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A Couple FFTPatcher Questions (Mostly ENTD-Related)

Started by Krendall, October 31, 2011, 08:26:31 pm

Krendall

I have a few questions regarding FFTPatcher that I haven't been able to find searching here or reading the tutorial wiki.

1 - In the Abilities editor in the AI section, what does "Vertical Increase" do? It's missing from the list on the Wiki.
2 - In order to make the computer use an ability it wouldn't normally use (Ramza's Scream, for example) do I simply check "Used by Enemies" and makes sure "Target Enemies/Allies" is checked in the AI section?
3 - When editing the ENTD there's a number input next to the "Jobs Unlocked" list. I know it affects job level, but does it affect just the base job's level or whatever job is in the "Jobs Unlocked" list? Also, the highest job level is 8, yet I can input any number from 0-255 (00-FF, I know). What, if anything, happens if I put a number higher than 8? Would having "Mime" and 255 as entries create a character that knows all job abilities?
4 - Selecting "Random" in the War Trophy list doesn't seem to give me anything after the battle. Does it not work, or is there something else I need to do?
5 - Does anyone know of a GUI-based program that can edit which shops sell which items? The one in FFTPatcher doesn't seem to work.
6 - Is there a guide that goes down FFTP's abilities list and describe what each of them does?

I apologize in advance if any of these are redundant questions. Feel free to point out the topic with the answers if there already is one. Thanks in advance for any answers and/or help.

RavenOfRazgriz

1, 2, 6: http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=4714.msg104619#msg104619

3: Job Level of the Job Unlocked.  The Base Job doesn't affect anything about the unit's unlocked Jobs or JP pool, outside of obviously being the Job the unit displays as, ignoring if the unit can actually unlock that Job.

4: Probably doesn't work, is generally not a good idea anyway.

5: http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=7271.0

Krendall

First of all, thanks for the quick reply and the links.
Quote from: RavenOfRazgriz on October 31, 2011, 10:06:15 pm
3: Job Level of the Job Unlocked.  The Base Job doesn't affect anything about the unit's unlocked Jobs or JP pool, outside of obviously being the Job the unit displays as, ignoring if the unit can actually unlock that Job.

Okay, that's what I kind of figured. However, what effect does setting the level above 8 have? Does it simply allow more JP in the pool, or does it have no effect at all?

Quote4: Probably doesn't work, is generally not a good idea anyway.

I don't know why you think it's a bad idea. I like the idea of getting item drops in random battles, but I was hoping to not get the same drops from the same enemies. Oh well.

Another question I forgot earlier: If I select the "Join After Event" box, will that alone cause a unit to join after the battle is over, or do I have to edit the ATTACK.OUT file as well?

RavenOfRazgriz

Quote from: Krendall on October 31, 2011, 10:44:38 pm
First of all, thanks for the quick reply and the links.Okay, that's what I kind of figured. However, what effect does setting the level above 8 have? Does it simply allow more JP in the pool, or does it have no effect at all?


It has some weird effects, but I *think* they end up with a bit more JP out of it.  Why you would ever need to set beyond Job Level 8 is beyond me, though.

Quote from: Krendall on October 31, 2011, 10:44:38 pm
I don't know why you think it's a bad idea. I like the idea of getting item drops in random battles, but I was hoping to not get the same drops from the same enemies. Oh well.


-> Get a Rune Blade in Chapter 1?  Welp, there goes game balance.
-> Get a Broad Sword in Chapter 4?  FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-.

Quote from: Krendall on October 31, 2011, 10:44:38 pm
Another question I forgot earlier: If I select the "Join After Event" box, will that alone cause a unit to join after the battle is over, or do I have to edit the ATTACK.OUT file as well?


You only need to check that box.

Krendall

Quote from: RavenOfRazgriz on October 31, 2011, 11:28:02 pmIt has some weird effects, but I *think* they end up with a bit more JP out of it.  Why you would ever need to set beyond Job Level 8 is beyond me, though.

Basically I'm wondering how to make a unit with all abilities learned. I would assume setting "Jobs Unlocked" to Mime would unlock every other job for that unit and setting the level to 8 (or higher) would give enough JP for all abilities.

RavenOfRazgriz

Quote from: Krendall on November 01, 2011, 08:02:42 am
Basically I'm wondering how to make a unit with all abilities learned. I would assume setting "Jobs Unlocked" to Mime would unlock every other job for that unit and setting the level to 8 (or higher) would give enough JP for all abilities.


You could just raise the JP Requirement for Job Level 8 to whatever you need it to be, set Mime to Require Job Level 8 all but Mime, set the units you want to know everything to Mime in Jobs Unlocked. 

A huge part of giving the AI a wider range of skills though is just lowering JP costs.  There's a reason most patches remove Gained JP UP and then slice JP costs immensely.  That makes the AI much more vicious too.  Don't have classes where the JP cost to know their entire skillset is 8000 like many Jobs in Vanilla can be and a lot of this problem fixes itself.

Krendall

Quote from: RavenOfRazgriz on October 31, 2011, 11:28:02 pmGet a Rune Blade in Chapter 1?  Welp, there goes game balance.

Unless, of course, I set the enemies to have them as well.

Quote from: RavenOfRazgriz on November 01, 2011, 08:14:30 am
You could just raise the JP Requirement for Job Level 8 to whatever you need it to be, set Mime to Require Job Level 8 all but Mime, set the units you want to know everything to Mime in Jobs Unlocked.

Cool, thanks. I take it the game automatically compensates for the Bard/Dancer issue?

QuoteThat makes the AI much more vicious too.

That's what I'm going for ;). Think "War of the Gods" without the level difference and everyone insanely powerful.

Anyway, thanks again for all your help.


RavenOfRazgriz

You've obviously not seen some of the JP totals required to master classes in this game, PGF...

Wizard over 8000, Lancer over 7000, Summoner almost 9000, many other classes at least 4500.  Cutting them to 2/3 and essentially making Gained JP UP innate all in the smart way works for /some/ classes (Knight, Geomancer, Archer, Chemist, few others, mostly non-magic Jobs)... but Summoner going from 9000ish to 6000ish (e.g.) still leads to the AI being fucked when it has no business requiring that much JP to master anyway.  Basically, for every class that the 2/3 method works acceptably for, there's another where you'll need to do cuts of probably 3/5 or more for it to work.

Remember Job Level 8 is only 2100 in Vanilla... even if you push to as high as 3000, that's still barely scraping half of the JP needed to get a large chunk of the skills in quite a few classes.  You really want to get Mastery JP Requirement for every Job down to 3500 or so, 4000 tops.  If your class costs more than that to Master, something's probably overpriced anyway.

Obviously some classes take more than others, and some like Wizard (for multiple reasons) will run closer to your 4000 limit than one might think even when pricing some of their spells frugally if you don't modify their Spellbook to be less bloated... but a noteworthy number of classes just outright require far more than a generic slash of 1/3rd of their overall cost to work comparably to contemporary classes.  Then again, Vanilla FFT Hates Mages (tm), and this whole JP deal is just another embodiment of how much they actually hate them. 

Pickle Girl Fanboy

Level 8 is 9999 JP in my patch, but I don't have any jobs that require that much JP.  It's purely for the AI.  Level 7 is 3000, by the way.

I don't use Gained JP UP at all, because it affords no benefit to the enemy, and actually harms them, since they waste JP learing it and a Support slot equipping it.  Furthermore, it only benefits the player strategically - from battle to battle - and offers no tactical (immediate, in the current battle) benefit.  If anything, it's bad for the player, tactically, since it forces then to forgo the tactical benefits of having a good Support in favor of the strategic benefit of accessing abilities with less effort.  So not only is there no reason to use any other ability until you've mastered several classes and are done JP grinding, but, since you're basically handicapping yourself by denying yourself a useful support, you must be that much stronger and smarter to survive battles, so by the time you no longer need JP Gained UP, you are strong enough that you don't need ANY support abilities.

Krendall

November 01, 2011, 06:17:43 pm #10 Last Edit: November 01, 2011, 06:36:33 pm by Krendall
I halved all ability costs and tripled the job levels (level 8 at 6300), so we'll see how that goes. I'm aware it's going to require a lot more grinding on my part to unlock jobs, but I'm fine with that.

EDIT: I think you misunderstood what I meant in my 6th question of the OP. I didn't mean the abilities of FFTPatcher, I meant the in-game skills listed on the Abilities tab. I found a list on GameFAQs that lists learnable skills by job and gives the in-game description, but I meant something that listed every skill (preferably in the order found in FFTPatcher) and describes what it does.

Krendall

November 05, 2011, 07:15:44 pm #11 Last Edit: November 05, 2011, 08:15:46 pm by Krendall
Sorry to double-post, but I'm hoping someone notices a new issue I have:
I'm trying to get more units to show up in random battles. I've tried simply checking "Always Present" on more units, but it seems to cap depending on what area it is. Does each area have a maximum number of allowed enemy units? If so, how can I increase it? Also, does it matter if there's a "random" entry between two "always" entries?

Another question: Is it possible to force the game to choose a certain number of random units per battle?

Pickle Girl Fanboy

Check to see if two "Randomly Present" units are standing on the same spot.  Also, you need to somehow keep track of where enemies start, where your units start, walkable terrain for the class you're placing, and obstacles on the map when adding new units to new positions.

Krendall

Aside from replacing monster units with human ones, I wasn't adding any new units to the default list.

Pickle Girl Fanboy

I don't know much about the sprite limit, but it's there and you need to keep track of it.  It's different for every battlefield too.  Someone needs to update the wiki with the sprite limits for each battlefield.