Annoying domination mission bug dealt with...

In response to the troubles caused by the CRY HAVOC IV mission in ENDGAME, I have just uploaded to both the Empire homepage and Ambrosia's EV Add-ons a 1.3 update which changes the mission in question from a starport domination to a carrier group showdown. It does not change the flow of the storyline in any way though minor changes in the associated text have been made to accomodate the change.

I do not know how long it takes Ambrosia to refresh the add-ons site so in the meantime you can get the updater from my homepage http://www.evula.org/empire_trilogy

Again my apologies for the obvious inconvenience.

Regards,

Tim

@tim, on Mar 22 2006, 04:31 PM, said in EMPIRE 3: ENDGAME UPDATED!:

In response to the troubles caused by the CRY HAVOC IV mission in ENDGAME, I have just uploaded to both the Empire homepage and Ambrosia's EV Add-ons a 1.3 update which changes the mission in question from a starport domination to a carrier group showdown. It does not change the flow of the storyline in any way though minor changes in the associated text have been made to accomodate the change.

Regards,

Tim

Whoo! This is awesome! (actually should be with caps: IS). I dont need to edit my files, which I even I dont know even if I am quite savvy with plugs & editing. I only vaguely knew. This is perhaps the only thread I ever have read with a strong feelings rush: THIS is interesting! A carrier group is more interesting, too. Even more interesting is how you changed the text- how will the Letheans describe that there is a carrier group to blow up (=eliminate threat, if my memory isnt rusty from the months long stalling). (:mad:) And no, you dont need to apologize. Its awesome that you made it at all! Ill post my thoughts about using so much domination in your plugs later. I am so interesting in finally picking up endgame again (it has gathered dust for... a week? or two?), that I dont want to make a long post.

Edit- before I get too extatic, I tried it. I aborted the previous one, landed and left to save this. I got the mission again, visibly changed. But there is a new bug: now nothing shows up. Nothing but noemal traffic. And for this mission the trick you posted in the other thread didnt work- I went to SC112, waited, and came back. But no text. So this doesnt work: In theory you could simply accept the troublesome mission, hyper out of the system, return to the RST and you're done. Is it because its just theory? And yes, I followed the instructions to letter. Before putting the new updated in, I trashcanned the previous. And then I aborted & saved the state, as said previously. Bah... as its going to take hours before Tim replies & gets me a another update, Im going to investigate it myself. Several hours is too slow (but I could stand it- like 3 hours.) I would need it in a window of about 15 minutes- the time it takes to post & compress & upload to not become become bored. This is not a ridiculous demand- just my thoughts. How I am going to fix it myself.

Edit2- On the other hand, trashing such a amount of Carriers would be fun. Ill let you fix it. 8 Carriers. It may have to do with the large amount of launched ships and the ship limit.

This post has been edited by General Cade Smart : 22 March 2006 - 11:15 AM

@general-cade-smart, on Mar 22 2006, 02:41 PM, said in EMPIRE 3: ENDGAME UPDATED!:

Edit- before I get too extatic, I tried it. I aborted the previous one, landed and left to save this. I got the mission again, visibly changed. But there is a new bug: now nothing shows up. Nothing but noemal traffic. And for this mission the trick you posted in the other thread didnt work- I went to SC112, waited, and came back. But no text. So this doesnt work: In theory you could simply accept the troublesome mission, hyper out of the system, return to the RST and you're done. Is it because its just theory? And yes, I followed the instructions to letter. Before putting the new updated in, I trashcanned the previous. And then I aborted & saved the state, as said previously. Bah... as its going to take hours before Tim replies & gets me a another update, Im going to investigate it myself. Several hours is too slow (but I could stand it- like 3 hours.) I would need it in a window of about 15 minutes- the time it takes to post & compress & upload to not become become bored. This is not a ridiculous demand- just my thoughts. How I am going to fix it myself.

You probably need to start a new pilot file unfortunately as the current may have become corrupted based on my past experiences with these situations. However, you can try using the Pilot Utility Pack (should be available from EV Add-ons Utilities) to remove the related mission bit and see if that will "reset" things. The mission bit that activates CRY HAVOC IV is 191 (delete 192 as well if need be). I do not know if this will work, though the changes I made using Schmela-V were incredibly straightforward and should work; there may be no choice but to start from scratch.

Domination missions will not be used in my eventual NOVA release as they do tend to be a bit on the repetitive side; instead I will be using heavy fleets, midlevel bosses and sentinels instead. The trouble with EV is that there are rather strict limits as to how many ships can appear at once with does tend to limit what can be done in terms of truly spectacular space battles.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Tim

Since it's been so long since I've played Endgame, I can't remember if I had this problem or not. Still, I am glad to hear the bug is fixed. I saved all your games because I enjoyed them so much and will DL the updater.

Personally, I think dominating planets can get downright tedious after the first domination mission. Especially when the planet launches ships one at a time. I would rather engage in a fleet battle.

Sorry everyone but that last updater I just announced fixed the bug all right BUT it added the new fleet to the wrong system! Anyhow, after playing through the mission and discovering why the updater was indeed doing nothing, it has now been repaired properly and I can verify that it does in fact work.

Once again my sincere apologies for making a complete mess out of that updater - you can tell that I'm out of practice with EV huh? Anyhow the NEW AND IMPROVED UPDATE is up at my www.evula.org/empire_trilogy website and I have also uploaded the proper 1.3 update to Ambrosia though do not know when it will appear at their add-ons page.

If there are any further problems pleasde do not hesitate to contact me directly at ethology101@yahoo.com

Regards,

Tim

@callide, on Mar 22 2006, 06:37 PM, said in EMPIRE 3: ENDGAME UPDATED!:

Personally, I think dominating planets can get downright tedious after the first domination mission. Especially when the planet launches ships one at a time. I would rather engage in a fleet battle.

Yes; this is the only major thing that sucks in his plugs. Domination is not actually challenging; its only a challenge of patience. How much can you stand blowing up ship after ship? Knowing that each ship only count a small amounts towards your goal? Domination is BORING. So I am extremely happy that any future Nova plugs (including the upcoming Heart and Sol), but I am too lazy to put it into words (you remember my posts are often extremely long). Woohoo! A Empire plug without domination! My opinion of you rose further, Tim. I lived to see this day (j/k). Heart and Sol is supposed to be the last, but so was E5... (just teasing you Tim).

@general-cade-smart, on Mar 22 2006, 04:49 PM, said in EMPIRE 3: ENDGAME UPDATED!:

So I am extremely happy that any future Nova plugs (including the upcoming Heart and Sol), but I am too lazy to put it into words (you remember my posts are often extremely long). Woohoo! A Empire plug without domination! My opinion of you rose further, Tim. I lived to see this day (j/k). Heart and Sol is supposed to be the last, but so was E5... (just teasing you Tim).

I just emailed you AND publicly posted a new webboard topic regarding what went so horribly wrong with that 1.3 update; suffice to say, the new version at my website DEFINITELY works (I've just tested and verified it) so now the carrier group should appear with no troubles.

I agree that domination missions are dull and the reason they are so common in my EV works has to do with the internal game engine limitations on the number of ships present which is made worse by the presence of starfighters. As NOVA offers an insanely high number of ships in a system, it allows for more, shall we say, 'creative' use of heavy fleets and the like

I currently have two NOVA plugs planned; the already announced HEART AND SOL, which takes place 30 years after Heart Of Darkness in a very different and expanded galaxy, and WAGES OF SIN, the third and completing episode of my Pirate Trilogy.

If you are interested, send me your email address at ethology101@yahoo.com and I'll send you a sneak preview of the numerous newsnet graphics and the 'corporate / faction splashscreens' for the shipyards.

Regards,

Tim

@tim, on Mar 22 2006, 08:07 PM, said in EMPIRE 3: ENDGAME UPDATED!:

I just emailed you

If you are interested, send me your email address at ethology101@yahoo.com and I'll send you a sneak preview of the numerous newsnet graphics and the 'corporate / faction splashscreens' for the shipyards.
Regards,

Tim

Funny, it is. I 'avent got any email in my Inbox. Oh well, as if it mattered because I already read the topic. If ship splash screens means the picture you get when you double click a ship, yes, thanks! Yes please! And the newsnet graphics would be nice too. I guess youre reducing the secrecy now that its almost beta, eh? Before that, the ONLY thing we would know was that topic long, long ago. In the amount of information, it was more secret than Aftermath. While they are hush-hush, at least they told something. They had a rather extensive amount of different kinds of information.

Edit again- this mission has AGAIN a bug. Yes, after a fix and a fix for a fix, its still bugged. Dont you just looooove it? (sarcasm drips). It promises me SPDs and Destroyers at the end, but doesnt give. Yes, I checked Lethe. I dont care for the Heavy Destroyers (my Corvette is good enough, thank you very much. It can beat a Scavenger Cruiser from standoff), but the SDPs could come in handy. Time to release 1.4, since this is a separate bug...

This post has been edited by General Cade Smart : 22 March 2006 - 02:28 PM

Just to keep things nice and tidy, I merged the two topics about this.