SS2 FM The Minstrel (by The Pixie)

[6636c6e9b9865gnartsch]

The original version was posted here. The link still works and produces a zip with no file younger than august 2008.
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122494&p=1757569&viewfull=1#post1757569

[6636c6e9b99e2voodoo47]

yeah, already got that one, unfortunately, the files are already missing.

[6636c6e9b9c11voodoo47]

ok, quick surgery to the FM, tried to fix;

-missing objects
-missing textures
-pink/jorge water
-audiolog text cutoffs (two logs have way more text than SS2 logs support, had to cut them quite a bit, orig strings are backed up as _LEVEL01.STR)
-unlimited spawning (yeah, there was more infinite spawning besides the one already fixed)
-objects disappearing/dropping off the level

managed to pull most of the missing objects and textures from various other FMs/mods, but some are still missing:
-L40.bin (a new weapon, xenon-arc laser rifle. objicon Icn_l40/Icn_l40b, hand model L40G)
-Aractube.bin (tube with a spider, model is there, but it's missing textures, hotfixed using other textures)
-BioTube.bin (empty tube, model is there, but it's missing textures, hotfixed using other textures)

if you recognize them or know from where they are, let me know. also, this is by no means a complete overhaul, I'm pretty sure there is lot of weird stuff left - if you find something, post it here and we'll see what can be done.

download attached to the first post.

[6636c6e9b9d54voodoo47]

stumbled upon something ugly and easily fixed (console 1815 showing placeholder text), so reuploaded (there was just one download, so no version change).

[6636c6e9b9e4cDjant]

Alright, I started up this mission, and everything is black. Is this normal? Other fan missions load and work just fine.

[6636c6e9b9f42voodoo47]

yeah, pretty sure a black screen that prevents gameplay would qualify as not normal. are you ss2tool patched and using FMselect? any mods active? does the game look like it's actually running behind the blackness? can you for example save the game?

[6636c6e9ba055Djant]

Yeah, pretty sure I patched it with SS2Tool and am running FMSelect. No, no mods are currently active. Yes, the game does seem to be running fine otherwise, I can open the inventory, click on all the buttons, save the game etc. I'll see if a reinstall fixes the problem.

[6636c6e9ba132Djant]

Okay, reinstalling it seems to have fixed the problem.

[6636c6e9ba235voodoo47]

was caused by corrupt files (the gamesys), most likely.

[6636c6e9ba358voodoo47]

small tuneup (1.02);

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-added ADaoB hybrid shotgun fix
-shotgun now has a muzzle flash (install Olfred's Fixed Objects!)
-hybrid shotgun also has a muzzle flash, and ejects casings
-grenade hybrid throws grenades from his right hand
-tweaked weapon/armor/ammo/weapon eject size
-the kid now uses an actual kid texture, not a creepy shrunk down woman
-her teddy's rotation is now joint locked
-corrected the awful typo on the Malfunctioning TriOp computer
1.01 has been downloaded 56 times (last download just a few minutes before 1.02 was up, daamit).

[6636c6e9ba767Vegoraptor]

1.01 has been downloaded 56 times (last download just a few minutes before 1.02 was up, daamit).

Eeeyup, that was me, and guess what I downloaded it for. 
Well, I did not get that far into the game yet (just trying to figure out how to get to the scanners for recalibration), so I guess I did not miss too much.

[6636c6e9ba884voodoo47]

another LP?  make sure to redownload fixed objects10, I had to sneak one essential model in (not required if you plan to use Tacticool and SHTUP-ND though).

[6636c6e9ba9dfZylonBane]

Since the readme mentions custom models by "Nameless_Voice, Christine, IceNine", have you tried contacting them to see if they have the missing textures?

[6636c6e9baaf8voodoo47]

not directly - maybe I will. though pretty much the only object that is missing now is the laser rifle, and that one is probably Pixie's, and he is most likely mia for a long time.

[6636c6e9bac2bVegoraptor]

Small request for 1.03: Could you increase the patrol frequency of that hybrid opening the door to the Crew Only only area (yes, I spoiled myself and am not sorry about it in this case, since it is crucial to progress if I got that right)? I've been waiting for about ten minutes in front of each and nothing came out or tried to go in.

[6636c6e9bad4dvoodoo47]

will need a save at that place, and some more detailed info about what is supposed to be happening (and isn't).

[6636c6e9baec8Vegoraptor]

Sorry, thought that this was obvious.
I am stuck after the last video (so basically I am trying to get to the scanners on deck B for recalibration) and imagined I would need to get out of the passenger area. After desperately looking for a key card I read through this thread and found this post, which I assumed to be the solution to my problem, as in that every now and then a hybrid would patrol through that door so I could slip into the Crew Only area. Since the door was not specified, I tried all three in turn. Or I might just be fatally wrong and misinterpreting what I read, happens disturbingly often when I visit this site. In case you still need it, have a savefile.
[save.zip expired]

[6636c6e9bb01cvoodoo47]

confirming, I see no proper way out of the starting area. this will not be trivial. for the moment, you can circumvent it by letting some hybrids spawn near the gravshaft to the garden, and then do a bit of herding and dancing around, you should be able to get a hybrid close enough to the door, and they will open.

looking at ecologies, spawns and patrol points, this is going to be one giant pita.


//yes, hybrids are supposed to patrol in the lower level, opening the doors regularly. this is not happening for some reason. will investigate - would recommend pausing the LP until this is sorted out.

[6636c6e9bb194voodoo47]

hotfix is up, should fix both new games and those in progress. in your case, just load that save you shared, turn back, and two hybrids should open the security door and jump you.

let me know.


note to self - was digging around the ecologies again and while the infinite spawning has been fixed, and the max spawn numbers are ok, they fire in way too short intervals (basically, you kill them, and they are back in 20 seconds if you are not looking). I'll see how the LP will go, and if the spawns are too rapid, I will slow them down for 1.03 (probably three or more times - unless you have something very specific in mind, normal ecology should not fire more than once every 60 seconds).

[6636c6e9bb29fZylonBane]

What was causing the hybrid problem?

[6636c6e9bb468voodoo47]

pathfinding recalculation working differently in NewDark for the double doors, and special case setup that one needs to be aware of when processing the level on the secdoors (basically, Pixie getting the job done by doing something that's not recommended - he actually mentions it in the TTLG release topic).


//quick notes after completing the LP;

- hybrids definitely spawn too often. will slow the ecology firing considerably for 1.03
- the nacelle flux flow setup messy and unintuitive, needs to be investigated. mail should reference switch, not valve.
- Polito message after receiving cms, needs to be muted out.
- very easy to see how the girl gets teleported into the cryo tube, should only be allowed to teleport once  the door close.
- button 1340 plays "access needed" upon first frob, "insufficient psi" upon second. nope. (obj 1730 and 1883)
- girl completely mute. maybe add some idle sounds?
- "interrupt the photon flux flow" goal needs to be more specific (telling you that you have to re-estabilish the flow once the pressure reaches 60MPa).
- goals will screw up when the player finds the nacelle access card earlier than intended.

[6636c6e9bb5e4voodoo47]

ok, some rough edges are still left, but the really bad, game breaking stuff should all be gone with the 1.03beta patch (replacing the 1.02 hotfix attached to the first post);

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1.03 changelog;

-slowed all ecologies down 4 times (see earth.mis.dml)
-nacelle flux button (1340) audio setup fixed up a bit (see earth.mis.dml)
-disabled illogical audio responses on some objects (see earth.mis.dml)
-broken email will no longer be received right before the mission ends (see earth.mis.dml)
-set the secdoors to opened to make sure the hybrids will pathfind and open them. the dml closes them again before the game starts, this makes sure the setup works properly without having to change the door status each time the level needs to be reprocessed (see earth.mis.dml)
-goal notes now make more sense
-no more Polito barks when receiving CMs
-fixed some obj positions and textures
-replicator 2227 no longer sells broken objects
-fixed heading of some teleported AIs
-fixed pathfinding in the starting area
-should now be much more difficult to screw up quests (should not be possible to do them out of intended order anymore)
-emails and logs grammar fixed (ZylonBane, and System Shocked)
-tweaked the animated screens to work nicely with SHTUP-ND
-tweaked the AI paths near the nacelle, the AIs should not get stuck now. not as often, anyway
-mission made ready for the new voiceovers
also, this is required for the new voiceovers to work properly (not all were playing in 1.02). mission restart required.

[6636c6e9bb710voodoo47]

1.03beta2 patch is up - with this, I believe I have reached the intended level of fixup and polish (as far as the mission itself is concerned), meaning I have no current plans to fix it more unless something really game breaking pops up.

right after the new resources are all available (still missing a bunch of voiceovers and models), full 1.03 will be made available.

[6636c6e9bb834voodoo47]

yeah right. beta3 attached;

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-removed the rogue props from card slots so they would work properly again (see earth.mis.dml)
-reset physdims of all lockers
-fixed the destroyable grate setup (grate was supposed to crash down after receiving damage, not just disappear, but the flinder object was not set up properly. see earth.mis.dml)
-breakable fan will now also flinderize into its debris version, mirroring the destroyable grate
-made the flickering lights much less epileptic (see earth.mis.dml)
-tweaked physdims of all pipes in the secret passage to be much less annoying
-girl in stasis will no longer identify in hud as searchable corpse
-chips now float on water
-cigs add one psi point when smoked
-added the missing cryotube door to the player's cryotube.
mission restart required, probably.