Cerulean the Blue's Modding Frenzy

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

I'm back at square 1

Current install:
Atari's ToEE
Patch 2
Co8 4.0.0
Front End 3.7 (pro)
Co8 patch 4.0.1
Co8 portrait and voice pack
Darmagon's New Spells


If I want to extract "Reattaching Shops" to ToEE root folder, which files should I choose NOT to over-write?
I'll be starting a new game in the meantime, but please also let me know if I will have to start another new game from scratch in order to test the changes.

I apologize in advance for being a major pain in the arse

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

I seem to be having problems testing this mod. I created a party of five CG characters. went and eliminated Lareth to give them expeience, they are now level two. Saved then ran trough the three characters to be tested, prior to installing the Mod. To make sure that I was clear on what was being modified. I then installed the mod (I backed up, then extracted the modification files into the folders listed)

When I go to recruit Burne or Otis after setting the proper story state. They agree to come along but do not join the party? I am running the frontend pro 3.3 and I have it set for 6 PC's and 2 NPC's. I created a second backup of my original files and am going to try again. I will let you know the results, but if I am making a glaring newbie mistake here please let me know. Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks in advance, I am having a lot of fun with this site and want to try modding after I assimilate more of the process.

Update: The reloading from backup took care of the no join problem. However after I extracted the mod, I don't see any difference in the trading, I am not getting the reattached stores so I am still doing something wrong. I will try again, I am sure it will work once I extract the files to the right places.

Update: Everything works after I copied and pasted again

Results:

Burne - Reattaches to original inventory, tried recruit/release three different ways all with success

Otis - Reattaches success after both 1st and 2nd recruit/release

Mother Screng - Will not join with the party, even at story_stat 5 with Otis in the party (3rd level CG, 5 characters, frontend set to 5 PC 3 NPC. She did before I made the mod so I will try some other stuff and see if it is again something I did. Prior to the mod she left town after returning from the temple does the mod change this?

I had a game I had saved with (CG party, 3rd level human fighter, half elf fighter/ranger, human cleric/fighter, elf fighter Wizard, halfling fighter/rogue with Otis and Mother Screng in the party Hruda wasn't there had it set to 6/2 at the time I saved. When I went downstairs low and behold there stands Y'day, asked her to barter and she said the dialog but the screen never came up to barter. It did have the Otis thought we should talk to you dialog but I didn't try it didn't know what would happen with the original and a spawned NPC in the same party. note:she did join and i went to the temple with 2 screngs when i got back to nulb, i asked her to leave got the not without otis reply, the new one left when he did. then the old one left as before "oh we are back in nulb. no one was in the shop afterwards.

Otis - This is from a fresh load not the save when i first approached otis before ever recruiting him. There were two Otis's one naked and one in chain. began the dialog and the naked Otis disappears, he expresses interest in joining and i turn him down then asked to trade. He has full inventory. Then ask him to join, when he did he had no AC and no hit points and all his weapons are highlighted red no proficency. All his feats were there just not proficent, opened the talk from radial menu to ask him to leave then decided to save the game, as soon as I hit the esc key his HP and armour class returned. So I took him to the temple then back to nulb got the "I'm done" went back to trade reattach successful. Story_state=5 rejoined over to screng no join dialog. Released Otis then traded reattach was success. Note he will rejoin again at this point.

This is all the testing I will do for now until you update the post, if I am being to wordy or if my post is a spoiler let me know. I am sure this isn't the right thread for this but where would I ask about creating a new wonderous item like a bag of holding? after I figure out the mechanics a little better I would like to try and create it. Which Thread or forum is the appropriate place for that?

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Otis' shop has returned to normal following the first trip to the temple :dance:
I've re-enlisted his help, but there's no option for Screng to join the party, even though Otis has prompted the party and is in the party when we go see her.
The party is level 2/3 NG, and I've talked to her with each party member (including a paladin), but talk like Yoda is all Mother Screng will do...
I've even selected the "We'll be fine" dialogue option with Otis, but nothing will pry the old hag from her herbs and potions, potions and herbs...

I'll edit Burne info into this post shortly (unless forum maintenance intervenes...)

Burne - no problem. His shop list is just as it should be, and I've dismissed him from several locations.

Also of interest:
After Otis' 2nd visit, I get alternative dialogue at Screng's, despite her never having joined the party. The tattoo option disappears as well.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

I've tested Otis and Burne, just like the others, and they seem to work. Screng isn't joinging at all unfortunately. More feedback soon.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

The feedback is coming...so far, so good!

Rock on, Legionaires!

:rock:

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Thank all of you for your testing. You have been very thorough. You can never be too wordy or give too much information when posting about your tests. Every bit helps.

I realized after the last update that the way in which I was implementing this fix was messing up dialogs with other NPCs. I was faced with a choice of changing a whole lot of dialog files, or changing the way I was implementing this. I chose the latter.

Screng:
I had never used Mother Screng before, so I did not realize she leaves the game entirely when she leaves the party. Since this happens, and I'm not inclined to change it as it fits the scenario, my fix for her is pointless and I am removing it.

Otis:
The naked Otis happens to me in my testing, but only when I first enter Nulb and he clothes himself as soon as I get to the base of the ramp leading up to his apprentice, often sooner. It has to do with the heartbeat script sometimes not firing until the party has somebody in the same sector as the NPC. It is a side effect I may be able to fix. The no-AC no-hp thing is weird. Sounds like a game glitch rather than something to do with my patch, but I will look into it. Let me know if it keeps happening.

I thought Otis might be a problem for testing. I forgot to mention that you need to clear the map cache after installing the patch (either by checking the box in Front End or manually by going into the maps folder for the module you are using and deleting the oddly named files). Also, all testing of Otis should start from a save from before you have met him, and from a map other than Nulb. Testing from a save made before you installed the patch but after you have met Otis (or possible even been to Nulb) may cause some problems.

Update:
Here are the updated files. I recommend they go over a Co8 4.0.0 install. Some cutting a pasting will be required once again. Also, if you had the previous patch installed for testing, you will need to go into your maps folder and delete the folder named Map-9-Nulb-Interior-Mother-Screng-Herb-Shop-1st-fl.

This should fix all the dialog related problems, and any patch related problems with Mother Screng. This doesn't fix Otis being naked until you get close to him yet, but let me know if he is sill naked once you are on the ramp up to the smithy.

[EDIT] Fixed the "Otis is naked until you get close" thing, I think. I have re-uploaded the files here.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Tested new fixes

Burne - works everyway I have tried him, he even got himself killed at the broken tower. Resurrected and released he is home with his reattached inventory. Released when dead he disappears from the game as it should be.

Otis - Naked thing is gone by the time you reach him. Inventory reattaches after both 1st and 2nd times. Screng dialogs work properly. Only glitch left that I see is you can recruit him again after releasing him the second time. (Same dialogs we should go see Screng even though see has already left the game.

Nice Mod let me know if I can test anything else for you, it lets me look at what your doing and helps me reverse engineer things.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Thanks for all the valuable feedback rufnredde.

Burne:
That's great news. I never thought to test the "died and resurrected" thing. I'm glad it works.

Otis:
I've fixed the whole "naked until you get close to him" thing. I just needed to specify specific slots for the armor and weapons in the MOB, rather than let the game dress him for me.

As far as the releasing him for the second time and having him rejoin goes, did you take him to the Temple again before you released him? It is supposed to work so that once he has been to the Temple the second time, you can't release him anywhere but Nulb, where he leaves the group of his own accord and won't rejoin. If you release him without taking him to the Temple he will rejoin. At least that's the way it works for me. I expect that without my patch you would get the same dialog about Screng if he joined for the second time, was released and then rejoined. As far a I remember there is no flag set when she runs off.

Update:
I have updated the files in my previous post to reflect the changes. Same rules apply as before.

@rufnredde: That is exactly how I learned to mod this game. I didn't know any python when I first came here. I just looked at what already existed and learned from it.

There is a Bag of Holding already in the game, but it doesn't work. The entries for it are apparently either a leftover from Arcanum (which was sort of a basis for ToEE) or Troika either couldn't implement or didn't have the time to implement. Either way, it would have to be implemented in a far different way than the other wondrous items in the game. We have discussed the possible ways before. Catch me on IRC sometime (you can use the chat button in the toolbar to get there - I'm on fairly regularly) or PM me and I will gladly discuss it, or any other modding questions you have. Oh, and the General Modification forum is the perfect place to ask modding questions. Try using the search function as well. There is a whole host of modding info here, and we are only now really starting to get it organized.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

New fix report:

Otis:
Shop works perfectly after each temple excursion.
I tested the nudity thing at each event. He wears the earth temple robes until you get near him, but he still wears his armour underneath and carries his bow (despite arming him with a sword, but I guess the weapon is hard-coded). The robes vanish as soon as he relaxes from his fighting stance.
I decided to kill him after the 2nd visit to see if I could get the sword back, but it doesn't appear in his inventory. I will test this later today to see if this is "normal" using a vanilla save I mentioned earlier.

Screng now joins the party willingly (and disappears upon the return to Nulb).
Because the PC:NPC = 6:2, "Murfles" is unable to join, despite agreeing to go with us. After Screng departs, she is still located on the first floor, and her dialogue options still assume that Otis and/or Screng are with the party.
Again, I expect this is normal, but I will check this out as well.

Burne:
As before, works perfectly with no apparent abnormalities (except for the mage armour residue, and the spell sound triggering on the world map).

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Excellent fix, Blue, I'd always been torqued about that when using Otis before. So far all appears to be in order. I'm going to go back and start a new game so I can "rescue" Lareth and recruit him with spells after he becomes a merchant--will it work for him too?

And unlike SOME people, I don't change my PC count, so I can fit in all three of the royal agents. :dribble: /holier than thou

Back soon after I finish the game, again, just in case.

--Blair
"Young man, I don't think you know who you're dealing with here."

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Can we not have spoilers about things which are obviously (attempted to be) kept secret, without spoiler space?

I'm late on the test again but I can verify that Otis isn't progressing to the stuck-on-the-anvil stage of his life.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

My fix is only for Burne and Otis. After looking at Lareth (all 4 of him), it appears that he would not suffer the same problem that Burne and Otis did (Liv, lacking the tools we have now, used very creative means to make Lareth a merchant, so he is unlike the "standard" merchants in the game). In fact, the way it is set up, Lareth could be a "portable" merchant: You may be able to take him with you and barter with him no matter what map you are on.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you are saying.

Since this is a mod testing thread in the General Modification section, I don't think we have to worry about spoilers. If people don't want spoilers, they shouldn't be reading this section of the forum.

What do you mean by the "stuck-on-the-anvil stage of his life"?

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Sorry, I was confused about the spoiler thing...you'd think the posts about testing and modding would tell me that this is the mod forum, wouldn't you? Oh well.

By stuck to his anvil, I mean that he won't rejoin the party, and tells us to bugger off and see Screng. *edit: To clarify further, he continues to repeat the same piece of dialog without progressing past it. That is, he continues to tell us to visit Screng without realising we already have.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

The Switch_NPC function is not firing for that particular join sequence. Odd, nobody else has reported it, and I never saw it in my testing. Try loading from a save before you met Otis and run through the whole thing again.

Hang on. Go to your ToEE root directory and then data/scr. Sort the files by type, and delete everything with the .pyc extension. These are compiled scripts, and the game will not recognize any script changes if there are compiled ones present.

 

Re: Reattaching Shop Inventories to Adventuring Shopkeepers

Hey hey, you might be on to something there. I'll give that a go when I get home and let you know.