Damage Type Invulnerability

[blackjacket]

Hello All,

I am on the brink of completing an invulnerability attribute specific to damage type... However, there is one issue I can't get around and it seems it should be working or simple enough.  here is the code:

THIS CODE GENERATES LISTS OF POWERS WITH SPECIFIC DAMAGE TYPES  (THIS WORKS FINE)
def generatePowerTypes():
   ffxpowertypes.acid=['acid']
   ffxpowertypes.cold=['cold']
   ffxpowertypes.crush=['crush']
   ffxpowertypes.electrical=['electrical']
   ffxpowertypes.energy=['energy']
   ffxpowertypes.fire=['fire']
   ffxpowertypes.pierce=['pierce']
   ffxpowertypes.radiation=['radiation']
   ffxpowertypes.water=['water']
   powers=datfiles.Campaign_ReadPowers()
   for power in powers.keys():
      pdata=powers[power]
      if pdata['PowerType'] == PT_MELEE or pdata['PowerType'] == PT_RANGED or pdata['PowerType'] == PT_AREA or pdata['PowerType'] == PT_DIRECT:
         if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_ACID or pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_ACID_BURN:
            ffxpowertypes.acid.append(power)
              if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_COLD:
                 ffxpowertypes.cold.append(power)
              if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_CRUSH:
            ffxpowertypes.crush.append(power)
              if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_ELECTRICAL:
            ffxpowertypes.electrical.append(power)
         if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_ENERGY:
            ffxpowertypes.energy.append(power)
         if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_FIRE:
            ffxpowertypes.fire.append(power)
         if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_PIERCE:
            ffxpowertypes.pierce.append(power)
         if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_RADIATION or pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_IRRADIATE:
            ffxpowertypes.radiation.append(power)
         if pdata['DamageType'] == PT_DAMAGE_WATER:
            ffxpowertypes.water.append(power)
   RegTimer('powertypefin',10)

THIS CODE CREATES A SEPARATE FILE SIMILAR TO HOW THE POWERID GENERATOR WORKS AND PLACES THE LISTS OF DAMAGE TYPES FOR EVERY BUILT IN POWER IN THE GAME (WORKS FINE):
def powertypefin(event):
    Mission_StatusText('writing power types to file')
    print ffxpowertypes.acid
    print ffxpowertypes.cold
    print ffxpowertypes.crush
    print ffxpowertypes.electrical
    print ffxpowertypes.energy
    print ffxpowertypes.fire
    print ffxpowertypes.pierce
    print ffxpowertypes.radiation
    print ffxpowertypes.water
    ###! 2006-05-06 Ep: write to the current mod's ffxpowerid.py's rather than the hardcoded ffx3 one
    modfolder = sysutils.getModFolder()
    print "POWER TYPE Generator powertypefin() will write to '%s/ffxpowertypes.py' folder" % modfolder
    file=open("%s/missions/scripts/ffxpowertypes.py" % modfolder,"w")
    file.write('ffxDamageTypes=[\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.acid))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.cold))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.crush))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.electrical))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.energy))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.fire))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.pierce))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.radiation))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(str(ffxpowertypes.water))
    file.write(',\n')
    file.write(']\n')
    file.close()

THIS CODE IDENTIFIES IF A CHARACTER HAS A RESISTANCE (THIS WILL BE EXPANDED TO MULTIPLE RESISTANCES) AND REGISTERS A SINK IF THIS CHARACTER IS HIT BY ANY OF THE ACTIVE CHARACTERS IN THE MISSION BY A POWER IN THE LIST OF POWERS THAT HAVE THE DAMAGE TYPE HE IS RESISTANT TO (THIS WORKS PERFECTLY WHEN AN ENEMY ATTACKS THE CHARACTER, HOWEVER I'VE ISSUES WITH THE SINK WHEN AN ALLY HITS THE CHARACTER):
def initDamageTypes(char):
    FFX_ObjectSetAttr(char,'ivlastdam',Object_GetAttr(char,'health'))
    template=FFX_GetTemplate(char)
    for entry in FFX_RESISTANCES:
        if entry[0]==template:
            resistType=entry[1]
            fn='%sDamageManagement'%(entry[1])
            print '%s set'%(fn)
            for resistance in ffxpowertypes.ffxDamageTypes:
               if resistance[0]==resistType:
                   for powerName in resistance:
                       print 'registering %s'%(powerName)
                       powerID=0
                       for set in ffxpowerids.powerIDs:
                          if set[0]==powerName:
                           powerID=set[2]
                           #RegTimer('resistType',0.1,powerID,char,'DamageManagement')
                           for object in Mission_GetDynamicObjects():
                               if ((Object_GetClass(object) & FFX_CHARACTER)!=0):
                                   RegPowerHit(object,char,fn,powerID)
                                   print 'regged for %s on %s v %s (%i)'%(fn,powerName,object,powerID)


THIS IS THE FUNCTION CALLED BY THE SINK FOR CRUSHING DAMAGE RESISTANCE CALLED WHEN THE CHARACTER IS RESISTANT TO CRUSHING AND IS HIT BY A POWER OF CRUSHING (THIS CODE GOES SWIMMINGLY AND RUNS ONLY WHEN AN ENEMY ATTACKS THOUGH):
def crushDamageManagement(event):
    char=event.object
    attacker=event.string
    powerID=event.float
    print '%s hit %s with powerID %i'%(attacker,char,powerID)
    print 'CRUSH RESISTANCE!'
    lasthealth = FFX_ObjectGetAttr(char,'ivlastdam')
    health = Object_GetAttr(char,'health')
    damage = lasthealth - health
    if Object_IsAlive(char):
        if damage>0:
                #payback=FFX_ObjectGetAttr(char,'invPoints')
                payback=10
                if payback>damage:              # don't refund more damage than we took
                    payback=damage
                if payback+health > lasthealth: # don't bring char above pre-damage health
                    payback = lasthealth - health
                Object_SetAttr(char,'health',health+payback)
        else:
                payback=0
    FFX_ObjectSetAttr(char,'ivlastdam',Object_GetAttr(char,'health'))
    print 'recovered %s'%(payback)


SO MY ISSUE IS, I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOT THE 'RegPowerHit' Sink runs the Function I want when an ally hits the character...

I'm sure there will be more issues, such as with area powers.  but I want this fixed first.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

[blackjacket]

OK, the problem is broader than I first thought.  It's not an issue of an ally attacking.  It's an issue of any 'player controlled' characters attacking that will not register the sink.  I know there must be a way to fix this, because stun carriers & state swaps utilize the fact that any character attacks anyone using RegPowerHit...so I'm not sure where I'm missing here...

[stumpy]

Your are embarking on a potentially complicated coding project and, as you indicate, the type 21 sinks won't work for some power types (like area, ranged area, etc.). There is potentially a LOT of bookkeeping that will be required here, especially to make this system work well alongside normal FFX invulnerability and related functions.

That said, there may be a simple problem in the code above. It looks like the def generatePowerTypes() function has the conditional sections for crushing, cold, and electrical damage inside the condition for acid and acid burn. That would certainly cause trouble if, as it appears, you are testing with crushing damage. Might just be an indentation issue...

[blackjacket]

Stumpy, thanks for feedback.  I believe the codes just copied weird on my first post to look like cold and electrical were in acid.  Unfortunately, I think this project will need to be put on hold now.  This is the first code I've made trying to use powerIds and was unaware beforehand that powerIDs are not unique to a power.  The same powerID can be used for multiple powers, which throws off the whole code...i tried making a whole new code that used the RegPowerUse, unfortunately, even though it accepts a power name string it splits out the powerID float...  Unless there is any other way I can have the game tell if a character either uses or gets hit by a power by name/string, not powerid...

[Epimethee]

First, kudos for trying! The scripting forum certainly could use some fresh blood.

As Stumpy and yourself pointed, it's a tough problem, as the game's API offers no reliable way of getting the info. Short of hacking the game executable itself (given modern OSes' memory randomization, I'm not sure how feasible this is), you'll probably need to use lots of heuristics to get approximate results. Still, if you pull it off, it'll be an achievement of note, as people have been trying to crack this since 2001 IIRC.

[stumpy]

Sorry about the misread on your code, blackjacket. Sometimes cut-and-paste will garble code. FWIW, our board is much better at preserving whitespace than some other forums I can think of. (I am looking at you, Bioware Social Network!)

Épiméthée summarized the issue nicely: A decade or more of attempts and very limited success with damage type detection. Most recently, I believe there was some talk of identifying damage types by applying absorb defenses on the characters and doing the bookkeeping on energy absorption. Attempts have been made to use the data from the logging feature as heuristic keys to see which power a character is activating. And, I think there have been other attempts to use the type 21 sinks to identify powers. It's a tough nut, but each person who tries is another chance at cracking it.

[blackjacket]

Hey,

I gave up on this, however while going through some other code, I just realized the 'user' for register sinks can be any number, not just '0' or '1'.  Is it possible to make the 'user' the identifying number of a power in the powerids file.  That way you can refer to the user number in the called function cross reference with the powerids file and then identify the damage_type of that power?

[stumpy]

Maybe I don't quite follow you. You can certainly set the user number for script-triggered powers and get it back when the sink is triggered. The problem is with powers triggered by the player or engine AI. For script-triggered powers, there is no issue because you already know (or can easily find) the damage type when you trigger the power.

[blackjacket]

What I mean is referring to the 'number' of the power in the PowerIDs file.  Here's an example (this is a rough code I started with, but if I were to start work on this again, I'd try to simplify it further)

def initDamageTypes(char):
    FFX_ObjectSetAttr(char,'ivlastdam',Object_GetAttr(char,'health'))
    template=FFX_GetTemplate(char)
    for entry in FFX_RESISTANCES:
        if entry[0]==template:
            resistType=entry[1]
            fn='%sDamageManagement'%(entry[1])
            print '%s set'%(fn)
            for resistance in ffxpowertypes.ffxDamageTypes:
               if resistance[0]==resistType:
                   for powerName in resistance:
                       print 'registering %s'%(powerName)
                       powerID=0
                       for set in ffxpowerids.powerIDs:
                          if set[0]==powerName:
                           powerID=set[2]
                           powerNumber=set[1]
                           for object in Mission_GetDynamicObjects():
                               if ((Object_GetClass(object) & FFX_CHARACTER)!=0):
                                   RegPowerHit(object,char,fn,powerID,powerNumber)  #powerNumber is the number in the powerIDs script between the name of power and its powerID (it is unique to each power)
                                   print 'regged for %s on %s v %s (%i)'%(fn,powerName,object,powerID)

def crushDamageManagement(event):
    char=event.object
    attacker=event.string
    powerID=event.float
    powerNumber=event.user
    resistanceType='invCrush'
    print '%s hit %s with powerID %i'%(attacker,char,powerID)
    print 'CRUSH RESISTANCE!'
    for resistance in ffxpowertypes.ffxDamageTypes:
       if resistance[0]=='crush':
          for set in ffxpowerids.powerIDs:
            if set[2]==powerID & set[1]==powerNumber:
             powerName=set[0]
             if powerName in resistance:
                DamageTypeManagement(char,resistanceType)

[blackjacket]

Concerning 21 this may explain another issue I've been having.  When I have a player controlled character, his stun carriers aren't unique to just one power.  Rather every power that he uses with stun, swaps.  So 21 can't recognize powerIDs for player controlled characters?

[Epimethee]

IIRC (it's been a long while since I dabbled in this), it depends on whether it's a built-in character (created in FFEdit) or a custom one (created in-game).

[stumpy]

Concerning 21 this may explain another issue I've been having.  When I have a player controlled character, his stun carriers aren't unique to just one power.  Rather every power that he uses with stun, swaps.  So 21 can't recognize powerIDs for player controlled characters?

Echoing Épiméthée, I am very rusty on this code, but there was some difference with how carriers are registered for built-in characters and custom (hero file) characters, possibly because the hero file characters powers are done differently (they may not be in the powerIDs data?). There was also some sort of nonsense due to the unfortunate way Irrational spawns character in the Rumble Room, so things can work differentlyt here than in campaign mode. So, if I am close on what happens, some powers' carriers are registered as 'all' or something, meaning that every power that inflicts that state will trigger the state swap. In other words, a hero file character might have a punch that hypnotizes and that state is swapped for frozen (or whatever) but, if he has a beam that also hypnotizes, that will also swap to frozen. My recollection is that the same limitation doesn't apply to powers of built-in campaign characters, so the built-in could have a punch that swaps hypnosis for frozen and a beam that swaps it for crystal cage or some other swap effect or doesn't swap at all.

[stumpy]

Actually, a little searching turned up this archived thread which might be informative, since it looks like I was investigating a similar problem. I don't know that we came up with any solutions, but we did noodle out some of the underlying issues.

[DrMike2000]

Built in characters register their attacks with different codes, so you can differentiate between the Ants punch and his Shove
But custom characters all just use the one same code to register all their powers, so you can't distinguish between individual powers.

I'd stick my neck out and say that the problem of creating scripted effects of any kind based on damage type is thus impossible.
Kudos for trying, blackjacket.