Liberty Bay, Feedback and Testing

[Lunarman]

Since the threads are all currently on holiday atm I thought I might as well post here. I guess it can be deleted when the threads come back :)

I've downloaded the public beta of liberty bay and I'm very impressed. I've only noticed a few errors so far. For exampl, commissioner goodman's head. Aperently it doesn't have a main object and thus crashed the game. I managed to sucessfully skip that CS by pressing escape and so avoided the problem.

In addition the ganster interrogate CS after the attack on the police station finishes a bit early. The gansters last line "he can be found at the gym 'round the corner" is played only as a sound file and not displayed as text.

Oh, I got the pinstipe bug again. I killed him and the mission didn't complete. Looking at your code isn't the issue with the function name not beiong set up to effect pinstripes morph but the first pinstripe. Now I undertand you need this so you can still win the mission is pinstripe revets to his first form (it's on a timer I think?) but couldn't you use getobjject name or whatever it is to find out the name of the object pinstripe morphs into ( or do you know that already?) and then setup an interrogation cs for the morph of pinstripe after doc brings down his defenses. But I'm probably just staing the obvious.

This mod is amazing. Great fun to play and incredible quality.
I'm going to finish the 3rd mission right now!

Thx for your marvelous work

Lunarman

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

The crashing head issue has already been fixed by a patch already available.  The announcement was flushed shortly after being made.

I wasn't sure before why those cutscene quite early, but after having someone else point out an error in one, I now have an idea where to look.

And it's NOT public beta.  It's the second full release, although the first one was still pretty buggy.  This one I'm actually proud of.

Oh, I got the pinstipe bug again. I killed him and the mission didn't complete. Looking at your code isn't the issue with the function name not beiong set up to effect pinstripes morph but the first pinstripe. Now I undertand you need this so you can still win the mission is pinstripe revets to his first form (it's on a timer I think?) but couldn't you use getobjject name or whatever it is to find out the name of the object pinstripe morphs into ( or do you know that already?) and then setup an interrogation cs for the morph of pinstripe after doc brings down his defenses. But I'm probably just staing the obvious.

I fixed that problem!  It no longer happens on my computer at all.  And no, you're wrong about the problem. I already have code set to catch all that, but the problem is that it's hard to catch exactly when the transformation takes place.  My guess is that your computer runs slower than mine, so the transformation takes longer.  Hence, when the new interrogation gets set up, the transformation hasn't finished yet, so there's no object to set up.

Find this line:  RegTimer('setupstuff',.2,0,'')

And increase the number a bit.  See if that fixes it.  That line is to allow time for the transformation to complete.

[Lunarman]

excellent. nice job cat!

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Does that mean that increasing the time works?  I'll do that to the next issue anyways.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Alright, the alpha for Mission 4a is now ready for download by all team members.

I'll try to pm most of you, but if I miss anyone, let me know.

The pm will contain links to a new alpha page and future location of a beta page. All alphas and beta will go to those two places in the future.  That way, I don't have to go pming everybody next time, I can just make the announcement and wait for the list of all the dumb mistakes I made.  :rolleyes:

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

I forgot to add the "y" in the word "liberty" the link I sent out.

[lugaru]

Where do you want the feedback posted?

And btw... how do I enter a code to end a level? A certain villain I was fighting fell without allowing me to interrogate him.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

There are no interrogations in this level.  Nada.  None.

Tell me what was going on.  You may only think you are done.

Post feedback, here if you will.

[lugaru]

Ok, minor spoilers




I used the device on Pinstripe... I dont know if the effect is permanent or not since latter on he was defending quite nicely (except of course whenever he turns his back). My heroes pounded him into the ground and an arrow continued pointing to his original position while he lay unconcious. The level did not end... I ran around, mopped up some extra goons and saved the game in case I can go back and do something.

Feedback:

You have really improved the cutscenes and Vol's heads are a thing of beauty.
I like the improvements on Doc Astounding, I can tell his energy recharges a little faster which makes him more useful.
Goo is also very nicely balanced now.

Nitpicking:
Im not too fond of Jesters marble bomb. Why not give it one or two cost and a couple of detrimental effects (stun, knockback) instead of an endless rain of scenery chewing shrapnel? Perhaps her 0 cost could be a pop-gun type thing... punch style damage with a slight chance of stun.
My original goo hero file had a bouncing ball of goo projectile that was great for hitting multiple thugs and stunning one or two from time to time. Might recomend giving him a nice chained projectile if you figure you want to give him one more power at some point.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Oh.  Wrong mission.  I thought you were giving feedback on the new mission, not one of the Issue One missions.  You need to be more specific next time.  I was expecting Alpha reports.

And there is on interrogation in 4a towards the beginning that I forgot.

Im not too fond of Jesters marble bomb. Why not give it one or two cost and a couple of detrimental effects (stun, knockback) instead of an endless rain of scenery chewing shrapnel?

I like it.  It's useful, it's different, but you have to use it right, instead of just indiscriminantly tossing it every which away.  You DO realize that it doesn't effect your own guys, right?

My heroes pounded him into the ground and an arrow continued pointing to his original position while he lay unconcious. The level did not end... I ran around, mopped up some extra goons and saved the game in case I can go back and do something.

Look above a few posts for a possible fix.  It is working on my end, but your computer may be running a tad bit slower, which would result in the interrogation not working.

EDIT:  Skip_Mission() will complete all objectives and win the mission for all missions in the mod.  Use it wisely.  Even if you haven't installed the new alpha, you will be able to save at the base afterwards.

The alpha, however, will not have a base, so you'll have to save before.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

In other news, I just finished scripting 4b.  Now I have to test it and bugfix, but hopefully it all goes quickly and I can release that alpha too.

[Lunarman]

Right I've played through as much as I can of the 4a mission and I'm liking it.

Here are my notes, sry if they're a bit harsh/brief:

No voices yet
No music

BRIEFING:
there should be an angry face when rogue says Grr
There is a text files mistake Goo says "one says vanquised anymore" missing out the "no"

MISSION:
There are little text mistakes all the way through, for example mentor in the speech after saving the mayor
The textures for Hawk's head's background and the extras on his body are pink
I love the way mentor is in this mission (Crossovers FTW! :) )
after the speech with mentor it is not clear why you are going to the building except that the arrow tells you to
Hawk and coppertop should have teleporting fx instead of just dissappearing.
I didn't see this becuase none of my heroes died, but is there a hero fall CS if any of the heroes fall?
How does mentor know hawks name? They don't mention what they're called. Are they allied with the dinosaur thugs and why?
I got stuck here, I can't seem to disable the traps without warning hawk, at least I always lose the mission a few secs after I'm spotted. How do I avoid being spotted?
There should be a CS for why you lose instead of just cutting straight to the debriefing screen.
Do I still have to protect the mayor when I'm killing telephone booths?
There should be less dino assassins in the first brawl to defend the mayor as I used all my heroic revivals and the health can and still had more of the mission to do. A little to hard perhaps.
What are the groups of dino thugs in the alleyways doing? Are they just cannon fodder?
The conversation after Hawk and CT dissappear doesn't make sense, there must be a few lines missing. There is something about disguises and camoflague, is that how I avoid getting spotted?

overall, a well balence and thought out mission. The script is great as usual and I loved playing as mentor, his portrait is great :). Although I would say that docs moves are very high in energy cost and relativly useless against the dino thugs so perhaps there should be some kind of scientific thing he can do to help, like cause them rage using a special high pitched noise or something similar. Maybe you could restrict it to only 5 times if it's too good.

Nice work, I can't wait to test the next mission :)

I hope my feedback is useful

Lunarman

P.s. Have you found an actor to play mentor? If his part isn't a long one and he doesn't join LB permenantly then I'm sure I can find time to voice his few lines. I  am quite proud of my mentor impression, lol

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Good feedback.  I like feedback.   And I've never found you to be too harsh, Lunarman.  In fact, your comments are usually among the most helpful of my testers.

No voices yet
No music

It's an alpha, so I'm not worried about those yet.  Although I did include a voicepack for the Dino Thugs, one I'm going to replace.

BRIEFING:
there should be an angry face when rogue says Grr
There is a text files mistake Goo says "one says vanquised anymore" missing out the "no"

MISSION:
There are little text mistakes all the way through, for example mentor in the speech after saving the mayor

Good.  I'll look into these.  The Mentor one I knew about, I just forgot to fix it before the release.

The textures for Hawk's head's background and the extras on his body are pink

It's the whole .dds issue again.  Unfortunately, there's something wrong with the Hawk skin and most of it won't convert.  Maybe Unko can look into it.

Hawk and coppertop should have teleporting fx instead of just dissappearing.

They're walking back into the building not teleporting.  I can make this more clear, though.

after the speech with mentor it is not clear why you are going to the building except that the arrow tells you to
I didn't see this becuase none of my heroes died, but is there a hero fall CS if any of the heroes fall?
How does mentor know hawks name? They don't mention what they're called. Are they allied with the dinosaur thugs and why?
The conversation after Hawk and CT dissappear doesn't make sense, there must be a few lines missing. There is something about disguises and camoflague, is that how I avoid getting spotted?

I'll look into clarifying that stuff.

I got stuck here, I can't seem to disable the traps without warning hawk, at least I always lose the mission a few secs after I'm spotted. How do I avoid being spotted?

You got two characters who can jump on roofs, both of who have knockback powers.  I suggest you take advantage of them.  You also know which character you need to take out, so concentrate on him.

There should be a CS for why you lose instead of just cutting straight to the debriefing screen.

There is one, but I set up up wrong.

Do I still have to protect the mayor when I'm killing telephone booths?

yes, Mentor does say so.  You know those thugs hiding out behind the buildings?  Periodically, one group will start heading for the Mayor.  You can, however, take them out before they get the chance, but you don't have to.

There should be less dino assassins in the first brawl to defend the mayor as I used all my heroic revivals and the health can and still had more of the mission to do. A little to hard perhaps.

I can do it without using any cans or heroic revivals.  Keep trying.  There is also another health canister and a new heroic canister behind some of the buildings.  I can add some more cans if needed.

P.s. Have you found an actor to play mentor? If his part isn't a long one and he doesn't join LB permenantly then I'm sure I can find time to voice his few lines. I  am quite proud of my mentor impression, lol

Go ahead and send me a recording of your impersonation.  If it's good enough, I'll let you do the part.  And he leaves after this, although he does reappear later.

[Lunarman]

Right, about taking out the dino thugs before the trap is sprung. I'm either really bad at FF or I'm experiencing some sort of bug. Currently I've been moving across the rooftops with Dr and Rogue, I left Goo back to defend the mayor. Then I use mentor to flip the dino thug I need to kill over his head and then pound him with attacks while rogue holds off the other thugs. ATM I can't launch an attack without being spotted. Even using Dr.A's toss from the roof involves him coming down to ground level to get in range.
Mentor's tractor beam gives me a few more seconds to kill the thug but not nearly enough time to stop him before he reaches the phone box. Also, the thug can still warn hawk even with the phone booth destroyed.

Looking at the script I see you're using a fn that calls when the move completes. From my experience with this it seems to call at weird times, like when the move is stopped due to stun or a state. Have you thought about using a marker or a fn that calls when the thug reaches an alive telephone booth? I would also consider lowering the priority although this might make it too easy. I've used PRI_MED-1 before which causes them to run for the goal but occasionally stop and attack any attackers nearby. This would make it feasible (for me at least) to kill them. On a side note the Hawk speech that's supposed to play when he's alerted, doesn't.

Any more hints?

Thankyou
Lunarman

[stumpy]

I tried to add a spoiler alert to thread, as a precaution for people who may look here for general information on the mod. But I am not sure that is working properly right now. It may still be a good idea to use the spoiler tags in some posts...

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Any more hints?

Yes, but this one deserves the spoiler tags.  So. . .

[spoiler]
It's not necessary to actually guard the mayor while taking down the phone booths.  The easy way is to ignore the building when that option first comes up and go and take out all the thugs waiting to attack the mayor.  The phone booth guards won't be there yet, so you can take them out and have all your characters available for the booths.

I could change the fn that calls when the move is over to be triggered by a regMarkerEnter.  That should take care of any wierdness.

I had thought of him running to the booth, that but would give you less than a second to chase him off.  Having him run a building is better.  I've also angled the trigger thug, so you should be able to stand on the building without alerting him.

Try to draw off some of the other thugs first.

If you have too much trouble, I'll add in a cutscene with a five second delay while the thugs looks for the panic button.  KO him before he finds it, and you're in good shape.
[/spoiler]

[Volsung]

It seems Lunarman made an accurate test.
And like him ,I can't avoid to be spotted.
I can't wait for 4b (and a little patch to avoid thug alert)

It was amusing to run after the mayor pursued by the dino gang.
(After working on Hawk and Coppertop,I admit I'd like to individualize that honorable man.)

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Since he's likely to only appear here, there seems no need to worry about that.

I'll have 4b out by the end of the week, maybe ever today or tomorrow, and will try to have 4a fixed up a bit when I do so.

[Gremlin]

Hey Cat, you gonna send out the scripts soon?  I don't have the connection speed quite yet to download the full mod, and I don't know if you want me to do any other voices, or what.  And now that I know what format to send them in, I won't feel hideously stupid this time around.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

When I have them I will. Truth be told, Grendal only finished up to Mission 4.  I have nothing past that.  I could fill in as writer myself, but I'd rather find someone of Grendal's talent.  I'm going to be editing and changing things anyways, so a bit of my writing ability and style will make it in the final product anyways.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Scripting on 4b is pretty much done, I'm happy to say.  It's a VERY short mission with one main, but somewhat complicated, script.  It's basically a highly tweaked version of the script from the Sky King suit missions.  Don't worry, I removed the frustrating part.  If interrupted, doc can pick up right where he left off.

How I just have to play with Hawk and Coppertop's abilities and AIs.  I'm also going to re-jigger 4a a bit.  Expect something tomorrow most likely, or the day after.  I hope I'm able to keep up this pace for a bit, because it's been a while since Issue 1 came out.

[Nymph]

Im glad to be back and Cat....Once I get FF back up on this machine....I'll start testing again.

How much of the beta is done? Just Issue one?

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

None.

Issue One's in full release, and parts of Issue Two are in alpha, so there is no Beta at the moment.  Rest assured, I will let you know when the Issue Two Beta is ready for testing.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Oh yeah, before I forget.

That Odyseus skin is gone.  Lost Caput.  Detourne_me game me the bad new.

So we're going to need a new one.

[Gremlin]

Oh, no!  That was a really cool one, too! :(

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Yeah, it was.  I've been trying to get it back for a couple of months, actually.

[lugaru]

Oh yeah, before I forget.

That Odyseus skin is gone.  Lost Caput.  Detourne_me game me the bad new.

So we're going to need a new one.

Ugh, that is one of the skins that has most moved me in a long time, it was awesome and then some.

BTW have had some trouble while playtesting, mostly stuff already addressed but there's some unique stuff too. I'll post more about it when I am sober.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Yes please do.  And make sure you specify which missions.  Mission 4 stuff is what I'm hoping it is (because the previous 3 should be pretty much bug free right now, except for the Pinstripe bug, and I have a way of cheating around that.)

[Alphanaut]

I think I might be able to whip up an Odysseus skin. And Cat, do you have any save files for the end of Issue 1/beginning of Issue 2? I'm encountering a problem in mission 3 where the game just unexpectedly exits, booting me back to the desktop.

EDIT: By the way, have you seen kurtee's video for the first cutscene using his skXCamera2 mod?

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Certainly.  For playtesting purposes, I keep save files of all the missions.

Is there an error message when the game boots you to the desktop?

EDIT: By the way, have you seen kurtee's video for the first cutscene using his skXCamera2 mod?

Yeah, he asked my permission before posting it.