The Scroll - v2.49b NOW AVAILABLE! (ESSENTIAL PATCH! FIXES A GAME-BREAKING TRANSITION! DEBUG REMOVED!)

#41

Another great session, with some completed quests. There were a few issues I needed to deal with after the session, but nothing that affected play: One issue simply involved removing some debug text, but a few other issues were more important, which I detail below. Also, I have tweaked the ranges.2da , which means players will need to download and update the " Others.7z " file, which contains the hak folder, which in turn holds the althea_campaign.hak , which contains the altered 2da file. NB: For ease, a player need only replace the single hak file from the download to gain the benefits. Furthermore, this alteration mainly affects gameplay from module 2 onwards.

For those that want just the hak, I leave a link to it for a short while here:- https://www.dropbox.com/s/3to9uij6i12bwvv/althea_campaign.hak?dl=0 (I will consider removing this link in the future so it does not conflict with later releases. However, this is the v2.47 version of the hak update.) NB: It can take a few seconds to acknowledge a download request from Dropbox, so please be patient after clicking for it to respond.

I have also updated an encounter within the module , which means a newer version of the module is also available. Note: I have started to align version numbers with the latest campaign version number. So while some file releases are fewer and in between the regular campaign releases (like modules and others), they will now reflect the version that the campaign was on at time of their version release.

The List of Fixes

1) RUNE LOCKS: There were two issues with these: (a) I had left some debug lines in place after the last fix, which needed removing. (b) The ability to interact with a Rune Lock was disabled after resolving the puzzle, which should NOT be the case, as some of the locks can be used again. Both of these problems are now fixed.

2) FAST TRAVEL PILLARS: Some of the fast travel destinations were not being presented due to them NOT being limited to the current area. This meant some of the valid ones had run our of space to be displayed. This has now been fixed.

3) RELOAD (DEAD HENCHMEN): If a game was saved with a dead henchman (which it should not be really), then it caused problems with the henchman not reviving on a reload. This has now been fixed so that they do recover if that is done by mistake.

4) RELOAD (VARIABLE BAG): On a rare occasion a “variable bag” (“VAR BAG”) could be found on a game reload. This is only likely to be the case if the game did not save correctly or the player was doing something during a save. A check has now been added to help remove/fix any instances of that occurring.

5) ENCOUNTER (MODULE UPDATE): There was an encounter that needed altering to prevent it firing too soon. While not a critical fix, it makes the game flow better.

Catch up with the heroes in our session here (also with screen shots at the bottom of the blog): https://worldofalthea.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-adventure-continues-24-escaping.html

Download campaign v2.47 here (module v2.47): https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/scroll

#42

Another successful session! I, however, noticed some minor issues that took some digging into the code to find the fixes. Hopefully, however, I have got to the bottom of these nasties - and players from the latest updates will gain the benefits. To this end, not only has there been the regular Campaign folder update, but I have also needed to update the Module again. This was for game balancing purposes. NOTE: If you are playing MP, then all players will need to update their campaign folder as their is an update to some XML code that all clients need. So, here’s the latest …

The List of Fixes

1) DATABASE CHECKS: The database duplication check had been inadvertently switched off for the last few updates, but I have now fixed that and added the ability to DELETE any database associated with a PC should the player wish to start over using a PC of the same name as one which they have used before. I have added the warning that any previous save games with said PC to date would have some unexpected results if a player tried to load an “older” game after deleting the associated database.

2) CONTAINER FEEDBACK: The CONTAINER feedback had a couple of minor fixes (one of which requires the fixed XML file): (a) First the container limit was showing on container items , which it is not meant to. Hopefully this no longer shows on an item container. (b) Secondly, the object container info section (yellow text at the top) was not always giving/updating with the correct info subject to the object being used. Hopefully, the change to the XML should have fixed this.

3) WALKWAYPOINTS: I noticed an instance where a creature that I was expecting to be patrolling had not resumed their patrol, even though the time of day meant that they should have been. It appears to be a problem related to GetIsDay, and so I have now changed all checks to do with that based upon the HOUR instead. With an added variable reset, this now appears to work as expected on testing.

4) PARTY BAR TOGGLE: Toggling the size of the Party Bar during TB Combat caused the round to move forward unexpectedly. This has now been fixed.

5) MAP BLOCKS: I noticed that some monsters opened the door that are supposed to also update the map by removing visual blocks. However, this only happens when PCs open the doors. It was a quick workaround on the night, but now I have added backup map block removals via triggers as well - in the rare cases when this may be required. (MODULE FIX.)

6) SLEEPING MONSTERS: The TB Combat system was triggering auto-pause even for a sleeping monster (that were not a threat). Checks have now been put in place to prevent this.

7) GOLD WEIGHT: The gold “Money Pouches” returned with an new problem: Disappearing altogether! It turned out that the timing of the gold calculations to ensure the PCs had the right amount of pouches to the gold they carried was off, due to relying on a heartbeat call. This worked well most of the time, but failed when a player entered from a saved game and had left pouches on other PCs to spread the weight. I have now removed the function call from the heartbeat and given it a priority call as part of a home-brew function rework of LB GiveGoldToCreature , which now immediately updates the pouches upon receiving gold, as opposed to within the heartbeat. So far, testing to date shows it works fine.

8) GAME BALANCING: One of the biggest issues for me on the night was recognising that some of the encounters were not balanced for the “large” party my group had managed to gather. Therefore, the encounters were on the easier side for them. As a consequence, I carefully went over the code for the encounters and believe I have now addressed such issues. Time and feedback will tell. Again, variables needed to be added to the module. (MODULE FIX.)

Catch up with the heroes in our session here (also with screen shots at the bottom of the blog): https://worldofalthea.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-adventure-continues-25-weight-of.html

Download campaign v2.48 here (module v2.48): https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/scroll

#43

This is a CRITICAL patch, as it fixes a game-breaking broken transition. (Demon Bowl Entry.)

First, sorry to all those who may have experienced the issue and been stuck. Secondly, and thankfully, I was able to fix the broken transition via the normal CAMPAIGN patch fixing system.

However, I am somewhat disappointed that I must have broken it somewhere during the MP fixes. I am just glad I found it now and bring you this emergency patch prior to my normal patch releases.

(The fix also comes with some others I had been working on, like talking to henchmen who used to run after nearest enemy - also fixed. Full info on all fixes in next session post.)

EDIT: v2.49 contained some DEBUG feedback, which v2.49b removes. NB: The updated version will still report v2.49, but will work without the debug text firing.

Download campaign v2.49b here (module v2.48+): https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/scroll

#44

Hi All,

Just a quick update prior to the next release … I have managed to work on an old issue that annoyed me more than affected gameplay. In the process of fixing that, I fixed some broken code that rewards Life Essences (LE). It was making it “easier” to find LE on lower creature kills than higher creature. In practice this simply meant the player was awarded at a quicker rate at the start of the game, which slowed down in time … When actually, the player should have received fewer at the start, which increased as they fought higher level monsters. As it happens, the issue balances out over the course of the game, but it was still wrong … and the next release addresses that.

At the same time I finally got to the bottom of the VFX that would sometimes remain after a dead body cleared down. (If you have not guessed already, it was related to the LE above, which is why I discovered the above problem while fixing this one.) Now, the timing has been fixed so that a dead body no longer “clears down” as LE are being placed on it, thereby leaving the dropped LE unavailable because the corpse had gone - all that was being left was an inaccessible VFX. That now no longer happens! I cannot say how long I have pursued that bug!

So, a couple of good catches for the next update to look forward to. :slight_smile:

I will inform you of all the other updates in the usual post.

Thanks, Lance.

#45

I have a number of things to speak about in this post, for there has been a lot of fixes and updates; some minor, but a few “major” I also have one or two other “updates” in the idea stage, which I will also talk about. As there is a lot to say, I will get stuck straight in:-

The List of Fixes

1) MAP BLOCKS: On the back of a previous fix, I decided to improve the “door code” so that monsters do clear an associated map block when opening a door if the PCs are nearby.

2) LOAD GAME: There has been some loading improvements, which also required a fix to allow CURSED items to work on a reload properly.

3) MAP PINS: Some map pins were not updating due to other nearby potential targets being activated instead. The target system for such has been fixed.

4) JOURNAL UPDATE: The “Lady of the Lake” journal had a repeated updating due to an error in a conversation. This has been addressed.

5) TB COMBAT: Some creatures were slow to start TB COMBAT upon activation. This has now been fixed.

6) AUTO EXAMINE OBJECTS: Some placeable objects are designed to give a full examine feedback prior to further use. Some objects were having issues between showing the info and starting interaction within our MP session, causing difficulty in closing a GUI. This has now been fixed.

7) GOLD HANDLING: This was a bigger issue, and is related to the old Money Pouch issues of previous reports. This time I gave the system a complete overhaul, removing any reliance upon heartbeat calls and ensuring all “Give” and “Take” of gold functions are replaced with my own home-brew versions that immediately fire the weight check scripts upon gold transactions. Furthermore, additional checks at PC entry have been added to ensure gold pouches are not prematurely added when nearby companions with pouches still need to be joined.

8) CURSED ITEMS: There was a timing issue that prevented the cursed items working as expected on a reload of a game. This has now been fixed. Furthermore, the cursed item descriptions have been updated to reflect that such items can only be removed with “Oil of Unbinding” or a cleric can cast Remove Curse on any cursed items that they carry only. i.e. The Remove Curse spell cannot be used to free other PCs of their cursed items.

9) CODE IMPROVEMENTS: I have also reworked some old coding related to storing of items when companions either leave the party or die and leave a tombstone. This had to be done due to the overhaul of the gold related issue.

10) GAME BREAKING TRANSITION: Fixed a broken transition to Demons Bowl. (Was in emergency v2.49 release.)

The List of Updates

1) UNDERWATER: I added a “slowed” effect for being underwater.

2) LIGHT BLINDNESS: Credit to KevL who fixed a problem I noticed where Light Blindness was not penalising a PC when in daylight. This code has been slightly altered and added to my campaign to work now.

3) GAME BALANCING: A lot of effort was placed into re-calculating the challenge rating of monsters, both placed and encounters. Balancing was adjusted to cater for smaller or larger parties, and the difficulty setting the player had set among other factors. A battle we had on the night showed the balancing was much better and made for an epic battle, in my opinion.

Potential Updates

1) DEFAULT STATS: After some feedback, I am considering adding a section to the character sheet that shows the DEFAULT ability and skill values (without any alterations due to bonuses or penalties.) This allows players to more quickly ascertain by how much something has been positively or negatively influenced.

2) HENCHMEN WAIT: After leaving Scraps at the water side and finding him gone upon returning, I am considering possibly allowing such creatures to stay around a little longer “waiting” for the PCs to return than they currently do. Subject to how much time I get, I will look into this.

Catch up with the heroes in our session here (also with screen shots at the bottom of the blog): https://worldofalthea.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-adventure-continues-26-farewell.html

Download campaign v2.50 here (module v2.50): https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/scroll

UPDATES WILL CONTINUE HERE: The Scroll - v2.50 NOW AVAILABLE! (Game Balancing. Map Pins. Journal. TB Combat. Gold. Updates!)

#46

This is for my information of the mechanics of Althea. So only Cleric in Althea can cast Remove Curse, not Mages or am I miss reading the topic Cursed Items. :grinning:

#47

Hi Greenman,

Funny you should ask about this as it came up in our gaming session last night (posting when done).

As it happens, while I understand the point I think you are alluding to (in that only clerics should be able to remove curses - if I am reading you correctly), I decided to fall somewhere in between. i.e. Rather than stop wizards having the ability to cast a Remove Curse spell (3.5 rules), I decided to make items that were more difficult to remove, in that the Remove Curse spell can only remove items that the caster carries (be they cleric or wizard) by the spell. i.e. If another person carries a cursed item, they need a special clerical ointment to remove the cursed item instead.

Curses cast on a person via a spell (i.e. not a cursed item), can still be removed by a cleric or wizard Remove Curse spell.

It was a compromise of my own rule beliefs on the matter of curses, because I do think there is a good argument that any curse (of any nature) should only ever be possible to remove by a cleric. However, by adding these cursed items, I believe it gives homage (at least) to requiring a clerical ointment for all those that cannot cast the Remove Curse spell themselves.

I hope that helps explain it a little. The key point to remember is that I differentiate between curses due to spells and those due to items.

Thanks for asking, Lance.

#48

Lance,

D&D has always allowed for leeway in game that is why I asked. Thank you for the clarifacation. I have enjoyed the Scroll, thanks again and good luck.:grinning:

#49

Hi Greenman,

It’s good to hear you have enjoyed The Scroll … Did you manage to play it fully?

As a Christian, I do not believe in “luck”. :slight_smile: However, I do believe that God can give or withhold His blessings, and always for the best to those that believe.

If you have any more questions, please ask, as it may be I can improve your experiences.

Thanks again, Lance.