[Pre-RC_Luridel][Solved] A possible issue

[Aridea]

I wasn't sure where to post my question so i created a new thread in case someone has the same problem.
Came out of 2-year lurking mode to install this wonderful mod because like so many here i'm too impatient
So I took the file from GitHub and installed and.... Aran does not start any conversations with my PC...
I tried force-talking to him, his PID shows up ok with tons of choices. But from his side there is nothing at all. I even left the game paused for 6 hours to check it, and still nothing.
From reading around the forum i got the impression that he initiates friend-talks and then slowly progresses to romance. But in my case there is nothing.
He chats to other NPCs alright.
Are there any special triggers for first talks? Maybe there are issues with other mods? Am I doing something wrong or just missing something trivial?
I have gog edition with all possible interaction expansion mods installed, and several others. Would it help if i listed all of them?

[cmorgan]

That definitely seems odd - his first friendship talk should be triggering relatively early.

 

RealSetGlobalTimer("c-aranfriendtimer","GLOBAL",180) // Minimum Real Time until SoA_FT_1 is called,

Before we mess about with your game, if you wouldn't mind,

1. Could you go to your override folder and make a copy of the file c-aran.bcs, and send it to me at cmorganbg at gmail dot com,

and

2. Could you look in your game directory for a file called "SETUP-C-ARANW.DEBUG" and send it to me at cmorganbg at gmail dot com

?

 

I might be able to see from those files what has happened.

[cmorgan]

Actually - hold on. I was able to replicate it. It leads to some odd questions, though - two, in fact.

 

I'll update the github in a few minutes and post when i do. You can edit on your install, too, either with a quick edit of c-aran.baf and re-install, or opening up the .bcs and editing it using NI or DLTCEP.

 

Basically, I added a talk and forgot to make the new talk part of the OR(#) .

 

C:\Program Files (x86)\BeamDog\Games\00546\aranw\baf\c-aran.baf lines 3309 - 3331 inclusive

/* Aran's FriendTalks Aim, c-aranfriendbg2, %ARAN_FTT% : available any time */
/* This block takes the even variables set in dialog, and advances them to the odd */
IF
   GlobalLT("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",23)    // shuts down sequence when finished
   RealGlobalTimerExpired("c-aranfriendtimer","GLOBAL")    // Timer Expired
   !Global("Chapter","GLOBAL",5) // Not in Underdark - specialized talks for that
   OR(11)
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",0)    // set up SoA_FT_1
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",2)    // set up SoA_FT_2
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",4)    // set up SoA_FT_3
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",6)    // set up SoA_FT_4
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",8)    // set up SoA_FT_5
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",10)     // set up SoA_FT_6
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",12)     // set up SoA_FT_7
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",14)     // set up SoA_FT_8
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",16)     // set up SoA_FT_9
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",18)     // set up SoA_FT_10
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",20)     // set up SoA_FT_11
       Global("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",22)     // set up SoA_FT_12        
THEN
   RESPONSE #100
       IncrementGlobal("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",1)    // move up from even to odd
END

 

The OR(11) should be OR(12).

 

 

FIRST FIX: Try this first.

If you are on BGII:EE, and have CLUA enabled, try manually setting the first entry by

a. hitting crt-spacebar

b. typing C:SetGlobal("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",1)

and then hitting return

OR

If you are on BGII, and have CLUA enabled, try manually setting the first entry by opening the CLUAConsole and tyoe

CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("c-aranfriendbg2","GLOBAL",1)

 

 

SECOND (more permanent) FIX:

Editing the file to OR(12) and re-installing, going in and picking up Aran resulted in the regular "three minutes after you get him the first friendtalk fires and the sequence gets rolling" behavior.

 

THIRD more permanent) FIX:

Open the file C-ARAN.BCS up in NI or DLTCEP and edit the corresponding block to an OR(12), recompile the script, and see if that works.

 

 

Here's the strange bit - it shouldn't have stopped the first talk - scripts are supposedly evaluated from top to bottom, so the 12th should have dropped, not the 1st. Very strange - but replicated on both BGII-ToB and BG2:EE... with the OR(11), the first friendtalk is never advanced from 0 to 1 regardless of timer expiration.

 

Second oddity -

 

On BG2, RealSetGlobalTimer() resulted in what looked like different mounts of "ticks" added to the timer. But in-game, it looks like the three minute timer worked the exact same way on BGII-ToB and BGII:EE, so i am more curious about it then worried - I just need to investigate the differences.

[Aridea]

Thank you for looking at it!

I thought I was going crazy, or messed something up, or both.

I'm afraid to mess with game files for now - it ususally doesn't end well - so I tried the first fix you've suggested for BGII using CLUAConsole. It worked. The friend talk about adventuring company fired ok. I will play on and see how it goes.

 

Also, I've kept the original c-aran.bcs and "SETUP-C-ARANW.DEBUG" as per your suggestion in case you might need them.

 

He looks great so far, definitely my favorite character type. Thank you for putting so much time and effort in creating him.

[cmorgan]

Great to know it worked! You should be fine from here on out.

[cmorgan]

...and I spoke too soon. Your game should be fine, but your timer may not be what you chose... I missed one file in the EVALUATE_BUFFER, so some of the values that were installed were

 

RealSetGlobalTimer("c-aranfriendtimer","GLOBAL",87200)

 

87200 evaluates to 24 hours of real time in-game. This is not exactly correct

 

The corrected files will be up on github in a few minutes (just performing another test to make sure everything is working). On your game, Aridea, you can circumvent the timer issue bu manually expiring the timer whenever you want a talk to run.

 

CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("c-aranfriendtimer","GLOBAL",1)

 

This problem will effect both lovetalks and friendtalks and possibly flirts. So it may be too much of a pain to deal with this run - ou may have to just dump him and catch him next game. Or if you are not too far along, reinstall him and start over. My apologies for the mixup.

 

EDIT:

• Repaired; tested (installed on, files decompiled for recheck, and 15 minute timer tested in-game with no CLUA) on BGII
  
• Repaired; tested (installed on, files decompiled for recheck, and 15 minute timer tested in-game with no CLUA) on BGII:EE
  

https://github.com/cmorganbg/Aran-Whitehand/commit/c5895ca2fa5be5345bb3868d6e243e3181c1bd6f

[Aridea]

Oh my, I thought he was taking a bit too long! With 24 hour timer I'll probably go crazy

 

Thank you for fixing this. I'll just reinstall him and start over. I'm in the beginning of a game anyway, so no problem here.

[cmorgan]

Closing this up to concentrate on [Pre-RC_Luridel].