Finally... the long awaited Keyring Mod!

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:52 am

Finished at last is the (very first public version of) Keyring Mod. For now, it is available here: http://lfs.lfhost.com/seventowers/downl ... n=0&page=1 (edit: Made link point to Seven Towers)

I am thinking about placing on the Exult CVS also, but I will have to check with the other devs to see if it is OK.

I will also place it in Exult Studio Guides; however, I lost my password and am waiting for a new one.

The installation instructions, from the Readme.txt:
===================================================
First, I must be explicit that I have tested this mod *only* with
Forge of Virtue add-on installed; it will *not* work without that
add-on since it uses some of the add-on's data.
Secondly (and just as importantly), this mod is will *not* work in
Exult 1.2, nor it will work on any but *the* latest snapshots. There
were some bugs I had to fix to get everything working as is.

With that out of the way: there are two ways to install the mod:

1) If you are using DOS/Windows, you can use the supplied batch files.
Unzip the mod to your Black Gate folder so that, for example,
the "Install.bat" file is at "BlackGate/Keyring/Install.bat".
Make sure that the mod's folder is at the same level as your
STATIC folder! Then run the "Install.bat" file to install. You
can also run "Make & Install.bat" to compile the usecode and
install -- but you must have UCC to do so, and at a very
specific location too.
2) Copy the contents of the "data" folder to your BG's PATCH folder.

OPTIONAL: If you like, you can set new key bindings to BG to use the
keyring with a keyboard shortcut. You will have to edit the file
"bgdefaultkeys.txt". If you want to make it work like SI does,
delete the line "K try_keys" and add the following two lines:
Alt-K try_keys
K useitem 1100 # Use keyring
===================================================

What the mod does:
===================================================
The mod started out by adding a keyring to Black Gate. It has two
new NPCs, several new items and graphics and the following things:
- You can now meditate at the Shrines of the Virtues.
- You can now view the Codex; you must be in a sacred quest, though.
- A brand new Shrine of the Codex, based on the one at the Mysterious
Sosaria website.
- The three items of Principles (Book of Truth, Candle of Love and
Bell of Courage), as well as the three Flames of Principles.
- Lock Lake Cleanup: Once Miranda's bill is signed, the Lake will
be gradually cleaned up of garbage.
- A brand new Shrine of Spirituality and a basement for Serpent's Hold,
where the Flame of Courage is located. Both are located in a new map,
thus using Exult's Multimap support.
- An improved Orb of the Moons, allowing you to visit the shrines too.
- Innkeepers will reclaim the room keys when you are leaving the inn.
They will also lock the doors and make the beds.
===================================================

Enjoy! And *please* let me know what you think!

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:14 am

cant get it to work T.T

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:28 am

Can you be more specific? Maybe post stdout and stderr, and/or describe what you did exactly? You did see that it works only on *the* latest snapshots, right?

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:28 am

er... to clarify that a bit...

none of the three install methods you gave seem to work

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:30 am

mine is the latest snapshot, yes... the two files wouldnt help i dont think.. and what i did exactly is follow the directions you gave.. install.bat when in t same place as what you said does nothing i can seet, make and install ddoesnt work for me, and just copying the files also did nothing

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:41 am

Ack, I spotted a bug in the install.bat file... I have posted an updated file to the link above; if you don't want to download everything again, you can replace the contents of install.bat file with the following:

@echo Copying files to patch folder...
@if EXIST ..\patch goto patchexists
@mkdir ..\patch >> log.txt
:patchexists
@if EXIST ..\patch\map01 goto map01exists
@mkdir ..\patch\map01 >> log.txt
:map01exists
@copy /y data\*.* ..\patch >> log.txt
@copy /y data\map01\*.* ..\patch\map01 >> log.txt && del log.txt
@echo Mod has been successfully installed!

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:53 am

Let's try giving an excruciating amount of intermediate steps to see what is going wrong.

I will assume that Exult is installed in C:\U7, that BG is in C:\U7\BG, that BG's STATIC and PATCH folders are C:\U7\BG\static and C:\U7\BG\patch.

Create the folder C:\U7\BG\Keyring. Extract the Keyring.zip file to this folder. If your PATCH dir is the one above, run the (new) install.bat; otherwise, go in the C:\U7\BG\Keyring\data folder, select everything and paste in BG's PATCH dir.

Start Exult and start a new game.

Does that work?

Post by **Dominus** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:57 am

Hmm, the current snapshot is probably too old. It hasn't been updated since the 14th. If your changes from the last two days are required this might be another problem.
I haven't yet tried it out, will do so in a moment, only need to compile Exult.

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:06 pm

The changes in the last two days aren't absolutely required (meaning that the mod works without them) except for one particular spot where it would not work as expected.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:17 pm

nope

tried the install.bat and it still didnt seem to do anything

then i directly copied the files and started a new game, and still nothing

i know mine is the build form the 14th... i updated it because of the carriage thing.. lol

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:25 pm

When you say 'nothing', what do you mean? A few possible scenarios I can think of:
1) Does it mean you can't start Exult without crashing?
2) Does Exult start normally, but you can't start BG?
3) Does Exult and BG start fine, but you can't start a new game?
4) If you can start a new game, there is nothing different at all (for example, the Shrine of the Codex is still the old one)?

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:27 pm

4, definitely

Post by **Dominus** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:46 pm

works for me.
Things to check:
extract the Marzo's zip file and make sure it keeps the folder structure.
rename the data folder to patch.
copy the patch folder to where you have blackgate installed (if there is already a patch dir, back it up and delete it).
in exult.cfg add the following under

c:\games\u7\blackgate\keyring

(of course this depends on where you installed BG).

You probably know all this, but a step by step might help you find the problem.

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:52 pm

It is possible then that you:
a) Need to set up the patch dir in Exult.cfg: http://exult.info/studio.php#can_do_atm;
b) Are placing the files at the wrong patch dir (there is --or should be -- one in Exult/patch and one at Exult/BG/patch).

Hmmm... have you by any chance edited your patch dir (for example, for the Ultima 6 patch that mikefictiti0us is making)?

Post by **Dominus** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:00 pm

Marzo, where are the interesting things on the second map? Can't find anything by just changing maps and looking around there.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:13 pm

ok.. followed your directions exactly Dom... and same as before

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:20 pm

The new Spirituality Shrine is around the same place as the old one, and the Serpent's Hold basement is around Serpent's Hold. For now, that is about all there is on the new map.

I am planning to add a lot of things to the second map in the future versions; for example:
1) The basement of LB's castle (such as the one seen in UW2);
2) The Catacombs of Moonglow (they were there in U6 after all...);
3) Maybe a new 'underground' level for some dungeons;
4) Dungeon Deceit entrance will be returned to the small island to the right of Dagger Isle, where it belongs;
5) The inside of the Generators will be moved to the new map;
6) Dungeon Shame and Dungeon Despise will be unswapped and uncoupled.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:26 pm

alright... i finally got it working by pointing my exult.cfg file to my BG's patch directory rathre than the keyring directory... what i get for following what im told directly I guess >.>;

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:27 pm

I am thinking that Dominus' instructions were inconsistent; in his last step, he told you to point to the keyring folder, while everything up to it explained how to create a folder named patch with the contents of the data dir. Try something like this instead:

c:\games\u7\blackgate\patch

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:28 pm

Oh, you caught Dom's error before I posted. No problem, move along. Nothing to see

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:30 pm

like i said, its finally working now, doing jsut that before you actually said it XP

my only complaint so far is that i still think the entrance to the guardian dungeon on the Ilse of the Avatar would be better through the fellowship member's quarters on the south mountain face rather than back up against the west side of the mountains

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:33 pm

erk..... i can go down the stairs in Serpent's Hold but I cant get back out from there; no stairs, no teleporters, no flame

i'm guessing this is related to one of the things you fixed thats not been updated yet?

Post by **Dominus** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:45 pm

couple of problems with 2nd map, it seems the zip is missing countless stuff. stderr.txt lists a lot of missing u7ifix files.

Ifix file '/map01/u7ifix6d' not found.

also the first 149 lines of stderr.txt list the following error:

Shape::store_frame: framenum >= frames_size (8 >= 5)

Why is Laurianna's shape double (shape 1103&1107)? I also wonder why you duplicated the time barrier as magic barrier, for the changed name?

Very cool future plans.

Post by **Dominus** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:47 pm

sorry for the mixup in my instructions. That was because I just copy/pasted contents of my exult.cfg

The problems with the serpent's hold basement are caused by the suff I mentioned in the post before that.

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:04 pm

Ack... WTF??? Everything I did in the other map (with the exception of the building items) has vanished... I will see if I can find out what is going on, and may reupload a version in a short while.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:09 pm

there are some spelling and grammar errors in the new text with Zauriel and Laurianna as well, and also the gals' paperdoll doesnt work (and she has no inventory, dont know if thats on purpose), and she acts like a party member but has no status bars

but... even with problems i'm still loving the changes

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:26 pm

also.. i suggest that the icons at the shrines all be moved a space or two to the right... right now they seem to hang over the left edge of the shrine altar

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:29 pm

I haven't implemented the new paperdol thing yet. And I will take another look at the text.

And I just found out a few bugs in the multimap system which will have to be solved to get the mod to work correctly. For example, I discovered that non-building items in the other map are being saved only to gamedat -- but not to the patch dir. This is why there were no stairs or flame when you went to the basement of Serpent's Hold, and why they were present here until I decided to clear gamedat dir and start a new game.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:32 pm

well that explains things.

of course it would have been impossible to know sooner, as you are really the first to be using it if I remember correctly... you get to be the ginuea pig, as it were

Post by **Dominus** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:33 pm

ouch!

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:41 pm

one last thing for now.. breaking on this for thenight most likely

Lock Lake

once I have Heather sign te bill and return it to the woman in the castle... nothing happens... if i talk to her again the 'signed' option still appears and she says I dont have it on me.. and if i ask job she still has te options to get another copy of it.. which can then be turned in immediately as Heather signed it already

also, Heather doesnt notice its been turned in either, and still gives the options to sign it or talk about the lake

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 4:17 pm

Re: Miranda still having the sign option: I haven't touched Miranda's usecode, so those are bugs in the original.

Re: Lord Heather: He says he signed the bill already when you ask him about it. But I *should* change what he says about Lock Lake as the cleanup progresses; currently, he will say that it is putrid even after the lake has been completely cleaned up.

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 4:47 pm

I have uploaded a new version of the file, containing the fixed initgame.dat file. I have partially fixed the multimap problems; basically, there were problems on *saving* a multimap (still there) and on *loading* the multimap (squashed).

I am still working on the save problem, but there is a workaround: when editing multimaps, make sure to cycle through ALL maps before saving. If you don't, you will be hit by the bug: the items in the multimaps you did not visit won't be saved.

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:07 pm

Why is Laurianna's shape double (shape 1103&1107)?

One of them is an invulnerable monster, and the other is a normal NPC. In the original version I made, Laurianna was completely invulnerable; I decided that it was better to make her vulnerable while she was in the party or some players might feel the temptation to be too great. I then implemented the si_tournament flag in BG, but kept the old shape for the last cutscene of the Keyring quest (also because ES doesn't allow me to delete a shape; while I could simply not add that shape, the shape information would still be there -- and I was too lazy to add the shape info for all the other shapes I added).

I also wonder why you duplicated the time barrier as magic barrier, for the changed name?

The time barrier triggers a conversation with the Time Lord when double-clicked, and I didn't want to change its usecode. It also doesn't have a quality (its type is 'quality flags'), so I could not differentiate between them that way.

Post by **Dominus** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:08 pm

Just so others notice that, you need yet another new snapshot. The one from the 14th WON'T work correctly (with multiple maps).

Marzo, that explains a lot, thanks.

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:20 pm

Ack, forgot to answer these two:

couple of problems with 2nd map, it seems the zip is missing countless stuff. stderr.txt lists a lot of missing u7ifix files.

That is related to the fact that the map is mostly empty. When Exult tries to load one of the empty regions of the map, this error is thrown. It is harmless AFAIK.

also the first 149 lines of stderr.txt list the following error:
Shape::store_frame: framenum >= frames_size (8 >= 5)

I am unsure what may be causing this error, though. I seem to recall it happening without the keyring mod; I will have to check that, though.

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:24 pm

Just so others notice that, you need yet another new snapshot. The one from the 14th WON'T work correctly (with multiple maps).

Yeah. Looking back, I had no idea how right I was when I said that you need *the* latest snapshots -- the needed snapshots are so new, they haven't even been released yet

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:29 pm

hey.. would you mind at all if i ... er... touched up some of your new sprites.. maybe?

i know that probably sounds evil.. sorry about that much.. im really not trying to be.. especialy since almost all of it is as good as could possibly be x.x

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:38 pm

Not at all. If they end up looking better, I'll gladly update the mod with them.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:52 pm

prolly transparency errors all over these

couldnt decide which looks better... changed a few pixels around as well as the BGs actually, and probably the same kinda errors as the other two

and then...

which uses that portrait ripped from the SNES Black Gate... only did this cause I noticed a new gargoyle that needed a unique portrait.. I would understand fully if you didnt want to use it tho.. i'm a bit iffy on the issue myself

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:57 pm

Nice work! Don't worry about the transparency errors, these are easy to fix. I will skip the SNES gargoyle, but will see about making a portrait for Agra-Lem.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:05 pm

i would have made one but i really doubt I could do a portrait entirely by myself.. lol

everything else i'm ok with, but closeup faces like that.. always come out looking lopsided when i start from scratch.. lol

Vasculio294 · Post by **Vasculio294** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:16 pm

Wow! Awsome work, Marzo Sette Torres Junior

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:16 pm

A 'trick' I use for faces is finding a picture of someone in a similar enough position to get the proportions right; once I have the basic outline done, I start fleshing in the details.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:30 pm

i'll try that sometime

anyway, i started playing the mod again... and found a problem.. i think

i grabbed the "book of lost mantras" so i could test out saying random mantras for no reason.. but.. having it doesnt seem to be letting me use any of them

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:49 pm

It only works on the Shrine of Sacrifice before you cleanse it. For now, only one of the mantras provoke a different response; and that only if Dupre is around.

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:02 pm

ah.. i'll mess around with it later then

also

.. i'd like to know how that looks in-game, minus the green... the yellowish around it is supposed to be the same color as the lamp light to get the transparency effect

Post by **marzo** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:10 pm

I am assuming this is the Codex?

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:12 pm

yeah... i'm a sucker for odd visual effects

if it looks terrible could jsut remove te yellowish and keep the book with te purple outline.. i wanted it to match the really kick-arse big cover you made

Crysta the Elf · Post by **Crysta the Elf** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:16 pm

i'm thinking theyd look like this

and sorry for imposing stuff like this.. if i go too far jsut yell at me and i'll fall back in line with just helping