Very Basic Question (hangs head in shame)

[tfunke]

Hi, I'm just mucking around trying to get a character that absorbs energy to be able to rechannel that energy back at their opponent.
I have ffx3.3 installed which has this very power which is handy. I'm simply just looking to reconfigure it so that when my absorbing character (bishop: X-men) absorbs energy, new powers then appear which can be used temporarily. I'm having trouble getting these popup powers to appear.

Here is the tutorial that came with ffx3.3 explaining how to configure it, though it isnt quite detailed enough when it comes to creating the powers that appear and how to link it to a custom character or any character for that matter.

Spoiler

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ENERGY REDIRECTOR
By TaskmasterX
Energy Redirector provides the character with Energy Tanks so they're maximum EP are doubled and they can absorb more than they're Max EP via they're Absorb Passive/Active Defense Powers. They also have no special commands at the beginning of the mission. Once an absorption is detected the character gets new custom commands that represent new powers they aquired from the absorption. You can add up to four different powers so, if the character can absorb more than one kind of damage, they can have a new command for each of the damage absorbed. Since they're currently isn't a way to detect the kind of damage done, all commands appear and the player chooses the command to trigger the power that has the same damage type as the one they absorbed. Once the power is used, all commands disappear until energy is absorbed again.

This attribute also has a customized drawback similar to Volatile Storage, so that if the absorbed energy is held onto for more than 10 seconds, the Side Effect occurs (Explosion, Take Damage, Stunned, Irradiated, etc.,). Also, the character can only hold absorbed energy from 2 attacks. If they are hit and absorb the energy a 3rd time without having released the energy from the 1st absorption, the Side Effect automatically occurs.

Whenever the Side Effect or the Power is triggered, the absorbed energy is then deducted from the character's EP, so you may want to choose or create powers in FFEdit that have No Energy Cost to use with this, since the actual cost of the power is the energy absorbed. Also, the intensity of the attack absorbed affects the intensity of the power the character gets. To get the best results, the power in FFEdit should be Medium Magnitude because the damage will decrease or increase based on that the intensity above or below that Magnitude.

As for the AI, using this power, it's a bit limited but it does work somewhat. When the AI is in control of this character and an absorption occurs, the AI will use only the first power in the ffxcustom2.py list. Since the AI has no way of knowing what kind of damage was absorbed, there's no way to tell it to use a specific power based on that so, they can only use the first power. Also there's a 10% chance that the AI will wait to long to spend the energy and the Side Effect will occur.


Customisation

    * Buildup FX: FX loop that plays on the character when energy is absorbed.
    * Side Effect: Name of the function that triggers when the character has to much energy.
    * Explosion: If the Side Effect is "erExplode", then you would put the name of the area power (from FFEdit) here. If not, leave it empty quotes ("")
    * Command 1: The command for triggering Power 1. If the character absorbs only one kind of damage and they only get one Power, then you can leave other Command and Power slots empty quotes ("").
    * Power 1: The Power in FFEdit that is triggered by using Command 1. If the character absorbs on one kind of damage and they only get one Power, then you can leave other Command and Power slots empty quotes ("").
    * Command 2: The command for triggering Power 2.
    * Power 2: The Power in FFEdit that is triggered by using Command 2.
    * Command 3: The command for triggering Power 3.
    * Power 3: The Power in FFEdit that is triggered by using Command 3.
    * Command 4: The command for triggering Power 4.
    * Power 4: The Power in FFEdit that is triggered by using Command 4.

Due to FFX Control Centre having a limit on the number of customizable attributes, Energy Redirector has to be customized manually by opening ffxcustom2.py:

### Energy Redirector
FFX_ENERGYREDIRECTION_CUSTOM=[
["default","effect_ffx_energysparks","erProgressivedamage","","","","","","","","",""],
["types","EBuildup FX","hEffect","aExplosion","CCommand1","sPower1","CCommand2","sPower2","CCommand3","sPower3","CCommand4","sPower4"],
]

Example:

### Energy Redirector
FFX_ENERGYREDIRECTION_CUSTOM=[
["default","effect_ffx_energysparks","erProgressivedamage","","","","","","","","",""],
["types","EBuildup FX","hEffect","aExplosion","CCommand1","sPower1","CCommand2","sPower2","CCommand3","sPower3","CCommand4","sPower4"],
["energy sponge","effect_ffx_energysparks","erProgressivedamage","","ENERGY_BLAST","esEnergyBlast","","","","","","",""],
]

The name of the hero with the Attribute is energy sponge. The name of the FX that plays on him when energy is absorbed is effect_ffx_energysparks and he has the erProgressivedamage Side Effect. He has one command that will appear when energy is absorbed – ENERGY_BLAST, which triggers the Power, esEnergyBlast.


List of Functions for Energy Redirector:

    * erProgressiveDamage: the character continues to take damage until the excess energy is released by using one of the Powers.
    * erExplode: the character triggers an explosion, releasing all the excess energy.
    * erZapEnergy: the character loses the excess energy plus more of his own and his Energy Recharge rate is reduced temporarily.
    * erStun: the character releases all the excess energy and is stunned.
    * erHalfHealth: the character releases all the excess energy and loses half their HP.
    * erIrradiate: the character releases all the excess energy and is irradiated.
    * erTakeDamage: the character releases all the excess energy and takes damage.

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So far i've opened the ffxcustom2.py and was able to change erProgressivedamage to erExplode easy enough, i tried opening ffedit and creating a power called esEnergyBlast like it says (dont think that did anything though) and still nothing in game.
Please help


"I appreciate your time" (shakes hands, stealing your watch from your wrist)

[GogglesPizanno]

I haven't really played with this one, but it looks to be one of the more complicated to configure.

First thing to post the code you edited so that we can see what you typed in.
Next  thing to try is to post your "script.log" file (it should be in the game's root folder). If there was some kind of error, that's where it would show up.

[tfunke]

This is what i wrote in ffxcustom2.py under Energy Redirector
### Energy Redirector
FFX_ENERGYREDIRECTION_CUSTOM=[
["default","effect_ffx_energysparks","erExplode","","","","","","","","",""],
["types","EBuildup FX","hEffect","aExplosion","CCommand1","sPower1","CCommand2","sPower2","CCommand3","sPower3","CCommand4","sPower4"],
["abishop","effect_ffx_energysparks","erExplode","","ENERGY_BLAST","esEnergyBlast","","","","","","",""],

(the abishop i put in cause i have a character and template with him under that name in FFEdit,
as well I went to the 'power' tab and created a new power and saved it under the name esEnergyBlast)


This is the script.log
00:00:00.12: CharacterTool: CResourceTrackerTree: Generating index file Custom_Art_library_characters.dat
00:00:00.15: CharacterTool: CResourceTrackerTree: Generating index file Custom_Missions.dat
00:00:00.15: CharacterTool: CResourceTrackerTree: Generating index file Custom_Art_library_area_specific.dat
00:00:14.29: CharacterTool: CObjectTemplateDataMgr::term()

Hope that helps

[GogglesPizanno]

I did a little playing around and got the power working on a test character. Couple of things:

1. Make sure like all FFX characters, that once you create the character, you run the FFX control Center to have FFX brand the character.

2. In addition to having the attribute, the character also has to have either and active or passive defense that absorbs the energy in the first place. this is what triggers the FFX code.

So I made a test character named "test1" and gave him the Energy Redirector attribute and a passive defense (so that its on all the time) that absorbs all types of energy and radiation damage. I ran the FFX control center to brand him. Then edited the ffxcustom2.py with the following line:

Code Select Expand


["test1","effect_ffx_energysparks","erExplode","ffx_energy_explosion","BLAST","alchemiss Arcane Blast","","","","","",""],


So character "test1" displays "effect_ffx_energysparks" when an absorbtion takes place. His side effect is "erExplode" which plays the area power "ffx_energy_explosion" when he doesn;t release the power and the explosion occurs. He gets a single new custom attack in the menu called "BLAST" that is actually the power "alchemiss Arcane Blast"