ULTIMA8: Master Malchir does not drop the book of 'Tongue of Flames'

[cefotaxime]

Master Malchir, when defeated, should drop the book of 'Tongue of Flames' in the original game, which does not happen under the Pentagram or Scummvm engine.

[mduggan]

Thanks for adding the bug. I knew this wasn't working but I hadn't gotten around to investigating. I think that the book is still in a nearby chest so you can still complete the game with this bug, but it's still kind of annoying.

[cefotaxime]

Thank you for the prompt interest, mduggan.

The book you've mentioned in a nearby chest is entitled 'The Destruction of the Temple', which is different from the book 'Tongue of Flames'. This book tells the player a vital information that one should go into the big pentagram WITH THE TONGUE OF FLAME(blackrock) to free Pyros. I think this bug should be fixed for the normal walkthrough for this game.

Thanks
Cefotaxime

[mduggan]

Thanks for the extra info. I don't think I have a savegame close to that point - do you have a savegame you could attach close to before he attacks you?

Note to myself that treasure data probably needs update.. 041B MALCHIR should probably be drop 0120 GRIMOIRE quality 8 ("The Tongue of Flame").

Video of original game with contents: ​https://youtu.be/P1VwYkz0l3I?list=PLB55190F48E839445&t=575

[cefotaxime]

I've uploaded a savegame 'succeeding Malchir'. Enjoy!

[mduggan]

I finally got to investigating this a bit more. Some notes:

• The Tongue of Flame book is created by PYROS::3E82. At offset 46ED it sets the hasTongue global then creates the book.
• The "traceback" of how this gets spawned is PYROS::3E82 <- FIRE::0080 <- PYROS::247C <- MALCHIR::09F2 ("Come, Acolyte. We must begin the ceremony. ").
• PYROS::247C can also be spawned from the debug menu (in AVATAR::look)

So it seems like the book is given to him after the ceremony is finished successfully.

I also found one important difference between the original game and our implementation: The original only calls destroyContents on an NPC if they have the FAST_ONLY flag, but we were always destroying contents. This should account for the difference, as Malchir is not FAST_ONLY, but after changing this and using the attached savegame he still doesn't drop the book. In this savegame, he's not carrying the book.

I will have to go back and play through the ceremony to check if that accounts for the difference - once the ceremony is finished he should have it.

Partial fix for this problem was made in 8d9081e7.

[mduggan]

It looks like my change should actually fix things.

From the debug/cheat "Demo" menu on a new game, if I now "Run Pyros" and then go to "Malchir Death", he correctly has the book (see attached screenshot). I think this should fix the bug for a normal playthrough.