A Land Far Away

It seems I'm short on feedback with the ACR2 test mod I distrubuted for testing. At least some of the material is being used in Indio's Beta1 server without problems, so I'm going to hope that no news is good news otherwise, at least in respect to the ACR Spawn and Seamless AT systems which were the core of what I was trying to get tested.

I've got kind of a mishmash of material collected, including many of the acf and include files that we've not addressed individually, included to allow everything to compile for now, even though many of those systems aren't yet active. I could conceivably release it all as a since small script hak, and a single .erf that brings in a set of trigger, waypoint, and item blueprints, plus the acf and other necessary scripts.

So far the systems that ought to function straight away with this would be:

-ACR Spawn System
-ACR Seamless ATs (for exteriors only)
-ACR Resting System
-ACR Debugging System

Inlcuded would be template items referenced by the resting system (bedroll, spellbooks, holy symbol, tent), blueprints for example spawn points (set to reference the ABR creatures, not that they're out), blueprints for ACR Rest Zones, and for Seamless AT triggers.

Were there other things that should go into this initial release? A prototype emote ball perhaps, or a script that gives starting essentials (bedroll, spellbook/holy symbol)? There had been some intrest in getting some of the ALFA 2das in, so we can start using our PnP-style skill choices- though at this point they might need to also be in the override to make them available at character creation, so maybe better to wait on them.

I'll look at the other ABR releases tonight- ideally I'd like to make sure scripted support is added for all of them from the start.

Thoughts, suggestions, requests? I'd wanted to add a phenotyper to let players "stretch" their PC a bit before entering the IC areas of the mod, but the only current function that uses the scaling is EffectSetScale, which only takes a straight factor- so you couldn't pull off tall, short, stocky, thin, or other arrangements with it.

My feeling is that this is definitely the right approach. I think the best testbed for the ACR is a beta server. Beta 1 is about getting systems on their feet, so I'll install it the moment I get it.

I can vouch for the effectiveness of the spawn system. It's working very well. I haven't looked at the other 3 yet, but will repost any feedback I get from testers.

I'm going to push to get the OAS online. We are going to need the permadeath scripts, etc. and would be happy to test things there. I don't really know enough of the tech stuff to add in things myself but I am open to trying things out on the new OAS.

Permadeath scripts aren't in the initial release currently- our Death/Morgue system relies on persistent variables which are, for now, on hold. You may be able to adapt something off the Vault, or just investigate server settings options in the meantime if you like.

Okay. I had a chat with cipher about getting some scripts, but honestly I only know what I'm asking for, not how to script. Or even how to adapt something off the vault. If there is a system you need tested it is possible we can do it on the OAS until other servers hit beta. It should only take a bit longer to get the OAS back up and going as it's current status is a bit vague.

Not sure if this is the place for this but.

Subdual?

2 modes
1 - damage included but no death (from ANY damage) - useful for duels and gladiator events that are not quite to the death.

2 - damage included but on reaching 0 all HPs replaced to full - useful for training/sparring. You get a victor to see who buys a beer but no real implications

Just an update, I'd hoped to get something out to the beta testing teams before 1.05 showed up, but things didn't work out that way. This week I've got company visiting from overseas, so I'm not going to be spending a great deal of time scripting and testing ACR content. The good news, though, is that 1.05 appears to give us some more of the tools we need to complete more ACR systems (maybe even get the Death system back on track)- certainly the "semi-phenotyper" to reproportion PCs is feasible as well.

However, 1.05 changed a lot of the 2das, and didn't actually fix the custom tlk referencing problems or the "custom content does not load at character creation" part.

I've seen material that suggests we can still get custom feats, skills, etc to show up if we use the override folder for our modified 2da files- to me that sounds like a reasonable interim measure, to allow us to get our PnP skill set in ASAP (delete Lore, add the various Knowledge skills, etc).

Does anyone have experience with merging/updating 2da files, and some time on their hands? I'd started into trying to move our custom 2da changes into the new 1.05 2das, but it is slow going, and I was having a hard time getting my comparison tool to work in a useful fashion. If someone else had time to go through and update these, it'd help get a more complete ACR out a good deal faster.

With regard to Beta server teams: is there a need for a pre-ACR which supports spawning, resting, and seamless ATs? I could probably work a very compact release, along the lines of what I originally wanted for 1.04, in fairly short order, but it's not the best use of time if the current Beta teams aren't really ready to be laying down spawn points and putting up mods for testing yet.

Thoughts?

AcadiusLost wrote:With regard to Beta server teams: is there a need for a pre-ACR which supports spawning, resting, and seamless ATs? I could probably work a very compact release, along the lines of what I originally wanted for 1.04, in fairly short order, but it's not the best use of time if the current Beta teams aren't really ready to be laying down spawn points and putting up mods for testing yet.

Thoughts?

This would be great, if you can spare the time.

OK, after a long night, I think we're just about there.

I've sent a hakless version of this to Teric, who is handling that end of the OAS2 build. I've also uploaded it in 2 parts (hak and erf) to the Tech FTP, in case anyone wants to try to test-import. They're under /ACR/PreRelease/.

Many things are still not working right, but it's workable for testing purposes. Here are the directions I gave Teric on installation for the erf-only version (not exactly what we will do with the hak/erf form the Beta servers will be using, but close enough for now)

Allright, these should enable a base level of functionality for core resources for the OAS. Bear with me, I'm churning this one out prior to the one for the rest of ALFA (which will work differently, using haks).

What you'll need to do:

1. import the OAS-ACR.erf
2. import the ABR Creatures.erf
3. import the ABR Placeables.erf
4. (optional) import the ABR Doors.erf

the order on those should be flexible. Then:

5. Use the "View" and "Module Properties" option to bring up Module properties. Under the "events", set all 18 events (onModuleLoad, onPlayerRespawn, etc) to the corresponding "acf_mod_*" scripts. This is somewhat laborious, but necessary.

6. Similarly, open each area you have in the module, and set their events to the corresponding "acf_area_*" scripts. It appears you must do this for them individually.

7. Open the Creature Blueprints, filter for Module creatures (should see all the ALFA creatures there). Select "Expand All" so all are selectable. Highlight them all together, then tick the Properties tab to bring up their collective properties. This may take a minute or so depending- most fields should look blank. Now, select "Import Properties", and "Script Set...", then choose the included acf_cre.xml file from this RAR. If all goes well (may take a while), it should associate all 434 ABR creatures with their corresponding scripts.

8. Draw out at least one "Resting Zone" trigger from the Module Blueprints, in one of the areas. If you like, you can make them emcompass entire areas. Resting will be disallowed outside the bounds of these triggers.

9. Choose an area in which to place spawns, then try laying down a few of the templates from the Module Blueprints. Read the descriptions and adjust as you see fit.

Now, compile all scripts- there should hopefully be no errors. Save and try hosting, see if everything is working OK. Keep in touch about problems and unexpected behaviours, I'll try to be as available as I can, though I'll be trying to move quickly to get this out to the other Beta teams ASAP (in hak'd form).

So, we'll also add the "associate hak" step, putting the .hak file in the right place. The erf I've put on the tech FTP does not duplicate resources in the hak. ABR placeables and ABR creatures are necessary for the death system to work meaningfully. I'll try to recruit a few folks to try importing to make sure nothing is left out for now, then we can package it up via the sourceforge site.

Thank you AL.

Just one thing. Servers will also need a morgue setup to function with the death system. Did you happen to create a template area with the requisite waypoint and cooler for distribution?

re:morgue area: It's in the ERF. Nothing pretty, mind you, but should be all they need for basic functionality. Currently I think it's got your GUI scripts in there as well, I could pluck those out of the ERF before release if you want to keep them separate.

The death system will also need ABR placeables (for the PC corpse placeable blueprint) and ABR creatures (for the Undertaker blueprint) installed, but I figured it was best not to duplicate those blueprints here.

Good enough.

I don't have access to that FTP, but would like to help.

indio wrote:I don't have access to that FTP, but would like to help.

Ahead of the curve, as always, Indio.

I can email you (or upload to that FTP of yours) the files and instructions if you want to try it out, I should have the public versions on the sourceforge deal in 12 hours or so, though.

Well if it's no trouble to use the FTP we've used before, that would be great. I've got a day to myself here at home and it's pouring rain outside, so my usual chores are on hold.