Fix in Progress Repairing Bad Ropes

[The Nameless Pirate]

Unfortunately it doesn't quite work. When I tried putting your files into the game and loaded up my savegame with the Mefisto, the game beeped and "system.log" contained this:

SHIP: Up trace error, ship Frigate_sat
SHIP: Down trace error, ship Frigate_sat

I've seen this before, earlier in this thread when I was re-rigging "Schooner2":
Fix in Progress - Repairing Bad Ropes

In this case, the problem is likely to have been caused by adding new components to the base "Frigate_sat.gm" model using TOOL. Adding locators is fine, otherwise a lot of my re-rigging work wouldn't work; but adding or removing components with "Edit Scene" seems not to work, which is probably why those ships which have extra details added have them in a separate "deck.gm" file. "Frigate_sat" has one, containing the usual wheel, bell, capstan and anchors, and it's also where I added the swivel guns.

At first I thought that you'd need to add the cannons to "Frigate_sat_deck.gm", which would be a major pain because you can't use GM Viewer to see where they are relative to the rest of the ship. But then a really simple solution occurred to me. I used TOOL to edit your "Frigate_sat.gm", removed the hull and deck components to leave only the new guns, removed all the locators, and saved the result as "Frigate_sat_guns.gm". Then all I had to do was add a "geometry" locator to my "Frigate_sat.gm" to reference "guns". The result worked perfectly - nice guns, no beeps, no errors in "system.log".

By the way, if you're modding or creating ships, FreePlay and cheatmode are your new best friends. FreePlay allows you to choose any ship of modest level (tier 5 - 8) from your chosen period - set the year before trying to pick a ship. Cheatmode removes the tier restriction so you can choose any ship valid for your chosen period. That means once the ship model is done (and the entries in "Ships_init.c" and "ShipModels_descriptions.txt", if necessary), it takes just a few minutes to start a game using your ship so you can test it. If the ship is likely to need more work, save game, then you can reload it and get back to your ship even more quickly without having to go through the character and ship selection process again.

Also the console!

Thanks @Grey Roger and @Pieter Boelen, i will remember this for future reference.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Ah, that's possibly why several ships which I wanted to import from GoF have the reverse lighting problem. They have additional deadeyes at the base of the shrouds, compared to the basic stock AoP hulls, and adding those probably fouled up the files.

Sounds very likely. It's tempting to add detail directly to the hull GM; it just doesn't work right.
I assume those ships in GoF also beep then...

That's fine if you have a game in progress which you don't mind altering for the purpose of testing the ship. Otherwise you'll need to start a new FreePlay game to have something on which to use console, and in that case you may as well pick the right ship to start with.

It's great having options available!

From my side, I mostly use console because I can keep the game open and use it to switch ships without even closing/opening the game at all.
That's what I did to make a lot of those ship interface screenshots, if I recall.

 

[Grey Roger]

Sounds very likely. It's tempting to add detail directly to the hull GM; it just doesn't work right.
I assume those ships in GoF also beep then...

I've no idea what they do in GoF, but they didn't beep in PoTC. They just had the lighting on the wrong side.

From my side, I mostly use console because I can keep the game open and use it to switch ships without even closing/opening the game at all.
That's what I did to make a lot of those ship interface screenshots, if I recall.

If I want to switch ships for the purposes of doing multiple interface pictures or checking that something is working, they're probably all variants of the same ship, and that means I can swap between them in a shipyard. And if I've just started a FreePlay game, I'll be at the port associated with whichever nation I picked during setup. It may not be quite as quick as using the console, but there's probably not much in it, and one way involves wandering through Speightstown while the other involves wandering through "console.c".

 

[Grey Roger]

I could bring back one of the other stock frigates so that "Frigate_sat" can continue to be a copy of it, if you prefer.

That was originally just a joke, but now I'm considering it for real.

Players who want to have good characters might prefer to have a non-Satanic colour scheme for the Mefisto when they've captured her. For those versions which are versions of existing ships, that's trivially easy - duplicate a suitable existing model, rename the copy, give it an entry in "Ships_init.c" which is a straight copy of the Satanist ship's entry (possibly with a different 'refShip.SName'). "Frigate_sat" has no comparable model, so bring back one of the stock frigate textures and apply it to a copy of "Frigate_sat" so that the hero version still has the horny stern. Give it the same rigging and detail upgrades as "Frigate_sat". And, as with other Mefisto repaints, leave 'CanEncounter' and 'CanBuy' disabled. The only ways to get any of these ships are by capturing the Mefisto and repainting her, by picking them directly in FreePlay, or from Vanderdecken.

The hero version of "Sat_Essex" could be the original "US_Essex" with the white pinstripes so that @Captain Armstrong's original model is back in the game.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That was originally just a joke, but now I'm considering it for real.

Players who want to have good characters might prefer to have a non-Satanic colour scheme for the Mefisto when they've captured her. For those versions which are versions of existing ships, that's trivially easy - duplicate a suitable existing model, rename the copy, give it an entry in "Ships_init.c" which is a straight copy of the Satanist ship's entry (possibly with a different 'refShip.SName'). "Frigate_sat" has no comparable model, so bring back one of the stock frigate textures and apply it to a copy of "Frigate_sat" so that the hero version still has the horny stern. Give it the same rigging and detail upgrades as "Frigate_sat". And, as with other Mefisto repaints, leave 'CanEncounter' and 'CanBuy' disabled. The only ways to get any of these ships are by capturing the Mefisto and repainting her, by picking them directly in FreePlay, or from Vanderdecken.

And if the stats remain the same, she'll still BE the 'Mefisto'!
Bit like the cursed and uncursed Flying Dutchman then. Nice idea.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

This is an interesting idea, even though i would keep the black and red version (even if i play as a good guy), it's a good thing to have options!

 

[Grey Roger]

Here's the de-Satanified fluyt of war:

The spirally band through the upper gun ports and the stern decor with the dragon shield are borrowed from "bortoutfleut3.tga.tx" (see New fluyt of war).

And this is the ex-Satanic frigate:

By making the texture for the spectre figurehead with a chain transparent, I can put an angel there instead. There is, however, a snag - the same area which supplies the texture for the spectre overlaps slightly with the texture for the stern, so there's a slight glitch. Either I stick with the original spectre, tolerate the glitch, or use the stock "Frigate1" model without the horns on the stern. In any case, the end result is basically the stock "Frigate1" colour scheme with the Mefisto stern decor changed from evil red into nice gold.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I like it!
I also like the return of the "default stock game frigate texture".
That one's really iconic to me for some reason.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

I like it!

This is indeed nice!

 

[Grey Roger]

Thanks for the compliments!

I don't know about "iconic", but stock "Frigate1" was certainly my favourite. While playing the stock game itself, I liked the white/blue/gold battleship, "Battleship2", but when I switched to Build 13 with its more realistic sailing system in which battleships were too slow and clumsy for general sailing and pirating, I transferred my allegiance to "Frigate1". Its texture is, in fact, very similar to the Kreyser-based current "Frigate1", which is why I copied and re-coloured the stern from the Mefisto - to make it more distinctive. (And to make it blatantly obvious that this is a repainted Mefisto. )

The other alternative was to use the stock "Frigate2" texture, which looks nothing like any of our current frigates, being overall green. But, as I said, "Frigate1" was my favourite of the two, and I'm the one doing this, so that's what I'm using.

Good news, by the way - by carefully nibbling away at the alpha map, I managed to make the spectre completely invisible without leaving any bits of chain floating around the bow and without any holes in the stern. So the de-Satanified frigate is going to keep its horns.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

I don't know about "iconic", but stock "Frigate1" was certainly my favourite. While playing the stock game itself, I liked the white/blue/gold battleship, "Battleship2", but when I switched to Build 13 with its more realistic sailing system in which battleships were too slow and clumsy for general sailing and pirating, I transferred my allegiance to "Frigate1". Its texture is, in fact, very similar to the Kreyser-based current "Frigate1", which is why I copied and re-coloured the stern from the Mefisto - to make it more distinctive. (And to make it blatantly obvious that this is a repainted Mefisto. )

My favorite ships from the stock game were the corvette with the red stripe, the Mefisto and the Black Pearl (if she counts, since you couldn't use her back then), after those three it was Frigate1 that i liked the most.
I was really happy to see them in New Horizons with more detail, when i first played POTC on PC.

Good news, by the way - by carefully nibbling away at the alpha map, I managed to make the spectre completely invisible without leaving any bits of chain floating around the bow and without any holes in the stern. So the de-Satanified frigate is going to keep its horns.

This is good, the horns are a big part of the Mefisto look.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

the Black Pearl (if she counts, since you couldn't use her back then)

Did you actually like the stock game version of her? That model was really, REALLY inaccurate!
You can still see her in the mod as, I think, "Lineship1". But modified some more for more general use.
I'm really glad we've got the real deal now. (Thanks, @Kazeite! )

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Did you actually like the stock game version of her? That model was really, REALLY inaccurate!
You can still see her in the mod as, I think, "Lineship1". But modified some more for more general use.
I'm really glad we've got the real deal now. (Thanks, @Kazeite! )

Well from what i know she had very good stats, thats why i liked her, as a Black Pearl no, as a ship yes.

Now that we have the actual black pearl i don't use the stock version, since she is slower and less nimble than the actual Black Pearl and she is VERY INACCURATE.

The Black Pearl mod i made for TEHO uses the actual Black Pearl, if liked the fake Black Pearl more i would have used her, but as said before she is VERY INACCURATE. (Thanks, @Kazeite!!! )

 

[Grey Roger]

Update to "Frigate_Ex_Sat":

The colour hasn't changed, it's just evening rather than afternoon. The Kreyser-like dragon below the side cabin windows is gone after a bit of work with Photoshop to copy some of the planking over it, and the lower part of the Mefisto cabin is now in place. There are also frames round the stern gun ports.

The next job will be to make a de-Satanified "Essex". I'd thought about making a hybrid with the original white pinstripes on the hull, the dark masts of the Mefisto and the golden yellow bow and stern of a Spanish "Essex". But bearing in mind how this whole sudden interest in Satanist ships started when I noticed that the original "US_Essex" was wrong for USS Essex and then didn't want to discard the original model entirely, it would close the circle neatly if the original "US_Essex", complete with white masts, bow and stern, became the new Un-Satanic Essex.

@The Nameless Pirate: as "PiratFrigateSat" is your creation, would you like to make the not-Satanist version? Ideally it should look close enough to one of the other Kreysers that it can share that ship's interface picture - I had to make a new picture for "Frigate_Ex_Sat", but the de-Satinified fluyt of war and "Essex" will use the interface pictures of "Fleut2" and "US_Essex" respectively.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

@The Nameless Pirate: as "PiratFrigateSat" is your creation, would you like to make the not-Satanist version? Ideally it should look close enough to one of the other Kreysers that it can share that ship's interface picture - I had to make a new picture for "Frigate_Ex_Sat", but the de-Satinified fluyt of war and "Essex" will use the interface pictures of "Fleut2" and "US_Essex" respectively.

I will see what i can do.
Maybe use a modified version of the Frigate1 Kreyser texture but with the dragons of "PiratFrigateSat" repainted to gold, like @Grey Roger did for the de-Satinified original Mefisto.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Here is the de-satanised "PiratFrigateSat" the "PiratFrigateExSat"!

Bow:


Stern:


Interface:

 

[Pieter Boelen]

She looks stylish, @The Nameless Pirate!

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Thanks for the compliment @Pieter Boelen!!!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Thanks for the compliment @Pieter Boelen!!!

And you thanks for improving the world!
Well...
Our little world here, at least.

 

[Grey Roger]

Thanks, @The Nameless Pirate! This can go into the first update of 2019.