Project Xenome : Interloper

[jazz]

Well done Salsa.

The second way according to your PM was the correct one. I'll have to come up with something quite ingenious for the next pack.

Edit: Ghosting and rocket jumps are kind of cheating because I designed it so those techniques weren't needed, but you got there in the end legitimately ..... Hats off to ya!

[salsaSkaarj]

Sorry to bring this up again but now I'm completely clueless as to what's happening. The previous problem of all saved maps being corrupt was solved by deleting all the saved maps and removing the entries in an ini file (forgot which one). All new saved files can be opened from within UT and also stated by dragging them to the UT executable.

I'm on my second playthrough of Interloper, still on Medium difficulty (since I had forgotten to reinstall).
A couple of days ago I finished Critical Transfer and I could save the game just before entering the next map Power Play.

Unfortunately I played recklessly and past halfway almost died but recovered just in time and then decided to save a game just in case > but : save option blanked out.

I then restarted all the other savegames and checked to see if I could save: and YES I can save in every map except for Power Play. Then started Power Play by dragging the file to the UT executable > no save option. Then I tried the same with the earlier maps > YES save option enabled.
Then I tried exactly the same with the last level : Core > YES save option enabled.
Yesterday I finished Power Play in 1 session (no saving and no cheating) and went on to Core Issues and yes I could save.

Conclusion: I think there's something in Power Play which prevents saving. (BTW everything on Medium difficulty). On the other hand I'm not excluding that there could be a problem with my installation. So I asked UB (in a PM also copied to JazzyB) to try and save from within Power Play. UB replied that he could save without any problem.

Today I deleted the whole UT installation and reinstalled:
UT (GOTY version)
4 Bonuspacks
oldskool239
ONP 120
ONP update 120>130
Xenome First Day + patch
Interloper

Started Critical transfer 'till the end and saved.
Played on into Power Play , tried to save > Save is greyed out
Started Power Play by dragging the map to the executable > Save is greyed out
Godded my way through Power Play really quickly to start Core Issues and there I can save.

So, my request: could a couple of players check if they can save within Power Play (the only map which gives this problem on my side)


Luckily once you've played Power Play it's doable to survive the map without saving but that is on Medium - I'm not willing to risk in on Hard yet.

[salsaSkaarj]

Strange: when playing Power Play, either as a continuation after finishing Critical, or by dragging the file to the UT executable; something is wrong with the scoring system.
In the image below, you can see that only Player is mentioned, with a score (I just killed 4 Skaarj to see if they would be counted, and I made sure that I received damage so that it would show up. But no damage inflicted, no damage received , no killcount, no specific score, etc... (I tried it again with cheating, and no negative scores are shown)
I tested this with other maps and never see a scoreboard like this.
BTW I've checked and no maps are protected, the save directory is writeable, etc.. etc..

[salsaSkaarj]

I finally found out what prevented me from teleporting! Upon looking what's up in UnrealEd, it's supposed to be fine, tags are set up properly. But somehow a Skaarj Warrior teleported and did nothing afterwards, blocking target teleporter in the process. Why couldn't I telefrag him is beyond me. Dunno if property bPlayerOnly would help here.

Yeah, I had to outrightly cheat and ghost through the level.

I've found a way to repeat this behaviour. If you walk in to the teleporter, but very slowly, inching forward bit by bit, eventually you'll get teleported but you'll stay in the teleporter with no way to go forward and leave the teleporter. WHat you can do is turn around and then move forward so that you are teleported back to the original location, but also there I can't seem to leave the teleporter.

BTW, it's difficult to reproduce: you have to move into the teleporter as slowly as possible.

[jazz]

I saved on every map you mentioned Salsa without any problems which included the quick save/load method.
I'm not sure what's occuring on your side of things. Sounds like a coding thing maybe?
I don't know if anyone can help you on this?

I don't know about the teleport situation either, could be just something in the game itself!

[UBerserker]

I know why now, the map runs on the olextras.tvcoop gametype rather than the olextras.tvsp gametype. Not sure though why people didn't run into this, probably different settings.

Just go to editor, open map, level properties, levelinfo and change the gametype.

[salsaSkaarj]

I know why now, the map runs on the olextras.tvcoop gametype rather than the olextras.tvsp gametype. Not sure though why people didn't run into this, probably different settings.

Just go to editor, open map, level properties, levelinfo and change the gametype.

UB, if you were a woman, I'ld kiss you, but a handshake will have to do for now

It worked like a charm. Now I can finally finish Interloper on Medium in a decent way.

Again , thanks for looking into this problem.

[salsaSkaarj]

I don't know about the teleport situation either, could be just something in the game itself!

I managed to reproduce it again (took me quite a number of tries though).
My theory is that it could have something to do with the fact that the second teleporter is a perfect copy of the first (is that so?). When you enter the teleporter, at a certain precise location the trigger for teleportation will be called and the player will be teleported but there has been a slight forward movement before the transfer is initiated. After teleportation, the player has thus moved forward a bit , past the teleportation triggerpoint at his destination. In a normal movement situation the player will never be teleported to the triggerpoint at the new location. But when moving very slowly, theoretically it could happen (if the teleporters are perfect copies and the triggers are in the same place, or the trigger area has a certain width ). And on my side, it only happens when I mover very very very slowly (which is why this idea came up).

edit: this behaviour can thus be forced by the player. But the theory doesn't explain how a Skaarj could get stuck in the teleporter: Skaarj never move that slow.

[salsaSkaarj]

Funny thing happened.
In my new UT directory (C:/UT) PowerPlay works normally (after the change in gamesettings).
Since I wanted to keep my scoreboard to continue my quest and not have to replay everything in the new directory c:/UT, I copied the changed map to my old directory (c:/Unreal Tournament), repacing the old one : but there it didn't work. So I did a file compare in both directories to check whether I had copied the correct file : yep, identical files.

So I opened the new Powerplay (from c:/Unreal Tournament/Maps) with the editor (from Unreal Tournament/System) and there the gametype was empty. So I recompared both versions (from UT and Unreal Tournament) and they were identical (bit by bit). After reapplying the change in Power Play (Unreal Tournament), then it finally worked in the old directory (and now I can really finish Interloper on Medium nad then move on to Hard).

So it seems there must be another place where the gametype is written (an ini file or something).

[radios]

when I open ONP-map10AmbushX I get nothing like the maps shown!. it starts at a tunnel with doors that open from the center, then leading to an area with gates that open up, nothing like that which is posted here!. if I open ONP, and I select ONP-map10AmbushX This is what I get, either I can start a new ONP, which gets me the circling around the castle map, or I get the "start at the tunnel" map if I go "open ONP-map10AmbushX " in the ~ box.. very odd..

[salsaSkaarj]

Finally finished a continuous Interloper on Medium.
UBerserker (on UNreal) had to kill a lot more enemies but it seems he didn't have to kill the Titan.
My time is nowhere near goaltime but that's because I tried to go for all secrets so I did quite of lot of backtracking. Apparently I missed 2 secrets in Core Issue: 1 secret is supposed to be in the room with the blue energybeams (which can change direction) but I think it's not present on Medium difficulty, and the 4th secret?? Oh well, next time .
Next week I'll probably restart Interloper on Hard.



Edited: UB played on Unreal, not on Hard as I originally wrote

[salsaSkaarj]

when I open ONP-map10AmbushX I get nothing like the maps shown!. it starts at a tunnel with doors that open from the center, then leading to an area with gates that open up, nothing like that which is posted here!. if I open ONP, and I select ONP-map10AmbushX This is what I get, either I can start a new ONP, which gets me the circling around the castle map, or I get the "start at the tunnel" map if I go "open ONP-map10AmbushX " in the ~ box.. very odd..

You sound disappointed but there no need to.That's the first map of Interloper, which starts where the player was left when finishing First Day. Just work your way to the end of the map: things will start heating up very soon.

[UBerserker]

On Unreal you deal with a duo of Titans before the level exit and you are supposed to pretty much escape rather than fight. One of the hardest parts of the mappack definitely.

when I open ONP-map10AmbushX I get nothing like the maps shown!. it starts at a tunnel with doors that open from the center, then leading to an area with gates that open up, nothing like that which is posted here!. if I open ONP, and I select ONP-map10AmbushX This is what I get, either I can start a new ONP, which gets me the circling around the castle map, or I get the "start at the tunnel" map if I go "open ONP-map10AmbushX " in the ~ box.. very odd..

There are like FIFTEEN LARGE maps that are part of a large-scale package.
That said it's likely the weakest map of Day2 but it's really more of a bridge between part 1 and part 2 of Xenome.

[salsaSkaarj]

On Unreal you deal with a duo of Titans before the level exit and you are supposed to pretty much escape rather than fight. One of the hardest parts of the mappack definitely.

Wow, damn maybe I shouldn't have known this - That would have been totally unexpected.
Corrected the difficulty setting you played on (I wrote Hard originally > edited to change to Unreal)

[salsaSkaarj]

...
Apparently I missed 2 secrets in Core Issue: 1 secret is supposed to be in the room with the blue energybeams (which can change direction) but I think it's not present on Medium difficulty, and the 4th secret?? Oh well, next time

Decided to look for the secret in the energybeam room and I finally found it (actually pure luck that I saw it). Tried various speed methods to get to the shieldbelt and I managed to get it once - out of ± 20 tries (With a double jump to start it's reachable in time but that leaves a fraction of a second to get out of the way of the blue killerbeams). Basically it's only worth going for it if you're willing to reload umpteen times just to get maximum points and can cope with the frustration of repeated failures.

BTW checked in the editor and the secret is present in all difficulty levels.