Topic: FF2/4/4ET Giving Other Characters Commands..

[Deathlike2]

I was thinking about this a little when responding to a post on RHDN regarding palette swaps...

There are certain commands that seem to have their own sprite animations.. like Kick and Jump (and maybe a few others I can't think off the top of my head). Are these usable for the other characters and do they function properly (graphically and do correct damage)?

[Dragonsbrethren]

The commands function the same regardless of the character using them. Each character spriteset has one frame devoted to the command animation and some commands also use the other animations' frames, such as the casting animations. Generally the command animations look bad for any character that didn't use them originally.

[Phoenix]

I'm working on changing the character battle graphics right now, and as far as I can tell, they all work fine for other characters. I haven't done extensive testing with damage and such, but I think they all work fine. The auto-commands (Cover and Hide) are tied to a particular character, though, so if you remove these Cecil and Edward will still perform the auto-action. Likewise, if you add them to another character that character won't perform the auto-action. Anyone know where this information is located?

There are two graphics used for special moves: the 16x24 casting graphic and a special 24x24 graphic. For magic users, the casting graphics are always used for magic. Other commands that use casting graphics only use the first one, not the second part of the animation (usually open mouths or glowing things).    The other graphics are tied to particular commands like so:

Dark Knight Cecil (Special: Dark Wave, Casting: guards his face with his blade)
Kain (Special: Jump)
Young Rydia (Special: Call)
Tellah (Special: Recall)
Edward (Special: Hide, Casting: Sing)
Rosa (Special: Aim, Casting: Pray)
Yang (Special: Kick, Casting: Store)
Palom (Special: Cry)
Porom (Special: Focus)
Paladin Cecil (Special: Cover)
Cid (Special: Peep [lens far], Casting: Peep [lens close])
Older Rydia (Special: Call)
Edge (Special: Throw)
FuSoYa (Special: Regen)

Let me know if I missed one (I think the other actions I didn't mention just use the victory arm raise or other basic graphics). The special graphic is always used for special actions, so if you give Yang Jump for example, he'll use his Kick graphic for the Jump action.

Edit: I have the offset locations of each character graphic if anyone wants them.

[Paladin]

I've never noticed a problem giving whatever commands you want, in terms of them working.

It's the way they look when executed that might not work well with your hack. So you may have to do a graphics hack.

One example is I like to persist the Dark Wave command on Paladin Cecil. However when, as a paladin, he uses the command he lifts up his cape and the dark wave effect happens. It looks pretty stupid. I've hacked that 24x24 block that is the "Special Function" stance to resemble Dark Knight Cecil's D-wave stance... It kinda works for cover too. However when Paladin readies for the dark wave attack he assumes a casting position with the hands...so I've also modified that to show him holding a sword.

I can post up a link to the BMP of that particular hack if anyone wants it. (BMP so it's easier to use with Tile Layer Pro)

Kick works well with Kain as his Jump stance seems to look ok... Vice versa if you wanted to give Jump to Yang. Most other characters look stupid doing either.