2pl - The Altaz Mariners - (Demo only)

[jb]

I've very excited and proud to announce a new project from Bob The Mighty and myself called The Altaz Mariners. There is currently a Demo version available on the 1.8.x add-ons.

The Altaz Mariners is a 2pl MP Campaign/RPG, including long term quests and non-liner gameplay. While it remains true to basic wesnoth gameplay, there are several innovative features that set it apart.

Rather than use one large map, as all current RPG's do, TAM takes full advantage of the wesnoth MP campaign design. It uses several smaller maps, each connected to a world map.

Here is an exhaustive list of gameplay features.

Spoiler:

Villages and Gold
- Income is handled differently in this campaign. Your leaders do not have a base income, nor do they earn gold from owning villages. Furthermore, there is no bonus gold for completing a scenario.

- Instead, you will earn gold by trading goods and completing certain quests. Gold can also be given to the other player by right-clicking on their leader.

- Although villages do not give gold, they still heal as normal and provide upkeep. Thus capturing villages is still required in order to field a large army.

- It is very important to watch your income during battles to ensure you can pay for the upkeep of your units. Ending a scenario with negative gold will mean you start the next map with nothing."


Recruits and Recalls

- In this campaign your characters do not belong to a faction as such, and thus you don't have a set recruit list.

- Instead, the units you are able to recruit are based on the circumstances you find yourself in at any given time. For instance, you may be able to recruit Augurs if you are on an island inhabited by friendly Saurians.

- Units from previous scenarios can be recalled as normal - regardless of the island you are on.

- Most scenarios will allow you to recruit and recall from a keep on an island, while others allow it from the deck of your ship. On certain maps recruiting and recalling is not an option."


Trading

- There are three tradable goods in this campaign: rum, spices and jewels. They can be found or bought and sold at trading ports.

- Trading these goods will be your primary source of income. Try to maximise profits by selling goods at ports with a high demand.

- Goods can be bought for 10g from an island with a distillery, mine or plantation.

- Goods can sold at any island with a trading port. The going price for goods differs from port to port - depending on the distance to the nearest distillery, mine or plantation.

- Each type of ship has a different max cargo capacity. Goods cannot be picked up or bought if your ship is at its max capacity.

- Goods can be stashed at a hideout - and retrieved at a later date. This allows you to store goods until you find a suitable buyer."


Upgrades

- When your leaders reach level 3 they can continue to improve their stats and abilities by visiting statues. These monuments represent shrines to various gods. They are only found on certain islands.

- At a statue, your leader's surplus xp is converted into 'prayer points' which can be used to pray for blessings.

- The blessings offered by a statue depend on which god they represent. For instance, a statue of a Saurian Skirmisher might offer the skirmisher ability, while the statue of a Drake Burner might offer improved fire resistance.

- Every statue offers two different blessings, but each blessing can only be granted once."


Ships and Sailing

- Most of the ship movement in this game is confined to the meta-map. This is where you control your vessel and decide which locations to visit.

- Since there are no enemy units on the meta-map, ending the turn is not necessary. Instead, your ship's moves will be replenished when they reach zero.

- Most locations are present on the meta-map at the start of the game. Some locations only appear as a result of certain events or dialogue.

- Once a scenario has been completed the state of play in that location will be modified to reflect the outcome of the scenario. For instance, liberating an island occupied by the loyalists may allow another faction to take power.

- Returning to previous locations can be useful. Often there will be NPCs to speak with or trades and recruits to be had. The story state of some islands are also affected by hidden events.

- You can take control of a ship by moving your leader to a ship's keep and right-clicking on them."


Global Turns and Events

- The turn counter in the meta-map displays the total number of turns elasped since the start of the campaign. This is known as the global turn count. It tracks the time that has passed since your escape from the gaol.

- The global turn count will occasionally trigger random global events, such as freak storms or poor harvests, etc. Many of these events will only affect certain islands or regions.

- Speaking with NPCs may often give you clues about what is happening in the world and point you in the direction of unfolding global events. Of course, sometimes you might simply stumble across an event unaware.

- A turn at sea is worth five on land. This means every time your ship's moves are replenished on the meta-map the global turn count rises by 5.

- The global turn count also triggers fixed events affecting the story of the campaign. Beware of wasting too much time! Endless trading or xp-farming may not be worth it in the long run..."

While the Demo is only a teaser, there are a full half dozen working scenarios, and each is quite detailed.

Some audio features, such as the intro voice-over, are only available to the host unless all parties download the demo. It is quite MP safe for only the host to have the file, however.

We are also grateful to Bera (aka Bear), who is the lead artist on this project. You can see his work here. If you want to critique or contribute with art, make a post in Bera's thread.

[zookeeper]

You should add music=silence.ogg to the [story] [part] which starts the voice-over intro. It got pretty cacophonic when the regular music was playing at the same time...

[jb]

Updated the Demo to include Zookeeper's suggestions and fixed some typos.

[FAAB]

It seems really nice.

Some problems though:
- the mariners see their XP back to zero on next scenario. [it seems like if I am levelling a unit in the first scenario, then all mariners keep their XP at scenario 2 ]
- the loyal units can't be recalled (I don't get the ogres on Dahazi beach).
[edit] I can't reproduce any of these 2 problems in my later tests.[/edit]
- In file ~add-ons/The_Altaz_Mariners_Demo/scenarios/hideout-b.cfg, included file ~add-ons/The_Altaz_Mariners/macros_Demo/macro_hub.cfg should be changed to ~add-ons/The_Altaz_Mariners_Demo/macros/macro_hub.cfg

[hockal00gy]

hey in the first scenario where you escape form prison. What are the jail doors in it? I need it for a campaign i am making. Also can i have permission to use them?

[jb]

Thanks FaaB, I'll take a look when I get some time.

hey in the first scenario where you escape form prison. What are the jail doors in it? I need it for a campaign i am making. Also can i have permission to use them?

Those jail doors are in the default image folder. Of course you can use them.

[Bob_The_Mighty]

I've uploaded 0.2 of the demo - some small but necessary bug fixes.

[Bob_The_Mighty]

I thought I'd chip in and explain why I think The Altaz Mariners (TAM) will be awesome.

Immersion
Both jb and I are big fans of Fallout, thus we've tried to make this campaign as non-linear as possible without diminishing the role of a good story. Each island will have multiple states (a different scenario file is loaded on a return visit) reflecting the changes that have occured as a consequence of the player's actions. There will be a wealth of interconnecting mini-quests, some unlocking further islands, or affecting NPCs elsewhere, etc. I want to make the players feel that they are moving about in an evolving world. The state of play will be changed by hidden global events; the story broken up by random encounters. Players will also glimpse pieces of larger events unfurling around them, hopefully giving the game a sense of urgency and intrigue.

Gameplay
The terrain of the different islands varies a lot, as will the victory conditions, so each scenario will have an unique feel. Some will be RPG style fights, some squad skirmishes and some full-scale battles. There are also non-combat maps full of NPCs to talk to and various puzzles/problems to solve. Although the actual combat works the same as a standard wesnoth campaign, players do not earn gold from villages. Thus, during every battle players must be prudent about the cash they spend. Gold is earned by carrying out raids, helping NPCs, getting lucky in a gambling den or completing trade-runs (whilst always on the lookout for trading tips and new buyers).

Special Features
- At various points in the campaign players will be treated to cut-scenes with a voice-over. These will be used to introduce important islands or to narrate a development in the story.
- Players will have access to a log (by right-clicking). This records all important infomation the players have learned, either from NPCs or first-hand. The log will store clues, trading tips and info about locations - useful if players have a bad memory, can't be bothered to read dialogue (sadly, it happens) or are continuing from a save game.
- Custom terrain and custom units allows us to stage proper naval battles, with various ship types and sea terrain.

Of course, a lot of the above is not quite there in the demo that we've released. But it does contain enough to give an idea of the epic scope and novel angle of the campaign.

Some of the elements of this campaign may be familiar to people who've played The High Seas. The Altaz Mariners is basically a fully-fleshed realisation of what that scenario was intended to be. It will also be more streamlined and less confusing.

Obviously, this campaign will require a ton of work. jb and I are looking for people to help out: if anyone would like to become a playtester, an island designer or donate some sea-faring artwork - please get in touch!

[Natasiel]

Hi guys,

jb asked me for some willingness to help and that I have. I am also a big Fallout fan (completed the first and second game) so I can foresee the whereabouts this is heading.

I'll begin with some random templates, so if anybody got suggestions bring them on.

I'd like to ask either jb or bob if is is possible to add at an island where scenario/random.cfg could be loaded. I think that messing up with the main map would rather be confusing to later synchronize.

Some questions:

As I can see, there is 2 maps (islands) versions: 1 for the initial visit and a second for later revisiting. could there be more? (like 1 on first visit, a second for subsequent travels and a third upon completion, a fourth based on general events, and so on)

Instead of cycling through all the availlable macros at start and getting myself discouraged, what are the "must know" macros? (accessing the journal, modifying the resources, setting states on the map)

And one last thing; how will the campaign adjust later on? (when leaders and units reach lvl 3, gold gets abundant as when the overall islands gets really easy to beat)

Anyway, I'll begin pumping up some stuff then we'll readjust later to better fit the campaign.

[Bob_The_Mighty]

I'd like to ask either jb or bob if is is possible to add at an island where scenario/random.cfg could be loaded. I think that messing up with the main map would rather be confusing to later synchronize.

Not quite sure what you mean. If you make a random island, It can be plugged into the world map at a later date without much fuss.

As I can see, there is 2 maps (islands) versions: 1 for the initial visit and a second for later revisiting. could there be more? (like 1 on first visit, a second for subsequent travels and a third upon completion, a fourth based on general events, and so on)

Yes, it is possible and I would encourage it.

Instead of cycling through all the availlable macros at start and getting myself discouraged, what are the "must know" macros? (accessing the journal, modifying the resources, setting states on the map)

Lots of the bitty stuff is covered in: {TAM_GLOBAL_EVENTS}
This sets a flashing exit point and deals with exiting the map: {TAM_EXIT X Y}
This places a ship image on the map, sorts out the deck and handles the boarding: {TAM_PLACING_PLAYER_VESSEL X Y}

[Bob_The_Mighty]

This demo will soon be superceded by a new release. The thread for the campaign is now here.

Please do not post here. All comments about The Altaz Mariners should be moved to the new topic.