Messages posted by "Szappy"

Possible conflict with Monster Manager (?)

Szappy — GMT

Hello! I'm asking for help in a possible conflict in my game, and ideas to overcome it. I'm using DruidsRPG, Monster Mover, and Monster Manager at the same time (among other things, but this particular problem is narrowed down to these three). RPG for obvious reasons ;) Monster mover... also ;) and the MosterManager: for custom linksetups, and the very good monster randomizer (lets me have random sized/strength monsters, adds in quite a variety). Oh, I have SMP and the U4E monsters too. The problem: the game crashes after some time in invasion, with the following error: Code:

UT2004 Build UT2004_Build_[2005-11-23_16.22]

OS: Windows XP 5.1 (Build: 2600)
CPU: AuthenticAMD PentiumPro-class processor @ 2082 MHz with 1023MB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT  (9131)

RPGArtifactManager DM-DesertIsle.RPGArtifactManager (Function UT2004RPG.RPGArtifactManager.SpawnArtifact:0089)
Runaway loop detected (over 10000000 iterations)

History: FFrame::Serialize <- UObject::ProcessEvent <- (RPGArtifactManager DM-DesertIsle.RPGArtifactManager,
Function UT2004RPG.RPGArtifactManager.Timer) <- AActor::Tick <- TickAllActors <- ULevel::Tick <- (NetMode=2)
<- TickLevel <- UGameEngine::Tick <- Level DesertIsle <- UpdateWorld <- MainLoop <- FMallocWindows::Free
<- FMallocWindows::Realloc <- 10910191 0 FArray <- FArray::Realloc <- 0*2 <- FMallocWindows::Free

It's always the "Function UT2004RPG.RPGArtifactManager.SpawnArtifact" that the RPG engine is trying to spawn an artifact, but is somehow unable to. Here's what needs to be set, to produce this error (at least it always happens for me): Have the abovementioned mutators turned on, have custom wave setups in monster manager, have RPG spawn artifacts. What I tried so far, and my observations: - the error seems accurate, since turning off artifacts in RPG does not cause the error - not having monster mover in also doesn's spawn the crash - the weirdest: having custom wavesetups off in monster manager also seems to 'solve' this I don't want to turn off either artifacts (too good not to use) monster mover (hate having monsters spawn on my head, and also hunting for that last monster every round) and the manager (random monsters is great, and for waves... the default wave setting in UT2k4 lacks the nice features of the manager). I even tried turning off custom waves in the manager, and using satore's wave configurator, but then I always ended up having waves that never ended, possibly due to miscounting remaining monsters. The manager has a solution for this, but seemingly it only works, if it's using its own wave configurator. Maybe it just that I have set something wrongly in the ini files, or some other config error, but IMO it's somehow related to the monster mover defining the distance from the player, to spawn an artifact. But that is only a stab in the dark. Then again, satore's wavestups seem to work well, so it might be a Monster Manager bug. Any solution/idea is appreciated, as to what might be causing this? If it's not related to RPG please point me to the right directions, where I should ask this? Szappy

Re:Are Monster Masters underpowered?

Szappy — GMT

As you suggested I'm splitting up my post for MM bugs. If this part of the debate should go in another thread, it's easier to move it over this way too.

There's a known bug that, while it was happening more often originally, it happens less now, but still occurs. The sequence of events that seems to trigger it this: 1. Someone (M/MM or not) spectates someone else. 2. "Spectated" summons a monster (either as an M/MM, or using a Summoning Charm) 3. The spectator spawns. When they spawn, they will have the Monster Points Indicator of the person they specated - having no indicator at all if the specated person was not an M/MM.

None of this happened, it was my first life, I didn't die, so I couldn't have spectated anyone. Also, it was constantly changing through the game. Sometimes visible, sometimes not. BUT! today I made an interesting discovery. I made a test with 2 bots, and actually the 0/2 monster points (while I have 20) on the first shot is not mine! It's for the bot 'Annika'. today I made sore of this. The MP indicator changed as she summoned a pupae, and dropped back to zero in the instant the pupae died ("Annika's SkaarjPupae is OUT"). I hope this helps a bit in debugging this. I might try playing a test game, and recording it all, to analyze it frame by frame. Would that help?

Re:Are Monster Masters underpowered?

Szappy — GMT

Thank you for the repies, and the insights. I'll try to answer all questions, and give my points:

If I was someone's slave and they died, I'd wander off. I don't think you should be able to get XP when you're dead (Poison being the only exception where that might happen now).

That's true, but this creates a great imbalance with the summoning charm. More on this later...

This is a CPU issue. Get too many summoners on at the same time ...

You certainly have a point there, that I didn't consider. OTOH it's not likely that there will be many MMs who waste their points summoning swarms of useless monsters, and if there were, their lifespan wouldn't be very long... What i was actually tryin was to summon some higher level monsters (metal skaarj in my case) and use that excess monster points for two pupaes. And to my surprise, I wasn't able to.

And to be honest, M/MM's don't have the "least" adrenaline. They get adrenaline in the same method as a Weapons Master would, and also get the benefit of Drip, which WM's do not.

Ok, I wasn't as observans, as I should have been :oops: (I was under the impression, that WM gets surge). But my point still stands, because adrenaline is not really needed for WMs. Sure it helps, but the don't rely on it. AMs have plenty of it, and the need it too. But the main skill of MMs also relies on adrenaline, and there is not really enough for summons, and using relics too (ok-ok, if you don't die, and manage to summon some powerful monsters, there is probably enough). My monsters OTOH constantly die on me, and are quite powerless against others, not to mention the players, who kill them outright. Or take the RPG aspect of this. A WM is like a fighter, he can go in for the kill outright. AM is like a mage, he has to build up magic, then wreak havoc. MM now also has to build up his magic, only *much* slower to use his class skills, which are not as powerful*** as the AM's. And an AM's magic weapon is permanent, while a monster can get killed (and it *will* get killed, especially on lower levels). My suggestion, to summon solely from monster points could balance this out, that a MM could constantly have his minions with him, change them around, adopting to the situation. Much more versatile this way. Not to mention, that you don't get adrenaline back from unsummon, so unsummoning is also adr waste. ***I'm goint to get hammered for this, so let me explain. A +6 vampire, but even a +4 damage weapon is surely to get you more experience, than a metal skaarj. On overall, there are 3 different restrictions placed on summoners: adrenaline, monster points, and the 3 summon limit. Considering, that all other classes have 'only' have to find a summoning relic, and they probably have better adrenaline by that time, it's a bit too hindering. Not to mention, that monsters summoned by the charm DO stay around after your death. Maybe they even inherit their master's properties, like they used to in the original RPG? Could someone check this? If that is the case, a summonner is *way* better off just finding a charm anyway. Oh wait, then he doesn't even have to be a summoner... And I'm NOT proposing, that the 'charmed' monsters should also die on masters death ;) Also another rather important (IMO) side of this, is that you're only considering the Invasion game type. It's true that most of my issues do not seem that large isssue, since you die quite rarely. But I had the impression, that DruidsRPG wasn't designed solely for INV. At least I'm using it for most gametypes, and all the other classes are quite formidable, just not the Monster master. Just imagine the lifespan in a CTF game, or in ONS. An average TTL is under 1 minute in those. As a MM it doesn't worth it to summon anything, since you'll die the next corner, and it was just a waste of precious adrenaline. And adrenaline IS scarce, especially in ONS (no pills) for MMs. This could also be solved by summoning from MPs BTW. As for these:

The screen shots indicate level 42. However, looking at the stats purchased indicates something well in excess of 7 points per level - probably more like 20. So it ought to be performing like a DC level 100 or so player.

Agreed. It also depends on what they have the InvasionAutoAdjustFactor set to. If they have it set to 0.1 or something it will still be ok.

Man, you're good. From two shots you deduced the settings perfecly. It's set to 20 points/level and 0.1 monster adjust. You must really know the ins-and-outs of this mod ^:)^ Szappy

Are Monster Masters underpowered?

Szappy — GMT

Hello all! I know a new member probably shouldn't start with opening a new thread in his first post, :oops: but I didn't find a proper thread to put these in. I hope you forgive me. (Actually I'm not that new, I've been here since DruidsRPG 1.73, only didn't post) Recently I've been trying out the monster/medic master class, for a change, and found it seriously underpowered to the others. I was mainly trying to be a summoner, and only a slight healer. Here are my thoghts: This class has to spend many points on many diverse skills to even summon worthwhile monsters, and are quite limited. They have so many relics, that they are not able to pick up any, unless I set it to unlimited relics per player. I think the class specific relics shouldn't count towards the pickup limit (also for AM's 3 spec relics). Adrenaline is scarce for them (only regen plus kills/pills, no surge/leech) and the summons are quite adrenaline hungry. It's easier to get adrenaline in invasion, but in other gametypes it's quite hard (not to mention onslaught, where you can only get it from kills, and killing with this class is quite hard). Also these monster points were confusing at first, but then I understood how it _should_ work. But it does not IMHO. First they have to purchase the points, the loaded monsters, and build up adrenaline. That take quite some time. Then they hit the 3 max monsters limit ?! WHY? I don't think it's a performance issue, so why can't I have 10 mantas, if I'm stupid enough to summon them. And monsters are quite expensive in monster points too. I was hoping that the summoned monsters at least inherit the stats of their master like in the original RPG, but since they can get health upgrade, I don't think that is the case. This makes them very inferior. I mean invasion monsters and other players get stronger with experience, and my monster remain the same crappy ones. Also a quite painful issue: death. All of my summoned monsters die when I die. This is ridiculous. Even a weapon master is able to summon a better monster than me this way, since monsters summoned by the 'normal' relic stay after the masters death. But a MM is not even able to pick that relic up :roll: I can understand why it's an issue in invasion, that your monster shouldn't be around after your death, but that makes MM a totally useless character in other gametypes, and summonig a waste of (rare) adrenaline. Not to mention, that every time I die, the list of relics gets reset, and I have to browse through pages on useless relics to get the one I want. It would be nice to save the last used relic, and return to it after respawn. I also seem to get a weird issue, when my displayed monster points is totally wrong. Sometimes the monster points usage meter, ang also the relic's description disappears altogether, so I can only guess, what I'm about to summon... Please tell me that I'm doing something wrong, because the way I see it, the MM class is very limited in every single aspect I can think of ATM (more skills to upgrade, less adrenaline, weak and limited summons, clumsy interface...). What I'd change, if i had any knowledge of utscript: - not count class spec relics toward pickup limit - monsters shouldn't die on master's death (maybe only in INV) - unlimited summoned monsters (they are limited by monster points anyway) - leave the whole adrenaline thing out of the summoning, only summon from monster points (adrenaline AND monster points is an overkill, also MMs have the least adrenaline, and they could use it more wisely on combos or other relics) - save last used relic on death and switch back to it on respawn I think even with all that MMs sould still not be strong players, since the mosters they summon aren't that tough, but they would make a formidable defense. I'm worried if it's just me getting these, since the 2.00 has been around for a while, and nobody seemed to mention any of these, but in that case, please enlighten me, what am I doing wrong? Szappy