Co8 4.1.0

I don't get a CTD when Mordenkainen's Sword expires, nor do I think did Gaear when he tried the spell (not sure on that.) so I am not sure what may be going on there. If you can remember anymore detaills (ie. in combat or out, how many npc's/pc's in the party, was there a map change between spell start and spell end, how far away was the sword from the party etc. or anything else you might be able to think of.)

As far as the graphic glitch, do you mean the fact that the sword is not centred on the blue circle? That is because the circle is centred on the sword's wielder, who is invisible and not on the sword itself.

Darmagon.

 

Ok, from memory,

We were out of combat
Party was 5 PCs 2 NPCs (and the Sword)
Sword was near party

I saved after the first combat the sword was used in (just beat a nasty foe) first CTD was when I rested (spell expired during rest) after this was repeatable, I just let the spell expire - also CTD'd. There was no map change.

But I'm now noticing that I'm getting CTDs on some map changes (going down stairs from level 3 to level 4 of temple frequently) so I suspect there is something screwy in my saved game :-( this may be unrelated though.

The graphic glitch looks like part of the invisible person holding the sword isn't invisible - it may be more noticable due to the fact I was in the Water Node (white background).

Charles

 

Re Mordenkainan's Sword CTD

Well, I think it must have been a symptom of a furbar-ed saved game, as I just tried it a again on an earlier save - and no CTD, not when the spell expired and not when I changed map.

And, as I mentioned, I'd been getting CTDs on map changes anyway.

So <british bobby>move along folks, nothing to see</british bobby>

I'll just have to roll back to the previous save (no great loss) then.

Charles

 

I like the idea of starting in verbobonc, most party alignments could start there (some more than others).

about the 'end' slides - I was looking into that, they seem to run off flaged vars - I guess you could change it so that no matter how you started it would play the same slide/movie.

 

About the Caravan, I was thinking it might be interesting to at some point see the caravan included as a random encounter, since a lot of items there are beyond the budget of starting characters. Though I'm not sure how one would stop people from just slaughtering the merchants if they're inclined.

 

The movie played when entering a map is controled by MapList.mes. The entry there points to an line in movies.mes, which is in ToEE.dat\movies. That line points to a .bik movie in data\movies and a .mes file which is in both ToEE4.dat\mes\subtitles and Toee4.dat\rules\subtitles. I'm thinking if we can make the movie, we can make a starting movie for the ShopMap.

 

Couldn't you just add a few high level fighter guards?I mean the shopkeepers sell things worth 30k+ gp. In my PnP game i've noticed that the most effective monsters really are NPC's specially if you have a high powered game. 30 orcs against a level 4-5 party with a good tank will just e swatted like flies. Even without fireballs.

Or you could just add a butcher of hommelet flag upon killeng them?
Just my 2 cents Rawel

 

Well, the shop map isn't mine and I wouldn't know where to begin to modify it, it was just an idle thought.

Guards can easily be taken down. The Butcher reputation might work, but it would seem weird since you haven't actually killed anyone from Homlett. I know Liv was able to add a new reputation for her mod. Maybe a bandit reputation could be added, where Homlett people react the way they do to the Butcher rep and the merchants in Nulb only offer you a pittance on anything you try to sell them because any goods you have are assumed to be stolen. (They don't have a problem with the stealing so much as not wanting to pay full price for "hot" merchandise.)

 

Slaughtering the merchants wouldn't really get the party much. All the good stuff is in the substitute inventory container (shop chest) which can't be looted (or even seen). All the party would get would be what the merchants actually had on their person, not the contents of their shop.

That said, I have toyed around with the idea of expanding on the shopmap a bit. I was thinking of adding a new NPC, the owner of the caravan, whose dialog would start as soon as the party hit the map, just like the Elven Noble in the Chaotic Good opening Vignette. He (or she) would welcome the party to "Bostwick's Traveling Outfitters" or some other suitable name, and explain what type of mechandise each merchant sells, and what to do when they are done making purchases.

I like the idea of having it in Verbobonc. I would prefer it to be an actual map though, rather than just the barter screen. It is handy to be able to rest and actually chose what spells your spellcasters want to prepare, rather than use the ususally lame choices the game gives you, before you hit the combat in some of the opening vigenettes.

 

This is the kind of place people would go with almost nothing except the gold in their pockets & perhaps some kind of heirloom or other. They'd need to outfit on arriving at the Keep & learning what challenges are to be faced. I'd suggest a new opening be created, and let the PC party find a shop in which to make their purchases. But, keep it simple; clop-clopping of hooves, a shot of the pic from the back of the module, and some music....then, the dialogue with the guards at the gate begins. Of course, there'd be no horses...