Modified Traders Scenario mod, take two, alpha version

I am getting some serious scroll lag and temporary freezing mostly, but not exclusively, around the Wench / Blacksmith area.

Just to double-check, the updated CMF includes everything except for this mod and Ted's .dll, right?

 

I don't think it has anything to do with the dll, because I'm using it too. I'm not getting any scroll lag, so this may be hardware dependent. I actually feared this, bearing in mind the way I tried to solve the script device problem. What it currently does is pop up a new script device every time your party gets out of range from one, each with its own 'heartbeat script'. I was worried that so many heartbeats firing all over would slow down the game, but on my computer it didn't happen, and besides, the farther away you are from an object, the slower the rate of heartbeats it has. But apparently some hardware will still struggle. I'm curious, what are your computer's specs?

Anyway, I'm really glad that this came up in testing before integrating into the CMF. I think I can solve this without losing functionality, but we'll see.

Is there anything else you liked/disliked about the mod in general?

 

I've already mentioned this in a different post. Entering the Welcome Wench or Jakk Borton's shop, for example, can take forever. I definitely have a scroll lag, too. The lag seems to occur elsewhere in Homlett, like when entering Armario's furniture shop.

 

Ok, when I criss cross the map with the spell objects, I'm getting occasional lag too. I tried disabling the particles effects, and it seems to do the trick. Please download the file below, extract it to the data\scr folder and tell me if it fixes the lag.

 

I use XP sp2
AMD 64x2
Processor 4200+
2.21 GHz
2 GB RAM

Also, if you could fix the poor way the game handles how the courier "reveals" that he and the traders are spies, that would be great. Moreover, Corl still goes out at night - even though my face-man got him to agree to never do it again. He goes back to old dialog as if talking with a non-face-man. I know it has nothing to do with your mod, but its lame!

EDIT: He doesn't go out if you give Jay back his ring, which is kind of a silly condition. So, it appears that he only gets rubbed out once Jay's ring is returned.

I'm continuing with the game to see how your mod "unfolds" for LG party.

 

Apparently, just the stonemason's map gets changed.

Burne and Rufus told the party to go to Nulb (they're still 2nd level!). I *think* it won't screw anything up anymore because the flags (e.g. Otis) were removed, right?

 

@Basil:

What would you suggest for the courier?

As for Corl, yeah, apparently the script that changes his 'standpoint' doesn't work for some reason. Maybe it has to do with the jumppoints.tab file, it seems to be unsorted originally. I recently messed with it a bit for the Temple business, I'll see if it has any effect.
Also, I don't think giving Jay's ring has any bearing on this. It's probably related to the scripting itself, which turns Corl back on after an hour. (after you drive him away, he is set to OF_OFF mode for an hour, which makes him disappear). If the jumppoints thing worked right, he should have reappeared in his house instead of the field, but alas, it didn't work... it can be fixed by other means, though (such as creating a duplicate of him that is only active under the proper conditions).

As for arriving at Nulb at level 2, well, the only thing I could think of that could be screwed up is one of the Innkeepers there commenting on how a party of adventurers sacked the Moathouse, which I already changed. As you mentioned, the Moathouse condition was recently changed to not depend on the story state.
As far as balance is concerned, you can still go back to the Moathouse to gain experience (unless you decided to act naughty straight off the bat, before even learning of the Moathouse... hmm), and if not, there's a whole bunch of critters in the Temple itself that should bring you up to speed (and might actually pose a challenge for a change).
If there are any other oversights, well, that's exactly what the testing is for!

The items in the various map folders (Stonemason, barn, etc.) are script devices that spawn things, modify variables behind the scenes, etc.

BTW, did the script that I posted fix your lag problems?

@Gaear:
I've made some alterations to Corl and the Teamster, and his assassination can be used as evidence (however circumstantial it may be) against the traders, coupled with his father's 'testimony'.
In fact, the mod changes almost every NPC in Hommlet, though most of them are just to account for negative reputations that make them not want to interact with you (i.e. a 'get away from me' line in the dlg, and a change to the san_dialogue script so they float the line instead of entering dialogue).

Oh, and you're right about the modules thing. It used to be that the files were split into different archives (from before I had access to the FTP server), and the instructions were more specific about that. Anyway, will fix.

 

Yes, the lag problem is fixed. The pyrotechnics are gone, except for the pretty one in the Wench behind Ostler.

Thanks for the Nulb suggestions. Can't find the Traders here, and I suppose that's a good thing since they're level 2. But we got gay Bertram, so look out!

I think the biggest problem with the courier.dlg is line 60 and the extremely low Diplomacy 4 required to get to it. Too much is revealed by simple diplomacy for good guys. Perhaps I should also say that it is inappropriate information for simple diplomacy, but I do like the tack for evil options.

It seems that the Mention Status is no longer triggered for negligible dialog. What does the execution command on line 10 acquaint () do?

 

The pretty shower behind Ostler needs to be moved into the basement and occupied by a female 2nd lvl elven ranger / cleric of Corellon Lorethian who needs the party's assistance in recovering her gear that was stolen while she was showering. "Oh, and could someone please get my back?"

 

@Basil:

acquaint() does almost the same thing as setting game.quests[whatever] = qs_mentioned, except it also records the time it first happened. Since you can repeat the dialog more than once, I had to check if it was already set to qs_mentioned before, otherwise the timestamp would be overwritten. Since you can't include "if" statements in the dialogue execution fields, I had to create a function in the courier's script files that does this. (it's possible that "if" statements can be written inside the dialogue execution field, but it'd be a little cumbersome IMO)

Why did I bother recording the timestamp for quest mentioned?
I'm not sure actually. It seems I haven't used it anywhere yet. Oh well. But the method is relevant for other cases like that where I wanted to bulletproof the timestamp.

@ Guardian:

That's certainly a fitting use for the game's 'bless water' particle effect

By the way, I've come to realize that jumppoints can't be set to different maps than the mob is already in. This is the reason the game used to have problems with Paida re-appearing in the Temple, Mickey, and Corl of course. Another less known problem associated with that bug/incomplete feature is that the brigand prisoner from the second Temple level, Wicked, doesn't re-appear in the Fourth level after you liberate him without recruiting him, as his scripting indicates he should. It could be easily changed to make him appear elsewhere on the same Temple floor, though.

 

A couple of observations and at least one question. Starting with the question: how do I get everyone to stop standing around outside tie town hall unresponsively after it's been evacuated? Is there someone I should talk to after I've found the traders? Burne, the obvious choice, just completely ignores me. (Though after I ran up to Nulb and back, just for fun, he, though still outside the town hall, would talk to me but aside from thanking me for my help in the town hall, it was just the usual dialogue options. Indeed, I was able to then report the assassin to him and he asked me to investigate the traders as though they were still in town!) (I plan to revert to the save where I reported them before the council meeting, and offered to help guard and such for my proper play-through; I just wanted to see what the trapped council meeting was like.)

As for tracking them out of town themselves (I haven't found their ultimate destination yet,), a few observations. First, should there be any indication of picking up a trail inside their barn or in the stonemason's? (Obviously there's *something* inside the latter.) The reason I ask is because "On the traders trail" shows up under my Track menu in these locations. (Also, you'd think there'd be some way of reporting the something I found in the Stonemason's home to someone, though maybe there is and I just haven't found the right person or set of circumstances yet.)

Finally, and this is probably the closest thing to a bug in all of this, when I found them at the edge of town, naturally they went invisible. But when I tried to use glitterdust on them, not only did it not make them visible (this was before they actually fled), it turned the On The Traders Trail dialogue zombie dude 'hostile'. Not that it attacked or anything, but it appeared in the initiative list and, since it was invulnerable, combat wouldn't end.

I don't know if the Glitterdust not making them invisible issue is specific to this encounter or a general engine thing or simply the way the spell was implemented, since this was the first time I actually used the spell in-game; I'm just going based off what it does in proper D&D. '

Anyway, I'm definitely enjoying the mod. Just wanted to share the few minor frustrations I did have, and trust me, they are definitely minor. Nice work all around.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

Regarding everyone standing around outside the Town Hall, this isn't supposed to happen and it sounds like a bug. Or perhaps an install issue. When the Hall was evacuated, what else happened outside? There are supposed to be a number of events scripted just outside. If they're just standing around, then perhaps the script malfunctioned, or perhaps you've just installed something on top of the mod that overwrote the script. I've just tested it on my computer and it ran fine, though.
The people outside are also supposed to go away after about half an hour or so, and I've just testing going back and forth to Nulb and they did indeed go away. It's probably related. Can anyone else confirm this bug?

Also, when you say they weren't responsive, does that mean they didn't say anything at all, or did they at least float a comment along the lines of 'don't bother me now'?

As for the traders' trail thing, it's a script object that I use for triggering and spawning things. It's actually a bit of a goof that it shows up in the track menu, I guess I wasn't expecting it. I'll see if I can make it not appear there. There is one event that transpires in the Stonemason's house, but the authorities will be aware of it by the time you'd be able to report anything, and it's not related to the 'traders trail' script object itself.

The glitterdust outline thing is sort of an engine issue, but perhaps it could be fixed. It's another one of those things that hadn't occured to me that players would try, so thanks for catching that!
Don't worry about the zombie, it won't be visible in the final mod and will not enter combat. (just tested it, he wasn't added to the initiative when he's scripted to remain hidden; the only reason he's visible in the current version is for testing purposes)

 

I did get a child telling me that he saw the traders sneaking around, and mentioned something about the stonemason's home. And yes, people would respond to me, but usually with some variant of "Don't bother me now".

I'm pretty sure that your mod is the most recent thing I've installed; the only other things I've got installed at all are the cumulative mod fixes and the more recent DH update posted in that thread about a week ago.

Actually, while I'm thinking about it, let me try going back and doing that sequence again, both to see if anything different happens and to get more detail on exactly what *does* happen.

Edited to add: Just played it through again. This was from a save before I had reported the traders to Burne, and before I had gotten the assassin, but after I had sold Lareth's stuff to the traders (ensuring that I *would* get the assassin). I reported the traders, selected the option to jump ahead to the council meeting, did not suggest that Burne increase the securty, spotted the trap and evacuated the hall.

A child ran up and told me that he'd seen the traders skulking about earlier, and that he'd seen them in the stonemason's house too. Everyone else simply stood around and gave the little "Don't bother me now" comments.

I went to the stonemason's house, fought the dudes there, then found the traders at the edge of town. Killed one of them while the other escaped, went back to the town hall. Passed some time (eight hours, I believe). (In an earlier attempt I went to Nulb and back and also rested in the inn in Hommlet, with these same results.) After I'd done this, everyone but Burne was still there, in "don't bother me" mode. Burne was also there, but he would talk to me again. (Interestingly, his inventory when you trade with him at this point contained stuff that, I guess, is meant to be there if he joins your party; a map of the Moathouse, a chime of opening, and some gold and jewelry, as well as the usual assortment of scrolls.

Anyway,I hope all this is helpful!

 

Interesting. I see that most of the scripting worked, then. I assume the healing scripts also worked? (Jaroo and Terjon are supposed to heal the injured)

Also, did you start a new game after you installed the mod?