add a stormy start to other storylines, as a free play more exciting alternative start? Just an idea.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The thing about the jack sparrow is that the campaign starts you out as...jack sparrow...and in a high tier ship.

Actually, no you don't. That's just to put some recognizable imagery in the Select Storyline interface.
In fact, after the short opening scene, you'll end up as young Jack Sparrow with a Cutter. And free play is very much possible then.
Why don't you start a Jack Sparrow game and see where you get?
(OH.... I see Skyworm already mentioned this. )

See, this is why I really think we need to add the ability to start a purely free-play game in any chosen period.
The way it is right now, with only certain storylines suitable for free-play, is limiting the freedom of choice quite severely.
For instance, I have a feeling you'd much prefer to play in period 3 (Jack Sparrow storyline) because of the types of ships that should be common then, but the storyline itself makes this quite difficult.

While I agree I'd much rather have free play enabled in ALL periods, the only storylines that are REALLY crappy for free play are Woodes Rogers and Hornblower. The others are fair game.
Woodes Rogers is set in the same period as the Standard one. So only "The Corsican" doesn't have a good free play storyline available.

The new Customise Character interface that is being worked on will allow players to choose their starting ship, character and many other things, but I'm not sure if it includes choosing the start date.

With the version I've got, you cannot change the date yet. Hopefully I'll from Pirate_KK soon and get his latest texture and code files.
Perhaps he did get round to including that too?

I just tested this storyline with Beta 2.4 WIP 2 and I can see what you're on about. The first bunch of ships I encountered were all luggers, sloops and caravels.

When I was doing some Woodes Rogers yesterday in the same period, I encountered quite a lot of Luggers out at sea.
But also two Spanish galleons and one English HMS_Mordaunt.

On a related note: while testing, I started to wonder... why is the Sea Hawk storyline set in 1690? Is that the date the original game used?
Watching the intro video about the Oxbay invasion again, it's clear to me that the storyline should probably be set sometime in the mid 1700s, judging by the types of ships it shows (brigs, frigates, and ships of the line).

That date was changed at some point ages ago for some sort of realism reason. I don't think I was even here yet at the time, so I'm not sure why.
Would it make sense to at least set it back to the same year as the video says? Then at least that would match up.

I fully agree a free play option iny any era is a good thing to have. But before shifting the New Horizons storyline to another era, please note that what makes this storyline so really good is the "stormy start" option. At least in my opinion this is so. Would it be possible to add a stormy start to other storylines, as a free play more exciting alternative start? Just an idea.

That'd be a bit more work. Not yet sure how to set that up. And who might want to actually do the coding for that.
I don't; got several other things to do lined up still. For example, eventually I'd like to put the sidequests in the other storylines too.
When you ARE doing free play, you might still enjoy some short stories you can do at your leisure, no?

 

[Luffy]

See, this is why I really think we need to add the ability to start a purely free-play game in any chosen period.
The way it is right now, with only certain storylines suitable for free-play, is limiting the freedom of choice quite severely.
For instance, I have a feeling you'd much prefer to play in period 3 (Jack Sparrow storyline) because of the types of ships that should be common then, but the storyline itself makes this quite difficult.

what's the best story line for free play?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Master & Commander: Offers no story at all, so you'll HAVE to do free play.
Standard (Tales of a Sea Hawk): Gives you different starting location based on your selected Nation + has the Stormy Start option
Assassin storyline: You could go free play straight away
Bartolomeu, Jack Sparrow and Tales of a Chevalier storylines: Need to play the opening scene before you get a ship
Woodes Rogers and Hornblower: Free play NOT recommended and, in fact, discouraged

 

[Luffy]

Master & Commander: Offers no story at all, so you'll HAVE to do free play.
Standard (Tales of a Sea Hawk): Gives you different starting location based on your selected Nation + has the Stormy Start option
Assassin storyline: You could go free play straight away
Bartolomeu, Jack Sparrow and Tales of a Chevalier storylines: Need to play the opening scene before you get a ship
Woodes Rogers and Hornblower: Free play NOT recommended and, in fact, discouraged

okay thankyou, the forum post is now open to the public now forgot to set it .

 

[Skyworm]

Cheers!

(OH.... I see Skyworm already mentioned this. )

ARRR!

That date was changed at some point ages ago for some sort of realism reason. I don't think I was even here yet at the time, so I'm not sure why.
Would it make sense to at least set it back to the same year as the video says? Then at least that would match up.

I followed this storyline last in Build 13 I think. If it has not been changed very much, I would place it in the 18th century. The intro vodeo shows some rather modern ship types, the french blockade of Spightstown is made of frigates, and a war ship, and in the story around Spightstown you'll have to sail a french corvette out of port. And later, to the end of the storyline, you'll encounter Silehard sailing a very nelsonic looking ship of the line.

That'd be a bit more work. Not yet sure how to set that up. And who might want to actually do the coding for that.
I don't; got several other things to do lined up still. For example, eventually I'd like to put the sidequests in the other storylines too.
When you ARE doing free play, you might still enjoy some short stories you can do at your leisure, no?

I am not opposed to storylines. Sometimes this is precisely what I want. I did greatly enjoy the Hoist the Colours Storyline.
But to me, a storyline defines sort of the playing style. Being Jack ... pardon ... Captain Jack Sparrow, I'd never play like a merchant for that's not his style. On the other hand, as a Hornblower I would not become a smuggler or pirate. So, playing a storyline always cuts in the freedom of choice, at least for players like me who like to do a certain amount of role play while playing this game.
That's why I prefer to choose my role and era and side myself at the moment. But on the other hand, now that I know how to change setting in the storylines, I don't think I'd need much of a change here. It would just be more comfortable of chosing such parameters in a menu than editing them in the StartStoryline.c

 

[Armada]

That date was changed at some point ages ago for some sort of realism reason. I don't think I was even here yet at the time, so I'm not sure why.
Would it make sense to at least set it back to the same year as the video says? Then at least that would match up.

What, 1630? If that was the original start date, I can see why it would have been changed to a later time.
Akella didn't do their homework if they thought mid-18th century ships would have existed in the early 17th century. (Much like how Assassin's Creed IV seems to put Napoleonic ships in the early 1700s. )

Now if the start date had been 1730, that would have made more sense. In this case though, that date is still covered by period 2, so it would be pointless to use it.
That's why I suggested something like 1750, which comfortably sits in the middle of period 3, and makes more historical sense for the ships featured in the storyline.

Plus, with that time frame, we could probably restore the French blockade to its original Battleship, Frigate and Corvette formation, with the latter two being high-detail models.
And perhaps the Centurion could replace the Battleship role? (I know it's English, but it could pass off as a French ship in those colours).

EDIT: The important question I meant to ask was, would changing the start date influence anything in the storyline itself? Are there any other years mentioned in the code?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The menu choices are being worked on, but we have to see how far we get with that. It's a bit complex and involves a LOT.

If you play the Jack Sparrow storyline, you could go to a tailor's shop, get different clothes, rename yourself and forget about being Jack Sparrow altogether.
That is very possible without editing any code at all.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

EDIT: The important question I meant to ask was, would changing the start date influence anything in the storyline itself? Are there any other years mentioned in the code?

Don't think so. This is the only code I recall being based on the year and that looks fine:

            pchar.quest.becomes_oldman.win_condition.l1 = "Timer";
            pchar.quest.becomes_oldman.win_condition.l1.date.day = 1;
            pchar.quest.becomes_oldman.win_condition.l1.date.month = 1;
            pchar.quest.becomes_oldman.win_condition.l1.date.year = GetDataYear() + 40; // KK
            pchar.quest.becomes_oldman.win_condition = "becomes_oldman";

Not entirely sure if that even works as intended. Or if people ever play in the same game for 40 years.

Moving the storyline to a different time period would have these effects though:
- No more Golden Age of Piracy free play storyline, because Woodes Rogers is no good for that
- The soldier skins will not match up with the original game anymore at all, which is something we had tried to keep the same before

 

[Armada]

Moving the storyline to a different time period would have these effects though:
- No more Golden Age of Piracy free play storyline, because Woodes Rogers is no good for that
- The soldier skins will not match up with the original game anymore at all, which is something we had tried to keep the same before

For the first point:

So, theoretically, what's to stop us from changing the storyline's start date to, say, 1750, and moving a different storyline (such as the Chevalier one with no real quests) to the 1690 time frame?

For the second point: I guess that would have a significant effect. Does anyone here think that different soldier skins would detract from the storyline?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Also, putting the Standard storyline in 1750 would place it in Colonial Powers. Then we'd have TWO storylines that offer free play there, because Jack Sparrow does too.

On the other hand, with all the "English vs. French" stuff going on in it, could there anything be said for moving it to "The Corsican" instead?
There is no free play available there, because Hornblower is no good for that.

So we'd get:
Early Explorers: Devlin
Spanish Main: Assassin and Bartolomeu
Golden Age of Piracy: Tales of a Chevalier
Colonial Powers: Jack Sparrow
Revolutions: Master & Commander
The Corsican: Standard

Or is that going a bit far?