For a while now I’ve been working on an FE8 rebalance that would address some of the core issues I have with the game, but eventually it kind of turned into a full on overhaul of the entire game. I wanted it to be FE8, but a fresh experience at the same time, with new features and mechanics (nothing crazy) to help it feel very distinct from the vanilla game. Such features include:
-Equipment a la Final Fantasy (done, working on balance)
-Splitting Anima into 3 types (done, just need to apply weapon locks)
-Rebalanced characters (in progress, but happy so far)
-Personal caps/class variations for each character (done)
-Difficulty that exists (I like to think I’m doing alright)
-A myriad of other balancing changes (in progress)
-Many new items (mostly implemented/can be easily added)
-More talk events (in progress, can be easily added)
-Talk events/special events that give items/stat boosts (done, still adding more where appropriate)
-Anti-loltowergrinding measures (because I’m a dick like that)
-Special skirmishes that would yield rare/unique items
-A partridge in a pear tree
Unfortunately, my ROM and several back-up files imploded a few months back (my only guess is some kind of hard drive failure), but I’ve been thinking about getting back into it. My problem is that for some of the final changes I wanted to make, to give the hack that ‘little extra’ are beyond my grasp. I’m not completely helpless when it comes to ASM, but I remember racking my brain for quite a while and not making any significant headway on this front. Basically, I’m trying to change a few formulas in a few specific circumstances, but I couldn’t narrow down the point in the routine I need to branch from.
To give you an idea, I was trying to do the following, specifically.
-Bows deal damage equal to [STR+SKL]/2 before subtracting defense
-Knives (piggybacking off sword rank, if you’re wondering) deal damage equal to [STR+SPD]/2 before subtracting defense
-RES for Magic Swords
-RES for Healing (this is the odd man out, not needed but would be nice)
Additionally, I’d planned to create a few spells, one for Wind Mages (the annoying class) and one for Fire Mages (the magic nuke class). Both spells would deal fixed damage, with the wind spell dealing MAG/2, and the fire spell dealing Current HP-1, User HP set to 1 after battle. Why yes, the enemy will have access to that as well. Now, I do have a fairly good idea about how I’d go about coding that thanks to the great documentation on FE7 and some pointers I received a while back on this forum, but again, I don’t know where that damage routine is calculated in FE8.
Now, let me be clear. I’m definitely not asking for anyone to come along and do all that for me. I know that most, if not all of those things bar the healing porting will be branching out from the same point. I am fairly confident in my ability to add the various checks that would need to be added for these items/formulas, though admittedly it might take a while haha. What I am asking, however, is that if anyone knows where exactly in FE8 damage is calculated, or is willing to help me find out, please shoot me a message. I’ve wanted to dive back into hacking for a while, but there’s no sense in trying to balance if I don’t even have my mechanics sorted out. It should go without saying, but any help would of course be credited fully in any full release. Thanks guys.