150 replies to this topic

[Rathwellin the Bard]

How comforting... so if I screw up, I get offed?

You seem pretty worried about that for a guy named "Thanatos."

...

Anyway on a serious note I finally got some testing done yesterday. I tested some of the Jarata dialogue. I tested with a 19 dex cleric. First couple of tries he had 15 Int then I tested with 3 Int. I had to laugh at some of the "thick" talk. Didn't run into any major problems & was able to slit Jarata's throat both ways. Got the "call lightning" result both ways. IMO the damage could be slightly higher. It would be neat if it could scale to the PCs level. The higher the level the more damage it would do.

One thing I noticed was that Jarata was still standing there with a blue circle after I slit her throat with the thick talk (though she could no longer respond to talk attempts). I can't remember if the same thing happened with normal talk, but I THINK that she did die then.

Overall I have mixed feelings about the evil Jarata dialogue. I really like the options, but it seems just a bit verbose to me. There is a lot of text there that seems like it could be tightened up to produce a smaller overall word count without sacrificing meaning and feeling. And speaking of feeling, something just never feels quite right when I'm going though the dialogues. I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but something just doesn't ring true. It may just be that I'm not used to the PST dialogue style having not played that game, but I have a feeling that it is something in the dialogue itself. I like the Imoen PST style dialogues I've seen and was satisfied with the Vidar dialogues I've seen so far, but still don't have that same good feeling for the Jarata text yet.

I'll be doing some more Jarata testing today. I've given feedback on the Imoen dialogue, but I will look up the variables you asked for too from some of my saves.

I also hope to try the Order battle today or early this week.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

Test the dialogue then. It's the following that needs testing:

Jarata - If you're evilish
Vidar
Imoen 1
Imoen 2

I want to know:

* If it all fits together
* If there are any NPC interjections you feel are missing
* Whether there should be an option at such and such and currently isn't
* What the GLOBAL JarataInterest is when you've finished talking to her
* What the GLOBALs ImoenEvil and ImoenHappiness equal after both Imoen chats,

If anything just plain feels wrong, let me know. Basically, I want some feedback on the dialogue with as much detail as you give to your battles. The next build will have new combat and dialogue elements which require testing, so let's get these ones out the way.

Known issues (status in next beta):

* You can jam up Jarata, as noted earlier (fixed)
* Imoen can fall over during AND after her second chat (untested fix in place)
* Jarata doesn't always give you Carsomyr (fixed)

Don't test using any Protection from Undead scrolls either. You won't have them in the next version.

None of my saves have a ImoenEvil variable.

My primary set of saves after Imoen chats 1 & 2 and later all have RTWImoenHappiness set to "-1".

Interestingly one of my saves has RTWJarata set to "2" even though I haven't talked to her yet in that game.

More later.

[Quitch]

Anyway on a serious note I finally got some testing done yesterday. I tested some of the Jarata dialogue. I tested with a 19 dex cleric.

Itis in fact possible, though slightly trickier, to cut her throat with 17 dex.

Got the "call lightning" result both ways. IMO the damage could be slightly higher.

The damage is pulled straight out of the rules. The real downside is that your priest spells are disabled... well they are in the next version for 24 hours.

One thing I noticed was that Jarata was still standing there with a blue circle after I slit her throat with the thick talk (though she could no longer respond to talk attempts). I can't remember if the same thing happened with normal talk, but I THINK that she did die then.

This is fixed in the next version.

Overall I have mixed feelings about the evil Jarata dialogue. I really like the options, but it seems just a bit verbose to me. There is a lot of text there that seems like it could be tightened up to produce a smaller overall word count without sacrificing meaning and feeling.

Examples? You think this is verbose? You're going to *love* Dasypus.

The real question is, though, is this verbose or are the BG2 dialogues just really short? I suppose verbose is longer than something needs to be.

In this dialogue Jarata should effectively convince you that you have a reason to come. It is vital to her that you do. So the question that needs answering is "Is Jarata doing this with her dialogue?" She will offer you riches, items, enemies and herself in varying order.

And speaking of feeling, something just never feels quite right when I'm going though the dialogues. I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but something just doesn't ring true. It may just be that I'm not used to the PST dialogue style having not played that game, but I have a feeling that it is something in the dialogue itself. I like the Imoen PST style dialogues I've seen and was satisfied with the Vidar dialogues I've seen so far, but still don't have that same good feeling for the Jarata text yet

Heh, I personally prefer this one over Vidar, and it's my favourite. It feels more like a real conversation to me than any other dialogue I've done. Let me know if you figure out what feels wrong.

Interestingly one of my saves has RTWJarata set to "2" even though I haven't talked to her yet in that game.

That means the messenger gave you the note and Jarata has been spawned.

Did you check RtWJarataInterest?

[Rathwellin the Bard]

I haven't checked RTWJarataInterest yet. More Jarata testing later today.

Just fyi when I attempt to exit the main Windspear dungeon via the "door" where we get dupmed off I get the following message: "No more worthy than you, 'brother'. And I've learned things since we last met that you couldn't begin to dream of."

I suspect that I'm suppost t get a different message telling me I can't yet exit.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

Battle Reports:

Demi-litch - this guy only imprisoned one party member (Keldorn after he did GWW & attacked). No further attempts were made. As a consequence this battle was fairly easy.

Order of the Radiant Heart - the battle itself was not that hard with my current party. My sorcerer nuked the first group himself & the rest of my party got to mop up the rest of the guys on the map. Never felt like I was in that much danger, though Mazzy did come close to death one time. I agree with previous posts that suggest adding archer types - maybe crossbowmen. The way they are tightly clustered at the opening makes them super vulnerable to area attack spells too.

Also I was able to pause the game after exiting the dungeon. In theory it would be pretty easy to exit, paue, drop offending items, and then go on with the encounter. If the dialouge doen't force you out of the area then it would be easy to pick them up afterwards. Or one could trigger a pocket plane teleport right after the exit.

Final note - Garren Windspear & his daughter were still in their house after the knight battle ... and still had their old SoA dialogue.

[Quitch]

The area text is screwed in 2.9... and it's all Cuv's fault. This has been fixed.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

The area text is screwed in 2.9... and it's all Cuv's fault. This has been fixed.

Remind me not to get on your bad side.

Anyway I started testing on Imoen Talke 2. I was keeping track of things in notepad & think I may have accidentally pasted over some of my results thus deleting them for good. And I had to quit before I finished, but here is what I got....

(oh and my comments are marked like this & I didn't list options by number since I had no idea what your current build looks like. I just tried to get a snippet of my responces so you could see what I picked)

...


Imoen Talk 1 Left her screaming
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1


Imoen Talk 2 Ignored her
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 Talked about death
RTWImoenEvil = 2
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? don't think she's up to it, then told her she shouldn't do that.
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenFall = 4
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? don't think she's up to it, then pushed her. (confirmed she lost 1 point of Int)
RTWImoenEvil = 2
RTWImoenFall = 3
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? don't think she's up to it, then caught her.
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? don't think she's up to it, then turned my back on her as she fell. (would have expected worse consequences than no change)
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? talked about death.
RTWImoenEvil = 2
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? then lets get moving.
RTWImoenEvil = 2
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? insensitive of me. Left Room Locked.
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? insensitive of me. About to feel wrath. (again I would have expected worse)
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? insensitive of me. Dont know....
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 OK to continue? insensitive of me. Dont change subject.
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Well so long as you're OK. Give Push. (confirmed int loss)
RTWImoenEvil = 2
RTWImoenFall = 3
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Well so long as you're OK. Catch.
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Well so long as you're OK. Turn back on her.
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Well so long as you're OK. Tell her.... (confirmed no int loss)
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenFall = 4
RTWImoenHappiness = -1

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Dont lie you not up. (all 4 options as above ... only tested one)

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Don't endager party. Cant take chance. Come Along.
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Don't endager party. OKAY have eye on you....
RTWImoenEvil = 1
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Don't endager party. You are lying. Suppose so.
RTWImoenEvil = 2
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

Imoen Talk 2 Are you OK? Don't endager party. You are lying. No I don't.
RTWImoenEvil = 2
RTWImoenHappiness = -2

[Quitch]

Thanks for this.

Don't worry about the fall variable, that's just so it knows where to come back into the dialogue.

[Thanatos]

How comforting... so if I screw up, I get offed?  

You seem pretty worried about that for a guy named "Thanatos."

Heh heh, Good point. >:-D

[Delvar]

I'm going away next week, so I won't be able to do anything If you guys get the next build out just e-mail me it and I'll get to work when I get back.

[Cuv]

No problem Delvar:) Have a good trip

Cuv