Devlin Opera for the 65742th time

[Grey Roger]

I have tested Devlin's head and it seems to work. I will add it to the next update.

You must have forgotten to add it because I put all your stuff into my update and still did not have Devlin's head model. Now that I've found it here, it's going into my next update.

Other Islands have been made accessible as uninhabited lately.

Medium Priority - Early Explorers

But I had some problems installung that as you can see.

I missed out a couple of significant files when I was trying to separate out the "Early Explorers" stuff from my entire install. It's all now properly included in the latest update:http://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/potc/Grey Roger/post_25May_updates.zip

But Antigua is not one of the islands which has been made accessible. All I've done is made the port buildings invisible so that, if you sail into the bay, you don't see houses on what is supposed to be an uninhabited island. The only blocked islands which I opened up are Guadeloupe (so that my "Crystal Skull" quest works) and Aruba (because it has the archipelago's only permanent Indian village).

Doing the same to Antigua won't help you get the Monkey Island map. If it's uninhabited, there won't be a tavern, so there's nobody to give you the map. Of course, for your quest, you can always arrange for someone else to give you the map. Look at "PROGRAM\DIALOGS\Brian Moods_dialog.c", specifically case "monkey".

 

[Jack Rackham]

Devlin's head:
as I remember it - it didn't work. For character models who have a special animation file the method of alpha channel away the body
for a talking head doesn't seem to work.

 

[Grey Roger]

It seemed to work when I tried it. I can't say now for sure if the face moved when he spoke, but it certainly didn't go crazy the way models do when they have the wrong animation. I did a quick test by starting a game as Blaze Devlin, recruiting an officer from the tavern, then giving him my outfit and giving myself his:

 

[Jack Rackham]

I thought it worked too when giving the new head (and body) to a character in GoldBug who doesn't use a special animation.

 

[Grey Roger]

Out of interest, why use the alpha channel to blank the body at all? If a part of the body is visible on the talking head, leave it visible. If not, it doesn't matter whether the part is blanked or not.

Presumably giving a character a new outfit via the "Choose outfit" character interface also sets that character to use the correct animation. The officer formerly had one of the "9Jd" Jack Sparrow variants, probably "9JdPor" with that purple coat, and used the default "man" animation. Since he also did not go berserk when I put him into the "Devlin" outfit, he must have been set to the "Blaze" animation.

 

[Jack Rackham]

Well if it works, very good. Maybe I remembered wrong and thought of the female Devlin where I had to give up the alpha channel idea and switch to a
standard retexture.

Out of interest, why use the alpha channel to blank the body at all?

Because my first attempts with a complete body as a talking head didn't work very well. It was some skeletons and some strange black flashes showed up.
They disappeard when as little as possible remained visible.

 

[BathtubPirate]

I'm still alive and older than ever.

As I always do I lost interest for a time and went off doing other things and playing other games, but yesterday after ten months I looked at and played through the adjustements I made to the Deviln quest last year, I enjoyed it and remembered all the ideas I had last year. I'm not disinclined to give it another shot and I still think I can do a quest here. Not the longest quest, not the most innovative one, but still. As I have a decent understanding of the characters, dialog and quest files by now and those three are already half the battle. Just for myself I made a side quest in my vanilla game. And of course the support and help here is always tremendous - only the last few posts in this thread, written while I was already drifting away from the project, offer approaches for the last problems I've had and a solid base to continue.

My two main hesitations right now are:

I can tinker around my own folder, but I'm still overwhelmed by the logistics of keeping the game up to date and coordinating everything. There are big updates which I need to learn to install on my game, there are individual changes posted in different threads, there are already three copies of NH on my computer because the first two broke and the third one has currently all my progress. I'm just overwhelmed, I'd need to properly install the latest version of NH (especially as there have been changes made to Early Explorers) without losing all my stuff (right now it's still manageable size but there's already stuff scattered across the Resource folder) and somehow coordinate this all with future updates and I've never done any of this.

Second, I don't know if there's even a demand for this, with the game nearing its 20th birthday, especially considering I always take those breaks from PotC and PA and on the PA Facebook page I mostly see stuff related to other games and projects these days. Perhaps I'm ten or fifteen years too late. But then again I see most of the core modders still active and working on those new trophies quests.

Greetings from the bathtub!

 

[Grey Roger]

Ahoy, @BathtubPirate!

Download, install, and learn to use WinMerge:
WinMerge - You will see the difference…

This is capable of comparing contents of entire folders and either copying files from one to the other, or comparing files and editing them to get the best of both. It's absolutely essential for me in maintaining updates with contributions from various modders. You could create yet another installation of NH, bring it fully up to date, then use WinMerge to bring your stuff into it.

What does that side quest of yours do? Perhaps it could be adapted to New Horizons?

 

[BathtubPirate]

Download, install, and learn to use WinMerge:
WinMerge - You will see the difference…

This is capable of comparing contents of entire folders and either copying files from one to the other, or comparing files and editing them to get the best of both. It's absolutely essential for me in maintaining updates with contributions from various modders. You could create yet another installation of NH, bring it fully up to date, then use WinMerge to bring your stuff into it.

I have WinMerge and roughly know how to compare folders, I use it e.g. when the escort quests broke in my stock game (remember?) so after a freshly installed game I had an overview of the adjustements, additions etc. I've made to my game before. Or to see if I made accidental changes to a file like quest_reactions if something doesn't work.

So what you're saying is: I should make another copy of the stock game, install NH on this copy (which then should be latest and greatest version) and get all my Devlin stuff out of the previous copy using WinMerge? Question is of course: Would I have to repeat this everytime there's an update to NH? As far as I understood there are updates on quite a regular basis to add all the stuff that's adjusted or created continuously.

I was also thinking maybe I could make an empty PotC folder structure, copy all my Devlin related stuff in there and update it every time I make additions or changes in the game folders. So there would be an overview of what belongs to Devlin and where it goes (in PROGRAM, everything should be in the storyline folder anyway so this would mostly be for RESOURCE). Perhaps this would help?

What does that side quest of yours do? Perhaps it could be adapted to New Horizons?

It was done as both an exercise for me and a way to add some NH models and locations to my own stock game which as you know I still like to play and play around with.

It goes like this: Picking up a castaway on a beach, helping him find his fiancée on the next island, her father is sceptical about the marriage but offers to rethink if you kill a specific pirate. Find the pirate on another beach, kill him, sink his ship in the bay, return and talk to everyone, happy ending, get a reward.

For me it works and I think it was a solid start for my efforts and it could theoretically be adapted for NH, but keep in mind it's not very complex or unique and it was made by stock game standards and just for myself, so for example I just added a plantation location to Isla Muelle that may not fit NH and should be another location there.

 

[Grey Roger]

So what you're saying is: I should make another copy of the stock game, install NH on this copy (which then should be latest and greatest version) and get all my Devlin stuff out of the previous copy using WinMerge? Question is of course: Would I have to repeat this everytime there's an update to NH? As far as I understood there are updates on quite a regular basis to add all the stuff that's adjusted or created continuously.

Yes - copy the stock game, install NH, copy the latest updates into place, then WinMerge your Devlin stuff into it. In theory you'd need to repeat it each time there's a new update. Or you could extract the update and, instead of simply copying it into place, use WinMerge to see what has changed. Any files which aren't involved in Devlin can be copied straight over. Any file which does involve Devlin can be compared and individual differences copied to make one file which contains the latest changes plus your work.

I was also thinking maybe I could make an empty PotC folder structure, copy all my Devlin related stuff in there and update it every time I make additions or changes in the game folders. So there would be an overview of what belongs to Devlin and where it goes (in PROGRAM, everything should be in the storyline folder anyway so this would mostly be for RESOURCE). Perhaps this would help?

Yes, that can work as well. Then you either reinstall from scratch or copy the next update into place, and then WinMerge your Devlin stuff into place.

It goes like this: Picking up a castaway on a beach, helping him find his fiancée on the next island, her father is sceptical about the marriage but offers to rethink if you kill a specific pirate. Find the pirate on another beach, kill him, sink his ship in the bay, return and talk to everyone, happy ending, get a reward.

For me it works and I think it was a solid start for my efforts and it could theoretically be adapted for NH, but keep in mind it's not very complex or unique and it was made by stock game standards and just for myself, so for example I just added a plantation location to Isla Muelle that may not fit NH and should be another location there.

That sounds like a great sidequest. It might not work on Isla Muelle or any other stock island because they're already complete - each reload locator leads to a location which already exists. But I'm sure there are one or two jungle locators in NH which don't go anywhere, so if you can find one of those, you could add your plantation there. Alternatively, is this plantation where the father lives? Perhaps instead of putting him on a plantation, he could live in Santiago or Havana? There are lots of buildings in the town centres; I could put a reload locator in front of one, then you could set up an interior and put the father in there.

 

[BathtubPirate]

@Grey Roger

Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons mod - Mod DB

So looking at the latest files in the link above, I should install Build 14 Beta 4.0 from April 2016 and then add Extra Fix Archive from may 2021 to it?

That sounds like a great sidequest. It might not work on Isla Muelle or any other stock island because they're already complete - each reload locator leads to a location which already exists. But I'm sure there are one or two jungle locators in NH which don't go anywhere, so if you can find one of those, you could add your plantation there. Alternatively, is this plantation where the father lives? Perhaps instead of putting him on a plantation, he could live in Santiago or Havana? There are lots of buildings in the town centres; I could put a reload locator in front of one, then you could set up an interior and put the father in there.

In my version, the father lives in the luxurious house to the left oft the townhall, but later he can be found on his plantation which I solved as follows: The plantation is through the twin house vis-à-vis, as these houses and their arcades go along the town walls it seems believable to me. Because the plantation is always adjacent to a town, having a gate as one of two entrance locators.

Mainly I just wanted to make it a bit lively and bring in a cool new location which I can populate with characters. But for NH usage the quest would require more fine-tuning anyway.

 

[Grey Roger]

@Grey Roger

Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons mod - Mod DB

So looking at the latest files in the link above, I should install Build 14 Beta 4.0 from April 2016 and then add Extra Fix Archive from may 2021 to it?

No! Doing that will result in an unplayable version - the update archive is not designed for that older installer.

Use the links from the first post of this thread:
Mod Release - Build 14 Beta [Last Update:19th May 2021]
Those should get you the Build 14 Beta 4.1 installer from 25th May 2018 and the current update to go with it.

In my version, the father lives in the luxurious house to the left oft the townhall, but later he can be found on his plantation which I solved as follows: The plantation is through the twin house vis-à-vis, as these houses and their arcades go along the town walls it seems believable to me. Because the plantation is always adjacent to a town, having a gate as one of two entrance locators.

Have a look round Santiago and see if there's anywhere which might suit your character. There certainly seem to be one or two buildings backing onto a town wall which could act as your plantation entrance.

 

[BathtubPirate]

Alright, I try it later. So all the links from the first post?

Have a look round Santiago and see if there's anywhere which might suit your character. There certainly seem to be one or two buildings backing onto a town wall which could act as your plantation entrance.

There might be a suitable one, in Havana too. Mind that the plantation is always connected to a town gate and a path which leads into a jungle or onto a beach.

 

[Grey Roger]

Alright, I try it later. So all the links from the first post?

You don't need to click on the user tags. Apart from that, yes - the links to "Part 1: Installation Wizard" and "Part 2: Contents Archive" get you the May 2018 Beta 4.1 installation, then the "Download" link to the update, alias "Extra Fix Archive", gets you the update. Unlike the first two parts, you do need to extract the update because it's just a zip file.

There might be a suitable one, in Havana too. Mind that the plantation is always connected to a town gate and a path which leads into a jungle or onto a beach.

Would it help if the town gate wasn't there? If it can't be removed outright or made invisible, a reload locator could be placed on the path leading into the plantation itself, so you'd enter the scene looking straight at the fence and leave the scene before you were within sight of the wall or the other path.

 

[BathtubPirate]

Would it help if the town gate wasn't there? If it can't be removed outright or made invisible, a reload locator could be placed on the path leading into the plantation itself, so you'd enter the scene looking straight at the fence and leave the scene before you were within sight of the wall or the other path.

If a reload locator is right at the fence gate of the plantation then I'm positive the town is far out of sight. You'd have a passage in front of you leading to a junk of forest in which the towngate is rather well hidden.

I think I found it:

           QuestToSeaLogin_PrepareLoc("Oxbay", "Quest_Ships", "Quest_ship_23", true);  % string islandID, string locGroup, string locName, bool sailUP
           QuestToSeaLogin_Launch();

Looks to have been used only 3 times in the entire original game.
But some of the added storylines use it now, so it should work.

Hey Pieter, I put that in the quest file but right now not much happens. Are "Quest_ship" etc. like locators at sea? At what does true or false mean in this case?

 

[Grey Roger]

If a reload locator is right at the fence gate of the plantation then I'm positive the town is far out of sight. You'd have a passage in front of you leading to a junk of forest in which the towngate is rather well hidden.

Exactly. So if you want to reach the plantation from a jungle scene rather than from a town gate, that would do it.

Hey Pieter, I put that in the quest file but right now not much happens. Are "Quest_ship" etc. like locators at sea? At what does true or false mean in this case?

Yes, you'll find them if you open an island model with TOOL and look at its locators. You don't have to use "Quest_ship" locators, you can also use "Reload" locators, in which case you'll appear at sea near the port or beach which uses that locator. For example, if you get a fully updated version of Build 14 - or, for that matter, if you check the stock game - you'll see that line looks like this:

QuestToSeaLogin_PrepareLoc("Oxbay", "reload", "reload_4", true);

It's the part of the story where you and Danielle are about to attack Bridgetown/Greenford port to rescue Clement. "Quest_ship_23" is next to the fort, which saves you the trouble of sailing there and also means if you brought any companion ships with you, they may get sunk. "reload_4" is next to the lighthouse beach, which means you have to sail round to the fort yourself but also means that if you have any companion ships that you don't want in the battle, you can order them to stop.

The "true" or "false" controls your sails. "True" means your sails will be up, "false" means they won't.

 

[BathtubPirate]

@Grey Roger

Once again, I asked too soon. In the meantime I figured that "% string islandID, string locGroup, string locName, bool sailUP" is just the explanation to the code and must be removed, and by looking at other examples of this function that trying reload_1 is the best option. It now all works as intended, which means that the basic opening chapter of my quest is as good as complete (except for some voice clips and Blaze's wiggly head). Next step would be updating the game and sort through my files, then I can get into the good (and more difficult) stuff.

But thanks for the good explanation, I think I'm gonna use this function a lot.

 

[BathtubPirate]

You don't need to click on the user tags. Apart from that, yes - the links to "Part 1: Installation Wizard" and "Part 2: Contents Archive" get you the May 2018 Beta 4.1 installation, then the "Download" link to the update, alias "Extra Fix Archive", gets you the update. Unlike the first two parts, you do need to extract the update because it's just a zip file.

Ehm, how does it work exactly with the b14_beta4_final.tar? That one is a full folder of the modded files. Error message says to put b14_beta4_final.tar in the folder, but b14 itself is a huge folder structure.

 

[Grey Roger]

If you have extracted "b14_beta4_final.tar", delete that entire folder. You should not extract this file at all.

Put "Build14_installer_25052018.exe" and "b14_beta4_final.tar" into the same folder as each other. It shouldn't matter where this folder is; it doesn't even need to be on the same drive as the game installation. All that matters is that they're inside the same folder together because the installer will find out where it is and expect to find "b14_beta4_final.tar" there with it. Run the installer, tell it the location of your copy of the stock game where you want to install Build 14, and the installer will do the rest - including extracting all of "b14_beta4_final.tar" and copying the files where they need to go.

But you do extract "post_25May_updates_190521.zip" because that's just a zip file and the installer knows nothing about it. Either extract it straight to the top level of your game installation, or extract it to any other folder and then copy it to the game installation. It's structured the same way as the game, so if you copy the whole extracted zip to the top level, all the sub-folders and files should find their ways to their proper places.

Good news about your quest! I look forward to seeing it.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Second, I don't know if there's even a demand for this, with the game nearing its 20th birthday, especially considering I always take those breaks from PotC and PA and on the PA Facebook page I mostly see stuff related to other games and projects these days. Perhaps I'm ten or fifteen years too late. But then again I see most of the core modders still active and working on those new trophies quests.

It's difficult to judge the demand.
But I do think there's still interest in the game.

We've been doing a bit of a terrible job at promoting our New Horizons work outside PA! ever since real life caught up with both me and @Armada .
We really need another proper Installer EXE; and a ModDB Release Article would be quite the worthwhile thing too.

I can tinker around my own folder, but I'm still overwhelmed by the logistics of keeping the game up to date and coordinating everything.

One of these days, we should really get a proper Version Control System running.
That should help...