Xoid

Masok is definitely a named elite soldier in the Angel's Rest Inn. I remember having similar problems in an early run through Avernum 3, but that was quite some time ago. I checked various towns in the nearby region, but cannot remember if I actually found him. In a similar instance, I found out that a bug (The one where manually exiting dialogue with Sick Boy before paying him counted as having been rude to him. I had 10 coins at the time.) precluded me from getting the Fury Crossbow. After waiting ages to start fetching the Black Halberd (day 102), I was unable to find Masok. I quit Avernum 3 in frustation. Take this a warning: get the artifact locations as early as possible - even if it requires delaying purchasing a spell or a big shiny sword.

I'm partway through rewriting the section on plot. Edit: Feel free to add your own additions to the Nethergate article in the meantime though. It'll take some time before I get around to finishing the rewrite - and I'll be sure to merge anything useful first.

Quote: Originally written by Slartucker: I think it's fair to say that there is a core Spidweb engine, and however the technical details may have changed over time, if you look at the big picture, every game is pretty similar. Each game has its own variations, and different variations will appeal to different people. ... Bashing each other over something so subjective is just silly. And I was merely stating that this particular variation made me retch. Everything is subjective. This is because complete elimination of bias is an impossibility. If you think that Avernum 4 is the best thing since sliced bread - that's fine with me. I would still think that you were wrong, however. Quote: Originally written by Slartucker: If you're going to insult each other, at least have a good reason for it! I took no offense at DOT.COMmunist's earlier attempt to insult me. I did take offense to DOT.COMmunist's assertion that I was pretentious. I am arrogant - not pretentious - there is a difference. I don't claim to have any great importance. I know that I am irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I do claim to have an opinion, which I will tout when I see fit and aggressively defend from spurious attacks.

Quote: Originally written by DOT.COMmunist: Don't ask him for a reply, you'll just get another awkward and pretentiously worded crap post. Ain't you one to talk. What of your now deleted post? You are pathetic. Go play in traffic. Quote: Originally written by Istara: Erm... so have you actually bought and played it yourself? Or are you basing your opinions on zero knowledge whatsoever? I've played the demo on Mac. I've read numerous posts from Kelandon, Thuryl, Terror's Martyr, Alorael, etc, who have played and finished the game. Every time I read the name 'Rentar' made me see red. Take Avernum 3's plot, Avernum 1's (or 2's) setting and Geneforge's engine and you get Avernum 4. It wasn't like there were enough scenarios for Blades of Exile with the exact same premise.

Quote: Originally written by Delicious Vlish: Yes, and please, edit out the quote if you don't mind. Done.

Ever weary of Jeff's penchant for unoriginality, I kept my eyes peeled whilst perusing the Avernum 4 board, trying to get a feel for this game. To say that I was less than impressed upon learning of Avernum 4's disgraceful plot would be an understatement. I would highly recommend against purchasing this game - practically anything else in Spiderweb's repertoire is more deserving of your hard earned cash than Avernum 4.

Just realised what you meant. Disregard this post.

I find with the various beta testing I've done over the years, especially for add-ons or mods, that it's best to use many, many savegames. To attempt to save time during the internal process, a few dead-ends were left in the 2nd release - case in point: the Tower of Magi you start in is not the Tower of Magi you will end up in if you re-enter the town. Noticed that bug myself about half a week ago. 3rd realease is on it's way, oooh... sometime in the next week or so.

Considering the 5.56% inaccuracy rate of MagmaDragoon's spelling versus his "reportedly not good with English" status... hmmm. I've known native speakers who are far less literate. I'll cut him some slack.

Quote: Originally written by Kelandon: You could do what everyone else does and ask for beta testers. [sarcasm] Isn't that what I just did? [/sarcasm] Meh. I thought it might make at least one or two people chuckle to think of a reigme where you must beta test someone's scenario, lest I hunt you down and perform electric shock therapy on your genitalia... and perhaps people could've taken the hint that I need beta testers.

Since September 29, 2005 09:45 PM - When the first vesion was posted, I have received ONE report of an error, to date. (December 18, 2005 10:54 AM, from TM. I would bow down and worship you as my god, but that thread died already, and I'm lazy.) Do I have to hunt down some worthless saps, tie them to chairs and perform electric shock therapy on their genitalia until they agree to at least give a cursory inspection of my work? Anyone even tried checking out the numerous changes to scripts that I made, and feels like offering suggestions, or other criticisms? (Admittedly, basicnpc.txt, guard.txt, and various town scripts are already outdated.) Or would someone like to volunteer to 'take one for the team'? (That... just sounds dirty to me for some reason. Meh. Whatever.)

Dhonal's Keep, eastern half, near the black human who gives you a quest to talk to his servile. It's in a locker, behind the locked doors. EDIT: It's a Tinker's Bauble, get it right. And the only necklace/necklace-like items in GF3 that can be made via an anvil are the Blessed Necklace and the Talisman of Might.

It seems that KernalKnowledge12 is mostly optimising routines already present - by using a better implementation of them.

Quote: Originally written by Kelandon: Huh. I thought that it was supposed to look like that, the idea being that the top part fell off. The top part I'm referring to is part of the 'stump' for that ruined statue's leg. Quote: Originally written by Kelandon: In what way? It never does anything, or...? </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally written by CPeters: The terrain characteristic te_can_look_at is broken. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Some custom terrain I have made can be looked at, even when te_can_look_at = 0; Some custom terrain I have made cannot be looked at, even when te_can_look_at = 1; ... it doesn't seem to do anything. . EDIT: Pathfinding is dodgy. If an NPC cannot get to where they are trying to reach, the game slows down to a crawl. I've noticed this with the approach_char() call, and the return_to_start() call.

You will need to add the line: it_charges = 1; if you want items to stack.

DATA FILE ERRORS: In corescendata.txt Floor #80 (fake lava) is not blocked by default. NPCS may walk upon it, thus giving away the fact that the lava is indeed fake. In corescendata2.txt Terrains #172 and #173 (fences) have an incorrect name. The line te_name = "Fence"; needs to be added to them. In corescendata2.txt Terrain #331 and #332 (underground hillside cave entrances) import the incorrect terrain. This causes problems with the automatic hills functionality of the editor. I think it will also cause the party to be drawn incorrectly when upon these terrains. In corescendata2.txt Terrain #367 (ruined statue) is missing the upper half. The lines te_second_icon = 1; and te_second_icon_offset_y = -55; need to be added to correct this. GRAPHICS SHEET ERRORS: Graphics sheet 680, icon 52, is incorrectly drawn. It needs to be flipped horizontally to be correct. Graphics sheet 768, icon 8, has 3 off-white pixels. MISCELLANEOUS: The terrain characteristic te_can_look_at is broken. SUBJECTIVE: In corescendata2.txt Terrain #360 and #361 (lampposts) have poor offsets. They look better with the lines te_icon_offset_y = -13; (added to #360) and te_icon_offset_y = -14; (added to #361). In corescendata2.txt Terrain #405's name is "Outdoor Camp". It's a campsite, or a camp, what if someone wanted to use it indoors for a pack of midgets, or something? You could change it in scennamedata.txt BUT there is no reason for the "Outdoor" part to be there in the first place. In corescendata2.txt Terrain #406's name is "Outdoor Totems". They're totems, what if someone wanted to use it indoors or something? You could change it in scennamedata.txt BUT there is no reason for the "Outdoor" part to be there in the first place. EDITS 1 & 2: Painting floors over/under (whatever) signs causes them to go blank. You can steal multiple items in one go, and your crime level will only ever increase by 1.

No! Use your head, please. The reward for good deeds is faction neutral, and I'm certain that if there is a reward for bad deeds, that it would be too. The area I suspect to be the reward for bad deeds is south-west from the bottom edge of Vanarium. It's low lying, grassy, and marked with some totem poles. It gives you the same message, whether you are Celts or Romans, about how uncomfortable you feel with the evil images going through your head.

I always had the impression that you could have a creature follow the party around, assist the party, even be considered part of the party - with one important difference - unlike in Nethergate, a fifth or sixth 'PC' cannot be improved. Essentially, they are a monster that follows the party, nothing less, nothing more. To actually join the party, be considered part of it, be ressurectable, gain experience, etc. - I think that this is beyond the current engine.

For critique; current version of the guard script. Since I'm using a P4 based monster, I can't tell if it runs too slow on lesser machines. Code: // v1.0.5// guard.txt// Xoid (xoid@hotmail.com)// Version History:// v1.0.5 - Version by Xoid. Optimised, cleanned up.// v1.0.4 - Abandoned version by Xoid. Didn't work.// v1.0.3 - Version by Xoid. Altered so that blocked tiles can be placed as// sparsely as possible. If blocked spaces ensure that an NPC cannot// reach its destination, Jeff's inept coding causes major overhead.// v1.0.2 - Minor revision by Xoid. Increments SDF, instead// of setting it.// v1.0.1 - Version by Xoid. Extra dialogue strings added.// v1.0.0 - Version by Jeff Vogel. Original.// A simple script for guards or soldiers in towns. Acts like a regular npc// unless it's in a town the party has angered, in which case it goes mobile and// hunts the party down.// Memory Cells:// 0 - Movement type.// Legal values are: 0 - Wander randomly.// 1 - Stand still until a target appears.// 2 - Completely immobile, even if target appears.// 3 - Walk to a waypoint and then back to start. Use// memory cell 4 to indicate which waypoint.// 1,2 - SDF coordinates. If these are left at 0 and 0, these memory cells are// ignored. Otherwise, the SDF is incremented by 1 when this creature dies.// 3 - Dialogue node to start with if talked to. if left at 0, this// character doesn't talk.// 4 - Waypoint. If memory 0 is != 3, then this value is ignored. Otherwise,// it is the number of the waypoint the guard or soldier spends its time// walking to and from.// 5 - Maximum distance. If memory cell 0 is != 0, then this memory cell is// ignored. Otherwise, this is the maximum distance the creature will roam// from its starting position. If left at 0, this will default to 6 tiles.//// [* Making this script backwards compatible with v1.0.0 of basicnpc.txt]begincreaturescript;variables; int i,is_a_guard,target; int gone_to_waypoint = 0;body;beginstate INIT_STATE; if ((get_memory_cell(0) == 2) && (town_status(-1) != 2)) set_mobility(ME,0); if (get_memory_cell(5) == 0) set_memory_cell(5,6); set_char_script_mode(ME,1); // This NPC will act even at distance. if (creature_type(ME) == 4) { is_a_guard = 1; set_summon_level(ME,1); }break;beginstate DEAD_STATE; // Increment the appropriate SDF for this NPC's death. if ((get_memory_cell(1) != 0) || (get_memory_cell(2) != 0)) inc_flag(get_memory_cell(1),get_memory_cell(2),1);break;beginstate START_STATE; // React if the town gone hostile. if (town_status(current_town()) == 2) { alert_char(ME); set_mobility(ME,1); } // If I have a target, go attack it. if (target_ok()) { if (dist_to_char(get_target()) <= 16) set_state(3); else set_target(ME,-1); } // Look for a target, and attack it if its visible. if (select_target(ME,8,0)) { do_attack(); set_state(3); } // React if I have been attacked. if (who_hit_me() >= 0) { set_target(ME,who_hit_me()); do_attack(); set_state(3); } // If this NPC is hostile, then hunt the party down. Otherwise, just // peacefully move around. Go back to start if I roam too far. if (get_attitude(ME) >= 10) approach_char(ME,random_party_member(),6); else if (get_memory_cell(0) == 3) { // March to waypoint and back. if ((gone_to_waypoint == 0) && (get_ran(1,1,100) < 15)) { if (approach_waypoint(ME,get_memory_cell(4),1)) gone_to_waypoint = 1; } else if ((gone_to_waypoint == 1) && (get_ran(1,1,100) < 15)) { if (return_to_start(ME,1)) gone_to_waypoint = 0; } } else { if ((my_dist_from_start() >= get_memory_cell(5)) || ((my_dist_from_start() > 0) && (get_memory_cell(0) > 0) && (get_memory_cell(0) != 3))) { if (get_ran(1,1,100) < 40) return_to_start(ME,1); } else if (get_memory_cell(0) == 0) { fidget(ME,25); } } // Text bubble code... if (is_a_guard == TRUE) { if ((is_combat() == 0) && (get_attitude(ME) < 10)) { if (get_ran(1,1,100) < 6) { i = get_ran(1,1,100); if ((get_crime_level() > 0) && ((i < 6) || (i > 95))) create_text_bubble("We're watching you... scum."); // Bless you, Morrowind. else { if (i < 26) create_text_bubble("Evildoers will be punished."); else if (i < 51) create_text_bubble("Obey the law."); else if (i < 76) create_text_bubble("Stay in line."); else create_text_bubble("Watch it."); } } } } // If I'm in combat and nothing above gave me something to do, stop now. // Otherwise the script will keep running, eating up CPU cycles. if (am_i_doing_action() == FALSE) end_combat_turn();break;beginstate 3; // Attacking... if (target_ok() == FALSE) set_state(START_STATE); do_attack();break;beginstate TALKING_STATE; if (get_memory_cell(3) == 0) { if (is_a_guard == TRUE) { print_str_color("Talking: You make small talk with the guard, but you don't",2); print_str_color(" learn anything new.",2); } else print_str_color("Talking: The soldier doesn't have anything to tell you.",2); end(); } else begin_talk_mode(get_memory_cell(3));break;

I wouldn't have had a problem with Rentar being a few stubbies short of a six pack and causing problems, if it wasn't done so... predictably. Assassinations, chemical warfare, guerilla warfare, an alliance with the Darkling Sliths, ANYTHING but what Jeff actually decided upon. Avernum 4 is little more than the bastard love child of Avernum 1 or 2's setting, Avernum 3's lackluster plot, and Geneforge's engine. EDIT 1: Quote: Originally written by Slartucker: That would have been cool. Although somewhat odd, since the main slith kingdom is supposed to be peace-loving. ...or did that change from Ex to Av as well? Za-Khazi Run is considered canon, even if everyone wished it never existed. Therefore, the barbaric army of Sss-Thss is still around, even if it was defeated previously. EDIT 2: I really thought that *i would want to slap me for taking a leaf out of TM's book and ramming words down someone else's throat through "quoting" them.

Quote: Originally written by Skribbane now? Ask me how.: What can you do in this rehased mess that Vogel dares to call a new game?

I know that there is a location where you get +2 to your primary stats for having been a righteous sort, but is there a location where you get a stat boost for being an evil sort? I ask this because there is location where it says something to the effect of: "Something within this place is telling you to go rape, loot and pillage."

Quote: Originally written by Thralni, chicken god prophet: EDIT: Hmmm. Nope, it still doesn't work correctly. Now tell me. if a variable is set in one script, will it also be set in another variable? If you are asking; "If I set foo = 1; In script A, will foo still be 1 in script B?", then the answer is no. sigh... you can't even had foo stay equal to 1 when you exit and reenter a town. To use the terminology that I gained from another language: all variables are private in scope. You cannot have global variables in AvernumScript. You will need to use a SDF, or kludge a way around this limitation.

Quote: Originally written by Thralni, chicken god prophet: Its quite easy to say that nothing I put in ym scenario is original, ebcause it was put in one of the 300 scenario's for BoE. This is because there are few truly original ideas anymore. Could you imagine how a non carbon-based lifeform would work? Or a how technology would have evolved for humanity if we originated on Venus? Odds are, you will trawl through your memories, trying to find some form of reason or rhyme that fits the present situation best, and adapt it. Quote: Originally written by Thralni, chicken god prophet: EDIT: One small question: How do you write a variable ins cript? Until now i did it this way, and the game did not complain: Code: m = get_current_tick(); Is this allright? Perfectly alright. I've never heard of any high level programming language that doesn't fit the basic premise: variable_name assignment_operator value_to_assign_variable Just remember that you can declare strings as well as integers. And that you can use if-else statements in AvernumScript™. They can be very useful.

Active player and designer. Designing the A2Template. Another scenario is on the backburner, with the plot roughly hammered out.