Topics

[Logging]

I downloaded the demo this afternoon to try out. Here is my feedback. All of these were written down and grouped by what map I was in. Apologies if it they're jumbled. Disclaimer: The game locked up on me during the caravan battle. That is as far as I reached.


Concerns

Major

Logging	Having the "Log" button is nice, but it appeared to only work the first time I pressed it. At first I thought it simply didn't work when a dialog box was on the screen, but it later appeared to not work at all. This is unfortunate because I was unable to generate a log file when the game locked up on me.
Camera	Using the scroll wheel to zoom out was very inconsistent. At times I would need to scroll in just to get it to scroll out further. The maximum zoom-out felt inadequate, especially for a tactical game where seeing what's going on is important.
Dialog Actions	There were several instances where the dialog box would begin to render, vanish while a character moved as part of the script, then pop back up. It was kind of disconcerting, and I felt like I accidentally skipped ahead in the conversation when I really didn't.
Lakshmi Bana	Despite Emma sprinting every round to reach her, Lakshmi Bana was cut down in front of her. When she fell, the "Player should not see this" message referring to the CheckForMoreDialog action came up. Lakshmi had no words in death.
Visuals	I like how the terrain and objects look. The sprite-based graphics (characters, menu/dialog boxes, etc), look bad when used alongside them. I understand that this is very much so a work in progress, so I'm hoping there's a plan to get sprites updated so the graphics feel cohesive. Overall, I kind of miss how terrain and objects look in the original. Everything fit together nicely and, while the visuals weren't necessarily stunning, it complemented itself extremely well.
Game Locked Up	The turn after Lakshmi died, Emma tried to use Sprint. The game zoomed in on her, then stopped doing anything. The music continued to play, but nothing responded. As mentioned above, I couldn't get a log file for it since the key stopped working.

Minor

Lighting	Tying into Visuals above, the checkbox pattern visible on the ground around the campfire when Zash and Red attacked looked funky.
"10 Years Later"	Minor nitpick: The dialog box during the "10 Years Later" screen looked to be a lighter shade of black than the background, so it stood out maybe more than intended.
Edge Panning	I'm hoping edge panning finds its way into the new system.
Action Zoom	Zooming in when characters use an ability felt a bit unnecessary. I'm not saying it's bad, but it would be nice to be able to disable it in the settings.
Counterattack Death	During the campfire fight, Red died to a counterattack. Is this an intentional change in the AI's behavior, or was Red just feeling lucky?
Skill A/V Effects	Mind Shield was really emphasizing the target's mind: the base of the bubble started at the target's neck. Arced Shot should be called "Missile Launch" judging from the light blast sound effects.
Doors	Since I couldn't open any doors when defending the village from bandits, I can only assume the good people of Adelbrae finally learned to lock their doors.

Praise

Indestructible Corpses!	Seriously, why aren't people building castles of the stuff? Corpses are immune to all damage, and have a ludicrous amount of hit points! What's not to like?
Game Intro	I liked that the music started, the Unity splash faded in, then out, then Sinister Design logos did its thing, and THEN the main menu came up. It felt so professional. It also didn't take an actual eternity to sit through like some of the ELDER games I've SCROLLed through.
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS! :D	'Nuff said.
Eyeless Mooks	Do you need reassurance that the bandit you're about to cut down in the heat of battle isn't actually a person? Look no further than their face! You see, you, your friends, and even your enemies that actually have names have eyes! That generic bandit, though? They don't. They're not sentient. Kill them. Kill them now.
Inventory	It took me a few minutes to realize that the Inventory screen was now integrated into the character details screen. I like being able to see exactly what each item is doing to my character! A border around the inventory region would help it stand out even more, I think.
Text decoration	Adding it was a bold decision.
Talk Bubbles	I like the little dialog bubble that pops up when a character is talking. It's a nice, unobtrusive way to indicate who's doing what.

Suggestions

Counterattacks	When a character triggers a counterattack, maybe extend the delay between them slightly? The current character's action would be replaced with the counterattack's name before it could be read sometimes.
Counter Flair	This is frivolous, but adding something like "Counterattack: {SkillName}!" when displaying the skill used to counterattack might make it seem more exciting, or draw more attention to it.
TAB to Cycle	If there aren't plans for it already (I may have overlooked it), could a button be assigned to select the next character in the turn order? The Tab key would feel natural as the default.
Deployment Inventory	An "OK" or "Exit" button on this window would do wonders.
Self-Only skills	It would be neat to be able to activate self-only skills directly from the action bar. Clicking "Sprint" and then clicking the character who's using it feels unintuitive. I understand why it's happening from a mechanical perspective, but it feels unnecessary from a playflow perspective.
Deploying Characters	I miss drag-and-drop deployment. As is, the deployment screen could use something more to make the currently selected character stand out. Swap characters' positions if they're both already deployed would help make deployment smoother.

I think that's all of my notes for now.

I was cleaning out the Windows partition on my laptop, and stumbled on a collection of recolored and rearranged Object sprites and Item Icons that may be useful to someone in the future.


This collection includes book icons of various colors and decorations. (Cryo, Photo, Pyro, and Skia decorated books shown below.)

Sample book item definitions for the currently released Telepath Tactics engine are included.

This collection also includes glove variants.  Most of these are less than pretty, but the black, bloodied, iron, and silver look okay.


Less useful, with the new engine's direction towards 3-D battlefield objects, are the garden object sprites.  Prominently featured are the hedge walls (vertical, horizontal, NE, SE, SW, and NW) and the stone statue.

Hedge wall object definitions valid for the currently released Telepath Tactics engine, as well as the .pyxel file for the stone statue, are included.

Imgur album for all embedded images

When an attack of the "Move" element has a max and min range of 0, it won't allow the player to select the character trying to use it, even if the target location defined in AOEPatterns.xml would cause it to land in a location other than its starting location.

The manual doesn't describe any way of using the OnStat dialog trigger with the string stat types, such as Direction, Class, etc, and I haven't been able to figure out a configuration of parameters that would cause it to work.

The -FNAME- special character isn't being assigned correctly when an OnCharAttacked dialog tree is triggered.  Instead of reflecting the name of the character being attacked, it reads "undefined".  (See the line labeled 561 in the attached log to see what I mean.)

Our good friend the Adobe Air version bug has returned in the latest version of the game.  (The one released last night.)

Steam edition on Win 7.

I was attempting to run this script:

Code Select Expand


<Script>
initializeVariables
<Action>Run/buildNumList</Action>
<Action>SetString/CurrentMap,Introduction</Action>
<Action>SetVal/ArenaGatesUnlocked,=,0</Action>
<Action>SetVal/currentAura,=,1000</Action>
<Action>ForArr/numList,1,102,1,addRecuitID</Action>
</Script>
<Script>
addRecuitID
<Action>SetArr/freeRecruitIDs,end,-VAL:_ArrStr-</Action>
</Script>

numList is an array containing values 0 ≤ x ≤ 499 built by hand. (I have a SetArr action for every entry.)

When the game reaches the ForArr action, it spits out ReferenceError 1069 and generates the attached log.


(Side note: variable saving seems to be really sketchy with the new save system.  I've had variables disappear from my save file or not be stored when moving to a new map.)

Brought to you by this thread, this mod causes the dialog with Gunther outside the bandit fortress to be a little more realistic and use variable quantifiers when referencing the number of units in your army.  E.G. If there are only 6 members of your army left alive (including the sisters), he'll use the term "half-dozen" instead of dozen.

(As with most of my mods as of late, I haven't tested it; I'm just throwing these together.  If it doesn't work, let me know.)

To install, download the attached file and copy it to "Telepath Tactics\Data\Campaigns\The Vengeance of Emma Strider\Maps".

This mod makes small changes to a couple maps to prevent NPCs from slowing down the battle (and your computer).

To install, download and move the attached files to "Telepath Tactics\Data\Campaigns\The Vengeance of Emma Strider\Maps".  Congrats!  No more NPCs slowing down your battle!

If things aren't working correctly, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Maybe my game is corrupted in a tiny way somehow, because I haven't seen this reported yet, but I'm missing a tile out of the map in the battle against The Big Fluffy Bunnies.  I've reloaded the battle several times, and it hasn't gone away.  Nothing game breaking, just something I thought I'd bring to light.More often than not: using Solid State Shield will cause a random teammate nearby the caster to disappear.  If you complete the battle afterwards, they're counted as having died.

Are you tired of listening to the same boring music any time you play a Local Match? Don't worry, I've got you covered. With "Music Box" it's never been easier to change the music that plays during a Multiplayer battle. With simple set-up and easy installation, you'll be changing music tracks in no time.  Just install the Multiplayer Rule Set, run the map you want to use Music Box on through the enclosed converter, and you're off!

Before you do anything, though, read the README.txt file enclosed.  It's a super short file, and I'm not going to be happy helping you with any problems you may have if you don't read it.  So just read the file, please.

IMPORTANT:
[spoiler]
THE SOFTWARE ENCLOSED IN THE (OPTIONAL) ATTACHED .zip FILE IS EXPERIMENTAL. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MAY OCCUR TO YOUR MACHINE, DATA ON YOUR MACHINE, OR YOUR WELL BEING. YOU AGREE THAT YOU USE THE CONTENTS OF THE .zip FILE AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND AGREE THAT I AM NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Updates]
07/15/2015
Split the map conversion tool into its own download.  I also included pre-converted copies of all the maps the game ships with.  Now you can just install and play without any extra work!  The maps don't include previews just yet, but I'll fix that as soon as Multiplayer is working again. Multiplayer was broken for a weird reason.  I've uploaded the previews now too.
[/spoiler]

Rather than make a new thread anytime I find a new bug or error, I'll just put them all here from now on.

The game generated this one on its own, after I added a new script using the SetStatByStat action.  Here's the last section of the log attached, where it threw the error.

Code Select Expand


977 |      running runAction() in DialogScreen; currActionString = Run/UpdateStats
978 | running getScript( UpdateStats ) in StartBattle
979 |      scriptActions[0] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Max Health,=,-FNAME-,Max Health
980 |      scriptActions[1] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Max Energy,=,-FNAME-,Max Energy
981 |      scriptActions[2] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Strength,=,-FNAME-,Strength
982 |      scriptActions[3] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Psy Power,=,-FNAME-,Psy Power
983 |      scriptActions[4] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Psy Defense,=,-FNAME-,Psy Defense
984 |      scriptActions[5] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Speed,=,-FNAME-,Speed
985 |      scriptActions[6] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Dodge,=,-FNAME-,Dodge
986 |      scriptActions[7] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Counter Limit,=,-FNAME-,Counter Limit
987 |      scriptActions[8] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Perception,=,-FNAME-,Perception
988 |      scriptActions[9] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Slash Res.,=,-FNAME-,Slash Res.
989 |      scriptActions[10] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Crush Res.,=,-FNAME-,Crush Res.
990 |      scriptActions[11] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Mental Res.,=,-FNAME-,Mental Res.
991 | running runScript( SetStatByStat/ID[000],Max Health,=,-FNAME-,Max Health,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Max Energy,=,-FNAME-,Max Energy,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Strength,=,-FNAME-,Strength,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Psy Power,=,-FNAME-,Psy Power,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Psy Defense,=,-FNAME-,Psy Defense,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Speed,=,-FNAME-,Speed,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Dodge,=,-FNAME-,Dodge,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Counter Limit,=,-FNAME-,Counter Limit,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Perception,=,-FNAME-,Perception,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Slash Res.,=,-FNAME-,Slash Res.,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Crush Res.,=,-FNAME-,Crush Res.,SetStatByStat/ID[000],Mental Res.,=,-FNAME-,Mental Res. ) in StartBattle
992 |    DialogScreen open--running script!
993 |    running runScript() in DialogScreen; scriptActions.length = 12
994 |      scriptActions[0] = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Max Health,=,-FNAME-,Max Health; now converting special characters!
995 |
996 |      running runAction() in DialogScreen; currActionString = SetStatByStat/ID[000],Max Health,=,Psy Fighter,Max Health
997 | ArgumentError 1063: Error #1063
998 | ArgumentError: Error #1063
at DialogAction/executeAction()
at DialogAction()
at DialogScreen/runAction()
at DialogScreen/runScript()
at StartBattle/runScript()
at DialogAction/executeAction()
at DialogAction()
at DialogScreen/runAction()
at DialogScreen/runSpecialActions()
at DialogScreen/bgLoaderReady()
999 | ---------> running saveLog() within LogHandler!

I'm not sure if this was just me doing something incorrectly that the game really didn't like, or if it's an actual bug.  Either way, the game in general stopped functioning after this occurred.

Also, as a side note, SetStringByStat isn't in the manual, as of game version 1.033.


-EDIT-
Mousing over any character's abilities (walk, done, rotate, move, etc) will trip an OnCharSelect trigger if one applies to a that character.  This means if a script is set to run any time a character is selected, it can be tripped many times over the course of just a few seconds.

-EDIT2-
When a unit has max health in the single digits, the energy icon overlaps onto it on that unit's tool-tip.

Attempting to use the new array functionality that has been added, I've hit a few snags. I'm unsure if they're bugs or not, but using _ArrStr in a script tied to a ForArr action seems to do nothing.  From what I can tell from the log, it's not recognizing _ArrStr as a special character. (At least when used in the context of a SetString action.)  The scripts work just fine when the array is empty.  It's "ConcatenateString" that seems to have trouble.

The scripts in question being used, in case I'm just mangling something:

Code Select Expand


<Dialog branch="0" r="-1" name="Click">
    OnCharSelect//bugfartboy/A character on the map was selected. Let's see which one it was!
    <Action>Run/AddChar</Action>
    <Reply>.../EndConv/</Reply>
  </Dialog>
 
  <Script>
    ClearOutput
    <Action>DelArr/MBKChars,all</Action>
    <Action>Run/UpdateOutput</Action>
  </Script>
 
  <Script>
    UpdateOutput
    <Action>SetString/MBKOutput,</Action>
    <Action>ForArr/MBKChars,front,end,1,ConcatenateString</Action>
    <Action>AddTextOverlay/Entered Text: -STR:MBKOutput-</Action>
  </Script>
 
  <Script>
    ConcatenateString
    <Action>SetString/MBKOutput,-STR:MBKOutput-_ArrStr</Action>
  </Script>
 
  <Script>
AddChar
<Action>SetArr/MBKChars,end,-FNAME-</Action>
<Action>Run/UpdateOutput</Action>
  </Script>

(On an unrelated note, this is actually how I prefer to edit my dialog and scripts. The Dialog Editor is nice, but I like using Notepad++ and having a copy of the manual open instead.)

Log attached below.

I made these a while ago and forgot about them.  This adds 5 new orb sprites (including 3 TPA1 classics that didn't make an appearance in the TT main campaign) to be used by campaign makers and modders alike. 

Contents:


[spoiler=Updates]
2015/04/29 - Added two new orbs:  The Brown Orb and the delicious Sprinkles Orb.
[/spoiler]

To install, simply extract the contents of the attached zip file into your "Telepath Tactics/Data" folder.

[PLANNED OBSOLESENCE]

Are you sick and tired of your main weapon going "ker-chink" in the middle of battle?  Are you frustrated at not being able to afford armor because you need to keep buying enemy-defeating weapons?  Be frustrated no more! 

Bugfartboy's Unbreakable Weapons, with tripled extras eliminates the oppressive PLANNED OBSOLESENCE "The Man" (aka Developer Craig Stern) imposes on the game.  Using our secret formula of superglue, processed crude oil, silicon, trapped lightning, and NUMBERS (!!!) :D all weapons are protected from breakage, 100% guaranteed!

That means your trusty iron sword will never dull, your bow will last forever, and your trusty spear will never stop poking your foes!  Consumable items such as throwing axes and bandages, however, last 3(THREE !!!) times as long as their original counterparts.  So while your regular axe might last forever, your throwing axe will not.  It will just last a long^{longlongtime.}

Because our virtually-indistinguishable-from-the-original products are about to flood the market, any and all merchants will refuse to buy any piece of equipment from you.  That means any weapons you aren't using will just sit in your tent until you finally decide to do your spring cleaning and THROWthem away at a pre-arranged landfill where we'll allow them to just pile up until we can't pile them any more.

So if you like indestructible weapons and hate the environment, this mod is for you.^{Youhorribleperson.}

As the title and description might suggest: this is a quick mod for The Vengeance of Emma Strider that prevents main weapons from breaking.



Important notes:

• Main weapons will not break
• Consumable items such as lockpicks, bandages, and battle primers last 3 times as long
• You obviously don't care for the environment of the Dundar Archipelago (kidding)

To install, just replace the "ItemClasses.xml" file in "Telepath Tactics/Data/Campaigns/The Vengeance of Emma Strider" directory with the attached file.

If I missed anything, just let me know.

UPDATES:
[spoiler]
2015/06/09
Updated to include the legendary bow Lyrio, and use the new steel item sprites.
[/spoiler]

When you install Telepath Tactics through Steam, the Map Editor gives several different loading errors, including:

Couldn't get the file! null/ObjClasses.xml

Tiles subdirectory not at app:/Tiles

Tiles subdirectory not at file:///C:/Program%Files%20(x86)/Telepath%20Tactics/Data/Tiles

Data subdirectory not at file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Telepath%20Tactics/Data!

To ensure that the map editor simply hadn't updated where to look for files, I uninstalled and reinstalled the editor.  I was met with the same barrage of messages.

Those dang Shadowhearts stole our idea to wear masks!  How else are fleshlings to know we aren't to be messed with?

We can steal their ideas too!  What if we started wearing bone jewelry on our hands?

Yeah, that'll show 'em.

Modified from the Shadowheart sprites, here are Shadowling Guardian spritesheets for Telepath Tactics.




To install these sprites, unzip the attached file into your Telepath Tactics/Data/Characters directory.  To use them in a campaign or multiplayer map, use

   
• spritetype="ShadowlingGuardian"

in the CharClasses.xml file.

[NOT]

The Steam overlay does NOT play friendly with Telepath Tactics.  Pulling it up in-game will result in a lockup of both the game and the overlay.  It doesn't matter where in the game you are, it will ruin your day.  The only way I've found to escape insofar is to simply force the game to close, and never open the overlay in-game again.  In other words: if you don't want to lose your progress in a map, DO NOT activate the Steam overlay.

Picking up a flag in a game of CtF seems to cause a random object to disappear.  In the most recent occurrence the words "Picked up Wall" appeared over my capturing Lizardman's head.  In the attached screenshot you can see a wall has disappeared, without being destroyed.  Although I don't have any more support to give right now, this isn't the first time Capture the Flag has behaved... oddly.

[Important]

Important
Due to changes (most likely just hiccups) in the latest versions of Telepath Tactics, this map file no longer operates as it should.  Although I'm attempting to find ways to work around those hiccups, I can't say I have a lot of time to dedicate to this project.  Until then, hold tight!

-bugfartboy



Information
___________
Originally built to allow a player to enter a name for their main character, this mouse-based keyboard has been designed and modularized to be used any time a campaign writer wants text input from their player. It can be used to input and store a theoretically infinite number of characters and concatenate them into one string. Characters supported are letters A through Z both upper and lower case as well as numerals 0 through 9 and a spacebar! For more information, look at README.txt enclosed in the attached zip file.

Comments and bug reporting
__________________________
Have comments or issues? Did I leave something out? PM me at bugfartboy on the Sinister Design Forums: http://sinisterdesign.net/forum/index.php






[spoiler=Updates]
2015/06/23:
After starting to implement this in my own campaign, I discovered that the way the game stores character data caused this map to clutter up the player's save file with an absurd number of useless character entries.  The map should no longer do this, as all buttons on the map should now "die" before changing scenes.

2015/06/04:
Threw out the original file and rewrote it to take full advantage of recently added Array actions.  The result: Several fewer reserved variables, and no hard limit on the number of character entered! I also recombined the original two zip files into one.

2015/04/30:
Shortened download file names.  Copied the README file from the Data.zip file to Sprites.zip.

2015/04/29:
Changed download sources.  The file is now separated into two files: one for the character sprites and one for everything else.  It is no longer hosted on my personal dropbox account!  Also changed the thread title from [MAP] to [MOD].

2015/03/09:
Fixed a typo in the map file involving MBKReturn. It should work as intended now.  I'm actually embarrassed that I didn't notice it until now.
Also removed unnecessary information from CharClasses.xml in the zip file.
[/spoiler]

The Old Sinister Design Forums are nearing the end of their life, it would seem.. Already, they have become inaccessible to commoners such as myself. Anyone else want to say goodbye?


While it may be partially due the fact that I was a much younger person when I joined them initially, I have fond memories of them. And now it would seem that the only people actively using these forums are some of those left over from the Old Forums, although some have changed their names. Farewell, Old Forums.

Let's revive an old tradition, and find a way to logically explain how things in the Telepath Universe work. We've explained how many attacks work, and even how the various orbs work. But I find that we are now at a conundrum. Why are spriggats weak against their opposing element?



Examples:
Why would a spriggat that breathes fire be particularly weak to cold?
Why would a spriggat that breathes ice be particularly weak to heat?
Why would a spriggat that breathes corrosive miasma be particularly weak to electromagnetic radiation?
Why would a spriggat that breathes high doses of electromagnetic radiation be particularly weak to corrosive miasma?


This is the puzzle that we need to solve!


Let's try coming up with reasonable explanations before we ask The Creator.