Patch: Independent Stop

Hello everyone, I finally got around to solving something that I've been thinking about for a while. Stop and Slow, when combined, results in the Stop timer lasting TWICE as long, which is somewhat overpowered. I also feel that since they are both Time Magics, they shouldn't be stackable (see: Haste and Slow being mutually exclusive).

This moves the code that decrements the Stop timer to before the $3ADC,X check. That means it will be independent of the ATB multiplier (Slow/Haste), but will also increment four times as fast, which is compensated for by initializing the Stop Timer to four times its original value.

This patch includes assassin's Premature Continuation Fix so as to not cause conflicts. It requires no free space.

Spoiler (Click to View)

Code:

;xkas 0.06
hirom
;header

;Stop - set
org $C24680
LDA #$48                ;Time until Stop wears off x 4


;Called whenever battle timer is incremented.
;Handles various time-based events for entities.  Advances their timers, does
;periodic damage/healing from Poison/Regen/etc., checks for running, and more.

;(assassin's Premature Continuation Fix included)

org $C25A83
timed_events:
LDA $3A91               ;Lower byte of battle time counter equivalent
INC $3A91               ;increment that counter equiv.
AND #$0F    
CMP #$0A    
BCS .other              ;Branch if lower nibble of time counter was >= #$0A
                        ;otherwise, A now corresponds to one of the 10
                        ;onscreen entities.

ASL 
TAX 
LDA $3AA0,X
LSR 
BCC .exit               ;Exit if entity not present in battle

;Stop block, relocated
LDA $3AF1,X             ;Get Stop timer, originally set to #$12
                        ;at C2/467D
BEQ .noStop             ;Branch if it's 0, as that *should* mean the
                        ;entity is not stopped.

DEC $3AF1,X             ;Decrement Stop timer
BNE .exit               ;did it JUST run down on this tick?  if not, exit

;Premature Continuation Fix
JMP expire_Stop         ;go set up Stop to wear off
NOP                     ;Note that I could have fit the entire patch in this
                        ;function with "STA $B8 / BRA $5B30", but the latter
                        ;instruction would've been so cheap and ugly that I'd
                        ;have had to kill myself.
.noStop
;End of Stop block

CLC 
LDA $3ADC,X             ;Timer that determines how often timers and time-based
                        ;events will countdown and happen for this entity.
ADC $3ADD,X             ;Add ATB multiplier (set at C2/09D2: 64 normally,
                        ;32 if Slowed, 84 if Hasted)
STA $3ADC,X
BCC .exit               ;Exit if timer didn't meet or exceed 256

LDA $3AA0,X
BIT #$10                ;is entity Wounded, Petrified, or Stopped, or is
                        ;somebody else under the influence of Quick?
BNE .exit               ;Exit if any are true

LDA $3B05,X             ;Condemned counter - originally set at 09B4.
                        ;To be clear, this counter is "one off" from the
                        ;actual numerals you'll see onscreen:
                        ;00 value = numerals disabled
                        ;01 value = numerals at "00", 02 = "01", 03 = "02", etc
CMP #$02
BCC .l_5AC9             ;Branch if counter < 2.  [i.e. numerals < "01",
                        ;meaning they're "00" or disabled.]
DEC 
STA $3B05,X             ;decrement counter
DEC                     ;just think of this second "DEC" as an optimized
                        ;"CMP #$01", as we're not altering the counter.
BNE .l_5AC9             ;Branch if counter now != 1  [i.e. numerals != "00"]

JSR $5BC7               ;Cast Doom when countdown numerals reach 0
.l_5AC9
JSR $5C1B               ;Check if character runs from combat
JSR $5B4F               ;Trigger Poison, Seizure, Regen, Phantasm, or
                        ;Tentacle Drain damage
TDC 
JSR dec_timers          ;Decrement Reflect, Freeze, and Sleep timers if
                        ;applicable, and check if any have worn off
INC $3AF0,X             ;advance this entity's pointer to the next entry
                        ;in the 5AEA function table
LDA $3AF0,X
TXY                     ;preserve X in Y
AND #$07                ;convert it to 0-7, wrapping as necessary
ASL 
TAX 
JMP ($5AEA,X)           ;determine which periodic/damage healing type
                        ;will be checked on this entity's next tick.
.other
SBC #$0A                ;should only be reached if $3A91 AND 15 was >= 10
                        ;[i.e. not corresponding to any specific entity]
                        ;at start of function.  now subtract 10.
ASL 
TAX 
JMP ($5AFA,X)

TYX                     ;restore X from Y
.exit
RTS 

org $C25B06
dec_timers:

org $C25B36
queue_removal:


;assassin's patch
;Set to check for Poison on this entity's next tick
org $C25B3B
LDA #$10
BRA reuse               ;finish this function's work by using its near-twin's
                        ;code.

;Added code to mark Stop for removal upon its timer's expiration
expire_Stop:
STA $B8                 ;flag Stop for removal)
BRA queue_removal       ;queue Stop to be removed. but leave Reflect, Freeze,
                        ;and Sleep timers untouched. let them resume on the
                        ;next tick, just like the entity's Condemned countdown
                        ;and periodic Regen/Seizure/etc. do, which is the
                        ;sensible behavior.  after all, time is supposed to
                        ;unfreeze *after* Stop wears off.
NOP
RTS                     ;Never reached, but just in case


;Set to check for Regen, Seizure, Phantasm on this entity's next tick
;(identical results to original function, but reordered slightly)
LDA #$08
reuse:
TYX
ORA $3E4C,X
STA $3E4C,X             ;Set bit 3 of $3E4C,X .  or bit 4 if we
                        ;reached here from Function C2/5B3B.
RTS