Messages

3061

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: The Holy Grail - Magic Algorithm

« on: March 03, 2008, 01:18:46 AM »

Updated spell algo to include updated Sylph info and level check info.

3062

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Current List of Level Powered Spells...

« on: March 03, 2008, 12:30:30 AM »

I'm posting this here so I don't forget. There are a number of spells that are literally powered by level.
If they are powered by Wisdom or Will, they are just a bonus check as far as I can tell.

Here's the list:
Sleep (it is most apparent via the Slumber Sword)
Hold
Pin
Weak/Tornado
Odin - only spell to be powered solely by level, since the "Summon" or Wisdom part of the spell has a hit rate of 0%

My only guess is that the enemy's version of Paralyze and Sleep attacks are built on the same principle.
I believe it also includes normal physical enemy attacks that inflict those status... but I could be wrong.

The basic check is like this...

rand (0, Target's Level) < rand (0, Caster's Level)

3063

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / The Underrated Sylph

« on: March 03, 2008, 12:22:14 AM »

The only summon that gets the least attention is the Sylph.. and that's only because the SNES version has their MP cost = 0.

The Sylph are significantly more powerful than originally thought..

Spell Power is listed at 15 so they are effectively powered at 60.

Other than the healing property that avoids the Undead check+penalty... there is one other property worth pointing out.

Part of the magic damage algo factors in magic defense... but it cuts the magic defense by a factor of 2!

Yes, I tried to use this summon vs higher magic defense targets... and other than those that have the maximum magic defense to start with (254),
the spell really cuts though the Ging-Ryu (Yellow Dragon in FF4A) and Blue Dragon.

So, to reiterate..

Sylph Spell Power = 60
Target's New Magic Defense = Target's Magic Defense/2

3064

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: The Holy Grail - Magic Algorithm

« on: March 02, 2008, 06:28:36 PM »

Finding this tidbit... http://s-endo.skr.jp/ff4magparam.txt , I am adjusting the formulas accordingly.

Most notably, I didn't know that Piggy had a atrocious 10% hit rate.

Other changes include the Summon multiplier... the multiplier is doubled naturally.
The spell power of the summon is consistant through since it doesn't deal 9999 against Behemoths...
which implies that the spell multiplier is simply doubled.

3065

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: Some Useful Info

« on: March 02, 2008, 05:31:46 PM »

In Jap, but the translations of them are pretty good.

It's nice when someone offers info on Gamefaqs...

--Edit by Leno--
Next time, use the URL tags...

3066

Gaming Discussion / Monster Race/Enemy Type Distribution... Sucks

« on: March 02, 2008, 03:54:15 AM »

Whoever designed the enemy placement needs to be shot. The enemy placement relative to the equipment is no less than crap.

Here's a quick breakdown (though there's no actual count, I bet you are thinking the same thing):

Undead - Maybe there is too many of them? Obviously there are some areas that have none at all, but the majority
of areas you end up having some sort of undead resistance. Cecil's Paladin-specific equipment is great for for Mt. Hobs.
The Sorceror Robes are great vs the moon's undead... Edge is the most screwed by this though...

Dragon - Even in FF4A's Lunar Ruins, you simply can't avoid fighting one of these guys. Since the majority show themselves late game
and you obtain the weaponry to defeat them (though you will need some lucky drops) and defend them (Crystal Rings and Tiaras), that is
probably the only thing the developers did right. They didn't show a lot of them during the game.. but you know they were there.

Slime/Pudding/Flan - By the time you get a weapon that torches them, you just end up casting magic to get rid of them quickly. I wonder
if they are trying to screw with you late game having less of these types of monsters... really.

Giant - These are the only enemies that one would try to harvest the most for the good stuff (Zeus Gloves and Rune Axes come to mind). Too
bad you only get one armor to defend against them. I wonder why they don't make them uber strong...

Spirit/Ghoul - These are the most annoying monsters to just exploit. Once you get past the "Mountains of Undead", you find less Spirits altogether.
These monsters are a complete afterthought because you get the Silver/Mythril Equipment too late (other than the Ring) and by the time you
get the weapons that are not named Holy arrows, you need to wait until the Tower of Babil - Cave Eblana entrance to use them.
This is a near pointless type, sadly.

Reptile - There are so many of them, but there's only two weapons (3 total if you count FF4A) that even deal with these monsters. Why oh why is
there a disproportionate distrubtion of enemy and equipment?

Machine - There's like only one area that makes this type nifty.. but you don't have Cid in the party at this point! The Lit arrows are atrocious and
the Thunder Claw only makes Edge a god in this stage, but then again he takes brutal amounts of damage. Then again, they put like one of them in
the Lunar Core levels just to be annoying...

Mage - At least the distribution is limited.. because you will find one pretty much in most levels when they start to appear. There's a number of equipment
on both ends to meet this monster type head on w/o many issues.. probably the only other distribution of monsters that are distributed properly.

So, out of 8 races, approximately 2-4 races seem to be fine, but the rest are junk. For those that plan on doing a hack, PLEASE OH PLEASE take heed of
my complaint... and adjust/plan accordingly.

3067

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: The Holy Grail - Magic Algorithm

« on: March 02, 2008, 03:00:42 AM »

Any chance of a comprehensive Algorithm FAQ like we've long had with FFVI?
Something that can factor in the chance to hit and amount of damage for physical and magical attacks, with either monster or characters attacking?
And if there are any exceptions to the rules for such (special commands, things that skip certain steps, etc.)?

Not to mention other algos, like when an attack occurs, ATB timers, etc.?

Something verbose enough to translate into an Excel spreadsheet (or the sheet itself ).

Reason I ask is that I'd like to be able to write a general enough set of functions that could handle FFIV-FFVI with some switches for different rule sets, of course.

I was thinking of that - http://slickproductions.org/forum/index.php?topic=190.0

The issue though is that noone seems to have dumped any code relating to the ATB system to verify any of the algos. I haven't even touched the ATB system because it is still relatively foreign to me (I mean, until FF4A, there was no ATB bar that I could even think of referencing against).

However, the bits and pieces of info about stuff are lingering all around this forum, so you are welcome to test/verify and contribute if you can. I'm bored to death thinking of stuff to be testing... the next commands worth a damn looking at is Throw and Steal at this point...

3068

Gaming Discussion / Re: Cid Doesn't Suck and Why Spending 4x More Money Is A Joke

« on: March 02, 2008, 02:15:23 AM »

Relevent Stats For This Test:
Defense = 2
Monsters have 0 evade.

The damage range my ideal Cid does is much nicer...
5x68 @ 80%

.80 is Cid's hit rate on average
5 * (68-2)* .80 = 264 points of damage given at minimum on average
5 * (85-2)* .80 = 332 points of damage given at average on average
5 * (102-2)* .80 = 400 points of damage given at max on average

The damage range of Silver/Mythril Cid is mediocre...
4x66 @ 80%

4 * (66-2) * .80 = 204 points of damage given at minimum on average
4 * (82-2 )* .80 = 256 points of damage given at average on average
4 * (99-2) * .80 = 310 points of damage given at max on avarage

The difference in damage here is HUGE. The gap between the minimum is 60 points, and the max is 90 points.
The ideal Cid is able to take out the occasional Hell Needle (or Swordrat in FF2US),
but the Silver/Mythril Cid is still just struggling to kill anything in the Magnetic Cave.

So, take that for what it is worth. Instead of spending 17000 on a Silver Armor and taking 48 points less damage on average,
you could spend approximately 4x less with a Kenpogi (Karate Robe in FF2US) and a Twist Headband for dealing 76 points more damage on average
and actually be able to kill some monsters in one blow.

I mean, seriously.

Btw, the only time you find a Spirit/Ghoul monster to take advantage of the property of the armor, you would have lost Cid and picked up Edge.
(The Ghost Knight aka the Blademan in FF2US from the Tower of Babil via Cave Eblan is the first Spirit monster you would meet...)

3069

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: The Other Holy Grail - Attack Algo - Done?

« on: March 02, 2008, 01:56:19 AM »

Fixed a huge logical and mathematical error. The evade is not supposed to be tested against the hit rate, but that out of 100%. 

Also, the hit to inflict status is most likely based on the Attacker's Hit Rate... given that enemies have none, and the only thing
making it difficult is the current character's hit rate (Charm Claw hurts Yang overall damage to an extent, but he's already freakishly powerful).

3070

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: The Holy Grail - Magic Algorithm

« on: March 02, 2008, 01:47:48 AM »

Fixed a huge logical and mathematical error. The magic evade is not supposed to be tested against the spell hit rate, but that out of 100%. 

3071

Gaming Discussion / Re: Cid Doesn't Suck and Why Spending 4x More Money Is A Joke

« on: March 02, 2008, 01:43:11 AM »

The strongest monster in the Magnetic Cave is the Ogre.
Relevent Stats:
5x 60 @ 80%

The damage range that the Ogre deals by default is 300 to 450.
With an 80% hit rate, the damage given on that average w/o considering defense becomes 240 to 360.

On testing damage range, 100% of your attack power is what you see on the stat screen,
150% of the attack power is the maximum, and 125% is the average.

Let's compare strictly Cid with my ideal equipment vs Cid with the Silver Equipment for the moment.

If the enemy attacks my ideal Cid...

1 = defense multiplier, 4 = number of attacks left by the monster that is unevadable, .70 is evade rate factor (1.00-.30), .80 is the monster's hit rate
(1 * (60-25) * .70 + 4 * (60-25)) * .80 = 131 points of damage taken at minimum on average
(1 * (75-25) * .70 + 4 * (75-25)) * .80 = 188 points of damage taken at average on average
(1 * (90-25) * .70 + 4 * (90-25)) * .80 = 244 points of damage taken at max on average

Note: Remember to truncate where applicable.

If the enemy attacks Mythril/Silver Cid...

(5 * (60-40)) * .8 = 80 points of damage taken at minimum on average
(5 * (75-40)) * .8 = 140 points of damage taken at average on average
(5 * (90-40)) * .8 = 200 points of damage taken at max on average

So, the difference isn't as significant as it seems.
Sure you take approximately 48 points less damage on average with the full Silver/Mythril set,
but damage is not as significant as you would think, especially when Cid gains a ton of HP per level
at about the same pace Yang is.

Now, onto the Cid attacking the Ogre on my next post.

3072

Gaming Discussion / Cid Doesn't Suck and Why Spending 4x More Money Is A Joke

« on: March 02, 2008, 01:19:00 AM »

Reference pics:

Level 23 Cid

Stats:


"Ideal" Related Equip:


Different Stats:


Full Silver Equip:


Yang at Level 31 (for a reference)

Stats:


What Yang Usually Has:


Argument to be posted, followed by some research.

3073

General Discussion & Support / Re: FF5 Multi Editor

« on: March 01, 2008, 10:21:35 PM »

The values neatly start at offset $100000+header , and each monster cramps up 32 Bytes in size. Bosses are located at offset +$2000, after the 256 "normal" monsters.

Other than location, that's exactly like the list in FF6. Come on, Squaresoft...

Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids! 

Jorgur, did you consult the FF5 Algo FAQ linked in this thread?

3074

Gaming Discussion / Re: You Know Tellah Really Sucks When...

« on: March 01, 2008, 04:59:57 PM »

You know what's sad is that so many non-attack spells that he can cast has a potential to fail on him...
only Peep and Float seem to be fortunate.

3075

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: Enemy Making A Physical Elemental Attack...

« on: March 01, 2008, 04:58:04 PM »

Is there a message displayed if the attacker inflicts float status on the target?

Also, has there been any testing of what Weak+ does as an attack by the monster? I can only imagine it increases the
damage of an enemy's elemental attack on a character that is weak vs said element... (think FireDog attacking
Cecil with a Fire elemental physical attack while he is equipping the Fire Shield).