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[RELEASE] Golden Sun: The Balance Age

Started by Caledor, 24, January, 2015, 12:29:46 PM

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Aile~♥

Did you read the edit at the top of his post?
[sprite=16, 6, 0]:P[/sprite]

Lloyd: Easy as pie.
Genis: Sweet!
Presea: ...Sweetie pie...
Zelos: Let's not start on this again...

[spoiler=epic mindscrew][/spoiler]

Caledor

#541
I did. I couldn't tell if the question was (chronologically) before or after the edit

Caledor

Quotethe focal points of the new icons are above the skull and E icons (signifying cursed and equipped)
I was pondering over this and I thought: "what if i rotate long swords and maces to make them point to NE like other weapons?". What do you guys think? You'd like to see it or you don't particularly care (eg. it's not worth the effort)?

Also... I just remembered that i still have to make the mountain water icon so i guess 1.27 is on the way (and caladbolg will be slightly tweaked)

rooky711

Quick question Calendar. I noticed the djinni Gust rarely hits twice when used with your mod. Is this an intended choice? My personal preference is to make the double hit more common, because a single hit ends up being just as weak as a regular attack. Other than that, I have fought my way all the way till beating Satires at the Mercury lighthouse on GS1, and I have to say, you have done an outstanding job balancing everything out. The battles are challenging but fun and do-able. And I love I have to think through my moves because everything is quite balanced. Keep up the great work!

Caledor

first and foremost, thanks for the praise. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of your playthrough as well.
Regarding Gust, i don't remember touching its activation chance so it should be the same as vanilla.

VardenSalad

Rotating swords and @#$% is finally crossing into nitpicking territory. It may be something you'd like to do on your particular version, but considering it's not something very easily changed back, there's no need to put it into these patches.

You did damn well with this thing. This thread has almost 26000 views. I get the feeling that it's pretty much finalized, unless you feel like your need to number tweak things to try and get a specific experience.

For example, Apes in TBS have a ton more hp than most other enemies in areas they are encountered. Are you looking for similar "tanky" enemies in TLA?
Never forget why you started playing.

Caledor

#546
Rotating: Actually it's not my highest priority to say the least... but i thought i could ask and see if someone wanted it.

Finalized: I think so too. Everything i still want to do is related to statuses but i don't know where the values i need to edit are... oh, and thanks :D

TBS/TLA: I didn't notice this particular thing for apes... but if there's a thing in enemies that bothers me is how TBS is harder than TLA, especially earlier in the game. Hope that the -1 starting level helped in TLA... cause i'm afraid to do more since it'd make sheba's fragility even more noticeable (and could border on being annoying).

EDIT: new icons
Mountain Water pink version, closer to current style
Mountain Water blue version, DD style
Caladbolg

Which MW do you guys like the most?

For the Caladbolg, I just removed the light blue and grey dots on the bottom left corner. Also made the sparkles fully fit within the frame. Lol it kinda resembles the Buster Sword now.

[spoiler=x3 size with filter]


[/spoiler]

Rolina

Not bad.  What'd you use for the base of the Caladbolg?

Caledor

#548
The Caladbolg has ben using the masamune icon from gs1 since the day i added the weapon to TLA ().
It's just a very minor tweak. Didn't like the azure and grey dots in the SW corner.

Salanewt

Quote from: Caledor on 03, December, 2015, 02:38:37 AM
Finalized: I think so too. Everything i still want to do is related to statuses but i don't know where the values i need to edit are... oh, and thanks :D

Mind if I ask for clarification on what you want to do for this?
Oh yeah baby, £ me harder.

Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Adepts stronger.

Yoshi's Lighthouse is a hacking website in progress. Why not check it out if you like Yoshi or the Mario & Luigi games?

Caledor

Quote from: Lord Squirtle on 03, December, 2015, 06:11:48 PM
Quote from: Caledor on 03, December, 2015, 02:38:37 AM
Finalized: I think so too. Everything i still want to do is related to statuses but i don't know where the values i need to edit are... oh, and thanks :D

Mind if I ask for clarification on what you want to do for this?

you're referring to the "i want but i don't know how"? if so those are still the same things i mentioned over and over... tweak haunt activation rate/damage, bring death curse 4 turns to GS1 and if possible tweak delusion as well. There may be others but those are the most important

VardenSalad

BTW, the level drop thing, big time pain only when fighting Djinn. Not really noticeable in scenarios other than that if Breath is used very often. That's mostly because I'm working hard to stay vigilant about health and PP. But getting Fog and Breath is a matter of dumb luck because they will either 2 or 3 shot either Jenna or Sheba and you can't heal all 3 people at once without sacrificing a turn to not attacking. Djinn AoE and power at that point in the game is ridiculous. Take Flash Bolt off of Breath; the battle is literally "Pray it doesn't use Flash Bolt twice in a row, because you'll lose at least one person, unless you use everyone to heal, in which case you're just delaying the inevitable." By the time you get to Cannon, it's manageable because one weak AoE ability doesn't reduce the entire team to below half HP. 

On the Ape thing, since it's something I think I mentioned forever ago, I wrote up some of the enemy HP values from a few dungeons in TBS vanilla. There are a couple scenarios where the devs made some enemies "sticky" or able to survive the first turn if they aren't focused.

Kolima Forest: Drone Bee: 63 HP; Rat: 49 HP; Rat Soldier: 69 HP; Skeleton: 60 HP; Troll: 101 HP; Head: 54 HP.

In this instance, the Troll is "sticky."

Apes, specifically, becomes a big deal in Altin Peak, whose bestiary looks like this:

Ape: 290 HP; Bone Fighter: 122 HP; Calamar: 104 HP; Dirge: 91 HP; Rat Fighter: 143 HP; Slime Beast: 99 HP; Tarantula: 108 HP.

So...yeah. There are a couple scenarios in TLA where you would think that a bigger, tankier but not necessarily with much higher attack enemy would fight in. The Turtle Dragons in the first part of Treasure Island only have 40 more HP than Earth Golems. Or in Air's Rock, where the two enemies that show up once you get inside...have only 7 and 15 more HP than Emus.

So, yeah. TBS is harder because you had to work to get rid of some enemies. The only "Apes" in TLA is stuff like the Demon series, who will reduce your HP to 1 just because and are strong and normally paired with other enemies.

        

 
Never forget why you started playing.

Salanewt

Right right, I couldn't quite remember. Only been checking in here every now and then. Was the curse to 4 turns the only GS1-specific thing (and the others for both games), or are they all for GS1? I think know where the Haunt activation is in GS2, but I can't remember for sure if I also know how to tweak damage with it. And I would also have to hunt for it in GS1.

The Curse turn thing should be super easy for me to find though; I can check it out for you later if you'd like.

Also, I'd hate to ask if you have already answered this question, but what did you want to do with delusion again? I can't remember if you just wanted to change activation/accuracy rates with it, or if there was something more you wanted.



Varden: Interesting... not really related to Caledor's hack, but you gave me some ideas. Thanks!
Oh yeah baby, £ me harder.

Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Adepts stronger.

Yoshi's Lighthouse is a hacking website in progress. Why not check it out if you like Yoshi or the Mario & Luigi games?

Rolina

Hmm, interesting.  A neat approach, I think - it's usually closely related to Excalibur since it's King Arthur's other sword.  Nice to see you took a different approach than an Excalibur edit~

Caledor

#554
@Varden:
Tanky enemies: that's nice. I can see only improvements in doing this, so i think i'll look for viable enemies and give them a slight boost to their HP.
Djinn: Guess i'll check all the djinn once again. Breath shouldn't even have flash bolt judging by the other djinn close to its level.

@Squirtle
The 4 turn curse is the only GS1 specific, while the others are for both games. This is cause there's a patch in the download section that makes the curse last 4 turn for TLA.

As for delusion and haunt... i don't even have all the info about them and that is something i'll need before i start tweaking them. For example... how do they work?
IIRC haunt triggers when the pg affected deals damage and has a 25% chance to deal 25% of the damage dealt to the pg itself. Is this correct? Also... How does it work when the pg in question casts multi target psy? The damage taken is still the same (1 attack = 1 trigger) or it triggers separately for each hit?
About delusion... all i know is that it gives the pg affected a chance to miss when using the attack command. So... what is its activation rate? how does it work with unleashes and crits? Because if delusion works with unleashes and crits as well, it all comes down to find a suitable activation rate. If it does not... it's the stupidest status ever and a lost cause.

And thanks for the help as always. I'm really really grateful. :)

Salanewt

#555
I had stuff typed out and accidentally closed the tab, so:

4-turn: I imagine it's similar in GS1, but there isn't a lot of GS1 stuff recorded in the document. Should only be a byte if it works the same as in GS2.

Haunt: Wasn't it 1/8 chance of activation? May be mistaken on that, but the equipment curse is 1/4 for sure. Also don't know about multi-target, but if I had to guess that one may be based on damage dealt to the primary target; I can test it when my essays and stuff are done, which should be within a week. Doesn't look like the documentation has a lot on it though, but I may have an idea of where it is based on other things that are recorded.

Delusion: I think certain attack types (mostly standard attack) have a flat chance to miss, which is increased if the attacker has delusion. I think it goes up to 33% of the time from something like 10%? The checks are/may be separate for both PCs and enemies, can't remember for sure. I also want to say it has priority over unleashes and critical hits, but it may just have priority over crits. I discussed it on Skype with leaf before, I just wish I could remember exactly what the order is so I could tell you what I found out. Here's some code anyway; I think critical hits come last, meaning that it is either delusion or unleash first:

Quote080B04BC = unleash_check(pc) Returns ability to cast. (Unleash if chance succeeds, or attack.)

...

08123C08 = Attack (x00)
08123C4A = [18][1]'s [20][1][3]lets out a howl! ; [21]!

...

08124376 = ? (x0A-x62)
081243F4 = [18][1] attacks!
 08124406 = Delusion check
 08124454 = Sleep check
 08124460 = Stun check
 0812446C = Temporary stun check
 08124478 = Charm check
081244B4 = Critical hit rates, including use of Crit+ bonuses
081244E4 = Ability used. (Not attack.) ; Includes effect check chances with the multipliers x1.5, x2, and x3.
08124696 = ? = Calculate_Ailment_Success (Boolean)
0812472E = Load Ability Type Value (Not Damage Type, but Sequence/Animation Type.) from table.
0812473E = Call 081224C0. (True for Psy Drain & abilities with PP Cost not 0.)
081247F8 = End


The first line is basically the location for the unleash code (and is what I changed to make a multi-target unleash patch), while the second two segments are a part of the same broader function, but aren't exactly the same thing. Um, hard to explain right now when I should be getting back to work; I can do so later if you want. I mostly posted the code in case you want to take a peak yourself, but otherwise I still intend to double check when my schedule frees up a bit more.


Edit: So I asked leaf about it, and he couldn't quite remember either. We seem to agree that it's likely unleash -> delusion/miss -> critical hit because unleashes happen before the PC actually initiates the attack, but I will have to double check later. It does make sense though, since it would be weird to have "Felix' Sol Blade lets out a howl!" be followed up by "Vermin nimbly dodged the Megiddo!". It's also one of the few/only ailments that is better when used by the player rather than by the enemy, as enemies tend to have fewer alternatives for dealing damage than player characters.

I imagine you may be able to restructure the code so the unleash check comes afterward if you want. Either that or you would have to keep unleash rates low enough where it wouldn't be noticeable.
Oh yeah baby, £ me harder.

Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Adepts stronger.

Yoshi's Lighthouse is a hacking website in progress. Why not check it out if you like Yoshi or the Mario & Luigi games?

Caledor

#556
4-turn: yup i thought so as well but i wasn't able to find that byte the first time i tried. guess i'll try again when i have time.

Haunt: I don't really know. I thought I read those numbers somewhere here so you shouldn't trust them too much.

Delusion: So unleashing nullifies the delusion? if so, yes i'll have to restructure the whole thing. I hope that i'll be able to figure out how the attack command works. after that it should be pretty easy to rearrange the checks for delusion and unleash. the addresses you posted are going to be a great help, thanks. BTW 33% is ridiculously low anyway and it will be raised.

Equipment curse: only a 25% chance to paralyze? another value to raise.

Also, since i fear that this is going to take a while i released v1.27 with the new icons only.

Salanewt

#557
4-turn: Sounds good. I can still take a look later if you can't find it, but what might help is if you use vba-sdl-h and do a bpw (breakpoint on write) shortly before a PC gets inflicted with curse. The RAM code for PCs in GS2 is pretty early in the 02000000 section, probably around 02000500 for Isaac. The ailment values should be organized near the end, shortly before the data for the next PC begins (with their name).

Haunt: In all honesty, I can't remember what it is anyway. Plan to look though, since I have plans for buffing it myself.

Delusion: More like it's a yes/no step for whether it should unleash or not. If it unleashes, then it doesn't even bother with the normal attack (where the delusion stuff is). I think. Keep in mind that I still need to double check to be sure, but we both seem to remember it being something like this.

Equipment curse: Pretty sure, yeah. The below line is for GS2, not sure about GS1 but you could probably do a bpr (breakpoint on read) before a character's turn to find it. The value for the ailment should be pretty close to normal curse, so that's nice. Otherwise, I can check it out for you later.

Quote08123990 = Curse check (1/4 chance of not being able to move; 16-bit RNG AND x03)

Uses an AND instruction, so it depends on how you want to change it. I personally think that 1/4 isn't that bad though, unless you really want to buff cursed gear or something.


QuoteAnd thanks for the help as always. I'm really really grateful. :)

Happy to help!


Edit: For the 4-turn stuff, GS1 PC RAM is also in the same general vicinity (if not the exact same location as GS2).
Oh yeah baby, £ me harder.

Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Adepts stronger.

Yoshi's Lighthouse is a hacking website in progress. Why not check it out if you like Yoshi or the Mario & Luigi games?

Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas

#558
QuoteEdit: For the 4-turn stuff, GS1 PC RAM is also in the same general vicinity (if not the exact same location as GS2).
Almost.

02000500 = GS1's PC RAM data....
02000520 = GS2's PC RAM data....

Only 0x20 bytes off. (Probably because GS2 added some stuff to what comes before this?)
And the last bit after Piers data... I think most of that is probably unused bytes (up to 0x02000FFF), which further shows that more room could have still be added.... - 0x02001000 is known to be used for something in both games.

----
@ And 0x3: Not much of a problem if you increase 3 to 0x7, 0xF, or whatever, an compare the resulting number with a number larger than 0, and have a condition jump that is of an inequality. (So not beq/bne)... I think?



EDIT: Curse duration is at 080BD21E: (It's 0x07.)


Meanwhile, I record a little more stuff in my GS1 document.... It's going to be too much work to transfer everything, so I'll just do a little bit at a time when I feel like it?
Golden Sun Docs: Broken Seal - The Lost Age - Dark Dawn | Mario Sports Docs: Mario Golf & Mario Tennis | Misc. Docs
Refer to Yoshi's Lighthouse for any M&L hacking needs...

Sometimes I like to compare apples to oranges. (Figuratively) ... They are both fruits, but which one would you eat more? (If taken literally, I'd probably choose apples.)
Maybe it is over-analyzing, but it doesn't mean the information is useless.


The only GS Discord servers with significance are:
Golden Sun Hacking Community
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/r/Golden Sun
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Can you believe how small the Golden Sun Community is?

2+2=5 Don't believe me? Those are rounded decimal numbers. Take that, flat earth theorists! :)

Caledor

thanks guys. these days i'm quite busy, but as soon as i have some free time i'll try to make good use of your suggestions.