A few FFTA queries

[rrs_kai]

1. MP Generation
I want to set starting MP to be 25% of max. bcrobert's minor hacks.txt suggests the following but it did not work for me

To set MP generation on unit placement to a hard number:
Change the 2 bytes at 0xc98f2 to ??20, where ?? is the desired result.

To set MP generation on unit placement to a percentage:
Change the byte at 0xc98f2 to 40 for 50% MP on unit placement, 80 for 25%, and C0 for 12.5%.

Even the MP Generation hack in the AIO (sets to zero) did not work.
Has anyone been able to get it work?


2. Status effect double/triple chance?
The AIO allows 3 effects for any given skill. If we put 3 different status effects, they all have an individual chance to happen. If we repeat the same status effect, does it check multiple times thereby doubling/tripling effect chance?

Is there a way to confirm this, or has anyone done so?

[nitwit]

1. MP Generation
I want to set starting MP to be 25% of max. bcrobert's minor hacks.txt suggests the following but it did not work for meEven the MP Generation hack in the AIO (sets to zero) did not work.
Has anyone been able to get it work?

I don't think there are multiple versions of FFTA, but if there are and your differs you can find out by comparing hashes. Hash your unmodified FFTA rom and post the results. Here are some hashing tools.

https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/932/
https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1002/

If that doesn't work, take a screencap of those addresses open in a hex editor and post it so other can compare it to what they have.

2. Status effect double/triple chance?
The AIO allows 3 effects for any given skill. If we put 3 different status effects, they all have an individual chance to happen. If we repeat the same status effect, does it check multiple times thereby doubling/tripling effect chance?

Is there a way to confirm this, or has anyone done so?

You could set up a test scenario where the enemy has no way to harm you and can't run away, then use a skill with one effect on it 10 times. Keep track of how often it connects, then do the test again with two effects, and then three effects.

I think 10 is enough tests to weed out RNG shenanigans.

[dck]

Hey kai, glad to see someone is sticking with modding

I tried that 25% starting MP you mention at some point and it did work for me- maybe the hack has already had its MP regen changed with AiO before?
If that's the case you can restore it back to normal by modding a vanilla file, comparing the resulting file to vanilla in a hex editor (one with a function to actually compare and find differences). From there you can see what AiO actually changes and revert it in your hack.

Multiple instances of applying a status, doing damage or whatever will all be calculated separately, yeah. That said I don't recommend doing it with damage since animations only play the first instance of damage dealt.

[rrs_kai]

Multiple instances of applying a status, doing damage or whatever will all be calculated separately, yeah. That said I don't recommend doing it with damage since animations only play the first instance of damage dealt.

Thanks a lot for confirming this

I tried that 25% starting MP you mention at some point and it did work for me- maybe the hack has already had its MP regen changed with AiO before?

Hex editing to change to a hard number/percentage - did not work
AIO has an option to set MP to zero and regen at 10% per turn - did not work
Hex editing to set MP regen to a different hard number

If that's the case you can restore it back to normal by modding a vanilla file, comparing the resulting file to vanilla in a hex editor (one with a function to actually compare and find differences). From there you can see what AiO actually changes and revert it in your hack.

I checked with a vanilla ROM again and I am partially the culprit myself.
The AIO one works fine (both zero MP and 10% regen), but Leonarth's engine hacks applied afterward seems to undo them.

Hex editing MP regen to a hard number worked for me, even after applying Leonarth's engine hacks

Setting MP regen to a different hard number:
Change the 4 bytes at 0x93096 from a0 23 db 02 to 05 23 1b 04. Change the "05" to your desired result.

For 25% MP generation, hex editing did not work on a vanilla ROM. Am I editing at the correct place?

[dck]

From what you pasted there yeah the location is the right one, that said I've never seen Leonarth's engine changes affect the only MP hack I've ever run (the no MP regen one).

[ScarletMagi]

I don't recommend double dipping the status chance on skills that only apply the status effect, because at that point the percentage of inflicting the status will lie to the player. It's ok to do with "if hit, then inflict X" because that chance is never shown anyway. Hiding information is acceptable, but giving incorrect information is annoying, especially when it comes to chance percentages.

[dck]

True, not to mention it's pretty easy to just change the accuracy formula on the effect itself to be whatever the modder wants.

[rrs_kai]

Hiding information is acceptable, but giving incorrect information is annoying, especially when it comes to chance percentages.

Appreciate the tip

From what you pasted there yeah the location is the right one, that said I've never seen Leonarth's engine changes affect the only MP hack I've ever run (the no MP regen one).

MP regen hex change is the one that is working well with Leonarth's engine hacks. I've had MP regen at 10 (via hex change) for quite a while and never had a problem.
MP generation hex change (starting MP) didn't even work on vanilla.

The AIO has the following Misc hacks that work fine on vanilla but are lost after I apply Lenoarth's engine hacks.
MP generation = sets starting MP to zero
MP regen = sets MP regen to 10%

Hey kai, glad to see someone is sticking with modding

There still some fun left me here, especially after Leonarth added weapon animations for all jobs and negative number support

Recently, I've tried Fell Seal and was thoroughly impressed by its mechanics. It really is a spiritual successor because it has the best parts from FFT, FFTA, FFTA2.
The only visible flaw is that Max MP is a wasted stat because you start with zero and gain 10 per turn. Players have requested to make max MP useful, dev's tried a few things but did not implement because they could "never really get it to the right place".
There is a passive that adds 15 MP at the start of the game but it isn't sufficient. Although we can mod the 15 to another static number, we cannot have percentages.

So, for FFTA, I was trying to make units start with 25% of max MP (or even 10%) but can't seem to figure it out.

[ScarletMagi]

The only visible flaw is that Max MP is a wasted stat because you start with zero and gain 10 per turn. Players have requested to make max MP useful, dev's tried a few things but did not implement because they could "never really get it to the right place".
There is a passive that adds 15 MP at the start of the game but it isn't sufficient. Although we can mod the 15 to another static number, we cannot have percentages.

For me the right place to use 0 mp and 10% mp regeneration was setting the mp base from 80 with growth 1 for the lowest mp characters, up to 120 with growth 5 for the highest mp characters, and then having mp costs vary from 4 mp to 96 mp. Also making sure all jobs use mp, and most jobs have 1 or 2 skills at 0 mp cost.

The gameplay then becomes all about using normal attacks or 0mp skills to charge up mp, until it's time to unleash stronger effects at a cost (and getting the timing right).
If the high mp growth is balanced with lower stats, the fact that a character at lv50 can charge 37 mp per turn (compared to 13 for a lower MP character) won't be a problem since their use of an ultima or gigaflare will be subpar and they are better used for expensive status effects (like life or doom in my mod).

Just to say it's possible to find a balance using the AIO options. Though it's definitely hard to change a mod that was already ongoing into a system like this, because it means that mp costs and max mps have to follow a very strict logic that is probably not what the mod was doing originally.

[rrs_kai]

For me the right place to use 0 mp and 10% mp regeneration was setting the mp base from 80 with growth 1 for the lowest mp characters, up to 120 with growth 5 for the highest mp characters, and then having mp costs vary from 4 mp to 96 mp.

I use similar growths and MP costs.

Just to say it's possible to find a balance using the AIO options.

Yes, using Leonarth's engine hacks afterward reverts the AIO MP hacks.

We could apply the engine hacks first and then try the AIO, but it crashes sometimes loading the ROM. Using the AIO first and then  engine hacks afterward is what worked best for me.

comparing the resulting file to vanilla in a hex editor (one with a function to actually compare and find differences). From there you can see what AiO actually changes and revert it in your hack.

Thanks for this, using HxD I got the changes and there's quite a few.