Final Fantasy Hacktics

Hey guys, I'm going to spend some time looking into the AI's code. I don't know exactly how far I'll get, but I already have some great results.

Unit Target Priority

Located in: AI End of turn, in between turn, etc. (0019d37c)


*Note: The entire routine isn't done yet, but the subroutine I'm about to talk about will prove very interesting and is documented.

Summary:
Target Value Formula

(HP Value[curHP * 128 / maxHP] + Total Status Values + (51 * # of items broken up to 7) + Caster Hate [(curMP% / 16) * # MP using Abilities, 0 if not enough MP] + Golem Fear [CurGolem * 128 / Average Team HP (- 1 if Golem not damaged)]) * (-1 if unit is Enemy, 1 if ally)

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HP Value goes from 0% to 128%. Multiply by 25/32 to get 0% - 100%.

This is the formula that the AI uses the determine how much priority an individual unit gets.

The more negative the value, the higher on the enemy target priority that unit becomes. The lower the target's HP, the more of a target that unit becomes, which makes sense. However there most likely is a threshold and the unit will be ignored if it gets too negative.

I assume that the Priority Value is interpreted as effective curHP%. So if a unit has -50% effective curHP%, the AI assumes that unit is pretty incapacitated and will ignore them for a unit that has 5% effective curHP%. However, units in critical are flagged and singled out, so the AI doesn't ignore units with no HP left but a ton of non-fatal statuses.

Units that are Petrified, Dead with no Reraise, Death Sentenced, and Charging/Performing skip giving a Target Value at all. Charging and Performing do not need to contribute to Priority because they already have their own routines to processes them. Same goes for Dead and Petrify.

Now, what exactly, does the AI do with this Target Value next, I've yet to determine.

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Observations:

You didn't make a sacrifice to the RNG gods today, I'm just gonna sit and spin my wheels instead


This confuses me a bit, but no matter how you slice it, it does seem that the AI will occasionally skip assigning units a Target Value at all or basically decide not to do anything at all this turn. The odds of that happening is pretty small because while this might be a 13.7% of that happening every time you come here, the AI comes to this routine several times. So it's more like a .13^X% very tiny chance of that happening. Still, giving the amount of decisions the AI makes just per battle, it can and has been observed to happen.

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Blind and Silence gain more value to the AI the more abilities you have that are Evadable/Silenceable


This is probably why the AI doesn't seem to like adding Blind a lot in Arena, or even at all. The AI doesn't take into an account just how much damage a unit can actually do. Attack, even if they deal a truck load of damage, is only one skill to the AI. It cannot tell the immediate difference between a White Mage with Healing Staff and a Berserk Cursed Ring Two Handed Main Gauche killer. Since there aren't too many physically evadable skills in the game, the AI just tends to not want to use Blind all that much it seems, only ever adding -12.5% priority at one time. So simply having no abilities at all is apparently just as good as Blind Immunity. The AI looks at the percentage of units with P-Ev, not the total.

It should be a different story for Silence, but I only ever seen the AI cast Silence as an interrupt, not ever by itself to debuff, even though it's desire to should be much higher, right?

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Units become bigger targets the more equips they lose

Seems pretty straight forward. The more stuff you lose, the bigger of a target you become. What is a bit surprising is that all items lost are treated equal. In practice however, you also lose Max HP for losing Armor anyways, so you become an even bigger target than normal.

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The AI really fucking hates Mages


The AI puts priority on units that have lots of mana and can cast a variety of spells. So if you ever wondered why they gun after your weak little mages all the time, this is why. The price these guys can gain can get stupid high at time, just take your MP, divide by 16, and multiply it by your number of spells to get a grasp on just how much the AI hates spellcasters.
Robe of Lords might as well be a giant Kick Me sign. The AI takes into account the percentage of spells with MP costs.

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Golem is complete cancer

To clarify, this is not exactly why the AI drops everything it's doing to break Golem and makes the AI retarded. However, this is not really helping at all. You can clearly see the fault in adding the same amount of priority value to all units in a team. it's useless at best. Nuke this section please.

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Finally, here are the Status Target Priority Values.

Status Priority Values (19f308)
Values, I assume, are interpreted as curHP%, thus, each status is +/- effective curHP.
0x0058: Current Statuses 1
0x80 - 0% (0000)
0x40 - Crystal -150% -c0(ff40)
0x20 - Dead -150% -c0(ff40)
0x10 - Undead -30.5% -27(ffd9)
0x08 - Charging 0% (0000)
0x04 - Jump 0% (0000)
0x02 - Defending 0% (0000)
0x01 - Performing 0% (0000)
0x0059: Current Statuses 2
0x80 - Petrify -90.6% -74(ff8c)
0x40 - Invite -180.4% -e7(ff19)
0x20 - Darkness -50% [-40(ffc0) * Evadable abilities] + 3 / 4
0x10 - Confusion -50% -40(ffc0) (+1 / 4 if slow/stop/sleep/don't move/act/)
0x08 - Silence -70.3% [-5a(ffa6) * Silence abilities] + 3 / 4
0x04 - Blood Suck -90.6% -74(ff8c) (+1 / 4 if slow/stop/sleep/don't move/act/)
0x02 - Cursed 0%(0000)
0x01 - Treasure -150% -c0(ff40)
0x005a: Current Statuses 3
0x80 - Oil -5.5% -7(fff9)
0x40 - Float 9.4% c(000c)
0x20 - Reraise 39.8% 33(0033)
0x10 - Transparent 29.7% 26(0026)
0x08 - Berserk -30.5% -27(ffd9)
0x04 - Chicken -20.3% -1a(ffe6)
0x02 - Frog -40.6% -34(ffcc)
0x01 - Critical -25% -20(ffe0)
0x005b: Current Statuses 4
0x80 - Poison -20.3% -1a(ffe6)
0x40 - Regen 19.5% 19(0019)
0x20 - Protect 19.5% 19(0019)
0x10 - Shell 19.5% 19(0019)
0x08 - Haste 14.8% 13(0013)
0x04 - Slow -30.5% -27(ffd9) 0 if Confusion/Charm/Blood Suck
0x02 - Stop -70.3% -5a(ffa6) 0 if Confusion/Charm/Blood Suck
0x01 - Wall 50% 40(0040)
0x005c: Current Statuses 5
0x80 - Faith 4.7% 6(0006)
0x40 - Innocent -5.5% -7(fff9)
0x20 - Charm -50% -40(ffc0) (+1 / 4 if slow/stop/sleep/don't move/act/)
0x10 - Sleep -30.5% -27(ffd9) 0 if Confusion/Charm/Blood Suck
0x08 - Don't Move -30.5% -27(ffd9) 0 if Confusion/Charm/Blood Suck
0x04 - Don't Act -50% -40(ffc0) 0 if Confusion/Charm/Blood Suck
0x02 - Reflect 19.5% 19(0019)
0x01 - Death Sentence -80.5% -67(ff99)

Hey guys, can any of you do me a quick little favor? It's super easy.


Crack open FFTPatcher
Go to Attack (0000) under Abilities
Go to the AI Behavior and select "Stop at Obstacle"
Give yourself a reliable way of Berserking yourself
Give yourself a ranged weapon
Patch it
See if the AI acts retarded anymore

...It can't have been that easy, right? Right?

I just confirmed that the AI will hit itself with it's own weapon, (if it's allowed to) if it heals them.

k, I'm back

I'll add pictures later on.

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Cone AoE (v2)
Version 1.09
Creates Cone AoE. Enable this on any skill by flagging both Linear and Tri Direction AoE flags. Uses Kanji Space. Uses lines 0x1557fc - 0x155b04. 194 Lines. Does not work with Direct/Stop at Obstacle or Weapon Range, as neither does Linear/Tri AoE. Does not work with Auto Target, so give it a non-zero range. Don't even think about targeting yourselves, you derps. Designed to emulate Linear/Tri's behaviors including being dependent on the caster panel to be generated.

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"Arcing" AoE and Range
Version 1.1
Feeds AoE/Range generation through the Arc Range Routine (001798b0), creating an AoE/Range that gains size from height/2
Uses Ability Flags 1 Unknown Flags 0x80 and 0x40.
Removes and overwrites the coding otherwise attached to the Unknown Ability Flags (0017a6dc) known so far. Does not use Kanji Space.
0x80 - Arcing AoE
0x40 - Arcing Range

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Reenables Unknown Flags 1 and 2
Speaking of the Unknown Ability Flags, this hack restores their functionality that was deliberately disabled by Square. Enables you to target any ally or any enemy on the map.
No notes because there really isn't much to it. It's literally a single line.

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Weapon Range now accepts AoE
Version -1.0
I'm releasing this against my better judgement. Enables the use of Weapon Ranged AoE. It might also enable Direct/Stop at Obstacle AoE as well. Won't crash your game, but it's interactions with AoE might cause your brain to crash if I'm reading the Weapon Strike/Direct routines correctly. Still current doing research on the matter, but feel free to be a guinea pig.

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Clear Yellow Panels not occupied by a unit.
Version 2.0
Overwrites Morbol AoE Depth Routine. Takes the 255 AoE check and modifies it to target only tiles with units in them. Good for Random Fire Skills. Saves Ability ID to unused lines for future Ability ID hardcoding. Enable this on an ability by flagging it as a Math Skill.

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Enable Attacks on Yourself (Strike/Lunge Weapon)
Version 0.0
Allows units to target themselves with Attack. Only works with Strike/Lunge flagged Weapons.

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Caster is always apart of AoE
Version -1.0
Removes the code from Unknown Flag 1 and 2 (0x80 and 0x40) of Ability Flags 1. This hack makes it so an ability will always target (make a yellow square under) the caster in addition to the targeted panel or panels. Enable this property with Unknown Flag 1. Unknown Flag 2 is non-functional. I can also upload an alternate version that checks for Ability IDs instead if requested.

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F_MA Damage formula accepts Weapon Elemental (for one ability)
Version -1.2
Faith Magical Damage Formula accepts Weapon Elemental when ability ID = 165(Currently Maelstrom in Arena).

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As always, the XMLs are attached to this post and notes are provided in spoilers above. Make sure you are using the latest version of FFTPatcher, or at least 489 or later. Let me know if you find any bugs, contacting me through this site or finding me on Steam.

EDIT: Thanks Firefox for crashing and wiping out my message, I'm switching back to Opera after this.

I'm going to reproposition this Wiznaibus idea I had and FDC refined:

Wiznaibus deals 10% curHP (that's current HP for the easily alarmed) damage. What this does is make Wiznaibus effective by itself but ineffective when stacked. Have some math:

1st: 100% HP * 90% = 90%
2nd: 90% HP * 90% =  81%
3rd: 72.9%
4th: 65.61%
5th: 59.049%
6th: 53.1441%
7th: 47.82969%
8th: 43.046721%

As you can see, it rapidly takes off HP initially, but falls off hard. This creates pressure on teams and has an effect without being directly lethal. It would also take ages for a Wiznaibus spam team to actually bring a team down, and most importantly, it is equally effective to all units, squishy or tough. So to summarize:

Wiznaibus: 0 Range, 255 AoE and Vertical, 6 CT, 5 MP, 100% Hit, 10% curHP + PA damage, Enemy Only

Well that's too bad Skip, I was looking forward to it.

Submitted.

Creating a team, will try to have it submitted by Friday.

MP Regen could be Mist. Sorta ties into FFXII lore. But Refresh is good, is okay, I like.

Hex though... My association is different: I keep thinking about the polymorph spell in DOTA 2. Leak could be a good name.

I support a pairing tourney with swiss rules because swiss would allow said newcomers to learn more, as opposed to being chewed up and spit out by the veterans.

Don't we usually do SCC tournies in the winter? Of course I say that with only 2 SCCs done so far.

Looks good guys. Keep up the good work.

Sorry Ryqo, but I'll just stick to canned soup.
Speaking of:

• Buy Canned Soup. It's cheap, comes in wide, wide varieties (so you're not eating the same thing over and over again, see Ramen Noodles) and savory. All you need is a container and a microwave to cook it in. Oh and a can opener (some come with an easy open top, though). You can buy the basic for under a dollar, or for 1.50-ish, you can buy the Campbell's Chunky varieties or Progressive cans.


• You'd be surprised what you can fix on your own with a little bit of google searching and the right tools. A screwdriver set, wrench, and duct tape are minimal requirements. Note that you might have to torrent some manuals to do so.


• In that vein, car repair manuals (known as Haynes Manuals) are surprising cheap and easy to understand if you're mechanically inclined, and you probably are given the nature of this site. Combined with some tools (socket wrenches are a must, some bolts can be insanely difficult or impossible without them) and some willingness to get down and dirty, you can troubleshoot and replace some parts yourself. Hell, some manuals are online on Haynes' own website or you can torrent them.

Guys, please stop giving Mimes magic secondaries. They interrupt their own charge spells. You're just shooting yourselves in the foot.

Quote2. When a critical unit is the last unit standing OR when all units on the team are in critical or dead, the AI switches into attack mode despite its critical status. At least that is my experience with it.

IF it's the last unit standing. Otherwise, you have the perfect AI bait loop, all with just one weapon, and you know that the AI prioritizes units in critical. It doesn't need to do anything else, just turn burning itself is good enough. Balance just took it to a whole new level. And there is nothing one can do about it except hope he's the last unit your team focuses on or breaking the Phoenix Blade.

You already can make yourself Poison Immune with Platina Helmet and Diamond Armlet and in fact, you have to if you don't want to get shut down by Hawk's Eye and Kiyomori and the like. Making Phoenix Blade Immune: Poison would have been even more broken by making even safer to abuse.