Welcome to the G3 beta test site and thank you for joining! The link to download the beta module is in the upper right of this blog. If you have the gladiatrix4.hak from the preview you'll need to overwrite that file since it's been updated. Please play through the module and report any bugs you come across in the appropriate or closest section below. Also, report if you don't find any bugs. General feedback is more than welcome.
Things I will fix in order of importance:
- Show-stopping bugs that don't allow you to continue.
- Any other bug that interrupts play but you are able to continue through
- Spelling/Grammar errors.
- Combat balance problems
If a tester has ideas for enhancements to the module I am open to listening to ideas. Please don't get offended if I am unable to use your suggestion. I really want this module to be close to final, so I don't plan on spending a lot of extra development time. I'll probably only implement an idea if I feel it will greatly enhance the module and not take too long to design.
A couple of things to be aware of:
- There is a wizard tower side quest on the way to the elven lands that I have not finished. So you will see a wizard's tower on the way but you won't be able to enter it. I plan on building that while beta testing is happening and it should be easy enough to test myself.
- I still plan on adding a couple of extra intimate encounters. Probably an option after the poker game since that was a popular request. Also, there are two love interests that I need to add intimate encounter options to. These I can test myself.
- The Dakari arena fight currently has the potential to be buggy. If one of your characters fall, the opponents will sometimes keep attacking them and that messes things up. Just save before entering the arena. If it happens then simply go back to your save and try again. One or two tries should get you through. I'm still working out the kinks on this one.
- Landon for some reason is flaky when set to melee. I'm not sure why but he just stands there most of the time. Maybe he's distracted by Sierra and Tessa's armor :) I'm still working on this one. If you set him to ranged attack he behaves.
Gameplay tips:
- SAVE OFTEN! Just don't save in the middle of a conversation. For testing it would be a good idea to make a save point periodically. For instance, right before entering a major section of the module.
- Heirendale will be a key area to set a save point. Decisions you make shortly after entering this town will set the direction of the endgame.
- If one of your main character henchmen dies then you'll have to resurrect them or go back to a previous save. The only exception is if a character death is clearly story driven. If you have nameless "grunts" as henchmen then it is okay if they die.
I hope everyone has fun! I'm looking forward to hearing your comments. If you could sign your name or nickname at the end of your comments that would be great. That way I'll have an idea of who I'm communicating with.
Quick question - do you want this played through with new characters, or with characters that have already played through G1/ G2/ both G1/G2...? i imagine it's only really an issue if there are any unique items with custom scripting affecting npc behaviour/ conversation (tessas ring, perhaps?)
ReplyDeleteHi Lewis, it's completely up to you. I'm hoping for a variety across all the testers. My last run through was done with a newly created character. You miss out on the goodies you collected from previous modules so it might not be as fun. If you want to spawn rings see my comment below.
DeleteRayne,
ReplyDeleteI think the issue with Landon is that NWN does not know how to run the AI for the Improved Dual Wielding feat for Rangers, and so they shut the character down in melee. It's a system flaw. Shows up in any mod where AI Rangers are played.
Thanks, Shawn. I didn't notice that problem in the first module but I'm guessing he didn't have improved two-weapon fighting. I also noticed Braxton not having the problem, but he's part assassin. I'll play around with the default feat file and see if I can remove that feat or maybe give him a level of fighter to see if that fixes it.
DeleteLandon has not this behavior (do nothing except cast spell during combat) in the prologue where he had not this feat. In d&d 3.5, it is a feat that the ranger has at a certain level. I think it is more or less the same in d&d 3.0.
DeleteIt is a problem during the fight with the geants and the amazons. But it is duable.
It make the combats with beast nearly impossible in the desert after the amazons. There is the solution of telling him to use a bow. But the arrows are limited.
The butt-end of jokes ranger in ADwR has this same problem. The improved duel wielding feat kicks in @ level 13, IIRC.
DeleteBut I've seen it in other mods too. Even in the PW I worked on, we avoided high level ranger NPCs for that reason.
A couple of people asked so here is the code if you want to spawn rings from the G1 romances. They just give you extra conversation options with those characters and might possibly make an intimate encounter option show up easier. You can spawn all of them if you like. It's up to you, although it would probably be good if some people don't have every single ring. That way those non-ring conversations will get tested. The rings don't dictate who your final romance will be. That can change based on decisions you make in this module.
ReplyDelete- Hit the ` key (Next to the 1)
- Type: DebugMode 1
- ` key
- Move cursor where you want the ring to appear
- ` key
- Type: dm_spawnitem tessasring
- You can do the same with other rings. Press ` key before each command
- dm_spawnitem landonsring
- dm_spawnitem kristalysring
- dm_spawnitem kelvynssring
- ` key
- Type: DebugMode 0
Don't forget the last command to get out of debug mode.
I am only past the Dakari lands and am about to enter the elven lands. So far I am thoroughly enjoying the module. I liked the first module, loved the second and this one trumps them both. There are bugs, as we've already found out, but looks good! I'll add my ideas of what might be added (request really) once I have finished the module.
ReplyDeleteI played both endings with my evil PC from the last installment.I had a great time.With the items from the former modules i didn't bother with Landon's incapabilities and gave him Kalla's Root and the bracers from the Dakari archer contest which turned out very effective.In the melee combat arena he fought well though(against the three Dakari champs).
ReplyDeleteI couldn't defeat the Bladeling.Had to respawn, maybe with parry mode but that's not what i spend skill points on.
I also encountered some of the mentioned minor things like the camels or the doubled conversation after the Taurean encounter(with Landon running on the spot all the time,very funny)but no showstoppers and no reasons to reload other than my own need for better results.
I love the module, i might play again with a new char.
Ah, and i can't wait to meet the mad wizard in the coastal boarderlands, which look great, like most areas.The Dakari Lands reminded me of Conan, dusty and hot.Very nice, thank you!
I was able to get past Bladeling by the successful use of Disarm and Knockdown (improved versions of both).
DeleteI definitely found the Bladeling to be difficult to the point of not fun. Sierra's armor is useless--Bladeling hits on a 2, on his primary attack. And with a longsword, 5 points of damage reduction is a big deal. Luckily I found a moderate healing potion on "dinner." (was that random?) I started experimenting with the greatsword and greataxe, just to get better base damage. Really had to go out of character. If the answer is you need improved disarm and knockdown, then we should have some kind of hints / nudges / lesser challenges to let us know that while we had a few levels to go.
DeleteIs the pregnancy random? Despite not using the sterility potion and having fairly active sex life, there was no pregnancy in my first playthrough. I did notice that there are journal markings for pregnancy in the module.
ReplyDeleteThere are five possible characters you can get pregnant with. If you had sex with all five then you have 100% getting pregnant if you didn't drink the potion. If you had sex with 4 then 80% change, sex with 3 would be 60% etc. So it is random. My guess is your roll of the dice caused your character to not get pregnant.
DeleteHas anyone's character gotten pregnant yet? You'll find out the first time you talk to Emmalynn in the Shroud camp.
I just want to say thanks to everyone for all the finds so far. It would be nearly impossible for me to find all these on my own. I'm limiting my posts in the bug sections to specific questions to me so that I don't clog the blog with a bunch of thank yous :) So I want to say a big thank you to everyone in this one post. Your help is extremely valuable and will help me release a much more polished module.
ReplyDeleteI posted two polls because I'm curious how the pregnancy scripts are working. Your character can find out if she is pregnant when she first talks to Emmalynn when she arrives at the new Shroud camp.
ReplyDeleteThe sex journal has only limited capacity and can run out of it easily. I used character that had gone through G1 and G2, so there were some markings already. Already after minotaur caves all but one had been used, and last spot was gone soon after. There were no markings for any of the rest.
ReplyDeleteYou can remove entries from the journal, just like it was a bag.
DeleteFinished the module, reported bugs I found. Overall much better mod than the previous ones, improvements in almost every aspect.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get the pregnancy at the end, but since my gladiatrix didn't have sex with the minotaur guy and IIRC couldn't have sex (at least not the sort that can result in making baby) with Landon since she was romancing Tessa, she had 60% chance, so there was reasonable chance of it didn't happening.
Since you are still working on the mod, here are couple of suggestions:
- Frontal assault on the minotaur base should be tough, but it is made trivial by using greater swordsman belt. You should give them more varied weapons to counter this exploit.
- From the beginning of the series I was hoping for a topples duel, and IMHO the best opportunity was missed way back in first module, at the start of your gladiator career in that tavern basement. Unexpectedly this module got halfway there with the first mind flyer arena fight. Please go all the way, Rayne, pleeease! :)
- In the sex department, considering how many times G and Tessa get to double team a guy, I was hoping for a opportunity for our liberal gladiatrix to get a chance to be (consentually) served by 2 (or 3) guys at the same time. Hell, you can even animate it by creatively using IAS, the way prwo did in A Dance with Spies. This can happen for example at the drow orgy or during the aftermath of card game which you seem to be adding.
- More of an observation, item strips, however annoying (my inventory is cluttered since I carry every single quest reward even if it's obsolete, starting with your family ring, I'm sentimental that way :) ), is a fun way to add a challenge and variety to the game. Mind flyer escape was good example of this, especially before finding troll ring when you have to care for every single HP.
- Can you create a place on the main blog for us to discuss our gladiatrix builds and experiences? I think it would be fun.
Anyway, great job, Rayne, the wait was well worth it. Thanks for this terrific series!
I had sex with all 5 characters but never got pregnant. Apparently someone did manage to get the pregnancy script working though, according to the poll.
ReplyDeletethat would be me I guess.
DeleteFunnily enough I made liberal use of the sterility potion to make sure I DONT get pregnant.
I didn't use sterility potions (though had one in inventory all the time), but still sleeping with all 5 did not result in pregnancy.
DeletePrevious anonymous here. I reloaded save before coming to the camp and was able to get all but one pregnancy. So, I think it does work fine, but I just remembered wrong what had transpired with Landon.
DeleteIs the Sterility potion a dud? I've been drinking it the whole module and the PC still got knocked up by Cypher.
ReplyDeleteIf you drink it once during the module it's supposed to set a variable for you not to get pregnant. I'll double-check. It looks like my pregnant polls broke and reset :(
DeleteI must admit, I'm a little surprised at the number of people who didn't get the pregnancy considering I've gotten it 3 times; one of which with only the minotaur encounter.
ReplyDeleteYou must be extra fertile :)
DeleteSo is there a chance of getting pregnant every time you have sex? Does it ignore all the times afterwards or is possible to replace the previous pregnancy with a new one because mine got pregnant with the drow and was curious if a new pregnancy can replace an older one.
ReplyDeleteHow does it determine who the father is, and when does it determine it?
ReplyDeleteI've been reloading my save and talking to Emmylyn (sp?) and it always says Cypher is the father, even though my PC has been screwing everything in sight.
On the pregnancy formula, if you do it with one of the five individuals you have a one in five chance of getting pregnant with that person. The actual pregnancy is set when entering the Shroud camp (where you meet Emmalynn). If you go to a save prior to entering the camp then you could get a different father.
ReplyDeleteFor coders, here is the actual pregnancy code. I assumed that if you did it with all five characters there is 100% chance of pregnancy but I could be wrong. It may just be a dice roll each time. It's working to my satisfaction because I've seen every character represented.
In the below code if you did it with Cypher then you would get a variable of pregcypher=1. If that is true, on a random value of 3 out of a possible 5 then you would get pregnant with Cypher.
int iRand = Random(5);
if (GetLocalInt(oPC, "pregbrax")== 1)
{
if(iRand == 0)
{
SetLocalInt(oPC, "braxbaby", 1);
SetLocalInt(oPC, "pregnant", 1);
}
}
if (GetLocalInt(oPC, "preglandon")== 1)
{
if(iRand == 1)
{
SetLocalInt(oPC, "landonbaby", 1);
SetLocalInt(oPC, "pregnant", 1);
}
}
if (GetLocalInt(oPC, "pregxander")== 1)
{
if(iRand == 2)
{
SetLocalInt(oPC, "xanderbaby", 1);
SetLocalInt(oPC, "pregnant", 1);
}
}
if (GetLocalInt(oPC, "pregcypher")== 1)
{
if(iRand == 3)
{
SetLocalInt(oPC, "cypherbaby", 1);
SetLocalInt(oPC, "pregnant", 1);
}
}
if (GetLocalInt(oPC, "pregtarth")== 1)
{
if(iRand == 4)
{
SetLocalInt(oPC, "tarthbaby", 1);
SetLocalInt(oPC, "pregnant", 1);
}
}
So you only get pregnant if the numbers match up? If the random number is 4 you could only get tarth's baby and if you had sex with all others you would not be pregant. Not how I'd do it but it works. I'd set the possible impregnation on the end of the act itself (pregnant = 1 , father = "cypher") with chances dependant on father's fertility and birth control presence) Then if you were pregnant you could not be pregnant again (early exit on pregnant = 1 on other impregantion scripts). It sounds as you did this script as an after thought after the game was made :)
DeleteTwo ideas for the final versión:
ReplyDeleteBefore the last battle will be good a last party with your friends,including the allies you had gathered during the module.Why Sierra goes to bed alone that night?Her lover is in the base too.(At least in the Good Path)
Maybe learn something about the good side of the Sroug before the last momments will be better,like Kristaly rescuing you from the Everdark instead of Braxton.The endings are very ambiguous after the Three Modules Good/Evil sides.
Sorry for my English.
Completed a 'Good' Playthrough. I didn't run into any major errors after the minotaur caves.
ReplyDeleteCompleted an module without any serious bugs and crashdowns.
ReplyDelete//MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!//
Above all, i liked a plenty of sexual encounters and variety of exciting situations, in which ended up Gladiatrix. It's really good motivation for playing.
Unfortunately, i was unable to assess combat balance, as i ended up Fighter 1\Sorcerer 20. Independable from equip classes really no fun in this module, overly easy. I'll try later with my Weapon Master focused on greatsword.
//MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!//
Final choice seriously baffled me. Join the Scourge? It's huge contradiction with event in chapter 2, when Gladiatrix meeting her future counterpart. And if i remember correctly, she described world after Scourge victory as bleak, hopeless and forlorn place. I see only motivation in accepting Kristaly offer - it's chance to assassinate Scourge leader or die in dire attempt.
Shroud ending is a bit sad. "Year after" perspective left no room for optimism. I really miss option to show Cypher one big obscene gesture after final batlle. And then return to Waycross to fight again in Colliseum, maybe even open Gladiator Academy there )
And FallynRayne, my huge thanks to you for tremendous amount of spent time and efforts, results is very nice!
Almikh
Hi. I was unable to start testing until today, so I hope it's not too late. Anyway, I can't seem to load the module. I get an error report saying that "I'm missing the required custom talk table".
ReplyDeleteAny idea of what may be wrong?
Never mind; I think it's the CEP. I've just reinstalled the game and I forgot it's required.
DeleteIt was "gladiatrix3.hak". Whatever. I can play now.
DeleteMany tnx Fallyn,,,
ReplyDeleteIn all,, not many bugs. Posted what I found.
General Comments:
I would have liked to seen my family to show them what I become.
And as said above,, about after battle.
The Gladiatrix Gladiator Academy :p
oohh,, and need more concern/Care/Gratitude/Love From Tessa.
Delete(Resued from near Certain Death and you get a kind of "Oh Hi" mind you,, posted about that script issue already)
And for your lover having Not seen you for a while,, she SHARES the ointment duty ? I would have thought she would have ripped your clothes off and X-rated you Big time.
Aw man, that means we'll have to play this module AGAIN to see the wizard tower!
ReplyDeleteThere will be extra sex scene options too, if that's any consolation. There are three more intimate encounters that I'm still working on.
DeleteI'm looking forward the final versión of the Game,I wanna seee that extra material and replay all again because it's a very enjoyable Mod.
DeleteSo THANKS for your great work :D
The only issue I encountered was that I accidentally killed Daeline during the Valtrescan arena event and Thizbesca got stuck on the opening dialogue. I reloaded the game and ran through it without accidentally killing her and things worked fine though.
ReplyDeleteHey FallynRayne I just finished playing all the way through part 3 and it was very good, only bugs I really found was when swimming through the dakri water supply cave there was a constant "can't equip armor here" over and over again no matter where I was. Oh also the camels were dead standing up, I didn't know if that made a difference. Ending was kinda sad but made sense in some ways, there is never a complete peace, overall very good can't wait for completed version :D
ReplyDeleteOh another thing that I would love to see is the chance to tell the father of your baby that your pregnant just to be able to read there reactions especially Braxtons lol
ReplyDeleteI'd like to have that option as well.
DeleteTessa has the feat "Improved Critical - Heavy crossbow". Considering that she starts with a shortbow and takes part in the Vltrescan archery contest, I think shortbow feats would make more sense than crossbow ones.
ReplyDeleteI got the minotaur pregnancy, so I can vouch for that working. I agree with Megan Frey's suggestion. It will be a nice little addition if you had the option to tell your lover about the pregnancy in the camp.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with an early poster about having more motivation to join the Scourge. Maybe some more hints in the module that the shroud aren't as good as they led you to believe. Just something to make you think twice about staying loyal to the shroud, and not near the ending.
That said; Another great hit, FallynRayne. Enjoyed the module, enjoyed the series. People like you keep the NWN community alive.
The honey badger does not care www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg5ZRoSRrDA
ReplyDeleteOr better yet
Deletewww.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg
Poison immunity, damage reduction, aura of fear... My hope that I shall never meet with this crazy beast in real life )
DeleteThere was one time when I failed to use the potion of sterility. I got a message saying that "I couldn't use that item". Right-clicking on it didn't work either, as the "use" icon appeared greyed out.
ReplyDeleteIt was just a one-time thing, though, and I could use it normally later on. Maybe it got fixed after reloading or something.
Also regarding potions of sterility: The first one you get, in the first module, never gets consummed and has infinite uses.
DeleteI don't know if this is a bug, and even then, it would be a bug of the first module, but still.
FINISHED!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat module. i don't think I could easily choose a favourite of the three. Anyway, praises apart...
I found some bugs, but the vast majority of them were minor stuff. I think the only really important and game-breaking one was the one with Kristaly not appearing in the Scourge base. Hence, I could only test the final parts of the module from the Shroud side.
I romanced Tessa, though I had sex at pretty much every chance (call it a liberal relationship), with or without her presence. I didn't get pregnant, but I chugged a lot of potions of sterility (well, technically, I only used one, but many times, as described in the above post).
Combat balance looked OK to me in general, with the possible exception of Ickarus. That fight felt like a lottery at times, and your success in it too heavily dependant on passing some saving throws. More details about this in the Everdark section of the blog.
One suggestion: When talking to Kristaly/Avyndar about the political views of the Scourge and all that, it felt like the only possible responses against it were along the lines of: "Yeah, that's all good, but you're using undead and evil monsters."
Other than a couple of references to freedom, I kinda missed having the option of directly calling the Scourge a dictatorship and saying that I would prefer the power not being held by a single person/organisation (i.e. democracy vs. dictatorship, even though there are several countries involved in this case), or saying that power can corrupt even the best-intended individuals, blah blah blah. Basically, I felt it would be nice to have a couple more possible lines of thinking that oppose the Scourge.
I would have also liked to have some saying in Kristaly's fate, offering her some kind of redemption or whatever. I don't know if romancing her would add some extra dialogue here.
Speaking of which, I expect to play the final version at some moment, and I might romance Kristaly then. Since I had been romancing Tessa since the beginning and I have Tessa's ring, would I need to romance Kristaly all the way from the first module in order to romance her in the third?
Thanks!
DeleteOn Ickarus, his eyeball tentacles cast spells. I realized that some of the spells can incapacitate rather quickly. Even a weaker beholder can do that. But I really, really, REALLY wanted a beholder in my module. It's probably my favorite monster of all because they are so grotesque and outlandish. I could have watered his spells down a bit, but I decided against that. I've gotten more critiques about battles being too easy rather than too hard. The higher the character level the harder it is to make fights balanced and challenging. I didn't want to water him down because he is the final boss of the Everdark.
So my approach to this battle is to force the player to go in more strategically and use the amulet. Hopefully the player will have saved up their best amulet spells and not wasted them on lesser creatures. When I tested the battle, if I immediately launched the Harm spell at him it lowered his HP to next to nothing. Then I launch an earthquake and the other powerful spell I have, can't remember which. I ignored his lackeys until after he was dead. If a player goes into the battle for a hack and slash showdown they are probably going to lose.
You won't see any real changes to the module if you try to romance Kristaly in this one. You only get some extra dialog options if you have her ring from the first module, but they don't impact the story. She can be your final romance, but only if you side with the Scourge. I guess my thinking on her fate is if you reject her pleas to join her in the Scourge then the romance isn't that strong to begin with.
The Kristaly bug concerns me a little, but I'm hoping that setting her to dismiss earlier will correct that. Most everyone who reported the problem said that it worked for them after a retry or two on a previous save. I think yours is the only report that stated you couldn't advance past that on retries. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out and see if people still report the problem on the final release.
Do you recall during the first conversation with Avyndar if Kristaly started wandering around aimlessly during the conversation? If she is wandering around while the conversation is happening then that is a concern. If she is standing still then I feel a little better about it.
I'm pretty sure she stood still the last time I tried it. I can't tell for certain about the otheer times, but I don't recall her or any other NPC wandering around in conversations.
DeleteRegarding Ickarus, I see your point, and that's more or less the strategy I used. I think the main challenge was keeping Xanderfein alive; my PC didn't have so many problems surviving, but once she was disabled, Xanderfein was as good as dead. In short, I could kill it quickly enough, but my problem was its first ray attack, and the lack of options to protect myself against it, being a fighter with few magic items at my disposal.
Maybe I would have had less problems if I just had left Xanderfein behind and attacked Ickarus alone, but that's not a likely strategy.
I guess a possible solution could be adding a resurrection spell to the amulet, maybe just usable once at all, instead of once per day, so it doesn't feel too overpowered. Just an idea, but it's just a fight, so don't sweat too much about it.
Ah, and about Kristaly's romance, I suppose you have a point, but it could have also being interesting having a really strong romance with her and being forced to choose between your lover and your convictions/political ideas, etc. Even if it didn't lead to a happy ending, it could be a good plot twist.
DeleteAgain, just thinking out loud. I don't know how easy this would be to implement, and it isn't going to affect 99% of the module anyway.