I’ve been hacking FE8 lately trying to teach myself the basics, but there’s a few questions I had where I’m not too sure how to proceed.
My first question is related to the “Luna” effect; I had read at some point while browsing for information that it was possible to make certain enemies immune to this effect. I’m not sure where I would really begin with something like this however; would it require ASM or can it be done with a simpler method? Unfortunately my memory of the topic is hazy at best, and I couldn’t seem to find it again when I went back to reference it.
The second thing I wanted to ask relates to the “Magic Sword” type weapons in the game. Mostly, I’d just like to know a little bit more about they function, and if it would be possible to implement similar routines on new items to create weapons with unique effects. Specifically, I’m referring to the part that makes them deal STR/2 +MT Damage at a range. Because this effect seems to be tied to the item slot rather than strictly weapon ability, could you rewrite the routine to check for more items which would in turn lead to various different results, or is it hard-coded to only accept the default magic-swords? If not couldn’t you, for example, create a spell that always does X damage, or (since there is already a component that checks range) a bow with high range that loses accuracy the further you are from the target, similar to status staves?
This third one is a bit far-fetched and I’m thinking “no” but would like confirmation anyways. Would it be possible to deal a portion of damage dealt back to the attacker? Sort of like recoil attacks in Pokemon. For example, Mage A uses Elfire on Fighter B and deals 20 damage, but because Elfire is set to deal 50% back to the user, Mage A takes 10 damage (non-lethal) in return. It’s worth mentioning the damage would be applied after the battle, since I don’t think it would be possible to do something like that mid-battle on GBA. Alternatively, it could function like it does in Fates. In that game, when you attack with certain weapons (Ganglari comes to mind), the attacker suffers a fixed percentage of (non-lethal) damage after the battle scene. Bonus points if it can kill a unit whose HP=1.
This fourth one is more of a yes or no really; since we have weapons that cannot be countered, is it also possible to have weapons that cannot counter-attack?
Finally, I’ve been trying to modify Venno’s Passive Stat-Boost hack so that it can be a bit more flexible when determining boosts. Here is what I’m trying to do specifically, but the short version is that I want to create “item slots” that would strictly be used for passive boost items. These “slots” would only for one boosting item per “slot.” As the hack stands, it will load one boost for each stat, meaning that if I have Item A that boosts DEF by 4 and Item B that boosts RES by 2, my total boosts will be +4 DEF +2 RES.
I have modified the hack in such a way that in the above scenario, I only receive boosts from the first item in a units inventory. For example:
Iron Sword -> Item A -> Item B = +4 DEF only
Iron Sword -> Item B -> Item A = +2 RES only
This is exactly what I want, but I’d like to take it one step further and that’s where I’m having some trouble. Let’s say we have another item, Item C. Item C boosts SPD by 2 points. Ideally, I’d like a system where
Iron Sword -> Item A -> Item B -> Item C = +4 DEF +2 SPD
Iron Sword -> Item C -> Item A -> Item B = +4 DEF +2 SPD
Iron Sword -> Item C -> Item C = +2 SPD
but when I try to add another routine that would check for Item C, I get some pretty disappointing results. The most common outcome is that no boosts are loaded whatsoever. I did have a version that recognized both Item A and Item C (set to load from different ability bytes), though it operated like in my first example rather than my second. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost that version in my haste to get things working. I have a few different theories on why it’s not working, but it’s difficult to explain without the modified source to use as reference. I’m on a different computer atm but I will post the modified source later because I’m currently stumped on where to go.
Any and all answers to these questions are greatly appreciated! Even if it’s just “no” lol.
EDIT: Also, does anyone know why the passive boosts hack isn’t compatible with CON and MOV? I imagine it’s because of how the Nightmare modules are set up but I’d like to know if there’s something else going on before I try to add that in there.