Mod Release Build 14 Beta 4 Internal WIP For Testing

[Levis]

Ahoy, after this weekend I should have time again to help finish the release .

 

[Black Bart]

Cool

If currently the latest version on ModDB is that 3.4 version:

Downloads - Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons mod for Pirates of the Caribbean

Which has those performance issues (micro stutter etc), then the sooner a decent replacement is there the better. I figure those looking to play the Build Mod mostly won't be on old pc's anymore, so the few that are that have troubles can come to the forum and we can help them as you guys did with me.

Peiter mentioned the Beta 3.3 version (that Hylie seems to use out of preference) might be a good idea for me to try over the current Beta 3.1 (plus fixes) build i'm currently able to run. Now it appears it was definately the 2GB change in the ENGINE.exe that stopped it working on Windows XP (not sure about other OS like Vista. 7 and 8 and 10 seem fine) as the Beta 3.1 release incorrectly stated that 2GB thing had been applied, so that must have came after, in which case i assume Beta 3.3 (and 3.2?) had it applied which would make those versions not run under XP either, but i might be able to swap out that exe with the one from Beta 3.1 and get the extra fixes etc.

I'm close to having some final tweaks to XP gained during direct sail that i can give to go in Beta 4 (as the code for that is still the same as it is in Beta 3.1).

Also Levis, if you get time we could work together to balance the XP thing a bit better? I know this section has been made over and might need some play testing to fine tune. I can run Beta 4 in compatability mode (yeah w98/ME works under XP!) for testing on land, i just can't direct sail between islands without a CTD, but the on land XP gain stuff, for the main char and 'active' officers i can help play test and look at the code to help out

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Which has those performance issues (micro stutter etc), then the sooner a decent replacement is there the better.

Agreed!

Peiter mentioned the Beta 3.3 version (that Hylie seems to use out of preference) might be a good idea for me to try over the current Beta 3.1 (plus fixes) build i'm currently able to run. Now it appears it was definately the 2GB change in the ENGINE.exe that stopped it working on Windows XP (not sure about other OS like Vista. 7 and 8 and 10 seem fine) as the Beta 3.1 release incorrectly stated that 2GB thing had been applied, so that must have came after, in which case i assume Beta 3.3 (and 3.2?) had it applied which would make those versions not run under XP either, but i might be able to swap out that exe with the one from Beta 3.1 and get the extra fixes etc.

Indeed swapping the ENGINE.exe files out is easily done and should work fine either way.

I'm close to having some final tweaks to XP gained during direct sail that i can give to go in Beta 4 (as the code for that is still the same as it is in Beta 3.1).

Also Levis, if you get time we could work together to balance the XP thing a bit better? I know this section has been made over and might need some play testing to fine tune. I can run Beta 4 in compatability mode (yeah w98/ME works under XP!) for testing on land, i just can't direct sail between islands without a CTD, but the on land XP gain stuff, for the main char and 'active' officers i can help play test and look at the code to help out

That would be GREAT!

 

[Black Bart]

Actually do we still use the ftp? Might i find the Beta 3.3 'main archive' files there along with the installer (i can then swap the 3.1 non 2gb extended version).

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The main archive is the same for all Beta 3 versions.
If you want to try Beta 3.3, you need to start with installing 3.2 .
3.3 was never officially released, so either @Hylie Pistof or myself will need to upload the code files of that one for you.
Those are to be added on top of Beta 3.2 .

 

[Black Bart]

Sounds messy! maybe i'll stick with the versions i have (4 is enough surely!). Beta 4 can run, just with odd graphic issues and no direct sailing, but it functions so i can playtest bits of it.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Sounds messy! maybe i'll stick with the versions i have (4 is enough surely!).

If you can upgrade from 3.1 to 3.3 though, then you'd already be a substantial step closer back to Beta 4.

I wonder if @Hylie Pistof might be able to upload his entire game folder somewhere.
That would be the easiest to do. As far as I can tell, there is no Beta 3.2 Installer EXE to be found anymore.

 

[pedrwyth]

Now it appears it was definately the 2GB change in the ENGINE.exe that stopped it working on Windows XP (not sure about other OS like Vista. 7 and 8 and 10 seem fine)

I'm not so sure, in fact I'm pretty sure it is not.
I needed to take my working game to my Windows XP (service pack 3) machine [It is (only) a 2.99 ghz pentium 4 with 3 gb ram and a radeon x600 display] to hard copy print some of the code so ran a couple of tests while there - all three versions of engine (stock, 2013 2gb? as in 3.4 and may 2015 as in beta 4) ran fine (as in no CTD) in build 14 3.4 - all three needed 98/ME compatibility set (as @Black Bart reported) in order not to CTD in beta 4 but then ran OK it seemed. Not exhaustive testing but the CTD was pretty immediate on reload without. Not sure what setting the compatibility is circumventing but it looks like that's what anyone wanting to use XP for beta4 needs to be told rather than swapping exe files.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I zipped up my beta 3.3 game and found it too big for my Dropbox. I can try to upload it to Mega as I accidentally created an account there.

EDIT: I started to upload it successfully and it will be ready in approx. 4 hours.

EDIT1: I have no idea if this will work or not.

MEGA

 

[Black Bart]

ok trying this out - thanks Hylie (i hope i have space for it on my gaming XP machine! hmm i'll probably delete 3.4 version)

@pedrwyth, i ended up with repeatable CTD's while using direct sail to go from Speightstown to Jamaica (usually happened in the first bit, leaving barbados) in any 3.4 and 4 version of Build 14, even with the compatability mode set. Mostly these CTD seemed to be related to other ships as far as i could tell (looking through the log files etc).

I will try to set up this 3.3 version and see how that goes in comparison.

 

[Black Bart]

first attempt failed(@72%) I have space for it (31GB free in the home partition).

second attempt failed (@64%). Says there is a write error each time. I don't want to wreck my download limits, so i may hold of on this for now, maybe try again tomorrow - these are big files to download (and i've done beta 3.1, 3.4 and 4 recently!).

Thanks for taking the time and effort to do this Hylie, maybe Pieter had better luck?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

maybe Pieter had better luck?

I didn't try, because I've already got a "Beta 3.3 install" on my external HD.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I tried to download it from Mega and couldn't do it in the browser, so had to use Megasync. It went fine and I got it with no issues.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Opening post EXE updated
New Game not required; but you MUST Reinitialize (F11)!!!

Contains the following changes:
- Avoid game crashing if there are no hostile nations by me
- Rapid_Raid ammo corrected by @Jack Rackham
- Attempted fix for sidestep-related error.log entries at sea by me
- Allowed GiveShip2Character to install TOO LARGE cannons by me
- Ensured ALL pirate ships get their flag attributes set by me
- Avoid excessive Levelling logs at game start for high ranking Naval Officers by me
- Update to Ardent storyline by @Grey Roger
- Map item availability corrected throughout the game by me
- WIP updates for Woodes Rogers 2 by @Jack Rackham
- Improved looting of Blade Muskets by @Jack Rackham
- Improved behaviour for Tomahawks and Bows by @Jack Rackham
- Prevented corpse-related error.log entries by me
- Added explanatory Ship's Log entry upon being marked as pirate by me
- Ensured Nigel Blythe is not immortal when you fight him by me
- Ensure mutinous companions are not immortal by me
- Redone Realistic Game Mode "Tacking" behaviour by me
- Ensured a Personal Rebel in Free Play does have an enemy by me

 

[Black Bart]

Been testing Beta 4 some more (will skip the direct sail in this version!).

1. At the Barbados caves in the jungle i got this error message when going to pick up the item by the rocks (it was for a small mosaic) : ERROR - Missing Character ID: Enc Char4. See the screenshot below.

I think i have come across the occasional thing like this in Beta 4, maybe around town in those normal hidden places? Not every time, but i'll start to make a specific note of where like with this one, when i find them.

2. Also when in the tavern i had a wandering NPC approach me and start a conversation (or i accidentally clicked on him) that turned out he was an officer for hire (fighter), and when i asked 'how good?' his stat screen showed a level 1 char with 1 skill in all stats, and he was just 120 gold (cheap by Beta 4 standards!), so i decided to hire him. Next time i checked his stat screen he was suddenly a lvl 4 Fighter with 3 Melee.

I've not had this happen with the normal sitting down Officers, so it looks like it is just for this rare 'wandering Officer' type?

3. The simple compass is too small! I remember in a previous version (Beta 1 most likely) i had to add red to the north 'N' direction to help it stand out a bit more, but the current scale (to fit inside the basic green 'arc of fire' circle on the hud) is so small even picking out the red 'N' is near impossible! The normal Compass is no problem at all, for a comparison of the problem.

4. Ships Log. This was a bit screwy in all the latest versions i've played (Beta 3.1 to 4). It seems to create duplicate entries or some such? Or atleast it is not clear from the entries what exactly took place, and all entries tend to look the same.

Is it possible to have named items in the buy/sell data here (like 'sold 100 cwt of Silk and 100 cwt of Chocolate' etc)? Also the very first entry gets the later entries added to it (it seems), and maybe as you go up the list of entries the earlier ones get the later data added too, or something like that that adds to the confusion a little.

5. Officers super cheap! I know i've been told that they get expensive quick now, but they still feel CHEAP, and for decent level 5/6/7 Officers too! Surely their Unions would not be happy about this reduction in value of their trade and expertise!

6. Starting equipment of your character seems a little over powered perhaps, and thinking about it many of the enemy npc's you come across at early levels (1-3) often have pretty decent weapons to loot too (Arabic Scimitars, Pirate Pistols, Armour etc). It felt a bit better balanced in Beta 3.1 for this kind of thing (well not your chars starting equipment as you didn't get any extra's then), so maybe that could be looked at. Maybe it was to make the early encounters more deadly perhaps? But it does leap frog the utility to the player for the starting level items.

7. Does anyone get small black tears in the middle distance for the sea in Beta 4? I posted that as a screenshot in the Beta 3 thread and as my sea 'died' on me in Beta 4 (and reinstalling from scratch did not fix that!) and went all 'tiles' and not normal looking i am not sure if Beta 4 has this problem also? Beta 1 (patch 7) does not have this issue.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

1. At the Barbados caves in the jungle i got this error message when going to pick up the item by the rocks (it was for a small mosaic) : ERROR - Missing Character ID: Enc Char4. See the screenshot below.

I think i have come across the occasional thing like this in Beta 4, maybe around town in those normal hidden places? Not every time, but i'll start to make a specific note of where like with this one, when i find them.

You have a compile.log for that one? I need to know the EXACT character ID.
That one doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me; that character ID is reused over and over again and shouldn't be missing.

2. Also when in the tavern i had a wandering NPC approach me and start a conversation (or i accidentally clicked on him) that turned out he was an officer for hire (fighter), and when i asked 'how good?' his stat screen showed a level 1 char with 1 skill in all stats, and he was just 120 gold (cheap by Beta 4 standards!), so i decided to hire him. Next time i checked his stat screen he was suddenly a lvl 4 Fighter with 3 Melee.

I've not had this happen with the normal sitting down Officers, so it looks like it is just for this rare 'wandering Officer' type?

Maybe @Levis' new PostInit Levelling system hadn't finished assigning his skills yet? That can take a while after the location has loaded.
Normally that shouldn't be a problem, but maybe with slower hardware, that process might be notably slower too?

3. The simple compass is too small! I remember in a previous version (Beta 1 most likely) i had to add red to the north 'N' direction to help it stand out a bit more, but the current scale (to fit inside the basic green 'arc of fire' circle on the hud) is so small even picking out the red 'N' is near impossible! The normal Compass is no problem at all, for a comparison of the problem.

What screen resolution do you use? That might affect it.
Anyway, if I recall the size of that thing is set in PROGRAM\BATTLE_INTERFACE\BattleInterface.c ; should just require changing a few numbers to resize it.

4. Ships Log. This was a bit screwy in all the latest versions i've played (Beta 3.1 to 4). It seems to create duplicate entries or some such? Or atleast it is not clear from the entries what exactly took place, and all entries tend to look the same.
[...]
Also the very first entry gets the later entries added to it (it seems), and maybe as you go up the list of entries the earlier ones get the later data added too, or something like that that adds to the confusion a little.

Are you opening an entry, then closing it, then opening another while remaining within the Ship's Log Interface?
I remember something goes wrong with that. If you close the Ship's Log Interface and then open the item you want to read, it does work properly.

Do you know if this ever worked correctly before? If so, what game version?
Also, please make a separate Bug Tracker entry for that one, because it IS a real bug.

Is it possible to have named items in the buy/sell data here (like 'sold 100 cwt of Silk and 100 cwt of Chocolate' etc)?

Not entirely sure what you mean there? Can you show a screenshot and indicate what you would like to see changed?

5. Officers super cheap! I know i've been told that they get expensive quick now, but they still feel CHEAP, and for decent level 5/6/7 Officers too! Surely their Unions would not be happy about this reduction in value of their trade and expertise!

What happens when they level up? Does that make a difference? @Levis has been trying to balance that, but apparently he isn't quite done yet.
Please make a Bug Tracker entry for that one too to ensure we don't forget.

Starting equipment of your character seems a little over powered perhaps

You mentioned that before. Please make a new thread with your suggestions for changing that.
This is all set in PROGRAM\Characters\characters_init.c per "background career".

and thinking about it many of the enemy npc's you come across at early levels (1-3) often have pretty decent weapons to loot too (Arabic Scimitars, Pirate Pistols, Armour etc). It felt a bit better balanced in Beta 3.1 for this kind of thing, so maybe that could be looked at. Maybe it was to make the early encounters more deadly perhaps?

That wasn't changed on purpose; maybe the enemies are generated at a higher level now, which comes with better equipment?
The whole "assigning weapons to NPCs" needs some redoing at some point.
But that will have to wait until after Beta 4 has been released, because it will be another fairly big change.

 

[Talisman]

5. Officers super cheap! I know i've been told that they get expensive quick now, but they still feel CHEAP, and for decent level 5/6/7 Officers too! Surely their Unions would not be happy about this reduction in value of their trade and expertise!

Remember under the new Leveling system Levels 5/6/7 are actually low ( or starting) levels. Under the old system level 20-25 would be considered High Level ( most players would only get that far).

But now the Levels have been extended partly to enable enough Ability points to be earned to allow the player to get the various Abilities they want, so the leveling system now appears to work on the basis that High level is in the region of Levels 60-70.

 

[Black Bart]

I should add the balance of getting over-powered items too early is MUCH better in Beta 4 vs 3.4! So this is really just a minor tweak thing if others think it a good thing, from my point of view the scale is nearly about right, the Portuguese Officers sword from the Barbados caverns is still clearly the best early blade you get access to, but i do find i can equip a pretty good shore party (my officers i use on land exploring) with Arabic Scimiters and Pirate Pistols if i jungle crawl a bit and get the loot, which just feels slightly OP as a level 3-4 char maybe? Not a big issue like we have had in the past at any rate, so more just an observation

My combined compile and system log is below although i could not see anything of note in it. Normally these hidden items in the landscape just say 'Item' under the hand icon right? So i have no idea why this happened for this item here, especially when i found other such items (small mosaic) and they did not display this error? Could it be related to the memory allocation issues Beta 4 has with OS XP, like the missing ship icons in the shipyard screen etc?

Sadly my session CTD at sea again. This time i used the Map Navigation screen to get to Jamaica, the problem was when i was close to land and got the land sighted remark, i dropped down into the direct sailing portion and was so far from land i could not see it! During the attempt to get to dock in direct sail it gave me the CTD i always get in Beta 4 during this part of the game (again no real clues to why in the compile/log files that i can see).

Anyway it may be a good idea to check why you exit the Map Navigation into Direct Sailing so far from land, i tested this and even if you sail right up to the coast in Map Navigation you are still quite far out when switching to Direct Sail, which feels a bit odd?

 

[Grey Roger]

Been testing Beta 4 some more (will skip the direct sail in this version!).

1. At the Barbados caves in the jungle i got this error message when going to pick up the item by the rocks (it was for a small mosaic) : ERROR - Missing Character ID: Enc Char4. See the screenshot below.

I've seen this occasionally as well. It's always near a cave entrance. Highwaymen and rapists appear in groups of 4 but only 3 appear near caves, along with that report of number 4 being missing. Rapists present a particular problem, or rather, their intended victim does - she'll only reward you if you kill all 4, which isn't going to happen if number 4 failed to spawn.

It just so happens that I've been playing around at Hispaniola temple as part of my storyline development. There's a cave two areas away from the temple. So it was easy enough to load up a savegame, head for the cave, and look for some highwaymen. Bug report to follow...

3. The simple compass is too small! I remember in a previous version (Beta 1 most likely) i had to add red to the north 'N' direction to help it stand out a bit more, but the current scale (to fit inside the basic green 'arc of fire' circle on the hud) is so small even picking out the red 'N' is near impossible! The normal Compass is no problem at all, for a comparison of the problem.

Put this in "PROGRAM\BATTLE_INTERFACE". The display for no compass / cheap compass is now size 120 instead of size 80.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Anyway it may be a good idea to check why you exit the Map Navigation into Direct Sailing so far from land, i tested this and even if you sail right up to the coast in Map Navigation you are still quite far out when switching to Direct Sail, which feels a bit odd?

Maybe disable Open Sea Mod again? You can also use the [0] (zero) key on your keyboard to disable DirectSail updates.

Put this in "PROGRAM\BATTLE_INTERFACE". The display for no compass / cheap compass is now size 120 instead of size 80.

Thanks for helping out with that one!

Would you consider that a general improvement that should be added to the mod?