[REL] Complete Sailor's Guide to Privateering (GoF)

[Darkhymn]

Edit: The fix has been updated to work correctly with 1.1.2. Apologies for any inconvenience.

So, for whatever reason, the version of the Complete Sailor's Guide to Privateering that is included in Gentlemen of Fortune! is not the final release version. There was a typo in one of my beta files that was preventing the books from appearing in stores. Pieter pointed out the offending typo, and Firebat fixed it, but for whatever reason that bugfix never made it into GoF. So here it is:

Download

To install, just extract the rar into your CoAS folder. This fix appears to be savegame compatible. When you start your game, stores should have a random selection of books available for sale.

Additionally, in the near future I think there will be some sweeping changes to the way books work. Changes I'm considering:

1) Increased minimum levels for the books to appear.
2) Much higher costs of books.
3) Decreased or unstackable bonuses (Maximum 30%)
4) Availability of all books in (some) stores.
5) Making tier 2 and up books available ONLY in stores.
6) Making tier 1 books slightly rarer.

Thanks to buho for coming up with the first four ideas as possible solutions to my issues with the current system.

I'm looking for opinions, here. As it stands, I find the books are really very unbalanced, and I'd like to find a nice balance between fun and challenge.

 

[Thagarr]

I never had much of a chance to play the full GOF Mod, so I never noticed that it wasn't working properly. Thanks for taking the time to fix it mate!

1. I really like the idea of certain books requiring a certain level to appear, I think that's a great idea! If we could figure out how to add a reading skill and require that for the book bonuses to take effect, that would be even better! I am no coder though, so feel free to completely ignore that suggestion!

2. This one might be a bit tricky, I know some of the other mods have made it a lot tougher to make a profit than it used to be. I do think that the tier 3 books should be very expensive, and very rare.

3. I think stackable bonuses for books would be a good reason for someone to shell out the doubloons for a tier 3 book. Maybe adjust the overall bonus to max at 30%, say 5 for tier 1, 10 for tier 2, and 15 for tier 3?

4 and 5. Back when we were originally working on this mod, I had an idea to maybe include a book store run by a local monk, or perhaps a secret area of a monastery where a certain monk had collected "questionable" writings. He would of course be very fond of these books and not very willing to part with them. I don't really have the free time to work on something like that myself though, and I doubt I have the skills to even come close to putting it in game, so I didn't even mention it. Having tier 2 and 3 books only show up in one shop(depending on level) in the entire Caribbean would justify the rarity and expense of these books. Perhaps one such monastery or book store per nation? In my opinion, tier 1 books are the only ones that should show up in regular stores.

6. I have no problem with this at all, books were very rare and expensive, but they do need to show up enough to make players curious about what other books might be available.

 

[Darkhymn]

I never had much of a chance to play the full GOF Mod, so I never noticed that it wasn't working properly. Thanks for taking the time to fix it mate!

It hasn't work correctly since it was a standalone mod for CMv3.1.5. They incorporated the 0.9.9 beta into CMv3.2 rather than Firebat's 1.0 release (which is on the FTP) for some reason, and it was never caught and corrected.

1. I really like the idea of certain books requiring a certain level to appear, I think that's a great idea! If we could figure out how to add a reading skill and require that for the book bonuses to take effect, that would be even better! I am no coder though, so feel free to completely ignore that suggestion!

I actually think I could do that fairly easily, though I'm not sure I could tweak the interface to accommodate... Only interface work I ever did was adding text to the reinit button for CMv3.2 and changing the header on the map reading screen for CSGtP

2. This one might be a bit tricky, I know some of the other mods have made it a lot tougher to make a profit than it used to be. I do think that the tier 3 books should be very expensive, and very rare.

This is true. I'll have to actually try playing with those mods on ^_^

3. I think stackable bonuses for books would be a good reason for someone to shell out the doubloons for a tier 3 book. Maybe adjust the overall bonus to max at 30%, say 5 for tier 1, 10 for tier 2, and 15 for tier 3?

Jonathan Aldridge already did this. It's an option in the Mod Options menu. What buho suggested is three books with the current default values (10 - 20 - 30), but non stacking. A tier three book is still going to be 10 points better than a tier two one (and I'll set prices accordingly). You could sell the tier two book to help pay for the upgrade, or hand it off to an officer or companion.

4 and 5. Back when we were originally working on this mod, I had an idea to maybe include a book store run by a local monk, or perhaps a secret area of a monastery where a certain monk had collected "questionable" writings. He would of course be very fond of these books and not very willing to part with them. I don't really have the free time to work on something like that myself though, and I doubt I have the skills to even come close to putting it in game, so I didn't even mention it. Having tier 2 and 3 books only show up in one shop(depending on level) in the entire Caribbean would justify the rarity and expense of these books. Perhaps one such monastery or book store per nation? In my opinion, tier 1 books are the only ones that should show up in regular stores.

My current thought on this is that the store in each "Capital" should sell all of the books, and then maybe tiers one and two in every other town? Or even just tier one.

6. I have no problem with this at all, books were very rare and expensive, but they do need to show up enough to make players curious about what other books might be available.

Absolutely. I don't want to make them rare by any means... Just less overwhelmingly common. I hate getting 3 or 4 or 5 books in one boarding action. Try invading a town sometime. The soldiers are, to quote buho, walking bookshelves.

 

[buho]

@Thagarr:

My line of thinking is not having the books being difficult to find, much to the contrary, I want to have traders selling all of them as soon as the main char level permit and as a fixed item in the stock: if you know a "book seller" trader you can be sure him having all the books your level permits. I'm even campaigning for a "book seller" in every town or likely.

On the other hand I want the books being infuriatingly high priced, as a way to encourage long term planing and as a money sink.

Cheers.
buho (A).

 

[Officerpuppy]

It's possible that the soldiers are scripted to drop all sorts of books. You should look in what I think the game calls monster files. If I recall correctly, one of those files denotes what gets dropped for specific monsters (soldiers, thugs, etc)

I also agree with the opinion that high level books should be very rare and expensive.

As for the book store, that would be awesome, but atm I don't think we have the know how on how to do that yet.

 

[buho]

As for the book store, that would be awesome, but atm I don't think we have the know how on how to do that yet.

I need to make some checks, but I believe the items are listed in the Items.xxxx attribute of the trader NPC (where xxx is the item ID). If I'm right, adding code to force the books to be there based on some set of rules is not so difficult.

Marking one trader in the town as the "book seller" while the others stay as "normal" is another beast but we can use the shopkeepers as book sellers: there is only one shopkeeper per town and they are traders too. If we decide to have book sellers only in some towns, marking as book selleres only the right shopkeeperes is easier than selecting traders.

Cheers.
buho (A).

 

[Darkhymn]

Yeah, I think just using the shops will both be the easiest and make the most sense from a roleplay perspective. Considering the price and rarity of books in the period, it would take an affluent and well connected merchant to maintain a constant stock of that many specific books. The stall vendors may have individual volumes now and then, but whole collections?

I'm still for making only a few merchants booksellers, in local capitals and other key ports. Frankly, though, I'm not averse to just putting them all in every shop if there is a consensus to that effect.

 

[buho]

I need to make some checks, but I believe the items are listed in the Items.xxxx attribute of the trader NPC (where xxx is the item ID). If I'm right, adding code to force the books to be there based on some set of rules is not so difficult.

Checked. It is that way. Or the books can be set in the GiveItemToTrader function.

We need to define the rules and involved NPCs.

Cheers.
buho (A),

 

[Officerpuppy]

Random idea:

What if you had a Learn how to Read book? This book would be super rare, super expensive and without it, all the other books skills would be halved?

My logic is that this super book could be a sort of equalizer between price and bonus given amongst all the books? Plus historically speaking, the only people that can probably read in the game would be the priests and the governor and perhaps the traders to a lesser extent.

 

[Darkhymn]

Random idea:

What if you had a Learn how to Read book? This book would be super rare, super expensive and without it, all the other books skills would be halved?

My logic is that this super book could be a sort of equalizer between price and bonus given amongst all the books? Plus historically speaking, the only people that can probably read in the game would be the priests and the governor and perhaps the traders to a lesser extent.

That's not a bad idea, and in fact the code is already in place (the mod switch). All we'd have to do is point it at a check for the book in the player's inventory rather than the mod on/off function (I believe). Perhaps this book could require a very high level, or only be available via loot?

Checked. It is that way. Or the books can be set in the GiveItemToTrader function.

We need to define the rules and involved NPCs.

Cheers.
buho (A),

At least the stores in the capitals, if not just every store. Frankly, the limitation we impose via price will work better than forcing a player to go to one of five cities they may or may not have any other reason to visit. Then again, the exact opposite could be said.

 

[buho]

That's not a bad idea, and in fact the code is already in place (the mod switch). All we'd have to do is point it at a check for the book in the player's inventory rather than the mod on/off function (I believe). Perhaps this book could require a very high level, or only be available via loot?

Putting a high-level requirement is against the way things work: as higher the main char is, lesser the need for high bonuses.

Cheers.
buho (A).

 

[mk0]

Hey guys,

just one little question... How to use these books?

I found one, I used "Equip item" in my inventory, which opens the books view like shown in the screenshots but that does not add the bonus points to my character.



Thanks.

 

[modernknight1]

Using the equip funtion allows you to look at the book. There's a lot of great content there that a good many of us contributed. Some of it is very humorous. Thagarr himself contributed a lot to the writing and its very informative and entertaining. I encourage you to look at the content - its worth reading.

The answer to your question is simply that you just have to have to keep the book in your inventory or your NPC officer's inventory for it to give you(or your officer) its bonuses. I know it's a pain in the butt to carry around a bazzillion books, but that's part of the challenge of play. When I start my character I always start with my strength stats at 8 or 9 so I can carry tons of extra stuff. I carry all the books with me in my giant magic video game knapsack that I keep up me rear.

MK

 

[mk0]

Using the equip funtion allows you to look at the book. There's a lot of great content there that a good many of us contributed. Some of it is very humorous. Thagarr himself contributed a lot to the writing and its very informative and entertaining. I encourage you to look at the content - its worth reading.

The answer to your question is simply that you just have to have to keep the book in your inventory or your NPC officer's inventory for it to give you(or your officer) its bonuses. I know it's a pain in the butt to carry around a bazzillion books, but that's part of the challenge of play. When I start my character I always start with my strength stats at 8 or 9 so I can carry tons of extra stuff. I carry all the books with me in my giant magic video game knapsack that I keep up me rear.

MK

Aye see. Thanks. What is kinda confusing at this point is, that the stats are not updated in the character view, if you carry such items with you. Otherwise I would have guessed this behavior on my own.

Oh, I've got an idea. To avoid carrying them with you all the time. How about putting them in a chest in the captains cabin? If one wants them to affect officers, then you have to give them the item but otherwise one could put them in such a chest once you have readed them.

Thanks again. k

 

[Darkhymn]

Using the equip funtion allows you to look at the book. There's a lot of great content there that a good many of us contributed. Some of it is very humorous. Thagarr himself contributed a lot to the writing and its very informative and entertaining. I encourage you to look at the content - its worth reading.

The answer to your question is simply that you just have to have to keep the book in your inventory or your NPC officer's inventory for it to give you(or your officer) its bonuses. I know it's a pain in the butt to carry around a bazzillion books, but that's part of the challenge of play. When I start my character I always start with my strength stats at 8 or 9 so I can carry tons of extra stuff. I carry all the books with me in my giant magic video game knapsack that I keep up me rear.

MK

Aye see. Thanks. What is kinda confusing at this point is, that the stats are not updated in the character view, if you carry such items with you. Otherwise I would have guessed this behavior on my own.

Oh, I've got an idea. To avoid carrying them with you all the time. How about putting them in a chest in the captains cabin? If one wants them to affect officers, then you have to give them the item but otherwise one could put them in such a chest once you have readed them.

Thanks again. k

As it stands currently, you have to carry the books to get the effects, and I like it that way. It may not make perfect sense from a realistic perspective, but needing to have the weight in your inventory to gain the bonuses is part of the balance. In 1.1.2, the books are practically weightless, so it really shouldn't be much of a worry.

Also, the bonuses are shown as a green "+X" next to your primary stat number as with any stat modifying item.

 

[Edmaroon]

So, for whatever reason, the version of the Complete Sailor's Guide to Privateering that is included in Gentlemen of Fortune! is not the final release version. There was a typo in one of my beta files that was preventing the books from appearing in stores. Pieter pointed out the offending typo, and Firebat fixed it, but for whatever reason that bugfix never made it into GoF. So here it is:

Download

To install, just extract the rar into your CoAS folder. This fix appears to be savegame compatible. When you start your game, stores should have a random selection of books available for sale.

Additionally, in the near future I think there will be some sweeping changes to the way books work. Changes I'm considering:

1) Increased minimum levels for the books to appear.
2) Much higher costs of books.
3) Decreased or unstackable bonuses (Maximum 30%)
4) Availability of all books in (some) stores.
5) Making tier 2 and up books available ONLY in stores.
6) Making tier 1 books slightly rarer.

Thanks to buho for coming up with the first four ideas as possible solutions to my issues with the current system.

I'm looking for opinions, here. As it stands, I find the books are really very unbalanced, and I'd like to find a nice balance between fun and challenge.

Latelly I have played a bit with GOF 1.1 and 1.1.2, and I agree books are very unbalanced. Just resting in taverns and looking under the table in the morning, i often could find a book or two. The same travelling through jungle and specially in ship cupboards after boardings. Books were more valuable than ships, weapons or gems. All money system in the game should be reworked.
Books are designed as help tools for new characters so they shouldn't have minimum levels, otherwise their utility would decrease. I like the idea of making them available ONLY in stores if its possible. Unstackable bonuses seems also a good idea because 60% bonus for a new character is way too much.

 

[Talisman]

Books are designed as help tools for new characters so they shouldn't have minimum levels, otherwise their utility would decrease. I like the idea of making them available ONLY in stores if its possible. Unstackable bonuses seems also a good idea because 60% bonus for a new character is way too much.

If books are meant to help the new player - then instead of mimimum levels perhaps they should have maximum levels ( not appear after the player reaches a certian level ) .
The books that give the greatest bonuses could have a minimum & maximum level - so that they don't appear to early in the game and also don't appear later in the game when the player no longer needs the benifit of the bonuses. ( or the money from selling them.)

 

[buho]

My opinion is making them unstackable and 30% maximun: first 10%, second 20%, third 30%; is you have the first and the second on you, the first doesn't count (the way RPG bonuses works in many games). Eventually with a game option switch to make them 25%, 35% and 45%.

With buyable-only books there is no need for a max level restriction IMO: the player is not going to buy them if he doesn't need them.

Cheers.
buho (A).

 

[Talisman]

With buyable-only books there is no need for a max level restriction IMO: the player is not going to buy them if he doesn't need them.

True - I Agree

 

[Darkhymn]

I'm going to be away for a week or so, but when I get back, I'll get to coding some changes. I'll give all books to merchants, though I think I'll leave out the advanced combat manuals, keeping them lootable only, or at random. We want lower drop rates for tier one books, and tiers two and three will not be lootable at all. We'll stick with the 30% total bonus (5 - 10 - 15) until we can figure out how to make the bonuses not stack, with the modswitch increasing that total to the current 60 (so 30 will now be default).