Multiplayer for MMMerge [beta 14.01.2024/4]

[Rodril]

While we had no crashes this time, MAW uses charges in item field to extabilish extra enchants.
Dropping an item on the ground would cause charges to change kinda randomly deleting items enchant most of the time.

Beside that everything went smooth and clean!

I did use free 3 bytes of Charges field to store Object's id, but not anymore, MAW enchants should work fine again, while objects still synchronized with new approach. It should eliminate potential object corruption caused by desyncs, but if crashes will return, be sure to tell me.

Updating version to 23.07.2023/15, so mod will ensure, all players have the fix. Also some actions been taken in regards objects desync when changing map, and guilds membership is stored in multiplayer party save data correctly. Still every player have to pay for membership himself (so membership won't appear suddenly), if you think guilds membership should be global among all remote players, let me know.

[Robert Tolberti]

Hey folks, thanks for all the hard work so far. Playing Might and Magic multiplayer has been a dream come true, so thank you form the bottom of my heart. I’ll be chiming in with weird bugs as me and a party go through the games. Though, we have not updated to the most recent version from a couple days ago yet.

The errors I have encountered so far have been covered. However, we had a game breaking bug in mm6.

The Superior Temple of BAA did not spawn correctly and I tried reloading and entering and the results were always the same: nearly empty besides a few random Rock elementals (Most of which were in the walls). That meant both keys could not be gained and the Silver Tongue quest could not be finished and thus the main quest moved along.

So that is a weird error to look into.

If you folks know (like the console) a fix please let me know. I did try with the save editors but could not get far with only the mm8 editor working obviously.

Nonetheless, I will keep my eyes open and report here anything else buggy to be found.

Cheers.

[shaelix92]

Wow, that's amazing.
Hope some day Author will get rid of most of the bugs.
I will test it for sure in incoming days.
Is there any way to get in touch with you Rodril?
I might help you fixing the bugs.

[Rodril]

If you folks know (like the console) a fix please let me know. I did try with the save editors but could not get far with only the mm8 editor working obviously.

Hello. Triggering map refill should help. Last versions of the mod have some improvements to prevent map data collisions, if possible, update the mod, so this error will less likely happen again.

To trigger map refill, host must load savegame and do following before multiplayer mode is enabled:
1. Enter Superior temple of Baa.
2. Open console with ctrl+f1 and execute code by pressing ctrl+enter:

Code: Select all

Map.LastRefillDay = 0

3. Exit map and enter it again, map should be refilled.
After all steps taken, host can enable multiplayer mode and invite other players.

[Robert Tolberti]

Rodril,

Thanks that did the trick. I'll get us updated and report here if anything else weird is found.

[Mercs]

1. ((null)) items will now often spawn instead of duplicated items, but sometimes items would still duplicate normally. still getting a lot of crashes trying to pickup items from the ground at random. overall it seems the update have made it worse.
2. placeholder text on thunderfist mountain entrance in the passage to nighon
3. this randomly pops up when zombified and trying to combat monsters or open inventory
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
C:\MM8\Scripts\General\ZombiePlayers.lua:354: attempt to index field 'PlayerFaces' (a nil value)

stack traceback:
C:\MM8\Scripts\General\ZombiePlayers.lua: in function 'GetRace'
C:\MM8\Scripts\General\MiscTweaks.lua:669: in function 'v'
C:\MM8\Scripts/Core/EventsList.lua:101: in function <C:\MM8\Scripts/Core/EventsList.lua:96>

arguments of 'GetRace':
(*temporary) = (table: 0x05910548)
(*temporary) = 0

local variables of 'GetRace':
(*temporary) = nil
(*temporary) = 0
(*temporary) = nil
(*temporary) = nil
(*temporary) = "attempt to index field 'PlayerFaces' (a nil value)"

upvalues of 'GetRace':
StdGetRace = (function: 0x056b9a98)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
4. zombie status removal seems broken, a temple would offer to cure you but you still stay the zombie (money is removed for temple services but does nothing). even console command Party[0].Zombie=0 only worked after a lot of tries for some reason, when trying to execute Party[0].Zombie instead you would get a different number in console every time, as if you have duplicated zombification status effect on you or smth. we turned into zombies by casting Raise Dead (Dark) on each other, and now some players can't get rid of effect.
5. particle fountains randomly spawn on the ground instead of loot
6. had a bug where potion sprite would drop from ceiling in castle harmondale... just, like, a potion, drops from ceiling on floor 1... again and again.

idk why, MM6 and MM8 were both waaaaay smoother than MM7, seven just drains my patience with all of the issues we are facing lately.

[Rodril]

Hello. I've updated version to 23.07.2023/17.
It contains fix for Zombie condition, in multiplayer there was a way to loose data about pre-zombified portrait of the characeter, causing the glitch.
Objects synchronization method is reverted to stable one, please note me about all weird behaivor you'll meet.

Today i've posted 05.11.2023 update for base merge. Multiplayer is no longer contain scripts, that are not modified by the mod, so you'll need to apply 05.11.2023 update manually, and multiplayer mod again on top of it.

If you are using MAW additon, order will be:
1. 05.11.2023 clean installation (or patch if you have previous version)
2. Multiplayer on top of it
3. MAW

[Mercs]

forgot to report yesterday:

one of the players got resurrected on Emerald Isle after dying at Nighon fortunately, was able to just cast off to Harmondale.

[Malekitsu]

We finished our gameplay and was an amazing experience!
Latest release seems to be working good and there wasn't any game-breaking bugs.
Looking forward for another gameplay next year!

[Rodril]

Nice to hear, thanks.

[vanchester]

hello
have a problem in mm7 when go on ship from emerald island to harmondale
the game shows cutscene but dont let me play further,maybe it can be helped somehow
all my allies went with no problem,only me have these bug

[Rodril]

hello
have a problem in mm7 when go on ship from emerald island to harmondale
the game shows cutscene but dont let me play further,maybe it can be helped somehow
all my allies went with no problem,only me have these bug

You have to enter ship and click "Cast off" topic.
If topic present, but nothing happens on click - maybe something wrong with installation.
If topic does not present, make savegame (on your side) and send me it via any filehosting, please.

Quick workaround:
1. Save game (on your side)
2. Exit game and load saved game
3. Reconnect host, upon connecting select "Current" character save (lowest one), then you will spawn on top of host character.

[Bowerbank]

So so good thank you so much!

[orzie]

A little bit of feedback from me and my friend playing this jewel of a mod.

OS type: Windows 11 (myself, host) and Windows 10 (friend, client). Win XP sp2 compatibility mode for both.
Connection: p2p.
Starting location: Enroth (MM6).

Encountered bugs:

1. Items are sometimes duplicated when repeatedly thrown out for the other player to take. Probably connected with that old MM6-8 bug with duplicating corpse loot. One time we got duplicate cloaks lying on the floor in the Abandoned Temple (native loot), and we got 2 hearts of Spider Queen, one per player. Only one, of course, was useful to end the quest.
2. Some dropped items were restored at the place of their drop after entering and exiting the Abandoned Temple.
3. For some reason, all martial guild memberships were already present (i.e. I didn't have to buy access, contrary to the magic guilds).
4. I experienced 2 crashes in approximately 4 hours of gameplay. Both happened during transfer between locations (exiting the Temple of Baa and traveling from Mist via boat).
5. Something strange happens with the daytime, because it is seemingly random after a timeskip, both via Rest window and in Tavern. I get up from the Tavern at 8 a.m., visit the Magic shop which is open from 8 a.m. in New Sorpigal, exit the shop, and cannot enter it again. I look at the time, and bam - I've got 6:47 a.m.
6. Something strange happens with the Rest window because sometimes other players are not healed when I start the Rest.
7. Albert Newton at Mist gives a Council Quest at the very start, although we've never been to Free Haven.
8. I wonder what would happen if I didn't have a center button on my mouse. It's impossible to drop money without it, only banks are the alternative.

---

Other than that, the game is pretty enjoyable. It definitely doesn't feel like an alpha, we were even able to reconnect after a crash without any lost data. The synchronization is impressive, the game feels absolutely playable from beginning to end. Thank you very much for this dream coming true, I wouldn't even think all this is possible. Will surely play further and spend some time for leaving more feedback.

[Izowiuz]

This is truly a marvelous achievement : D

Has anyone had any luck with running multiplayer on Linux via lutris? Hosting seems to work semi stable - with some crashes when teleporting using, for example, stables - but running as a client hard crashes MM8.exe immediately after joining the session.

[Majesty]

what about melee pvp support?

[Rodril]

Has anyone had any luck with running multiplayer on Linux via lutris? Hosting seems to work semi stable - with some crashes when teleporting using, for example, stables - but running as a client hard crashes MM8.exe immediately after joining the session.

Never tried it on Linux (almost never used Linux), but few days ago I got machine with Ubuntu at disposal, will respond, if I'll manage to check and it is fixable.

what about melee pvp support?

I do not plan to implement it. It is possible to hook, calculate and apply melee damage to remote players, but simply that is not enough to call it pvp. Game was not designed with player to player combat in mind, moreover code base is open and easily hackable once someone put dedication to it. As far as I know, pvp is extremly demanding to balance, connection quality and cheat prevention, none of that I'll be able to deliver.

I wonder what would happen if I didn't have a center button on my mouse. It's impossible to drop money without it, only banks are the alternative.

Thanks for the report. Alternative mouselook toggle button is Caps Lock. It is part of Grayface's MMPatch and noted in it's readme and mm8.ini, but not in the game UI, probably I have to add shortcut.

[Rodril]

Hello. Updating version to 13.01.2024. It is compatible with latest base version.
-- Method of confirming packets delivery have been overhauled, I expect it to solve slight desynqs faster.
-- Movement of remote players' puppets have been redesigned to make animation smoother: whenever remote player jumps down, climbs up the stairs, or moves through friendly NPC, puppet is less likely to stuck and teleport now.

Just in case i'm keeping stable version link in the first post.
New version of the base merge contains altered method of skill level storage, so be sure all players using same version of the game, you can check it by openning console with ctrl + f1 and executing "Merge.Version" (without quotes) by pressing ctrl+enter.

[vladimir-maestro]

is there a way to replace standart monster sprites into new ones that won't copy existing monsters and looks unique?
can't find where to edit it.

thanks

[Rodril]

is there a way to replace standart monster sprites into new ones that won't copy existing monsters and looks unique?
can't find where to edit it.

There' s no convenient way to do it. Multiplayer uses standart MM monsters with disabled AI to mimic remote player actions. Each monster have set of frames assigned, which we can change on the fly via script (i.e. Map.Monsters[0].Frames[0-8]). But there's no adequate method of adding new unique sets of frames in runtime, because all of them are predifined in "SFT.txt" from "Data\Tables" folder, which lists sprites from sprites.lod and palettes from bitmaps.lod. Game.SFTBin cannot be extended in runtime.
What can possibly be done:
1. Append bunch of placeholder lines to SFT.bin
2. Create addtional sprites.lod archive with frames and bitmaps.lod with palettes for these frames, load these as custom lods in runtime (same as additional UI is loaded)
3. Alter placeholder lines of Game.SFTBin via script to represent loaded archives
4. Apply new frames by "Map.Monsters[0]:SetCustomFrames" method, which accepts 9 arguments - strings - group names from SFTBin.

There're still problems with method of selection unique names for new palettes, frames and archives, to avoid overlapping with existing ones. Also LoadFrames method will reload original frames every call, so it should be hooked somehow.
Sending these lods to remote players and initializing them there also should be implemented.
I won't be able to do all of that in nearest future.