GOF 2.5 Update


Fix some missing cavern torch sounds

Files

gentlemen-of-fortune-25-win-final.zip 6 GB
Version 2.1.5 Oct 02, 2019

Get Gentlemen of Fortune 2.5

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(2 edits)

Updated reports on GOF 2.5:


- The compass at sea does not show which way the wind is; supposed to be this way?


- The shield on the top left corner for both land and sea; does not make it clear if your ship / life points are 100%, 75%, or whatever - no possibility to change ?


- All the vendors and shops do not sell any item except potion and bullets


- All the books are named (null) and does not show exactly what the book is.


- As mentioned previously, the moneylender diamond quest does not work - there is no gem anywhere outside city games (worked once but the 2nd time i never found the diamond)


- What's Diego espinosa doing with the Dutch ghost ship as a starter? :)

That's the reason why i see the ship visuals sunken. Only when I save game on sea mode, then reload, I can see the ship floating normally but then when I go to city and back at sea view again, the ghost ship flutters between underwater. And pressing W or S to lower and increase sails is not working properly - either it's slow or the mechanics on the ghost ship are not working properly (After i sold it for $0 and got different ships, it went back to normal)


- On recent save, I keep crashing whenever I try to load. Was being chased by gentlemen of fortune, so I got them near fort and waited as far away as I can. It must be the location where my ship is that makes the save file crash:

https://gofile.io/?c=SwXQwC



For now these are the main issues that came to mind. 

Thank you for the save file.  It helped pinpoint a save-load data problem with AIBalls in the engine that caused the crash.  I have fixed that and just uploaded to Itch.  Get the latest update and you should be able to load that save-game.

Diego does not start with the Dutchman, but I did a code search for that ship type and I suspect you inadvertently pressed F4.  That key runs a function in the console.c script that assigns the main character the Dutchman ship:  

pchar.Ship.Type = GenerateShip(SHIP_CURSEDDUTCHMAN, 0);

I presume that code was there for someone's testing.

Which brings me to the last part about addressing the other issues.  GOF 2.0 was not developed by me and was before my time of ever encountering this game.  So I did not make the decisions about the ship/health display bars, the compass, etc.  I merely rewrote substantial parts of the engine that were either broken or could use some enhancement, such as upgrading from DX8 to DX9, memory allocation efficiency, etc.  Then, I made all the mod versions for POTC, CT, COAS and GOF work with that same engine.  Therefore, GOF 1.2, 2.0 and 2.5 all exist just as they did when I downloaded them, except the changes needed to work with some of the new message features.  I will try to fix stuff that is clearly broken, but I will not change the compass, texture files, etc. because I figure if people are playing GOF 2.0, or COAS, or ??? they will want to see it the way it was put together by the original mod teams, just as they were.

The only game I am currently involved with ongoing development, where we will change things if given enough feedback, is ERAS.

I will add, that contrary to the "numbering scheme" of GOF, the versions 2.0 and 2.5 although "later" than 1.2, are inferior (in my opinion) to 1.2.  What they did with 2.0 and 2.5, was to actually remove much of the better mod pieces from GOF 1.2; they removed characters, ships, items, and much of the improved ship AI logic in the scripts.  In other words, they are a stripped down, and most likely incomplete because based on what I read on the forums, they never reached fruition, the people working on 2.0 and 2.5 disbanded and/or dwindled, and as such, are likely why some things like item names are missing.

Thanks for clarifying.

So I would get much more gameplay content on 1.2?

In 2.5 I am not enjoying it quite much except for one aspect: I can play from scratch with a crappy ship and build myself up slowly on near impossible difficulty.

In ERAS I noticed also hundreds of NPC characters compared to just 10 or so in GOF2.5


But one reason I wanted to try GOF is to see the diversity of ships from all classes, which I'm seeing but there are lot of issues with this mod, and historically has always been the case.

Yes, there is far more content in GOF 1.2 than 2.0 or 2.5.

Also, to add a brief history of my involvement with the series...

I purchased City of Abandoned Ships in 2011 and played quite a bit, but noticed some glaring errors, such as the problem dialog for the Tenochtitlan quest that was actually broken to the point that speaking to the first guy on shore would show nothing and freeze the game.  An online search connected me to some sites that explained the fairly simple program script changes needed to fix that.  I am a programmer in my day-job, so these types of things are relatively simple for me to do myself and once I gained an understanding of the script  mechanics, I was able to start fixing other problems myself.  Through this, I became aware of GOF 1.2, that extended the characters, ships, items and such and so I started playing that mod.

This mod also contained a number of problems and errors that I was able to fix myself, which was necessary because by the time I was playing it, the GOF mod team had disbanded.  GOF 2.0 and 2.5 evidently spawned from the fact that some of the newly added ships and script logic caused far more crashes than even stock/vanilla COAS; the Storm Engine was always problematic and rife with crashes (see also TEHO forums, as they use the stock engine and still suffer from many user complaints for crashes such as quick save, rain, etc.), but adding extra, and in some cases, non-conforming characters/ships, and extra script code did expose more engine flaws.  I believe from what I read, 2.0 and 2.5 were an effort to scale back much of the 1.2 work, so they are vastly stripped down versions of GOF and really look more like a lightly customized version of stock COAS, with just some GUI texture changes for the HUD and some character model swaps (e.g. Peter Blood).

While playing GOF 1.2, and looking for online resources in the past, I became aware of ERAS, and since it had started as GOF 1.2, but went in a direction of incorporating many historical characters, ships and items; people/items that actually fit the time-frame and Caribbean setting during this era of sail history.  I really enjoyed that mod, but again, since it was based on GOF 1.2, also suffered from many engine flaws that got exposed with the extra GOF script logic and some of the slight non-conformance issues of the extra ships, etc.  Since I had fixed many logical flaws, missing content and such during my GOF 1.2 gameplay myself, I started posting my actual fixes for ERAS to the main dev site.  This brought the attention of the ERAS dev to my presence, and after getting to know my script fixes and day-job background, he contacted me personally and asked if I knew C++ code.  He explained that the original game devs had divested their interest in the Storm Engine and had actually freely distributed the source code for the game briefly, back in 2009 or so and he had been given a copy.  To this point, hardly anybody ever got it compiled and working properly.  I said I would take a look at it and he sent it to me.  I was able to compile it, but then noticed that although it was Storm 2.8, claiming DirectX 9 on the box, it was really DirectX 8 as well.  Sure enough, a process monitor tool with my stock COAS game showed it was really using d3d8.dll...bit of a funny surprise given the "requirement" on the box for DX9.1c and even an installation option, LOL.  Anyway, now I could set upon finding the root cause and fix many crashes, memory leaks, etc., but I also found some Microsoft guides to port from DX8 to DX9 (I have no background in game/graphic programming, but rather ERP business/accounting/integration software).  I also upgraded to use the more current Visual Studio/C++ runtimes (the original was circa 2008), upgraded memory allocation to use the same as Firefox/Facebook/BSD, fixed many crashes, updated to 64 bit (while keeping original DX8 32 bit, and my added DX9 32 bit, yet with all the same fixes applied).  Once I got ERAS working with this, I set about offering to everyone the ability to play ALL the past versions of the game as well, because they all have roots in the same engine, and required relatively minor adjustments in both scripts and resources to work.

All this to say, that given my experience in modding the game, the three with the most solid experience will be COAS, GOF 1.2 and for certain ERAS as we still develop/add content for ERAS.  The others, including POTC, CT, CT Immersion, GOF 2.0, GOF 2.5 and New Horizons are all "smoke tested" in that I've launched the game, started a new, played some basic features like sailing, fighting, navigating GUI interface, saved and reloaded a save to ensure it works.  But I never actually played through any of them.

Again, if they are broken, and I get feedback from anyone, I will take a look and fix what I can, but we really only update/keep current ERAS.  The others, such as the compass/textures you don't like in GOF, will remain as those were the original design choices of a past team and we really don't have much interest in changing an old mod; we are really just focused on offering a more solid platform to play the old versions, and will offer new/updated content in ERAS only.

Hope this helps explain our position.

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Thanks for the detailed clarification.

Indeed ERAS has a ton of content; and here are a few notes based on my last gameplay which was about 2 weeks ago:


- The Gallileo telescope and excellent telescope both have same vision; and neither can show you number of cannons, number of crew, or any other detail besides the simple data which is shown on the basic/good spyglass


- The same issue regarding all the AOP games and mods: 

when you leave Cape Negril in Jamaica, your ship is positioned in an uncomfortable position  /  when you leave Trinidad, also similar bad position  /  in Martinique, Lamont Beach just a tiny bit awkward leaving position  /  In Guadalupe when you leave Man-o-shore, have to turn a long way left before your angle is set corretly once you go to world view



Thats all I remember, but will post new stuff when I play it in the upcoming weeks. Thanks for all your efforts.

For the "advanced" telescopes, ERAS has a Mod Option (Options screen, lower right "Mod Options" button.  The first setting is for "Realistic Spyglasses"  Set that option to Off to see the additional information the best telescopes provide.

I am aware of the positioning when leaving some shores, that force you to turn 180 degrees before setting sail; I remember several of them and it was always a slight irritation when encountered.  It is probably a locator orientation value that needs adjustment for those shores.  I will put that on my list to research and if I resolve it, I can probably apply it to all COAS-based games since they share the same island locator files.  Thanks for the list of problem shores, because I never noted them myself, so will save the trouble of identifying them.

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Hello.

I am unable to start any game. When I open GOF 2.5 via Maelstrom, the loading screen happens then I go to main menu but i am unable to click on anything; new game, load game, options, or anything.

And I cannot exit the main menu screen without pressing ALT and F4.

The starting music and the animation of the bird in the background are moving normally, but I just can't click on any of the options on main menu.


Please advice how to fix. Thanks.

Well, it looks like the problem is if you click Options.  You can start a new game, or load a save, but as soon as you click Options, then nothing on the Menu works, so you probably tried to set the Options first before doing anything.  I also found that this problem exists in all our GOF versions: 1.2, 2.0 and 2.5.  It has something to do with in incompatibility with the GOF "reinit" feature in the Options screen and our OnLoad reinit feature.  So I disabled the GOF version and that "full reinit" button on the Mod Options screen does nothing now, but it was not needed anyway.  So, the problem is now fixed and I am currently uploading the fix for all GOF version to Itch right now.  Look for the update notice as soon as the process completes (takes awhile).

Ahoy there.

Thanks for being attentive to the games. Nice work.

Im downloading now still have not checked on the updated stuff, but I did manage to play a game yesterday; I spent 2 hours trying to go around and like you said, options did not come through; just new and load game.

So I started a new game, and the first thing i noticed is that when you go to sea view, your ship is sunk (visually but not in terms of HP or anything).


So your ship appears underwater for some reason.


Secondly, the money lender's diamond quest outside city walls, I spent 40 minutes chasing it and could not find - is it possible that there is a bug which doesn't show the missing diamond?


I usually play ERAS and the last time I played about 10 days ago I found a lot of weird stuff as well since the new updates; but will report later when I play another new game in the upcoming weeks.

i cant find system.log&error.log&compilate.log 

Look in the directory where the GOF Program and RESOURCE directory are.  They should be there.

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I find a text with error yes this is empty.
I wonder if I put the mode well I copied the maelston and config and Save etc files into the folder with gof2.5

(let me start only with the characters in the original game but they are modified, they are not like the originals)

Yes, you can copy the Maelstrom.exe, modules, fmod.dll, config.exe into the same folder as GOF 2.5 and try that.  If the game works after you copy, but you cannot launch from Itch client, then we just need to correct your shortcut path to match where you installed.  Let me know if you can get the game working with a copy.  If it does, you will want to fix your shortcut so you can always get the automatic updates.  If you copy the Maelstrom.exe into the GOF 2.5 folder, that one will not get updated automatically.

hello i don't know why yes i can't talk to taunts in the tavern (i can't open dialog.c or something like that)

Can you email me a save game and also the system.log, compile.log and error.log files to chezjfrey@hotmail.com?