Mercenaries

[bad_captain]

I did some spawn work last night. I cleaned up some code in client_packet.cpp and tried to flesh out the hiring / spawning process.

I was able to get the merc when hired added to my group. I had added some code for the merc to follow me, but it doesn't work yet. I didn't get a chance to test it out other than seeing it didn't work.

I added some code for dismiss, but it didn't seem to work either. It may have been an issue with getting the merc owner, as I had a similar issue on spawning I was able to fix. I just ran out of time to test out why.

My plan is to clean up the spawning process a little more, get my merc to follow me, get suspend/unsuspending & dismiss working tonight. A little more work needs to be done before being able to save the merc to the database (definitely not in the player profile).

The merc templates are currently being stored in the zone, so there is duplication. It could be moved to EQSharedMem to eliminate that, but to get it up and running, that's where I put them. The shared memory stuff may be beyond my pay grade, but there's plenty of time before anyone needs to worry about it. I think it's around 150kb per zone if my math is close.

If anyone has a live paid account on EQ that has mercs, I have some things I need to check on that I can't on my account. If anyone is able and willing, I'd appreciate it.

[Devincean]

Originally Posted by bad_captain

I did some spawn work last night. I cleaned up some code in client_packet.cpp and tried to flesh out the hiring / spawning process.

I was able to get the merc when hired added to my group. I had added some code for the merc to follow me, but it doesn't work yet. I didn't get a chance to test it out other than seeing it didn't work.

I added some code for dismiss, but it didn't seem to work either. It may have been an issue with getting the merc owner, as I had a similar issue on spawning I was able to fix. I just ran out of time to test out why.

My plan is to clean up the spawning process a little more, get my merc to follow me, get suspend/unsuspending & dismiss working tonight. A little more work needs to be done before being able to save the merc to the database (definitely not in the player profile).

The merc templates are currently being stored in the zone, so there is duplication. It could be moved to EQSharedMem to eliminate that, but to get it up and running, that's where I put them. The shared memory stuff may be beyond my pay grade, but there's plenty of time before anyone needs to worry about it. I think it's around 150kb per zone if my math is close.

If anyone has a live paid account on EQ that has mercs, I have some things I need to check on that I can't on my account. If anyone is able and willing, I'd appreciate it.

I had mercs on my account even ended up putting in the work and getting high end tier 3 mercs so know all about them. Was also thinking of trying to help you guys out with any packet catching ya need since have guys at all levels and can solo most of the game since my mains on live are 90 druid i dual box with my 90 enchanter each with about 3000aa been awhile since I played well about VOA also have a entire guild city and a couple of houses wanted to see if I could help you guys get that data. If so let me know be glad to reactive my accounts for a month or two if it helps out.

[bad_captain]

Originally Posted by Devincean

I had mercs on my account even ended up putting in the work and getting high end tier 3 mercs so know all about them. Was also thinking of trying to help you guys out with any packet catching ya need since have guys at all levels and can solo most of the game since my mains on live are 90 druid i dual box with my 90 enchanter each with about 3000aa been awhile since I played well about VOA also have a entire guild city and a couple of houses wanted to see if I could help you guys get that data. If so let me know be glad to reactive my accounts for a month or two if it helps out.

Well, I was reminded that the test server has access to the Journeyman mercs, so I was able to get some data that way. I wouldn't want you to do that yet, and only if no one else has easy access to higher tier of mercs. I will be coming up with a list of things to work on, as well as a list of data that's needed. Hopefully this weekend.

[Devincean]

Ok ya the high tier mercs t3 to t5 are the harder to get usually you have to know someone high enough to run you through the unlock quests or pay someone too run you through the quest and its not cheap from what I use to charge was about half a million plat plus also I made a mistake have the T5 mercs on my guys not the T3 like I said been awhile but just peaked at them yesterday here is the guide i used for the mercs. http://articles.eqresource.com/mercoverview.php

Also just FYI the diffrence between Tier 1 - Tier 4 and Tier 5 mercs is very huge btw the T5 mercs can solo raid targets that are outdoor zones since mercs don't work in closed raid zones example (can't do 2.5 epics with mercs since the Dreadspire Keep: Demi-Plane of Blood is indoor raid zone.)

Also some other useful links for mercs sure you could find them yourself but just to help out since information is fairly scattered. These links made coming back and learning how mercs work and what they could do really easy.

Everything about mercs stances/upgrades etc
http://almarsguides.com/eq/general/mercenaries.cfm

Bottom of page has most the race/class combos for mercs
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/EQ:Mercenaries

Only big things I am not sure how ya would figure out is T5 mercs obviously have AA bonuses the clerics heals amazingly and the tank merc hardly ever take a lot of damage even against raid targets so not sure if there is a way to figure that out also since merc armor auto upgrades as you level up (you can see the armor change per couple levels) not sure what armor and weapons they change to as they level up with you. I guess I could see if I took a alt and power leveled it up at what levels it changes and take pictures of it but not sure how to get the stats of the armor they are wearing or what they are wearing.

[trevius]

Unless we plan to allow mercs to be given items to equip like Bots (which might be a nice option for custom servers), then the easiest solution would just be to simulate it by changing armor textures and tint. We can also set them to use specific weapon models and attack types right in the npc_types table so we don't have to give them actual weapons. Then their stats just need to be adjusted to whatever we want. Unless they get racial benefits, we could probably save some effort by making a single npc_type entry for each merc and then adjusting the race at the time it is created. Otherwise you are going to end up with thousands of entries to do what could otherwise be done with a small percentage of that.

Also, bad_captain, we will probably need to remove the 2 assign mercenary packets from the hire handling, since those are actually just used for setting weapon models. Those won't be required if we set the weapon models on the npc_type. That, or we can just send normal wearchanges or whatever.

Mercs are looking pretty good so far. Since using them is optional, we could probably merge them into the trunk anytime now even though they are still being worked on. Can probably wait until at least the rest of the packet stuff is worked out I guess.

I will probably leave most of the merc supporting code up to you, since you probably know what is needed better than I due to your experience with Bots. I definitely want to keep helping to make sure all of the packet stuff is worked out though. It looks like we still need to get the timer stuff working, so maybe I will work on that next. I am willing to help with more though, if you want to divvy anything out.