Known bugs - all fixed in v5

[DavidW]

Thanks David. I've started a new game with v4 installed.

 

Can I just clarify if this is working correctly? I'm at the FA Inn confronting Tarnesh. He casts Horror at me, but then runs away. Is this because my (solo) PC has cast Shield (which protects against Magic Missile), and Tarnesh only has MM memorized - so he decides to run rather than fight? I just want to make sure this is intentional

 

It's basically intentional. Tarnesh knows Sleep, Horror, and a couple of MMs. For any wizard with those spells, the default strategy should be to cast Sleep, then Horror, then MMs. I'm not sure why he didn't try Sleep (if indeed he didn't), but no, he wouldn't try a MM if you've got Shield running. And default behaviour for any wizard who's got spells left is to run away (or at least, to wander around randomly) rather than engage in melee and possibly get decapitated.

 

Having said all of that, Tarnesh would be wiser, I suspect, to have a go at melee-ing your PC rather than bolting. There's a limit to how much can be anticipated... though I do recall one version of SCS having very early-in-game wizards try melee rather than running. I might look into it again.

 

(It's also worth noting that I never play solo and so my own playtesting doesn't tend to pick up solo-specific oddities very well. Let me know if you encounter any other ones!)

[Guest coaster]

Thanks for the quick reply David. Don't really know why he didn't try Sleep - I waited until Shield had worn off and he did indeed fire a few MMs at me. I guess with another NPC he would fire some MMs at them instead (as you hint at in your comment about soloing).

 

A couple of suggestions:

 

1/ Would it be possible to randomise whether a mage out of spells either runs or fights? It might add a little unpredictability in terms of what to expect.

 

2/ Is it possible to code fleeing off the map? This would make it much more challenging in terms of pursuing fleeing attackers. The downside is that if the NPC is carrying unique items (particularly those vital to quests), these might be lost forever...plus I presume the pathfinding would be pretty difficult in somewhere like the Friendly Arm, where the only exits for a fleeing Tarnesh would be to head for the gate (to get to the edges of the map) or inside the Inn.

[DavidW]

A couple of suggestions:

 

1/ Would it be possible to randomise whether a mage out of spells either runs or fights? It might add a little unpredictability in terms of what to expect.

 

Actually, a mage who's genuinely out of spells always fights. The problem is that a mage who does have some spells but can't find a target for them is hard to detect in the AI script. (It would be fine were it not for the random element in SCS spellcasting, but I'm reluctant to lose that, it makes things more interesting).

 

2/ Is it possible to code fleeing off the map? This would make it much more challenging in terms of pursuing fleeing attackers. The downside is that if the NPC is carrying unique items (particularly those vital to quests), these might be lost forever...plus I presume the pathfinding would be pretty difficult in somewhere like the Friendly Arm, where the only exits for a fleeing Tarnesh would be to head for the gate (to get to the edges of the map) or inside the Inn.

It's possible to code running across some exits, but not all... but I tend not to do it, because as you say, it tends to remove unique objects.

[Miloch]

I'm at the FA Inn confronting Tarnesh. He casts Horror at me, but then runs away. Is this because my (solo) PC has cast Shield (which protects against Magic Missile), and Tarnesh only has MM memorized - so he decides to run rather than fight? I just want to make sure this is intentional

It's basically intentional. Tarnesh knows Sleep, Horror, and a couple of MMs. For any wizard with those spells, the default strategy should be to cast Sleep, then Horror, then MMs. I'm not sure why he didn't try Sleep (if indeed he didn't), but no, he wouldn't try a MM if you've got Shield running. And default behaviour for any wizard who's got spells left is to run away (or at least, to wander around randomly) rather than engage in melee and possibly get decapitated.

 

Having said all of that, Tarnesh would be wiser, I suspect, to have a go at melee-ing your PC rather than bolting. There's a limit to how much can be anticipated... though I do recall one version of SCS having very early-in-game wizards try melee rather than running. I might look into it again.

That's actually kind of a cool side effect. I always wondered why Tarnesh would take on a party of six fully armed adventurers, regardless of the level (though you might likely just have yourself and possibly Imoen at this point). Even if he is an assassin, albeit a magic-using one, in which case it makes sense he might resort to sniper/guerilla tactics.

(It's also worth noting that I never play solo and so my own playtesting doesn't tend to pick up solo-specific oddities very well. Let me know if you encounter any other ones!)

Whhaaaat? My own testing is exclusively solo (because it's easier, and I'm lazy ) though I usually have other NPCs in my part in a real game.

Actually, a mage who's genuinely out of spells always fights.

Really? I had those buggers in the Ice Island maze go invis on me and start running through the maze once they were out of spells. Though I guess the fact they could cast invis by definition means they weren't out of spells, the shifty bastards.

[DavidW]

(It's also worth noting that I never play solo and so my own playtesting doesn't tend to pick up solo-specific oddities very well. Let me know if you encounter any other ones!)

Whhaaaat? My own testing is exclusively solo (because it's easier, and I'm lazy ) though I usually have other NPCs in my part in a real game.

Solo testing is fine for things like game crashes and running speed. But it doesn't pick up on subtleties like targetting optimisation (SCS wizards prefer casting some spells on wizards, others on fighters) and recognising magical protection (for me at least, it's much quicker to test a script's targetting by having a preprepared save with 6 characters with 6 different protective enchantments). But I too am lazy, and don't tend to repeat tests with solo characters.

[Guest coaster]

Hi David

 

How are the spawns for the two groups of bounty hunters supposed to work? I'm still having some issues with Lamalha and her amazons spawning at the same time as Molkar and his goons, and sometimes one spawns and the other never seems to spawn (which makes me suspect that they spawned somewhere but I missed them, eg because I was hiding in shadows).

 

Could the spawns be separated, eg so that one group pops up after Ch 2 and the other after Ch 3, for example?

[DavidW]

What should happen is:

 

1) either five days after you start chapter 3, or straight after you encounter Tranzig, the first group spawns.

 

2) either at the start of chapter 4, or 5 days after you kill the second group*if you have encountered Tranzig*, the second group spawns.

 

What have you done out of these?

 

David

[coaster]

After a couple of reloads it seems to have worked. Molkar & co did show up a while after I killed both Tranzig and Lamalha & co.

 

I think I might have got confused because sometimes one group spawns and sometimes it's the other, and I thought both had spawned. Is the spawn order random?

[DavidW]

After a couple of reloads it seems to have worked. Molkar & co did show up a while after I killed both Tranzig and Lamalha & co.

 

I think I might have got confused because sometimes one group spawns and sometimes it's the other, and I thought both had spawned. Is the spawn order random?

 

Yes, completely random. (The two parties are about as tough as each other, I think).

[coaster]

David

 

I'm in the catacombs under Candlekeep - just dealt with Prat & co. The phase spiders there don't seem to be attacking - they just dimension door continually once they are next to my PC. Is this a bug?

[Strontium Dog]

I've just tried playing sword coast stratagems. I downloaded the one available from Pocket Plane (this was version 3, I think, as I downloaded the original SCS mod a couple of months ago). Anyway, the first few combats were very interesting and novel, with a more complicated fight with the mage at the Friendly Arm Inn(="Tarnesh"?) and some very efficient attacking bandits on the Beregost roads. However, soon afterwards, most combats with the gnolls, skeletons, gibberlings and ghouls went awry. All most in each group of monsters would do was to stand around and quiver onscreen, without making any attacks whatsoever, with perhaps one token individual attacking, if at all. I figured this was due to the smarter all-round AI component of the SCS mod, due to seeing some message earlier during installation, so found the following message once I uninstalled and reinstalled that element:-

 

Warning: Cannot find block matching : [scs.genai/tasight.bcs]

 

Warning: Cannot find block matching : [scs.genai/_wtarsgt.bcs]

 

(This didn't seem to prevent the installation fo the component for some reason).

Anyway, I hope this bug will get fixed in version 5(apologies if it's already been sorted in version 4!). I should add that I installed every Tutu element in the order suggested in the SCS readme. I'll try SCS version 4, anyway, just in case.

 

Another thing. I noticed in the SCS readme that only BG1 spells are being used by enemy NPC mages with the SCs mod. This seems unfair, as it gives too great an advantage to BG1Tutut players as they have access to spells that their enemeis don't. I would most appreciate an optional component correcting this. I never much liked BG1 in its original incarnation and would prefer a full BG2-style experience, including BG2 walking-speeds/ BG2 combat etc.

 

Lastly, I made an error and posted the same message via the "report" function. I should have just clicked on "reply" - sorry.

[DavidW]

@Strontium Dog:

 

I've no idea why the version you've got has that bug in it but in any case I'm pretty much certain you won't find it in v4. (Let me know if not).

 

Enemies not using BG2 spells is a feature, not a bug, I'm afraid - part of the SCS design philosophy is to keep to BG1 resources. If you think it's unfair that you get BG2 resources, don't use them

[Guest KGub]

Suggestion: make Belt immune to mind-impairing effects. The Duchal Palace encounter is kind of strange with the Improved Doppelgangers component; Belt will become confused and flee down the staircase, making the dialog that incriminates Sarevok break because Belt and Sarevok are in different areas, so Belt's dialog with Sarevok interjecting doesn't work.

 

I was able to get by by "boxing out" the staircase so he couldn't make it down. Otherwise, it's a GRAND mod, it was the most fun I had playing BG in a long time, thank you sir.

[Nythrun]

- Mulahey and Bassilus buffing party (I've heard unconfirmed reports that this might be an old version of the BG2 fixpack or something; in any case I can't reproduce it locally)

 

This is actually due to Strength of One being set to target "Party" rather than "Preset" in Tutu - I have no idea why it's being done, but it's not your fault

[Jadefang]

I got the Taugosz dialogue bug. The phrase he kept repeating to me was "Don't bother me, little men." (or something like that). I'm not sure whether it was a phrase from vanilla BG or something added by another mod, or whether knowing it would help anyway.