[RELz] Stealth Wars - version 0.8a : IV - Oblivion

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:41 am

Cripes! They are one-hitting me, blocked no less. It's not so much the weapon damage, which is still godly with their insane level strength, but that the bonus damage is dealt instantly instead of over 2 or 3 seconds. The only way is to not ever be hit / staggered. Keep in mind that I am using Kuertee's Skill-Based and Attribute-Based Damage Modifiers so that my arrows are much stronger, yet their armor rating is so impenetrable that they are less assassin and more unholy warrior fit to wade into battle against tons of Imperial Legion Soldiers, and their speed is as if the armor weighed nothing. I would understand this if their armor was just clothing. As it is, I'm certain that six OOO 1.3 Spectral Warriors would lose to just one of the assassins.

Anyway, you said you had planned the assassins to escape. What if they cast an escape spell when their health reaches below 10% of their base health? The script would be on a token ring and it would look like this:

Spoiler

SCN PHMTRingExfiltrateMaleScriptFloat TimerBRef SelfBShort CriticalHealthFlagBShort ExfiltrateWasCastFlagBShort ExfiltrationInterruptedFlagBShort ReturnToCombatFlagBShort ReturnedToFightFlagBBegin GameMode	If ( SelfB == 0 )		Set SelfB to GetContainer	EndIf	If ( SelfB.IsInCombat == 1 )		If ( TimerB <= 0 )			If ( ( SelfB.GetBaseAV Health / SelfB.GetAV Health > 10 ) && ( SelfB.GetAV Health >= 1 ) ) && ( ExfiltrateWasCastFlagB == 0 )				Set CriticalHealthFlagB to 1				Set TimerB to 1			ElseIf ( ExfiltrateWasCastFlagB == 1 ) && ( SelfB.GetDead != 1 ) && ( ExfiltrationInterruptedFlagB == 0 )				Set ReturnToCombatFlagB to 1				Set ExfiltrationInterruptedFlagB to 1			Else				Set TimerB to 1				Message "No Conditions Satisfied - TimerB set to 1."			EndIf		ElseIf ( TimerB > 0 )			Set TimerB to ( TimerB - GetSecondsPassed )		EndIf		If ( CriticalHealthFlagB == 1 ) && ( ExfiltrateWasCastFlagB == 0 )			SelfB.Flee			SelfB.Cast PHMTSpellExfiltration SelfB			Set ExfiltrateWasCastFlagB to 1		EndIf		If ( ReturnToCombatFlagB == 1 ) && ( ReturnedToFightFlagB == 0 )			SelfB.EVP			SelfB.SetGhost 0			Set ReturnedToFightFlagB to 1		EndIf	EndIfEnd

And the spell script would look like this:

Spoiler

SCN PHMTSpellExfiltrationScriptFloat AlphaShort ExfiltrationSpellCastedFlagBBegin ScriptEffectStart	ResetHealth	StopMagicShaderVisuals effectFireDamage	StopMagicShaderVisuals effectFrostDamage	StopMagicShaderVisuals effectShockDamage	StopMagicShaderVisuals effectWeakness	;SetGhost 1	Set Alpha to 1	;PlayMagicEffectVisuals DSPL	PlayMagicEffectVisuals DGHE	;PlaySound SPLIllusionHit	PlaySound3D SPLAlterationHit	Set ExfiltrationSpellCastedFlagB to 1EndBegin ScriptEffectUpdate	If ( ExfiltrationSpellCastedFlagB == 1 )		If ( Alpha > 0 )			Set Alpha to ( Alpha - GetSecondsPassed )			SAA Alpha		EndIf	EndIfEndBegin ScriptEffectFinish	ResetHealth	MoveTo MyAssassinRoom 0 0 10	;SetGhost 0	Set Alpha to 1	Set ExfiltrationSpellCastedFlagB to 0	DisableEnd

Anyway, just to keep them like assassins who strike hard I am setting all their armor to 0.01 AR, halving their weapon damage, massively reducing their bonuses, and giving them all permanent Drain Health -200. That way I can face three or four of them and it feels like I am avoiding death, rather than battling bosses with olympic mountains of health. It is fun this way and the assassins look great, better than me, unfortunately. But I understand that these assassins are meant for characters who are already strong and have plenty of buffs.

wow, somehow I missed this reply. Sorry about that.

Yeah, I have had several reports with Kuertee's mods making them supersoldiers. The only solution is what you have done, reducing their AR and health. But I'd urge you to at least keep their weapon damage near the same. Remember that assassins are supposed to strike really hard and really deadly. I should probably make them squishy, but did want them to be like mini-bosses. I also wanted to give companion users a challenge as well. And there are times when you really should have a companion when dealing with them, especially the 3-4 team encounters. With that being said, the weapon enchantments would probably seem a little off balance for players lower than level 40.

I noticed you mentioned that you face 3-4 of them at a time. Does this happen often or just once in a while?

With regards to the escape script, thanks for taking the time to work one out. I'll have to check it out. I probably won't do quite what you worked out because I don't want to overcomplicate the script too much. But I have thought about using a re-colored fireball effect to a smoky color. It would make a good smokescreen effect.

@Johnny3Tears, hopefully someone can make you a video. I'd do it, but I barely have time to even play anymore :*(

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:57 am

But I have thought about using a re-colored fireball effect to a smoky color. It would make a good smokescreen effect.

There is a mod called Midas Magic Spells of Aurum on TESnexus that contains a smoke screen spell that the player can learn. When the player uses it, it creates a smoky effect around the player along with a hissing noise and it lowers the ambient light in the area, making it easier to get back into sneak mode and escape. You could try contacting the mod's author on TESnexus and see if you could use the spell.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:57 am

There is a mod called Midas Magic Spells of Aurum on TESnexus that contains a smoke screen spell that the player can learn. When the player uses it, it creates a smoky effect around the player along with a hissing noise and it lowers the ambient light in the area, making it easier to get back into sneak mode and escape. You could try contacting the mod's author on TESnexus and see if you could use the spell.

I actually took a peek at the spell/scripting and how it works, and I'll be honest, I can't figure out how it was done.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:23 pm

lonewolf: saebel is almost done with creating a version of disappearing NPCs in his SDR mod. Do you htink you can make your mod accept that mod as a substitution for Haldar/Reneer's mods, ocen saebel releases it?

Also, is your mod still in alpha? Are the assassins balanced now?

» Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:59 pm

lonewolf: saebel is almost done with creating a version of disappearing NPCs in his SDR mod. Do you htink you can make your mod accept that mod as a substitution for Haldar/Reneer's mods, ocen saebel releases it?

Also, is your mod still in alpha? Are the assassins balanced now?

OOOOO! I'll have to check on the details of that then. I did design the scripts for the assassins to coinside with a features that depend on the stealth skill, but it should be compatible though. I may have to adjust them though depending on how the SDR mod works or just create a patch.

The current status of the mod could probably put it in the Beta stage. I fixed all of the prevalent bugs and problems I was having in Alpha, including the infamous Timer issue. However a tester happened to find another bug with the NPCs when he was complaining about glitches from the armor when he tried them on..... which he is NOT supposed to even be able to get the armor. This was an oversight on my part and will be very easy to fix, if I can remember to do it. :banghead: My current project(s) has had me busy.

The assassins being balanced is a little on the sketchy side and will probably depend on what you have in your mod load. Some testers say yes it is, some still say no. I've lowered the level scalling so it wasn't such a huge increase and lowered the value of some of the enchantments. I've also decreased the time you see an assassin versus when you encountered them from before duing Alpha.

Keep in mind that I designed them to be End-game material, that is you having good/best equipment and enchantments and of being on a high level and on them being based on Vanilla conditions, and are supposed to be equal in terms of the player, like it was a PvP (Player vs Player) situation you'd see in an MMO. I do not use damage overhauls such as Kuertee's or Duke's, so I can't really patch it for use with them. If someone wants to do that however, I'd probably be open to discussion on it and possibly help with it.

But honestly, the only problem I can see with overhauls such as these are the enchantments on the weapons. The weapons themselves may have different looking meshes/textures, but they are all based on daedric weaponry. I simply changed the mesh path. Even the icons are left as daedric (again they aren't supposed to be picked up by the player). So that would tell me the issue is the enchantments, but I reiterate here: I intended this mod for use with vanilla settings. There are two assassins that may cause trouble, but they're supposed to. They are the "bosses" of the mod.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:49 am

I'm totally digging your mod and will be happy to provide any tools or alternate coding to help make this compatible with SDR. There may be issues with sneak skills of NPCs and SDR depending on how you are doing the calculations, but I have all kinds of alternate code and ways of getting around things. Let me know what you need.

I finished the new version of SDR, but I still have to update the documentation before I release it.