Beginner questions regarding ENTD

[tatoolo]

Hi, I recently stumbled on things like FFTPatcher and the like, and the ENTD is particularly new to me.  Are there any threads on this site devoted to the dos and don'ts of ENTD?  I checked most of the stickies here but didn't find anything really reassuring.

In particular, I have a few questions that I'd like answered:
1. I read in another thread that the number of sprites that a map can use is 9, so you should not use more than 4 gender/sprite combinations on the opposing side.  How do guests and event sprites work into this equation?  For instance, in the battle at Dorter, there are 10 sprites in total on the map:  Weigraf (during the opening cutscene), Algus, Delita, Knight, Archer, Wizard, Ramza, plus three of your generics.

2. What determines the "tier" of equipment that the enemy is equipped with?  I'd like for it to be one step higher than you are able to buy at any given time.

3.  I read in some v1.3 discussion that story battles are now based on the party's level (as in random battles).  How do I do this?  I notice that the value 254 seems to be reserved for special things like randomizing Br/Fa.

4. What is the naming scheme for random battles?  For instance, is Mandalia Plains East 1/2/3/4 just the four battles that you can encounter when coming from the East?  Do these change from chapter to chapter?  Are any of them more likely than the rest?  And how are enemies chosen for the battles?  It seems like there are a lot more enemies listed for the Mandalia Plains battles than I remember (and I'm sure we've all done our fair share of fighting on Mandalia).

5. What do the checkboxes "Load Formation" and "Save Formation" do, and is "Join after Event" as simple as it sounds?

Thank you very much for any help you can provide.  If there's anything else I shouldn't tamper with, please let me know.

[Kourama]

1) The rule is correct no more than 9 different sprite combinations, so basically change what you want but if the battle is a bit glitched you probably have too many different sprites.

Interestingly enough though, in a multiplayer battle in the PSP version you fight all the unique characters that go on your team and yet the game works just fine. Might be something to that.

2) Tier of equipment is based on level. So if in the item section a weapon has  level 5 for "Enemy Level" then that weapon can appear equipped on any enemy level 5 or higher while "Random" is chosen.

3) Just choose the last option in the drop down list of level. Then the enemy has a random level +-5 of the strongest member of your party.

4) You pretty much have the right idea when it comes to the battles. Enemies that appear can be changed in the ENTD editor. As for how you get a certain battle to appear. Just keep trying to enter from the same side until you get your desired battle, its just random chance to get the one you want.

5) I know "Load Formation" loads that particular character directly from your party, usually used for guests. Haven't really noticed what "Save Formation" does, but "Join After Event" is exactly what you think it means.

[Lydyn]

1) The thing with the Dortor Trade City battle is that the cut-scene and actual battle are treated as two different 'settings' you could say, so the battle never techincally includes Wiegraf in the 9 sprite limit.

2) Answered above.

3) Answered above, but I also suggest you check out this link to get the newest version of FFT Patcher.

4) Answered above.

5) Save Formation saves the character just as they are and Load Formation loads the character from that save. Good example being if you save Gafgarion with a Diamond sword and then later check 'Load Formation' and give him a Mythril Sword, he will still have a Diamond sword since that's what he was saved with. 'Join after Event' is pretty obvious.

[tatoolo]

Thank you for all the help so far.

2) Tier of equipment is based on level. So if in the item section a weapon has  level 5 for "Enemy Level" then that weapon can appear equipped on any enemy level 5 or higher while "Random" is chosen.

Can I get more detail on this?  I notice that Rune Blade has this value set at level 37.  Does that mean that I will never find an enemy at level 37+ with an Ice Brand equipped?

Suppose that I now set the "Enemy Level" of the Defender Knight sword to level 37.  What would happen if I run into a level 37 Knight?  Will one of the two swords take precedence, in which case I'll never see the other weapon equipped by a level 37+ Knight?

Similarly, if I set the enemy level of the Defender to 38, then the only way I'll ever find an enemy knight equipped with a Rune Blade is if he is exactly level 37?

Thanks for any insight.

I also suggest you check out this link to get the newest version of FFT Patcher.

Thank you very much!  I just downloaded FFTPatcher the other day, but had a really old version (must have followed an outdated link).  This newer version provides a lot of information.  In fact, now it has given me a few more questions.

6.  When a character is set to "randomly present", are they chosen independently of other "randomly present" characters?  That is, could i have anywhere between zero and all of them appear in a battle (up to no two being on the same space)?  Or is one enemy chosen for each possible starting space?

7.  What sort of tricks can I pull with the "Jobs unlocked" entry?  Can I only fiddle with one job per character, or otherwise how can I set two or more jobs to have a pre-determined level?

[Lydyn]

For the item levels, that's when they first appear on enemy units, so you'll never see Rune Blades before level 37, but you can see Ice Brands after level 37. I've seen high level archers with Longbows before. >.<

6) I believe so, as long as they do not exceed the 16 (or 11, since 5 party memebers take up spaces too) unit limit per battle field.

7) You can only set one job per character, but if you set things like them having Mime, they automatically have level 8 Squire and level 8 Chemist and the rest of the required levels that go with it. Same for any other advanced classes.

[Vanya]

To elaborate a little more on #7, that is for whatever job you pick the unit will have all the required levels & exp needed to unlock it.

Also, for the weapon level this of course only applies to a unit's equipment slots that have been set to <RANDOM> in the ENTD editor.

And one final thing. I think Lydyn meant this:

6) I believe so, as long as they DO NOT exceed the 16 (or 11, since 5 party memebers take up spaces too) unit limit per battle field.

[Lydyn]

And one final thing. I think Lydyn meant this:

6) I believe so, as long as they DO NOT exceed the 16 (or 11, since 5 party memebers take up spaces too) unit limit per battle field.

Haha, oops.

[tatoolo]

8.  How can I properly change the "Team Color" value?  Whenever I change it for a character, it won't stay (that is, if I change one enemy's color to Blue, then click on another character and click again on the first, it will have changed back to its default value (Red for random battles)).  I remember leafing through the palettes some time back, and it's a shame that some of the palettes are mostly unused.

[Lydyn]

I haven't a clue how to keep it ... that's like a brand new option and I just now messed with it after your post. My suggestion is to PM melonhead and patiently wait for a reply (might be some time), but until then, don't worry about it.

I haven't played with the palettes much, so maybe that'll change colors (though I hear it doesn't work for special units like Agrias). Tell me what you find out. ^^

Edit: I ended up PMing melonhead myself since I noticed what you discovered and suddenly realized the 'Enemy' checkbox is missing as well, making it... difficult or impossible to create new guest/enemy units in the ENTD files. *Sigh*

[Xifanie]

That's what two bits (including enemy) have been converted to. A shame it doesn't remember though. :/

[Lydyn]

That's what two bits (including enemy) have been converted to. A shame it doesn't remember though. :/

I figured as much, but I felt it safe not to assume. Either way, yeah ... so, for now, I'll be using v0.236 if I want to add new enemy/guest units until it's fixed.

[tatoolo]

1) The rule is correct no more than 9 different sprite combinations, so basically change what you want but if the battle is a bit glitched you probably have too many different sprites.

Does this include palette swaps?  That is, would a Yellow, Black, and Red Chocobo together with a Goblin, Black Goblin, and Gobbledeguck count as 6 sprites or 2 for the purposes of the sprite limit?

[Lydyn]

6 sprites, I believe.

[Atma]

Old topic, I know, but my question directly relates to this. 
If I wanted you use more palettes, does that increase the count towards the limit?
For example, multiple Squires on the map using (let's say 3) different palettes.  Does it count as a single sprite or as 3? 
I know when tatoolo mentioned the example of the chocobos and goblins he used their job names.  If I were to have 3 chocobos, all tier 1 yellow chocobos, could I make them appear different with different palettes but use the same sprite file?
Essentially, when the game loads a .spr in a battle, does it load the palette information?

[3lric]

9 Unique sprites.

You could have 3 Male Squires, all with different palettes and that would still only be 1 Sprite.

Palettes only affect the colors, not the shape. You can't tack a new monsters onto a palette of another monster.

In battle/events, it'll load the sheet and palette number that was selected for use in the ENTD.

Next time please make a new thread in the Help section instead of resurrecting a 7 year old thread.

[Atma]

Thanks for clarifying.  I was thinking that was the case, just wanted to know.  Any problem adding more palette colour schemes?  Like up to 8?

Edit:  I thought it was better to add to an existing topic, since the information is still relevant than to start another topic.  Makes less mess in the forums and keeps similar information together.