The Historical Ships Mod

[Pieter Boelen]

I do still get a while bunch of error logs generated, which I hope you can have a look at:

Never mind about that; I got it all solved.

Well, its still a mess, its just an organized mess now. For everything to really be fixed correctly, all the model files should be renamed, but I was NOT going to step into that mess!

Do you have any suggestions on how to go about that?
There's a program called "The Rename" that allows you to rename all files of a ship at once, making the renaming much easier.
And since the inclusion of the Different Flags mod, we've modified pretty much all ships anyway,
so if we'd include the full Models\Ships folder in the Build 14 Alpha, it shouldn't increase the download size much.

 

[Doober]

It wouldn't be hard work, just alot of work. Would probably want to just name them the name + a number (ie brig1, brig2, brig3...). That way, the .all file would just point back to the first brig and the code would be alot easier to understand. That program would certainly make things easier. My only hesitation is that there are so many people who contributed to different ships that if we renamed them all as a generic name, I wouldn't want those who worked so hard on them to be offended. If you'll notice, the ships like the Suprise and the Black Pearl, I did very little to because I just didn't feel right overwriting someone else's work. If the other modders don't mind, I can do it, but I didn't want to offend anyone. Maybe I'm just being silly though.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I think as long as the original modders are credited in ships_init.c, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

 

[Captain Maggee]

And the ones from the movies get credited in my credits (which I am working on )

 

[Doober]

Is there a quick way to change my character's sailing and leadership skill? I would like to increase them to test out the the some of the higher ships, but with the new system, even if you level up, it doesn't increase those, so I still can't sail bigger ships. Also, while I'm thinking of it, does the fact the that captains for the AI ships usually are too low rated for their ships affect their ability to sail properly? Usually when I capture a big ship, the captain is rated very low.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

You can remove the return; in PROGRAM\console.c; then go into any port and press F12.
Then you're fully leveled-up, get a new ship and better weapons and six officers.

Alternatively, set pchar.skill.(skillname) = #; in console, then press F12 for the change to take effect.
Here's an example:

void ExecuteConsole()
{
ref pchar = GetMainCharacter();
if (!bSeaActive) ref lcn = &Locations[FindLocation(pchar.location)];
ref ch;
int i;
int limit;

pchar.skill.Leadership = "1";
pchar.skill.Fencing = "3";
pchar.skill.Sailing = "1";
pchar.skill.Accuracy = "1";
pchar.skill.Cannons = "1";
pchar.skill.Grappling = "1";
pchar.skill.Repair = "1";
pchar.skill.Defence = "1";
pchar.skill.Commerce = "1";
pchar.skill.Sneak = "1";

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Doober, do you know how to set different interface pictures for different ships?
The reason I'm asking is because I wonder if we could arrange it so that each ship uses a screenshot as it's interface picture.
That'd make it much easier to judge what you're buying and would be useful in the Repaint interface too.

 

[Doober]

Yes, it is assigned in pictures.ini uses ships_[NUM] or ships-[NUM], I forget which one at the moment. I don't have it in front of me at the moment, but I can look it up when I'm at my regular computer. You would need to expand the dimensions of that file and add the screenshots. One downside is that the file requires transparent textures, so when you save it, it is quite a bit larger file than regular icon files. That would be quite a bit of work. You would need to take screenshots of every ship, remove the backgrounds, place them in that file and then designate them in pictures.ini in accordance with their pixel position in the file. It would look really awesome though!

 

[Doober]

Also, the shipyard icons are different than the sailing icons, so if you wanted them to match, you would need to do the process twice.

 

[Captain Maggee]

I have just found a problem with changing some of the ships classes (no biggy just need to edit a couple of lines of code now and then)
A ship is trying to be found and the code was:

if ((GetCharacterShipClass(CharacterFromID("Nigel Blythe")) < 5) && (GetCharacterShipClass(CharacterFromID("Nigel Blythe")) != -1))

Now the ship that is given to Nigel Blythe used to be a class 4 ship but now that ship is in catagory 6 so changing the "< 5" to "< 7" fixes the problem

 

[Doober]

I noticed that the Soleil Royale seems to have something wrong with it, the model seems to shake when in deck view. I have no idea what would cause that.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Don't (almost) all ships shake to some extent in deck sailing mode?
I always assumed that was because the ship's 3D model location is not update frequently enough.

I do know a lot of the ropes are missing because it's an AoP/CoAS model.
She'd need to be modified for PotC. Just some locator-changes necessary,
but using TOOL screws up the model, apparently. Captain Maggee already tried.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Discussion split off to the Fixing the Build Mod Ships and Ship Images threads.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

On other notes I notice that the ships have all been reclassified and that some warships frigates and light frigates for example are now available for purchase.

The above is a valid remark, which probably means that we need to modify these lines in PROGRAM\InternalSettings.h:

/* ----REALISTIC SHIP PURCHASE----
This mod disables the selling of navy ships to characters who don't have a high enough national rank

Note: Navy ships are ships that have Type.War = true and Type.Trade = false
If you want a certain ship to not be considered a navy ship, change these settings in ships_init.c

Settings per ship class:
------------------------
-1 = No LoM required
0 = Only a LoM required
>0 = National rank required (see nations_init.c)
Set all to -1 to disable this mod
*/
#define RANK_FOR_EIGHTH_RATE			-1		// Default: No LoM Required
#define RANK_FOR_SEVENTH_RATE			-1		// Default: No LoM Required
#define RANK_FOR_SIXTH_RATE			-1		// Default: No LoM Required
#define RANK_FOR_FIFTH_RATE			-1		// Default: No LoM Required
#define RANK_FOR_FOURTH_RATE			0		// Only a LoM required
#define RANK_FOR_THIRD_RATE			3		// Lowest rank: Commander (England)
#define RANK_FOR_SECOND_RATE			5		// Lowest rank: Commodore (England)
#define RANK_FOR_FIRST_RATE			7		// Lowest rank: Admiral (England)

I'm not quite sure anymore what the values should be now with the ship reclassifications.

 

[Doober]

If you want to be historically accurate, Commanders commanded sloops of war, a captain would command anything from a frigate to a ship of the line. Commodores commanded more than one ship and were typically considered "senior captains", Admirals would command a fleet. Admirals never personally commanded a ship and if they had an order for the ship they were on (i.e. flagship), they would have the captain give the order. Depending on the time period, Privateers commanded anything from sloops of war to frigates to galleons, but often converted trade ships. How you would put all that into the build, I'm not sure.

For the sake of ease, I would put 0 at class six and step it up from there to an admiral commanding a class one ship.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I don't think historical accuracy would work too well here for gameplay purposes.
The idea is that for every few promotions, you can legally buy bigger ships.
How's this for a suggestion?

#define RANK_FOR_EIGHTH_RATE			-1		// Default: No LoM Required
#define RANK_FOR_SEVENTH_RATE			-1		// Default: No LoM Required
#define RANK_FOR_SIXTH_RATE			0		// Only a LoM required
#define RANK_FOR_FIFTH_RATE			2		// Lowest rank: 3rd Lieutenant (England)
#define RANK_FOR_FOURTH_RATE			4		// Lowest rank: 1st Lieutenant (England)
#define RANK_FOR_THIRD_RATE			6		// Lowest rank: Captain (England)
#define RANK_FOR_SECOND_RATE			8		// Lowest rank: Rear Admiral (England)
#define RANK_FOR_FIRST_RATE			10		// Lowest rank: Admiral (England)

Personally I think I'd prefer having new ship classes become available at Commander and Commodore rank,
but I suppose the above would make the most gameplay sense.

 

[Doober]

I think that looks pretty good. It does seem to take a long time to get a promotion though. I've never actually ever gotten to Admiral. Have others? I tend to play as pirates more though, so it is hard for me to judge it.

 

[Captain Maggee]

I think the rank of Commodore should maybe give you an officer of the nation (of rank 2nd Lieutenant [or equivilant]) and everytime you get a higher rank he will also get a higher rank. (or maybe he starts as midshipmen and goes straight to 1st Lieutenant)
- So rank 7 he is Midshipmen ...
- rank 8 he is 1st Lieutenant ... (or just Lieutenant ...)
- rank 9 he is Commander ...
- rank 10 he is Captain ...

This way you CAN actually be like a Commodore and have two ships (both with Nation Captains)

Just a suggestion

 

[Pieter Boelen]

We could add that to the GivePromotionReward() function in PROGRAM\NK.c.
However, NPC's don't actually get ranks and even if they do, it's meaningless.

 

[Captain Maggee]

I just meant change his name :