? about Exult and ES

[ultimaIX]

Hello all.
I just have a couple quick questions here - i've installed v1.2 and have been playing it for some time now. Everything works wonderfully, no problems at all. (great little program!)
I decided to go ahead and give ES a try - was thinking that it might be fun to make the avatar a castle somewhere (with a really big treasure room . I understand that you must use the latest snapshot, however i am concerned about installing 1.4 due to the possibility of making the game unfinishable. Is it possible to have both 1.4 and 1.2 installed at the same time?
Also, i have not used ES before, and am curious to know how the program saves the changes you make. Do you have to play the snapshot version of the game to see any changes you've made? Or can any version of Exult apply the "patch" that ES makes?
My goal here is to start learning ES by creating a simple castle for the avatar. Then perhaps continue by adding things like a food vendor, armorer, etc - anything that a good castle should have. I'm hoping to be able to add this to the stable version of Exult (if possible) so that i can have its stability along with my new castle. Thanks for your time!

-ultimaIX

[Dominus]

If you really want to work with ES you HAVE to use the snapshot, even for your savegames.
The reason for this is that ES is work in progress and everytime something is added to it, Exult has to be able to support this. For example Exult 1.2 is going to crash if you use a patch that makes use of the new z-coordinate in schedules. This new coordinate is something that 1.2 doesn't understand thus it will most likely crash.
So, for both creating a patch and applying it you need the most recent snapshot. No way around it.

If you are concerned about your current savegames, just back them up and if Exult 1.4x fails you, play from there with the 1.2 version.

[ultimaIX]

Ok, that makes perfect sense Dominus - thanks. I'll go ahead and back everything up then, and give it a shot. Does anyone know if there are any problems with having both versions installed?
ES is quite an exciting program - i'm looking forward to adding my bit of creativity to one of my favorite games ever. Keep up the great work!

-ultimaIX

[ultimaIX]

Alright everyone, a couple more questions here. (I hope you guys didn't think that i wouldn't be back with more dumb questions did ya?
I've been reading through all the docs for ES, and just screwing around inside the main black gate game. I'm impressed so far - it's very similar to the old "ultima7 ABCD (Alt255)" cheat from the original. (and you guys figured out how to keep the roofs from falling to the ground - awesome!)
As i stated before, my goal is to start with creating a castle for the avatar to go to, mainly for loot storage. However, in an attempt to alter the game as little as possible, i was tinkering with the idea of creating a new map that would contain my created environment. I would like to be able to teleport between the 2 maps (black gate and mine) at will - perhaps with an item (if possible) or i could add teleport eggs at several spots around britannia. After reading through the forums for quite some time, i read about a way to do this, however there was no explenation about the process. Is it possible to accomplish my goal? Or will i have to settle for creating an island somewhere on the main map?
I'm also concerned about what kind of checks the game makes concerning characters and their locations. I remember from the old days that there is a spot on the maps that the characters that are "missing" due to the plot are sent to. If the game requires all characters to be located somewhere on the main map, and i have a party member leave my party in my other map, would the game crash upon my return?
I understand that ES is still in a rather basic stage, and that the things i'm inquiring about may not be implemented yet; perhaps if they will be in the future i'll go ahead and create my map to include in the game at a future point.

Thanks for taking the time to read / respond to my post.
-ultimaIX

[Dominus]

multimap should just work fine, as long as you leave the normal NPCs alone and let them do their thing on the main map.
The ES documentation changes from march this year cover multimap support, I think.
http://exult.info/studio.php#01032005

[ultimaIX]

Well, what do ya know, there it is... sorry, missed it when i was browsing through the docs. Thanks.

-ultimaIX

[WWWWolf]

It is possible to have both 1.2 and CVS installed at the same time - I have 1.2 from Debian in /usr and CVS version in /usr/local.

In Linux at least, just build your CVS stuff with configure parameters like --program-suffix="-cvs" (so you'll end up with "exult" and "exult_studio" for 1.2 and "exult-cvs" and "exult_studio-cvs" for CVS version) and then use symlinks to keep around multiple copies of ~/.exult (make ~/.exult-1.2 and ~/.exult-cvs and set ~/.exult to point to whatever you're going to use at any moment).

Also works on other platforms, but those need different tricks =)

[ultimaIX]

hehe, thanks WWWWolf, i got it running on my system - no errors so far.

-ultimaIX

[Skutarth]

"fun to make the avatar a castle somewhere (with a really big treasure room ."
Serpent Isle, anybody?
SpellBook + False Coin spell + Ring of Reagents + Stack of 100 in any currency = Treasure Room in your pocket
Without cheating.

[nephron]

I keep hearing about False Coin, but I can't find the scroll. Can you tell me where it's found (here or by email, nephrita at gmail.com)?

Thanks!

[Tristan de Inés]

The manual said that money created with "false coin" would disappear after some time, didn`t it? Never saw that happen though.

[Garrett]

It certainly doesn't happen in Exult. I created "Mount Guilder" shortly after getting the spellbook, but when I returned to a post-Banes Moonshade it was still standing.

I think they merely meant that it would disappear "if this was all real". Kinda like how in The Black Gate that guy gives you a scroll about sword forging and yet you can't follow it through.

Although I'd bet it's possible to make a patch so that False Coin loot has a quality tag and then after X hours it disappears, even from inside your backpack... heheheh...

As for where to find the scroll, er, I think that place has it, the one where the boy Freli works. Well, I know it's in Moonshade anyway. I'm likely wrong so you'd better check a guide to make sure.

[marzo]

The coins created with False Coin should disappear if you don't place them in your inventory; when you do, a flag is cleared, making them permanent (this also happens in the original, BTW).

The false coin scrolls (there are 2) are: in Stefano's old house (outside Moonshade) and in Silverpate's treasure room under the Sleeping Bull Inn. Also, Ensorcio (in the Sleeping Bull Inn) sells the spell.

[Gruck]

I`m useful!

"Well, what do ya know, there it is... sorry, missed it when i was browsing through the docs. Thanks."