Final Fantasy Hacktics

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. IF YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING SUCH AS TESTING THE INFORMATION IT WILL BE APPRECIATED.

The goal of this project is to deconstruct the data table at 0x676a8, which is the entire backbone of BATTLE.BIN. Knowing which routines are loaded will improve speed and knowledge of hacking, meaning we can do even more wondrous things. FDC believes hacks such as being able to cancel Move commands will be easily achieved if this information is decoded.

These are my own notes that I put together in about 3 hours of breakpointing with Write command only. I only hope it's readable for those who need to understand.

0x960e4 change patterns
- this data location seems to be important for some reason. i personally suspect that this number tells
which routine to load to make FFT battles function. Things such as music, menus and all that.

CURRENTLY KNOWN LOAD SPOTS
-0x79c00(BATTLE.BIN)
- This is the area which uses 0x960e4 to set r2 = predetermined location in a data table, which the game then jumps to.
The data table starts at 0x676a8

CURRENTLY KNOWN WRITE SPOTS (STARTS AT THE ORI [unless otherwise noted], WHICH IS THE VALUE STORED)
NOTES: It is currently unknown why 0x960e4 is loaded and saved as a word, instead of a byte.
   So far, all write spots have been observed to be single bytes.

0x8c36c - This happened after I accepted a team at Formation. Music had not started yet.
ori r2,r0,0x3a

0x71144 - This happened after music started. I believe the map had not been shown yet. Was in mid-rotation of map if i remember correctly. Please test.
ori r2,r0,0x27

0x70c44 - Pressed confirm while not highlighting any unit, also happens after completing move
ori r2,r0,0x03

0x713d0  - selecting the active unit.
ori r2,r0,0x04

0x71478 - every time you select a unit, and there are choices. For example, selecting one of your own non active units, or checking enemy unit status. Number does not change if you go deeper into the menus
ori r2,r0,0x04

0x715b8 - pressing select to read further information on an action command or status screen. Basically any time while the above is true
ori r2,r0,0x06


0x715f8 - Pressing Cancel on a unit to check how far they can move.
ori r2,r0,0x07

0x71678 - Pressing Triangle to bring up the AT, Unit list and Options. Does not change if you go deeper into the menus unless you select a unit in AT list.
ori r2,r0,0x08

0x716ec - pressing select while in the AT, Unit list and Options. Pressing Select while in Unit List does not change number.
ori r2,r0,0x09

0x71738 - Selecting a unit in the AT list.
ori r2,r0,0x0a

0x717e0 - Pressed "Move" Command
ori r2,r0,0x0c

0x718f4 - Pressed Circle to remove the reminder on how to move a unit, also after removing "Select within movable range" box
ori r2,r0,0x0d

0x7193c - "select within movable range" box appeared. selected tree (unpathable) as movement location. works for spaces outside of range as well
ori r2,r0,0x0f

0x71994 - selected a spot within legal distance (blue square)
ori r2,r0,0x10

0x71ac8 - blue squares disappeared, unit walks to location
ori r2,r0,0x11

0x71b60 - unit finishes walking to location "are you sure you want to move here?" box appears
ori r2,r0,0x12

0x72484 - begin choosing facing for Wait
ori r3,r0,0x13

0x725e8 - Choose Wait action, or Move/Act used up
ori r2,r0,0x14

0x71f30 - confirm move command
ori r2,r0,0x15

0x72b60 - chose "Attack" command
ori r2,r0,0x16

0x74518 - happens right before red boxes appear for targetting
ori r2,r0,0x17

0x74480 - choosing out of range target location
ori r2,r0,0x18

0x743d4 - choosing valid location (red box)
ori r2,r0,0x19

0x745bc - confirming location, "Executing action" box appears
ori r2,r0,0x1b

0x73ff4 - Execute action chosen
ori r2,r0,0x1c

0x74214 - ????happened during Mimic
ori r2,r0,0x1e

0x74b0b - Something about Mimic
sw r17,0x60e4(r1) r17 = 0x1d    //(My complete guess is that it's a right hand attack data store)

0x7418c - happens right after choosing Execute
ori r2,r0,0x1e

0x71c9c - happens right after confirming move command, attack command
ori r2,r0,0x25

0x72ae0 - also happens after confirming move command or attack command, happens after 0x71c9c
ori r2,r0,0x26

0x71144 - ???? happened for me before and after Mimic action
ori r2,r0,0x27

0x734d0 - finish Attack command, happened 3x in a row
ori r2,r0,0x28

0x73a78 - ???? Something about Mimic
sw r19,0x60e4(r1) r19 - 0x29

0x73a78 - also happens after executing command, happens after 0x7418c
sw r19,0x60e4(r1) - r19 = 0x29 at the time

0x73fc4 - happens after 0x73a78, unit status at bottom of screen almost completely disappeared. Means one of the previous menus was to hide the unit status
ori r2,r0,0x2a

0x73f74 - ???? Only during Mimic
ori r2,r0,0x2b

0x73bac - unit status compltely gone, unit is about to attack, this section will happen twice for 2 swords attacks
ori r2,r0,0x2c

0x72bf4 - happens right after 0x73bac, unit attacks, this section will happen twice for 2 swords attacks
ori r2,r0, 0x2d

0x732cc - attack finishes, this section will happen twice for 2 swords attacks
ori r2,r0,0x2e

0x72cec - unit stands straight, break happened twice in a row, goes back to 0x73bac for 2 swords
ori r2,r0,0x2f

Phoenix Blade was changed mainly because of how stupidly long all matches with them took. 30 minutes per battle of the same loop over and over is not something anyone here really wants.

It's the Asian gene at work.

Arena 139c uploaded. Only bug fixes, but important ones.

Yeah, that's a bug. Was there anyone using said Harp? Also, can you upload the generated memory card so I can test?

No. I'll explain all this in detail.

First, the trivial scenario. If a Mime uses an attack or ability normally just like how any other unit does, it will use the equipped items as normal. Without any Equip abilities, this will be a punch. Note that Mime does not have innate Martial Arts anymore, and the attack will be very weak.

If a Mime mimics an attack, the left and right hand equipment changes to what the original user was holding. For example, if a Paladin uses Grand Cross with an Excalibur, the Mime will also mimic Grand Cross with an Excalibur. Once the mimic ends, the Mime will be given back the original equipment he had. If a shield was equipped, it will be put back on the correct hand.

HOWEVER, the changed equipment will not grant the innates from the new equipment. In the above scenario, the temporary Excalibur will not grant the user Strengthen: Holy. This means that if both units had the exact same Brave and PA, the original user will do more damage, due to Strengthen: Holy unless the Mime also has Strengthen: Holy from another source (for example, 108 Gems). Innates include bonus PA, MA, Speed, Immunities, Weaknesses, Resists and Strengthens as well as status effects. Basically, anything in the Attributes tab.

CONVERSELY, any innates that the Mime has gained from the equipment in his hands will not be lost. For example, the bonus PA from Genji Shield will not be lost during a Mimic, or the MA bonus from Rune Blade.

Be careful how you build your Mimes. A Mime copying a Mace of Zeus Grand Cross will not be able to absorb it unless there is Absorb: Lightning already on the unit somewhere. If in doubt, use skills that won't hit self, like Summons or Southern Cross.

Yeah, thanks.

Eternal is correct.

The game checks for the Performing flag, and it it returns true, the entire Short Charge routine is skipped.

Does anyone still have the compatibility image? The one in photobucket is gone and I don't have a saved version.

Xif is the one that made that change, not me. I don't know how.

3000

Giving reasons to cast different spells is the best way to about it. For example, your  Fire/Ice/Bolt spells are exactly the same, except for element. Ever wondered why the AI loves using Fire and Shiva? It's because they are at the top of the list while the exact copies (Ice, Bolt, Ifrit, Ramuh) are lower on the skill list.

So you can take a few things away from this:
- Units will use skills higher in the skillset more often, if the skills are similar.
- Units will always be efficient. If There was no difference between Skill 1 and Skill 2 except Skill 2 does a bit more damage, the AI will almost always use Skill 2.

Skills that do only damage are considered similar skills. You can change it up by adding different cast ranges, charge times or adding statii.

No. We had to cut the stream short because it was far too laggy. Also, we have no recordings either. The whole day was just full of problems.

The Double Slasher shot was insane lol.

Barren's luck is terrible, getting all self procs.

And for those who were wondering, Hi Potion heals more than X Potion if the unit is over 325 HP now. I did this change because the average HP has gone up overall compared to when Arena started.

Heal now does cure Stop status.

And thanks for noting all the inconsistencies. I'll update robes in MG now.

It's supposed to be 9/7 but I screwed up. Mime will have the same problem too =/

Ok, updated to 139b. The SCEAP.DAT says 138, I did this as quickly as I could.

The problem is that the memcard generator doesn't know where the new item attributes are. I need to ask Xif to help me with that. Just ignore the errors. It will work fine ingame.

It's for people to take a look at the data and check everything themselves since you can't open the ISO anymore. I know people have found problems before, and I know people use all the data available, not just what's in the MG.