SI 1.07 Beta

[Knight Captain]

I recently came across the leaked beta version of Serpent Isle. It has a number of differences from the released game, including in the artwork. There's a few items that I was surprised by, including some that are not posted to The Cutting Room Floor's page.

My full album is on Imgur: http://imgur.com/a/vjuN9


This overgrown Venus Flytrap thing might have been part of the perversion of Beauty in Fawn, as Venus is the goddess of beauty.


It appears earlier versions of the script called for chipping Gwenno out of the ice.


An orb with a face on it.


This black spellbook paperdoll art might have been useful in BG, since the spellbook is black there.

There's more, including a purple paperdoll version of The Black Sword.

Sadly the second layer of Moonshade is largely not there. Only the house of Columna and Melino has an additional second level, and Torrissio's house is missing his lab.

[Knight Captain]

Here are my Serpent Isle Beta Screenshots. There's a number of very minor map differences in the beta that should not affect the storyline, like a spring south of the Knight's Test. There are extraneous containers in many kitchens and houses, yet some have little flair at all.

The additional layer of Moonglow mentioned in an ex-Origin employee interview isn't in this beta, as only Melino and Columna's mansion has an extra level. It doesn't look all that great. I wonder if the second layer was removed earlier?

I have not had any luck converting the Usecode file using UCXT, as it crashes when I try to run it. The game itself is buggy, for example Shmed won't let you into the Knight's Test, and Harnna does not detect the Varo leaves you have so you can't be cured of poison. The Wand of Detainment doesn't appear to take effect in Fawn.

That being said, the Usecode would be useful. The party seems to detect and speak against stealing, and the automatons in Skullcrusher are active in this version. Why both of those were cut from the release we can only guess. It would also be interesting to see what post-Banes plot dialog was cut.

[Knight Captain]

Also, it appears one of the goblins is using the burst arrows. Shmed has full chain armor. On the whole the game seems just a bit more difficult.

[Dominus]

I think the verdict was that while it might be nice, we have more important things to do with Exult on the little time we have. And AFAIK you can't even finish the game.
Also from the recent look I gained into how development at Origin worked, I doubt we'd see much cut conversations. Cut plot meant mostly that they stopped writing further in that direction not that they actually deleted usecode.


The red worm you labeled unknown is in the finished game. In the test of whatever you have to hit the worms with the big hammer.

[Knight Captain]

The shape though doesn't have the floor in the release. Too bad, that's one of the annoyances in the game is getting to each worm's spot.

I found that the Varo leaves do work right after all.

[Knight Captain]

Oh, the unknown part was the second half of that image, it looks like a star sort of animation that I haven't seen in the game.

[marzo]

Several years ago I came across this beta version myself. I analyzed it and found out the what needed to change to make ucxt dump its usecode, as well as maybe getting Exult to run it.

I did the former, but not the latter; I unfortunately have since lost what those changes were, but I still have the dumped usecode.

Moreover, I think I can recreate the changes and make the beta work on Exult relatively easy, if there is interest.

Anyways, nice finds.

[Knight Captain]

As for making the beta work in Exult, if it isn't too much trouble, I think it would be great to see how things work there so someone could potentially take canonical fixes from the beta. For example, thanks to the beta we know why there's that openable Wall in Pothos' house, and where the football field teleporter was intended to go.

One more item of interest; I came across a battle between outnumbered pikemen and goblins while walking SE from Shmed's hut towards the main Monitor gate. There's no in-game text to go along with it, but it's pretty cool to stumble upon it and join in, ensuring victory for humanity.

[marzo]

Edit: Somehow, the post ended up in the wrong thread, so I fixed it.

[Knight Captain]

There's this cold-colored version of BG's Ignite spell. I might retouch this and submit to the feature requests to replace the Cold Strike red graphics use.

[Knight Captain]

There's also small overhead bridges and extra flaming cauldrons in Spinebreaker, as well as some dream creatures.

[Knight Captain]

Was digging into the NonShip file FlagName, and came across these items:

Code: Select all

gotgoblinhairbrush
gotmagicwine
[b]gotdeadcat[/b]
gotfawncoins
gotbearskull

So it would appear that a dead cat, possibly the glowing one Olon has conversation for was to be part of the teleport storm item exchange.

[Knight Captain]

There's also a "BadAvatar" flag that seems to match up with the removed or disabled usecode for the companions disapproving of your thefts.

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didstone1
didstone2
didstone3
didstone4
insideputtheavatartobed
[b]badavatar[/b]
iolopissed
duprepissed
shaminopissed

[agentorangeguy]

aweswome finds man. I vaguely reemmber seeing the usecode eggs for the pikeman/goblin battle but I don't think they were actually triggered in the final game as far as i know. Wouldn't be hard to do though. I loved SI because it was so mysterious.. random stuff not working or random places that seemed to have a purpose at one point, the whole game is an enigma

[Knight Captain]

Thanks AgentOrangeGuy. If someone could email the extracted beta Usecode I'd be happy to post more finds.

As part of checking out the list of flags, I'm able to match up the Beta's FLAGNAME list with what we know from the released game's Usecode and it does help explain a lot of the unused flag numbers. The (not-in-usecode) ones are taken from the Beta.

Seems like the die-off in Monitor was more controlled, and you were able to tell Harnna about Cantra being taken by the Monks:

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91	5B	AgreedToFindCantra	"Avatar offered to help Harnna find Cantra."
92	5C	(not-in-usecode)	toldharnnamonks
93	5D	(not-in-usecode)	metpostshazzana
94	5E	(not-in-usecode)	dupreatwolves
95	5F	Got_Clue_Brown_Bottle	"Appears to be set by Harnna and Lucilla, maybe others.”
96	60	AvatarGotTheShortStraw	"Avatar has been chosen to sacrifice himself."
97	61	DupreSacrificed	"Dupre has sacrificed himself."
98	62	(not-in-usecode)	duprefights
99	63	(not-in-usecode)	firstsaved
100	64	(not-in-usecode)	secondsaved
101	65	(not-in-usecode)	wolf9dead
102	66	(not-in-usecode)	wolf10dead
103	67	(not-in-usecode)	wolf11dead
104	68	(not-in-usecode)	wolf12dead
105	69	MarstenDead?	"Checked by Krayg. Never set. If set manually, Krayg will wonder who will take over for Marsten.”
106	6A	(not-in-usecode)	standarrdead
107	6B	(not-in-usecode)	shazzanadead
108	6C	(not-in-usecode)	harnnadead
109	6D	(not-in-usecode)	brendanndead
110	6E	(not-in-usecode)	lucilladead
111	6F	(not-in-usecode)	renfrydead
112	70	(not-in-usecode)	kraygdead
113	71	(not-in-usecode)	shmeddead
114	72	CaladinDead?	"Checked by 0x8EF. Never set. ‘Caladin is already deceased!’”
115	73	(not-in-usecode)	lutherdead
116	74	(not-in-usecode)	templardead
117	75	(not-in-usecode)	lydiadead
118	76	KnowOfVaroLeaves	"Harnna has said Varo leaves from Fawn are needed to cure poison."
119	77	(not-in-usecode)	senttomarsten

There was also "askluthercommonshield" at Flag 171, which isn't in Usecode. So it appears you were supposed to be able to ask him about it prior to Flag 172 being set.

And some bits from Moonshade, including some that match up with the leaked Moonshade.doc design plan. Presumably you free Andrio from the headlesses he summoned, and get a Serpent Tooth from Filbercio. Not sure what Rocco's note would have been.

Code: Select all

243	 F3	EdrinSpokeOfSiranush	"Edrin told Avatar about his dreams of Siranush."
244	 F4		andriofreed
245	 F5		frelisaidstatue
246	 F6	HaveSerpentScroll	gaveserpscroll
247	 F7		gustgavetooth
248	 F8		filgavetooth
249	 F9		roccogavenote
250 	FA		stefanogavetooth
251 	FB		stefanogaveserp
252	FC	HaveCrimeCertificate	"Got permission to commit crime from Julia."
253	FD		stolecomb

Another flag regarding the dead cat:

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260	104	ShowedEggToBucia	If set, and you have the egg, she says “Go away from me with that rotten egg. Phew!”
261	105	(not-in-usecode)	In the Beta, was ‘BuciaSawDeadCat’
262	106	KnowSeleniaBoughtFishnetStockings	Set by asking Bucia about fishnet stockings with them in your possession, allows you to ask Julia about Selenia’s disappearance.

Selina, Selenia, and Celennia are all used as spellings. Also, if she's a mage, why doesn't she have a manor in Moonshade like every other mage? Even Ensorcio has one that Stefano is squatting in.

Code: Select all

268	10C	CanAskFedabiblioAboutEgg	
269	10D	(not-in-usecode)	“In the Beta, was ‘FedaKnowsCat’, not in release.”
270	10E	CanAskFedabiblioAboutSkull	

And some in Fawn:

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338	152	OfferedToDeliverRuggsLetter	"Agreed to deliver a letter from Ruggs to Delphynia."
339	153		jendonsaidfellowship
340	154		jendonsaidgoblins
341	155		jendonsaidlady
342	156	CanAskDelinAboutBatlin	"Allows you to ask Delin about Batlin. Never set."
343	157	KnowAboutMoonShade	"Asked Jendon about Moonshade. Can then ask Delin about it."
344	158	AskedAboutDaemonArtifacts	"Asked Jendon about daemon artifacts. This will now be brought up during the Fawn trial."
345	159		jendonsaidsailors
346	15A		jendonsaidstorms
347	15B	AskedJorvinAboutPikemen	"Jorvin asks if you are a pikeman if this is not set."

Furnace:

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495	1EF	RefusedGargoyleTest?	"Checked by Zhelkas. Never set." If set in Exult, will ask if you have reconsidered.
496	1F0	? something about logic test	avatardeniedlife
497	1F1	? something about logic test	avatardeniedfamily
498	1F2	? something about logic test	avatardeniedhome
499	1F3	StartedVirtueTest?	begunwormtest
500	1F4	StartedAttackingWorms?	killedfirstworm
501	1F5	? set and checked with $1f4	killedfourthworm
502	1F6	? set and checked with $1f5	killedseventhworm
503	1F7	? set with $1f6	killedninthworm
504	1F8	? checked with $1f7 and set with $1f7 and $1ed	wormtestdone
505	1F9	Picked up Serpent Staff	gotserpstaff
506	1FA	ExplainedLogicTest?	"Zhelkas explained the test of logic."

Anti-Theft, the flag names here are from the Beta:

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722 	2D2	(not-in-usecode)	BadAvatar
723	2D3	(used-unknown)	Iolopissed “Never checked. Set in Func0633. ‘I am leaving!’”
724	2D4	(used-unknown)	Duprepissed “Never checked. Set in Func0633. ‘I am leaving!’”
725	2D5	(used-unknown)	Shaminopissed “Never checked. Set in Func0633. ‘I am leaving!’”

There's a bunch more in the mid-500s, including some of the 4 platform teleporter puzzle in the frozen north, including this:

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550	226	Acid dialog option with Petra AskPetraAboutAcid? (and !item_flag(0xffe4, 6)) (declines to help $270 is set)	knowacidsecret
551	227	Read Body Transference	havereadtransferancebook
552	228		avatarwasmale
553	229		triedtoenteronce
554	22A		triedtoentertwice
555	22B	TALKED_TO_CHAOS_HIEROPHANT	"Set when Avatar first meets the Hierophant."

And more with the dead cat, these are the missing flag in the middle of the list of items:

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646	286	(not-in-usecode)	“In the Beta this was ‘GotDeadCat’.”

664	298	KnowCatsHaveNineLives	“Set by reading ‘My Notebook’ in the Seminarium. In the Beta, was ‘KnowDeadCat’ per list order.”

So at the very least if someone did want to add the glowing dead cat plot back into the game conversation-wise, the Beta usecode would likely have conversation to quote.

[Knight Captain]

Another piece of the Beta that was held over is that corpse shape of Brendann, shape 400 frame 6, was used as the generic pikeman corpse. As a result, in the release Renfry considers that shape to be the body of Pikeman, and will pay you for cremating the remains. After the banes are released, this shape is used around 8 times in Sleeping Bull, presumably as the remains of the Bull Tower guards.

[Knight Captain]

Selina's other three goons just before Skullcrusher's main chamber de-polymorph when they die. Still no loot on them, sadly.

[Knight Captain]

Post-Banes there are more people still left alive, many of which have additional conversation options in Fawn.

Leon in Fawn is missing his tongue. The dialog is:
You see Iolo has cut the poor guy's tongue out. He slobbers blood on something he hands you.
You shake and wipe off the blood to see that it's A BLUE DIAMOND NECKLACE.

Joth says:
'This the doin' of that twisted companion of thine! Thou must save us from this cursed piece of stone!
I cannot take much more...

Garth:
Please, please, help us!
We beg forgiveness and repent of our crimes! Thou must save us from the Oracle or we will surely perish!

Alyssand:
He has destroyed all that we have worked for! Yelinda has fled in terror... Kylista roams the streets demanding worship...
And he has removed poor Leon's tongue!
He was thy companion... Thou must stop his madness before it is too late!

Jendon is alive but has not text connected to Iolo the Mad.

Voldin:
That fiend Iolo has trapped us here at the mercy of this magical monster! Thou must release us!

Andrio is in Fawn, just north of the garden:
Oh, now I'm safe. Thanks so much for rescuing me! I was very scared.
option: headlesses
"Um, well, I," he stammers, afraid to meet your gaze.
I was showing Freli this new spell I had mastered--or so I thought--when poof! Everything became a blur.
"Actually, the smoke and fire were very beautiful. But the stench," he grimaces, "was almost beyond tolerance.
And when the smoke cleared, um, there were all these, ah, headlesses around. I had no idea what to do.
After all, that was not how the spell was supposed to work," he shrugs.
option: bye, barks What a guy!

Kalen is a cyclops standing near the Oracle, and says:
Be careful, mate, lest thou be mistaken for an honest seafarin' man.
option: Iolo the Mad
He is Master of Fawn now, Avatar. Thou wouldest be wise to leave while it amuses him to let thee live.
Perhaps he would grant me that fine wench, Alyssand, if I bring him thine head...

Jorvin is standing where he would die in the release:
Thou must help us! Some evil has overtaken thy companion, Iolo!
He hath taken control of the city, and endangers everyone's sanity with his mad pranks.
There is nothing I or my guards can do to stop him!
He drove Yelinda from the city with some fell sorcery.
Scots told me she fled into the depths of Gorlab Swamp. We must find her! Without thine help to find her, order will never be restored!
option: Gorlab Swamp
None who have entered there have ever returned! I am powerless to save her. I must have thine help!

Delphyna:
I wear my doom upon my face, for all the world to see my guilt and shame!
Oh that I could pluck out my eyes so that I might not know how I offend the Beauty of the world!
If only I had a Magic Comb, to make me look more beautiful.

Yelinda is in her area in the swamp but talking to her crashes the game.

[Kirinn]

Fascinating stuff! For all the dramatic value of NPC genocide, Serpent Isle still just cries out for an "Unfinished Business" mod.

[Knight Captain]

I've started working on one.

[marzo]

Exult, ES, UCC, WUC and UCXT now support this Beta version of SI. I expect tons of bugs on the SI Beta side, so report them as you find them.

By default, the exult.cfg configuration tag is "serpentbeta", and you can start it directly in Exult with --sib. UCXT also accepts --sib to dump its usecode; several improvements in UCXT allow it to use flag names from the NONSHIP/flagname file (pass in -gpath/to/flagfile), as well as variable and function names from debug opcodes in usecode (also benefits Spanish SI).

[Dale]

Pretty thrilled by all this new activity and the updates.
I am going to have to track down this beta..............

[Knight Captain]

I started digging into the Beta's extracted usecode, and there's more text about Iolo the Mad in Fawn. He was to have disfigured Delphynia, which is why she wants the Comb of Beauty.

Ruggs:
"He hath driven Lady Yelinda from Fawn in the grips of madness, and he hath made Delphynia as disfigured as I am. It doth not pain me to look upon her, but it hath nearly driven her insane. *\"Thou must help us! Thou must find a way to stop his vicious jests before the entire town is destroyed."

Scots:
"What great calamity must have befallen thy trusted companion, pcname. I fear that his reason has fled. He terrorizes the city with his fiendish jokes. *\"Just yesterday, Iolo announced to the citizens of Fawn that he would prove once and for all whether or not Beauty was skin deep. He then cast a spell on poor Lady Yelinda and removed all of her skin. She ran out of the city toward Gorlab Swamp. Without the true ruler, I fear that Fawn will never be restored... even with thy aid.\"

Zulith's conversation contradicts Jorvin's speech:
"Foul, foul perfidy! Disaster and despair abounds! All is lost! *\"That fell fiend Iolo ripped away Lady Yelinda's beauty! She hath flown into the grips of this terrible quagmire to hide her shame and is the prisoner of a fell monster! Oh, what ever is to be done?\"

"The Captain of the Guard and I pursued Lady Yelinda here into these abysmal lands. But we found her menaced by a huge tentacled monster! *\"Jorvin was slain, and I was forced to retreat. And I am afraid I have lost my way... *\"Who shall save the Lady from such a horrible fate?

Voldin:
"That fiend Iolo has trapped us here at the mercy of this magical monster! Thou must release us!\"

Kylista:
"I have no wish to speak of him! Dost thou not know that thou art in the presence of a true goddess?\"
"Thou must worship me or die!\"

[Knight Captain]

And some info on the glowing dead cat from the equipment scroll:
"A sorry-looking dead cat that glows."
"A dead cat from a mysterious dungeon called Claw."

The shimmering wine bottle was used instead of the plain ice wine:
"A bottle of wine -- the lettering on the label constantly flickers, making it unreadable!"

The lab apparatus, same as the release:
"The missing apparatus from the laboratory of Erstam, the so-called Mad Mage."

[Dale]

What I wouldn't do to find out how Claw was going to be used...

[Knight Captain]

I've read different things about this, some of it conflicting.

One is that it was intended to be a follow-up to the Kilrathi ship appearance in BG, with the devolved catmen of Claw worshiping a space-age Kilrathi as a god. Per Mack's conversation in BG, the Kilrathi there fell on his Magic Hoe and died. Mack then ate him, so by canon at the very least this would have been another Kilrathi. Perhaps this was to show how the Imbalance in Serpent Isle was tearing at the universe as well as a reference to Wing Commander.

The other is that it was intended to be another Gwani-type of situation, with a single (or few) catmen left who realized the end of their people was near. This was to add to the somber mood of the game; that some bad things cannot be stopped. The catmen may have been an advanced race who devolved from being closer to the Kilrathi to being increasingly primitive. They lived unopposed on an island, much like how the dodos became extinct because they did not fear human predators.

The only canon bit is the book in Fedabiblio's library in the Seminarium. This text is nearly identical between the beta and the release.

MY NOTEBOOK
Anonymous

The observations enclosed herein are based on mine experiments.
Reader, for thy sake and thy thirst for knowledge, I have decided to provide thee with the following accounts.
Long ago, when I accidentally landed on this world, the primitive sentients living here erected a temple to me and my 'chariot.' But they were boring and impetuous!
Soon, the cats emerged as a more likeable group than any other creatures. Thereafter, I was to begin some experiments on them. Quite successful indeed. My liking for these cats caused me to contemplate how to widen and strengthen their intelligences.
Thereupon, I set out to modify the Power Generator. Thus began the experiments. The Generator provided the felines with a more obdurate life energy, one which was most difficult to suppress -- the cats die, yet with stubborn energy return once again to life! The side effect is that strange glow which surrounds them.
After several manipulations I was successful in increasing their lives up to nine times. Thus no one would be able to truly defeat them until their ninth life.
The source of all extra life resides in the Power Generator.
Dear reader, make of mine experiments what thou wilt.

[Dale]

Didn't remember that book, but I have read the deleted content stuff. I just wish we had more details on all the cut content... wonder why they would make the island and features at all before actually having a rough outline of the plot part and where it would fit in to the story as a whole.

[Knight Captain]

Perhaps the mapping team was doing the work after the initial design, but before the plot cuts? It seems to be common among Exult mod projects that the mapping is done before everything else.

[Knight Captain]

"What a find! Odd fibers, strange skeletal structure, eyes with an unusual spherical cast..."
"This is not a normal cat at all. Not at all. I have never seen its like before."
"My students could learn so much from this carcass. Could I have it for the Seminarium's museum?"

Yes: "This is great news! I shall place it in the case next to the other one."
Iolo says: "But thou said...thou hast another cat like this?", "Another dead cat?"
"No, thou doth misunderstand. The two cats are totally dissimilar."
"Our exhibit is the skeleton of a deformed cat. Thy cat is also deformed, but not in the same manner!"
"The bones were found by a Mage who risked his life to explore the strange isle of Claw."
gflags[0x0214] = true;

There's another reference to a "cat skeleton" in the museum, but the Seminarium doesn't have a museum in either version of the game.

[Gotcha!]

Interesting stuff! If only Origin would have had the time to fully complete Serpent Isle.
Thanks for nothing, EA. :\

[Knight Captain]

Part of researching it is with that goal in mind. There's relatively little useable stuff from the Beta, sadly.

[Knight Captain]

In the release, post-Banes, I found some minor things:

Kalen is moved to the Fawn Temple, though he is still kneeling in death.
Melino's backpack has the Paralyze spell shape in it. (I'm on an old build though.)
Filbercio's body has a bag with several spell shapes left.
Ducio incorrectly states that only Torrissio and Andrio are the others left alive, but Freli and Ernesto are also still alive.
Torrissio is moved to a seated position in the MageLord's palace by Batlin's death, but there's no chair there.
Boydon, if left behind after the Mountains of Freedom, will continue his schedule that shadows Bucia.
Shmed is moved to the Banquet Hall, though he is kneeling in death.
Eating food in the Banquet Hall still triggers Monitor's Pikemen to come arrest you.
Lydia is moved to the west outside her tattoo parlor, though she is kneeling in death.
The NPC 256 "super goblin" is moved near Monitor's well, and appears to be laying down, though he's dead too.
Marsten's and Spektor's bodies are both in the wrong cells.

[Knight Captain]

Hmmm, in the release at least one of the Goblins in the camp has 4 magic arrows, but in the shape of only 3.

[Knight Captain]

I don't recall seeing this in the game, but this book explains the origin of the green Wildmen. From the release:

if (!(var0000 == 0x0064)) goto labelFunc02C1_029C;
message("~~ ~~REPORT ON THE SHASRAJAH~~ ~~by Jaljashram~~");
say();
message(" O Great Hierophant, sorrow fills mine heart to tell thee the regretful news that our great hope, the Shasrajah, cannot be counted on to attach the venomous fangs of victory about the necks of our enemies. Our great experiment hath failed.~");
say();
message(" As thou hast already been told, we had found a means by which the minds of our finest warriors and the bodies of snakes could be fused with one another. The resulting warrior would wreak terrible havoc on the forces of Order, bringing them their well-deserved destruction. In the earliest stages of the experiment all was well; we succeeded in joining Adder with Man in five of seven volunteers. The resulting form was vaguely humanoid, with resilient green skin, tough as the scales of a serpent.*");
say();
message(" We found that the soldiers' minds were very much unchanged, and coupled with the quickness and sensitivity to smell of the adder, the Shasrajah were formidable in battle. Their long necks had tremendous reach, and they preferred to attack solely with their strong jaws. We were encouraged by this success, and accepted eighty-three more warriors to undergo the metamorphosis. All was well, as seventy-one survived. We believed we had found a counter to the automaton warriors the forces of Order had reputedly developed.~");
say();
message(" Much to our chagrin, however, our experiment went awry shortly thereafter. As we had them do battle to assess their powers, we noticed a disturbing trait -- the warrior would become more bloodthirsty and uncontrollable with each triumph! Soon they began to rebel against our commands. We had no choice but to exterminate them and begin anew, but the five hundred soldiers we sent against our own creations -- our monsters -- were unable to best them. We surrendered the area to them, enclosing them with stout doors in the corridors leading out.*");
say();
message(" I can only assume that they have died. O Great Hierophant, I would recommend never performing these experiments again; they are more potentially dangerous than they are potentially helpful...");

[Dominus]

Hmm, a scroll with that text near a big hall filled with the wildmen...
Sounds like a job for Knight Captain's advanced SI fixes

[Knight Captain]

I'd love to add that somehow, but I don't recall finding any further details.

Here's one on the temples, again from the release:

if (!(var0000 == 0x0006)) goto labelFunc02C1_00BA;
message("~~ARTIFACTS OF COMMUNION*");
say();
message("Before the War of Imbalance our priests did fashion three artifacts: the Web of Fate, the Moon's Eye, and a Magic Lens. Each artifact was made for a particular temple.");
say();
message("The Web of Fate was placed within the Temple of Tolerance. The Moon's Eye was placed within the Temple of Emotion, and the Magic Lens was placed within the Temple of Enthusiasm.");
say();
message("Our holy fathers used the power of these artifacts to commune with the Power of the Void -- to answer questions that the mind of mortals could never fathom.");
say();
message("The War of Imbalance changed everything! The artifacts no longer worked properly; the holy father's questions were left unanswered -- their hoarse voices echoed within the deserted temples.");
say();
message("The only power left within the holy artifacts was the ability to divine the location of the Banes of Chaos. Each artifact could spy upon a different Bane.");

[Gotcha!]

I don't recall seeing the wildmen bit either. Maybe there's a scroll lying somewhere behind a wall, obstructed, with the player unable to get it? Wouldn't be the first item accidentally put behind a wall.

The other seems more recognizable to me, but that could be due to similarity with other books and scrolls lying around in the various temples.

Thanks for sharing!

[Knight Captain]

It would be awesome if we had a way to search the map for each of a particular item, show all qualities and locations, thus conclusively find what's used and what's not.

Here's one from the Beta:

if (!(quality == 0x0042)) goto labelSERP_BO_02C1_091A;
message("~~THE SYMBOL OF LIFE~by Sharless~~");
message("The Symbol of Life represents our Beliefs. While its shape may suggest that of a tree, it applies to all life, not just trees. The trunk symbolizes the Divine Unity, which is the source and goal of our thoughts. Our thoughts enter the World and become unruly; this is what the branches symbolize. T");

The text is different in the release:

if (!(var0000 == 0x0042)) goto labelFunc02C1_0618;
message("~~THE SYMBOL OF DISCIPLINE~by Sharless~~");
message("The Symbol of Discipline is a reminder of what we, the Initiates of Discipline, must strive for. Consisting of three prongs, they symbolize the following: Mind, Body, and Environment. The mind is the first level of discipline; without Discipline of the Mind, one cannot master the other levels of discipline. Discipline of the Body is the second level of discipline, for one cannot master one's surroundings without first mastering one's self. The third branch of the symbol represents Discipline of Environment. This branch, added to represent the superiority of Order, justifies the military's presence here; if one can master one's self, one can then master the world around him, and drive Chaos out from his environment.");
message("The symbols here in our temple are not mere inspiration, however. The Altar before the serpent statue doth have upon it two slots. In order to insure the security of our temple, the automatons are aided by a safeguard against defilers -- bolts of lightning fire from the altar unless the quartz symbol is placed in the slot on the left side. A bridge spanning the water around the statue is called into being if the obsidian symbol is placed in the right slot; if it is not there, none can gain access to the Water of Discipline.");

[Knight Captain]

The document from Pomdirgun to Marsten is on the table in the Goblin King's hut, seemly recently written as it references the successful taking of Fawn Tower. It does not appear in the release.

[marzo]

You can search the map with ES (shape, frame and quality); but not finding it does not mean it is not used, as it can be created by usecode.

[Knight Captain]

How do I run that search? The unused shapes thing seems to find nothing.

[Dominus]

Start Exult, start Exult Studio via the alt-ctrl-m, select a shape (or frame) and hit locate

[Knight Captain]

Locate where? Not Locator, right?

[Dominus]

http://exult.info/studio.php#detail_window

[Knight Captain]

Hmmm, but that doesn't do Quality searching, which I wanted to find if certain scrolls already exist in the game world.

Found the Oracle has some post-Batlin words, from the release:
say("It saddens me to speak the Truth to thee, stranger.");
say("Thy former companion, Iolo, hath fallen prey to the imbalance that plagues this land. He hath ripped Beauty from the soul of Fawn and driven it into the wilds.");
say("Seek out the one whose Beauty lies deep within. He will set thee upon the path to the lost soul of Fawn.");

[Knight Captain]

Found hidden in the release code are these two unused bits, which I couldn't find in the BG Usecode. Maybe they were intended for Mad Iolo?

if (!(var0000 == 0x007C)) goto labelFunc0638_02A9;
say("~~ ~~ ~~DRINKING SONGS DUPRE TAUGHT ME~~ ~~Volume One*");
say("MAIDS IN TRADES");
say(" ");
say("Come all of ye trades and ye tradesmen,");
say("and let ye be wise that are fools.");
say("But remember each day that your trade would decay");
say("if a maid did not look to your tools.");
say(" ");
say("The blacksmith, the smokey old blacksmith,");
say("'tis known as a jolly old fellow.");
say("But his iron would burn old,");
say("and his fire would grow cold,");
say("If a maid did not blow up the bellows.");
say("And then there's the candlestick maker,");
say("he works up the tallow so quick.");
say("But his craft would be marred,");
say("and the works not get hard,");
say("If a maid did not hold up the wick.");
say(" ");
say("The ploughman, the jolly old ploughman,");
say("he follows the plow in the silt.");
say("But 'tis ne'er a clod turned,");
say("if a maid had not learned him,");
say("To drive the blade up to the hilt.");
say(" ");
say(" ");
say("The brewer, the jolly old brewer,");
say("he maketh a very fine ale.");
say("But his brew would be waste,");
say("if there's no maid to taste,");
say("And make sure that it doesn't grow stale.");
say(" ");
say("So come all ye journeymen, craftsmen,");
say("and all that are apprenticed to trade.");
say("For 'tis ne'er a screw");
say("or a nut would be turned,");
say("If it weren't for the help of a maid!");
labelFunc0638_02A9:
if (!(var0000 == 0x007D)) goto labelFunc0638_033B;
say("~~ ~~ ~~DRINKING SONGS DUPRE TAUGHT ME~~ ~~Volume Two*");
say("ROLL THY LEG OVER");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were little white rabbits,");
say("I'd be a hare, and teach them bad habits!");
say(" ");
say("Refrain:");
say("Roll thy leg over,");
say("roll thy leg over,");
say("Roll thy leg over");
say("the man in the moon.");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were bricks in a pile,");
say("I'd be a mason and lay them in style!");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were cocks in the hay,");
say("I'd be a hen, and I'd have a good lay.");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were bats in a steeple,");
say("and I were a bat, there'd be more bats than people.");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were bells in a tower,");
say("and I were a clapper, I'd ring every hour!");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were doors of stout wood,");
say("and I were a knocker, I'd bang them up good!");
say("If all the young ladies were stones in a mill,");
say("and I were some grain between them, I'd spill...");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were coconuts sweet,");
say("I'd suck out their juices and chew on their meat.");
say(" ");
say("If all the young ladies were birds in their nests,");
say("I'd be an egg and lie under their breasts.");

[Knight Captain]

Other books from the release code, which I don't recall finding in the game:
A SHORT TREATISE ON COMBAT TACTICS & HABILIMENTS OF WAR
PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS By Hyle
THE DWELLERS OF SERPENT ISLE By Byman
COURAGEOUS DEEDS By Andrew of Monitor

[Knight Captain]

The conversation with Olon about the Isle of Cats was also changed. He was going to tell you it was Claw, east of the Sleeping Bull, and that Delphynia would be able to sell you the catnip that the local cats so love.

[WJH]

A few of those books 2 posts up sounded familiar, so I went and found three of them.

Principles of Economics, by Hyle - Spektor's bookshelf
The Dwellers of Serpent Isle - Spektor's bookshelf
Courageous Deeds - Templar's bookshelf

[Knight Captain]

Thank you!

I'd love to cross-reference someday all of the books and their locations so I can add the ones that aren't used, like the Wildmen one.