You know Gavin loves you, right?

[berelinde]

I've been thinking about how his concurrency counter can go ticking along, with nothing more than three gently voiced concerns that he is jealous and then... wham. He breaks up with you because you're popular.

 

This isn't right. After all, you're quite literally a demi-goddess. It is only logical that men can't help themselves when you are near. Anyway, Gavin's insecurity shouldn't be your problem. You've got enough on your mind. But he has trust issues, and the men flittering around like moths near the candle of your beauty do not help.

 

What to do?

 

Rational, mature people talk about it.

 

I'm thinking about having concurrent romances trigger a dialogue where the pc can reassure Gavin that he still has a chance with her or she can let him down easy, her choice. Well not entirely. If he really likes you a lot, you can tell him practically anything and he'll stay. If he's not feeling the love, not much that you say will change his determination to break up with you before he gets hurt even worse. That's where his love for you matters.

 

You see, Gavin will want to talk to you about all the attention you receive, but he will base his decisions on how he feels about you. All romances affect him equally, so it doesn't matter who is doing the sweet-talking, but the more of them there are, the sooner he will comment.

 

With Cloakwood opening up sooner, that number could rise higher even faster, so I wouldn't want Gavin to end things prematurely.

 

So, this is where I need your input. I need to know your pre-commitment lovetalk number and the value of B!GavinLove. I'm trying to establish a range for various playing styles.

 

Probably the easiest way to get these numbers is just to pause the game periodically, enter the two lines into the CLUA console, and jot down the numbers returned. Or, if you prefer, you could use SK.

 

CLUAConsole:GetGlobal("B!GavinLovetalk","GLOBAL")

CLUAConsole:GetGlobal("B!GavinLove","GLOBAL")

 

Any takers?

[Kulyok]

I know mine was closer to 100(but not quite), fifteen minutes immediately after the player-initiated flirts were available, for the simple reason I wanted to see all the options. So that's probably of no help, is it?

 

(I'm fine with "PC, so many men love you.../whatever else" at "two or more romances are active" check, but any Xan-specific staff better be discussed first.)

[berelinde]

There won't be any individual-specific talks here, nor any new variables introduced. Just general insecurity issues.

 

The only change would be that instead of a break-up dialogue, the counter reaching its limit would start a discussion. The PC would get a chance to tell Gavin that she really does want a serious relationship, and more importantly, that she still thinks it's worthwhile for Gavin to hold out hope instead of him just ending the relationship flat out. She can offer him enouragement, indifference, or discouragement, or just dump him outright. No names named, no RomanceActives individually specified.

 

If he really likes her *a lot*, he'll stay as long as she doesn't dump him outright. If he likes her a more reasonable amount, he'll stay as long as she is encouraging or neutral. If she has not managed to win her way into his heart very far, either, she'll have to be very convincing to get him to stay (but she still will have a chance of convincing him).

 

And your numbers are more useful than might otherwise be supposed, because they are probably well beyond what someone would get in normal play, and that's useful, too.

 

EDIT, again: And just to make sure this is stated outright

 

Gavin will not, under any circumstances, continue to romance a woman who has committed to another man while the other romance is still active. That is how it works now, that is how it will always work. Commitment to Gavin ends other relationships. Again, that is how it works now, and that is how it will work in the future, unless someone tells me they don't want to do it that way. I need to go back and make sure the "cut by other" variables get set, though, to enable relationships terminated by commitment to Gavin to resume should Gavin's romance end, if that is normal behavior for the relationships in question. Never fear, I'll be in contact over any romance-specific code.

[Eleima]

I think this is a brillant idea.

One of the things that had surprised me (but hadn't really bugged, so I just wrote the event off as me having misinterpreted the dialog option), was that "multi-romance dialog" (sorry, I don't have the exact quotes, I couldn't find them in the dialog files , though I did try ).

Gavin comes up to the PC, and starts musing on how popular a gal she is (I believe I had Xan and Ajantis in the party at the time, although the PC was human, so Xan wasn't an option). Although I intended to romance Gavin and no other, I wanted to tease him a little, and say something along the lines of "Yes, I'm love, and it's wonderful", "Yes, it's someone you know" (it's you dummy! ), but "no, he doesn't know it yet", and just like that, he lost interest, thinking I meant Ajantis, I suppose.

So, I think that this concept is a great idea, and I promise you'll have my input this week-end, with global variables and all, when I make another run through BGTutu with Gavin. Just now right now, I have a final tomorrow!

[berelinde]

Wonderful! I'd really appreciate it.

 

If you're curious, Gavin deflated because he thought you were talking about somebody else. How was he to know? He'd never ask, so your "someone you know" was kind of upsetting for him. If you're curious, you could have said the same thing if your party was Imoen, Jaheira, Dynaheir, and Branwen, and he would have been just as crestfallen.

 

But he wouldn't dump you over that!

[Eleima]

Wonderful! I'd really appreciate it.

 

Well, since it'll be more time spent gaming... Pleasure's all mine!

 

If you're curious, Gavin deflated because he thought you were talking about somebody else. How was he to know? He'd never ask, so your "someone you know" was kind of upsetting for him. If you're curious, you could have said the same thing if your party was Imoen, Jaheira, Dynaheir, and Branwen, and he would have been just as crestfallen. But he wouldn't dump you over that!

 

Well, I figured as much. I guess that, after teasing Gavin a bit, my PC was just looking for the "*jumps into Gavin's arms, and murmur in his ear* I love you, silly." option...

[Minarvia]

This is a great idea, Berelinde. Later on I'll type in the codes you specified and get the numbers.

Like Eleima, I also wanted to tease Gavin a bit on that talk and was, as she was, disappointed at not being able to tell him "it's you, silly!" But it's no big deal.

Sooo, he won't immediately break up with a popular pc? I wasn't sure, so I panicked and broke up with Ajantis and Xan at once.

 

And, see, Berlinde? No-one here is mad about having to re-installl Gavin due to the heart-breaking accidental break up! Gavin is more than worth it. (As long as he doesn't do it to me again! lol )

[berelinde]

Oh, at the present, Gavin will *definitely* break up with you if you attempt to romance four men at once, and he probably will if it's just him and two others, depending on when those relationships start.

 

This is meant for the next version, because there's going to have to be one more. There are still some good ideas on the suggestions board that I have not yet implemented because I either did not know how to code it or because I'm still thinking about which way to go with it. And I'm going to have to start thinking about BGT at some point, although I want it to be 100% done before I move to that step.

 

So, this dialogue is for the next version, which is why I need the numbers.

 

And your PC response suggestion is one of the things I need you to log on the suggestions board. I'm interested in hearing every place that you want to say something, but didn't have the opportunity to do so.

[Minarvia]

I have a quick question, just to make sure you get the numbers you need.

Do you just want us to check the numbers periodically no matter who is in the party, or is it more important to have the other romancable males in the party and *then* check periodically?

Do I make sense?

I guess, in other words, does it matter if Gavin is the only eligible bachelor?

[berelinde]

Party composition makes no difference. It can be all romanceable guys or all ladies. I just want to know how much Gavin likes you.

 

Hope Gavin's previous bad coding has not scared you off providing the guy with a little competition. All three BG1 NPC romance writers provided some really good conflict stuff.

[Flarn]

I'm definitely in agreement with you that if the PC can be sweet enough, she should be able to hold onto Gavin for a bit longer with assurances that he still has a chance.

 

I will do the number checking thing for you with my next Gavin game.

[berelinde]

Thanks much. I appreciate the effort, because I really need to know what typical numbers look like.

 

Testing the mod skews the numbers because you need to test everything to make sure it works. Therefore, my own numbers are off, and I know it.

 

But I'm definitely thinking that the pc should have more options, even if Gavin is skittish.

 

Oh, and Flarn, regarding your fan-fic, I can't wait to read it. Don't know if you're confining it to BG1 NPC, but if Gavin gets mentioned, he's got brown eyes, brown hair, and a kind of horsey nose. Wish I could help you out with Xan's last LT. I think that's the one where he tells you that he has to go back to Evereska.

[Flarn]

Oh, and Flarn, regarding your fan-fic, I can't wait to read it. Don't know if you're confining it to BG1 NPC,

 

Well, for the moment it will be BG1 centered, and that's about as far as I've gotten, idea wise, but Gavin is so great he deserves to be written about. Some of what I write may, in the delightfully sensuous spirit of your mod, cause heart-attacks in certain individuals.

 

if Gavin gets mentioned, he's got brown eyes, brown hair, and a kind of horsey nose.

 

Got it. Me and my PCs seem to have a thing for sensitive guys who are a bit quirky-looking. My first-ever PC fell hard for Khalid, and his Charisma is even lower than Gavin's.

 

Flarn

[Shieara]

I wasn't sure whether you wanted these throughout the game or just before commitment. Anyways, here are mine thus far in (I think) chronological order. I haven't gotten very far as I started a new game.

 

Before entering the Nashkel Mines (shortly after picking Gavin up)

B!GavinLovetalk:5

B!GavinLove:2

 

After the mines have been cleared

B!GavinLovetalk: 7

B!GavinLove: 5

 

After picking up Minsc and rescuing his witch

B!GavinLovetalk: 9

B!GavinLove: 3

 

After doing the first Gavin quest

B!GavinLovetalk:21

B!GavinLove:17

 

After clearing out the bandits

B!GavinLovetalk:19

B!GavinLove:9

 

After the second Gavin quest

B!GavinLovetalk:23

B!GavinLove:23

 

After clearing out Ulcaster

B!GavinLovetalk: 27

B!GavinLove: 26

 

And that's about as far as I have gotten. Not sure if it helps or not, but I can keep updating if you would like.

[berelinde]

Thanks.

 

 

These were all from the same game, right? That's interesting. Not sure why the tally would drop. There aren't really a whole lot of things that would cause the count to drop. I'll have to make sure I don't have SetGlobal instead of IncrementGlobal. (Edit: didn't find any, so that's good.)

 

Not that it really matters right now. As it stands, the places where it matters what Gavin thinks are few and far between. The most significant is the exchange with Durlyle.

 

But I will check.

 

Keep the numbers coming, if you would. It will help me with other places too, like said Durlyle exchange.