Celtic Minstrel

So, I've added three new special node types in this vein: Start targeting mode - This initiates targeting mode by specifying a range, spell pattern, and max number of targets. It works in town mode provided the number of targets is 1. It's a dead-end node, like the shopping node - it doesn't call any other node. The jumpto node is called after targeting is completed, and if there were multiple targets (like the arrow spells or Spray Fields), it's called once for each target. Place spell pattern (fields) - Places fields according to a specified spell pattern. It doesn't need to be called as a result of the above node, but if it is, you can specify that it use the same pattern that was used for targeting. Place spell pattern (booms) - Deals damage according to a specified spell pattern. There's an option to use simple booms instead of animated booms, in which case I think it would be kind of like area effect spells in Exile II. It supports all eight basic spell patterns (single space, plus shape, small 2x2 square, 3x3 square, open 3x3 square, radius 2 circle, radius 3 circle, and the rotatable wall shape) with the small caveat that the rotateable wall is only supported in combat mode with a single target (not with multiple targets, nor in town mode). I think this list of basic patterns could perhaps be expanded, though the only idea I really have is to add a triangular pattern. It could also be nice to have a custom pattern, but I'm not sure how that would be done - patterns are too complicated to specify within the special node structure in a way that's understandable; a binary pattern could be made to fit, but it would be arcane and confusing. I'm unsure of the utility of the other idea I mentioned in the previous post - a pattern that calls a special node on every one of its affected spaces. I'm not going to add it for now, but I might consider it later. Does anyone have other ideas related to this?

I don't think you can get boats in Exile III (at least, not on the surface). In Exile I, Silvar has boats (I expect that's the case in Exile II as well), and Fort Draco has boats in Exile II (maybe also in Exile I).

There isn't really a specific reason to change the AP costs, but I'm making the monster abilities more generic, so that means that I have rules about how AP costs are assigned (and some abilities change cost as a side-effect). There are some possible alternatives, though: Let each ability specify whatever AP cost you want. I thought this was too complicated, though monster abilities have already gotten a whole lot more complicated. Have a few hard-coded exceptions for specific combinations of ability settings. I'm already doing this for the "throws webs" ability, and in general I don't really like this solution. Code a few special-case abilities which don't fit into the generic system. There are already a few such abilities (permanent martyr's shield, splitting, absorb spells, death special node, and action special node). These are the things that have changed with regards to AP costs: Heat ray now costs 2 AP instead of 1. Other rays (paralysis, petrify, and sp drain) now cost 2 AP instead of 3. Good archer costs 3 AP instead of 2. Shoots arrows is unchanged at 3 AP, so it makes sense to me to leave this so that they match. It also matches the PC AP cost for shooting arrows. Missile abilities (darts, spears, rocks, spines) cost 2 AP instead of 3 AP. This matches the cost of razordisks as well as the PC cost of thrown missiles. Cloud missiles (sleep, stink) cost 4 AP instead of 3. Here is a before/after list of all ranged abilities: | Before | After | AP Usable at melee? | AP Usable at melee? ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 1] Throws darts | 3 no | 2 no 2] Shoots arrows | 3 no | 3 no ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 3] Throws spears | 3 no | 2 no 4] Throws rocks 1 | 3 no | 2 no ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 5] Throws rocks 2 | 3 no | 2 no 6] Throws rocks 3 | 3 no | 2 no ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 7] Throws razordisks | 2 no | 2 no 8] Petrification ray | 3 yes | 2 no ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 9] SP drain ray | 3 yes | 2 no 10]Heat ray | 1 yes | 2 yes ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 14]Breath stink cloud | 3 yes | 4 yes 19]Shoots web | 3 yes | 3 no ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 20]Good archer | 2 no | 3 no 23]Paralysis ray | 3 yes | 2 yes ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 32]Breath sleep cloud | 3 yes | 4 yes 33]Spit acid | 3 no | 3 no ----------------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- 34]Shoot spines | 3 yes | 2 yes The rules for how the AP costs were determined are: arrows and spit weapons cost 3 AP; breath weapons cost 4 AP; all others cost 2 AP. The rules for whether they can be used at melee are very simple - only ray and breath weapons can be used at melee range, plus a special exception to allow spines to be used at melee range. However, there's some caveats to this. The current implementation casts petrification and sp drain ray as gaze attacks instead of rays, which is why those two have changed to not be useable at melee range. I could put them back as rays, but then I'd need to code a special exception to print "Gazes" instead of the standard message for petrification. I could also just make gaze attacks useable at melee range. Also, shoot webs is cast as a spit attack, mainly just because I wasn't sure where to put it so I dumped it into the category that left its AP unchanged. Some of these changes could be simply reverted by simply altering the rules. Although regular breath weapons (fire and such) are now handled under the same ability system, they still have a separate block for the actual execution of the ability which always deducts 4 AP, so I could make 3 AP the standard cost for all breath weapons. And the only reason I picked 2 AP for rays is because I was trying to compromise between heat ray and the other rays, so I could easily change the ray AP cost to 3. Of course, doing that would mean all the ranged abilities other than thrown missiles cost 3 AP. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and is in fact closer to the state of affairs in original BoE. If I made all those changes, I could then code a special heat ray ability separate from the generic system, specifically so that it can cost 1 AP instead of 3. Maybe "shoot webs" would also be better that way. The only change I'm kinda attached to is making the thrown missile abilities all cost 2 AP and the good archer ability cost 3 AP, because this matches the PC cost for throwing missiles and shooting arrows. If there's no feedback, I'll probably just go ahead and do what I outlined after the table.

Well, items currently have an "unsellable" flag alongside "cursed", "identified", "magic", etc.

Already did this, except instead of putting them in a folder they're stored right inside the saved game. The first two are easy, though can you give me an example of why you'd want the second? For the third, how is that different from just reducing the item's value?

There are, yes. Heat ray costs only 1 AP, razordisks and good archer cost 2 AP, and all others cost 3 AP. (And regular breath weapons cost 4 AP.) I had been thinking about tweaking that. As for whether they can be used at melee range, it looks like all the ones after razordisks can be used at melee range except for good archer and spits acid. I was going to add shoots spines to that list, maybe tweak other things. EDIT: The list of ranged abilities that can be used at melee range: Petrification ray Spell point drain ray Heat ray Breathes stinking clouds Shoots web Paralysis ray Breathes sleep clouds Shoots spines There was also a comment (not backed up by the code) that said ranged abilities can be used at melee range if they are magical but not gaze attacks. Of the abilities on that list, are there any for which removing the ability to be used at melee range would be undesirable? At the moment I'm only considering changing "shoots web", though. As for AP costs, I was considering going with this: All ray attacks cost 2 AP. (That's down by one for most rays, up by one for heat ray.) Acid/webs cost 3 AP. (So, no change.) Breath weapons (sleep/stink) cost 4 AP, to match the other breath weapons. (Though this seems to contradict another unbacked comment in the source saying that "vapours don't count as an action".) The two arrow abilities cost 3 AP. (To match the PC cost of an equivalent action.) Other non-magic thrown missile abilities cost 2 AP. (Again matching the PC cost. This includes spines.)

I never joined the Anama, so I could easily be wrong about how it prevents you from casting mage spells. The Ravage Spirit effect is controlled by stuff done flag (4,0), according to the BoE code (where it persists as a commented-out relic); someone familiar with the Exile III save format could probably find out whether the flag remains set if you leave the Anama.

According to the documentation, the monster missile abilities have the following damage ranges: Darts - 1-6, ie 1d6 Arrows - 2-12, ie 2d6 Spears - 3-18, ie 3d6 Rocks1, Razordisks - 4-24, ie 4d6 Rocks2 - 5-30, ie 5d6 Rocks3 - 6-36, ie 6d6 Good Archer, Spines - 7-42, ie 7d6 However, the calculation in the code is quite different ("level" is actually the ability's unique ID number): short dam[40] = { 0,1,2,3,4, 6,8,7,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0, 8,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,6, 0,0,0,0,0 } r2 = get_ran(dam[level],1,7) + min(10,bless); This gives the following damage ranges, where B stands for the monster's current level of blessing: Darts - 1d7+B, ie 1-7 unblessed Arrows - 2d7+B, ie 2-14 unblessed Spears - 3d7+B, ie 3-21 unblessed Rocks1 - 4d7+B, ie 4-28 unblessed Rocks2, Spines - 6d7+B, ie 6-42 unblessed Razordisks - 7d7+B, ie 7-49 unblessed Rocks3, Good Archer - 8d7+B, ie 8-56 unblessed What should I do about this? I'm altering the ability structure so that you can actually specify the exact damage range, but when converting old monsters, should I use the documented values or the actual values?

The town is Bolton, and he does become hostile again once the town is reset. Which doesn't surprise me and leads me to think it's probably just a bug.

Makes sense, but I was looking more for mechanical differences rather than plot/fluff differences.

Was there something special about its portculli?

It could've been encoded as an SDF, though. However, I agree that it's unlikely, and unless it is in fact the case that the charming persists through town reset, I'd be more inclined to explain it as a bug than as intentional behaviour. By the way, can anyone actually tell me where this town can be found? Speaking of Anama membership... I know it prevents you from casting mage spells and also (to judge from some commented code in BoE) boosts your Ravage Spirit spell. Does it have any other mechanical effects?

I've just removed an unused variable named "tinraya_portculli". Was there a town called Tinraya in Exile III that had portculli with unusual behaviour?

I fully intend to play through the Exile series at least once (though I might skip the first one). I haven't gotten around to it yet, though. I suppose it might've been nice if he'd continued it instead of remaking it, but I don't really mind the Avernum series either. It has some downsides (only four party members, for example), but it's also better in some ways.

What if you leave town, visit four different towns or dungeons, and then return? Is he still not hostile? (Or leave town, save, open in character editor, select "make towns forget you", save, reopen in-game, re-enter town. I think that should have the same effect.) I was going to test this myself, but I couldn't remember where the town in question is. (I tried Delan and Delis, as well as a few others... I remember it was accessible in the demo, so it can't be as far north as Sharimik...)

In this case it's a 7z file.

Lilith is aware of this. Try reading the post again.

Like I said, you can download 7-zip to extract it. Though I suppose I could also make a conventional zip-file, if that's easier.

This isn't exactly the right place for BoE discussion, but... you can go to this post and download it. There's no setup.exe in that package; you need 7-zip to extract it, and if you get DLL errors you'll need to run the VCRedist installer. Also, the Windows version won't work on anything earlier than XP (and probably not even on XP). The Mac version is Intel-only.

I wasn't planning to do it quite so soon, but there you go. It took awhile, and I'm not quite certain I caught all areas where I might need to draw an exported graphic, but it pretty much works. And how is the game supposed to know which built-in graphic to assign to items when they leave the scenario? The dagger graphic might be a passable stand-in for a Crystal Sword, but it'd be a pretty poor substitute for a Worm Fang. Exporting the actual graphics and saving them with the saved game is easier. (Not that it was all that easy to implement; there were a lot of things to consider. But it's easier than making a reasonable guess as to what built-in graphic could be substituted.)

As far as I know, the "alpha version of my re-work", as you call it, works perfectly fine as far as I have been able to determine. Granted, I haven't done in-depth testing, and the scenario editor still can't save files, but I can start a game and wander around the Valley of Dying things scenario without crashing (usually), and everything seems to look as it should.

The previous Windows build had a crippling bug - preset monsters didn't appear. Thus, here's another pair of builds that fixes that (which was a Windows-only bug) as well as several other bugs that my sister and I discovered. Windows | Mac

Do go on?

I just realized that the windows build linked above omits the required C++ runtime libraries; I'll include them in the next release, but in the meantime they can be obtained from here.

In Blades of Exile, Hyperactivity appears to give the party negative levels of sleep, making them seem resistant to sleep spells, but that's all it does... nothing about resistance to magic. I think that feature of Dispel Fields exists in BoE. I remember that evil priest and thought it odd he attacked me in a friendly town. You could ask Ishad Nha if there's any other hostile-by-default NPCs that have dialogue when charmed; he probably has the means to find out, at least.