Mod Release Build 14 Beta 3.5 Internal WIP For Testing

[Pieter Boelen]

Opening post ZIP updated again. Please get THIS version and discard yesterday's one. Be sure to start a new game too!
This contains a couple of slight corrections plus one small but hugely important fix for storyline/sidequest interference.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I just started the beta 3.5 with the 7 may zip in the Sea Hawk storyline. I didn't notice that I started with the French flag so finding meself in Martinique was a surprise, but the tutorial worked fine. The shipyard menu worked perfectly.

There is a problem and these 2 screenies illustrate it well. The first is right after finishing the melee tutorial on the ship deck and the second is in the store after selling cargo to the merchant. 10-10?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I just started the beta 3.5 with the 7 may zip in the sea Hawk storyline. I didn't notice that I started with the French flag so finding meself in Martinique was a surprise, but the tutorial worked fine. The shipyard menu worked perfectly.

Indeed as per recently various starting choices are linked to your character model. See here for some more details:
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/custom-pre-defined-character-choices.24995/
Since all models do have a nation defined, each model will automatically choose the appropriate nation for you.
Of course you can override that in the interface after selecting your model in case you might want to choose another nation.

There is a problem and these 2 screenies illustrate it well. The first is right after finishing the melee tutorial on the ship deck and the second is in the store after selling cargo to the merchant. 10-10?

That is probably due to this problem that I only caught and fixed two hours ago:
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/230-skill-experience.24565/page-2#post-506857
I'm currently working on finishing some stuff on my to-do list and am hoping to post a correction before the end of the weekend.

In the meantime, extract attached file to your PROGRAM folder. That should probably fix it.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Ayup! That did the trick. I started a new game and tried a different character and career as an agent. The much better starting sword meant I did not gain nearly as much melee skill as before.

 

[Nightmare]

long rifle ftw

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I got my first capture of this game just now. In the screenie both ships can be seen, my Neptunus and the merchant pinnace. These are both high detail ships. There are also two other ships close by. I mention this because the frame rate is 59 fps and it is smooth. This is unheard of in 3.5 for me!

But it is still early times yet and we shall see if this performance holds up. But I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I got my first capture of this game just now. In the screenie both ships can be seen, my Neptunus and the merchant pinnace. These are both high detail ships. There are also two other ships close by. I mention this because the frame rate is 59 fps and it is smooth. This is unheard of in 3.5 for me!

That is with the extra No Lag Band-Aid installed, right?

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Umm no I don't think so. It is with the Part 1 and part 2 plus the 7 May zip from post #1 onto the dead 3.5 install. It is now working and working very well.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

You can easily tell if you have the NoLag fix installed as it should be displayed in the game's main menu when you have it.
I'd be really surprised if the current Beta 3.5 WIP would have better performance than Beta 3.4 though.
All the code is still in there, but with more added. So I'd expect it to be pretty much equal, really.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

It is still early in the game and anything could happen, but this install is the 7 May one.


Hypotheses: Something in the code was causing a conflict resulting in poor performance. Somehow that conflict is now removed.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

New Installer EXE
After a lot of hard work this weekend and a lot of testing, finally I've got another proper EXE installer with all the latest stuff.
If I am correct, this one should be really quite playable. Though of course quest interference still needs testing, as do the effects from the Realistic Cargo Mod.

All the options for the Free Play storyline should be working properly now, which a whole bunch of pre-defined characters being available.
Navy Officer gameplay only works for England and France, but that is being worked on by @Grey Roger.
Also the Standard and Free Play storyline tutorials must be skipped for America as they aren't fully playable just yet.

New game enforced (again) because all sorts of things were changed at the initialization stage.
You can still use your old savegames by manually setting the IS_SGV value at the bottom of PROGRAM\globals.c back to your current version.
After loading your savegame, be sure to press F11 to reinitialize. As this does bypass some new game fixes, I do recommend starting a new game if at all possible.

Build 14 Beta 3.5:
- New Features:
  . Improved Select Storyline Interface by Levis and Pieter Boelen
   > Free Play storyline added that enabled various custom game starts linked to player background profession
   > New "Cursed" player type added
    > Interface elements enabled and disabled as appropriate to prevent errors
  . Realistic Cargo Mod by J Norrington and Pieter Boelen
    > Minimum and maximum crew overwritten if set too low in ships_init.c
    > Changes to ensure ship randomization doesn't cause less capacity than the pre-calculated minimum
- Bug Fixes:
  . Add multiple skill points to prevent >100% values by Pieter Boelen
  . "Protected" quest companion ships will never mutiny by Pieter Boelen
  . Insane skill increases fixed by Pieter Boelen (correction from previous upload)
  . Escort Quests to Hispaniola corrected by Pieter Boelen
- Storyline Updates:
  . Sidequests:
    > Edgar Attwood sidequest enabled in all storylines by Pieter Boelen
  . Tutorial in Standard and Free Play storylines:
    > Locked locations after French Tutorial fixed by Pieter Boelen
    > American tutorial enabled by Pieter Boelen [WIP: To be completed]
  . Jack Sparrow Storyline:
    > Generic sidequests disabled where a custom version is available by Pieter Boelen
  . Devlin Opera Storyline:
    > Placed in "Unfinished Storylines" section in installer
    > Restored to former functionality

Unless any hugely pressing matters are uncovered soon, this may be my last update for a while as there are some other things I need to take care of.
It is my hope though that this version will prove relatively playable and everyone here will join in some proper testing of all the various changes.

 

[Grey Roger]

Minor update to "Periods.c". In the "Spanish Main" time period, Holland is now hostile to England. The first three Anglo-Dutch wars happened in this time period.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Minor update to "Periods.c". In the "Spanish Main" time period, Holland is now hostile to England. The first three Anglo-Dutch wars happened in this time period.

^@Bartolomeu o Portugues, does that affect the logic of the Bartolomeu and Assassin storylines?
If I recall, the Assassin storyline already overrides some default period relations, so hopefully this OK.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I didn't know Eugene Martin was French when I chose him to start the Sea Hawk storyline. Now I'm trying to figure out how to sink a French Barque and steal a French Flushdeck Frigate without losing my LoM.

Loving the great performance so far.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I didn't know Eugene Martin was French when I chose him to start the Sea Hawk storyline. Now I'm trying to figure out how to sink a French Barque and steal a French Flushdeck Frigate without losing my LoM.

The name didn't give it away? Of course if you select his character model, France will be pre-chosen as your nation.
But you can change that afterwards and select whatever nation you want.

Loving the great performance so far.

I sincerely hope that will continue!

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Two things I noticed last night.

1. I wanted to sail into Kralendijk to beg for forgiveness so raised the white flag of truce. It didn't work as two warships sailed out and started shooting holes in my ship.

2. This game is bad at math and I almost capsized because of it. I was in town and got my ship repaired, bought supplies, and then bought cargo for a run to another port. When I got on the ship it was overloaded and I had to go back and sell some planks to get it under weight. It was NOT overweight when I bought the original cargo.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Eugene Martin sounds English to me.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Eugene Martin sounds English to me.

Fair enough. For some reason, it has always sounded French to me. But it can go either way, I suppose.

 

[Grey Roger]

He should be a pirate.
Eugene Martin is the storekeeper in the Buccaneer Camp on Hispaniola. I did a lot of business with him early in the "Bartolomeu" storyline which is why I recognise the name.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

He is a shady merchant, which is kinda how I play. I buy and sell to most anyone no matter if they like me or not. Their money doesn't care.