GearHead2 v0.501

[Joseph Hewitt]

I've just uploaded v0.501 of GearHead2 to SourceForge. This is a pretty minor release- there are a few bugs fixed, some balance issues addressed, and some new content added. I hope you're lucky enough to generate the "find enemy base, they activate self-destruct, battle arch-enemy" core story event since it's one of the funnest ones currently there.

Here's the list of changes:
- Added +Pew Enemy Weapon Program plot state
- XXRan_Debug shows info about core story subplots (mpbuilder.pp)
- All  global gears should be saved from deleted metascenes (playwright.pp)
- Fixed a major problem with exits during world generation (navigate.pp)
- Conversation doesn't give regular skillroll XP (interact.pp)
- Stealth, Awareness only give XP when used against enemies (action.pp)
- Mission cash rewards increased (arenascript.pp)

Here are some of the issues:
- There are still a lot of deadends; in fact, one recent character got a deadend right after talking to her friend at the beginning of the game! The "Guard Job" task needs some components, and there need to be more conversations.
- The PC can't be rescued if he dies in a dynamic scene, or a metascene after the plot which generated it concludes. This is a bug that needs to be fixed.
- There really are a lot of lancemate issues. I'm going to start a new thread about that.

Try it out, let me know what you think.

- JH.

[Erathoniel]

Must... download...

[Keiseth]

Gotta grab this. I don't suppose there is a debug command to generate that plot? It sounds like a blast. No pun intended, of course...

[Onisuzume]

Well, I guess there should be one since the game gets occational orders to generate one...

Don't ask me what it is though.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Quoting: Keiseth

I don't suppose there is a debug command to generate that plot?

If you open your configuration file and add a line reading "GimmeGimmeChoice", you will be able to select the path your personal story will take from that point forward. Unfortunately, because there aren't yet very many components, there aren't very many ways to get to this particular point. Here's a pretty specific walkthrough for how to get there:

First, you have to generate the +Pla "Learn of Artifact" plot state and advance to the third episode. Get a hint to go ask someone for information and then be told where the artifact is. After you get the artifact, the enemy weapon program should begin. At that point, you need to rescue the life of a scientist or corporate employee. When you generate an event where the NPC should thank you, select the "They're Kidnapping Scientists" plot and choose the "Self Destruct Sequence" enemy base.

The two big bottlenecks at the moment are the fact that there's only one way to get to the "Enemy Weapon Program" state, and the fact that there's only one way to generate a "Raid Enemy Base" event. Both of these will have more entry points in the future.

[Erathoniel]

When I put that in, it set my game to windowed mode, which put it to only show walls and doors.

Windowed mode is still commented.

[palefire]

Here's a bad idea: when it runs out of components, let the deadend grab some other plot, make some statements about unresolved mysteries x-file style, and proceed on another direction. Or maybe a component management tool that allows people to find dead-ends?

[Erathoniel]

That would work.

Anyone played Audiosurf? It's awesome.

I recommend the song on this page to try out the demo with. It's fifteen minutes long and consists of four songs.

http://www.audio-surf.com/forum/index.php/topic,25 19.0.html

[Burzmali]

Looks good.  I'm trying it out now.  So far I've added a couple bugs to the bug tracker and hit one A# plot deadend.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Quoting: Erathoniel

When I put that in, it set my game to windowed mode, which put it to only show walls and doors.

Weird. I'll take a look and see if I can figure out what's causing that.

[Erathoniel]

Notably, I think it still did it when I commented everything out.

However, it's working now. My PC was having other glitches too. Such as Steam and Audacity. I think it was unrelated, probably due to the fact that one really should restart one's computer after installing a bunch of stuff. Every audio editor I installed caused progressive levels of wierdness. So now I have four, and Audacity works again, and I only like two (Audacity, WavePad [free]).

[Tomn]

I don't know where to put it, so I'll stick it here; got a plot deadend.  I saved some monk in a space battle, and was told he went to Xianzi Spinner.  Once there, upon finding him, he told me my destiny lay in Xianzi Spinner.  Thus, the deadend, as follows:

Plot deadend in Core Story: #A +Psh +C-- +Ten +F-- +Bpd +Glo C:ADVEN !Ne E:-- F:-- P:++ P:L5LAW P:POLIC P:PCFAC P:ALLY R:-- T:++ T:FAITH S:meta S:++ L:perm L:++ L:XIASP L:SPACE L:FCOMS L:GROUND L:ALLY I:--   A:--

I also had another deadend in another game, when I asked where my friend was, and was told he was in the building I was standing in.  I guess the program screws up if some new guy is supposed to spawn where you are?

[Erathoniel]

The problems could be due to the Quake 3 style spawn-killage, or it could just be an error.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Quoting: Tomn

I don't know where to put it, so I'll stick it here; got a plot deadend. I saved some monk in a space battle, and was told he went to Xianzi Spinner. Once there, upon finding him, he told me my destiny lay in Xianzi Spinner. Thus, the deadend, as follows:

Oddly enough, one of my characters is now at nearly the same plot state, despite having gotten there through different means. There should be a continuation for this deadend in the next release.

[Erathoniel]

The RCS function has *never* worked for me. As in: I've tried it multiple times, it always kills it. Even while the plot works, if I type it in the console, it gives me a plot deadend.