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Bard stronghold quest bug(?)

tsondaboytsondaboy Member Posts: 12
in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Is there a known bug with the bard stronghold quest freezing?
I have currently completed the "Watch the dress rehearsal" event and waiting to be summoned by Higgold.
No matter how many days I wait, Meck does not come to summon me to proceed with the next event.
I had the character go back and forth from Baldurs Gate to Wild Forest for 30 game days and still Meck did not appear. If I go to Five Flagons, Higgold waits for me both on the tavern floor next to the stairs going down to the playhouse and again near the play house stage when I go down. His dialogue is both times the same
[Greetings patron. Opening night is soon; the actors are quite excited. Me, I just hope it goes well. It will do wonders for my reputation.]
I have no mods installed to the game.
I used the beamdog client to verify the game but that did not fix the problem.
Has anyone encountered this bug before?

Comments

  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,898
    There are a lot of cases of messenger NPCs not showing up and stalling quests. I haven't heard about it happening with this one before, but I'm not surprised.

    In the case of Meck ...
    His appearances are controlled by the BardPlot1 global variable and by timer variables MeetHiggin1 through MeetHiggin8. For opening night, BardPlot1 has to be 50 and MeetHiggin8 has to be expired. Then when Meck shows up, BardPlot1 increments to 51 ... and that's what Higgold's dialogue checks for.

    From the dialogue you quoted, BardPlot1 is at 50. Which means that most likely, something glitched and the MeetHiggin8 timer was never set. We can either set that timer (to some small, already expired value) or skip Meck and just increment BardPlot1. If you have a save-editing tool such as EEKeeper, you can check (and change) this yourself. Or if you have the cheat console enabled, you can change the variables in-game. Alternatively, you can upload a save and we'll take care of that (see here for how to do so).

    In this case, force-spawning Meck with the console definitely won't work; the script that normally spawns him is what increments BardPlot1, rather than his dialogue.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    This is a common thing with strongholds. Messengers spawn in the fog of war and walk towards you. If you leave an area too soon, they never reach you and just sit there.
  • tsondaboytsondaboy Member Posts: 12
    jmerry wrote: »
    There are a lot of cases of messenger NPCs not showing up and stalling quests. I haven't heard about it happening with this one before, but I'm not surprised.

    In the case of Meck ...
    His appearances are controlled by the BardPlot1 global variable and by timer variables MeetHiggin1 through MeetHiggin8. For opening night, BardPlot1 has to be 50 and MeetHiggin8 has to be expired. Then when Meck shows up, BardPlot1 increments to 51 ... and that's what Higgold's dialogue checks for.

    From the dialogue you quoted, BardPlot1 is at 50. Which means that most likely, something glitched and the MeetHiggin8 timer was never set. We can either set that timer (to some small, already expired value) or skip Meck and just increment BardPlot1. If you have a save-editing tool such as EEKeeper, you can check (and change) this yourself. Or if you have the cheat console enabled, you can change the variables in-game. Alternatively, you can upload a save and we'll take care of that (see here for how to do so).

    In this case, force-spawning Meck with the console definitely won't work; the script that normally spawns him is what increments BardPlot1, rather than his dialogue.

    So I guess if I restart Chapter 7 that I am now I might be able to complete the quest.
    I am attaching a save after 15 in game days have passed.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,898
    OK, checking the save ... the timer is there, and at a clearly expired value. But ... there's also a chapter check. Meck won't spawn if you're in chapter 4, 5, or 7. And you're in chapter 7. When, during the bard plot, did you enter Suldanesselar?

    Anyway, we should still be able to skip past Meck and just have your play's opening night by editing the BardPlot1 variable. I did that and tested it - it works. Though I don't know the lines, and just guessed at them. I changed the number to something large, so I recommend that you delete this save after using it.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,898
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    This is a common thing with strongholds. Messengers spawn in the fog of war and walk towards you. If you leave an area too soon, they never reach you and just sit there.
    A common problem, but not an issue here. Why? Because Meck's dialogue (at least that last time) isn't important. The simple fact of him spawning, even if you didn't see him, would have been enough to advance the quest.
  • tsondaboytsondaboy Member Posts: 12
    jmerry wrote: »
    OK, checking the save ... the timer is there, and at a clearly expired value. But ... there's also a chapter check. Meck won't spawn if you're in chapter 4, 5, or 7. And you're in chapter 7. When, during the bard plot, did you enter Suldanesselar?

    Yes I did enter Suldanesselar and are in chapter 7 now. I have a save from chapter 6 and will backtrack to that. Did not know that he does not spawn past that chapter. Thanks for checking the save file for me!
  • MaurvirMaurvir Member Posts: 1,093
    I will never understand why neither Bioware nor Beamdog gave those messengers permanent haste...
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    The problem is the whole "spawns in the fog of war" bit. It'd cause a lot less problems if messengers spawned next to your character, like they used to.
  • MaurvirMaurvir Member Posts: 1,093
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    The problem is the whole "spawns in the fog of war" bit. It'd cause a lot less problems if messengers spawned next to your character, like they used to.

    True, but I remember messenger fails in vanilla BG years ago. It's not like people just started getting screwed by stronghold quests and missing messengers when Beamdog took over.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Maurvir wrote: »
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    The problem is the whole "spawns in the fog of war" bit. It'd cause a lot less problems if messengers spawned next to your character, like they used to.

    True, but I remember messenger fails in vanilla BG years ago. It's not like people just started getting screwed by stronghold quests and missing messengers when Beamdog took over.

    This is true, but its become more common since the spawn change.
  • LammasLammas Member Posts: 228
    A similar thing happened to me during my latest playthrough. I believe I was waiting for the barbarian attack to happen but it just never did. Guess there's a lost child somewhere in the mountain range or some other wilderness then. Oh well.

    One kind of interesting thing that did happen with this is that I made it a point to check the inn and it's cellar every now and then and at some point, Higgold had decided to multiply himself.

    7ga2nrcs4ng2.jpg
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,898
    I'm pretty sure you're misdiagnosing this one. If Meck had spawned at all for the barbarian event, you wouldn't be seeing that dialogue. His dialogue isn't important; it's the block that spawns him which advances the BardPlot1 variable that things key on.
    And of course, the most likely reason for Meck not to spawn at all is the chapter check. All of his appearances have it - no spawn if you're in chapters 4, 5, or 7.

    Not sure what the extra Higgold is about, though. That barbarian event spawns and despawns him several times, but you're not there yet.
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