Fixed Assassin Storyline: Updates for Beta 4.1

[Grey Roger]

In parallel with working on "Ardent", I've started playing through "Assassin" to see how it fares with the new system.

Snag 1: after being pressed into service for the vice admiral and putting to sea in the new ship, the fort fires at you. This is because you start the game as Dutch and unless you know what's going to happen and change flag well in advance, you're still flying a Dutch flag when you try to leave Havana. Solution: in case "meetcois", add 'HoistFlag(SPAIN);'. Your new ship is thus supplied with a new Spanish flag. (This wouldn't be such a problem if you could change flag while on land. Just change your flag to Spain any time after the arrest,)

Snag 2: if you attack an enemy ship, you lose your LoM. This is because even after receiving the LoM, Spain is Wary, -45. And that's because case "voirdamski" contains this line:

SetRMRelation(PChar, SPAIN, REL_AFTERATTACK); // PB: Not hostile anymore

But Spain isn't hostile if you've just received a LoM. Solution: remove that line. Then, when you go to sea, Spain is Friendly, 0. And now you can attack enemy ships, Spain becomes more positive and you don't lose the LoM.

Still to check: Spain is allied to France, so what happens when, during the "Cannons of Isla Mona" incident, you need to attack two French ships? I suspect that it will be necessary for Spain to break its alliance with France so that you can attack them without Spain objecting. Some time after the "Alliance" chapter, which sees Elting find proof that France has been helping Portugal, would probably be appropriate.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Thanks for trying this!

This wouldn't be such a problem if you could change flag while on land.

At the moment that is deliberately disabled by popular vote: Included in Build - Modify "False Flag" Behaviour While Ashore | PiratesAhoy!
It is mainly experimental to have it disabled though. If we decide that isn't actually an improvement, we can easily undo it.

Solution: in case "meetcois", add 'HoistFlag(SPAIN);'. Your new ship is thus supplied with a new Spanish flag.

Is that at the same point you get your LoM? Indeed it makes sense to automatically update your flag to match.

Snag 2: if you attack an enemy ship, you lose your LoM. This is because even after receiving the LoM, Spain is Wary, -45. And that's because case "voirdamski" contains this line:

SetRMRelation(PChar, SPAIN, REL_AFTERATTACK); // PB: Not hostile anymore

But Spain isn't hostile if you've just received a LoM. Solution: remove that line. Then, when you go to sea, Spain is Friendly, 0. And now you can attack enemy ships, Spain becomes more positive and you don't lose the LoM.

Uh, I don't think that should happen. I'd have to check the UpdateRMRelation function to see how that could occur.
Normally you shouldn't be able to have a relation lower than 0 but also a LoM at the same time, but it would be nice if that DID work in this particular example.

Spain is allied to France, so what happens when, during the "Cannons of Isla Mona" incident, you need to attack two French ships? I suspect that it will be necessary for Spain to break its alliance with France so that you can attack them without Spain objecting. Some time after the "Alliance" chapter, which sees Elting find proof that France has been helping Portugal, would probably be appropriate.

Or those French captains could be given the .skipRM attribute. I think I already did that for some quest ships, but I can't be sure I got them all.
If a nation relation change makes more sense, that would be better though.

 

[Grey Roger]

Is that at the same point you get your LoM? Indeed it makes sense to automatically update your flag to match.

Not quite. It's where you get the new ship. By this time you've talked to the vice admiral and received the LoM, but the LoM is given by the vice admiral's dialog, which is set up in case "meetadmiral3" but doesn't actually happen until you initiate dialog with him. But you shouldn't be trying to put to sea until you have the new ship - I'm not sure it's even possible, and even if it is, it serves you right to be blown out of the water if you try to escape in your old tub rather than accept the vice admiral's offer of the new ship.

Uh, I don't think that should happen. I'd have to check the UpdateRMRelation function to see how that could occur.
Normally you shouldn't be able to have a relation lower than 0 but also a LoM at the same time, but it would be nice if that DID work in this particular example.

Normally you don't. That line which I recommended to be deleted happens after you've received the LoM, and that's why you have a LoM with relation -45. Deleting the line solves the problem.

Or those French captains could be given the .skipRM attribute. I think I already did that for some quest ships, but I can't be sure I got them all.
If a nation relation change makes more sense, that would be better though.

It makes more sense in that a player who doesn't know the technical workings of the game is going to wonder why he can sink the two quest-related French ships without any penalty and then get into trouble when he sinks another one. And the French treachery in "Alliance" gives Spain all the excuse it needs to break the alliance with France.

Incidentally, I hope @Bartolomeu o Portugues is reading this. "Assassin" is his story so any and all suggestions made here are subject to his approval.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Not quite. It's where you get the new ship. By this time you've talked to the vice admiral and received the LoM, but the LoM is given by the vice admiral's dialog, which is set up in case "meetadmiral3" but doesn't actually happen until you initiate dialog with him. But you shouldn't be trying to put to sea until you have the new ship - I'm not sure it's even possible, and even if it is, it serves you right to be blown out of the water if you try to escape in your old tub rather than accept the vice admiral's offer of the new ship.

So not technically the same time, but effectively the same time anyway.
Fine by me in any case.

Normally you don't. That line which I recommended to be deleted happens after you've received the LoM, and that's why you have a LoM with relation -45. Deleting the line solves the problem.

What I am wondering about is why you would lose your LoM if your relations are -45.
I can't think of any valid reason by the top of my head; I'd have to check the code to see why it might do that.

From my side, I wouldn't mind if your relation really IS -45 a the start (Spain isn't going to be very trusting of you).

It makes more sense in that a player who doesn't know the technical workings of the game is going to wonder why he can sink the two quest-related French ships without any penalty and then get into trouble when he sinks another one. And the French treachery in "Alliance" gives Spain all the excuse it needs to break the alliance with France.

True, I am no fan of such exceptions either if they can be avoid.
It does indeed make it more potentially confusing.

Incidentally, I hope @Bartolomeu o Portugues is reading this. "Assassin" is his story so any and all suggestions made here are subject to his approval.

I hope so too. If he doesn't drop by, I'll notify him on Facebook.
He doesn't drop by the forum very often, but he always notices Facebook updates.

 

[Grey Roger]

So not technically the same time, but effectively the same time anyway.
Fine by me in any case.


What I am wondering about is why you would lose your LoM if your relations are -45.
I can't think of any valid reason by the top of my head; I'd have to check the code to see why it might do that.

From my side, I wouldn't mind if your relation really IS -45 a the start (Spain isn't going to be very trusting of you).

Maybe the French put in a good word for you. At the start you're Dutch, France is allied to Holland, so your relation to France is also Friendly, 0. In fact, your relation to France is better than your relation to Holland! Holland is set to be Wary, -45, in "StartStoryline.c" because you're a known smuggler. France apparently doesn't know this.

Anyway, I don't know the technicalities, but the evidence is pretty clear. With relation to Spain at -45, I lost the LoM when I attacked a legitimate enemy. After editing "console.c" to have it set my relation with Spain to 0, I reloaded the pre-battle savegame, went into the battle again, pressed F12 and checked that Spain was indeed relation 0, then looted a merchant and still had the LoM.

Spain in general should trust you the same way it trusts anyone else who has recently acquired a LoM. What is your relation if you buy forgiveness from a governor and then buy a LoM? The vice admiral, on the other hand, certainly doesn't trust you which is why you're on a tight leash early on - missions have time limits and Chico Cois is there to keep an eye on you.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Anyway, I don't know the technicalities, but the evidence is pretty clear. With relation to Spain at -45, I lost the LoM when I attacked a legitimate enemy. After editing "console.c" to have it set my relation with Spain to 0, I reloaded the pre-battle savegame, went into the battle again, pressed F12 and checked that Spain was indeed relation 0, then looted a merchant and still had the LoM.

I absolutely believe you. I just don't understand at the moment why that would happen, so I'd want to double-check on that.

Spain in general should trust you the same way it trusts anyone else who has recently acquired a LoM. What is your relation if you buy forgiveness from a governor and then buy a LoM? The vice admiral, on the other hand, certainly doesn't trust you which is why you're on a tight leash early on - missions have time limits and Chico Cois is there to keep an eye on you.

Fair points.

 

[Bartolomeu o Portugues]

If something must be fixed about the relations, please do that, if this doesn't mess up the storyline.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

If something must be fixed about the relations, please do that, if this doesn't mess up the storyline.

I think that is specifically what @Grey Roger wants to avoid. And me too, of course.

 

[Grey Roger]

Be assured, I am being very careful not to foul up the story plot! But I also respect that this is your storyline and do not want to do anything without your approval.

 

[Bartolomeu o Portugues]

I hope so. Otherwise your fate will be identical to Salvadores Benavides, the former vice-admiral of Havana

 

[Grey Roger]

Interesting offer. So if I do alter the plot, e.g. so that Elting's bomb goes off in his face instead of killing Salvadore Benavides, as suggested by the smiley, then my fate will be identical to that of the vice-admiral, which is to be immortalised about three and a half centuries later in a computer game.

Sorry, but I will have to decline the offer, as I have enough work to do on the plot of my own storyline without rewriting yours as well.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I hope so. Otherwise your fate will be identical to Salvadores Benavides, the former vice-admiral of Havana

You really ARE a pirate, aren't you? Violent death threats included!

Spoiler

This is just a random picture I found during a 2-second Google search.
The reference to GREY Beard is purely coincidental and has no relation to our own @Grey Roger.

Spoiler

No relation that I know of....!

Interesting offer. So if I do alter the plot, e.g. so that Elting's bomb goes off in his face instead of killing Salvadore Benavides, as suggested by the smiley, then my fate will be identical to that of the vice-admiral, which is to be immortalised about three and a half centuries later in a computer game.

Sorry, but I will have to decline the offer, as I have enough work to do on the plot of my own storyline without rewriting yours as well.

 

[Grey Roger]

Oh, and for any other pirate thinking of handing me a piece of paper with an ink-blot:

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Grey Roger: Would you be OK with making your proposed changes for this to your own game files and including them as part of your next Ardent upload?
Then I'll be guaranteed to not miss them.

 

[Grey Roger]

No, the reason being the next Ardent upload may not be for some time. The Assassin update doesn't need to wait that long.

The changes so far are just two lines - add 'HoistFlag(SPAIN)' and remove the line which sets Spain to Wary. I've yet to try the "Cannons of Isla Mona" part and see whether an English LoM is needed, and what side-effects it will have, but at the moment it would probably be quicker to make those two changes by hand rather than download a modified file and use WinMerge to do the same thing.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The changes so far are just two lines - add 'HoistFlag(SPAIN)' and remove the line which sets Spain to Wary. I've yet to try the "Cannons of Isla Mona" part and see whether an English LoM is needed, and what side-effects it will have, but at the moment it would probably be quicker to make those two changes by hand rather than download a modified file and use WinMerge to do the same thing.

The WinMerge route is quite fast for me as I do it all the time. And that guarantees there aren't any errors due to wrong interpretation.

Since nobody reported any issues until now, my suggestion would be for you to finish your play-through, make changes along the way and post them when you're happy with them.
There isn't a huge rush, is there?

That being said:

No, the reason being the next Ardent upload may not be for some time. The Assassin update doesn't need to wait that long.

Sooner and separate is also fine by me.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Snag 1: after being pressed into service for the vice admiral and putting to sea in the new ship, the fort fires at you. This is because you start the game as Dutch and unless you know what's going to happen and change flag well in advance, you're still flying a Dutch flag when you try to leave Havana. Solution: in case "meetcois", add 'HoistFlag(SPAIN);'. Your new ship is thus supplied with a new Spanish flag. (This wouldn't be such a problem if you could change flag while on land. Just change your flag to Spain any time after the arrest,)

Added to my game.

Snag 2: if you attack an enemy ship, you lose your LoM. This is because even after receiving the LoM, Spain is Wary, -45. And that's because case "voirdamski" contains this line:

SetRMRelation(PChar, SPAIN, REL_AFTERATTACK); // PB: Not hostile anymore

But Spain isn't hostile if you've just received a LoM. Solution: remove that line. Then, when you go to sea, Spain is Friendly, 0. And now you can attack enemy ships, Spain becomes more positive and you don't lose the LoM.

Now that Fixed - Possible to Lose LoM if Relation < 0 | PiratesAhoy! is fixed, starting at -45 with a LoM should be possible now.
But should we want that? I haven't a clue. @Bartolomeu o Portugues, any preferences?

Still to check: Spain is allied to France, so what happens when, during the "Cannons of Isla Mona" incident, you need to attack two French ships? I suspect that it will be necessary for Spain to break its alliance with France so that you can attack them without Spain objecting. Some time after the "Alliance" chapter, which sees Elting find proof that France has been helping Portugal, would probably be appropriate.

I'll leave that one to you.

 

[Grey Roger]

This may be some time. I've just got as far as the modified version of "A Worm in the Apple", which is the modified "Hard Labours of an Assassin" quest, and where I find out if recent alterations to that have worked. (Strange - I completed the whole story a long time ago and don't recall anything odd, apart from the fact that the final job is at Guadeloupe instead of Concepcion / La Grenade, but the Guadeloupe tavern keeper didn't tell me anything about the man in the church. Maybe that's been fixed now.) After that is the hunt for Roche Brasiliano. After that is a month's free-play. After that is Isla Mona...

 

[Pieter Boelen]

There's no real rush, I'm sure.

 

[Bartolomeu o Portugues]

Some time after the "Alliance" chapter, which sees Elting find proof that France has been helping Portugal, would probably be appropriate.

I like the idea.

But should we want that? I haven't a clue. @Bartolomeu o Portugues, any preferences?

Just after Elting starting working for the Vice-Admiral, his relation with Spain should be at least 0. That would be logical.