q2-29-Imp

[Rats]

Oh, yeah. *clicks the claim button*

[arvisrend]

That's like the best piece of TR news in the last month.

[Rats]

Update. TR_m2_FG_Irano1 (Aralor refugee vs Indaren) done.

[arvisrend]

Congrats! This quest is a must-play.

"musn't" should be "mustn't".
"paid a portion of the payment" -> "paid a portion of the bounty"?
"Take the money Seras Indaren" -> "Take the money to Seras Indaren"?

Olmu leaves the refuge only when I leave. This is convenient but confusing. Can't you have their walk to the door first and then wait outside?

It sounds a bit weird that she takes her 1000 gold bounty with her to the shrine.

Script TR_m2_q_29_banneraralor still throws out messageboxes ("It's past 9.30. Olmu's at the refuge.") when Olmu is dead. This can easily be avoided by checking for the quest stage being less than 60 before messageboxing. (While you're editing that script, also please combine the two "if ( control == 1 )" blocks.)

Possible ornamental dialogue if you feel like writing some:

- Seras Indaren on "Olmu Llendu" after you've killed her.

- The other people in the Refuge on "Olmu Llendu" after you've killed her.

[Rats]

Olmu leaves the refuge only when I leave. This is convenient but confusing. Can't you have their walk to the door first and then wait outside?

I suppose that could be done. I'm only worried she might get stuck in the interior on her way out (there's one interior door she must activate and go through to get to the exit, that'll be a nix to script). And she does leave the refuge also if you wait outside (or at least she should). But I understand what you mean by confusing. I'll try to come up with some solution.

It sounds a bit weird that she takes her 1000 gold bounty with her to the shrine.

Yeah, true. Will fix this.

Script TR_m2_q_29_banneraralor still throws out messageboxes ("It's past 9.30. Olmu's at the refuge.") when Olmu is dead. This can easily be avoided by checking for the quest stage being less than 60 before messageboxing. (While you're editing that script, also please combine the two "if ( control == 1 )" blocks.)

Oh, I'll definitely optimize this script more. As for the MessageBoxes they are for testing purposes only and shouldn't be there; I just forgot to delete them.

Possible ornamental dialogue if you feel like writing some:

- Seras Indaren on "Olmu Llendu" after you've killed her.

- The other people in the Refuge on "Olmu Llendu" after you've killed her.

Will do! Thanks for great feedback once again

[Rats]

New file up. This doesn't address the issues in the first quest yet, but includes an unpolished, incomplete WIP version of TR_m2_FG_Irano2 "Noble Protection". The quest is playable, so please do give it a try. I've had a blast making it, hope it shows.

edit: and the reason I'm posting an uncompleted quest is because summer break is soon over and I have to get back to my studies again, so I won't be working on this as much as I'd want to.

[rot]

Neat!

- Pilu, err... see screenshot
also is there a reason why she has the 'true telvanni nobility' book on her? not just because it's bad, I mean why a Telvanni book

- TR_m2_Laalalvo_Irano's doesn't yet have appropriate entries on Greeting and topic "orders" while you're on Noble Protection (you get the previous ones, "I need you to track down and kill Olmu Llendu.")

- TR_m2_Flaalsa Irano, topic Selari Denaran : dialogue doesn't change after her death
also if you offend a noble and get jailed, her entries on topic 'Indaren family' etc. remain the same (The indarens are the main rivals... I'd question his wife Llathyno Indaren first to establish...)

- Selari Denaran stops combat when she turns invisible and runs. Unfortunately that means attacking and killing her count as agression and murder,
One way to avoid that is to use her Flee rating to have her run without interrupting combat, though I don't think it's very reliable - you can't control where she goes and it usually looks dumb.
Another way is to set the Alarm of all other NPCs in the cell to 0 during the fight so they don't report crimes. That'd be exploitable (you can steal anything in the cell during the fight); if that's a problem you could also have their Alarm be 0 only if the PC is on the top floor (where there are no other NPCs who'd report anything besides her), though that can be unreliable for other reasons (might need to make sure she doesn't leave the top floor?)

- TR_m2_Fedril Verothran "if you directly go speak to this guy on 'assassination of the Telomas' without first talking to another in the guildhall, you still get the journal entry 'I was told to talk with Fedril...' (that is himself)"


(also reposting for that thing on the first quest: was possible to Frenzy or Taunt Olmu, and her script made her stopcombat after she attacked the PC once. If she's to be immune to those, can systematically SetFight 0 or similar to make sure it doesn't happen)

[Rats]

Ah, the table dancing. I tried moving her upwards on the z axis so that she wouldn't fall through the floor, but couldn't do it without creating a duplicate. I guess that moving her has to be done by editing the mainland.esp? By someone else?
I could script a little PositionCell to handle the issue, but that would be silly.

I have to polish the Selari Danaran fight a bit more, then. I really want the fight to be something else than just the average woosh-woosh-hit-woosh-woosh-dead vanilla combat.

[rot]

O right, it's a mainland bug. Shows how interesting Akamora manors were to visit before/

It's not like your quests lack detail (love the sounds), so the scripted fight is already a cherry on top.
Some ideas I'd tried with little success, so I don't think they're very good: having the enemy cast Blind / illusory walls / reappear behind you / leaving dispellable decoys behind / ...

[Rats]

It's not like your quests lack detail (love the sounds), so the scripted fight is already a cherry on top.
Some ideas I'd tried with little success, so I don't think they're very good: having the enemy cast Blind / illusory walls / reappear behind you / leaving dispellable decoys behind / ...

Concerning this. Would it be awful if the player was forcibly paralyzed (Danaran does have a dwemer jinksword) for a few seconds so that she can safely run away and hide?

[arvisrend]

If I knew how to fix these tabledancing bugs I'd have done that long ago. Any idea?

And no, forced paralysis is absolutely not awful. The original concept of the quest didn't even involve a possibility of the player stopping the assault or catching the assassins in flagranti. If you really want to make this all possible, setting all Alarms to 0 for a moment is a perfectly good way to go as well (people are dying anyway, noone should be watching chests and shelves).

(Haven't playtested version 2 so far, and probably won't come to it until version 3... But judging from the thread it seems to be on a good path.)

EDIT: About Pilu tabledancing: I just have moved her in the Mainland file a bit and the bug no longer happens. You might still want to setpos or positioncell her in the quest to ensure she is on the upper floor, as she wanders.

[rot]

Maybe ignore Willpower but still check GetResistParalysis? be weird to paralyse a PC who's supposed to be immune to it.

The alarm 0 I mentioned wasn't for the assassins themselves, just for the last culprit you hunt down in the Guard Tower. The assassins you can't stop, but it doesn't look bad at all even if you happen to be in front of the mark when she dies (appears as if the assassin behind her just came out of invisibility while stabbing her)

[Rats]

I solved this thing by AddSpelling the player with a paralysis curse after an unsuccessful "if player->GetEffect sEffectResistParalysis == 1" check. If the player has a Resist Paralysis effect going on or if they drink a Cure Paralyzation potion or a custom Remove Curse potion Danaran will attack the player right away instead of fleeing first.

I'll post a new file once I've finished this quest and fixed all the things that were wrong in the first one.

[Rats]

Doublepost update. New file up.

Irano2 finished.

I have an idea about the Caught in a Web quest which I'd really like to do while I'm at it. My plan for it deviates a little from the original plans by introducing Surol Volayn earlier on in the Irano questline and making her an adopted child of the Senims though not a member of House Indoril. Also I'd like to give the player an option to botch things up so royally that after the last mission the Guild chapter in Akamora could be shut down. Here is the questline. Read it through and say what you think. And of course, try out to play the quest.

TR_m2_FG_Irano1 No Sin Goes Unpunished

Note: if the player botched the last Amiro quest by freeing the slaves in the egg mine Laalalvo will not trust the player with this quest until the first Circus Leonos quest is completed.

The Fighters Guild has been contracted by the Indaren family to search and eliminate an assassin named Olmu Llendu who in the past made an unsuccessful attempt on Seras Indaren's life. Guildmaster Laalalvo Irano knows that the Indarens have managed to find out that the would-be assassin is hiding somewhere in Necrom. This is the catch of the whole quest: since Necrom is deemed holy by the Dunmer people an Imperial Guild carrying out an otherwise perfectly legal execution out in the open would be considered a sacrilegious act. Laalalvo feels that the Indarens have purposefully decided to test how the Guild manages to carry out the killing without causing any religious uproar. She tells the player to find a way to kill Olmu Llendu 'discreetly'--preferably outside the city if possible. The Guildmaster doesn't know where exactly in Necrom Llendu is supposed to be, but suggests that the player visits Seras Indaren to learn more.

Now, the player can choose to skip this part and just head straight to Necrom. However if they go and talk to Seras Indaren about Llendu they'll learn that the assassin has sent her former target a letter of apology which effectively gave away her location. Seras Indaren is not feeling forgiving and still encourages the player to find and kill her. He doesn't know about Llendu's exact location either, but suggest that she's hiding somewhere not too underground (since she's bold enough to write a letter).
When in Necrom the player will ask the locals about Olmu Llendu. They don't know of her, but inform the player that the Refuge of St. Aralor houses repentant sinners. The player heads there to find Olmu Llendu--now a repentant monk--in the refuge kitchen. She will admits everything but declares that she's genuinely sorry what she almost did and asks the player to spare her. As a sign of her sincerity she offers the player the reward that she was paid to kill Seras Indaren--1000 septims--and asks the player to deliver the money to Indaren along with her apologies.

Depending on the player's choice there can be three different outcomes to this quest. First off , the player can call the whole execution thing quits, take the gold and get back to let Seras Indaren know that Olmu Llendu's still apologetic and still alive. Indaren will of course be furious, thinking that the assassin has played the player for a fool. Laalavo Irano will be equally disappointed telling the player that they've done great harm to the Guild's standing in Akamora and that Olmu Llendu still remains marked for death--the Indarens will just hire some other party to carry out the killing. If the player talks to the other nobles after the quest they'll make a remark of the Guild's failure. However, when the player leaves the Guildhall they will be approached by a mysterious young woman named Surol Volayn (yes, she has a boy's name). She'll tell the player that though sparing Llendu was indeed harmful to the Guild there are some who appreciate the act if only for the unexpectedness of it. If the player talks to her more the woman will identify herself as lord Novas Senim's adopted daughter--an orphan found in the mountains. She'll then return the Senim Manor.

The second choice is to just kill Olmu Llendu here and there. Truly embracing her newly-found pacifism she won't resist at all. For those who can pay the bounty gold afterwards this path is the quickest and easiest. However, when Laalalvo is informed of Olmu Llendu's death the news from Necrom have already reached Akamora. The religious Indoril nobles don't like the way the Fighters Guild carried out the execution and will mention that when they're talked to (along with a small disposition drop).

The third outcome requires little detective work. If the player talks to the other monks in the refuge they will tell the player that Llendu leaves the refuge every morning around 4 o'clock for personal meditation and doesn't return until noon. With this bit of information the player can now follow Llendu when she leaves the monastery. Llendu will now walk the player through the city and out the gates to the Shrine of Lovers. There she's fair game. Laalalvo is extremely pleased upon hearing the news of Llendu's death, thinking that the Guild's status among the local nobility's eyes has greatly improved. If the player talks to Seras Indaren after the quest is finished they'll find out that that is quite not the case: Seras Indaren will simply state that the player shouldn't expect any praise for doing what was required.

TR_m2_FG_Irano2 Noble Protection

Note: Circus Leonos dies in this quest, so the player will not receive it until both Leonos quests are finished. Oh yeah, spoiler alert.

The Guild has been contracted by the Telomas family to provide them with bodyguards. Laalalvo will brief the player that the Telomas are retainers of the Senims and since Akamora is like Shakespeare's Verona they're anticipating an assassination attempt. Circus Leonos will already be in Telomas Manor and Laalalvo urges the player to get there. When the player arrives Telomas Manor they'll find Circus Leonos downstairs guarding Guvon Telomas. Both of them will tell the player to head upstairs and guard Pilu Telomas, the contractor. So, the player heads upstairs. The player's conversation with Pilu Telomas will be interrupted when she hears a disturbing noise coming from downstairs. Upon investigating the player will encounter two assassins who have already killed both Circus Leonos and Guvon Telomas. After killing the assassins the player heads upstairs to witness Pilu Telomas die of a third assassin's blade. After killing the third assassin the player is left alone in a house full of corpses. Job well done.

After botching the contract, the Fighters guild in Akamora will be put in a very precarious situation. Laalalvo will fear that unless the Guild determines who was behind the assassination, no one will trust them with protection again. Laalalvo knows that her sister, the Guard captain, can’t have her guards do a proper investigation because of the political climate in Akamora, what with all the cities’ powerful families fighting each other. Thus it will be up to the player to investigate.

First the player will talk to the Guard captain, Laalalvo’s sister, about who would have a motive for killing the Telomas family. The player will learn of three suspects. Since Pilu Telomas worked as an Agent for the Senim family, the Senim’s main rivals, the Indarens are number one on the list. Then there are the Veri’s, the allies of the Indarens. Finally there is Selari Danaran, a Dunmer Agent who can found at the top of Akamora’s Guard tower and whose career was ruined when Pilu Telomas uncovered her spying on the Senims. Flaalsa Irano also suggests that the player pays a visit to Novas Senim to hear what he thinks of the suspects. Flaalsa will also warn the player not to upset any of the suspected nobles. If she receives the word that the player is rocking the boat by being too bold with their inquiries the captain would rather have the player jailed.

So, from there on there are two paths the player can go. First, the player can outright botch this thing up. If the player decides to repeat their questions after both the Veri and the Indaren family have denied having anything to do with the assassination the nobles will become irritated and tell the player the Guild's insolence will not go unpunished. Upon exiting to outdoors the player will be greeted by a guard sent by Flaalsa Irano. You can either go to the jail cell in the Akamora's Guard Tower or choose to resist arrest -- either way the quest is failed. The real culprit has left the town. Laalalvo will be furious. The Indaren and the Veri are demanding a reprimand and the guildmaster is forced to comply. If the player has crossed Laalalvo in the past by letting the slaves go in Amiro3 quest AND by failing the previous Irano1 quest, then Laalalvo will expel the player. Otherwise only the player's rank is demoted.

The second path is that the player succeeds in their investigation. Since Flaalsa Irano suggested it the player pays a visit to Novas Senim (I wanted the player to meet with each the rivaling nobles face to face in the course of these quests). On their way to the upstairs where Novas Senim is the player is approached by Surol Volayn. She has guessed that the player is there to question her adoptive father. She tells the player that it's not very polite and that the Fighters Guild should know better and remember their roots. If asked about remembering the roots she will deliver this bit of dialogue (I'm quoting it here because I feel it's better than trying to explain it):

"Your Guild merely continues the tradition of foreign occupation brought to this continent by the Tsaesci snakes. That is how my father and the other nobles see you. A foreign invader. That is your burden. Never forget it, shieldbearer of serpents, like I will never forget mine. [Continue] There is a history to this place that began long before the Empire and your Guild came here, before the egg mines and the noble families of Akamora were established, even before the rise of the Almsivi and ruin of Dun Akafell. Thousands of years ago a wind whispered to our ancestors from the Mephalain valley, and our ancestors would honor it and listen. Those who remember still listen." However, asking about the roots again will only yield a: "I've said too much already. Silly girl that I am."

It would seem that she doesn't believe that the Guild is going to survive in Akamora. By now the player should be wondering if there's something more to her. Or not. Depends on the player. (The player can ask about Surol from the other people in the manor to find more; they'll tell the player that she was found a child alone in the mountains, her parents slaughtered by some beast, and that she's a bit eccentric and occasionally disappears but always comes back)

In any case the player will talk to Novas Senim. Lord Senim tells the player that he has no idea who is behind the assassination, but advices them not to bother questioning the Indarens and the Veris knowing that it would only agitate them. Instead Senim suggests the player pays a visit to Morag Tong Guildhall. Though the assassin most likely weren't of the Tong they might be able to identify them.

The guild members will say that they were never approached with a job on the Telomases but that the player should talk to Fedril Verothran, an unlikeable Morag Tong member who often keeps company with unsavory people. After a little coaching, Fedril will admit to knowing who the assassins were. He’ll describe them as low-class thugs that none of Akamora’s richer noble families would have hired. This will eliminate the Indarens and Veri’s as suspects.

Finally the player will have to find evidence that points directly to Selari Danaran. After talking around town, the player will find out that Selari is talented at using Chameleon spells and thus she could have taught the thugs how to use them to sneak up and kill the Telomases and Circus Leonos. With this info in hand, the player will confront Selari who will attack the player. If the player doesn't have any kind of resist paralysis spells going on Selari will paralyze them, turn invisible and run a full circle around the top floor of the tower to stab the player in the back to make the fight a little more interesting. Anyway, with the culprit found out, the Guild’s reputation will be partially restored.


TR_m2_FG_Irano3 Akavorioc

The Guild is contracted to kill the vampire Akavorioc. Not really much to say about this one. Pretty simple. Like the original plan expect that Akavorioc will send enthralled cattle against the player. The cattle are identified as worshipers of Mephala whereas Akavorioc is a worshiper of Molag Bal. The player has the choice of killing the hostile cattle as well.


TR_m2_FG_Irano4 Caught in a Web

The Guild has now been contracted by lord Novas Senim himself. Her adopted daughter Surol Volayn has gone missing in the Valley of Mephala. The Senims know that she went to Shambalu (left a note before running off) and want the Guild to rescue her.

Now, if the player has been paying attention they should already guess that something's fishy.
In any case the player goes to the shrine. There will be swarms of dridea to fight but once the player reaches Surol Volayn it's revealed that she's not in danger at all. In fact... itsatrap!

Surol will tell the player that Mephala is not amused of the Guild's presence in Akamora. The linear thinking and solving problems with brute force kind of methods the Fighters Guild uses is not something the Daedric Prince things very highly of. So, Surol will reveal that many of the hardships the Guild has faced so far (the local nobility ganging up against the Guild and each other, the fact assassination of the Telomas, the fact that Olmu Llendu decided not to kill Seras Indaren and fled to Necrom) were inspired by the Daedroth. It has been her way of teaching the Imperials a lesson and Surol Volayn has been the envoy of all this. If the player has acted in an unexpected manner (=against the Guild's best interest) in the previous quests (like letting Olmu Llendu live or sparing the frenzied cattle Akavorioc) Surol Volayn will congratulate the player on providing Mephala with a refreshing dose of amusement. Furthermore, Mephala has been impressed that the player has survived her final plot.

Mephala has woven her plots and the player has been either wise or foolish enough to play along. Surol Volayn will ask the player what they're planning to do now that they've learned the contract was a trap. At this point I'd assume the player is feeling rather vengeful. First the player can declare that they'll end Mephala's influence over Akamora by defeating her champion, Surol, in combat. Surol Volayn will then call the player's choice precisely the kind of uninspired thinking that Mephala loathes; asking what makes the player think that she's Mephala's champion or that Mephala would even have a champion. Either way, she'll conjure a handsome set of bound armor and attack the player. (I was also thinking using levitation on her, shooting spells while airborne). This choice will have consequences depending on the player's previous actions. If the player has brought much negative attention to the Guild in the previous quests by failing them, then killing Surol Volayn (and thus failing to return her to the Senims)will be the final straw. The Guild chapter in Akamora is forced to shut down. If the player has done most of the previous quests as they were supposed to (captured the escaped slaves, killed Olmu Llendu, executed Selari Danaran) then the Guild survives even after killing Surol Volayn.

The second choice is that the player acknowledges that the game is over. Now that the secret has been revealed Mephala doesn't take any joy in testing the Guild and the player has no interest taking any revenge. If the player decides to walk away Surol Volayn will commend them for not behaving like an Imperial Guild's member is expected to behave. I imagined that at this point the player would be rewarded with a glove that provides fortified unarmored / other bonuses when the player has no weapon drawn (scripted). She says she'll find her own way back to Akamora, but will offer to teleport the player back to Akamora if they want to. Declining respectfully is recommended since teleporting means a drop from a high altitude (a last, friendly little joke on Mephala's/Surol's part). In any case the Guild is allowed to stay in Akamora and the animosity towards it seems to have lessened.

[Theo]

I really like that you are building up your quests to some kind of resolution, although I am not a great fan of the Mephalain plot idea. However I assume it is more suitable for FG than meddling with the local Indoril politics too much after all. Also the multiple choices and their over all impact are very well thought-out.

I would just have a small request regarding the caught in the web quest (as a person who did exterior of Mephalain valley).

This location is supposed to be secluded, mysterious and partly considered an urban legend of distant and fuzzy past. Novas Senim knowing where it is and Surol Valyn simply walking there (this place is infested with Daedra!) takes out of this charm and makes no sense.

Perhaps the letter in unfamiliar handwriting should only suggest Surol Volayn has been reclaimed by her true mother and father and Novas Senim might with the aid of clues from the player deduce that she might be kidnapped by worshipers of Mephala and recalling the valley.

Then insert some part, where player has to do some further investigation to find out where the valley of the Mephala actually is (even though he may possibly know already). Perhaps asking rumors will lead to information about some scout bragging in the inn that he found a passage to this place, but nobody believed him. Player must seek his camp somewhere in the mountains and talk him into revealing his secret, or fending of some dridreas, or finding him dead and reconstructing the way from his journal...

Just do not make it usual place for walks, please...

EDIT: Now that I realized Surol Volayn already mentions Mephalain Valley in her mysterious speech, it would be even better if the player could investigate about this place prior and independent to later events and if he would find and clean Shambalu before Surol Volayn goes there it could have some more benefits for him (cleaning some of the monster in advance, finding additional hints or even Surol Volayn noticing and appreciating this during resolution...)

[Rats]

Rest assured, Theo, the valley will remain a secluded, mythical location. I have no intention of making finding the valley a cakewalk.

Why floated an idea of having a somewhat obscure map drawn by Surol which the player would find and follow to reach the valley. So, I doodled a little something. Thoughts?

[img]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rats_tr/shambulumap_zps9da84598.png[/img]

[Aeven]

That's cool Rats!

[arvisrend]

This. Is. Brilliant.

[Mwgek]

I could turn that into a black and white alpha map so you can stick it unto a scroll or note if you want. Or can you use it like pictured bookart? Looks great!

[Rats]

Haven't tested it yet in game but I reckon it'll work as BookArt (as .tga file, not png like this).

[Yeti]

If Surol Volayn is going to be an adopted child of the Senims, she'd have to be made a member of House Indoril. Being family to an Indoril is the same things as being in the House, from my understanding at least.

[Rats]

I meant that she's more like a foster child: living with the Senims but not really one of them. A charity project for the nobles. I shouldn't have used the word 'adopted'.

Making her a Senim and a member of Indoril through and through would cause big issues for those players who kill her and yet wish to play the Indoril storyline (which'll undoubtedly include interaction with Novas Senim).

[Yeti]

Perhaps it would be safer to make her a foster child of one of the lesser noble families in town. I don't seem to remember the Arenims having any quests related to them yet.

[Rats]

I figured it'd be a more dramatic ending for the Guild storyline in Akamora to have the ruling lord contract them. Then again, it'd be safer to use the Arenims, not to mention that otherwise they probably wouldn't be used for anything. I'll think this through after I've finished making Irano3.

[Yeti]

All I know is that the situation with the major nobles in Akamora is kind of a mess. We don't know how the Akamora Inodril quests are going to play out yet, or if any major changes are going to be made to the characters in question.

[Rats]

Update. Irano3 somewhat done. It's still crude dialogue-wise but playable.

[rot]

wee!
... ah bugger I forgot to enable betacomments before playtesting
But didn't have much to report, only "wut this is Akavorioc?" on getting a journal entry from a random Argonian vampire (I think you accidentally the generic TR Quarra script )

Also after completing Irano2, the dialogue where she tells you to wait a few days is in her greeting, except you have to close and re-open dialogue to get it, and before that her dialogue on "Orders" will be the one that starts Irano1 - maybe add the entry from that greeting to the topic too to plug that case?

She gave no reward :< Considering giving something more interesting than gold?


edit: I actually forgot the only worthwhile comment I had (!),
in case you hadn't noticed him already you'll easily figure out what I mean: the NPC Eifid (in the Inn Between) on topic Akavorioc, wrt all the dialogue in that cell there concerning him - though maybe you'd need to wait for q2-17-Mis to base any potential variants on its outcome?

[Rats]

No update yet, but I'm trying to get this done for the ever-closing 10/10/13 date. Working on both Irano3 and Irano4 at the moment.

As per Yeti's suggestion I've decided to make Surol Volayn a foster child of the Arenims.

[arvisrend]

No update yet, but I'm trying to get this done for the ever-closing 10/10/13 date. Working on both Irano3 and Irano4 at the moment.

Oh, wow, are you making even Irano3 nontrivial?

Anyway don't sweat it. I wasn't even dreaming of seeing this finished by 10/10 given the complexity of Irano4.

[Rats]

New file up. Not finished, but closer. I'm uploading the crude WIP file now, because real life will keep me increasingly busy for the next few weeks.

Irano4 is slowly taking shape, but still unplayable. Things I'd really like to hear your opinions about:

*the responses in Topic "Guild has been plotted against" in which is Surol Volayn reveals the whole Mephalain plot as well as comments on the player's previous actions. Is it successful in describing the whole conspiracy situation to the player, or does sound ridiculous? I'd like to think it does work, but I might be blind. [the first two lines on the top of the list are unfinished as you can tell]

*the quest reward items "TR_m2_q_29_whetblade", "TR_m2_q_29_gauntlet_left", "TR_m2_q_29_gauntlet_right", and finally "TR_m2_q_29_Surol_Glove". Are these balanced/interesting enough? The "TR_m2_q_29_Surol_Glove" will be given to the player by Surol Volayn if the player has amused Mephala enough during the questline.

*What is wrong with the script "TR_m2_q_29_banneraralor"? It sometimes causes Olmu Llendu to disappear completely for a while if the player does something unexpected like sleeps when she's traveling.

Comment on other things too.

Before I can finish this the "Shambalu, Shrine" interior will need some revising in the TR_Mainland.esp; I would like to have the interior void of all creatures so I can replace them with scripted ones.

Also, here's a .dds map for Shambalu. You need it in BookArt to view the map ingame.

[img]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y417/rats_tr/shambalumap_zps46e61dc8.png[/img]

[rot]

~^_^~

Haven't gotten to play yet, but:

*What is wrong with the script "TR_m2_q_29_banneraralor"? It sometimes causes Olmu Llendu to disappear completely for a while if the player does something unexpected like sleeps when she's traveling.

I'd wager she doesn't actually disappear but just gets snapped to (/close to) her next AiTravel target, which is what happens when you rest while a NPC travels

[Rats]

I'd wager she doesn't actually disappear but just gets snapped to (/close to) her next AiTravel target, which is what happens when you rest while a NPC travels

That could be the case. Have to add a 'reset' of some sort.

[rot]

Whetblade is a nice idea!
"TR_m2_q_29_gauntlet_right": balance consideration for any enchantment with drawbacks is that the negative effect can be resisted. I don't think it's a problem (if you can cast a decent resist spell you're high level enough that it doesn't matter / and if just using a 2-seconds 100% resist spell... there are countless other such ways to cheese this game)

"Guild has been plotted against" : while no fan of any sort of 'it was all a grand plot' or such reveals, I think this is written well enough that it works.


Replayed Irano's line,

- Orders availability for Irano1 doesn't match her Greeting in the case where you somewhat messed up Amiro3 :
(greeting) "I can't trust you with any new orders, Associate. Talk to Circus Leonos and see what he has to offer. When he puts in a good word for you I might reconsider."
but when you get this greeting, there's no such requirement on topic Orders where she does give you the Olmu Llendu mission ("Your reckless actions with the slaves of Aravel-Senim mine... kill Olmu Llendu.")

- in Necrom, the topic "Olmu Llendu" will direct to the refuge of St. Aralor - but if you reach it between 4-9 am, it's entirely possible to not see her when she leaves. Would be a good idea to add dialogue on "Olmu Llendu" to the NPCs inside the refuge explaining that she's left, otherwise players could be completely lost at this point

- also in that case (if she leaves when you're in the Necrom exterior before you even enter the Refuge), if you try to talk to her the game crashes. Using PositionCell (like the banneraralor script does) to move a NPC that had never been loaded before makes it appear without its script and causes other bugs - that's likely the reason for this crash.
In that case it'd be better to pre-place a copy of Olmu outside of the refuge and have the script Enable her (and disable the other) instead of positioncell-ing her. (having only one version of her in the exterior that then gets positioncell-ed inside could be an alternative IFF the 72hours reset doesn't apply to that bug...)

(other, less elegant/dynamic but possibly simpler solution to both above problems: not having her leave from the exterior before you've met her inside)


- reminder: TR_m2_Laalalvo_Irano 's dialogue on "absconded from the Akamora egg mines" (This was the first contract we received directly from the high nobility. After what you did, I doubt there will be a second one.) will need to be changed or have variants

- this can still happen:

Also after completing Irano2, the dialogue where she tells you to wait a few days is in her greeting, except you have to close and re-open dialogue to get it, and before that her dialogue on "Orders" will be the one that starts Irano1 - maybe add the entry from that greeting to the topic too to plug that case?

to clarify: after killing Selari Danaran then completing the quest with topic 'assassination of the Telomas', if you immediately use the topic 'Orders' (without closing the dialogue menu and greeting her again) she'll have the wrong 'Orders' entries starting the Olmu Llendu quest.

- wouldn't TR_m2_O_Aka_cattle_ greetings change after Akarovioc dies? ("I can't fight it... Please... don't...")

- also just a reminder, TR_m2_Laalalvo_Irano doesn't yet have a post-finish entry or conditions on topic Akavorioc (gives infinite rewards)

[Rats]

File number 6 up.

90% done. Polishing, cleaning and script optimizing still to do.

I've addressed the issues rot pointed out (thanks!).

The whole questline including the final mission *should* be playable. I have yet to try it out myself, though, so the final quest may very well be broken due to some lapse in scripting. I'm hopeful to get this finished soon.

//edit: man, playtesting this will be tedious with all the different endings in some of the quests

//edit2: after trying it out, I've found the Irano4 still unplayable with quite many quest breaking bugs. will try and fix em soon.

[rot]

Had another playthrough tho got stuck in the last one, will try again later,

- start of Caught in a Web: upon entering Arenim Manor, getting the journal update 'I've found Surol Volayn in Shambalu in the Valley of Mephala.'
(probably need to add a "Return" under "set controlQ to 5", in TR_m2_NPC_Surol_Script)

- getting many "Scale parameters for effect #### are bad" in Shambalu shrine, probably because of the number added after Addspells and Removespells in TR_m2_NPC_Surol_Script
RemoveSpell, "TR_m2_q_29_2_paralyze" 1 etc., shouldn't have anything after the spell ID


- don't want to disturb your focus on the last quests so maybe leave these out for later -
on Olmu Llendu leaving the refuge, I think you went for the solution where she doesn't go out unless you've talked to her? But if you enter the refuge between 4-(?9 or 7?) am, she has her forced-Goodbye greeting (Pardon me. I should head out to greet the new morning with prayer and meditation.) and doesn't go out till you've been able to talk to her on her topic

- Olmu Llendu 's travel path, had this happen once: she stopped for good at her first target position nearest the refuge (muttered her Voice and had a spell cast on her as if she'd reached the shrine). Couldn't reproduce. Looking at TR_m2_q_29_OlmuTravel, only possible explanation is I entered MenuMode the exact frame when she reached that position.
After some testing: it's because of the "0" reset flag in the script's AiTravel lines ("TR_m2_q_29_1_refugee"->AiTravel 360538, -89232, 1514, 0). With that flag, GetAiPackageDone doesn't reset and stays at 1 until a new Ai command is registered; however new AiTravels called in MenuMode will only reset GetAiPackageDone to 0 once OUT of MenuMode.
BUT WAIT! Without that flag, she'll get completely stuck if you rest while she travels. (stuck as in "stand idle forever". even when she does resume travel thanks to the 0 flag etc..., she can still get stuck in some places because
of her path being blocked, but it's better than the full stop) Unless you're planning another way to reset her travel when hours are skipped, better keep the 0 flags but prevent the script from transiently cascading down when in menus,or perhaps something to make sure GetAiPackageDone == 0 before changing travel steps would do the trick too
tl;dr TR_m2_q_29_OlmuTravel needs a MenuMode Return on top to avoid freak accidents :>


- if not intentional :
on doublecrossing Olmu Llendu - if you accept the gold from her, the NPCs in the refuge don't have her topic available. It's still possible to wait and stalk her out of Necrom and so on, but you can't ask for info. basically, the player only gets the evil cake-&-eat-it option through savescumming/ prior knowledge of the quest... then again, you can't notice that it doesn't make sense (not being able to ask about when she leaves) if you haven't played the quest before. Very much a nitpick.

- TR_m2_Pilu Telomas - "is she supposed to be a Trainer?"

- Surol Volayn says she was adopted by 'Novas Senim' on his topic, but by Arenim in her 'background'.
(also, is she still supposed to be on your way to one of the nobles? As it stands there's very little to no chance the PC would find her when investigating, since Arenim aren't involved at all in the earlier questline...)

- Flaalsa Irano's entry on topic "Morag Tong" stays available after its time (add "<= journal 65" condition?),
or maybe you don't want her to have it anymore? I notice she doesn't link 'Morag Tong' from her dialogue and sends you to Novas Senim instead.

- TR_m2_o_Aka_cattle_ : if you find them before getting to Akavorioc, their greetings are already 'I can't fight it... Please... don't...' - are they supposed to be agressive at this point? (they're not)

[Rats]

Irano4 is in fact still hideously unplayable now that I've pushed through it a couple of times :/ I was so sure I had it somewhat finished.

thanks again rot for good bug tracking!

- start of Caught in a Web: upon entering Arenim Manor, getting the journal update 'I've found Surol Volayn in Shambalu in the Valley of Mephala.'
(probably need to add a "Return" under "set controlQ to 5", in TR_m2_NPC_Surol_Script)

Ugh. I'll fix it.

- getting many "Scale parameters for effect #### are bad" in Shambalu shrine, probably because of the number added after Addspells and Removespells in TR_m2_NPC_Surol_Script
RemoveSpell, "TR_m2_q_29_2_paralyze" 1 etc., shouldn't have anything after the spell ID

Will do.

on Olmu Llendu leaving the refuge, I think you went for the solution where she doesn't go out unless you've talked to her? But if you enter the refuge between 4-(?9 or 7?) am, she has her forced-Goodbye greeting (Pardon me. I should head out to greet the new morning with prayer and meditation.) and doesn't go out till you've been able to talk to her on her topic

Yes, I went for the simple solution. I'll add a Journal condition on that Greeting.

Olmu Llendu 's travel path, had this happen once: she stopped for good at her first target position nearest the refuge (muttered her Voice and had a spell cast on her as if she'd reached the shrine). Couldn't reproduce. [...]
tl;dr TR_m2_q_29_OlmuTravel needs a MenuMode Return on top to avoid freak accidents :>

Oh! I've had the same bug a few times too, but couldn't figure out what the vehk was causing it. I'll at the menumode -> return safety feature

on doublecrossing Olmu Llendu - if you accept the gold from her, the NPCs in the refuge don't have her topic available. It's still possible to wait and stalk her out of Necrom and so on, but you can't ask for info. basically, the player only gets the evil cake-&-eat-it option through savescumming/ prior knowledge of the quest... then again, you can't notice that it doesn't make sense (not being able to ask about when she leaves) if you haven't played the quest before. Very much a nitpick.

The ability to double-cross her is intentional, but that the other monks don't offer you any tips isn't. I'll tweak the response conditions to fix this.

- TR_m2_Pilu Telomas - "is she supposed to be a Trainer?"

Ah, totally forgot about this! She isn't supposed to. Fixing.

- Surol Volayn says she was adopted by 'Novas Senim' on his topic, but by Arenim in her 'background'.
(also, is she still supposed to be on your way to one of the nobles? As it stands there's very little to no chance the PC would find her when investigating, since Arenim aren't involved at all in the earlier questline...)

The "Novas Senim" topic's a remnant of a bygone era of design. Yes, she's still supposed to get teleported to Senim Manor to forcegreet the player. I'll have to look into why she isn't anymore.

- Flaalsa Irano's entry on topic "Morag Tong" stays available after its time (add "<= journal 65" condition?),or maybe you don't want her to have it anymore? I notice she doesn't link 'Morag Tong' from her dialogue and sends you to Novas Senim instead.

Ah, again a revenants of an old design. Flaalsa should indeed direct the player to Senim and not have an Morag Tong topic. Novas Senim's the guy who directs the player to the Tong.[/quote]

- TR_m2_o_Aka_cattle_ : if you find them before getting to Akavorioc, their greetings are already 'I can't fight it... Please... don't...' - are they supposed to be agressive at this point? (they're not)

This is intentional. Their greeting is to imply that they're not in control of themselves/trying not to attack the player. Each greeting will increase their Fight by 5, so they'll eventually attack the player.

[rot]

- getting many "Scale parameters for effect #### are bad"

- my bad on the effects, they're another, unrelated bug. The (otherwise harmless) error messages are because spells shambalu_trap... are Exploded on activators that don't have collision (EditorMarker). Can't have them Cast either,
you can instead use the other version EditorMarker_box_01 which does have collision

- was looking for something in Greetings 1, seems a lot of your entries were sent to the bottom of the list. That old tesame bug again?


things you've probably figured out already:

- in TR_m2_shambalu_trap_SCRIPT :
this line ""TR_m2_q_29_4_Dridrea"->enable" will only enable 1 Dridrea (the first one loaded - targets references placed ingame, not IDs in general). You'll have to enable them from their own script; can use a journal entry or global variable to trigger that

- distance check has >= instead of <= in the Surol script:
if ( GetDistance, player >= 600 )
Journal "TR_m2_FG_Irano4" 50

- she also doesn't get unparalysed, != 5 looks like meant be != 6: (btw you can also use SetParalysis 1 / 0 for paralysis)
if ( GetDeadCount "TR_m2_q_29_4_Dridrea" >= 9 )
if ( controlQ != 5 )

- TR_m2_q_29_4_Map - can't be picked up, something that's had OnActivate called on it will need to be manually Activated from the script - also books in particular need to have a Return on top of their script after that

[Haplo]

Please change the filepath that searches for the shambalu file to look for TR_shambalumap.dds; that's how I've added it to TR_Data in the upcoming update.

[Rats]

Thanks again rot for tracking 'em bugs. You're the bestest!

Please change the filepath that searches for the shambalu file to look for TR_shambalumap.dds; that's how I've added it to TR_Data in the upcoming update.

Gotcha, gotcha.

[Rats]

Double-post/update. Uploaded a newer file as per arvis' suggestion. Some bugs have been fixed, some have not (couldn't get the friggin' map to work at all; moving Surol Volayn between cells is still causing issues, etc etc).