Included in Build Distinguish between different playstyles

Pieter Boelen · Jul 24, 2015

Levis said:
So what still needs to be done for this?

Mainly the Nation Relations changes of course will very much affect this.
Other than that, no other major things spring to mind.

Levis · Jul 24, 2015

We got a seperate topic for the nation relations so going to archive this for now.

Pieter Boelen · Jul 25, 2015

I just had a nice idea on this one, which resulted in the following:

Code:

string GetPlayerType()
{
   ref pchar = GetMainCharacter();
   string PlayerType = OFFIC_TYPE_REGCAP;
   if (CheckCharacterItem(pchar, "EITC_Passport"))     PlayerType = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPMERCHANT;
   if (CheckCharacterItem(pchar, "WIC_Passport"))     PlayerType = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPMERCHANT;
   if (CheckAttribute(pchar, "isnotcaptain"))       PlayerType = OFFIC_TYPE_NAVIGATOR;
   if (GetLetterOfMarqueQuantity() > 0)         PlayerType = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPPRIVATEER;
   if (HaveLetterOfMarque(ProfessionalNavyNation()))   PlayerType = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPNAVY;
   if (GetServedNation() == PIRATE)           PlayerType = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPPIRATE;
   return PlayerType;
}

If there are different play styles, we might as well show to the player which one he/she is actually on!
From now on, this will ALWAYS be shown in the empty spot on the F2>Character Interface:

At the moment this serves not much of a purpose, except to provide a somewhat meaningless indication to the player.
However, it WILL provide a quick method of checking whether you as navy officer do still actually have your LoM!
That should allow easier testing on this one: http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/naval-officer-letter-of-marque-does-not-stick.25459/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We might be able to use this for various things though.
At the moment I have only applied it to the Level-Up cheat code by replacing this:

Code:

    if(!CheckAttribute(rCharacter, "quest.officertype"))
     {
       rCharacter.quest.officertype = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPNAVY;
       if(stf(GetAttribute(rCharacter, "skill.Sneak.bonus"))  >1.0)     rCharacter.quest.officertype = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPPIRATE;   // Adventurer
       if(stf(GetAttribute(rCharacter, "skill.Grappling.bonus"))>1.0)     rCharacter.quest.officertype = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPPIRATE;   // Corsair
       if(stf(GetAttribute(rCharacter, "skill.Commerce.bonus")) >1.0)     rCharacter.quest.officertype = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPMERCHANT;   // Merchant
     }

With this:

Code:

    rCharacter.quest.officertype = GetPlayerType();
     if (rCharacter.quest.officertype == OFFIC_TYPE_CAPPRIVATEER) rCharacter.quest.officertype = OFFIC_TYPE_CAPNAVY; // PB: Because the "privateer" captain type isn't used

That is needed to give players new skills on higher levels while on the Auto Skill System.
But the "OFFIC_TYPE_CAPPRIVATEER" is something I just added and which isn't actually used anywhere.

Levis · Jul 25, 2015

hmmm...This made me think.
Would it be an idea to have certain perks get unlocked when playing a specific playstyle?
For example if you are playing as a navy character some perks might be quite relevant for you instantly so they might need to be unlocked soon. Why not do it from the start and lock some others which you normally shouldn't need....

Pieter Boelen · Jul 25, 2015

Levis said:
Would it be an idea to have certain perks get unlocked when playing a specific playstyle?
For example if you are playing as a navy character some perks might be quite relevant for you instantly so they might need to be unlocked soon. Why not do it from the start and lock some others which you normally shouldn't need....

A lot of that is handled through promotion rewards, which is fine by me. There are no perks that are true necessities for any player.
And most Naval Officers start at rank 3 or higher, so they'll already have "Trustworthy" at game start even without any changes.

Levis · Jul 25, 2015

hmmm true ...
For now I think we can leave it then.
I do think this same piece of code could also be added to the perks interface. There is also a place showing what type of officer someone is. You can add this for the mainchar so it shows there what you are too.

Pieter Boelen · Jul 25, 2015

Levis said:
I do think this same piece of code could also be added to the perks interface. There is also a place showing what type of officer someone is. You can add this for the mainchar so it shows there what you are too.

Done:

Code:

  string mychrname = GetMyFullName(refUsedCharacter);
   string offictype = "";
   if (IsMainCharacter(refUsedCharacter))
     offictype = + XI_ConvertString(GetPlayerType());
   else
   {
     if(CheckAttribute(refUsedCharacter,"quest.officertype"))
       offictype = XI_ConvertString(refUsedCharacter.quest.officertype);
   }
   if (offictype != "") mychrname += " - " + offictype;

Pieter Boelen · Jul 25, 2015

As per this update, the above changes are shown for the player in F2>Character and the Perks Interface:
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-5-internal-wip-for-testing.24817/

Hopefully this all makes sense now. You'll also notice that Hornblower is shown as "Navigator" rather than Captain until the story is completed.
After all, a "Naval Captain" has a LoM and can get promotions from any governor and Hornblower can not.

Pieter Boelen · Oct 25, 2015

The following gameplay features have been updated as per right now and should hopefully work together in a sensible way:
Medium Priority - Different Shipyard Sale Prices for Naval Officers/Privateers | PiratesAhoy!
Medium Priority - Merchant Gameplay | PiratesAhoy!
Medium Priority - Playing as a Pirate | PiratesAhoy!

I put a lot of effort into this so that you can mix and match between several of these gameplay styles and aren't locked into any one of them.

For example, technically the highest profit margins may be obtained for selling pirated ships while having a LoM, a Merchant License AND being a part of the Pirate Brotherhood.
Of course that is also extremely difficult to accomplish: If you have a LoM, generally you won't be pirating ships as you should be taking legal prizes.
And you lose your Merchant License if you do actually pirate a ship. So it isn't positively prohibited, but you will have a hard time with your juggling act! :cheeky

Pieter Boelen · Oct 27, 2015

@Grey Roger and @Levis: Since a lot of my work on the above is inspired by your comments and earlier work,
I definitely hope you can have a look at it and provide any comments you might have. :doff

Pieter Boelen · Nov 2, 2015

Very well then.... let's see if we can completely reconsider everything that we've been doing over the past few months....

When sinking/capturing ships
- You lose points with the offended nation and their allies.
- You gain points with any enemies of the offended nation, but ONLY if you have a LoM.
- You gain points with the pirates if doing this under a pirate flag, but NOT otherwise, so no unintentional gaining points with the pirates through disrespectable acts.
- You can NOT join the Pirate Brotherhood, unless you're already friendly with them, so have to act as a freelance pirate for a while OR commit a massive act of treason.

When selling captured ships:
- You gain EXTRA points in relation to the value of the sale, but ONLY if you have a LoM (or they're pirates and you joined them) with the nation where you do the selling.
So if you have an English LoM, you CAN sell at non-English ports, but only gain those extra points when doing it at English ones.
- This works only to a maximum of the cargo value that was on board at the time of capture; so you can't capture an empty ship, fill it with cargo, then get extra relation points.
- There may be a slight difference in "bare hull" sale prices depending on how you acquired the ship, but this does not affect the game all that much.
- Optional: Gain also 25% of the sale price in your personal wealth when doing this (maybe for Pirates only?).

There would then be nothing to prevent you from doing what you want with your captured ships; but you won't get the extra bonuses if you take stuff for yourself.
No need to prevent touching cannons and upgrades and allow swapping ships just fine.

You're then more free to do what you wish as there aren't any potentially unintended side-effects.
That means the game world doesn't really steer the development of your character in any way.
There are not really any big "cons" to weigh against the "pros".
If we do it like that, then certainly things will be closer to how they used to be. For all that's worth. :facepalm

Levis · Dec 29, 2015

I the future I do like it if we are able to get some of the shipyard functionality back etc. but for now I'd say its good enough.

Pieter Boelen · Dec 29, 2015

Levis said:
I the future I do like it if we are able to get some of the shipyard functionality back etc.

What functionality are you referring to? Right now, I don't think any former functionality is actually "gone".
But it could certainly be expanded on. :yes

Included in Build Distinguish between different playstyles

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Levis

Find(Rum) = false;

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Levis

Find(Rum) = false;

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Levis

Find(Rum) = false;

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer

Levis

Find(Rum) = false;

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer