Final Fantasy Hacktics

Quote from: Leonarth on July 31, 2020, 01:55:00 pmSure, I didn't change anything about gameplay, this is only a display thing, like I said on my post.

It displays properly.

Also, awesome work on the animations. Every job can use Llednar's jump and Bangaa jump

I was using your randomizer on my mod and found that the humans bugged when using the Gladiator's elemental swords. The screen dimmed, the characters are still moving but the game froze. The same thing happens in vanilla if we give these skills to any other job, so I think that Humans are missing the animation.
Moogles were fine.

Quote from: Leonarth on July 13, 2020, 06:44:35 pmI know all of this stuff can be pretty confusing at first so be sure to ask if you don't get something.

I am dumb and I have difficulty just understanding what you've written. If you can bear with me, I have many questions:

-1- Do I paste the whole code in the buildfile? or do I just paste the first three lines?
-2- MyNewList is address of the new pointer? Can I just use some address beyond 0xA39920?
-3- test.bin is automatically created? or must I put something in it?
-4- about the code newAbility(0xDD,0x93,0x4C,1,10)
--5--0xDD this is index.
--6--0x4C is the ability First Aid. Do I just a digit for 3 digit addresses like 0x136 Meteorite?
--7--0x93 is its description/flavor text.
--8--(81 is the yellow in-battle effect text; it's not in that code, so is it not important?)
--9--what is 1? does it mean A-ability? If so, what to use for S/R/C abilities?

I got the list of indexes and abilities here, but not descriptions and type https://datacrystal.romhacking.net/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics_Advance:String_Tables
If you're still here, a few more dumb questions:
-10- Is it required to copy abilities? Can I only repoint and add abilities via the AIO or will this break something somewhere?
-11- If we can't do the above, can I just copy and paste "First Aid" multiple times and edit later in the AIO?

Monsters and playable classes have some 10 slots each and I want to double that.

Quote from: dck on August 01, 2020, 06:23:11 amSince you actually saw the post-Exodus content, you might have noticed weird formations like clans with tons of angel rings and multi-totema fights at the very endgame.

It was 80% vanilla for the story. I've not played much with clans. I just went looking for the Pudding and Medusa. Good to hear the golems made the cut. Their portraits are great.
If you have space, consider some petrified monsters. The vanilla game has many name-only jobs. These names got me interested for monster variations. First time I played FFTA, I was quite disappointed that they were just names and not any unique monsters. Not even new colours.
Magewyrm and Worldwyrm.
Ochu, Neochu, Top Malboro, and Devilboro.

Quote from: dck on August 01, 2020, 03:48:24 am(521a7d > soldier entry) (521a88 > soldier palette)

05 undead
0d poison
0e berserk
ff stone

Oh right, every job has those 4 palettes. The golems were a nice addition. Why not distribute them in other maps as well? Or do they already exist somewhere?

I found that the Bishop's skill: Holy is bugged on mGBA, even in vanilla. It freezes the game for a few seconds and then the animation continues.
Edit: corrected spelling

Quote from: dck on July 31, 2020, 07:54:03 pmThe idea was always to have Ezel and Babus both share their counter skills, so they both would have six total skills overall.

smart

Quote from: dck on July 31, 2020, 07:54:03 pmEzel the legit way, could you tell me if when he joined he had active abilities slotted in the reaction and support categories?

Yes, he did. But he had only 4 skills, not 6. Oddly, two of those were the same combo.

You've made a purple flan. Could you tell me how to add/change monster palettes? I'm interested in Green/Purple Dragons and Blue/Red/Yellow Malboros.

Quote from: Leonarth on July 31, 2020, 09:04:56 amOn a sidenote, yesterday I added support for the display of negative stat numbers from items, negative stats show up red in the shop and inventory and actually substract from stats instead of making them huge. If you guys can try that out and test it more for me that would be helpful, if you are interested in the option.

Yess please.

This might interest you:
The game shows MOVE and JUMP values beyond 9 as 0. Seems like it can only display a single digit.

I wanted to ask:
If you could make JP upto 4 digits, why not HP as well? The max DMG is fine being capped at 3 digits.

I was just wondering:

FFTA2 has an enemy only support ability called Wellspring. Does it stack with Regen?

I remembered this https://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=12161.0
Even fixed damage skills are not independent of equipped-weapon.

Quote from: Leonarth on July 27, 2020, 04:57:35 amThe short of it is that when the "Judge PTS?" option is set to Off a different part of the code grants rewards, I was not aware of this, as I just don't use that option. The result was that rewards under these conditions were simply vanilla: 1 point for obeying a law, 10 for Hunting and JP capped is at 10. That last part was the reason JP was being reset.

I was using that option. I did not think it important because a textbox is just cosmetic.

Quote from: dck on July 27, 2020, 03:43:25 pmCHEER:
I think that's a much more interesting ability than with huge range, are units able to Cheer themselves? I personally would make it only for non-user targets.

I made it self targetable. Stat bonus is only 10%, unlike the 30% from Weapon Atk+.

Quote from: dck on July 27, 2020, 03:43:25 pmDEFEND:
Defense status isn't the best but it does stack with all other defensive buffs, like protect and def+. It can end up making a huge difference, but I don't think it's OP or anything, just useful.

Yes, stacking with Weapon Def+ is huge.

Quote from: dck on July 27, 2020, 03:43:25 pmI'm pretty sure the gun abilities autoapply on hit and won't actually care about it. I might be misremembering though, easy to check I guess.

I checked Nightmare and it's fine there. I tested it on monsters and it does not always apply, but I don't understand why the proc chance is so high? Is this unusual luck?

Quote from: dck on July 27, 2020, 03:43:25 pmBtw, high damage non-weapon physical abilities with dual wield tend to be super busted because it just takes the final attack score, adds skill power then uses that skill power as multiplier. The damage is normally ridiculous which is why I was commenting on Dagger and Firebomb, not sure where I read they had dual wield come to think about it lmao.

I did not know this.
Dual did not affect the damage, but being empty handed vs having a single weapon made a difference.

Quote from: dck on July 26, 2020, 02:06:54 pmRegarding class changes I'll note down thoughts on jobs below, the only assumptions I'm making are that their available gear is the same and multiclassing is similar too.

Thanks a lot for your time and the feedback.

Quote from: dck on July 26, 2020, 02:06:54 pmRegarding class changes I'll note down thoughts on jobs below, the only assumptions I'm making are that their available gear is the same and multiclassing is similar too.

Gear and class change is same.

QuoteWhat do you mean by "losing any default ones

I made a Bangaa Warrior into a Human. So, I gained a Human and lost a Bangaa.

If I use the unused slots to create Humans, they do not reflect in the wheel. Is there a way to add more playable jobs without exchanging any old ones?

I remember you writing something about this using the Hermatic as an example. The base game not supporting more and the LR wheel being the fix?

Quote from: Leonarth on July 25, 2020, 08:33:06 pmthe reason it's showing 6 is that you are using my patches

Oh, I forgot you made this. Is there a way to add more jobs to the wheel without losing any default ones?

Quote from: dck on July 25, 2020, 09:26:57 pmyou make some interesting ability choices that I'd need more time to really comment on

Please do

Quote from: dck on July 25, 2020, 09:26:57 pmIt seems like you also restructured racial stats so all races have the same base.

All jobs of a race have the same base stats. Looking at LN, you've done similarly.

Quote from: dck on July 25, 2020, 09:26:57 pmI don't know if you're running the level scaling hack, but if you are you might have some trouble with the starting party being extremely weak due to generating at level 1, and thus having no extra stat points that help them with their class at all.

I have included level scaling as an optional hack, but I did intentionally make the starting party Lv.1. I did this to fix Marche and Montblac having bad bases in vanilla and hence becoming inflexible. Marche being bad magically and Montblanc being bad physically.

Quote from: dck on July 25, 2020, 09:26:57 pmThat's something I myself didn't solve yet, so be sure to mention if you have any ideas!

I tried adding stats to accessories and liked it.

For Magical jobs: Rods and Staves, but not Maces.
They give 20 MAG, gloves give 10 MAG, and boots give another 10 MAG. These 40 MAG points are really good early game. Its worth 4 level ups. I've increased their values slightly to scale late game. I've also made magical variants for every weapon type, for end game use. For example, the Legalace sword has 51 ATK and 15 MAG, while the Chirijiraden has 62 ATK.

Magical Bangaa are not great. They can make do early game, but they will catch up for late game.

For Physical jobs: Not much, just 2H weapons.
2H weapons range from 50 to 99 ATK while 1H range from 28 to 66 ATK. Gloves give 5 ATK and boots give another 5 ATK. It's only 5 because the damage formula for physical weapons adds it to both the character and the weapon's ATK number.
So, effectively, you've got 60 ATK for your very first 2H weapon. Great early game.

I don't have any solution for physical Nu Mou though, at least for the early game. They will catch up later.
Do you have any ideas?

By the way, do know how to increase the range of Souls? Just increasing their range in the AIO does not reflect in-game. I like their animation and the Nu Mou even shoots stuff from the soul when performing a combo.

Quote from: dck on July 25, 2020, 09:26:57 pmI read you were giving every class shields or considering it? Idk if you have a different method

Sephiran found a way here https://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?msg=217685
You can also give ITEM to all playable jobs.

TLDr:
For shields: Change the bytes at 0x080CAD5E to 73 2A 12 DD. Then, select it in AIO.
If you want all jobs with the hidden Item A-Ability, use this: Change the bytes at 0x080C8232 to 73 28 00 DC
If you want only playable and changeable jobs with the hidden Item A-Ability, use this: Change the bytes at 0x080C8232 to 2B 28 00 DC

Quote from: dck on July 24, 2020, 07:02:48 amIt's pretty cool repurposing the basic filler abilities that jobs won't miss into something special for pseudo-unique characters

The blue mage has the highest number of a-abilities at 21. 19 in vanilla and 2 unused.
Even if we reduce it to 8, we're still left with 13. That's enough for a full job with support and reaction abilities.

Is is possible to add more jobs to the circle? I made the Warrior a human and found that the game can display up to 12 jobs in one circle. If you add another then it only shows 6. This change does not work for any jobs beyond the playable ones, last one being moogle time mage 2B.

Quote from: dck on July 24, 2020, 07:02:48 amfocusing too much on ensuring every class fits the mold of exactly 4 abilities.

I'm trying for 4 or 5 per job.

Quote from: dck on July 24, 2020, 07:02:48 amI think if some spare a bit of individual ability power to have more options, like say elementalist having a wider spread of weaker than average spells, that could help you make them still distinct while having something more to tweak than the raw power/utility in their skillsets.

I don't understand this.
I've already kept the elementalist's 5 damage abilities. I moved their 2 healing abilities to the Bangaa because I gave Viera Curaga and Unicorn. Less redundancy for Viera and unique healing abilities for Bangaa.

Quote from: dck on July 24, 2020, 06:37:46 amEzel who can't even be recruited yet

I've only finished the main story and I encountered two bugs:
-1- In Llednar's last fight, some ability crashed the game. I just out-sped him the next time.
-2- Li-Grim's Descent crashes the game probably because Totema's behavior was changed.

Quote from: dck on July 24, 2020, 06:37:46 amit's a malboro quad-wielding heal staves that, I think, has double hit.

I have not seen this.
Also, if you made 3 new monsters, why not include them in any of the story missions. I only went searching for the Naga and Pudding because they're mentioned in the OP.

Quote from: dck on July 24, 2020, 06:37:46 amI think the main reason I didn't was because their portrait would look atrocious

I very much liked the golem's shadow portraits. Howsoever you may have added them. If nothing, just leave the portrait blank, like those boxes and statues.

Quote from: dck on July 24, 2020, 06:37:46 amVery nice to have this back and forth! I'll have access to the development files sometime this weekend and in all honesty it's pretty invigorating to see other people working on their own things too, hopefully will have something to contribute soon!

I have very recently finished your mod. Yes, finished. I bought that mission using a vanilla save. Sped through the game with a hacked character.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: You have some very nice abilities and animations.
-Ether Talon
-Spit rock
-Bangaa with Llednar's jump and more.
-The golems, their sprites, and portraits.
-The panthers can prowl.
-Pudding
-Black monk is great. Even better that Shara gets to be one.
To me, the Assassin is broken because she is the single class to get a melee and a ranged weapon: Katanas and Great bows.
-Jobs with no speed but armor type gives speed. Clever workaround to the fact that FFTA cannot display negative numbers (although it can calculate them).

Quote from: dck on July 23, 2020, 08:22:52 pmHealboro doesn't actually work as intended and breaks animations on aiming at slopes. (delet)

Why not use Saint cross' animation? Holy's animation has a problem with positive numbers.If you mean Pudding then It's not your fault.

I honestly think that you should consider hacking FFTA2. The ability editing is very flexible and the animations have very little limitations. You'd make some great abilities.

Edit: I just tested Holy's animation, and it's bugged in MGBA, even on vanilla. VBA, the old one, is fine though. Tested Sanctus from your mod and it's working fine in VBA.
I'd like to see a purple dragon and a green dragon. Even your Sanctus' description reads "Breath of a divine dragon".

Quote from: dck on July 23, 2020, 07:26:45 pmIt's true that sixteen different active abilities per character probably leads to some class overlap no matter how you mod them

16 abilities is a lot of flexibility. More so if we think of the Blue mage. This is what I'm trying to address.

Specials like Cid, Babus, Monsters get 3 or 4 abilities, and Ezel only got 2. Whereas the generics get 8+8. Specials in vanilla FFTA are very lack luster.
So, I gave them broken abilities in the Revisited mod to compensate. For example,
---Babus got Death, Break, and Toad with Concentrate and Reflex
---Ezel is a physical Nu Mou that can Strikeback and Dual wield maces. I also gave him Blank Card.
---Cid got Stillness which stops the judge and all enemies.

I want the reduce the generics to 4+4 and make some specials/semi-generics with 8 abilities, because they cannot change classes. Ritz, Shara, and even the named-generics can now get a custom job variant. They can get the 4 generic abilities and 4 custom abilities (the 4 ability slots that I've left out).

Quote from: dck on July 23, 2020, 07:26:45 pmevery job needed to have strong tools of their own not to feel like a gimped choice compared to others.

true

Quote from: Leonarth on July 23, 2020, 08:37:18 amworry about there is Hume, and that's only if you aren't using 1 bit abilities

So, you can get more then 0xFF abilities per race if you use 1-bit abilities?

Quote from: Leonarth on July 23, 2020, 08:37:18 amNothing preventing you from getting up to 0xFF jobs in there

I will get to this

Quote from: Leonarth on July 23, 2020, 08:37:18 amI personally think there's some jobs that need their abilities, Black Mage, Thief, Morphers and Beastmasters come to mind for me.

Aren't these the redundant ones?
Black mages I understand, but aren't thieves are mostly just to steal weapons and then armor, accessories, and abilities.
All the beastmaster's abilities could be summed into just one.

I thought minimalism would work.

Quote from: Leonarth on July 23, 2020, 08:37:18 amThey just wouldn't be the same with less abilities.

To me this is a Dragoon. Just can't imagine him without the breath abilities, but I removed them because Bangas Cry is superior.

Quote from: chocolatemoose on July 22, 2020, 11:30:30 pmFFTA and A2 have a ton of useless abilities that you would never use

FFTA2 has even more jobs, but the game handles the 4 effects per ability very well. Animations also show the added effects. This leads to many nice ideas.

Quote from: chocolatemoose on July 22, 2020, 11:30:30 pmAnother option is to change the useless abilities to abilities that a player might have a use for.

I did that, and ended up with a lot of jobs that had similarities. This is my attempt at uniqueness.
For example: Soldier, Warrior, Fencer, and Mog knight are nearly similar. So, I removed the common abilities and kept the unique ones.