Topics

[The controls are as follows:]

Heya! I had a rush of energy last night and was feeling very inspired by recent events in the GS Speedrunning community, so I pulled an all-nighter to make a new AR code!

The controls are as follows:
Start + Select = Reset Camera (vanilla game behaviour)

Panning:
Start + A/B = Forward/Backward (North/South)
Select + A/B = Left/Right
Start + L/R = Up/Down

Rotation Only:
Select + L/R = Up/Down
A + L/R = Left/Right
B + L/R = Forward/Backward (North/South)

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02142D34 00000000
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D2000000 00000000
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D9000000 02079304
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D9000000 020792E8
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D2000000 00000000
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D9000000 0207930C
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D2000000 00000000
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D9000000 0207930C
D4000000 FFFFF800
D6000000 0207930C
D9000000 020792F0
D4000000 FFFFF800
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D9000000 020792EC
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D6000000 020792EC
D2000000 00000000
94000130 FDFE0000
02142D18 00000000
02142D1C 00000000
02142D20 00000000
02142D24 00000000
02142D34 00000000
D9000000 020792EC
D4000000 FFFFF800
D6000000 020792EC
D2000000 00000000
94000130 FEFD0000
02142D18 00000000
02142D1C 00000000
02142D20 00000000
02142D24 00000000
02142D34 00000000
D9000000 020792F4
D4000000 FFFFF800
D6000000 020792F4
D2000000 00000000
94000130 FDFD0000
02142D18 00000000
02142D1C 00000000
02142D20 00000000
02142D24 00000000
02142D34 00000000
D9000000 020792F4
D4000000 00000800
D6000000 020792F4
D2000000 00000000
94000130 FEFB0000
02142D18 00000000
02142D1C 00000000
02142D20 00000000
02142D24 00000000
02142D34 00000000
D9000000 020792F0
D4000000 FFFFF800
D6000000 020792F0
D2000000 00000000
94000130 FDFB0000
02142D18 00000000
02142D1C 00000000
02142D20 00000000
02142D24 00000000
02142D34 00000000
D9000000 020792F0
D4000000 00000800
D6000000 020792F0
D2000000 00000000

Notes:
- This does nothing in battle.
- The camera doesn't like to clip through geometry (but you can still shift and rotate it around geometry).
- Camera orientations are saved when changing maps, but that reset option exists for a reason.
- The camera becomes static, and no longer moves with Matty unless the camera reset is triggered.

Other Considerations:
It is very long, and down the road I may adjust it for length and to make the controls smoother if I can work that out.

A quick .gif, which for some reason was converted into an .mp4 on this image hosting site.

Enjoy!

Special thanks to Atrius for fixing the forum and updating SMF to the latest version. This means the site at large is usable again, although some features may take a while to fix assuming they can be updated at all.

Please be patient as we work to polish up the renovated site and continue fixing it up.

[EDIT: 04/04/21; small bug fix for two variants. I also changed the one on the download page, making the only version available on the forum the previously labelled "gsmagic compatible" one. Please update if you have one of the old ones (you can just patch over your current project post-Animation Overhaul hack; no need to start fresh).]

Hey everyone!

EDIT: 04/04/21; small bug fix for two variants. I also changed the one on the download page, making the only version available on the forum the previously labelled "gsmagic compatible" one. Please update if you have one of the old ones (you can just patch over your current project post-Animation Overhaul hack; no need to start fresh).

This is just a quick announcement post for a new patch I added to the downloads page.

Here are just a few gifs copy+pasted from the main post, along with a few that aren't from there:



I hope you check it out!  

Hey, small update:

We've been having issues with bots on and off. Usually, when we start getting a wave of them, I'll wind up nuking a domain if it looks like a number of them are coming from the same source and they all share a provider. Our most recent wave was based in Thailand, yet that's not the only country that may currently be impacted by a global ban.

If you are affected by a global domain ban and would like to register or log in, then you can still hit us up over Discord so that we can whitelist you for access. Bans on the forum are mutually exclusive with bans on the Discord, and we're only willing to ban users on both at the same time for exceptional circumstances. As such, you won't be banned on the Discord if you got caught in this one.


Also, I know that none of you are silly enough to intentionally click on URLs and hyperlinks in bot posts, but as always please exercise caution; misclicks can happen and we have no idea what could be lurking on these sites. 

You should be able to do it yourselves now. Check your profile settings; I have admin privileges and am on mobile so I don't feel like verifying where it is myself.


I also tweaked the standard time/date format. It is now DD/MM/YYYY, given that our userbase is more international these days and the MM/DD/YYYY isn't super prevalent in most of the world. Most people who are used to the latter should pick up on it pretty quickly at least.

[first]

Hey; this is just a small note.

In GS1, when you get an item drop in battle and have a full inventory, you have the choice to throw away the item you got or throw away a different item and replace it with your new one. If you earn multiple items in battle, it will repeat this sequence for each item. Unfortunately, this can result in a potential game-crashing bug if you try to give yourself 31 of a stackable item (and everyone has a full stack of that item).

In GS2, the code is skipped and you auto-toss your first item drop. This was likely changed because of that bug. However, this is what happens if you get more than one item drop with a full inventory:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

It will loop the code and let you choose for your remaining item drops. See, they either cut or skipped the initial item check when tweaking the code, but kept most of it intact so it can still loop for additional items. I have not tested to see if the same game-crashing bug still exists in GS2, and given other things going on right now it may take me a while to do so.


So... yeah! Now I can remove another pin in the Discord server.

[Preface:]

Preface:

Hey. So, I'm like a quasi-admin now and Kain and I have been discussing how to improve the forums a bit; now we're refining the rules so they aren't so cluttered and forgettable.

A brief note before we begin: The original editor ("GS:TLA Editor") is open source, but effectively dead; neither Kain or I are involved in its development. Hacking discussion is always welcome, especially if it involves the editor, but discussions tend to be more lively on the Discord server.

The rules apply to every part of the forum, including the chatbox, PM system, and profiles.

These rules do NOT apply to the Discord server, even if there is some overlap; the rules for server are posted there!


Golden Rule I. Criminality, or: Please avoid doing hot crimes.

Commercial Software includes ROMs, ISOs, computer games, programs, or anything that is sold for profit. This includes posting links to, or names of websites that provide it. It's illegal unless it's a homebrew, so don't do it. If you would like to distribute a ROM hack, distribute it in a patch file, such as an IPS or UPS.

As a minor note, please understand that this website involves the hobby of hacking ROM/ISO video game images and nothing else. We do not condone the practice of malicious hacking and we will ban users upon discussing it.

Other illegal stuff is heavily frowned upon and will most likely get you banned and reported to local authorities. We understand jurisdictional differences with this though, so we'll be lenient under circumstances we deem to be mild.


Golden Rule II. Respect, or: GSHC members are people too.

You don't have to necessarily like everyone or even anyone, but please don't trash people or be needlessly mean or cruel. We also don't tolerate bigotry of any kind, be it racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, or whatever else. Feel free to discuss these matters if you want, but we'll be able to tell when discussion occurs in good faith and when it doesn't. Don't harass or bully people for any reason.

Also, fascist ideology has no place here. This community has been really great at understanding that fascism is harmful, but it seems like a growing number of people don't get that and I wanted to clear the air before it becomes an issue.


Golden Rule III. PORN, or: Some of us have jobs you know.

I feel like this one is self-explanatory. Unless it's artwork you have personally produced or you are involved in the creation or production process in some way, please don't post it. Even then, no outright pornography. "Tasteful" nudity is fine though, just put it in spoiler tags.

American norms on nudity are used to gauge whether something is acceptable to post or if it needs spoiler tags; no uncensored nipples (male or female), buttholes, or genitals please. This is due to the large number of Americans around. Lastly, nothing involving children, "cubs", "lolis", or whatever other term you want to use to describe youths please. At all. Not even in spoiler tags.



Guidelines I. Your Posts: How to fit in and have fun.

1. No alternative accounts. Please find some way of contacting one of us if you need to have the account reset or renamed; alternate accounts will be deleted.

2. Please try to avoid spam and post splitting. Don't just post for the sake of boosting your post count. You are also heavily encouraged to edit your own posts if you think of more to say, and should only make a new post after a response or after an extended period of time.

3. Try to keep your posts clean. Keep sex, drugs, swearing, ect. to a minimum. This applies to avatars and signatures as well. No outright pornography, and any whiff of illegal stuff will get you banned and reported to your local authorities.

4. Try to remember that us less fortunate members may have crappy internet connections and posting a ton of pictures, unless completely necessary, will not be tolerated.

5. Advertising of outside websites and forums is allowed in signatures, and when it contributes to an on-going discussion; please refrain from advertising in other contexts.

6. Please try to type in legible English, unless a specific topic is designated as a zone for other languages or ways of writing.

7. Do not harass people for betas/updates of any programs or hacks that they may be working on.


Guidelines II. Your Profile: How to doll yourself up in a reasonable manner.

1. No images featured on your profile (mainly Avatars and Signatures) may be a) obscene, b) threatening to other members or c) contain anything else that other members would not like to view publicly. Also, videos are not allowed in signatures. Spoilers are allowed but cannot contain anything that infringes upon any of the other signature rules.

2. Avatars are scaled to 200x200 pixels if uploaded. If linked, they MUST be less than 200x200 pixels or else they will be removed.

3. Total image size in signatures may not exceed 500x250 pixels. Images are allowed to be scaled using BBC.

4. Do not abuse BBC in profile fields. Some profile fields allow for BBC to be used, such as biography. Do not abuse BBC in these fields. A few side notes:
           
5. Videos are not allowed in your profile and can only be added by an administrator through the coin system.

6. Font size greater than 20pt is not allowed. If bold text, font size cannot be greater than 18pt.

7. Spoilers are not allowed on your profile, unless contained within a signature.



Final Comments: Enforcement

We'll enforce the rules as necessary. Spambots will be banned regardless, but regular users will be warned and/or disciplined based on the severity, frequency, or nature of infractions.

We heavily encourage people to use any means necessary to report infractions to us, with the exception of the Discord server. However, only Kain or myself can actually enforce the rules. Please don't roleplay as us, whether that involves pretending to be a mod when you are not or if it means setting up your profile to impersonate one of us. We will reprimand anyone who does this in bad faith.

[Board Changes:]

Hey everyone!

Long story short, Kain gave me GM privileges but I was able to escalate my own privileges for some reason and then he allowed me to grant myself admin powers for a bit to do things.

So I did things.

Board Changes:
- I deleted Calendar Events (I had actually renamed it from "Calandar Events" a few days or so ago);
- I moved all of the posts from Debates and Voting Polls to Open Discussion, and then deleted those two boards;
- I did the same for RP Talk into Forum Games;
- Tech, Gaming, and Entertainment is now a child board to Open Discussion;
- The category "The Editor" is now "Golden Sun Resources," where you can find a new channel just for gsmagic and related discussion (the other two boards were renamed, but currently fulfill their original purpose);
 - Fox/Teawater is presently a moderator of that board, as he made the program and is the one working on it. As a friendly reminder on his behalf, it is open source.
- In "General Hacking," I deleted Storyboard Ideas, made Assets & Discussion, and moved Sound Studio, The Canvas, and Coding there;
- I locked permissions for the Clan Stuff boards and archived them as a child board under Forum Games for those who still want to read them over.


Misc. Forum Changes:
- The Downloads page is slightly better organized, now featuring a category for Dark Dawn stuff and having non-patch files being moved to their respective sections. I will be keeping a close eye on it to move stuff that is misplaced when needed, but I have no intention of "punishing" anyone who gets it wrong so don't fret it so much;
- I also increased the "item per page" totals for the following:
  - Downloads, from 20 per page to 40;
  - Topics (in boards), from 20 per page to 25;
  - Posts (in topics), from 15 to 20.

So if it feels like there are fewer pages than normal in certain topics or areas of the forum, this is why.


What I'd like to do, but either need more time, willpower, or knowledge of how to do the thing:
- Remove the dud badges from the shop (Tinypic thumbnails that are huge). I couldn't find shop settings anywhere;
- Make certain themes a little narrower, as they can be a pain in the butt to read when you have a wide screen like I do (I'd make duplicates and keep the originals around though);
- Better distinguish the Misc. GS Hacking and Project List boards. The way I see it, only one of these needs to have personal projects while the former could be better used for informational posts, guides, and other things like that. I'd have to spend some time scanning the board and moving stuff over though, and I'm not sure I am up to it at the time of me making this post.


This isn't a feedback post, but if you'd like to give feedback and suggestions then you can use the Feedback board as always, PM either myself or Kain, or hit us up on the Discord because I am most likely to see messages and requests on there.

Hey everyone! Just giving a quick status update about the state of the AI Overhaul. Most people who follow it in the Discord will know already, so I'm doing this for the two or three of you who aren't active in there.


The goal is as follows: I am finishing these recoil effects I want to add (mostly functional now, just need to finish coding the actual ability effects + PP recoil). When that is done, I'll be working really hard on a v0.5 gameplay demo and partially releasing the overhaul itself for testing. However, I don't plan to put the base overhaul on the forum because I want to minimize any confusion in the future about people installing the wrong thing. The demo will likely be put up on here for ease of access.

Some of the big ticket inclusions we have so far are Reflect, a reformed Reflux/counterattack, Psy-Poison, reworked enemy behaviours (a little so far, including smarter item use), move priority brackets, and an expanded "ability properties" table that controls for things like effect success rates, summon damage modifiers, and assigned text strings for select moves. There are a number of other things too, but these are some of the things that come up the most in discussions.

Plans for the future include charm and confuse, a reworked djinni manipulation system, enemy summon and djinni use, an enemy behaviour table, and new attack patterns that check for things like current level, level differences, and hard mode. A lot of that is up in the air still.


The demo is a gameplay demo with other, non-overhaul inclusions and changes. The main goal is to test some of the big ticket and other inclusions in a way that is guided so that players aren't exposed to everything all at once. The plan is to have it end with Aqua Hydra, while featuring Valukar as a bonus boss. Should be fun!

I'll likely update this topic when both things are ready.



Edit:

Okay, so these two effects are only assigned to one ability each:

48 is assigned to Sidestep; the effect comes right after two damage reducing effects (one for 50% and the other for 90%) in the effect list, while the ability is just before Total Defense (which uses the 90% reduction) and Stand Ready (50% reduction). Like Total Defense and Stand Ready, Sidestep is also a non-elemental ability that is single target, uses the utility formula, and can only be used by the user on themselves.

52 is assigned to Crazy Voice, which is a PP damaging move used exclusively by Harridan. This ability is right between two other sound-based abilities that dabble in turn reduction (one inflicts stun, the other is a guaranteed 1-turn stun). The effect for this is also right beside the 1-turn stun effect in the ability effect list, and the ability shares some similarities with the other two sound-based abilities it is grouped with.

We have tried to figure out what these effects are, but haven't had any luck et. Research so far hasn't turned up any concrete evidence of them even being referenced or checked for in the second game's code, let alone actually doing anything. It is therefore likely that these two effects are variants of other effects (Sidestep of 50/90% damage reduction, Crazy Voice of stun/1-turn stun) that were planned for the first game but not programmed, and then carried over to the second game while also unfinished. This would make them similar to Charm/Confuse and Reflect.

We haven't confirmed 100% that they don't do anything, but I make this post simply because there has been no evidence to support otherwise yet and the arguments above might explain why.

Have a good day. :P

Okay, so this is basically just a quick post about those rooms. I've been going through the map editor in gsmagic and looking at the heightmap data of various rooms and figured out what most of these test rooms are based on:

Test Rooms; Heightmap:
0 - Taopo Swamp Cave (steam vents above Venus djinni)
1 - Madra/Garoh/Prox Cave Interior
2 - Contigo
3 - Kandorean Temple (pillar cave, with fallen monk)
4 - Kibombo Mountains (area with dog)
5 - ??? (one tall platform and two event tiles)
6 - Anemos Inner Sanctum (rooms with Charon)
7 - Daila Exterior (Flooded)

These heightmaps/layouts aren't identical to the ones that are encountered during normal gameplay though, especially that first one.

[spoiler=Test 0 = Taopo Swamp]
Visual Map of Taopo Swamp:


Heightmap:
Taopo Swamp:

Test 0:


Event Placement:
Taopo Swamp:

Test 0:

[/spoiler]


[spoiler=Test 5 = ???]


This image is a mockup of Test 5's heightmap placement with its two event tiles layered over it. The event tile on the right also has a layer tile that puts the player on layer 1, but I'm not sure why this is here.

The event tiles have IDs 1 and 5; while there is nothing for them in the room's code as far as I can tell, there is code for event IDs 8, 9, A, and B which are undefined in the map tile placement.

The functions for them are in this window:


Each one seems to clear a flag and do something with djinn but I'm not entirely sure what.
[/spoiler]


Aside from being smaller, the rest of the maps appear to have the same heightmap and event placement as the ones they are based off of. That being said, we are not 100% certain if they really are smaller or if there is more to them that current editors are unable to read.

Here is a motivational message for you!

Feel free to discuss how you keep yourself motivated in life, because I know I can be awful with it sometimes! :P


Yours truly, Dendrophiliafish_the_skull_licker_xxXXDx101XyeahbabyyeahxxXXxx_2_the_Mounties_strikeagainxXX5

[it will put one djinn in recovery per target]

So it turns out that Fugue has the same battle effect as Djinnfest. In other words, it will put one djinn in recovery per target! This is utterly pointless in the main game because enemies don't actually carry djinn around with them, but it could have potential in linked battles depending on your setup. And before anyone asks, it isn't because of the animation although leaf and I were both pretty shocked that this had never been discovered sooner for that and other reasons.



Feel free to discuss!

I'll just link the document and explain in more detail below.

So as many people know, Cloud Brand's unleash ignores defence. What is not really known is that this only affects enemies defined in the first of the two linked lists; it will have a flat 100% success rate if the target matches any enemy in that list, and a flat 0% if it does not. This essentially makes it a dragon/reptile killer!

It turns out that Trident's ability effect does the exact same thing, but for sea creatures (defined in the second list).


Keep these things in mind when hacking the game. Or playing hacks. :P

Hey everyone! We recently found an early room in Dark Dawn that has several examples of obstacles requiring GS1 and GS2-exclusive utility spells. What's more, there is a clear path of progression from the entrance at the front of the map to a small cave up on a ledge near the rear left of the map. It's grouped with a few debug rooms and a version of Lookout Cabin that was used for early press release screenshots, and has a camera angle that makes viewing the map difficult at times.

1. Frost puddles for djinni (optional), go up stairs and push/Move box
2. Lift boulder, Pound peg
3. Growth vine for GBA chest (optional), Frost puddles and Whirlwind ladder
4. Catch Caramel Apple (optional), melt pillar (probably, new) and Lash rope
5. Growth cliff vine for quick escape (optional), move box for future shortcut (optional), Move(?) object near cliff
6. Whirlwind vine(?), Burst boulder up ladder to reach the cave entrance
Total utilities used: 9

The thing about this map is that you can't actually interact with anything. There is only a basic collision map set up for the walls and map boundaries, while rivers are slightly lower than the ground but you can walk on them, and anything that you would have required player interaction will switch states between active and inactive upon approaching it. For example, the Lash rope/pegs will suddenly have a tightrope formed if you get close enough to them, or the Lift boulder will suddenly move into the air without any animation. The best way to get around is to manipulate your coordinates in RAM. You start on the lowest part of the map but under the actual map, so you can either move towards the camera to reach the lowest part of the map or to the right to clip through the river and onto the middle portion.

Oh, and this room doesn't have an upper screen map of its own - I warped here from the dungeon displayed above.

Remember those early screenshots where Matthew had a green shirt and darker hair?



Turns out that was just a lighting effect, which is still used by an earlier version of the Lookout Cabin map; any object model in here will have this effect applied to them!

Edit: Though, now that I think about it, wasn't his hair more red like Jenna's at some point? That may not have been a lighting effect.


Later edit: Found some old E3 screenshots from long ago:






So his hair colour did change, but it also looks like his clothes either got slightly lighter or that cave also had a lighting effect of some kind.

So, you know how Dark Dawn ends in a cliffhanger where Matthew points at the giant vortex? What isn't shown during this cutscene is the cabin itself.



These first two images show the cabin, which has been wrecked; presumably by whoever created that vortex.




As for this third image, the camera doesn't pan like it does in the normal map but the weird glow in the upper right is from the vortex; you can occasionally see tiny electric sparks but the HUD covers up a fair bit here. I wanted to include that image here just because. Also, this map includes pretty much all of Goma Plateau right up until the interior portion that you enter at the start of the game!

Discuss if you like!

So I was curious and decided to browse the code.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wSrkHBs5ZyGd7sy_xDxWA5HOnfkKysD2qsSfpMvOe-Y/edit?usp=sharing


Main points:
- 48 Tables total; 44 used, 4 unused;
- Every table has the option of making standard attacks elemental, but most are neutral;
- I included some other tables at the end that provide some general info about the data:
  - Mars eLevels the least common among tables, but this is 10+ more often than any other element;
  - Mercury eLevels have a lower total than any other element among all tables, but Mars eLevels are the lowest when excluding end-game boss tables;
  - Total Jupiter Resistance between all tables is the lowest, when not adjusted to exclude boss tables;
  - Mars Power and Resistance are the highest by far among end-game boss tables;
  - Star Magician has the highest eLevel total, followed by Dullahan then Doom Dragon;
  - ELevels always range from 0-6, except for end-game boss tables;
- And so on and so forth. I don't really feel like summarizing more stuff in here right now but I also didn't want this to just be a link post.

Hope this helps someone!

[Enemies use items in a sequential order, meaning that they will only ever use the first item in their inventory.]

So I've been doing some AI research over the past couple days and found some things.

General: An ability is selected first, then a target. At least from what I can tell. I'm not sure how to summarize the relationship between formulas and effects but I think the formula is prioritized if an ability can cause damage; I'll look into this one more later.

Defend: If an enemy has no valid or useful moves, then it will always defend. Even when it doesn't have it in its movepool.

Items: Caledor found a while ago that the checkboxes beside abilities are an item priority thing, meaning that if one of those is checked and an enemy has an item, then it will swap that ability out for an item. Item quantities in the editor decide how many inventory slots to fill with a particular item. Enemies use items in a sequential order, meaning that they will only ever use the first item in their inventory. This means that if an enemy has 10 smoke bombs in its inventory that are listed before a single potion, it will not use that potion to heal itself or its allies until all of those bombs have been used. Also, only single-use/consumable items can be used by enemies.

Also Items: Enemies can use stacked items (meaning a stack of 30, with the potential for multiple stacks of 30); the editor does not actually let you input the number of items in a stack, only number of stacks. This is not new knowledge. However, it also looks like their AI is incapable of using items that are broken. A shame there are no effects that let you break items or else this would be a pretty easy way to abuse certain bosses. This does mean that enemies are capable of using breakable items like unicorn rings, or at least they would be if not for an arbitrary restriction set for them in the code.

IQ: The unknown value in the enemy editor works almost like a general intelligence scale, so I'm calling it IQ. It ranges from 0-2 and affects a monster's behaviour depending on how high it is. So far all we know is that it affects item priority behaviour and spell casting.

IQ 0: The dumbest.
- An item priority slot is always treated as an item, meaning that the ability in that slot will never be used; if you have 7 item priority slots and one normal one, and are out of items, then only that last ability will be used.
- If it can cast spells and selects one to use, then it will try to use it regardless of whether it has enough PP or is sealed.

IQ 1: Average intelligence.
- An item priority slot is treated as an item until there are no items left, then it gets used as an ability.
- If it can cast spells and selects one to use, then it will still try to execute it if sealed but not if its PP is too low.

IQ 2: The smartest.
- Item priority slots work the same as IQ 1.
- If it can cast spells and selects one to use while it has insufficient PP or is sealed, then it will try to pick a different ability that it can use.

Healing: An enemy will not use a healing effect (the percentage ones) or formula unless the target's current HP is less than their maximum by any amount. The PP healing formula works like this too, but not the percentage effects since they don't seem to be listed.

Status Restore: Any ability that has effects #4 or #64 (restore ailments and cure all), the AI will not check to see if it or any of its allies are affected by stun. This means that any attempt to use something like Restore or an elixir will fail unless the enemy or its allies are affected by a different ailment. It does cure stun if the ability effect is used (i.e. if a target has both stun and another compatible ailment like sleep, then both will be cured). Charm and confuse are actually checked for, so inflicting an enemy with either of those two means that it will be targeted by Restore if that or a similar ability is selected.

Ailments: Some ailments, like Poison and Venom, will check to see if their target is already afflicted with it. Charm, confuse, delusion, and seal don't seem to be among them. Venom is prioritized over poison, meaning that an enemy will not try to use a status-only poison ability if their target is already afflicted with poison or venom, but it will use venom if they are afflicted with poison.

Effect Only(+ priority)/Utility Formulas: Abilities with these formulas behave a little weird if their base power is greater than 0, are set to friendly fire, and have certain ability effects like #4 (Restore). Just a heads up.

Increased priority: It's pretty well known that combining the Effect Only (priority/always first) formula only works with two effects; it adds 10,000 agility to a character's turn data when this move is selected. However, it has some strange behaviour due to the way the game calculates turn data. An enemy's turn order will thus be arranged based on the agility calculated for it at the beginning of the round while the particular ability or action will be dependent on what it decides on its turn, meaning that you can have normal priority Counter-Rush and heightened priority Restore if an enemy has both in its arsenal. What is even stranger is that the heightened-priority ability can be locked behind an item (using the checkboxes in the editor) and still influence turn order.

Mystic Call: Every enemy will summon Sea Fighter (#73) except for Star Magician, which has an exception set out for it. We have already known about this for a while and I have even toyed with it in the past but I figured I would restate it here.

Multiple/Expanded Movesets: Are handled as part of the AI (meaning Poseidon, Dullahan, and Doom Dragon) and are decided by their turn count.

Block x% of damage: The 90% and 95% effects are treated the same but the 50% and 60% ones are not listed with them. I need to do more research on what this means.

Advanced Priority: Guard Aura and Counterattack ability effects (#74, #88) use the following calculation to have advanced priority if they have the priority formula: Agility + 10000.


I'll update as I find stuff; feel free to ask questions or discuss if you wish.

Hey! So, I have a long running goal where I want to make player effects more dynamic, and this includes allowing the player to push or Move objects diagonally. The problem with this is that Move pillars and other obstacles work in a way where manipulating them through the proper methods directly modifies the map collision data rather than having heights assigned to the objects. This effectively means that I can use Move to push a pillar diagonally but the sprite will only partially overlap with the collision, and looking at the actual code responsible for modifying a map's collision data didn't help.

However, I also noticed that the leaf platforms in Gaia Rock and the icebergs in E Tundaria seem to function differently. The platforms are not solid underneath, even when falling onto the lower level and trying to walk into them. I can also move freely between connected platforms, whereas movement is mostly restricted while they are moving (with exceptions where I can move very slightly should the game detect but be unable to execute a valid hop between platforms, or if I use the debug cheat for unrestricted movement while holding L). The icebergs seem to be similar minus the connecting part, as the one spot where a platform does connect with something else uses a script to make you walk all the way onto or off of the iceberg. I'm still researching these but am afraid of hitting a roadblock.

I was wondering if anyone had any insight on how these objects can have what seems to be object-based collision (unless they are actually map-based and are just hiding it really well). Additionally, I was wondering if this or some other method could be used to assign a height to something like a Move pillar while being able to stand on top of it without it being map-based and locked to a grid/whatever collision data is available. Ideally I can do it without having to rely on map initialization.

Thanks for reading!

I wasn't sure where else to post this...

Well anyway, over the past day or two I decided to take a look at some of the RAM data that is present in Dark Dawn. I'm just going to copy+paste some of what I have found in here:

Dark Dawn:
Growth:
02062F94 - Target (1 = enemy, 2 = ally, 3 = [special], 4 = self)
02062F95 - Formula (second 4-bit at least, there is more to it)
02062F96 - Element (0-3 but doesn't change in battle)
02062F97 - Added Effect
02062F98 - Icon
02062F9A - Utility
02062F9B - Can be used in battle?
02062F9C - Target Range
02062F9D - PP Cost
02062F9E - Power


Utility list:
x00 - Nothing
x01 - Move
x02 - Fireball
x03 - Growth
x04 - Whirlwind
x05 - (Summons a hand) (?)
x06 - Douse
x07 - (Rings) (?)
x08 - Retreat
x09 - Avoid (?)
x0A - (Rings) (?)
x0B - Insight
x0C - Spirit Sense (?)
x0D - (Summons a hand) (?)
x0E - (Rings) (?)
x0F - (?)
x10 - Search
x11 - (Rings) (?)


Added Ability effects:
x00 - Nothing
x01 - Cure Poison
x02 - Cure Other
x03 - Cure All
x04 - Restore HP (30%)
x05 - Restore HP (50%)
x06 - Restore HP (60%)
x07 - Restore HP (70%)
x08 - Restore HP (40%)
x09 - Restore PP (7%)
x0A - Restore PP (10%)
x0B - Restore PP (30%)
x0C - Revive (100%)
x0D - Revive (50%)
x0E - Revive (60%)
x0F - Revive (80%)
x10 - *Crashes game*
x11 - Attack Up (25%)
x12 - Attack Up (12.5%)
x13 - Attack Down (25%)
x14 - Attack Down (12.5%)
x15 - Defence Up (25%)
x16 - Defence Up (12.5%)
x17 - Defence Down (25%)
x18 - Defence Down (12.5%)
x19 - Resistance Up (25%)
x1A - Resistance Up (12.5%)
x1B - Resistance Down (25%)
x1C - Resistance Down (12.5%)
x1D - Agility Down x0.5
x1E - Agility x2
x1F -
x20 - Haze (block all damage)
x21 - Reduce Damage (%?)
x22 - Reduce Damage (%?)
x23 - Reduce Damage (%?)
x24 - Reduce Damage (%?)
x25 - Poison
x26 - Venom
x27 - Delusion
x28 - Delusion on all targets (100% hit)
x29 - Confusion
x2A - Charm
x2B - Stun
x2C - Stun (100% hit)
x2D - Sleep
x2E - Seal
x2F - Seal (100% hit)
x30 - Haunt
x31 - Condemn/KO
x32 - Curse
x33 - Curse (100% hit)
x34 - Regenerate
x35 - Reflect
x36 - HP Drain
x37 - PP Drain ?
x38 - Break
x39 -
x3A -
x3B -
x3C -
x3D -
x3E -
x3F -
x40 -
x41 -
x42 -
x43 -
x44 -
x45 -
x46 -
x47 -
x48 -
x49 -
x4A -
x4B -
x4C - Damage PP (7%)
x4D - Remove self from battle (treats as KO after battle)
x4E - 1-turn Stun
x4F - 1-turn Stun (priority?)
x50 - Rises to challenge
x51 - Readies for action
x52 -
x53 -
x54+ - Crashes game/emulator if used by player



And this is Isaac's base stats, when no djinn are set:

Level: 42
HP: 381
PP: 106
Atk: 298
Def: 172
Agi: 187
Luck: 3
Earth Pow: 104
Earth Res: 114
Water Pow: 78
Water Res: 88
Fire Pow: 76
Fire Res: 86
Wind Pow: 77
Wind Res: 87
Movepool:
- Quartz (replaced with Ragnarok when all djinn are set)
- Quake
- Earthquake
- Quake Sphere
- Spire
- Clay Spire
- Stone Spire
- Cure
- Ragnarok (replaced with Cure Well when all djinn are set)
- Potent Cure
Equipment:
- Short Sword
- Steel Armour
- Knight's Shield
- Leather Cap


Some interesting observations:

Charm/Confuse are still present, but they do absolutely nothing this time around whereas before they would at least disable the player's ability to pick actions for the afflicted characters. The "rises to the challenge" thing is similar, in that before it would prevent you from fleeing battle while now it doesn't. On that note, it seems like most of the ability effects that were in the original games made it back here but have been organized better.

Many ability effects will have added effects that play along with the standard animation. For example, making it so Growth can inflict Venom will cause purple blobs to appear around the target regardless of whether it lands or not. Also, it looks like the few enemies that flee (like Rat Soldier) will take poison damage even after a successful escape if they are inflicted with it. I don't know if it will register as a kill should they die from it, but I imagine so.

Target Range also works slightly differently from the looks of things, but is mostly the same. Damage = 0 for base damage doesn't even cause a line of text for damage to show up, but it is possible to deal 0 damage to a target and have the text display that if an ability's base damage is > 0.

While they function more like enemies, Isaac and Garet's stats will vary depending on how many djinn they have or should have set. They also seem to adhere to the same recovery process as normal characters, as you can enter a battle with only one or two being set per character.

Isaac's gear sucks, and I haven't looked at Garet's stats but he has the following abilities and gear at level 42 (regardless of djinni count from the looks of things):
- Heatwave
- Flare
- Flare Wall
- Flare Storm
- Starburst
- Nova
- Supernova
- Volcano
- Eruption

- Great Axe
- Steel Armour
- Knight's Shield
- Knight's Helm

So it also sucks but not as much.

And that's all for now I think.

Hey! Have you ever wondered why GS lacked a dedicated magic attack stat? Especially GS2, which built on the gameplay of GS1?

Well, so did leaf, who asked me if it would be feasible to rearrange some of the game's code to repurpose an existing stat into what is now known as the Intellect stat. You can read some bullet points on it here, which also goes into some of the more technical stuff that you may want to read over at some point. I'm going to go over the basics in this post.


What is Intellect and how does it work?

Intellect is basically the magical equivalent of Attack. It makes use of three battle formulas, two of which already exist while the third is new; Base Damage and Diminishing, which are treated like the physical Added Damage formula with diminishing multi-target damage ratios, and Magic Multiplier, which is essentially a multiplier. Each of these formulas will ignore Defence, but the base stat is divided by 4 before any calculations are made. Oh, and the Summon formula is exempt from these changes, meaning that it should function as before (and can be used like the original Base Damage formula for abilities that you do not want to use Intellect for).



I replaced the Agility stat with this, for space reasons.


But what about Agility?

Don't worry, it still exists! I replaced the Luck stat with it (also for space reasons), and it mostly functions as before with a couple key differences. Because the Luck stat is an 8-bit value while the old Agility is 16-bit, this means that it has a lower cap of 255. Because of this, leaf and I felt it would be best to remove the RNG component of player turn priority; enemies never used this mechanic anyway, so it's only fair. Plus it makes it easier to create strategies around the Agility stat if it is more predictable.


Wait, what was that about Luck?

Yeah, Luck is gone. It was only used for a couple things anyway, it won't be missed. I hope. Because of this, it no longer has anything to do with status effects and ailments. It has been replaced by the target's total Elemental Levels, which are often comparable to the target's luck stat in an unmodified game so it isn't a huge difference. In fact, total Elemental Level replaces the Luck stat in the two formulas it was used in with only one other change.



The downside (or upside) to this is that luck-based immunities have been completely eliminated. It makes sense because elemental tables are more awkward to change around for specific enemies, when so many tables are shared by multiple enemies. I recommend using the Enemy-Specific Effect Immunities patch in conjunction with this (not included with this hack), which allows you to set ailment immunities based on specific monster IDs.


What else has been added?

I added four new ability effects, which are effectively Intellect-specific versions of Impact. They are effects 39-41 and 43 in the editor; 39 and 40 are the debuffs, while 41 and 43 are the buffs. I also added new lines of text and duplicates of the Resistance status menu icons; you can read more about them in the Google Doc I linked earlier. Oh, and I included the Simple Success Rates patch just because. The only thing to keep in mind is that the normally unused "[Target] rises to the challenge!" effect may affect the buff value in some way, and I left it alone because I plan on doing something with that in the future.



I also played around with item attributes. Critical/Unleash Rate will now show in the equipment screen, but is otherwise unchanged. Counterstrike Rate now does something, even though I do not recommend making use of it yet because it isn't finished. I am planning a new counterattack patch in the future that will utilize it and be compatible with this one, so keep your eyes open for it! Finally, I added a new Ailment Resistance/Recovery attribute, which is #28 and is a flat value that is added directly to total Elemental Levels in the two formulas that previously used Luck. This is effective the replacement to the Luck equipment attribute, allowing some customization over ailment resistance with gear.


How easy is it to use these new features?

Mostly easy, but features that the editor is unable to utilize may seem challenging to newbies. You will need a hex editor to use the new item attribute, the Magic Multiplier formula, change success/recovery rates, and most importantly enemy immunities. That last one also requires some patience with light assembly code, although the way I set it up makes it easier than it would be otherwise. You also need a hex editor if you want to play around with elemental tables, which is the case without this patch anyway.


What hasn't changed?

Most things. I didn't add new abilities or animations (that is up to you), the status menu icons are duplicates rather than custom, all stats and stat growths are the same... Need I go on? The only thing to keep in mind is that the debuff text in the status menu reads something like "Intellect dropped by [value]. Increase with spells like Empower." and "Empower" was the best name I could think of that would fit that line of text without changing the actual line. The reason for this is because three of the four other debuffs also do this; "Attack dropped by [value]. Increase with spells like Impact." and such. I did that just for consistency's sake, so keep that in mind if your buff spell isn't named Empower.


Special Thanks

Thanks to leaf for the idea and balance advice, and to Fox/Teawater for coding help.

Please enjoy, and feel free to ask questions if you have any!

This could be anything you can think of or want to work on, from mechanics or other specific changes to full hacks. Or even anything else you want to discuss but which you feel may not be common ideas!

My favourite is probably fall, maybe tied with spring. Least favourite would be the summer if only because of the unusually warm heat we've been having around here.

Yours?

Hey there. I've been in the spriting mood lately (no idea how long that will last), and decided to scour my files for a sprite sheet I made a while back. The difference between a normal sprite sheet and this one is that this is meant to be more of a comparative aid for creating custom sprites. What is this sprite sheet? Pictures often speak louder than words, so I'll lead with that. Well, sprites in this case.



In short, I'm sharing it with everyone who wants something like this! Now, if you take a good look at these sprites, you should be able to see some things that many of them have in common with one another. I grouped them together to make it easier, but they certainly aren't perfect;

a) Young men; two rows (I know the first two are supposed to be female characters, but still)
b) Middle-aged women; one row
c) Young women; one row
d) Maidens; one row
e) Aunts; subsection lined up with d)
f) Children; two rows (the bottom also has more stuff in their hair)
g) Guards; two rows
h) Middle-aged men; one row
i) Uncles; one row
j) Seniors; two rows
k) Elders; one row
l) Misc.; whatever is not a humanoid sprite that could potentially walk on two feet

These very rough categories can help define how a character's sprites should look based on a number of criteria. For example, are they frail and slender? Senior shape, or maybe Young Man. Very short? Child/Dwarf. These are obviously flexible given that some sprites can fit in multiple groups while others are hard to place, but I imagine they could help someone who is interested in spriting characters for either of the first two games.

On the right are compass pads, designed to help orient a character. Generally, PCs use the red, blue, and purple directions, while NPCs use red and green. The very light blue, while not really used for character sprites, can be combined with the rest for 16-directional rotation. If that makes sense. A character will look like it is facing a certain direction if its body is positioned to follow a line, like Jenna, Kraden, and the archery target do in the provided examples.

Oh, and the Starry Night is there just to fill some empty space. It only uses the default sprite palette. Hope you guys like it, and I hope this helps!