Signing articles

[Grey Roger]

When I had 1,000,000 gold in the ship's kitty for the first time since installing Beta 3.2, a new entry appeared in my quest book, "Crew Affairs", saying that the crew were envious of all that gold and wanted to sign articles. I duly signed articles. The quest entry is still open. How do I close it?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Good point.

PROGRAM\WorldMap\DailyCrewUpdate.c:

    if (articles || CheckAttribute(pchar,"professionalnavy") || UNLIMITEDLOOT)   // LDH add test for navy character if available - 16Apr09
     {
       // do nothing
       DeleteAttribute(pchar, "articles_note");                                       // PB: Reset this
       DeleteQuestHeader("crew_affairs");                                         // PB: Remove Questbook entry // <-------------- ADD THIS LINE --------------
     }
     else
     {
       // PB: Include ship's chests -->
       ref loc = &locations[FindLocation("Tutorial_Deck")];
       int money = sti(pchar.money);
       if(CheckAttribute(loc, "weaponslocker.money"))   money = money + sti(loc.weaponslocker.money);
       if(CheckAttribute(loc, "box1.money"))       money = money + sti(loc.box1.money);
       money = money - ( 1000000 + GetEstimatedOfficerPay() + GetEstimatedCrewPay() );
       // PB: Include ship's chests <--
       if (money > 0)
       {
         norm_morale = norm_morale - money/(1000*makeint(pchar.reputation)); // Sulan: an honest trader will less likely provoke mutiny in his crew than a pirate
         Trace("DailyCrewUpdate: morale lowered by " + money/(1000*makeint(pchar.reputation)) + " due to undivided loot");   // LDH - 06Mar09

         if(!CheckAttribute(pchar, "articles_note"))
         {
           pchar.articles_note = true;                                           // PB: Show this only once
           LogIt("Captain, the crew is envious of the amount of money we have on board and wants to sign articles");   // PB: Log message added + effect increased to become visible
           SetQuestHeader("crew_affairs");                                         // PB: Add to Questbook too
           AddQuestRecord("crew_affairs", 1);                                       // PB: Add to Questbook too
         }
       }
       else
       {
         DeleteAttribute(pchar, "articles_note");                                     // PB: Reset once this has been sorted
         DeleteQuestHeader("crew_affairs");                                         // PB: Remove Questbook entry
       }
     }

I think that should do it.

 

[Grey Roger]

Will that take effect at once or only after I start a new game?

The bit about "an honest trader will less likely provoke mutiny in his crew than a pirate" seems to be based on reputation. As a pirate with reputation "Hero", I take exception to being mistaken for an honest trader, having never paid for any cargo (excepting supplies and ammo) throughout the entire storyline.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

You are a pirate hero, not a pirate rascal.

I recently hired an officer thinking to make him a Captain of one of my ships because of his sailing skills. His reputation was rascal but I didn't think anything of it because it didn't use to matter. His ship kept mutinying and when I would board it he would surrender so I had to put another officer in charge. Later when he died in the jungle I didn't feel sorry for him, but am now one officer short.

 

[Grey Roger]

If you go around doing nice things, your reputation goes up and, rather more slowly, so does that of your companions. If you're already "Hero" then your reputation can't improve any further but that of your companions can. So assign that "Rascal" as one of your companions, keep doing all the things that made you "Hero", and watch his reputation improve gradually.

I'm surprised that you're surprised that putting a "Rascal" in charge of a ship when you're "Hero" caused a mutiny. I reported exactly that problem some time ago - morale kept dropping and I had to pay a fortune to the crew to keep putting it back up every couple of days. The cause then was identified as the ship's captain having a dodgy reputation. (Here's the thread where it happened.)

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Old habits die hard. The mutinies never used to happen so I am not in the habit of checking an officer's reputation.

I'm still one officer short.

 

[Grey Roger]

Does that mean you've run into the disappearing officers bug? Otherwise why not just hire a replacement, preferably someone with a decent reputation?

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I have not run into any disappearing officer bug. I just have not found a good officer. They either do not have the skills I am looking for or they are very high level officers and cost too much. I just need someone to sail any prizes so I want someone with good leadership, sailing, repair, and reputation skills. All I am finding are Bosuns and Gunners.

 

[Grey Roger]

The only really important one is reputation, unless you expect that prize ship to fight. An officer with inadequate leadership and sailing won't cause a mutiny, he'll just be less effective at commanding that ship. Repair is of limited use unless you're carrying lots of planks and sailcloth to transfer to the prize ship. I suspect you'll be searching for a long time if you want someone with all those skills since each one is the speciality of a different type of officer.

I just hired any random officers I could find with neutral or good reputation. They could barely command tier 6 or tier 7 ships but because of their reputation, they don't cause crew morale to drop, and if I then get into another fight I tell the prize ships to run away. And the officers are learning. They can now command tier 5, still not enough for my usual prey, "Spanish" war galleons, but they're getting there...

Hire the first officer you find with a half decent reputation who doesn't charge too much, regardless of skills. Worst case scenario, you can at least grab and sell a prize ship, at which point that officer has just earned you more than you paid for him; meanwhile you keep looking for your ideal captain and when you find him, sack the temporary replacement. Best case scenario, that officer learns on the job and becomes your ideal captain. Either way you make a lot more money selling even badly damaged prize ships than you will by waiting until Captain Perfect shows up.

Another possibility is, if you find someone that is almost ideal except for reputation, hire that one. Meanwhile, whichever officer you used as a prize commander last time, keep using that one for prize ships. Keep the new officer with you as a companion, and keep doing whatever nice things you've been doing to boost your own reputation. It passes on to your companions. I've got two officers who originally had very bad reputations and who now have moderately good reputations.

 

[Grey Roger]

Will that take effect at once or only after I start a new game?

Answer: at once. I added that line to "DailyCrewUpdate.c", continued with my existing game, and the "Crew Affairs" quest has now disappeared. It's not greyed out like a normally completed quest, it's completely gone. Still, at least it's no longer showing up as an active quest. Thanks!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Will that take effect at once or only after I start a new game?

Straight away, as you already found.
The line disappearing is on purpose; then at least it'll stand out if it ever comes back. Right?

The bit about "an honest trader will less likely provoke mutiny in his crew than a pirate" seems to be based on reputation. As a pirate with reputation "Hero", I take exception to being mistaken for an honest trader, having never paid for any cargo (excepting supplies and ammo) throughout the entire storyline.

Ignore the "trader" part. If your crew knows you to be honest, they won't be too fussed.

If you go around doing nice things, your reputation goes up and, rather more slowly, so does that of your companions. If you're already "Hero" then your reputation can't improve any further but that of your companions can. So assign that "Rascal" as one of your companions, keep doing all the things that made you "Hero", and watch his reputation improve gradually.

It does? I was not aware of any such functionality. That's pretty cool.

 

[Grey Roger]

Even if you're "Hero", morale still drops if you have too much unused gold. I found that out when I was playing "Tales of a Sea Hawk" under Beta 3. Unless it's changed in Beta 3.2? When the warning appeared about the crew getting envious of my 1,000,000 gold, I took it seriously and signed articles at once, hence this thread. So I don't know if morale really was about to drop or whether the crew would have ignored the pile of gold in my cabin because everybody thinks I'm a nice guy.

The bit about your actions affecting your companions' reputation is nothing new. By the time I'd finished with "Tales of a Sea Hawk", all my officers had good reputations, even the ones who were "Bloody Terror" or "Horror of the High Seas" when I first hired them. Again, that was Beta 3, but it's still happening in Beta 3.2, as two of my officers in my current game have found out.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Ayup! It doesn't matter what your status is, if you have gold your crew wants it. And if you do not want to share they mutiny.

I have heard that $50,000,000 is the maximum amount you can get in POTC and that is my long term goal. In one game I got over $30,000,000 but have never got 50. So I turn off the crew jelousy feature.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Even if you're "Hero", morale still drops if you have too much unused gold. I found that out when I was playing "Tales of a Sea Hawk" under Beta 3. Unless it's changed in Beta 3.2?

Hasn't been changed, no. If you are a Hero, the morale drop will be smaller than if you have a lower reputation.
But it will still happen, especially if you have a LOT of money.

I have heard that $50,000,000 is the maximum amount you can get in POTC and that is my long term goal.

No clue where that came from. I don't think there is any limit defined in the code.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

That came from other players who have hit that limit.

 

[DavyJack]

Good point.

PROGRAM\WorldMap\DailyCrewUpdate.c:

    if (articles || CheckAttribute(pchar,"professionalnavy") || UNLIMITEDLOOT)   // LDH add test for navy character if available - 16Apr09
     {
       // do nothing
       DeleteAttribute(pchar, "articles_note");                                       // PB: Reset this
       DeleteQuestHeader("crew_affairs");                                         // PB: Remove Questbook entry // <-------------- ADD THIS LINE --------------
     }
     else
     {
       // PB: Include ship's chests -->
       ref loc = &locations[FindLocation("Tutorial_Deck")];
       int money = sti(pchar.money);
       if(CheckAttribute(loc, "weaponslocker.money"))   money = money + sti(loc.weaponslocker.money);
       if(CheckAttribute(loc, "box1.money"))       money = money + sti(loc.box1.money);
       money = money - ( 1000000 + GetEstimatedOfficerPay() + GetEstimatedCrewPay() );
       // PB: Include ship's chests <--
       if (money > 0)
       {
         norm_morale = norm_morale - money/(1000*makeint(pchar.reputation)); // Sulan: an honest trader will less likely provoke mutiny in his crew than a pirate
         Trace("DailyCrewUpdate: morale lowered by " + money/(1000*makeint(pchar.reputation)) + " due to undivided loot");   // LDH - 06Mar09

         if(!CheckAttribute(pchar, "articles_note"))
         {
           pchar.articles_note = true;                                           // PB: Show this only once
           LogIt("Captain, the crew is envious of the amount of money we have on board and wants to sign articles");   // PB: Log message added + effect increased to become visible
           SetQuestHeader("crew_affairs");                                         // PB: Add to Questbook too
           AddQuestRecord("crew_affairs", 1);                                       // PB: Add to Questbook too
         }
       }
       else
       {
         DeleteAttribute(pchar, "articles_note");                                     // PB: Reset once this has been sorted
         DeleteQuestHeader("crew_affairs");                                         // PB: Remove Questbook entry
       }
     }

I think that should do it.

Here's a file for this one for anyone who wants to try or too lazy to do the work mentioned above. Hehehe(Just extract to yer Main Game Folder):