Exult Forum

I have a couple questions about the usecode file for curing Cantra that is distributed with the Exult CVS; I don't think that there is a better place than here to ask, so...

I am writting a mod that fixes a few of SI's usecode bugs (it is part of the reason I haven't released the Keyring mod yet), and I want to include the Cantra cure in it. I liked the way it is done, although I edited it slightly to better fit with the rest of the mod.

What I want to know is: 1) who wrote the cure (so I can give proper credit) and 2) if it is OK to bundle it with the mod.

Let's see... I wrote that file, although I think I got some of the information from someone posting here. Feel free to use it; and when your mod is done, we could include it in our 'content' section if you'd like. It might be nice if we distribute an optional binary usecode patch with the Exult installation that has various mods. Could be a nice community project (although I'm not sure of the legality of it).

It is an interesting idea to distribute it in the CVS. I was thinking on putting it on ESGuides, but there is no reason not to do both... may reach a wider audience that way.

Re: the legality issues of the binary patch: Hmmm, I guess it would depend exactly on what the patch contains -- or how much is of it is original content.

Once the mod gets released, we'll gladly host it on Aiera for download!

WtFD

Heh, thanks for the offer. The mod is technically done; I have already sent it to ESGuides, and it should be turning up in the nearby future -- although that version will be slightly out of date when it does show up (silly me, I had forgotten about the "the Other Chaos Hierophant" bug...).

I'll be sending it to both of you by e-mail.

Fixing the "Other Chaos" bug ought to make a lot of people happy.

did you remember the "pillars in the SS Order keep take me to the test for the serpent ring" bug?

Fixing the "Other Chaos" bug ought to make a lot of people happy.

The version I sent to you (and to WtFD) has it fixed.

did you remember the "pillars in the SS Order keep take me to the test for the serpent ring" bug?

Yep. The full list of fixes is the following (copied from the readme file I wrote):

- Cantra's healing;
- Gwenno can now receive the White Diamond Necklace from Iolo;
- Gwenno will no longer try to talk to the Avatar when she is resurrected;
- Shamino will add his own misplaced items in the exchanged item list when he joins;
- On the same note, the moonsilk stockings and the filari also appear on that list;
- The Pillars in Serpent's Fang Keep no longer teleport you to the Test of Purity;
- After the the Wall of Lights cutscene, you can no longer call Thoxa to "resurrect" your possessed party. Or rather, you can call her but she won't bring Iolo, Dupre and Shamino back as they are the Banes now. Even if you have their bodies right there -- or elsewhere.
- Dupre can no longer be resurrected after he sacrifices himself.
- Iolo, Shamino and Dupre will all refuse to leave the party while you are on the Spinebreaker Mountains. They will also refuse blue potions while there...
- The Wall of Lights has been revamped also. There is nothing you can do now to keep the companions out of it -- nothing I can think off, at any rate. Considering that I *have* read the anti-walkthrough from http://www.it-he.org, that is a lot. Also, the companions don't dump every item directly to the ground when they die -- items dropped remain in their respective containers. Not really a bug, but was extremely annoying...
- Fixes the Monitor Banquet so that the pikeman from the training area will not disappear anymore.
- Ghosts no longer talk as the Chaos Hierophant when double-clicked.
- The Firesnake spell finally *works* now! Tell me what you think of it. Just make sure not to stand too close to your target...
- Spells. In the original SI, there were no less than *four* "Ex Por" spells, and a few other spells were out of synch with the manual. Specifically:
Spell Original SI Manual/This Mod
========================================
Unlock Magic Ex Por Ex Por
Erstam's Surprise Ex Por Uus Vas Grav*
Vibrate Ex Por An Grav Ex**
Imbalance Ex Por Kal Vas An Grav***
Create Ammo In Hur Sanct In Jux Ylem
Create Ice In Sanct Grav In Frio
Fetch An Frio Xen Ex Por Ylem
Serpent Bond An Frio Xen Ex Kal Frio Xen Ex
Stop Storm Rel Hur An Hur

* I don't think this really describes what the spell does, but I don't have a better one. Any suggestions?
** I was thinking about something like "In Por Grav" or "Vas Por Xen". Ideas?
*** Perhaps "Kal Vas In Grav" is a better fit to the spell...


As can be seen, a lot of the fixes are based on the docs/usecode_bugs.txt document from the CVS tree.

> Erstam's Surprise Ex Por Uus Vas Grav*

How about Ex Jux Hur?

> Vibrate Ex Por An Grav Ex**

Uus Des Por Grav or In Uus Des Por?

(Uus Des Por would work, but it was also Bounce in UW2.)

Neutronium Dragon

Aha! Another idea for Vibrate: Ex Ylem Por.

Neutronium Dragon

Heh, just noticed that the formatting on the spell list was screwed up. At the end of this post, I am reposting it, separating entries with spaces and double-quotes.

>How about Ex Jux Hur?
I like it a lot. It will be so in the next version.

>Uus Des Por Grav or In Uus Des Por?
I'll take Uus Des Por Grav.


"Spell" "Original SI" "Manual/This Mod"
========================================
"Unlock Magic" "Ex Por" "Ex Por"
"Erstam's Surprise" "Ex Por" "Uus Vas Grav*"
"Vibrate" "Ex Por" "An Grav Ex**"
"Imbalance" "Ex Por" "Kal Vas An Grav***"
"Create Ammo" "In Hur Sanct" "In Jux Ylem"
"Create Ice" "In Sanct Grav" "In Frio"
"Fetch" "An Frio Xen Ex" "Por Ylem"
"Serpent Bond" "An Frio Xen Ex" "Kal Frio Xen Ex"
"Stop Storm" "Rel Hur" "An Hur"

By the way, this is really cool. Thanks.

I can't wait to try it out.

i have another random suggestion.. maybe you could add in the map of britannia?

we all know by now that Ernesto is supposed to have your map, it having been replaced with ice wine... well.. why not take the shape and map sprites from BG and port them into SI... obviously they wont WORK, but its good for consistancy, AND would let you finally finish the list of misplaced items ;p

(by wont work, i mean you can open teh map and look at it, but it really wont help as youre not in britannia)

Crysta: Sadly, the maps that can be dispayed are hard-coded. But I could make it so that when the map is double-clicked, the Avatar and companions say something about how they miss Britannia and wished they were there.

Gruck: Oh, and it can be tried already; while it isn't yet in ESGuides, it is already available at Aiera (despite the fact that I submitted to ESGuides one full day before).

another cut plot to be fixed could be the missing magic breastplate. You find it in Fawn but the priestess never really acknowledges it, I think.

if you talk to her before you find it she notices you have the breastplate of beauty and says the magic armor is in her house

if you mean after that, then not that i know of

and yes, the companions talking about it would be mroe than enough, so long as the thread is finished

oh.. yes.. another one

theres a large number of items on the list that are never touched again past the beginning, although in theory they all should be fully marked as to their final resting place (the fact the filiari was changed for the food, and the finding of the burnt spellbook, are the two i can remember right now)

Re: the filari: Delin (in Fawn) recognizes the filari as being the exact same quantity that went missing due to a storm earlier; he also says that there was a bundle of food in its place. Delin doesn't accept the money back unless it is because you are buying something, though.

i know that.. im just saying that no one ever records it as such on that scroll ;p

Oh, you mean like this:

- Shamino will add his own misplaced items in the exchanged item list when he joins;
- On the same note, the moonsilk stockings and the filari also appear on that list;

yes, except on many of the items it stops at a certain point before you get the original item, but others it goes straight to the last person

for example

after talking to Kylista, it expressly says on the scroll that the armor belongs to Kylista of Fawn, but the filiari never say more than they come from fawn, even after talking to Devin/lin (cant remember), their owner

very few of the items go so far as the breastplate, but it seems to scream that it went unfinished due to time constraints


if you still dont get it, im saying that the list updates as you find out more about the items on it... but.. some of the items never progress in their descriptions past a certain point, even if youve gone so far as to fully recover the item they were replaced with, while others do and record where exactly they came from.. and, if needed, who they came from

what better way than to show



list at beginning of game with Avatar and Shamino items



same list after all conversations and such to get information, in addition to recovering the items (except the fur cap... making frigadazzi appear and talk is a bit too annoying for me right now, and possibly the brush due to not being a monitor knight yet )

half the list goes into excuciating detail... the other half never goes past a specific point (the alchemist item that was switched for rudyoms wand, the filiari, and the pinecone being the best examples)

its like this for some items from Dupre and Iolo, as well

Wow... do you know that I never noticed that? I mean, I just placed all the exchanged items in a bag and went just removing them afterwards as I found their rightful places. I never looked at the lists after Iolo last updated them...

After a look in SI's usecode, I found the potential bugs. They are:
- the lab apparatus (if you talk about it only to Erstam, it will not be updated -- you have to talk to Bucia then Ducio/Pothos *or* Bucia then Columna);

- the fur cap (in which Frigidazzi actually makes the fur cap return to a previous description if you have talked to Bucia about both Frigidazzi and the fur cap);

- the filari (you can only talk about it with Bucia -- and that only after you apply the mod);

- the bear skull (you have to talk to some Monitorians with it);

- the plain shield (the flag never gets set).

The pinecone gets set when you read Hazard's note in his lodge; except for the above items, all others get set normally when you talk to the right people (or, in the case of the blue egg, when you use Erstam's telescope).

I will see about fixing these issues.

thank you.. i forgot about the book for the trapper's pinecone

also, its worth mentioning that fedabiblio can also identify the skull, if you show it to bucia first

but tis cool to see youll fix it.. it gets to be annoying

oh.. what about the crude brush?

You have to talk to Templar for that one. You show it so someone else in Monitor first, I think, and he/she tells you to ask Templar.

ahhhh... ok

Marzo, while you are at it, could you add the option to switch from the am/pm system to 24h clock. I understand not everyone prefers the 24h system but having the option to turn the patch on or off for it would be nice.

Artaxerxes

>could you add the option to switch from the am/pm system to 24h clock

Done. It is commented out by default, but simply removing the starting double-slash a line in usecode.uc (and then compiling) will switch to 24 hour time.

i thought of another SI bug to be fixed


when you go into Fawn with Iolo for the first time the whole teleport scene happens.... and when its over a lute appears at iolo's feet.... which just happens to be HIS lute... which is, unfortunately, impossible, as that lute is already in his backpack

Hmmm... hiw dies this sound: when the lightning first strikes, Iolo says something like "My lute! Where has it gone?" The lute is removed from the backpack and moved to the ground by another lightning, and the scene proceeds with just another minor tweak to the dialog.

yes, that sounds good

or you could make it a normal lute that shows up.. lol

AAAAh. Yeah, that *would* be simpler. Heh. Nevermind. Moving along.

OK, it is fixed. Any other bugs?

the fawn tower


the goblin egg needs to shut off when teh tower is cleared, adn the garbage inside needs to be deleted

another small one

one of the gwani offers you dried fish, but instead gives you a "swimming fish" graphic.. it needs to actually give you dried fish, which is a very good food item

another one that always bugged me because it never made much sense

rudyom's wand has a 1 in 3 chance of making a character say "I am late again! Oh no!" instead of sneezing. Never made much sense to me.

when the banes are released, an egg in Fawn at (hex coords from cheat menu) [03d2, 06a7, 00] starts spawning "dream creature" enemies.. as far as i know its the only egg outside of the dream realm that spawns them... it was most likely meant to spawn flying serpents instead

I think the goblins at fawn tower stop spawning when you free the tower, and also all the garbage gets deleted too. (or mostly all)



btw, it would be great to add the "pleasent dreams Avatar" sound from the guardian, and the "I have paid my debt to thee, beware the banes of chaos" from Arcadion.

In the newer versions of Exult, the goblins stop spawning in the tower; but the egg in the second floor that generates the goblins is still there, and kept spawning eggs in previous versions. As for the garbage, it isn't all removed -- the garbage in the second floor remains where it is.

Where can I find this patch

Last time I played with it, I think all the 'garbage' items were removed, but not things like broken plates (same as in the original). I'll have to check again.

In the original, those two goblin-spawning eggs remain active, but they never spawn again, so I'm guessing there was something hard-coded in the game source. It would be much nicer to delete these with a usecode patch.

It seems that the patch dosen't work with the 1.2 exult version

These patches are all for the snapshot version of Exult. In the description or similar, this should be stated. Even a snapshot from one or two months ago, might not even work with it.

I Install the patch in UC\Serpent\sifix

But, it create a data folder with Usecode.

If I copy the usecode in the static folder (been sure to rename the original usecode file) it strangely work but when I start a new game, the boat dosen't appear and I can't talk to anyone

don't put the usecode in the static dir. you have to add a patch section to exult.cfg and point to the sifix dir (I guess).
Furthermore, there should still be the problem that we can't "reboot" the game, yet. After changing stuff we can't have the game start all over... Something for Dr.Code

i'm not convinced the dream creatures are an accident there. it seems plausible that the insanity bane would generate nightmarish creatures to mess with people's heads.

well.. yeah.. but you gotta remember that the whole bane plot was more or less cut.. and thats the only egg left spawning them in the real world

so until the bane sequence gets restored.. it might be best to either switch it to flying serpents.. or switch a few OTHER eggs to dream creatures in Fawn

Last time I played with it, I think all the 'garbage' items were removed, but not things like broken plates

Ah, right. That is correct.

In the original, those two goblin-spawning eggs remain active, but they never spawn again, so I'm guessing there was something hard-coded in the game source. It would be much nicer to delete these with a usecode patch.

I shall make the usecode patch then.

These patches are all for the snapshot version of Exult. In the description or similar, this should be stated.

Good point, I forgot about that one. And in fact, I have tested it only with *the* latest snapshots.

Well, Fawn Tower has been fixed; there are no more broken dishes left after the pikemen return.

I was thinking, and came to the conclusion that the eggs were left behind so that when the banes were released, the goblins could spawn again. This poses no problem, though, since I used the recently implemented setegg script opcode to turn the monster eggs on/off when the banes are released/the tower is cleared (respectivelly).

Furthermore, there should still be the problem that we can't "reboot" the game, yet.

For usecode patches (such as this one), there is no real need to "reboot" the game in most cases. You can literally try (say) the Wall of Lights scene without the usecode patch, install it and run Exult again (or tell Exult Studio to reload the usecode) and the changes will take effect without the need for a new game.

As for map patches (such as those I am working on on the "New Codex Shrine" thread) still require a new game.