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Ahoy, who wants to help me make some quests?

A

alan_smithee

Corsair
Storm Modder
Maties, I've got some ideas cooking for new side quests of all sorts... Texture redesign I'm fine with, for new characters. But I'm just beginning to learn the coding, that's my big handicap. I've gotten as far as inserting a new character in a place and getting through the dialog, even hiring him and adding him to your officers, and adding a quest book entry... but after that I'm stuck. Even looking through other dialogs for the commands I want, I can't get them patched in right.

If I want to make some progress on my ideas, I need a few extra hands. People familiar with coding or who could help me figure it out. Here are some of the ideas... if you'd like to help, I can send you the files I've succeeded with so far and see what you can add.

* What I've gotten the farthest with on is a quest where you meet an old pirate (Habakuk Mucklewrath) in the Douwesen pirate tavern, who claims to have sailed with old greats like John Cook and Henry Morgan. After you hire him, he'll take you along on his quest to recover the four pieces of his old treasure map, scattered throughout the 'pelago. (The quest is a mix of classic pirate history and legend.) The payoff is the biggest treasure of the game, a chest full of gold nuggets and jewels and such. I have his initial dialog all written out and can send it to anyone interested.

This quest may also use a new location I'm designing now, a Shop of Curiosities...

* Other quests could involve restoring relations between a pirate chief and his estranged daughter, who you encounter in a church (I'm designing both a nun character and a pirate lady with the same face); Doing extra quests for the church, of a nature ranging from the mundane to the frightful (transport a relic, the Pinky Bone of St. Jerome, then carry out an assasination on the orders of the church)... designing a Monsignor and Cardinal characters now; And investigating the disappearance of a ship's crew: The merchant ship Celeste returns to Greenford Port after a `five-year` absence, her crew all gone with no sign of struggle or damage to the ship. Eventually you visit a ship graveyard location off the coast of Khoal Roa (or whatever that `ring-shaped` one is called) that I'd like to piece together.

Also, if you have your own ideas but are having trouble implementing them, post them here and maybe we can all pool our resources.
 
Hey i can help you with that and i can maybe put my belltrop skin!! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
Alan, as I said, I'll give you some tips on code if you've got questions - I just don't want to dive into a big project right now...

Tell me what you want to do and I'll see if I can give you an answer (I am NOT as conversant with code as I would like) (and NO, I don't know everything!) (LOL!)
 
I'll PM you Vassal.

And Cat, thanks; I got your PM but haven't replied yet... I was just going to say I understand being busy. The first thing I need to pin down is just what commands I need to give someone like an officer a different dialog after he's been hired ... I found otherwise you just hire him all over again.
 
But please be patient i can be so slow because i have other mods... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" />
 
No worries. I've given myself enough projects modding the game ...

Speaking of, here's my `in-progress` texture mod for a Cabinet of Curiosities. You'll be able to buy unique weapons, potions and items here.

<img src="http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/alan_smithee/cabinetofcuriosities.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
 
That's my variation on Man6_1, yeah... with `gravely-voiced` actor Michael Wincott's face. I dunno if I'll keep him there for gameplay or use someone else, since there're other things I want to use that guy for.

Those are old dutch tiles lining the ceiling, and I now have floor tiles all over the floor... The chest of drawers, `off-camera` to the left, is now filled with skulls and masks and a dessicated mermaid.

I need suggestions for stuff you can do and buy there. I want to sell a gun/dagger combo, used as a very `close-range` pistol. But what else?
 
rabid monkey repellent? <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

bitter ends fer ropes? <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

dried sharks fin? <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" />

copper stills? <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="8)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />
 
Muskets matey muskets!!! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/diomed.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":dio" border="0" alt="diomed.gif" />
 
Heh, shark repellant... I'd love it if, as you were swimming around near the beach, a random shark came up and you had to beat him off with your sword.

I was hoping to buy/sell muskets at a blacksmith or even a regular store, actually. Unless it were a strange rifle or antique... then it would fit.

Oh, here's the other half of the freak shop. It's basically finished. Now... how do I add it as a new location? I'd like to replace a generic house location in Redmond, but I know I need a new model and everything that goes with that, to refer to this skin. I just want to make sure there's not a trick or something I'm missing...

<img src="http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/alan_smithee/Cabinetof_Curiosities2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

(Notice the babies in jars, courtesy of the Kunnstkamera in St. Petersburg... Tsar Peter the First had an impressive collection of `sick-puppy` stuff at the beginning of the 18th century.)
 
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_eek.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":shock:" border="0" alt="icon_eek.gif" /> LOOK what happens when I am away from the forum for a bit! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":woot" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" /> Alan, I love this! It's precisely the kind of place I'd enjoy visiting, just to see what weirdness could pop up...

Actually I used to visit a place very similar to this when I lived in Chicago. They had a whale's pizzle (HONEST), and a skeletal hand with a diamond ring on her finger - but just the hand, very obviously SEVERED by some sharp instrument from the rest of the body... Carved ivory erotic netsuke from Japan... War relics... Interesting cloisoinne, Damascus bladed weapons, suits of armor, religious ikons and relics... Gemstones... Taxidermy animals, but weird ones, like the ones in the movie "Hope Floats".

So there are a few ideas for your items list... HA! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

I think you should use the Clement Aurentis ("researcher") model in here... He looks rather like a bit of a crackpot anyhow - just change his skin a bit to make him younger, change colors on his clothing, &tc... Maybe a black "rubber" apron because he's dealing with chemical preservatives &tc...
 
That place in Chicago, Cat, that wasn't the "Atomic" something, was it? I saw this place downtown with a rhino's head hanging out front, above the front end of a Caddy, and they had bombs and stuff hanging from the ceilings inside and all sorts of other wonderful junk.

Oh, and speaking of Ikons, I have one by the door. It's not in either picture but I'll go into the game and take some more closeup shots soon. As for the caretaker (one Quentin Basil Narborough, longtime `adventure-seeker`), I'm going to use "researcher" for my blacksmith, when I have the capabilities to alter an interior location model; so for the Cabinet of Curiosities I'm leaning toward the model for the Dutch officer (with the armor and little hat with a feather in it), and reskinning it to look more `bunged-up`. Dunno whose face though... Could this be where an old Sean Connery comes in? I have a young face of his to use elsewhere...

... My only disappointment with this project is that I couldn't make the globe on his desk look like a glass bulb full of eyeballs -- the image file has two identical map pictures, but it uses the same one twice for the globe and where I now have the skull illustration by the door.

Oh yeah, and how do you suggest I get it into the game?
 
<!--`QuoteBegin-alan_smithee`+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(alan_smithee)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->That place in Chicago, Cat, that wasn't the "Atomic" something, was it?[/quote]<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" /> No, I don't think so. This was an Old Town store on Clark Street, as I recall. That doesn't mean they couldn't have moved in the 20+ years I have been away, tho... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

<!--`QuoteBegin-alan_smithee`+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(alan_smithee)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->... My only disappointment with this project is that I couldn't make the globe on his desk look like a glass bulb full of eyeballs -- [/quote]Riiiiight. Love the idea, tho!

<!--`QuoteBegin-alan_smithee`+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(alan_smithee)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Oh yeah, and how do you suggest I get it into the game?[/quote]I haven't looked into that yet, but you should check out the PotC Modding Wikipedia - I think there's a tutorial there on how to make locations...

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><a href="http://robotsdontbleed.com/wacko/wakka.php?wakka=POTCwiki" target="_blank">http://robotsdontbleed.com/wacko/wakka.php?wakka=POTCwiki</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Only thing is, I don't think it's finished yet. But it is written by Verruct, and you might try emailing him to ask for any tips if you need them... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yes" border="0" alt="yes.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
As far as locations go, there are those houses with the skulls hanging over the porch or door frame, I've always thought they should have a voo doo practitioner within them, maybe that could be the outside of your Curiosity Shop.

The inside you made looks fantastic and very imaginative, one thing the shop could do is give a higher buying price for the recovered Aztec artifacts that you find on occasion in treasure chests or random treasure spots. I always wondered why they put those things in the game if they don't actually do anything, but your shop could remedy this lame part of the game.

Another thing, there are the jewels in the game that affect your abilities, and the shop could sell the existing ones, but maybe you could come up with some voo doo items that provide a great benefit, but carry a high cost. For instance:

A Monkey's paw that when you equip it your health is quadrupled, but your commerce level is zero'ed out.

A Gris Gris Bag that doubles your swordfighting ability, but halves the number of hit points you have.

Some kind of talisman that when it is equipped causes people to run in terror from you, and cower when cornered, like the townspeople do when you kill a few townguards, but it also causes your reputation to plummet. I think it would be kind of fun to try and pull a Blackbeard during a boarding action with this item and see the enemy sailors try to scamper away because they are overcome with magically induced terror. Be worth a few reputation hits to me, anyway.
 
<!--`QuoteBegin-alan_smithee`+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(alan_smithee)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Oh, here's the other half of the freak shop. It's basically finished. Now... how do I add it as a new location? I'd like to replace a generic house location in Redmond, but I know I need a new model and everything that goes with that, to refer to this skin. I just want to make sure there's not a trick or something I'm missing...[/quote]

ok, i'm not at my own computer at the mo so i can't be exactly specific, but i think i've got everything here <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> you <b>shouldn't</b> replace any existing locations - you can add your own brand new one...


<u>adding a new location</u>

  • go into RESOURCELocationsinside, and whichever is the model you're using, make a copy of the entire directory and name it after your new model. rename all the files inside to the name of your new model.
  • `hex-edit` the actual model .gm file, find where it refers to its texture (search for ".tga") and change that to your new texture, <b>without</b> changing the length of the name. (i.e. your new texture's name has to be the same length as the old texture's name.) your texture should be located in RESOURCETextures in .tga.tx format, with the same number of "mips" as the original texture.
  • go into your own location's directory and delete the back subdirectory. find one of the existing locations in the same area as where you want to put your location (redmond centre, redmond church area, redmond market area, wherever it happens to be), go into that location's directory and copy the back subdirectory into your own location's directory. rename the files inside if you want to, though it's not important.
  • in the area of redmond you want to add your location, choose an unused door. (the unused ones are the ones that are always locked.)
  • go into PROGRAMLocationsinitRedmond.c and add your location's definition - the easiest way is to copy the definition of an existing shop, give it a new id, and change the model names and the "back" texture names to the ones in your location's directory.
  • also in PROGRAMLocationsinitRedmond.c, and find the definition of the area of redmond you want to put your new location. add a reference to your own location just like the ones already there (all the .link.l??. stuff). change the "id" to the id of your new location.
  • now you have to find the "reload" name of the unused door you want to use. you have to put this reload name in <b>your location's definition</b> - where it defines where the player will materialise in town, when leaving your location - and <b>also in the town area definition</b> - where it defines which door will allow the character to enter your location from town. you can see all the reload names available if you open the locators model (found in the same directory as the town model) in gmviewer and turn locator labels on. you can't see which doors they correspond to though... there's really only one way of finding the reload name of a particular unused door, and that is trial and error - keep changing the reload name in both definitions in PROGRAMLocationsinitRedmond.c, saving the file and restarting potc until your location appears behind that door...
  • note that there is one other "reload" name involved in the process. <b>99% of the time this "reload1" and you can leave it as that!</b> it appears in your location's definition - where it defines which door will take the character back to town - and in the town area definition - where it defines where the character will materialise within your location when they enter it.
  • in each definition, each "reload" has a label, which is displayed `on-screen` when the character moves from reload to reload. the reloads to do with going back to town should have labels like "Redmond town" (this should already be there from the definition you copied). the reloads to do with entering your location should have labels like "Curiosities shop".

    • sorry if that's not precise or clear but as i said i'm not at my own computer so i have no reference material... also sorry if you already knew all that <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> if you want me to clear anything up just ask...


      once you've got that sorted you can then also put the changes in reinit.c so the player doesn't have to start a new game to access it.
 
Awesome, a new location for locked doors?! I wasn't sure if that was possible. I'll give all that a try, Kieron.

All great items ideas, Mings. I can do the pictures but I'll have to figure out how those `ability-affecting` items are coded. I was considering a monkey's paw myself... Maybe you can get that instead of a bit of leather when you kill an evil monkey. I also figured the shop would make more use of the aztec stuff... like the `shop-keep` would want specific items, and send you on dangerous quests to track them down. "I want you to bring me the gem from inside a duck's egg at the bottom of the well at the end of the earth on top of a giant hill...!"

And I'll have to look for that door with the skulls. I don't remember seeing it. But I did want to add a gypsy `fortune-teller` somewhere. Like in that locked house on QC outside the gates. If it really is possible to unlock doors, that'd be a perfect place.
 
How about, you kill the monkey and take the paw to the curiosity shop to get special properties applied to it... ???

WTG, Kieron, thanks for the info! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/onya.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":onya" border="0" alt="onya.gif" />

Alan, there's that place inside the gate off of the second beach on FdF that has some weird stuff hanging outside - on the fence - pots and an old shoe, as I recall...

In Greenford I believe there's a house with a cattle skull or goat skull hung on it - by the shipyard...

I think you should utilize one of those huts outside the pirate settlement on QC... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
 
Here're some more interior shots, including one of who I might use as the shopkeep. I dunno, he ended up looking more Bavarian than like the old English adventurer I wanted. It's Sir Michael Caine's face.

<a href="http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/alan_smithee/CabCurio3.jpg" target="_blank">http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/a...e/CabCurio3.jpg</a>

<a href="http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/alan_smithee/CabCurio2.jpg" target="_blank">http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/a...e/CabCurio2.jpg</a>

<a href="http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/alan_smithee/CabCurio1.jpg" target="_blank">http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v251/a...e/CabCurio1.jpg</a>
 
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