Messages

126

Archive / Re: Help needed on AI Editing (FFVII)

« on: 2009-08-10 12:45:42 »

@xelane: yeah, post attack is sort of a general counter for any attack made, not just on the user, so if something has to be activated fast, this is where it should go. it still will not likely always activate right away for dual drain/poison cases (unless they count as an attack ), but it can be faster than general, as nfitc1 said. now i do not know if any of the unknown sections are actually usable, but if they actually do something, then i would not be surprised if one of them acted every time a unit of time passed, which could be how doom/dual drain acts, and could be useful to make something activate a countdown timer of sorts outside of the main AI of an enemy, especially since you'd be able to make the enemy attack/react even if it isn't it's turn yet .

now i am not entirely sure if there is a section that is like that, if there is you'd have to be careful what you put into it, or you could be making the game work too hard since it has to do the calculations a massive amount of times, but it would have it's advantages, like with setting a status at a certain time, that has to be done asap. i could think of a few ways to use a section like that ^_^ *hopes that there is one like that, or a way to do it  *.

@nfitc1: now sort of off topic, how exactly does your jump pointer update work, do you have to point it to a specific point and it auto updates as you add more before that spot (like if you point to offset 0x021 and add stuff there to kick down the original jump to 0x027, it will make the jump stick to the original spot, regardless of how far down it moves)? that does sound pretty good, but what about when starting from a fresh section, all that is there would be whatever you add, and if you were to point at a location right as you start to build an if, the only place you could really jump would be the end statement, and so no matter what you add, it will still point there, and if you had wanted to point at something before the end, but after the if's data, you would still have to manually edit that. also, if you were to add something (like something after an if's data for example), and some jump is already pointing to that specific data, and you had to add something before that to make it work right, all of the jumps would still follow the old data, you would have to manually update there as well, or overwrite the data in the same location to make them work right.

i know that those are things that are probably not easy to fix and should be left to the user to do anyway, but it IS me, and i like to be picky  . ignoring my smart @$$ comments for a second, it does sound like it will be a very nice feature, and i will be happy to take advantage of it when i get back to ffvii hacking ^_^.

@armorvil: as for the 0mp kill thingy, i had tried last night to get that to work, but it didn't go over so well. i first tried 0hp, which as i thought wouldn't kill it, so i then tried just setting the death flag, which worked at first, but after actually giving the enemy some mp, and causing it to lower to 0, it stopped killing them, or even doing anything (using an if self.mp == 0 statement, it may work with a self.mp < 1 line, but i don't see why that would be needed :/). i also tried the "normal" killing method used by other enemies to kill off the enemy at 0hp, but for some reason the enemy wouldn't even disappear like normal when that part activates, i don't know what was up... maybe i have just been away for too long :/.

anyhow, even if you use the normal killing method (setting those values to 0), if you want to have any battle spoils from the enemy, you will have to set death to 1, i noticed at least that much in my testing. maybe you will have more luck than me, use nfitc1's ai script for killing the enemies (though he is using the max hp value instead of the current hp, not sure how the game reacts to that :/), and just to be safe (if you don't get exp or whatever from it), set death status to 1 as well, maybe you will have more luck than i did . as far as i can tell though, the death animation will not play, the enemy "should" only disappear and make itself inactive (should, as in mine didn't but my current scene.bin is a mess anyway from testing crap ), there is probably a way to manually activate the death animation, but i do not know how to do that, i even tried to set the idle animation to 2 which iirc is the death animation for enemies, but it just froze the game  . just try niftc1's code and if needed the death flag to 1 code by titeguy and see what happens... i will have to crack open a fresh scene.bin backup sometime soon .

hp being locked at 0 is a fun little way to make an enemy invincible even though you are still doing damage... kinda fun to beat up on an enemy for a while while it just laughs at you, until you realize that healing it and then taking that hp away = death XD.

127

FF7 Tools / Wall Market, FFVII KERNEL.BIN editor

« on: 2009-07-23 20:48:42 »

off topic post

setting the speed to the highest is not always a good thing to do, the time between attacks will be the same, and due to the limits to the amount of certain spells being used (like only one casting of holy for example even if three are trying to use it),  if you are charging a spell or something, the enemy can get many regular attacks in before you get the spell off (because the animation also takes a lot of time on top of the wait between spells), so a fast enemy can get a good deal in for a long animation spell on highest speed, but on lowest speed it makes them only able to get one or two in the same amount of time. now, some marks/bosses can set their CT to 0, so they can instantly attack after attacking without needing to charge the attack, and setting the speed to the slowest there actually allows them to attack MORE, in these cases the highest setting makes you get more in than you would on the other speed settings, and the enemy will get the same, so why not get an advantage?

now, if you are in bad need of LP, go buy a few golden amulets (they are 4500 apiece, but double the lp you gain) from mt bur omisace (easy to get to the shop and back, it is near the gate crystal ), and give them to whoever (or all if you want/can) for pretty fast LP. now if you just want to quickly gain some LP, just go murder some wolves or whatever for a bit, easy to kill and will net you 2LP per kill due to the amulets, or whatever enemies you can quickly kill (Wu/Zaghnal enemies in ozmone are easy enough and give decent items to sell), and if you need gil, i'd play around in either the zertinan caverns, or the sochen cave palace, since the drops from the enemies (especially the undead in zert, and pretty mcuh everything in sochen) are all fairly good for money, and they are level ~30-40, so they will also give some good exp.

hopefully you can gain some ground and load up on gil/LP, i always have way more than enough LP for everything (again, i am a compulsive killer/loot nabber ), and end up with multi-million gil by the end of the game (and kinda lose the need for more gil by or even before draklor... i even had enough money the last normal game to buy two of the monographs before heading into the garamsythe to meet bal and fran, and was still only level ~8-9 and had the best equips for everybody on hand ). once you know the game more, gil will be much easier to come by, if you learn the game the first playthrough and ever play again, you will see what i mean.

if you need any help with ffxii at any point, i should definitely be able to help, i may not know the most about ffxii, but i have beaten it a good many times, so i think i may have a little bit of knowledge about it XD.

128

FF7 Tools / Wall Market, FFVII KERNEL.BIN editor

« on: 2009-07-23 19:46:04 »

hey seifer, all you need from the debugging output is this:

************** Exception Text **************
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.Core, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
File name: 'System.Core, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089'
   at WallMarket.Form1.DrawStatIndic()
   at WallMarket.Form1.Draw_Curves(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at WallMarket.Form1.Radio_CheckedChanged(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.RadioButton.OnCheckedChanged(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.RadioButton.set_Checked(Boolean value)
   at WallMarket.Form1.TabControl1_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.TabControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

the rest is not needed for him to see what is wrong (i.e. the meat and potatoes of the output is this little bit). it just makes your post bigger than it needs to be .

129

FF7 Tools / Wall Market, FFVII KERNEL.BIN editor

« on: 2009-07-23 17:12:51 »

ok, the only thing i'd really like to see in it is the updated AI code, but you are going to be adding that anyway, so that woks out good . i rarely do any name changing of stuff anyway, but may eventually when i get back onto my ffvii mod (which is still going to be a while). something i'd like to do with the party is make an AI controlled party which would be pretty funny to watch, though it'd severely limit what could be used, and would make materia almost useless (the effects would still carry over, but the ability to use the materia wouldn't), and i do not think limits would be able to be implemented easily if at all, but i'd still like to do it to see how far they'd actually make it in the game before getting stuck .


now, off of WM and onto your ffxii experience... auto leveling really takes a lot out of the game (i mean playing normally for me, doing everything there is, i usually end up at ~70 (with everybody) by the end, and that is enough to kill every mark pretty easily), especially if you already have the zodiac spear (i can get it around level 20, or whatever level i kill belias at since it opens up the path over to the deadlands if you get that far, but there is a little issue with a certain bomb that will be in your way, but nothing i can't take out XD), because you'd be dealing many thousands of damage a hit, compared to other weapons at that time being a couple hundred to a thousand most, and it is a pretty decent speed weapon to boot :/. gil has never been a problem for me, but i tend to be a person that does everything possible the earliest it is available (unless it will make me level way over what i should be (as in more than i already overlevel :/), which is one of the reasons why i have to cut back on missions on crisis core ), you can chain a good many enemies at the start of the game for cash (such as wolves, which are hella easy to chain), and just sell their loot, and by the time you are done you'd have a good bit of gil for the experience you gained, as compared to using the dustia trick which gives you only a little more gil than exp on average. i mean that wouldn't really work for you now, considering how far you are, but it can give a good bit of gil (even enough for monographs) if you were to spend an hour or two just on wolf chains, making you have the money to easily buy all of the goodies at nalbina .

the game is already easy enough (once you know it) that leveling up a lot takes away from the difficulty even more, i even went to a no license board, low level game (low level as in the minimum levels possible), and i am halfway done with it (and have five espers already ). if you do want to level a good bit, the negalmuur leveling trick should only be used for so many levels, because there are alternatives to it later on, such as the deadlands skeletons in the fog mutters room, if you were to equip an embroidered tippet, you could make a million or more exp in an hour, and the abysteels in henne later can give even more . your current levels are plenty for most of the game, even enough to beat it pretty easily, so i'd at least cut back for a while before racking them up again. i'll have to start my save back up (or start a perfect game save, which will only take 500+ hours :/) and go farther than i am, because my gamefaqs sig hasn't been updated in a while... it is lonely (hafta work on my no sphere grid, no summon, no customize, no overdirve, no escape, no [no escape], no blitzball save of ffx as well, i already caught all of the enemies in the calm lands (10 of each ), and have half of the CotSF done as well, only a little left to do ). if you have any q's about ffxii, i could probably help, because i have beaten it just a few times :/.

130

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-07-02 00:37:34 »

okay... now that my school stuff is finally taken care of, i can now get back to hacking (i had to register for summer classes (yes, i know... but only because it is online... i am getting straight a's XD), but the school didn't have my stuff sorted out yet, so i had to call them myself so i could register before the deadline <_<).

not sure if i will pick up today or tomorrow... i haven't gotten more than 15 hours sleep the past week... and it is hard as hell to get any sleep around here to begin with <_<. *shoots self with tranquilizer dart* much... bet... ZZZzzz...

ok, i think i will be staying away from vii for a little bit... so the mod will have to wait :\. if anybody decides to post here, i will answer when i am on, but i think i will be talking less about what i am doing here, until i get something big done, or need some help. *lots of cheering going on in the background because i am not talking much anymore* shut up .

131

Archive / Re: Some new Screenshots ^^

« on: 2009-07-01 06:34:26 »

kudistos... i would have to agree with the guy in your post, he looks really funny XD.

132

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-06-30 16:59:50 »

i would just be adding a set amount to the enemy stats, along with the equation for their level up stats, so without this added amount, they would be pretty weak (like your party without any equipment), and giving the added boost will make them jump up tohigher strengths.

if cloud were to be level 99, and have his max of 100 attack, he'd be pretty decent if his sword had 0 attack (so like a much lower level cloud with a good weapon), but would be better with a weapon, and adding the  set amount to the enemy is like having them have a weapon as well, but it'd be the same weapon for every level (same with armors). i am not actually giving the enemy equipment, i was just comparing what i plan on doing to the party.

i am choosing to do it this way, because it seems to be easier to have a little equation, that raises the stats at an okay rate, and just giving it a little boost, than actually making something really big that does it better, mainly because size is an issue, and i cannot get a good enough equation made to not have to do that .

basically, it is just a simple way to fix a big problem, which will last until i find something better, if i ever do. if not, then it works perfectly well on it's own.

alright, looking at the one i was going to switch to, ive decided to stay with this formula and just give the "equipment" boost in it (already giving a little boost, just make it bigger). i know i change my mind a lot, but i can't find anything to fit just right, so i will just have to use what i have.

133

FF7 Tools / Wall Market, FFVII KERNEL.BIN editor

« on: 2009-06-30 02:17:09 »

it is probably because the size of the kernel was increased. how are you putting the kernel.bin back into the game? it could also be the way you are putting it back into the iso. if you just try to place it back in with a normal program for iso's, it will change the layout of the disk, and it will not work (causing a black screen).

if you do not have a program to inject the file back in (keeps original layout, but size MUST be the same or smaller to work), download CDmage, open up the iso in it as a M2 track, browse to the init folder (or whatever it is called on yours, where the kernel.bin is located), right click and choose inject/insert file, and then browse to the kernel.bin you want to place in it.

if you have any more questions about adding files to the psx version, just post back here and i will help you out . it really helps if you explain what it is you are doing so that people can attempt to help you better, with little idea on what you are doing, we cannot help you as well.

134

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-06-29 22:44:38 »

ok, before i work on the actual enemies today, i am going to work on my excel spreadsheet, to add the updated equations in (taken from my test spreadsheet) written in the way they are used in the enemy ai, and using floor/ceiling when it actually happens. this will be for all stats, and should make it easier for me to program the enemies in, just mess around in my spreadsheet, and then put the values into the game, which is much faster and easier (also more accurate) than just going off of in-game data alone, so this should make things easier for future additions.

i also plan on implementing the moves the enemies use (just the name, power, and attack type for now, more can be added as i get farther), and a little defense box that i can change, so that i can make the damage equation put into the spreadsheet with the random variation and defense checking, so that it gives a very accurate in-game value for damage done in an attack. i will likely also make a party data section, so that i can just use the level up formula they use so that i do not have to constantly check for their vitality, and include an armor section so that that defense is accounted for as well (all that would need to be changed is the party's level, and that would also level up the enemy's data as well, so a fully functional spreadsheet working like the game). sources will not be accounted for though (and i plan on making them very hard to get anyway), so the values will be for the absolute highest damage. this may take a couple hours to do, but it will speed up my progress speed for the stat section massively.

so basically, this will emulate the battle, for what every attack would do, accuracy, critical chance, and whatnot, all based off of the enemies themselves. it will also be released with the mod when it comes out, updated to the point i am at, so that you can see what you are up against before actually fighting it (if you want to, or you could just go running in yelling charge! XD).

heh... i saw the mechanics guides update right before my eyes XD... just refreshing the gfaqs page and BOOM! new versions appeared O_o.

i think in the near future i may change back to using loops for the main stats, and instead of making a whole list of values for the gradient used, i will just modify it based on the level, and keep the smaller equations to do the work. it could still end up being the same size or bigger, but would fix the issue with higher level stats, and would be easier to keep track of... so i really cannot say when the next release will be out if i do decide to change that now (not likely), and even if i keep it the same i am still behind schedule. all i can say is, it will be out when i feel it is working decently enough to be released, so i will not be saying exact time frames now, just wait and we will see how long it will take .

bah... i do not know how to make a loop in excel >_>. putting in the character stats (and the modified enemy stats, if i return to looping) will be difficult to do... i'd have to make a chart to list every value for every level, but it'd make comparig stats much easier... kinda like with my DQVII chart for recruitable enemies.


ok, what would you guys think if i just used a simplified loop to do what the party's leveling feature did (no 100 stat cap though), and after that was done, added a specific amount (could be random) to act as a piece of "equipment"? it would fix my early problem of having too low of a growth for the stats (which is semi fixed now by doing this, but it causes the stat to grow more, where equipment has no effect on that), and i could modify HP/MP to have an even better equation (since the one i am using, which works wonderfully for the most part, makes the stats too high, with a minimum of 10,000 hp at level 100, which is nice, but i like more freedom ^^), which grows at a much nicer rate, and in a hopefully smaller package. this WILL set me back even more, sadly, but if i can make all of this work very well, the growth of the enemies would be easier to control and mod, and would grow at a much nicer rate, and hopefully allow for more space in the ai to do even more (but the game would have to loop level-1 times, which wouldn't be pretty for the psx version, but in the end i doubt i will be able to fit it into the psx one when i eventually reach the end of my mod anyway ). i will still keep my current equations for now, but once i make another one work well, the older ones are being replaced.

i think that will have to wait a bit though, i havent played any games (other than to test in vii) in almost a month now, so i think i am going to play nao XD.

135

FF7 Tools / Official Proud Clod 1.0 Topic

« on: 2009-06-29 22:06:51 »

very nice . i knew you were probably doing this, it is exactly what i thought ^^.

does it show the entire camera movement yet (doubt it since it is early in the making), from the starting point, or just the final position? eventually being able to load the backgrounds and enemies from the other files in the game would be amazing, to give a visual picture of a battle formation without having to actually track it down, but that would be WAY in the future, if you ever do it XD.

i gotta say, being able to see the final position alone is great for custom formation making, no more mass in-game testing for one formation, or memorizing what specific values will point to, so not only do we have full control of the enemies, we have full control of almost the entire scene.bin now .

136

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-06-29 04:03:02 »

dunno yet... depends on how smoothly everything flows together. i may make an initial release up to air buster without much other ai modding, so i can get a feel for their new growth, and then i will work on improving their ai... if i do it all now, it will take longer, and they could be less nice.

i think by either late tomorrow or tuesday the enemies should be modded and tested, but the newer ai will not be added in yet. i will go through a few times to see how deadly the enemies will be, at lower levels for now the enemies may be much weaker than at higher levels, but i hope to be able to smooth that out soon after getting the ai done.

the releases will not be that fast, i will have to make the enemies level up nicely (not too hard once i get used to my new equations, essentially copy&paste the equations, and just tweak the values), and make sure their ai works nicely (and if i learn new sections of the unknown ai data, i will be updating the enemies ), and on top of that, i have to make my other mod, the compressed ai mod progress as well, because i will need as much space as possible for this mod. the ai will become pretty simplistic at first (it already is, and without keeping it exactly like the original, it can be made much smaller doing like 80% or higher of the same thing in very little ai space), but the releases will have better ai than i start with.

basically, since i will be doing two mods at once, it will take a little longer for each release, though in either case i would still need to shrink the ai so it the leveling part would still fit in, i am just taking it a little farther . this first release will be by far the worst, and slowest to get out, which will change in the next release, and will have the same distance covered, but with the improved ai (changes as the enemy levels). the first release will only be showing off the enemy leveling ai, and to see what you guys think of it (and to see if i made any bad mistakes ), which i hope to evolve as i go on as well, so any better methods are still very much welcome ^_^.

and just a fair warning, hp is going to be pretty high in the beginning (and even higher in the late-game O_O), so magic may be even more useful because of this, and physical attacks are going to be very weak compared to the magic at the beginning, but after a good bit of levels, it will become more useful, but i am going to try and make it so that magic will be more useful than physical attacks most of the time (probably have higher mp cost), and the massively overpowered magic will be majorly dumbed down, for example KotR will have a modifier of 14 instead of 80, so slightly less than double the damage a level 1 spell would do, but at 13 hits, that is a lot of damage still, and is still better than say bahamut zero by a decent amount. the party's stats will also be rebalanced, the cap for stats gained by leveling may be reduced (depends on how much of a fight the enemies put up), and either way sources are going to be made much rarer... as rare steals/drops, and no morphing to get them, so if you want higher stats, you will have to work hard for it. limits may be harder to obtain as well, taking more kills and uses to gain a new one, and taking more damage to actually fill the gauge. when the game starts, cloud will be at level 1, and "may" be given a restore materia right off the bat if the enemies are too evil, because in my other mod (one i made for myself, which made it to the shinra building), it took a while to gain enough potions from farming to survive guard scorpion (i do not think this one will be "that" hard at first, but battles will get much harder as you level).

what i am doing right now is adding the equations into the ai, but i know for a fact that the size is going to be pretty big, but will be rather easy to add to every enemy, due to the copy/paste function XD. any tweaking that will need to be done (outside from actually changing the formula) is as easy as finding the modifier i want to change, and changing it, the formula does the rest of the work. i am still having slight trouble with the equation for regular stats, with it being too low at first (added a band-aid), and depending on how i divide the level, it can still end up lowering a stat or two in the 180+ levels, but at that point gaining a level balances out the drop, and still causes more damage, so it could be working on it's own . i can fix this easily enough by changing the number level is divided by, but it lowers the overall gain, although i could counteract that with a higher base... see what i mean?

just to show the current equations, so if possible someone can build onto them (by build i mean make better and in a smaller package ), that would be very much appreciated ^_^. remember, i cannot easily do powers, or square roots (have no idea how to emulate square roots), since there is no known opcode for them, so it has to be done without. the only value that changes over time is the level, so it is the key piece in the equations, and all growths/deductions are based off of it. also, and time a number is divided, the game rounds up to the nearest whole number, so .0000001 is 1 (at least i think it always rounds up with division), and the final result is rounded down to the nearest number. all non-hp stats (except defenses) cap out at 255, and any higher will overflow and that is a bad thing, but defenses should have the ability to be raised past this limit if desire (though most equations would allow for this anyway). the hp growth should start small, and eventually start gaining much more (based on the base amount), and the other stats must grow a good bit at first, and then slow down afterwords. i prefer non-looping equations, because that usually means less work for the game and less space as well, but if you can come up with a really simple loop that would do better than my current method, and take little space, i will use it instead. ok, enough yapping, and now to show the equations:

HP/MP:
(level+(base*random(between 20 and 40)/30))*(level+(base*level/level mod)*random (between 20 and 40)/30*mod)

other stats:
(base*level)/mod+(gradient-(level/level mod))*level/100+mod2

the level mod on the hp/mp one is usually going to be 255, and in the other one will be dependent on the gradient, a high gradient can have a smaller mod, but a small one needs a big mod, because otherwise stats start to drop fast, so it has to be balanced pretty well. i do not have a random mod for the second one yet, because i am still working on the equation, and it will take 2-3 random mods, depending on how i want it to go. i "could make a single random mod as a variable used for all stats, but this way it makes certain enemies more powerful in one stat than others of it's race, and can be worse off in other areas, making them more unique (its teh pokemonz!!!). the mod 2 of the other equation is for the band-aid, adding a number at or around the base amount, since the first few levels are pretty low, due to the base*level/X thing i have, but was the only way i could think to make it work right at the time... i could make it add instead of multiply, but i don't know how it'd effect the stats yet :\.

yep.. yet another humongous post... i need to see someone about that or something o_O.

ok, i noticed that the random mods are not going to work out too nicely, bacause to do a between 20 and 40 thing, i have to add while in the middle of multiplying, and that would not work regularly, so i will have to make a variable to hold the random. because of this, i am only going to use one random instead of two (as in one random amount used for both places, instead of two separate randoms), using the variable instead, which shouldn't make too big of an impact to the overall amount, but won't be as unique anymore (still a 1/20 chance of seeing the same stat enemy, IF they are at the same level. this means it will be this way if i add randomness to the other stats as well, just one variable for the randoms, but each stat will use a different random number, so it will be reset each time. im going to actually have to rewrite the entire thing as i program it in, so that the addition/subtraction is all done last, since i cannot place things in parenthesis to do certain things before others, so for some of it, the size may increase more than it should.

i have hp implemented now, which took 67 bytes to do because of order of operations, if i could use parenthesis, it'd be much smaller, so hopefully it works in-game.

ok, fixed... i forgot to set the variables to be four byte variables... they were overflowing *facepalm*... now it works, and the enemies now have increasing hp levels as they level up.

since the base is going to be manually set by me, there is actually no need whatsoever for the stats in the scene files... calling from those takes 7 bytes per use, and just putting a set number (what their base actually is) takes only two-5 bytes per calling, and i should never need to use over 3 bytes for it, because only hp can go to the 4 byte mark for base, and if i set even 2000 (a two byte value), the lv 99 hp would be around 2 million, the max for two byte values would overflow because it would go too high ^_^.

ok, the second equation is fixed now as well, seems it didn't like me reusing the variables without setting them back to 4 byte variables, which takes no different amount of room in the ai, so no biggie. now the MP enemy has boosted attack (can now work on the other stats), but i am not pleased with the amount... i think i will make attack start in the 20ish area, and just reduce the modifier so that it slows down growth to where i want it to be, but will stay strong throughout, instead of getting strong after leveling a good bit. but that will be for tomorrow, i am going to sleep .

137

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-06-29 01:55:09 »

ok, i was tinkering around with the hp one (i think i have the other stats equation done, it just needs some tweaking, but isn't the best, but is smaller than i expected, so i am ok with it), and with my current hp equation, the minimum level 99 hp for an enemy is 10k hp... that is a lot of hp (if their base hp were only 1, i cannot directly tweak it any lower than this... this is the absolute minimum, other than from the random variance), but raising the base hp does boost the max hp a good bit at lv 100 (255 has 71k, 1 has 10k, so big difference, and this is without changing the modifier, it can become much higher than this... 2000 base hits 2 million at lv 100, so it can be dangerously high ).

as of right now, my base stats equation starts a little low (going to add a number to it to correct it for now... adding a 3 byte band aid will be easier than remodeling the entire equation), but does reach a relatively high amount (grows fast then slows down), but i am still having little issues with it wanting to go down a point or so every now and then (only in the 180+ range right now, so no big deal earlier, which works as it should). the enemies do not always gain attack every level up, but will gain enough to make them as strong as needed. if i can tweak the MP enemy to work relatively well, then i should have no problems doing it for other enemies.

the only stats i am worried about are evade and luck (possibly speed as well), because i do not know how well they will react to my equations, but i guess we will find out soon enough .

hmm... it's size is actually pretty close to the HP equation's size, so i still expect to have some size issues, but i am beginning to give up on having the size at or around 400-450 bytes max per enemy and still doing what i want it to do... i will just have to work around my issue. or maybe it isn't that big... i use the enemy's level twice (could actually shrink the size by allocating it's level to a variable), an most of the size of the excel equation is just from the ceiling command to emulate ffvii's division, but i do still need to add random mods (will use the same as the hp one, it works well), so it will still increase in size.

138

Archive / Re: Modding PSN FF7

« on: 2009-06-28 18:11:30 »

if it can be taken off of and put back on the ps3 without it becoming angry with you (PS3 "you wouldn't like me when i'm angry..." *HUGE ASPLOSIONZ!*), then it should be modable in the same way as the psx version, though knowing little of the format the psn file uses, it could have to have a checksum updated (if it uses one of course, and would be a simple way for them to prevent modding, but usually easy to overcome), or it could use some form of encryption that would need to be decrypted first. but if it is exactly like a psx iso, then it should be as easy as shake and... er... rip and inject.

but knowing sony, it is likely that it will not be a simple move to pc, mod, and reinsert procedure, there will likely be a catch to it, so it may be modable like the psx version, but you'd have security to sneak past first (oh noes! get teh cardboard box O_o). it may not even let you take it off the ps3 easily either, i never used psn on my ps3, so i wouldn't know what to expect.

139

FF7 Tools / Official Proud Clod 1.0 Topic

« on: 2009-06-27 21:13:22 »

it working >>> it looking nice.

as long as whatever it is works, then i have no complaints . if my eyes explode because it is the most horrible looking thing in existence... then i may complain a little bit .

140

FF7 Tools / Wall Market, FFVII KERNEL.BIN editor

« on: 2009-06-27 11:09:32 »

you could also just keep KotR and just reduce the multiplier it uses, like possibly lowering the damage per hit from 137800 total damage (10600 a hit) at max stats to 41340 damage (3180 a hit) by making the multiplier reduced from 80 to 24. max stats bahamut zero does 15900 damage, and costs 70 less mp to use, so this would be a much nicer amount for KotR to do, though it could still probably be reduced to a mod of 16 instead, doing 27560 damage (2120 a hit), which balances out pretty nicely with the other summons' strength to cost ratio (though ~14 for the mod would be even closer).

they just made it way too powerful, making it do as much as casting neo bahamut 16 times in one attack, rather than making it have around the omnislash multiplier, which is where it needs to be at for sane damage for it's cost. bahamut zero gets about 88 damage per mp at max stats, while KotR gets 550 per mp cost, definitely way too high. it should be around the 100 mark, since the lower summons have slowly increased to this amount, and ~100 per mp would be the last step, and is about where a mod of 14 to 16 sits around, 14 being my opinion of the best amount.

you can change the attack to supernova if you want and can, but i think that you should just make KotR have a mod of 14 or so if all you are removing it for is because of the damage output. with a mod 14 KotR, you could actually quadra magic comet to do more damage than it would (it could use weakening as well XD), since it does 151 per mp, and at four uses, that would cost 280 mp, only slightly higher than KotR, against one enemy that is, against a group KotR is still better . there is a lot of balancing the moves need done, and i think changing them because of power should be last resort stuff, while removing, say chocobuckle, a move that would take hours to pump up to decent amounts, for a custom move that saps life/mp from the enemy or something (anything would be better in my opinion <_<). but i guess it is all up to opinion, so if you can change KotR to supernova, then give sephy a taste of his own medicine .

141

FF7 Tools / Wall Market, FFVII KERNEL.BIN editor

« on: 2009-06-27 09:52:55 »

if you were to have it as a summon (if you can), there is still the possibility someone will try to use it outside of the sephy fight, and that would freeze the game iirc, so i don't think that to be a good idea... using supernova in place of anything seems a little over the top, and the summons have perfectly fine animations XD.

that is the same with the enemy skills, while it would fit better there, it could still only be used in that battle (or any with the animation, or it'd freeze the game, and since there is no easy way to prevent it from being used, it would be a pretty bad thing. not that i don't like the idea, it is just not too safe right now. now if you are just using it yourself, i can see it being okay to use, because you know not to use it outside the fights with that background.

as for actually doing it, i have no idea if/how to do that, i just know the downside of that move as a usable attack .

142

FF7 Tools / Wall Market, FFVII KERNEL.BIN editor

« on: 2009-06-27 07:41:53 »

i think that it only updates the info if you either press enter after changing the value, or click another stat and go back, it doesn't update as you type it in, and i know that it updates for me because i just checked.

143

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-06-27 06:00:53 »

im actually making enemies keep up with your levels, and trying to keep them strong enough to pose a threat the entire way through the game. i can easily make an enemy be above or lower level than you are (i have it make a random choice right now, from 0-x, so it can be at or a few levels above you constantly, but making them lower is also possible, i'd just have to make error checking so it doesn't make an enemy lv 0 or possibly underflow to 200 some). when i get the equations ready, then the enemies will be getting tweaked and ready for action .

the way things are now, this could easily become a "don't level up too much or you will get pwned!" mod, since hp growth gets much higher, and the stats i plan on keeping very high, to give you a run for your money. the ai will also be worked on to make things even more evil for you, but the stats come first . i don't think too many places are going to be safe when i get done with this XD.

ok, the equation i need is kind of like the inverse of the exponential equation (usually needing the square root function), but would have to be done without any exponents or square roots at all, because i do not have the space to implement them (or know how to implement square roots ), but can't grow extremely fast, and still has to occasionally gain a point or so at higher levels, but not too much. i know it is a lot to ask, but it is the only thing between me and getting the modding on. what it needs to do is model a square root curve similar to this one:

i can easily mod from once i have an equation to make it fit my needs, but without being able to square or use the square root, i'm at a loss as to how to make a curve similar to this one...

an equation like the one used to level the party, but using a few specific things (level, base, possible whole random amounts, and a single value or two that do not need to change) rather than different mods for certain level ranges would be exactly what i am looking for.

hmm... i will see if i can't do just that, make something similar to the used leveling equation, but using an amount that changes as the level increases (as a part of the equation itself with some random factor or something), to a lower multiplier, so a progressive leveling equation that doesn't have an exact flow. i don't know how well the equation will work without a loop (i don't remember the equation off hand >_<), but i will see if i can't tweak it to be more friendly for ai usage.

ok, i have part of it figured out so far on how i will do it, looking something like this:

((base+(gradient*level/100))+(**))/2+(level/num)

**i do not have this part done yet, but it will modify the gradient (lower) and possibly the base (higher) based on the level, and will be added to the base equation and the average will be the result the enemy gets. the second little part is for a slight boost every so often to the stat since what i did do so far seemed to be a little behind what is normally gotten via doing levels separate, and may be removed when i finish it if no longer needed. if i get this one done and it works pretty well, it will be a smaller equation than the one i am having for hp now, but it would be nowhere near as good as the one i have now, so i will stick with the bigger one.

the growth affects the starting point for the specific group of levels higher needed for lower slopes, and the gradient affects the slope itself, and would need to shrink with gained levels. the first 30 levels actually gain a larger slope, then quickly drop (like a roller coaster going up a hill before falling down) over the rest of the levels. all that needs to be done to the equation is having the base slowly then quickly raise (would have to stay close to the amount that would be the final value for the previous base/gradient group, which is harder to do), and the gradient slowly then quickly drop (if it can't be made to slowly increase before the drop, it can just drop slowly, which is easier).

so the hardest part to do is balancing the base's growth amount, because it has to be close to the actual amount that would be earned, and i may have to actually follow through the normal equation to actually see what the growth would look like for every stat on every enemy, which could take some time, unless i figure out a decently close way (cannot be under, because they should never level up and lose stats) to emulate the growth, yet another equation in an equation). the finding the average part just makes the growth more smooth as it switches, and makes the outcome slightly higher (somewhat fixing the issue with the stats being too low as compared to the usual, and at lv99 using the averages, it kind of set the starting and ending points of the growth), but it too may be removed depending on what i come up with.

144

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-06-27 05:51:03 »

it needs to stay at or below 255 (510 is preferred max for defenses, but for other stats 255 is the cap) for all stats, and it has to grow a few points a level the first 20 or so (like a max of three points per level, which is a little high), and i don't think i can directly do exponents, since there is no opcode for that (would require a little loop for an exponent of x, or just the same part of the equation written again for ^2), which is why i have been having so much trouble. exponents would work well if i could simply use them like adding or multiplying, but i do not know if it is possible.

now for ^2, it isn't too bad to add a part in again, but if i add a random or a separate thing in that part, i'd have to do that for the stat again, and that'd eat up room fast, especially since i have to make this for every stat except hp/mp, so up to 7 times used.

the things i can use are +, -, *, /, AND, OR, XOR (those three being bitwise special combinations that i try to stay away from ).

145

FF7 Tools / Re: Palmer

« on: 2009-06-27 05:47:11 »

i think it is just exporting all four layers of the background, some parts appear behind you, others appear in front, and it uses the layering to do that (if it were one image, it would have to specifically tell the game which coordinates of the picture would be in a different layer, and that would take a hell of a lot of programming, so it is in layers instead).

when editing the backgrounds (for when the import ability arrives), it would need to be done to all four layers, only smoothing/changing one would not do enough.

146

FF7 Tools / Official Proud Clod 1.0 Topic

« on: 2009-06-27 02:57:29 »

O_O

if it has something to do with what i am thinking (if it does, i'd be amazed), then that would be awesome-o. if not, then that would be kewl as well, knowing you ^_^.

[Spoiler:]

147

Archive / Re: Total Conversion (W.I.P)

« on: 2009-06-27 00:40:56 »

the original safer had the black wing already, as well as the normal ones.


it kinda took over his right arm though unlike the normal winged sephy, but the wing's textures from say KH2 or CC should still work in this fight.

Spoiler: show

and in CC, all three were friends, and sephy began to become angry at the shinra (would have fought against them), but after reading everything in hojo's lab, he began to hate everything, and being close to jenova just set him the rest of the way off.

if he had never seen the material, he would likely have fought alongside you in avalanche, or just fought on his own (more likely), but hojo would still have ended up rejoining him with jenova in the reunion, and with the two of them combined, that would be a very bad thing O_o.

and just like angeal and genesis, he too had a wing signifying the addition of jenova's cells to his body, he was just stronger and more in control than the other two because he was born with it, where they were modified through other ways.

been a while since beating cc the last time, so i may be a little off, but this should be relatively correct.

148

Archive / Re: Total Conversion (W.I.P)

« on: 2009-06-26 23:54:08 »

well you could still add it into the safer battle, since he already has the wing, since you are doing enemies as well, right?

149

Archive / Re: Total Conversion (W.I.P)

« on: 2009-06-26 23:49:53 »

since you are ripping people from KH2, are you going to give sephy his wing as well for his normal field model, and/or his battle models (it could at least be added to the safer/seraph sephiroth fight, since he already has his wing there)? just saying, it should be possible, since cloud was given the buster sword in the prp mod (i think thats the one).

long live teh yuffie XD

150

Archive / Re: hard/balance mod... those interested please let me know :wink:

« on: 2009-06-26 20:54:49 »

edit: the only bad thing i noticed about the equation is that the hp doesn't boost a great amount over every level, the first level usually gains the highest jump, and it gains the same amount every level. it isn't very random friendly overall because it doesn't loop for the answer (a good thing in the end), and though i could give it some more added mods of it (for different level ranges), that would eat up space fast, because setting just hp alone takes a good bit of room to do. i have to use a single equation for the hp amount, and im going to tweak it until it grows perfectly .

ok, right now i have it using this equation, which still needs tweaked more, but is beginning to give a better fluctuation of the growth rate, and it looks like this:

(level+(hp*random(between 20 and 40)/30))*(level+(hp*random(between 20 and 40)/30)*modifier)

this gives some extra variation between enemies even at the same level, though the random# and the divisor may be changed later (good randomness now, so not really necessary). the two randoms are separate from each other, so to get the same numbers twice is a 1/400 chance right now. for making the randoms between certain values, just add a number to the value, so random(21), which normally gives a value from 0 to 20, would now be 20-40 ^_^.

edit, i think i have it now. i now have the little extra growth modifier affecting hp like this:

(hp*level/modifier2)

and the modifier2 may be set to 255, since that is the max level. at lv 1, using a regular mod of 1, the enemy had 34 hp (base 30), and at 10 it boosted to 447, and at 20, 1117 hp, so definitely not an exact boost per level anymore. this will take a lot to implement, but should be a very nice little equation to use, since it will work for any enemy, i will just have to tweak a few values and it does the rest (also easy to implement in excel ). my new final equation is:

(level+(hp*random(between 20 and 40)/30)*(level+(hp*level/modifier2*random(between 20 and 40)/30)*modifier)

which should work pretty nicely now. i could also remove the double random part and just leave the level mod, if space is an issue, though enemies of the same name and level will have the same hp, but that is no big deal. for now though i will keep this equation as the final for hp and mp

meh, i suck at coming up with the bases of equations... i just need a little push here and then (because the old cogs need oiled )

ok, here is a list of some levels and their outcomes with the different equations, all with a mod of 1, and base hp of 30:
base equation, level 1: 961
level 50: 6400
level 100: 16900

random equation, level 1, min: 441
level 1, average: 961
level 1, max: 1681
level 50, min: 4900
level 50, average: 6400
level 50, max: 8100
level 100, min: 14400
level 100, average: 16900
level 100, max:  19600

steady growth equation, level 1: 34
level 50: 4470
level 100: 14529

full equation, level 1, min: 22
level 1, average: 34
level 1, max: 47
level 50, min: 3774
level 50, average: 4470
level 50, max: 5205
level 100, min: 12941
level 100, average: 14529
level 100, max: 16196

as you can see, the growth one is superior to the random and original ones at making a nice growth curve, where the random and originals start high and keep a steady growth. the full version is definitely better, but takes a lot more room to do, so the plain growth version could be used instead. the stats shown aren't going to be specifically for anybody, as it still needs tweaked a tiny bit to start the hp growth off better, though the amount it grows to is plenty high enough (maybe too high ). i will just have to find a good balance with the numbers, but nothing should need to be added to the equation other than what is already there to make it more balanced.

i think for the other stats, i may use a similar equation, but make some number divided by the level, so that it slows down or completely stops growing a constant amount, but that will require a random to gain more after that (random could be (not (random(level/some number))), where it only gains a point if the random is = to 0, so essentially a 1/(level/some number) chance for one point gain, and making it high at first and much lower later works similar to the game's leveling system. since the hp/mp equation is pretty much perfect now (just have to manually tweak for ever enemy), i think i will make a remaining stats equation now, probably based off of the base zack fair posted, or off of my own.

ok, i shortened my post by removing the older junk i put up, so now it should be less to read. again, thanks zack fair for the equation, you gave me a nice base which i tweaked into my current one .

the hp/mp equation could still probably use some tweaking to grow less overall, but i think it should do fine for now, and adding more to it could be bad anyway . i could possibly add the hp to the level before the random kicks in (or the growth mod), but i don't think i will do anything else to it anytime soon. with this equation, i have to keep the base hp down, or else it will become too high, so when i mod everything, i will have to create a base lv 1 version of every enemy, or else bad things could happen.

meh... i can't think of anything that will work to make the amount grow fast, then slow down over time, while keeping ahead of the previous amounts. ive had some that did slow down, but would require looping to keep the values growing at level up (weren't good anyway), or that grew really fast, then went negative >_<.