Solved Get details from the governor - Tales of a sea hawk

[Grey Roger]

The flushdeck frigate can certainly survive escaping from a fort. You've already done it. It's the same type of ship as the one in which you had to escape from Speightstown with the fort firing at you.

And it's certainly capable of capturing the enemy frigate and then escaping to the lighthouse because I've done it, numerous times. You're in trouble if a lucky shot takes down your mainmast, so it's wise to save game just before putting to sea. (In fact, it's wise to do that routinely anyway. It gives you a place from which to try again if something goes wrong with a quest, the game crashes randomly, or anything else unpleasant happens.)

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I usually started from the Lighthouse after saving of course, and most of the time the frigate would turn towards me so I just had to wait for it to clear the main channel before attacking under cover of the hills. Sometimes the frigate would turn the other way so I always had one fast ship for pursuit.

If you sail to the North of the islands you are out of range of the forts cannons as you cross the main channel. The cannons have a very high arc so it is possible in some place for the shots to clear the hills and hit your ship. Whatever you do, do not engage in the main channel.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

And unfortunately, I really have to request a fixed wind direction to the sea. Because I'm certain that otherwise, the quest becomes impossible, even with a fast ship. With favourible wind, I think that even a large ship can do it.

Do you have a save game from before setting sail?
I ask because a scene change is required for the wind to update.

@Grey Roger, could you look up the correct function call?
If I recall, it's already commented out as an example line in the console.

 

[Grey Roger]

I don't even need to look at the console - it's used already in "quests_reaction.c" to set a favourable wind for the escape from Speightstown. It's also mentioned in post #18.

It just so happens that I'm playing through "Tales of a Sea Hawk" as well, though I'm not that far into the story yet. But when I do get there, I'll be able to test both the fixed wind and what happens if you moor at the lighthouse rather than in port.

The command I'm going to try is 'SetNextWind("SSW",rand(20) + 10);' which, if I've got the orientation of Bridgetown correct, should blow out of the port and slightly towards the lighthouse. Hopefully it won't mess things up for anyone who starts from the lighthouse. It should produce a fixed direction and random speed between 10 and 30, so at least it's not too predictable. Maybe try to randomise the direction a bit as well - a switch based on a random number which assigns some direction between SSE and SW should make it less obvious that the wind is rigged while still ensuring that the wind isn't blowing you straight back into port.

Beyond that, bring the right ship for the job! A frigate, especially with the "Stay Sails" upgrade, has a better chance of catching the enemy frigate than a lumbering battlewagon. Apart from the fort, good luck chasing the frigate if it takes one look at your battleship, turns round and runs away.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The command I'm going to try is 'SetNextWind("SSW",rand(20) + 10);' which, if I've got the orientation of Bridgetown correct, should blow out of the port and slightly towards the lighthouse. Hopefully it won't mess things up for anyone who starts from the lighthouse. It should produce a fixed direction and random speed between 10 and 30, so at least it's not too predictable. Maybe try to randomise the direction a bit as well - a switch based on a random number which assigns some direction between SSE and SW should make it less obvious that the wind is rigged while still ensuring that the wind isn't blowing you straight back into port.

Nice.

It's been a fixed value in that other quest scene anyway and I'd be surprised if any regular player ever caught on to it being rigged.
But still... random is of course even nicer.

 

[Grey Roger]

Update: I've reached this point in the quest. After mooring at the lighthouse, I had to walk through the canyon to town, talk to the prison commandant, and fight my way back to the lighthouse and the ship. The enemy frigate didn't attack me and neither did the fort because I was under a British flag - now a false flag due to Silehard's nastiness. I followed the frigate for a while until we were a bit further from the fort, hoisted a pirate flag, and the enemy ship became properly hostile. After a bit of cannonfire, I boarded it, then ran away to the lighthouse. As usual, I was in a flushdeck frigate.

So starting from the lighthouse certainly works in the current version.

The fort will probably recognise me as an enemy from now on. This isn't a problem because next time I visit Bridgetown, it will be the fort which is the target...