(*SPOILERS*) Question about The Cosmic Glitch quest

[Ravenwolf]

Okay, so I'm at the part where you have to build a station right outside the gate to Rift Space, and I can't seem for the life of me to activate the next step. I've built the station in separate attempts on either side of the gate as close as I can at 0,0,1000 and 0,0,-1000, tried it facing multiple directions in both locations and docked at all of them but can't get the next step to trigger. I double checked to make sure I have the quest activated, I can't figure this one out. Anyone have a clue what I'm doing wrong? I love this quest, and want to see where it's going!

[Marvin]

At the menu where you select a pilot, it tells you on the left-hand side which quest step is current. I'll need to know that number before I can trace your problem with the quest.

[Ravenwolf]

I'm at 13/57

[Marvin]

Okay, I see where you're at. Once the station is built, the scenario should advance to stage 58, where the chat dialogue starts with Panza saying, "After docking, we also called back to IMG Central on Orion Delta." If that's not happening, check that the station you built is at these sector coordinates: -1958, 0, -2048. The X, Y, Z coordinates should be 0, 0, -800 which puts the gate about 800 meters in front of the station.

I don't remember if the game auto-saves after you've built a command module. You can check by setting a jump point outside the sector and then trying to make the jump. When that happens, you'll be prompted to save the game to keep from losing the station.

Now, if you docked before advancing to stage 58, try un-docking and then docking again. Else, the only other thing I can think of, off hand, is that the new requirement to dock at a specified gate is causing a problem with the quest script command.

[Ravenwolf]

Will give it a shot and report back. Thanks!

[Marvin]

When you go into the "Build" mode, you see a list of numbers in the upper-right corner. It would help if I knew what numbers are listed.

P.S. It usually helps if you "clone" your pilot before you do the building. That way, you can easily do it over again if it doesn't work the first time.

[Marvin]

P.P.S. If you get really stuck, you can open the quest file with Notepad. For each stage, there is a line something like this:

QuestLHide=1

You can either change the 1 to a 0 (zero) or delete the line entirely. Save the file and run the game again. Now you should see a waypoint icon showing you what you usually get in most FPS game. But don't blame Vice. Making the waypoint invisible was my bright idea. And, having played a number of FPS myself, I should've known better.

[Ravenwolf]

I tried all of the things and then some, to no avail. What follows is an illustrated walk through my tale of woe... lol (with build coords in a couple of them)

So I think you maybe had the sector coordinates backwards since I was already at the gate and in -1598, 0, -2048, but just to be sure I went to -1958, 0, -2048 to be greeted by a whole bunch of empty space lol.

I went back to -1598, 0, -2048 to follow the rest of the steps, beginning with trying to actually build at 0,0,-800. But as you can see, that's a little too close. The build point doesn't turn green until -1000.

So i tried instead to put my SHIP itself at 0, 0, -800, which placed the build point at 0,0,-1150. Still no quest trigger with build or dock.

When that didn't work, I put both my ship AND the build point at 0,0,-800. Still couldn't build that close.


As I stated in the OP, I've already tried putting the station at the closest allowable build points at both 0,0,1000 and 0,0,-1000 and niether worked with the station facing in either direction.

I'm lost. I got nothing, lol. I'll try the notepad trick next haha

[Marvin]

Yeah, you're right. I did transpose the 9 and 5 ... it should be -1598. And your last screen shot of the series looks to be perfect. You even got the same chat message I got when figuring out where to place the station. Any closer than the -800 and I got the "Build point is obstructed" message so I kept backing away until I was allowed to build. All your coordinates look good. But you're not getting the follow-on message in chat.

So, before I start this quest from the beginning again (you have no idea how many re-starts it takes to test a quest as long as this one), go ahead and clone a profile at your current stage and attach it to a post, here. I'll insert it into my game and test it, after changing all the "QuestLHide=1" lines to "QuestLHide=0". Hopefully, I can trace the problem without starting from scratch. If I can't, I'll need to pass it along to Vice so he can check to see if any of his changes to the game might've been the cause.

[Ravenwolf]

Not sure how to clone and attach. You mean the quest file or is there a pilot profile file I can copy or something?

[Marvin]

Good question. Vice moved the pilot profiles and I can never remember where to look. But, to start, go into the game and make a note of which pilot you're using. If you only have one pilot in your list, then that pilot's profile would be in a file called pilot0.sw, if you have more than one pilot on the list and, for example, you're playing with the third pilot on your list, that would be the pilot4.sw file. In other words, the file number starts with zero, ergo it will always be one number greater than on the in-game list.

Now, if you started playing the game after Vice made some changes to where the game is saved, then you can just do a regular search for *.sw files. When I did a search, most of my pilot profiles showed up in C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\EvochronLegacy so you might try looking under the C:\Users\ folder (change <user name> to your own user name). If your version of the game is older, the search might list the files in two places. Those in the sw3dg folder are probably the old ones and, therefore, not used anymore by the game.

[Marvin]

As for cloning, it's really not necessary to create an in-game clone. Instead, just drag a copy of the profile to your desktop and attach it to a post. Then I can load it to my game and test it. If I can't get it to run, then I'll probably start the game from scratch and save a profile of my own at the same point before trying to build and dock. Which, now that I think of it, that might be difficult since I'll first need to destroy the station I built when first running the quest.

Which gives me an idea. I can fly out to the Riftgate and see if I still have a station there. I might need Vice to reset my quest to stage 50-something. Hmmmm.

[Marvin]

Just checking. From that last screen shot it looks like you're doing it correctly but, just in case, I'm wondering if you saved the game at that point, quit, then restarted the game but didn't re-activated the quest. Like I said, from the screen shot it looks like the quest is running but I want to make sure you know that the quest must be selected and activated each time you start the game.

[Vice]

I set some time aside to explore this myself and was able to pin down the likely cause.

The event type at that stage is correct (21). The QuestData1 value is correct (4 for command module). But the target location center is 0 X, 0 Y, -800 Z, which is technically inside the field of obstruction for jump gates (+/- 1000). So the adjustment needed to get by this stage would be to edit the QuestData7 line and change it from -800 to at least -1000 to fall outside the field of obstruction region (the game also has a forgiveness margin so building at something like -1100 would also work if you change the value to -1000). You could set it to -900 and then build right at -1000 or something, but it might be best to keep it outside the obstruction field entirely.

I don't know how long the obstruction margin has been this way in the game, but it appears to at least be years as I can't at this moment find when/if it had been changed. So the quest file might be fairly old and/or it hasn't come up since whenever a change may have been made a very long time ago. Either way though, it appears that changing the value referred top above would be all that's need in the quest file itself to make the build point available.

I have attached an updated quest file to this post you can use as a replacement (just unzip the updated quest file and replace the original with the updated version). Always back up your original though before replacing it in case I'm working with a version that isn't the same as the one you are using.

[Marvin]

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with what now happens when you set a jump point to a station but, after the jump, you're fairly far from the station and not aligned with any of the gates. This happened again to me today when I started the quest. I built a command module by the black hole north of Sapphire then flew to the nearby wreck. Upon jumping back to the newly built station, I ended up as described.

[Vice]

The effect of an automatic distance push should only occur when a contract is active. However, clicking on the 'station' button on the local points of interest menu will also provide a significant spacing upon arrival. Right clicking directly on a station's icon on the map without an active contract will provide the original direct to hangar positioning.

[Marvin]

Well, the quest was active. And I had the waypoint icon active which meant it was difficult to right-click on the station (since the station was the waypoint). So I used the "station" label listed on the left-hand side Local Points of Interest. Problem solved. As for the attachment, I downloaded it and will test it against the original when I get to that point in the quest. If it turns out that 800 meters is indeed too close to the gate, I have no permanent solution. I haven't heard from SeeJay in a very long time. I think his website is still up but, if it is, it's probably running on life support.

[Marvin]

Hmmm, if 800 meters is inside the field of obstruction, wouldn't that stop the building process? Yet, Raven managed to build a station. He just couldn't get it to work via the quest.

Speaking of which, I noticed a couple things while running the Glitch quest. Both things dealing with the quest waypoint marker.

1. An object is created in its own stage. Using that object usually happens in the follow-on stage(s). So, if you save and quit the game right after the object is created, then exit the game, the object isn't there when you start up the game again. You can circumvent the problem but only if the marker is visible. If it's hidden, you're pretty much up the proverbial creek.

2. I never included a list of required materials. So here I am in Wolf without a deploy constructor. Which is needed to scan the sector. Luckily, I deleted all the quest engine command lines which hid the waypoint marker. And even luckier, I never made deploying a sensor part of the quest. So all I had to do was follow the marker to advance to the next stage. If that hadn't worked, my next option would've been to dock at the station I built and hope they were selling deploy constructors.

[Vice]

Hmmm, if 800 meters is inside the field of obstruction, wouldn't that stop the building process? Yet, Raven managed to build a station. He just couldn't get it to work via the quest.

Yes, an obstruction notice would be displayed. But he said he built at +1000 and -1000, which would allow for building successfully, but it wouldn't complete the objective because it's not close enough to the required -800 Z point specified in the quest.

[Marvin]

Ah, okay. That makes sense. So, by changing the build location, you solved two problems at the same time. Two birds with one stone.

[Marvin]

Well, I got away with not having a deploy constructor once but there's no way I can get around the next "deploy sensor" stage. Since it looks like I'll be heading back to Olympus anyway, what piece of equipment is used which tells you the percentage of each mineral (I've forgotten)? Looking for a metal-rich asteroid or spot on a planet is a whole lot easier with that scanner.

[Vice]

Target scanner.

[Marvin]

Okay, thanks Vice. That should make it a lot easier loading up on metal again.

[DaveK]

I haven't heard from SeeJay in a very long time. I think his website is still up but, if it is, it's probably running on life support.

He was last on the forum on Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:58 pm!

[Marvin]

I found a grammatical error is the quest text: the article "a" that should've been deleted. Right now, though, I'm trying to find a target scanner and, more importantly, a deploy thingy. None at any of the stations in Olympus and none at Sapphire Station. If I was to do this quest over, I'd add a some text at the beginning: "Make sure you carry both a Build and a Deploy constructor. Adjust your ship's configuration for the maximum amount of room for equipment and cargo space. Also, don't forget the mining beam." So far, I haven't needed the TW but I'm not storing it anywhere, just in case.