Streamlined Battling? (2x rewards, 1/2 encounters)

[brimby]

Has anyone created a version of FF6 where monster encounters happen half as often, but battles give you double xp, double gil, and double item drop %? I think it would come in handy for people who don't want to dedicate the full amount of time, but want to play through the full story while also basically getting everything they would want out of the gameplay as well.

Would also be good for exposing younger gamers to a classic rpg who may not be as conditioned toward turn-based grinding.

[madsiur]

This might be for you: http://www.jce3000gt.com/ff3uset.php

I get your point, but FF6 require no grinding. Grinding is when you spend time leveling up because if not you can't pass a certain point. it's different than just doing the battle required and imposed as you progress normally. Your hack idea make sense though for a certain crowd.

[seibaby]

Because it took me all of five minutes to change a few lines of code and assemble a patch... Here: http://ge.tt/79gyyHo2

Doubled experience gain, doubled GP, halved encounter rate.

EDIT: forgot GP, updated patch.

[Gi Nattak]

Does the Experience Egg and the Charm Bangle continue to work/stack with this patch?

[seibaby]

Indeed they do, and the Cat Hood as well!

As for Magic Points, doubling them could cause an overflow error with high learn rates like Bismark's x20, and I don't care enough to write code to cap it (it doesn't fit inline anyway).

[Gi Nattak]

Well this is a nice patch to have access to, like an instant easy mode of sorts. Good to have included as an option for any hack! Especially for those who don't have the time or patience to grind.

[brimby]

Thanks seibaby! My real reason for looking for a patch like this is because I'd like to play through the game with my girlfriend, but I know she'll lose interest if she has to watch/play too many battles.

Wondering about item drops though. Could you double item drop % or would that be annoying/not make sense?

[PowerPanda]

This is a fantastic idea! As I've been playing through the hacks I've been working on, I've been frustrated by the high encounter rates. Can you let us know the lines of code you worked on so that we can tweak it if need be?

[seibaby]

I don't think it makes a lot of sense to modify item drop rates. Item drops are 100% if there's something in the common drop slot and the rare drop is checked 1/8 times. Same for Steals, except you must pass the level check for Steal.

Here's the code, with some drop and steal improvements for those who so wish.

Code:

;ffvi scrub lolmode

hirom
;header

; Double experience given by enemies
org $C25DAB
REP #$21       ; Set 16-bit Accumulator, Clear carry
LDX #$000A
LDA $3EEC,X    ; check enemy's 1st status byte
BIT #$00C2     ; Petrify, death, or zombie?
BEQ $26        ; if not, skip this enemy
LDA $11E4
BIT #$0002     ; is Leap available [aka we're on Veldt]?
BNE $0F        ; branch if so ;had been typoed "BNE $5DD0"
LDA $3D8C,X    ; get enemy's XP -- base offset 3D84 is used earlier,
               ; but that's because the function was indexing everybody
               ; on screen, not just enemies
ASL            ; Double it

; Double GP
org $C25DCF
LDA $3DA0,X    ; get enemy's GP
ASL

; Double Rare Steal chance
org $C239DC
CMP #$40

org $C239CB
BCS steal      ; Guarantee Steal with Sneak Ring
org $C239D8
steal:

; Double Rare drop chance
org $C25F21
CMP #$40       ; Carry clear if A < 20h, set otherwise.

; Halve encounter rate
org $C0C29F
dw $0060   ; "less encounter" frequency ==> looks like "normal encounter"
dw $0030   ; "norm encounter" frequency ==> looks like "less encounter"
dw $00C0   ; "more encounter" frequency ==> looks right
dw $0000   ; "no encounter" frequency ==> looks right

;Charm Bangle, halves of above numbers

dw $0030   ; "less encounter" frequency ==> looks like "normal encounter"
dw $0018   ; "norm encounter" frequency ==> looks like "less encounter"
dw $0060   ; "more encounter" frequency ==> looks right
dw $0000   ; "no encounter" frequency ==> looks right

; Data - dungeon incrementors, added every step to a counter that's
; been accumulating since the last encounter

                 ;the FF3usME name ==> then when i think it _really_ means..

;normal.  no Charm Bangle or Moogle Charm

org $C0C2BF
dw $0038   ; "less encounter" frequency ==> looks like "normal encounter"
dw $0020   ; "norm encounter" frequency ==> looks like "less encounter"
dw $00B0   ; "more encounter" frequency ==> looks right
dw $0100   ; "no encounter" frequency ==> looks like ENCOUNTERS UP THE WAZOO

;Charm Bangle, halves of above numbers

dw $001C   ; "less encounter" frequency ==> looks like "normal encounter"
dw $0010   ; "norm encounter" frequency ==> looks like "less encounter"
dw $0058   ; "more encounter" frequency ==> looks right
dw $0080   ; "no encounter" frequency ==> looks like ENCOUNTERS UP THE WAZOO

[PowerPanda]

As for Magic Points, doubling them could cause an overflow error with high learn rates like Bismark's x20, and I don't care enough to write code to cap it (it doesn't fit inline anyway).

Can you elaborate on this more? I'm planning to use this in my "Definitive Edition" hack, and will manually re-balance the Espers to account for fewer battles (probably make the learn rate for magic 50% higher, but playtesting will be necessary to see if that captures the right feel). What causes the overflow error? When the amount of AP exceeds 255 or something like that?