Now need advice with job edit and graphic related stuff

[Aiolon]

Hello again. no im not gone forever still here with more complex questions but this time related to graphics (Sprites, skill effects, palettes) and with sprites and skills theres always a job.


i have succesfully learned and edited sprites (formation and in battle) but as always there are questions related to the "what if i..."
you know...   

Decided not to edit my previous thread because its in my opinion a totally diferent topic as that is refered to game mechanics and mostly fftpatcher and ASM but this one will not include anything related to formulas or ASM.

1. yeah sure maybe some people find sprite/portrait editing a load of fun but i totally hated it >_> okay the question.
    i noticed that the portrait in formation screen changes but in batle it doesnt D: i modified a female priest to female priest with cat ears and while the sprite worked fine in both formation and batle the portrait did not change in batle -_- then after i noticed there was more than 1 female priest spritesheet so.. DO i have to modifiy ALL OF THEM?



2. OK before i do something stupid i shall ask this. i hate cokatrice monsters so i tried to swap them with Flan sprite
while i know this involves a lot of changes (Moveset,Job Growth,optional ENTD,Atributtes and a lot of text edit) what im worried about is how is it going to work.. the cokatrice has 3 palettes and flan has 4 palettes does this mean only the first 3 palettes will replace the 3 cokatrice palette? i wouldnt like all the monsters messed up because of 4 flans



2.5 How is it going to work? is the sprite made to be compatible with actions? such as casting magic , melee striking , charging attacks? im uncertain because mon sprites do not show animation.



3. This one i would apreciate to be answered ASAP. I decided to leave many generic jobs intact, maybe only a sprite change but i am going to change 1 or 2. My plan is to kill Mediator (because other than invitation preach and the brave thing.. i find it useless)
and use its room to make a Dark Knight. already got the sprites both female and male but here the question.
Is it posible to totally change talk skillset? More specific by a totally diferent effect. EXAMPLE if i wanted to change Invitation by editing a skill that uses as effect a custom version of Fire2?
the skills i edited all i did was to recolor not interested into graphic change yet but i wonder if its posible to totally swap an effect by another such as placing an Edited BIN of Fire2 in the BIN spot of Invitation so that i would have 2 similar recolored effects [1 would be the original unchanged Fire2] and the other would be [The custom Fire2 taking the place of Invitation].
yes im familiar with the whole process this involves and with this i mean i know about filesize and hex paste


3.5 AND finally is talkskill also a mess to change? because editing geomancer skills didnt seem posible to me, only the effect changed but the way skills are used are still coded to work depending on territory


4.If i wanted to add a special character with his respective special job would i need to replace one? cough cough.. Cloud.. cough



4.5. if 4 was yes is Limit skillset also complicated to edit or works just like guts,magic,batle skill? im aware you need materia blade already changed that with an ASM that changes Swords as requirement instead of Materia blade and not a problem because the character i want to add will use swords.


thats all the questions i have for now. sorry if im being annoying but im learning as fast as i can so i can stop bothering peoples :/

if you know the answer to any i would apreciate if you shared that knowledge with me

[Jumza]

1. yeah sure maybe some people find sprite/portrait editing a load of fun but i totally hated it >_> okay the question.
    i noticed that the portrait in formation screen changes but in batle it doesnt D: i modified a female priest to female priest with cat ears and while the sprite worked fine in both formation and batle the portrait did not change in batle -_- then after i noticed there was more than 1 female priest spritesheet so.. DO i have to modifiy ALL OF THEM?

So, you've figured out how to change the formation screen sprites. That's good. In that same program there is a tab that allows you to edit the formation portrait for the unit.

You do not have to modify all the female priest sprites. Only the one tied to generics (all other copies are free space as far as we are concerned, feel free to overwrite them)

2. OK before i do something stupid i shall ask this. i hate cokatrice monsters so i tried to swap them with Flan sprite 
while i know this involves a lot of changes (Moveset,Job Growth,optional ENTD,Atributtes and a lot of text edit) what im worried about is how is it going to work.. the cokatrice has 3 palettes and flan has 4 palettes does this mean only the first 3 palettes will replace the 3 cokatrice palette? i wouldnt like all the monsters messed up because of 4 flans

There is nothing to worry about. The 3 cockatrice jobs will access the first 3 flan palettes as they did with the bird. Unless you want one of them to access the fourth colour, don't change anything else.

2.5 How is it going to work? is the sprite made to be compatible with actions? such as casting magic , melee striking , charging attacks? im uncertain because mon sprites do not show animation.

Yes, all of the sprites follow a set format meaning that if you have the flan cast a spell, it will use its animation tied to casting a spell (IF the correct animation has been set for the ability in the animations tab. Note, it is different for some monsters and between monsters and humans).

3. This one i would apreciate to be answered ASAP. I decided to leave many generic jobs intact, maybe only a sprite change but i am going to change 1 or 2. My plan is to kill Mediator (because other than invitation preach and the brave thing.. i find it useless)
and use its room to make a Dark Knight. already got the sprites both female and male but here the question.
Is it posible to totally change talk skillset? More specific by a totally diferent effect. EXAMPLE if i wanted to change Invitation by editing a skill that uses as effect a custom version of Fire2?
the skills i edited all i did was to recolor not interested into graphic change yet but i wonder if its posible to totally swap an effect by another such as placing an Edited BIN of Fire2 in the BIN spot of Invitation so that i would have 2 similar recolored effects [1 would be the original unchanged Fire2] and the other would be [The custom Fire2 taking the place of Invitation].
yes im familiar with the whole process this involves and with this i mean i know about filesize and hex paste

Unfortunately... I have no idea. My gut wants to say no. But really I have no clue. Test it for yourself! (I seriously doubt this will work because filesize and such, but testing is the best way to check)

3.5 AND finally is talkskill also a mess to change? because editing geomancer skills didnt seem posible to me, only the effect changed but the way skills are used are still coded to work depending on territory 

Nope. Easy as editing other sets of skills that aren't hardcoded. Geomancy / Draw Out / Jump / Charge / Math Skill skills can really only be edited (easily) within their own limitations. Geomancy will be tied to the tiles still, but can otherwise be changed around however, Draw Out will still eat the specified item (and changing the formula to one that isn't marked as May Display Broken is bad), Jump / Math Skill you can't change much at all, and charge you can only increase / lower damage / speed (And these abilities have to be dropped into specially marked skillsets. Fun times, right?). Everything else like Squire, Monk, Knight, Oracle. Wizard etc... abilities can be changed easily, with no headaches.

4.If i wanted to add a special character with his respective special job would i need to replace one? cough cough.. Cloud.. cough

Totally optional. You do need to replace something, but there is a lot of unused space to be taken before overwriting anything you wish to keep. For example, Balmafula's Arc Witch job, or Simon's Bishop job can be removed without harming the game whatsoever, and can be edited freely. You can still edit Cloud if you wish though.

4.5. if 4 was yes is Limit skillset also complicated to edit or works just like guts,magic,batle skill? im aware you need materia blade already changed that with an ASM that changes Swords as requirement instead of Materia blade and not a problem because the character i want to add will use swords.

On every ability there is a lower set of checkboxes (the ones lowest on that page). There is a box marked 'Requires Materia Blade'. Uncheck that, and anyone can use those skills regardless of equipped weapon.
*** Maybe that wasn't what you were asking. Limit is easy to edit, just like the ones you mentioned.

Hope that helps, if you want / need clarifications, just ask!

[3lric]

You do not have to modify all the female priest sprites. Only the one tied to generics (all other copies are free space as far as we are concerned, feel free to overwrite them)

Not quite. Many of the duplicates are used in game for undead units n such.

[Jumza]

Not quite. Many of the duplicates are used in game for undead units n such.

Oh, right. So you just have to be mindful of Yuguo woods, Poeskas Lake and the Elmdor encounter if you change those then (I think that's all of them).

[Aiolon]

 yes thanks again guys i did think about using bishop for my special character the problem would be the skillset space i wanted to use cloud skills for other custom skills but considering the answer of my 3rd question it wouldn't be a good idea well i still have to test.

im happy to read i only need to change 1 portrait just need to make sure its the right one i guess. i totally forgot about the sprites used for undead

will try the skill effect swaping. having a special job sure is nice but having special unique skills would be nicer.
my body is ready for graphical glitches but got to try.

as for the portrait problem the original portrait displayed in batle. in formation it displayed the custom as intended. but i just checked a few things and managed to fix it. so all i have to do is to edit the first generic sprite i encounter in the list i see...

well hope i dont mess it up so far everything working and i finally have some free time.

expect my thread about questions related to eventing xD
Cooming soon.

[Jumza]

Each of those unique jobs has unique skillsets, and you can create your own unique abilities you know. Unless it is strictly new effects you are looking for.

Looking forward to helping you with eventing The more I help people, the better I get at this stuff myself.

[Aiolon]

im very glad to hear that. it gives me motivation and err yeah i dont want new effects only wondering if its posible to completely swap effects right now im trying to make a recolored version of shell to replace invitaton i am expecting failure but curiosity its OP

i remember a video i think it was a celdia video where she showed 4 recolored palettes of esuna each with its own unique name so i guess its posible to swap skills or.. WAIT?

Is it posible to make your own skills?(yes i know by using the existing ones) or did i miss something? um any links to this?

i guess i can't explain myself 

i will use what im trying to do as example.
1 create a custom recolored version of the shell effect
2 use "Invitation" skill file (E111.BIN)
3 Edit the whole thing.
4 place modified Bin into the effect Folder
5 use fft patcher and check uncheck effect slots (so that it will work like shell)
6 give proper Attributes and functions
7 change text and patch iso
8 cross fingers and test
9 expect character using a red colored version of shell instead of invitation
10 then use another unit to cast the original purple colored version of shell as white magic
11 smile and make a Hmmp sound of succes.

if its as easy as that then i will be happy but filesize tell me number 9-11 will not be as expected
or is there another way to do it?

[Jumza]

Yeah it'd be fine if you were just replacing shell with a recolour of itself, but since you want two separate ones I don't think it'd be as easy as just replacing the files.

[3lric]

You don't edit the first generic in the list. Near the bottom of the list you will see all the male/female versions of the generics, in order followed by the monsters. THOSE are the ones you edit if you want to change how the ones in your party or battle look (minus the battles Jumza listed with the undead units)

Also, for effects, it's not as simple as just replacing one with another unless it's a recolor or uses the same layout. Effects are controlled by hardcoding. You mentioned the recolored esuna, celdia has also done a bunch of other cool ones with different shapes and images in them. However as you likely noticed, they all were still the same type of skill, omitting parts of the effects image or recoloring parts, etc. Is entirely possible. However to create your own brand new effect, you'd need to do a lot more work, you'd have to know how to code the effect to appear how you want, and make sure it meets the space limit of the effect you wish to overwrite. Otherwise you'd need to know how to allocate the correct amount of space to do so, which is a lot more advanced than what you are asking.

Choto would be the one to talk to, since he did some work in this area, but even he didn't pursue it to the end.

[Aiolon]

yeah i noticed the list of generic sprites male/female one after another and have succesfully edited all of them correctly.
sprite changing is not an issue now i think i have learned all that there is about sprite changing so no more problems with that.

and yes i did expect effects to be a total mess but im not giving up yet with that because i ran into many ideas and im not willing to drop them all because of "complications".

other than that i believe all my questions have been solved but as i do this maybe i encounter more questions so not marking the thread as solved yet

however you guys have really helped me a lot and i apreciate that.
things are getting easier and faster as i progress can't wait to learn eventing seems fun well not the developing part but the final result 

[3lric]

The issue with effects isn't as simple as "complications" but you will soon find out what I mean unless of course you are well versed in ASM.

Since this topic was related to job and sprite and graphic stuff and that has all been answered to the best of our knowledge (which you acknowledged) I'm going to mark this thread as solved. Feel free to start another thread for the next set of questions. This makes it easier for others looking for similar answers in the future without having to read the entire thread, which could amount to pages at this rate