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Fixed Distance Calculation for Escort Quest Profit

Hylie Pistof

Curmudgeon
QA Tester
Storm Modder
Pirate Legend
I took a merchant escort mission from Sao Jorge to Havana and got stuck on the pier. Why is it called a convoy mission?
 

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Executing this line through PROGRAM\console.c completes the quest properly:
Code:
LAi_QuestDelay("generate_convoy_quest_completed", 0);
Strange thing is that there is evidence in your save that the "generate_convoy_quest_completed" did actually execute some time prior to you making the save.
So this is just executing code manually that was being executed already anyway. Quite weird!

Do you still have the .log files for that happening? Or a savegame prior to that point?

The only thing I can think of right now is that the act of saving while the quest was being completed prevented it from finishing properly.
If that is the case, trying again from a previous save should work fine.

On escort quests, you might want to make a save at sea just prior to going ashore. That is much safer than doing it right after.

Why is it called a convoy mission?
It has been called that in the code since the original game. Don't know why. Because an extra ship = multiple ships = convoy? :shrug
 
I never use the console.

I deleted all saves related to that mission and took another one to Antigua, which worked fine.

The mission never completed. I spent some time trying to get it to finish, gave up, and then saved.

The only reason to do those escort missions is to unlock a perk. There is no money in them.
 
Sounds like we'll never know what happened on your Havana issue then.
Hopefully if it indeed is a consistent issue, somebody else can provide a savegame just prior and .log files from this.

The amount of money for a convoy quest is generated here in PROGRAM\QUESTS\quests_common.c:
Code:
iTradeMoney = ((iCargoType*8+99)/100)*100 + irank;
Looks like this should be adjusted to provide a fair bit more return for your efforts.
Right now, it appears that the money has nothing to do with the type of the good, nor the distance of the journey.

@Hylie Pistof: Do you have any idea how much money you should make for this to be worthwhile?
 
It isn't how much to charge for taking the escort mission. It is that the colonies do not match up economically meaning that I travel with empty holds. This is a loser in every sense of the word.
 
Perhaps the Escort Quests should take into account the Export/Import goods of the islands?
But doing that AND taking into account only friendly towns could limit things so far that hardly any are available anymore. :facepalm

Indeed the destination of these quests is near-random, so I can indeed imagine you can't find any useful cargo to send along. :(
 
When I'm going to revamp the economy I want this to tie in, so the missions are actual supply missions etc. Till then a fix is to change the amount a bit.
 
That would definitely be very nice! Since we cannot seem to get the actual bug confirmed until somebody tried the same thing again,
I'll change this report into a "Feature Request" to make these types of quests more worthwhile.
After all, useless content is so.... useless. :facepalm
 
2. It seems to me that the reimbursement for the escort missions is too low, 1603 to go from Hispaniola to Cartagena.
2. I think the fees should vary b/w 8,000 and 25,000 depending on danger and distance if you can do that. If you can't random would be fine. As it is the only reason to take and escort mission is unlock the advanced commerce ability.
We'll definitely need to do something to increase the profit on these quests for Beta 3.3 .
We don't a perfect solution just need, but it needs to be better than the current situation at the least. :yes
 
Couple of thoughts after testing Levis' latest fixpack.
Standard storyline, level 20, Arcade mode.

The payment for escorts is definitely too low. I was offered 1721 for going from Speightstown to Charlstown and 1984 from St Martin to Barbados.
 
Will change some of the parameters
 
Should it take into account the value of the cargo as well? That might make escort quests more profitable than others.
A "gold per nautical mile" scale would probably make more sense to the players (even if it wouldn't to the traders!).
 
Any comments on this? The latest files should make it quite profitable I think but I need feedback from others too :).
 
Marked as "Awaiting Info". Changes have been made, now we need feedback on this from players.
 
Please when giving feedback give us the following info too:
- difficulty you are playing
- location you where
- target location
- if possible the cargo of the merchant (and quantity)
- your level

these all influence the amount you are getting for it.
Oh and also let us know what you do think would be a fair price
 
I can give you some feedback on this. This is what I did on BBF storyline:

I went to do a escort quest on Port au Prince, apprentice level on level 11. The first offer was to go to Oranjestad with a reward of around 11000 gold. The merchant had a sloop with around 225 units of wine.

The second offer was to go to San Juan (Puerto Rico) with a reward of around 22000 gold. The merchant had an english bark from stock POTC with around 450 units of sugar.

So... it seems that it's not quite balanced IMO :shrug At least the prices are much, much better.

In my opinion, there should be some factors to take in consideration:
  • Distance of travel
  • Type of ship of the merchant
  • Type of cargo (And quantity) of the ship of the merchant
As you became more known in the seas, the escort quests should be with merchants that have bigger ships and cargo. In order to improve your relations with the merchants of escort quests, you should do often those escort quests in order to have bigger rewards. Is this feature I am mentioning in the new escort quests?
 
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